LEARN PREPOSITION WITH EXAMPLES

LEARN PREPOSITION WITH EXAMPLES

Have you ever thought of a different way of learning preposition? how will it be if we learn the uses of prepositions with some easy examples and not with the help of monotonous rules? I think this way of learning will definitely help you more while memorizing  the right uses of  prepositions and implementing them in a sentence. Now, as we all know that rules is an integral part of learning grammar, hence, we aren't here to ignore the rules at all but to understand and memorize the rules in an interesting way i.e. through some easy examples.So let's get into the topic without beating around the bush much.

USES OF PREPOSITION 'AT'

• The meeting is scheduled at noon.
• It might rain at night.
• My father is at home now. 
• My sister is at school.
• Look at me.
• Someone is waiting at the door.
• She is in Mumbai at present.
• He sacrificed his life at war.
• Mr. Roy is still very strong at the age of sixty.
• The fruits are being sold at 3 dollar a kilo.
• We will have burger at dinner.
• They are at work.
• I studied at this university.

USES OF PREPOSITION 'IN'

• Nelson Mendela was born in 1918.
• They will come here in february.
• I have to attend the meeting in time,
• The train is running in time (note: in time = before time, on time= punctual time)
• Do not run in the sun.
• the tutor comes in the morning/evening. (note: but at noon/night/dawn)
• He is no more in power now.
• Don't go outside at night, you could be in danger.
• The car is parked in the shade.
• Observe the man who is standing in the corner of the room.
• We do not pay salary in cash. (note:  we pay salary only by cheque.)
• I paid him in advance for buying the antique watch. 
• The article is written in black ball point pen.
• Wait a little, I'll be ready in five minutes.
• Vegetables are rich in minerals.
• We'll meet in Christmas. (note: Christmas= festival,  but on Christmas day = denotes the day only)
• The batsman hit the ball in the air. ( note: but on land/sea)
• 
  

USES OF PREPOSITION 'ON'

• I'll see you on Sunday.
• My examination starts on 4th may.
• The train is running on time. (punctually )
• I'll meet you on Christmas day.
• The mangoes on the tree are ripe.
• The market in feeder street was on fire last night.
• Kolkata is on the Hooghly.
• In our city e-rickshaws are not allowed on highroads.
• He is on the way to London.
• He resides on the north side of the city.
• East Indian people live on rice.
• The family live on Mr. Roy's small pension.
• I go to school on foot. ( note: but by car/train )
• The watchman is not on duty.
• He said this on oath.
• She wrote an article on the recent socio-economic condition of the country.
• The supply of the product is depended on the demand.
• She is working on empty stomach.

USES OF PREPOSITION 'BY'

• We need to travel by boat to reach there.
• I know him by his name only.
• It is 11:30 by my watch.
• The company sent the appointment letter by post.
• He informed us about his success by a letter.
• The police suspects that the man is died by poison and not by accident.
• The bedroom of this flat is 6 meters by 8 meters.
• All the document has been destroyed by fire.
• We pay salary only by cheque and not in cash.
• A report says that after Ebola broke out in that region, the disease turned into an epidemic and people died by thousands.
• The coconut tree was struck by lightning.
• He is older than me by only two months.
• I think the letter should reach you by next Monday.
• I pray for your success by my heart.
• You can sit by me if you want.

USES OF PREPOSITION 'TO'

• He did it to his cost.
• Add some sugar to the boiling water.
• She is singing to the harp.
• When do you go to bed?
• The syrup is sweet to taste.
• The thief was beaten to death.
• The soldiers fought to the last man.
• Eight is to sixteen as one is to two.
• It is now five minutes to seven.

USES OF PREPOSITION 'FOR' 

• It is a small gift for you.
• This shirt is big for his age.
• After defeat they fled for their lives.
• We should have respect for elders.
• Don't take for granted the people closest to your heart.
• The avocados are being sold at three for a dollar.
• Can you tell me the time of the next flight for Newyork ?
• They stayed there for five days.
• This flat is for sale.
• Mr. Roy bought a car for 15000 dollar.

