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257 English prepositions of place, time and more: A complete list

May 02, 2023

Author

Marco Monroy

English is a fascinatingly dynamic language, thanks in part to its extremely rich diversity of prepositions.

Really, even if you find it preposterous that prepositions would have such a profound impact on the English language, these small-yet-mighty words and phrases play an incredibly important role in everyday conversations. Think of them as the little nuts and bolts that help us string sentences together — keeping our conversations running smoothly and efficiently.

If they perform a crucial job for the language, they also perform a thankless one. That’s why you may be wondering what the English prepositions are, even if you’re a native English speaker. These words and phrases are so small that they’re easy to overlook, making it difficult for us to even realize when we’re using them.

However, they’re definitely easy to notice when someone uses the wrong preposition. For example, alarms would probably go off in your head if someone said, “I’ll see you at Monday.” You can probably tell that the preposition at is being used incorrectly here, but you might not know exactly why it’s not right. You just know it sounds off. This is what makes them so tricky.

In fact, prepositions are notoriously challenging to master, both for native and non-native speakers alike. Even advanced English speakers can toil to use the right prepositions at the right time, which is why we’ve compiled this guide with over 250 of them to help you use any preposition you’d like with ease and conviction.

With hundreds of prepositions to cover, let’s jump right into the definition of prepositions in English!

What are prepositions in grammar?

A preposition is a word or phrase that connects a noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence. As implied by the pre in prepositions, they go before the noun they’re connecting. They can help us quickly explain how a noun is related to other people, objects, or actions in the sentence.

Most prepositions are single words. Also known as simple prepositions, some of the most common are:

Complex prepositions

In addition to simple prepositions, English also allows the use of complex prepositions. These are made up of two to four words and perform the same job as simple prepositions: explain the relationship between the noun and the rest of the sentence. Some of the most common complex prepositions in English are:

Away from
In addition to
On top of
Instead of
Up to

The most common English prepositions

Before we dive into the most complete list of prepositions, we should spend some time reviewing the most common ones. As you’ll see later on, English is a very generous language when it comes to using words as prepositions, resulting in several hundreds of preposition words and prepositional phrases that are used regularly. Yes, that’s several hundred excluding archaic prepositions!

Don’t worry, though, as most everyday conversations concentrate on a few dozen prepositions. With that in mind, we’ll cover some of the most common English prepositions in depth so you’re ready to approach everyday conversations with confidence. Afterward, we’ll provide you with the most complete list of prepositions you’ll ever find, so you can reference it in the future to find the best preposition for any situation.

Prepositions of place

A preposition of place indicates where something or someone is located. When placed before the noun or pronoun, they help us be specific about where a certain object or person is in relation to that noun. Without prepositions, we wouldn’t be able to tell if something is on the table, under the table, next to the table, near the table, etc. Here are some examples of prepositions of place:

I will meet you at the airport.

Preposition	Use	Example sentence
In	Inside or encapsulated by	The shoes are in the box.
At	Used to indicate a particular point or location	I will meet you at the airport.
On	Indicates location on the surface of something	I left your backpack on the chair.
Inside	Within something else	Can you pass me the box that’s inside the bag?
Over	Above or beyond something	The house is just over the hill.
Above	Higher than something else	The picture frame is on the shelf above the couch.
Below	Lower than something else	The sun has officially set — it’s finally below the horizon!
Beneath	Lower than something else	The assistant general manager position is just beneath the regional manager!
Under	Below something else	Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard?
Underneath	Below something else	Our garage is underneath our house.
By	Close to or near something	Did you go to the cupcake shop by the park?
Near	Close by	I went to the pizza place near campus.
Next to	Beside	What happened to the bike that was next to our car?
Between	In the middle of two things	I don’t want to sit between two strangers on the plane!
Among	Within a group	There is an impostor among us.
Opposite	Directly across	Jenny’s house is opposite a massive mall.

Prepositions of time

Prepositions of time are used to help us tell when something is happening, for how long it’s happening, and more. If you notice that some of the prepositions here look strikingly similar to the prepositions of place, that’s because prepositions can serve multiple purposes at the same time!

After our month-long trip, I had to do laundry for hours.

