How to use this list
Learn prepositions in phrases, never as single words. This is the one piece of advice that changes results, and it follows from what a preposition is: a word with almost no meaning of its own, whose sense comes entirely from the noun beside it. In is not one word to be memorised but a dozen collocations — in May, in the kitchen, in a hurry, in charge — and the learner who records the whole phrase gets all of them right while the learner who memorised "in = inside" gets most of them wrong.
Start with the size logic. For both time and place, the first three prepositions divide by how big the thing is: in for the largest container, on for a surface or a single day, at for a precise point. In May, on Monday, at six o'clock. In France, on the table, at the station. That single picture resolves the majority of everyday uses, and it is worth having before you look at anything else on this page.
Then read the movement table with a pen. Sketch a path and label each arrow — into the station, through the crowd, up the stairs, past the bank — because these are spatial words and a diagram teaches them in a way a definition cannot. Most of them pair with a place preposition you already know: you are in a room and you go into it.
Save the fixed expressions for last and treat them as vocabulary. By mistake, on purpose, at last, in time — nothing predicts which preposition each takes, so nothing is gained by reasoning about them. Meet them, record them whole and review them the way you review words.
The size logic: in, on, at
Before the tables, the one picture that resolves most everyday uses. It comes from our own A2 lesson, and it works for time and place at once: in is the largest container, on is a surface or a single day, at is a precise point.
| Preposition | Time | Place |
|---|---|---|
| in | months, years, seasons, long periods | countries, cities, enclosed spaces |
| in — examples | in May, in 2019, in summer, in the morning | in France, in Madrid, in the kitchen |
| on | days and dates | surfaces and lines |
| on — examples | on Monday, on 5 June, on my birthday | on the table, on the wall, on the second floor |
| at | clock times and precise points | specific points and addresses |
| at — examples | at six o'clock, at midnight, at the weekend | at the station, at home, at 15 Mill Road |
Read the grid downwards and the logic is a funnel — a month, a day, a moment; a country, a street, a doorway. Where a use does not fit the funnel, it is almost always a fixed phrase, and those have their own section further down.
The three tables
Each table answers a different question — when, where, and along what path — and each links to the lesson and the sixty exercises that drill it. Two of the three are drawn as well as written: place and movement are spatial, and a picture states in a glance what a definition can only approximate.
Prepositions of time — when something happens 18 entries
Time prepositions answer when, how long and by when. The first three are the ones that carry almost every sentence, and they divide by how big the piece of time is: in for the long ones, on for a day, at for a moment.
| What it marks | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| at | A clock time or a precise moment | The train leaves at 6.45. |
| on | A day or a date | We met on Tuesday, on 3 March. |
| in | A month, season, year or century | She was born in 1998, in the spring. |
| in | A part of the day — but not night | I work best in the morning. |
| at | Night, and the weekend in British English | It is quiet at night. We travel at the weekend. |
| by | A deadline: no later than | Send it by Friday. |
| until | A state continuing up to a point | The shop stays open until nine. |
| from … to | The start and end of a stretch | The course runs from June to September. |
| for | How long something lasts | We waited for twenty minutes. |
| since | When something started and is still true | I have lived here since 2019. |
| during | Inside a named period — never a number | He phoned during the meeting. |
| before | Earlier than | Call me before lunch. |
| after | Later than | We can talk after the interval. |
| between … and | Two points with a gap between them | Come between two and four. |
| within | Not later than the end of a period | You will hear from us within a week. |
| past / to | Minutes either side of the hour | It is ten past six — no, quarter to seven. |
| over | Across the whole of a period | The town is busy over the summer. |
| ago | Backwards from now. It follows the noun instead of leading it | She left ten minutes ago. |
Practise this table: In, On and At (A2) · 60 exercises · printable worksheet.
Prepositions of place — where something is 18 entries
Place prepositions answer where. The same three-way split governs them — in for something enclosed, on for a surface, at for a point — and the rest of the table is about position relative to something else.
| What it marks | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| in | Inside an enclosed space, a town or a country | The keys are in the drawer. She lives in Lisbon. |
| on | Touching a surface, or on a line | Your book is on the table, on the top shelf. |
| at | A point, an address or an event | Wait at the entrance. They met at a wedding. |
| above | Higher than, not touching | A lamp hangs above the desk. |
| over | Higher than and covering | Put a cloth over the table. |
| under | Lower than, often covered | The cat is under the bed. |
| below | Lower than, on a scale or a page | The temperature fell below zero. |
| behindin our word lists | At the back of | The car park is behind the station. |
| in front of | Facing the front of | A taxi stopped in front of the hotel. |
| betweenin our word lists | In the space separating two things | The bank is between the shop and the hotel. |
| among | Surrounded by three or more | The house stands among the trees. |
| next to / beside | Immediately at the side of | Sit next to me. |
| near | Not far from, without touching | They live near the sea. |
| oppositein our word lists | Directly facing, across a space | The café is opposite the cinema. |
| against | Touching and leaning on | He left his bike against the wall. |
| inside / outside | Within, or beyond, an enclosure | Wait inside; it is raining outside. |
| around | Surrounding, or roughly in the area of | A fence runs around the field. |
| on top of | Resting on the highest surface | The box is on top of the wardrobe. |
Practise this table: Prepositions of Time and Place (B1) · 60 exercises · printable worksheet.
