Basic English Grammar Prepositions

There are a number of different prepositions in English grammar and each has specific uses. It can be really confusing for learners of English as a foreign language to keep them straight. Additionally, many native speakers of English do not use prepositions correctly, which can be doubly confusing. There are more than one hundred basic grammar prepositions in the English language, but this post will focus on a few representative ones. Most prepositions locate subjects in time or place, so they answer the questions “When?” or “Where?” There are, of course, exceptions. Prepositions, as it says in the name, are positioned before (pre-) the descriptive phase. In basic English grammar, this is called the “prepositional phrase.” Other languages may use post-positions instead, which would come after the descriptive phrase. This series will describe basic English grammar prepositions and give examples of the correct way to use them.

The simplest English grammar prepositions answer the questions “Where” and “When” in a straightforward manner. I have put the prepositions in each sentence in italics.

Example 1

Where should I put the date on this letter?

In a business letter, the date should come above the salutation.

(This means that the date comes first on the page, followed by the greeting.)

Example 2

Where is your son?

My son is at home with his father.

(So the son and the father are not with the mother, wherever she is, but are at their house together.)

Example 3

Where are my socks?

They are behind your underwear in the top left drawer.

(So the top left drawer contains both socks and underwear, and the underwear are in front of the socks, hiding them from you.)

Example 4

Where is my library book?

It is in the stack on the table, beneath the novel I am reading.

(So there are a number of books on the table, stacked on top of one another. The novel I am reading is on top, and you have to pick it up and look under it to find your library book.)

Example 5

Where are my glasses?

They are right beside you, on the night stand.

(The person is likely in bed, and set his/her glasses down on the table next to the bed the night before.)