PREPOSITIONS Page |1

A. DEFINITION
A word or a group of words  introduce a noun/ pronoun
Ex:
1. I left the book on the table. 2. He stands by me.

B. KINDS OF PREPOSITIONS
PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE
AT Home/ school/ work at Oxford University
Public places at the park/ the club/ TSN airport
Address at 73 Main Street/ the doctor’s office/ Sally’s house
Others at the top/ bottom (of a page/hill…)
at the front/ back (of a building/ group of people…)
at the beginning/ end (of a lesson)
at the next corner
at the party/ the concert/ the lecture (sự hiện diện)
IN Inside something in the room/ building/ office…
in the sky/ the air/ space
in a line/ row/
in a book/ photo/ magazine…
in a pocket/ bottle…
Administrative in France/ Paris…
division
Transportation in a car/ taxi
Directions in the south/ north…
Others in bed/ hospital/ prison/ church (đang có mặt tại nơi này  ko có mạo từ)
ON Surfaces on the table/ carpet/ wall/ ceiling…
on the ground/ the first floor/
Street on this road/ Le Loi street…
Transportation on a bus/ train/ plane/ ship/ motorbike/ horse
[except car/taxi]
Directions on the left/ right
on the front/ back (of a letter/ a piece of paper..)
ABOVE The airplane is flying over my head.
BELOW The lake is almost 900 feet below sea level.
OVER He lives in an apartment over the shoes shop.
UNDER The cat is sleeping under the table.
NEAR/CLOSE TO I like to sit near the door.
BY/ BESIDE/ NEXT TO Let’s sit next to me.
INSIDE Go inside the house and have a cup of hot coffee.
OUTSIDE We leave some tables and chairs outside.
BETWEEN There is a man between Ann and Bob.
AMONG She is singing among the crowd.
AGAINST The ladder is against the wall.
IN FRONT OF There is a hospital in front of my house.
BEHIND The girl behind us is dancing.
OPPOSITE This school is opposite the supermarket.
ACROSS My house is just across the coffee shop.

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PREPOSITIONS OF TIME
AT Time at noon/ night/ midnight/ lunch time/ dawn/ dusk
at 2 am/ 4 o’clock
at the moment/ the same time/ first/ present
Holiday at the weekend/at – on weekends
at Christmas/ New Year/ Easter/ Thanksgiving
IN Week/ month/ in September/ in Winter/ in the 18th century/ in 1900s
year..
Period of date in the morning/ afternoon/ evening
in the summer holidays
Amount of time in five minutes/ two weeks
ON Day/ date on Monday/ Sundays…
on Friday morning/ Sunday afternoons
on 15th April/ 23rd August 2004
Holiday on Christmas day/ on Easter Monday/ on New Year
IN TIME Will you be home in time for dinner?
ON TIME This shop is always open on time.
DURING We stay in Hanoi during Summer.
FOR I’ve been here for 2 hours.
SINCE We’ve known each other since 2000.
BY I will finish this report by Monday morning.
UNTIL/ TILL I don’t come back home until 10 pm.
BEFORE She exercises in 10 minutes before breakfast.
AFTER I’ll meet you after the meeting.

PREPOSITIONS OF MANNER
BY card/check/ credit I pay by card
card
transportation She comes back home by bus/ car/ train…
Ving The students practice English by talking to Americans
ON foot/ horseback He goes to school on foot.
Ellen travels on horseback
animals He fought the enemy on an elephant
WITH tools I cut meat with a knife.
She fixes the chair with a screwdriver.
materials He decorates the house with some flowers
body parts She washes clothes with her hands
LIKE + N She sings a song like My Tam singer.
She cries like a baby.
WITHIN +N She signs the contract within her limit.
WITHOUT + N/Ving She left without saying a word.
She succeeded without any effort.

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PREPOSITIONS OF MOVEMENT
TO đến, tới (một nơi She goes to school every day.
nào) The boy was taken to the hospital.
FROM từ (một nơi nào đó) She is from Canada.
ACROSS qua, ngang qua He just walked across the coffee shop.
ALONG dọc theo The school girl is running along the road.
ABOUT quanh quẩn, đây đó The children are playing around the yard.
INTO vào, vào trong I get into the car.
OUT OF ra khỏi She got out of the taxi.
UP lên the man is climbing up the stairs
DOWN xuống The stone rolled down the hill.
THROUGH qua, xuyên qua We walked through the woods.
TOWARD(S) về phía The woman is walking toward a doorway
AROUND quanh, vòng quanh They travel around the world.

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PREPOSITIONS OF CAUSE/REASON
BECAUSE OF bởi vì I turn on the fan because of the heat.
[neutral reason]
DUE TO tại vì I didn’t go to school yesterday due to the rain
[negative reason]
OWING TO nhờ vào I passed an exam owing to my teacher.
[positive reason]
THANKS TO nhờ vào She succeeded thanks to her parents
[positive reason]

PREPOSITIONS OF PURPOSE
TO để mà I listen to music to relax.
NOT TO để khỏi I take medicine not to be sick.
IN ORDER TO để mà He learns English in order to go overseas.
IN ORDER NOT TO để khỏi I study hard in order not to fail an exam.
SO AS TO để mà I go to school soon so as to review the lesson.
SO AS NOT TO để khỏi She brings an umbrella so as not to get wet.
FOR để mà I go to the beach for swimming.
FOR NOT để khỏi The girl exercises every day for not gaining weight.

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