The Preposition
Prepositions as a class of words, are used to show how things are related in space or in time, they may express abstract relation and serve to connect the words in a sentence.
Accordingly prepositions may be divided into prepositions of place and direction (under, next to, towards etc.), prepositions of time (after, before, till, until etc) and those expressing abstract relations (by, with, because of, etc).
According their morphological composition prepositions are divided into:
- simple: at, by, from, in, on, with, etc;
- derived: before, inside, outside, into, within, etc;
- composite: in front of, instead of, in spite of, in case of, due to, thanks to, owing to, because of, etc.
Note that most prepositions in the Russian language don’t coinside with those in English. (E. g. The table is at the window- Стол у окна. The lesson begins at 8 o’clock. – Урок начинается в 8. I am angry with him. - Я сержусь на него.)
Prepositions of place
In front of, behind, beside, next to, near to, by, under, underneath, below, above, over (over can have four meanings: над, свыше, через\над, prefix “пере-“(E. g. A lamp was hanging over the table. There was over a hundred people at the meeting. Chkalov was the first pilot to fly over the North Pole. The boy climbed over the wall of the garden.), between, among (is always followed by a plural noun. (E.g. I saw him among the people), round, inside, outside, below. (E.g. It was very dark outside).
Prepositions of place At, In, On
At (at the bus-stop, at the table, at the window, at the station, at school, at work, at home, at the cinema, at Mike’s house);
In (E.g. in Spain, in the South of France, in the park, in the country, in a village, in the house);
On (E .g. on the sofa, on page 7, on the Volga).
At or In (at- в общественном месте e. g. I had a hard day at the office. In- внутри здания (E.g. I left my coat in the office.)
At – адрес с номером дома (E.g. The University is at 25, Booth Street.)
In – название улицы (E.g. They live in Garden Lane.)
Prepositions at, in, on are used in the following expressions:
At
At the top\bottom of the page, at the end of the street, at\on the corner of the street, at the front\back of a building\hall\cinema\group of people, at the traffic lights, at the seaside.
In
In a row\ in row five(but: on the front\back row), in a line\queue, in an armchair (but: on a chair), in a photograph\mirror, in the sky, in the front\back of a car, in bed, in hospital, in prison, in the water,\sea\river.
On
On the right\left (hand side), on the ground\first floor, on a small island, on the way to, on a farm, on the front\back of a letter\paper.
Prepositions of directions
To
Go to America, fly to Moscow, go to the bank, be sent to prison, come to England, walk to work, go to a party, be taken to hospital, return to Italy, drive to the station, go to the theatre, go to bed.
Into, out of, towards, from, off (E.g. The knife fell off the table. Cut a bit off the rope, it’s too long).
Onto/on to, past. (E.g. We were driving past the church)
Moving in space
Across, over, through, along, up/down, (a) round, about. (E.g. He could not swim across the river).
Some Prepositions confused
Between and among
Between is used for two people or things, among- for more than two. Between is also used when the speaker sees the surrounding objects separately, there are not many of them, and each one is clearly distinct from the other.
Words like divide and share are followed by between when we use several singular nouns.
Prepositions with the forms of transport
| Types of vehicles or transport we use to travel | Physical position of the person (what transport he is in/on) |
| By car/by bus/by bicycle-by road By boat/by ship/by sea By train-by rail By plane-by air | In the car/in a van/in a taxi/in a lorry On the bus/on my bicycle/ on a big ship/on a liner/ on a ferry/on the train/on the 6.45train/on the plane/on a jet |
| NB! On foot | In for cars and taxis |
| On for bicycles and public transport |
Get in(to)/out of a car/taxi, get on/off a bicycle/bus/train/plane.
Prepositions of time
| At | On | In |
| exact time at ten o’clock meal times at lunch points of time at night festivals at Christmas (but! On Christmas day) age at the age of… moment/time at present beginning/end at the end of… | days of the week on Monday parts of the day on Monday morning dates on July 1st anniversaries on your birthday festivals on New Year’s Day particular occasions on that day | parts of the day in the evening(but! On Monday morning) months in May years in 2050 seasons in (the) spring centuries in the 20th century periods in a few minutes |
NB! We do not use at/on/in before:
-this
-last
-next
-every