Preposition	Use	Example sentence
In	Used for months, years, centuries, and long periods of time.	I’ll see you in twenty minutes!
At	Used for precise times.	We’re meeting at eight o’clock, right?
On	Used for days and dates.	My dad arrives on Sunday, but I’ll be there by Friday.
Since	Used to describe the last time something happened.	I haven’t seen Paula since ninth grade!
For	Used when talking about how long an action was happening.	After our month-long trip, I had to do laundry for hours!
By	Used when talking about a deadline or a point in time by which another action will have already happened.	I have to submit my essay by midnight.
During	Used to denote continuity during a period of time.	She didn’t speak a word during the entire show.
From… to	Used to express time periods.	I worked from sunrise to sundown yesterday.
From… until	Used to express time periods.	I’ll be in Lisbon from May until July.
Within	Used to express time periods, taking the present as the initial period.	If I don’t find some coffee within five minutes, I’m going back to sleep.

Prepositions of direction

Prepositions of direction help us define where a noun is going. Like prepositions of place, they help us relate a noun to another noun. However, these prepositions also include an aspect of motion, as they let us know where the noun is headed, where it’s coming from, etc.

They drove off into the horizon together.

Preposition	Use	Example sentence
To	Heading from the first noun to the second noun	That plane is going to Paris.
Toward	Heading from the first noun to the second noun	Watch out, there’s a car coming toward us.
On	Describes how the subject is moving	He’s coming on a train.
From	Describes the origin or previous location of the subject	She said she was coming home from work an hour ago.
Into	Describes movement from outside the noun to inside the noun	She was placed into an advanced class.
Against	Describes	Whose bike is that leaning up against the wall?
Off	Away from	They drove off into the horizon together.

The complete English prepositions list

Okay, now that you’re familiar with the different types of prepositions, let’s get into our full list of 257 prepositions! Don’t rush into memorizing all of them, though. Instead, bookmark this page so you can reference this table next time you can’t seem to find the right preposition.

