Preposition

Preposition is a word or a group of words placed before noun or pronoun. Prepositions show the relationships of time, direction, motion, location, source, method etc.

Uses of Some Preposition

Use of ‘on’

i. Before days: e.g. on Monday, on my birthday

ii. Dates: e.g. on December, 23rd, on Baisakh 12th
iii. Position: e.g. on the table, on the floor
iv. Concerning: e.g. He is speaking on wildlife conservation in Nepal.
V. To make phrase: e.g. get on, go on, keep on, live on, jump on, put on, switch on etc.
Use of “on to” (meaning to motion/ever): on to the wall.
Use of “in”
i.  Year: in 1940, in two years.
ii. Month: in January, in March, in Ashad.
iii. Season: in spring, in autumn.
iv. Parts of the day: in the morning, in the evening.
v. In + period of time: in five minutes.
vi. To denote place: in Kathmandu, in Nepal.
vii. Things; worn on the body: in a blue sari, in a black coat.
viii. To make phrase: get in, in addition to, in a hurry, in front of, in return, in search of, in spite of, in the past.
Used of “into” (in motion inside): e.g. into the classroom, into the car etc.
Use of “by”:
i. By + point of time: by 2001, by 30th January
ii. Passing through, along, across: Ramita came by the field.
In the passive voice, means of transport, route, mode of payment, units of measurement, doing something: Ravan was killed by Ram, by bus, by the back door, a tree by my house, by cheque, by learning English etc.
Use of “at”
i. Hour: at 3 o’clock, at four o’clock
ii. Noon at noon, at night
iii. Festivals: at Dashain, at Tihar
iv. Denote place (very small): at the bus stop, at hotel
Use of “over”
i. (vertically above, up, without touching): Many planes fly over Mt. Everest,
ii. (covered fully / partly): Ink has spilt over the cloth.
Use of “above” (upwards, higher than):
e.g. The blackboard is above the desk.
Use of “under” (vertically below, down without touching)
The ball is under the tree. The cow is under the tree.

Use of “in front of”: The tree is in front of the car.
Use of “behind”: The car is behind the house.
Use of “beneath”: The road is beneath the car, wheel.
Use of ” below” (vertically down): The fish is below the car
Use of “of”
i. Express to possession: top of the mountain
ii. Measure: a meter of cloth
iii. Quantity: a kilo of sugar, a glass of milk
iv. Cause: die of hunger
V. In age: He is the man of seventy.
vi. To make phrase: because of, in spite of, of course etc.
Use of “off”:
i. down, away from: He fell off a ladder. Jump off the wall.
ii. Disconnection: turn the Radio off.
Use of “up”: (movement from higher): go up, stand up, hands up.
Use of “down”
i. Movement from higher to lower: He goes down the hill. Write down your lesson. Put down the book.
ii. To make phrase: climb down, get down, bend down, knock down, jump down, take down etc.
Use of “with”
i. Indication of the tool: Write a letter with a pen.
ii. In company of: Rita goes to Pokhara with her father.
Physical features: a man with a long nose.
iv. Showing possession: a boy with an umbrella, the child with a dirty face.
V. To make phrase: encounter with, discuss with
Use of “to”
i. Movement of direction: point to tree, the way to Kathmandu, go to work,
ii. Use with these words: listen to, equal to, related to, injurious to
iii. up to/toward: He went to the park.
iv. To make phrase: used to, up to, refers to, in addition to, in order to, new to, belong to, get to etc.
Use of “from”
1. Starting point or place of origin: He is from Japan, from page 19 to 22, from the wool, from Kathmandu.
ii. Cause: She is suffering from Cholera.
iii. Movement: He came from India last week.
iv. With words: different from, protect from, recover from etc.
Time at which something starts: from Sunday, from tomorrow.
Use of “between” (position of two bodies): the house is between the two trees.
Use of “among” (position with more than two bodies): The house is among the trees.
Use of “before” (earlier than): before he slept.
Use of “after” (later than): after they had gone.
Use of “during” (through a period of time): during the festival.

Use of “inside” (towards inside): inside the house.
Use of “outside” (towards outside): outside the room.
Use of “through” (movement usually from one side to the other and disappear something from there): He went to school through the jungle.
Use of “across” (from one side to another ): He ran across the bridge.
Use of “against”: (pressing, pushing): He is leaning against the wall. Press against my back.
Use of ” beside” (Near): Sit beside me.
Use of “without” (not having / not with): Don’t travel without a ticket. Don’t go to jungle without friends.
Use of “along” (from one end to the other): He carefully ran along the road.
Use of ” from…to” (up to): From Palpa to Butwal, from Saurha to Pokhara
Use of “towards” (some where near); Dog runs towards the hut.
Use of “about”
i. Concerning: Talk about history.
ii. Approximately: It will cost about Rs 20.
Position: I know nothing about her.
Use of “besides (expects)”: Besides water, there is nothing.
Use of until “(till now)”: he worked hard until last Monday.
Use of “within”: (after not more than the specified period of time): within month, within a week.
Use of “out of”
i. (towards outside): out of the bus.
ii. (from with in): passengers came out of the bus.
Use of “since”
i. (from past till now): since last week.
ii. Since + point of time: since Sunday, since 3 o’clock, since yesterday, since long
Use of “for”
i. (duration): for eleven years, for an hour.
ii. For + period of time: for the days, or a decade for the week
iii. (to show purpose): He goes to school for study. Shiva went to market for buying many things.
Use of “except (besides): We eat all kinds of meat except beef.
Use of ‘On’ with verbs like: [keep on, pass on, live on, move on, rely on, depend on, insist on, put on, switch on, turn on etc.]
Use of ‘in’ to make phrasal verbs: [deal in, believe in, succeed in etc.]
Use of ‘at’ to make phrasal verbs: [laugh at, grin at, smile at, stare at etc.]
Use of ‘of’ with verbs like: [die of, deprive of, accused of, afraid of, fond of, tired of, short of, lack of. get rid of, take care of, dream of, consist of etc.]
Use of ‘off’ special uses with many verbs like: [cut off, fall off, switch off, turn off, finish off, get off, take off, doze off etc.]
Use of ‘for’ with some verbs like: [apply for, look for, apologize for, pay for, search for, leave for, care for etc.]