Definition of Preposition | Grammar

Definition of Preposition: A preposition is a word used before a noun or pronoun to show its relation with the other words of the sentence.

• The book is on the table
• The pen is in the inkpot
• The cat is under the table
• The boy is behind the hut.

Correct use of Prepositions: Definition of Preposition

Use of ‘At’: (name of smaller places, target, rate, price, time, temporary action, age )

Ex-

• My brother lives at bharauli. 
• I live in Ahudi hat.
• My sister lives in buxar
• He is at work.
• She is in play.
• He got that book at Rs 50.

Use of ‘In’( bigger places, phrases, meaning, permanent action, a period of time,  )

Ex- 

• We live in India.
• India is in Asia.
• She lived in Uttar Pradesh
• Mr Thakur lives in Patna
• In the evening 
• In the morning
• In the world
• In hospital
• He is in the navy
• In a week

Use of Into: ( Into is used for motion inside anything, medium)

• The frog fell into the well
• He jumped into the river
• The robbers broke into my house
• Translate into English
• Milk turns into curd
• Water turns into ice.

Use of ‘On’: ( For a surface of a thing, for a particular day or date )

• There are 5 books on the table.
• He was carrying a suitcase on his head.
• The headmaster is sitting on a wheelchair.
• On Monday.
• On the same night.
• On holiday
• On television.
• On the radio

Use of ‘Between’: ( Between is used for two persons or two things)

• She was sitting between her husband and her father.
• Divide these mangoes between you and me.
• Contact us between 7 A.M and 7 P.M.
• The batsman blew a whistle between the balls.
• There is a good relationship between each boy and the next.

Use of ‘Among’: ( Among is used for more than two persons or things )

• Divide these mangoes among the children.
• Among the boys.
• Amongst our brothers.
• Among us.

Use of ‘Besides’ and ‘Besides’:-

i) Besides is used for by the side of/ outside

• Go and sit beside your father.
• The child was sitting beside the mother.

ii) Besides is used for ‘In addition to’

• Besides Prity, all of the girls were present in the class.
• Besides the Ramayana, I have the Gita.
• Besides Urdu, I know English and Hindi.
• Besides a book, you have bought a notebook.

Use of ‘Above’: ( Above is used for higher than or over )

• The aeroplane is flying above the cloud.
• The kites rise above the cloud.
• There are above 50 students in the class.
• Mount Everest is 8848 metres above sea level.

Use of ‘Over’:( above something without touching)

• The clouds are over our heads
• The plane is flying the over the town
• English is spoken all over the world.
• Mr Ganguly is over forty.
• The college is over 4 P.M.

Use of ‘Upon’: ( Upon is used for things in motion )

• Once upon a time, Bat and Mongoose were great friends.
• The lion sprang upon the prey.

Use of ‘Below’: ( Below is used for lower than )

• My father is below seventy.
• This work is below my dignity.
• His income is below Rs 5000/- a month.

Use of ‘Under’: ( on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else, less than )

• The cat is sitting under the chair.
• A writer is under the publisher.
• The administration is under the government.
• She was underage.
• I have under rupees two hundred.
• The police arrested the terrorist under the warrant of the court.

Use of ‘Beneath’:( Beneath is used in the place of Under )

• He was sitting beneath the tree.

Note:- There is no difference between Beneath and Under.

Use of ‘Behind’: ( Behind is used for “at the back of” )

• My daughter was hiding behind the door.
• She was exactly behind me.
• He has left nothing behind him.
• Prity Gupta has left her footprints behind me.

Use of ’By’: ( By is used for From, any work done by someone, rate, weight, measurement, during, passive voice,  left or right of somebody or something, in the sense of at the latest as well as in Phrases)

• The child came and sat by her.
• The child came and sat beside her.
• Her village is by the river.
• Her village is beside the river.
• By cycle.
• By aeroplane.
• He goes to college by train.
• He travelled by night.
• The boy was bitten by the teacher.
• Apples are sold by the kilo.
• This room is 10.ft by 8.ft
• Silver is sold by the gram.
• Prity got a prize by hard work.
• By order.
• By cheque.
• By air.
• By road.
• By chance.
• By god.
• By mistake.

Use of ‘Of’: ( Of is used for From, ‘ka, ke, ki’, about, origin/sources, quality also in some Phrases )

• She died of fever
• I am fond of music
• His wife is tired of work
• He died of grief. (dukh)
• He died of COVID-19
• Manish is one of my friends
• He has heard of that accident
• Do you know of me?
• Pandit Nehru came of a rich family
• He died by violence
• This is the publication of K.K production
• What is the cause of murder?
• My brother-in-law is weak in understanding.
• I have eaten one of those apples
• Our publisher is a man of principle
• I lived in the house of Anand
• Chinki is blind of one eye
• Full of
• Sure of 
• Short of money
• Worth of

Use of ‘Off’: ( Off is used for At a distance from, far from, separation )

• There was a village a little way off the sea coast.
• He put off his coat
• Switch off the phone

