Prepositions Of Place English Grammar Rules

Prepositions of Place

English Grammar Rules

SENTENCES

In front of

• A band plays their music in front of an audience.

• The teacher stands in front of the students.

• The man standing in the line in front of me smells bad.

• Teenagers normally squeeze their zits in front of a mirror.

Behind

Behind is the opposite of In front of. It means at the back (part) of something.

• When the teacher writes on the whiteboard, the students are behind him (or her).

• Who is that person behind the mask?

• I slowly down because there was a police car behind me.

Between

Between normally refers to something in the middle of two objects or things (or places).

• There are mountains between Chile and Argentina.

• The number 5 is between the number 4 and 6.

• There is a sea (The English Channel) between England and France.

Across From / Opposite

Across from and Opposite mean the same thing. It usually refers to something being in front of something else BUT there is normally something between them like a street or table. It is similar to saying that someone (or a place) is on the other side of something.

• I live across from a supermarket (= it is on the other side of the road)

• The chess players sat opposite each other before they began their game.

(= They are in front of each other and there is a table between them)

Next to / Beside

Next to and Beside mean the same thing. It usually refers to a thing (or person) that is at the side of another thing.

• At a wedding, the bride stands next to the groom.

• Guards stand next to the entrance of the bank.

• He walked beside me as we went down the street.

• In this part of town there isn't a footpath beside the road so you have to be careful.

Near / Close to

Near and Close to mean the same thing. It is similar to next to / beside but there is more of a distance between the two things.

• The receptionist is near the front door.

• This building is near a subway station.

• We couldn't park the car close to the store.

• Our house is close to a supermarket.

On

On means that something is in a position that is physically touching, covering or attached to something.

• The clock on the wall is slow.

• He put the food on the table.

• I can see a spider on the ceiling.

• We were told not to walk on the grass.

Above / Over

Above and Over have a similar meaning. The both mean "at a higher position than X" but above normally refers to being directly (vertically) above you.

• Planes normally fly above the clouds.

• There is a ceiling above you.

• There is a halo over my head. ;)

• We put a sun umbrella over the table so we wouldn't get so hot.

• Our neighbors in the apartment above us are rally noisy.

Over can also mean: physically covering the surface of something and is often used with the word All as in All over.

• There water all over the floor.

• I accidentally spilled red wine all over the new carpet.

Over is often used as a Preposition of Movement too.

Under / Below

Under and Below have a similar meaning. They mean at a lower level. (Something is above it).

• Your legs are under the table.

• Monsters live under your bed.

• A river flows under a bridge.

• How long can you stay under the water?

• Miners work below the surface of the Earth.

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