CORRECT USES OF SOME PREPOSITIONS

Correct uses of some prepositions

Sometimes we get confused while using prepositions. As we know that a preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show true relationship with another word in a sentence. To express the right sense of a sentence we must establish the right relationship between the noun or pronoun and other words of a sentence. If we get confused or use an inappropriate preposition between two words , then the sense or the meaning of the sentence will be different. Therefore it is very important to use a correct one.

Now in this article I am not going to cover the whole preposition chapter or the basic rules but to discuss the uses of some preposition which may confuse us. Basically we get confused between---- IN/WITHIN, IN/AT. BY/WITH, ON/UPON, IN/INTO, AFTER/IN, SINCE/FOR, SINCE/FROM and many more.In this article we’ii  learn about the variant situations and conditions that we need to understand and remember while using these prepositions

IN/WITHIN

First of all , let’s take two examples using in and within—

i)                    My father has gone to a business tour and he will return in a week .

ii)                  My father has gone to a business tour and he will return within a week .

Now, don’t think that both the sentences express the same sense.The meaning and the sense of the sentences are interestingly different.

IN denotes at the end of the given time period in future while WITHIN expresses before the end of the time period

Therefore, in the first instance , the sense what we get is that the person will return at the end of the week mentioned in the sentence( and not before a week). Whereas in sentence no 2 it means that the person will return any time before the given time period (week).This is the key difference between the use of IN and WITHIN.

BUY/WITH

BY is generally used after past participle form of verb in the passive mood of a sentence. BUY is used before living things or human beings to denote the doer of any activity. But WITH is used before the instrument or non-living thing with which an activity or action is done. As---

i)                    The thief was beaten by the men with sticks.

ii)                  The picture is drawn by John with a pencil only.

SINCE/FOR

SINCE is used to express a point of time in the past. And FOR is used to denote the duration of time for any particular act in any type of tense. AS---

i)                    I have been reading this story since 6 in the morning. (note, though the sentence is in present perfect continuous tense but the time mention is a past moment.}

ii)                  I have been reading this story for two hours.

In the first sentence a point of time ( 6 ‘o’ clock) when the act started is mentioned. Hence, SINCE has been used. While, in second one no specific point of time is mentioned. Instead, the duration of the act(reading) is mentioned. i.e. how long the act has been going on. Hence , FOR has been used .

SINCE/FROM

SINCE is used to denote a point of time in the past and generally used before the specific time mentioned in present perfect or present perfect tense ( as we discussed earlier). While FROM is used in any form of tense. Again we need to know that when FROM is used in a sentence it is generally followed by other prepositions like  to, till, until etc. i.e. FORM denotes the starting point along with the ending point of an act by following to, till, until etc.   AS---

I)                    I have been living here since 1990.

II)                  This program will be running from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

III)                I have been there from 2010 till now.

ON/UPON

When we spoke of things which are unmoved or at rest , we use ON. On the other hand, when things in motion are spoken of take the preposition UPON. Examples will help you to make out the concept clearer. As---

i)                    We sat on the wooden bench in the park.

ii)                  The thief jumped upon the fence.

iii)                The cat sprang upon the wall.

iv)                He was told to stand on the bench.

IN/INTO

IN denotes one’s sate of rest or position inside anything. While INTO denotes one’s change of position from one place towards inside of anything.

i)                    Dad is in the room.( implies rest)

ii)                  He fell into the pool. ( implies change of position towards the pool.)

AFTER/IN

AFTER is used to refer at the end of a time period in past . But, if a point of time is to mention then AFTER can be used in all tenses.  As---

i)                    The wound was cured after a week. ( it will be wrong if we say The wound will be cured after a week)

ii)                  He will come/comes/came after 6 p.m.

Whereas,  IN must be used to denote at the end of a future space of time. As---

i)                    He will come in a month.

ii)                  They will return in a few days.

 AGO/BEFORE

AGO is used to refer a time before now ( at present) while BEFORE denotes a time earlier than a past event.  There is one more point to remember that the preposition BEFORE is generally used in past perfect tense. Look at the instances---

i)                    I joined this office 2 years ago.

    ii)            I had joined this office before Mr. Roy resigned