Prepositions of movement — the path something takes 18 entries
Movement prepositions trace a path rather than fix a position, and most of them pair with a place preposition: you are in a room and you go into it. Drawing the arrow is genuinely the fastest way to learn this table.
| The path it traces | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| to | Towards a destination, and arriving | We drove to the coast. |
| towards | In the direction of — arrival not implied | He walked towards the exit, then stopped. |
| into | From outside to inside | She ran into the station. |
| out of | From inside to outside | He climbed out of the car. |
| onto | Up and on to a surface | The cat jumped onto the roof. |
| off | Away from a surface | Take your feet off the seat. |
| across | From one side of a flat space to the other | We swam across the river. |
| through | In one side and out of the other, enclosed | The train went through the tunnel. |
| along | Following the length of something | They strolled along the beach. |
| past | By something and beyond it | Walk past the church and turn left. |
| over | Above and across | The plane flew over the city. |
| under | Below and across | The path goes under the bridge. |
| up / down | Higher, or lower, along a slope | She ran up the stairs and back down again. |
| around | In a circle, or avoiding something | We walked around the lake. |
| from | The starting point | The bus goes from the market square. |
| away from | Increasing distance | The child ran away from the dog. |
| back to | Returning to where you were | He went back to the office. |
| as far as | Up to a limit and no further | The road is clear as far as the bridge. |
Practise this table: Prepositions of Movement (B1) · 60 exercises · printable worksheet.
Fixed phrases: the ones no rule predicts
Nothing explains why it is by mistake but on purpose, or at last but in the end. These are vocabulary, not grammar: meet them, record them whole, review them as words. Roughly 36 of them cover most of what you will need.
Phrases with at
- at last
- at once
- at first
- at least
- at the moment
- at work
- at home
- at war
- at risk
Phrases with in
- in time
- in a hurry
- in advance
- in charge of
- in danger
- in the end
- in fact
- in general
- in touch
Phrases with on
- on time
- on purpose
- on holiday
- on business
- on foot
- on the phone
- on average
- on the whole
- on sale
Phrases with by
- by mistake
- by chance
- by heart
- by hand
- by law
- by far
- by accident
- by now
- by the way
The pairs that cost the most marks
Four contrasts account for most preposition errors at B1 and above, and none of them is a matter of carelessness — each is a genuine distinction that most languages do not draw.
in time or on time?
on time — Punctual — at the arranged moment, not late.
The 8.10 left on time.in time — Early enough for something to still be possible.
We got there in time to see the start.by or until?
by — A deadline. The action happens at some point before it.
Finish the report by Thursday.until — A state that continues right up to that moment.
I will be in the office until Thursday.across or through?
across — A flat surface with two sides — you stay on top of it.
We walked across the square.through — Something that surrounds you as you pass.
We walked through the crowd.in or on a vehicle?
in — Cars and taxis — small, and you sit down into them.
She was in a taxi when I called.on — Buses, trains, planes, bikes and horses — you can stand, or you mount them.
He was on the train to Leeds.
Mistakes worth recognising
These come from the site's own B1 preposition lessons, where they are drilled with sixty exercises apiece. They are here because a reference table cannot show you a wrong answer, and the wrong answer is often the thing that makes the right one memorable.
| Not this | This | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ✗ I'll finish the report until Thursday. | ✓ I'll finish the report by Thursday. | A deadline takes by; until describes a state continuing to a point, not a completed action. |
| ✗ We slept during eight hours. | ✓ We slept for eight hours. | During refuses numbers — durations take for. |
| ✗ He got in the bus at the corner. | ✓ He got on the bus at the corner. | Public transport you can stand in takes on; private cars take in. |
| ✗ We arrived to the airport at six. | ✓ We arrived at the airport at six. | Arrive never takes to — at for points, in for cities and countries. |
| ✗ He swam across the tunnel. | ✓ He swam through the tunnel. | A tunnel surrounds you on all sides — that is through territory. |
| ✗ She got in the bike and rode away. | ✓ She got on the bike and rode away. | Bikes, horses and motorbikes are mounted on, not entered in. |
Prepositions are learned in chunks, not rules: record whole phrases (on the outskirts, at short notice, by mistake) and review them as vocabulary, because that is what they really are.