Prepositions

A preposition is a word placed before a noun, pronoun, or gerund to show how it relates to the rest of the sentence — usually in terms of place, time, direction, manner, or cause.

• The book is on the table. (place)

• I'll call you at 6 PM. (time)

• She walked towards the door. (direction)

Prepositions are notoriously one of the most difficult areas of English grammar, for a simple reason: their use often doesn't follow clear, universal logic. The same preposition can behave differently across contexts, and many combinations (interested in, depend on, good at) simply have to be learned as fixed pairings, rather than derived from a rule. Even the "logical" categories — place, time, direction — have plenty of exceptions and overlaps once you look closely.

We'll begin with the more visual, rule-based categories (place, movement, time), then move into manner, cause, and possession, before finishing with the area that causes the most difficulty for learners: fixed preposition combinations with specific adjectives, verbs, and nouns.