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The prepositions are numerous in English. They are generally difficult to use because of their difference to the French language. In a first part, we will present the prepositions which follow a noun or an adjective ; and in a second part, we will deal with the prepositions which follow a verb.

First of all, there are few general rules, so many examples will be used. Anyway, we can note that :

many adjectives and nouns are followed by a precise preposition. Ex : different from ; a look at ; a tendancy to.
the majority of the preposition have different functions. Ex : the preposition at : at home indicates a place ; at night indicates a moment.

I. THE PREPOSITION WHICH FOLLOW A NOUN OR AN ADJECTIVE

A. The prepositions of place.

1. The difference between at and in :

at is used to indicate a place of a collective activity. Ex : at school ; at the restaurant. Or to indicate a precise point.

Ex : at the bus stop.

in is used to indicate a geographic place. Ex : in France . Or an enclosed place.

Ex : in the garden.

The choice between at and in is made according to the meaning.

Compare she waited for us at the bus station and she waited for us in the station.

2. The difference between in/into, on/onto :

into and onto describe a mouvement.

Ex : I wanted to go into my bedroom but someone in it had lock the door.

the opposite movement of into is expressed by out of.

3. The difference of use between in front of, opposite, facing :

in front of is generally used when the thing or the person is seen from behind.

Ex : the people in front of me in the queue.

opposite is used when the thing is on the other side of something.

Ex : our house is opposite the church.

facing has the same meaning of opposite with an idea of symetry.

4. The different uses of in/out, outside/inside :

inside and outside insist on the difference between the inside and the outside.

5. The prepositions of, from, to, towards :

from indicates the origin, and of the quality.

Compare a man from Marseille with a man of noble birth.

to indicates the destination, and towards the direction.

Compare I didn’t know where to go with My back is towards the door.

6. The difference between accross and though :

accross means that a plane surface is covered.

Ex : accross the line.

though means that we cover a thickness.

Ex : nails were hammered through the plank.

7. The difference between on, upon, above, over :

on and upon have the same meaning, but upon is less frequent.

above and over are almost synonymous, but generally, above indicates a difference of level between two things.

Ex : the people who live above.

over implies an idea of crossing.

8. Remarks about near, next to, close to, by :

near is used without to.

next to, close to, by are synonymous.

B. The prepositions of time.

1. On

On is used in different cases :

to indicate the days of the week
to indicate a precise day. Ex : the day of my accident.
to indicate a moment during the day, when it is specified by a day or an adjective. Ex : on Friday night.

On disappears with tomorrow, yesterday, last, next, any, some, every, all. Ex : You can call me any day ; last night.

To describe the moment when an action happened.

Ex : on his arrival.

2. In

In is used in different cases :

to describe a moment during the day in a general meaning. Ex : in the morning.
to indicate the monthes, the years, the periods.

3. At

At is used :

to describe a feast. Ex : at Christmas.
to indicate the hour of a rendez-vous, or the beginning of an activity. Ex : he came at 10.

4. For and Since

For and since have two different meanings :

for expresses the idea of a duration.
since indicates the beginning of a period.

5. In the ans At the

The difference between in the end and at the end :

in the end means finally and begins the sentence.
at the end is followed by a noun. Ex : at the end of the match.

C. Other prepositions.

1. The difference between like, as, such as :

as generally indicates a function. Ex : as a doctor.
such as introduces examples.

2. Other prepositions have to be remembered because they are different to French :

by car/train...
for example.
in my opinion/my view...
in pen.
in general.
in the snow/the rain...
on foot.
out of order/use/date/pace.
with luck...........

II. PREPOSITIONS FOLLOWED BY A VERB, AND POSTPOSITIONS

There are two situations when a verb is followed by a preposition :

the preposition can introduce a complement after the verb, or
the postposition which changes the meaning of the verb. In this case, it’s a phrasal verb.

A. The prepostion following a verb

We are going to do short presentation of the most useful prepositions

1. The difference between the prepositions to and at.

The preposition at is used after the verbs : to look, to glance, to point…

Ex : why are you looking at me ?

The preposition to is generally used with the verbs : to talk to somebody, to listen, to write, to invite ( to a party , for exemple)

But some verbs can be followed by at orto, but with a difference of meaning

Ex : you will use the expression :

" to shout at somebody " when you are angry
" to shout to somebody " if somebody can not hear you

2. The preposition " for "

For is generally used with the verbs :

to pay ( for something), to apologise (for a mistake), to thank somebody for something…

3. the preposition " from "

ex : to suffer from a desease
ex : to protect from ( or against )

4. The preposition " on "

ex : to depend on, ( to depend on the traffic)
ex : to rely on someone, because he always keeps his promises
ex : to concentrate on ( to concentrate on the work)
ex : to insist on
ex : to spend ( to spend on food…)

5. The preposition " in "

ex : to believe in,
ex : to succeed in

But many prepositions can be used by the same verb to precise it

the verb " to care ", it can be more precised like to care about , to care for, or to care of.

In this situation, to care about is used when you take about something which is important, to care for is used when you talked about somebody** and the expression "to care of " means " look after " (ex : take care of yourself)

For he same reasons, the verb " to look " can change its meaning.

Ex : to look after is different from the expression " to look for " which is used when you want to find something or someone.

B. The phrasal verb

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition which changes absolutely the meaning of the verb.

1. We can quote he most useful postpositions :

We can use the prepositions with the verb of movement

For example :

To get on
To drive off
To come back

But most of the time, the preposition give a special meaning to the verb

For example :

to break down,
to look out ( means to be careful),
to get by (means to manage),
to give up,

2. Some phrasal verbs can be followed by an another preposition, to introduce a complement

Ex : to cut down on smoking, which means : to try reduce smoking

3. For the phrasal verbs which have an object, there are two possibles positions for the verb in the sentence.

Ex : I turned off the light, or you can say I turned the light off.

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