Use of ‘till’ and ‘until’:( till /until is used for Ending time )

• He works in the company from 7 a.m till 2 p.m
• He works in the factory at 6 a.m until 3 p.m
• My father-in-law will stay here until next Friday
• Her brother-in-law until stay here until next Friday

Use of ‘In front of’ 

• There is a tree in front of my house
• There was a beautiful garden
• Manoj is standing in front of me in the queue
• Aviraj is standing before me in the queue
• There were around 50 students in the class

Use of ‘Around’ and ‘Round’

1. i) Around is used for here there, around us and many places

• There were sitting around the garden
• We were wondering around the street
• Stop walking around and start working

1. ii) Round is used for surrounding

• We were sitting round the table
• The earth moves round the sun
• The whole world is round

Use of ‘Amid’ and ‘Amidst’: ( Amid/Amidst is used for in the middle of )

• A beautiful girl was sitting amid/ amidst the young
• There was a small cottage amid/amidst the building

Use of ‘Up’ and ‘Down’

• He got up ask a question
• Prices of articles are still going up
• Stop writing the time is up
• Climb up here
• Walk up the road

Phrases	English meaning	Hindi meaning
Up and down	To and fro	Idhar-udhar
On the up	Frank, sincere, honest	Imandar, sacha
Up with	To raise	uthana-ubhadna

• The sun has gone down
• Jump down carefully
• Sit down, please
• He was walking down the street

Phrase	English Meaning	Hindi meaning
Bent down	inclined	Jhuka hua
Down to the ground	completely	Purn rup se
Down to the present day	Up to this day	Aaj tak
To get down	To descend	Utarna
To hiss down	To silence	Chup karna

Use of ‘through’:( Through is used for One side to other, from beginning to the end and also in every part of )

• He knew it through a newspaper
• The bagger went through the market
• Can you see through glass?
• They got through the examination
• They went through many difficulties
• He was with me throughout the day

Use of ‘Beyond’:( Beyond is used for the further side of, after then, except)

• Don’t go beyond the river
• There is a village beyond the street
• My uncle has nothing beyond his provident fund

Use of ‘during’:( During is used for In course of, a certain period of time )

• The sun gives us light during the day
• No buddy would talk during my discourse
• During the over
• During the meeting
• During the middle age
• During Diwali
• During the winter
• During the year
• During the dinner, he talked about the plan

Use of ‘against’: ( Against is used for contravention of “ke virudh”, opposite, on, adjoining and comparison )

• The workers have acted against the orders of the director
• One should not go against the rule
• Sailing against the current is difficult
• It is difficult to paddle the cycle against the wind
• There is a ladder against the wall
• She is leaning against the chair
• The director knows nothing against my character

Use of ‘from’ 

• He has come from Mumbai
• The wind blew from the south
• The fruits have fallen from this tree
• I attended the meeting from morning to evening
• He will teach the students from 10 a.m
• I left her from my childhood
• His beloved has been suffering from fever
• Curd is made from milk
• Furniture is made of wood.

Use of ‘Across’: ( Across is used for on the opposite side of, from one side to the other, on both sides )

• My elder sister lives across the Gaga river.
• There were trees across the house.
• She was putting the shawl across her soldiers.
• There is a bridge across the river.

Use of ‘About’

• She has doubt about his honesty.
• What do you know about this incident?
• It is at about 12 clocks.
• The college is six miles from my house.
• The books were lying about the office.
• A circle is drawn about a triangle.
• He is about to die.
• The election is about to begin.

Use of ‘Along’:( Along is used for In the same line )

• He was walking along the road
• Versha went to Malesia along with her husband

Use of ‘Before’

• She was standing before the mirror
• The case was brought before the judge
• The patient had died before the doctor came.
• I take a meal before going to the market.
• I had breakfast before he came.

Use of ‘After’

• He went there after one week.
• She went to college after 10 a.m.
• Sunday comes after Saturday.
• April comes after the march.
• These poems have been written after William Shakespeare.
• Day after day.
• Village after village.
• After that
• One after another

Use of ‘With’:( Use of With is for “se, ke dwara, ke sath, sath-sath, ke rehte hue bhi, ke bawajood” )

• He writes with a pen 
• He cuts the mango with a knife.
• Aviraj went to Shimla with his friend.
• A beautiful girl came with her lover.
• With all his wealth, he is unhappy
• With all his bad habit, he is a good person.
• The soldiers fought with courage.
• The boys were sitting in the class with patience.
• A gold with big blue eyes reads in her class.

Use of ‘Without’

• A woman cannot live without a man.
• We cannot survive without water.
• One cannot write without a pen.
• We cannot see without eyes.

Use of ‘Within’

• I shall do it within an hour.
• He will come within this month.
• Buxar is within 5 km from my residence.

Use of ‘Towards’: ( Towards is used for ‘ In the direction of’ )

• He was going towards the university.
• She went toward college.
• My brother is kind towards college.
• My brother is kind towards the poor. 

Some important prepositional Phrases