Preposition	Pronunciation	IPA
a	ah	ə
à la	ah lah	ə ˈlɑ
aboard	ah-bord	əˈbɔrd
about	ah-baut	əˈbaʊt
above	ah-bov	əˈbʌv
abreast	ah-brest	əˈbɹɛst
abroad	ah-brod	əˈbɹɔd
absent	ab-sent	ˈæbsənt
according to	ah-core-deeng too	əˈkɔrdɪŋ tu
across	ah-cross	əˈkɹɔs
across from	ah-cross from	əˈkɹɔs ˈfɹʌm
adrift	ah-dreeft	əˈdɹɪft
aft	aft	ˈæft
after	af-tur	ˈæftɚ
afterward	af-tur-ward	ˈæftɚwɚd
against	ah-gehnst	əˈɡɛnst
ahead	ah-hed	əˈhɛd
ahead of	ah-hed of	əˈhɛd əv
aloft	ah-loft	əˈlɔft
along	ah-long	əˈlɔŋ
along with	ah-long weeth	əˈlɔŋ ˈwɪθ
alongside	ah-long-said	əˈlɔŋˈsaɪd
amid	ah-meed	əˈmɪd
among	ah-mong	əˈmʌŋ
anti	ahn-tee	ˈænti
apart	ah-part	əˈpɑrt
apart from	ah-part from	əˈpɑrt ˈfɹʌm
apropos	ah-pro-poh	ˌæpɹəˈpoʊ
around	ah-raund	ɚˈɹaʊnd
as	as	əz
as for	as for	əz ˈfɔr
as from	as from	əz ˈfɹʌm
as of	as of	əz əv
as per	as pur	əz ˈpɝ
as regards	as ruh-gards	əz ɹɪˈɡɑrdz
as to	as too	əz tu
as well as	as well as	əz ˈwɛl əz
ashore	ah-shor	əˈʃɔr
aside	ah-said	əˈsaɪd
aside from	ah-said rom	əˈsaɪd ˈfɹʌm
aslant	ass-lant	əˈslænt
astride	ass-traid	əˈstɹaɪd
at	at	ət
atop	ah-top	əˈtɑp
away	ah-way	əˈweɪ
away from	ah-way from	əˈweɪ ˈfɹʌm
back	back	ˈbæk
back to	back too	ˈbæk tu
backwards	backwards	ˈbækwɚdz
bar	bar	ˈbɑr
barring	bar-ring	ˈbɑrɪŋ
because of	bee-cos-of	bɪˈkɔz əv
before	bee-for	bɪˈfɔr
beforehand	bee-for-hand	bɪˈfɔrˌhænd
behind	bee-hind	bɪˈhaɪnd
below	bee-low	bɪˈloʊ
beneath	beh-neeth	bɪˈniθ
beside	beh-side	bɪˈsaɪd
besides	beh-sides	bɪˈsaɪdz
between	beh-tween	bɪˈtwin
beyond	beh-yond	biˈɑnd
but	buht	ˈbʌt
but for	buht for	ˈbʌt ˈfɔr
by	bye	ˈbaɪ
by means of	bye meens of	ˈbaɪ ˈminz əv
chez	sheh	ˈʃeɪ
circa	seer-cah	ˈsɝkə
close to	close too	ˈkloʊz tu
come	cuhm	ˈkʌm
concerning	cohn-sehr-neeng	kənˈsɝnɪŋ
contra	con-trah	ˈkɑntɹə
contrary to	con-trah-ree-too	ˈkɑnˌtɹɛri tu
counter to	coun-tehr-too	ˈkaʊntɚ tu
counting	coun-teeng	ˈkaʊntɪŋ
cum	cuhm	ˈkʊm
depending on	deh-pehn-deeng ohn	dɪˈpɛndɪŋ ˈɔn
despite	dess-pite	dɪˈspaɪt
down	daun	ˈdaʊn
downhill	daun-heel	ˌdaʊnˈhɪl
downstage	daun-staj	ˈdaʊnˈsteɪdʒ
downstairs	daun-stehrs	ˈdaʊnˈstɛrz
downstream	daun-streem	ˈdaʊnˈstɹim
downwards	daun-wards	ˈdaʊnwɚdz
downwind	daun-weend	ˈdaʊnˈwɪnd
due to	doo too	ˈdu tu
during	doo-reeng	ˈdʊrɪŋ
east	eest	ˈist
eastwards	eest-wards	ˈistwɚdz
effective	eff-ec-teev	ɪˈfɛktɪv
ere	ehr	ˈɛr
except	ecks-ehpt	ɪkˈsɛpt
except for	ecks-ehpt for	ɪkˈsɛpt ˈfɔr
excepting	ecks-ehp-teeng	ɪkˈsɛptɪŋ
excluding	ecks-cloo-deeng	ɪkˈskludɪŋ
failing	fay-leeng	ˈfeɪlɪŋ
following	fo-low-eeng	ˈfɑləwɪŋ
for	for	ˈfɔr
forth	forth	ˈfɔrθ
forward	for-ward	ˈfɔrwɚd
forward of	for-ward of	ˈfɔrwɚd əv
from	from	ˈfɹʌm
further to	foor-ther too	ˈfɝðɚ tu
heavenward	heh-vehn-ward	ˈhɛvənwɚd
hence	hens	ˈhɛns
henceforth	hens-forth	ˈhɛnsˌfɔrθ
here	heer	ˈhɪr
hereby	heer-by	hɪrˈbaɪ
herein	heeh-reen	hɪrˈɪn
hereof	heer-of	hɪrˈʌv
hereto	heer-too	hɪrˈtu
herewith	heer-with	hɪrˈwɪθ
home	hom	ˈhoʊm
homewards	hom-wards	ˈhoʊmwɚdz
in	een	ˈɪn
in addition to	een ah-dee-tee-ohn too	ˈɪn əˈdɪʃən tu
in between	een bee-tween	ˈɪn bɪˈtwin
in case of	een case of	ˈɪn ˈkeɪs əv
in face of	een face of	ˈɪn ˈfeɪs əv
in favor of	een fay-vor of	ˈɪn ˈfeɪvɚ əv
in front of	een front of	ˈɪn ˈfɹʌnt əv
in lieu of	een luh of	ˈɪn ˈlu əv
in spite of	een spait of	ˈɪn ˈspaɪt əv
in view of	een viu of	ˈɪn ˈvju əv
including	een-cloo-deeng	ɪnˈkludɪŋ
indoors	een-doors	ˈɪnˈdɔrz
inside	een-said	ɪnˈsaɪd
instead of	een-stehd of	ɪnˈstɛd əv
into	een-too	ˈɪntə
inwards	een-wards	ˈɪnwɚdz
leftwards	left-wards	ˈlɛftwɚdz
less	less	ˈlɛs
like	laik	ˈlaɪk
minus	mai-nuhs	ˈmaɪnəs
modulo	moh-doo-loh	ˈmɑdʒəˌloʊ
near	neer	ˈnɪr
near to	neer too	ˈnɪr tu
next	next	ˈnɛkst
next to	next too	ˈnɛkst tu
north	north	ˈnɔrθ
northeast	north-eest	nɔrθˈist
northwest	north-west	nɔrθˈwɛst
notwithstanding	not-weeth-stan-deeng	ˌnɑtwɪθˈstændɪŋ
now	nau	ˈnaʊ
of	of	əv
offshore	off-shor	ˈɔfˈʃɔr
on	on	ˈɔn
on account of	on ah-caunt of	ˈɔn əˈkaʊnt əv
on behalf of	on bee-half of	ˈɔn bɪˈhæf əv
on board	on boord	ˈɔn ˈbɔrd
on to	on too	ˈɔn tu
on top of	on top of	ˈɔn ˈtɑp əv
onto	on-too	ˈɔntə
onwards	on-wards	ˈɑnwɚdz
opposite	oh-poh-seet	ˈɑpəzət
opposite of	oh-poh-seet of	ˈɑpəzət əv
opposite to	oh-poh-seet too	ˈɑpəzət tu
other than	oh-ther than	ˈʌðɚ ˈðæn
out	aut	ˈaʊt
out from	aut from	ˈaʊt ˈfɹʌm
out of	aut of	ˈaʊt əv
outdoors	aut-dohrs	ˌaʊtˈdɔrz
outside	aut-said	ˌaʊtˈsaɪd
outside of	aut-said of	ˌaʊtˈsaɪd əv
outwards	aut-wards	ˈaʊtwɚdz
over	oh-vehr	ˈoʊvɚ
overboard	oh-vehr-bohrd	ˈoʊvɚˌbɔrd
overhead	oh-vehr-hehd	ˌoʊvɚˈhɛd
overland	oh-vehr-land	ˈoʊvɚˌlænd
overseas	oh-vehr-sees	ˌoʊvɚˈsiz
owing to	ow-eeng-too	ˈoʊɪŋ tu
pace	pays	ˈpeɪs
past	past	ˈpæst
pending	pehn-deeng	ˈpɛndɪŋ
per	pur	ˈpɝ
pertaining to	pur-tay-neeng too	pɚˈteɪnɪŋ tu
plus	ploos	ˈplʌs
post	pohst	ˈpoʊst
pre	pree	ˈpɹɪ
prior to	pry-or too	ˈpɹaɪɚ tu
pro	pro	ˈpɹoʊ
qua	kwa	ˈkwɑ
re	reh	ˈɹeɪ
regarding	reh-gar-deeng	ɹɪˈɡɑrdɪŋ
regardless of	reh-gard-less	ɹɪˈɡɑrdləs əv
respecting	res-pec-teeng	ɹɪˈspɛktɪŋ
rightwards	right-wards	ˈɹaɪtwɚdz
round about	raund ah-baut	ˈɹaʊnd əˈbaʊt
sans	sans	ˈsænz
save	sav	ˈseɪv
save for	sav for	ˈseɪv ˈfɔr
saving	sav-eeng	ˈseɪvɪŋ
seawards	see-wards	ˈsiwɚdz
short	short	ˈʃɔrt
since	seens	ˈsɪns
skywards	skai-wards	ˈskaɪwɚdz
south	sauth	ˈsaʊθ
southeast	sauth-eest	saʊθˈist
southwards	sauth-wards	ˈsaʊθˌwɝdz
southwest	south-west	saʊθˈwɛst
sub	soob	ˈsʌb
than	than	ˈðæn
thanks to	thanks too	ˈθæŋks tu
then	then	ˈðɛn
thence	thens	ˈðɛns
thenceforth	thens-forth	ˈðɛnsˌfɔrθ
there	ther	ˈðɛr
thereby	ther-bye	ðɛrˈbaɪ
therein	ther-een	ðɛrˈɪn
thereof	ther-of	ðɛrˈʌv
thereto	ther-too	ðɛrˈtu
therewith	ther-weeth	ðɛrˈwɪð
through	throoh	ˈθɹu
throughout	throoh-aut	θɹuˈaʊt
till	teel	ˈtɪl
times	taims	ˈtaɪmz
to	too	tu
together	too-geh-ther	təˈɡɛðɚ
together with	too-geh-ther weeth	təˈɡɛðɚ ˈwɪθ
touching	toh-cheeng	ˈtʌtʃɪŋ
towards	to-wards	ˈtoʊɚdz
under	uhn-dehr	ˈʌndɚ
underfoot	uhn-dehr-foot	ˌʌndɚˈfʊt
underground	uhn-dehr-ground	ˈʌndɚˌɡɹaʊnd
underneath	uhn-dehr-neeth	ˌʌndɚˈniθ
unlike	uhn-laik	ˌʌnˈlaɪk
until	uhn-teel	ənˈtɪl
unto	uhn-too	ˈʌntu
up	up	ˈʌp
up against	up ah-gehnst	ˈʌp əˈɡɛnst
up to	up too	ˈʌp tu
up until	up uhn-teel	ˈʌp ənˈtɪl
uphill	up-heel	ˈʌpˈhɪl
upon	uh-pohn	əˈpɔn
upstage	up-staij	ˈʌpˈsteɪdʒ
upstairs	up-stairs	ˌʌpˈstɛrz
upstream	uhp-streem	ˈʌpˈstɹim
upwards	uhp-wards	ˈʌpwɚdz
upwind	uhp-weend	ˈʌpˈwɪnd
versus	ver-soos	ˈvɝsəs
via	vee-ah	ˈvaɪə
vice	vais	ˈvaɪs
vis-à-vis	vis-ah-vee	ˈvizəˈvi
wanting	wan-teeng	ˈwɑntɪŋ
west	west	ˈwɛst
westwards	west-wards	ˈwɛstwɚdz
when	wehn	ˈwɛn
whence	wens	ˈwɛns
where	wehr	ˈwɛr
whereby	wehr-bye	wɛrˈbaɪ
wherein	wehr-een	wɛrˈɪn
whereto	wehr-too	ˈwɛrˌtu
wherewith	wehr-weeth	ˈwɛrˌwɪð
with	weeth	ˈwɪθ
with reference to	weeth reh-feh-rehns too	ˈwɪθ ˈɹɛfɹəns tu
with regard to	weeth ree-gard too	ˈwɪθ ɹɪˈɡɑrd tu
within	wee-theen	wɪˈðɪn
without	wee-thaut	wɪˈðaʊt

Postpositions in English

Unlike other languages like French and Spanish, English uses postpositions as well as prepositions. These serve very similar purposes to prepositions, except that they are placed after the noun or pronoun, hence the post in postposition.

Postposition	Use	Example sentence
Ago	Helps establish the amount of time that has passed since the action took place.	I met her ten years ago.
Apart	To separate two nouns.	They’re best friends, they can never be apart.
Aside	To put the noun out of the way or out of focus.	All jokes aside, you should really consider the offer.
Away	Helps establish the distance between two nouns.	How can I be happy when my dog is one thousand miles away from me?
Notwithstanding	Used to establish that something happened despite another event happening as well.	The wedding is going to carry on as usual, storm notwithstanding.
On	When used as a postposition, it indicates the amount of time or distance that has already passed.	Five years on, she’s still keen on the keto diet.
Over	When used as a postposition, this word means “all around.”	This movie went #1 the world over.
Short	Missing or lacking.	I think I might be a few dollars short.
Through	Indicating that something persisted during a specific time period.	She had a bad stomachache the whole week through.

English prepositions song

Using music to learn a new language is one of the most popular techniques all over the world, especially for kids. If you’re looking for a catchy prepositions song that will have your children or young students practicing their grammar while having fun, check out this awesome song!

In Front Of, Behind, Between | Prepositions Song for Kids

If you prefer something more suitable for adults and children alike, then check out the following song by The Bazillions. Its relaxing aura will be an excellent companion on your drive to work, as you sip your tea on a rainy afternoon, or even while doing dishes — all while practicing your English prepositions!

"Preposition" by The Bazillions

Enjoy learning the English prepositions

If you took one look at our list of 257 prepositions and tried to run for the hills — don’t panic too quickly! While there are several hundred prepositions in the English language, only a few dozen are used in everyday conversations. Focus on learning the prepositions we covered at the beginning of this article first, and you’ll be able to expertly navigate most conversations with no effort.

And if you really want to impress your peers, take your time making yourself comfortable with our ultimate table of English prepositions. There’s no need to rush here, but you might be able to sprinkle some fancy prepositions in your next college paper or business email to stand out!

And if you want to go the extra mile, why not review some of our other English articles? We can help you master 277 useful English abbreviations, the definite and indefinite articles, 1000 English adjectives, and more!