Prepositions

Lesson 1 Prepositions

Essential Question

How can we relate nouns and pronouns to time, location, and direction?

Grammar in the World

When we communicate with others, we often speak or write sentences that include references to time, location, and direction:

Your dinner is on the table. (location)

The cat sleeps during the day. (time)

She travels from Germany. (direction)

Look at the farm animals in the picture below and note how you can describe the animals’ location in relation to the fence:

The chicken is on the fence.

The pig is under the fence.

The horse is behind the fence.

barnyard animals

image source Links to an external site.

In this lesson, you will learn how to identify general prepositions used to show time, location, and direction.

What Do I Know?

What do you already know about using words to indicate time, location, and direction?

Read each sentence and choose the preposition from the list of choices.

Building Blocks

Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time. It is also helpful to see how each skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:

Learn About Prepositions

Prepositions are words that help us connect nouns and pronouns to time and space.

Prepositions of time include at, in, and on, each of which is used to answer the question "when?" about the verb's action.

Preposition:	Purpose:	Examples:
at	specific time	The wedding is at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. My chickens go to bed at sunset. Please be home at dinnertime. Let’s eat lunch together at noon. I read to my son at bedtime.
in	months, years, centuries, long periods of time	Amelie’s birthday is in July. I graduated from high school in 1992. Shakespeare was born in the 16th century. Llamas became extinct in the Ice Age. I like to eat fresh produce in the summer.
on	days and dates	Matt and Jack’s birthdays are on May 11th. In the United States, Valentine’s Day is on February 14th. We go out for lunch after church on Sundays. What would you like to do for fun on your birthday?

Prepositions also often are used to show place. One easy way to identify prepositions that show place is to think of an object and where that object can be placed in relation to another object.

For example:

My dog is on the table.

My dog is under the table.

My dog is behind the table.

My dog is in front of the table.

My dog is to the left of the table.

We could keep going and going!

Here are some common prepositions that are used to show place.

in	The cake is baking in the oven.
at	Megan’s family waits at the zoo.
on	My coffee is on the table.
by	You left your backpack by the front door.
next to	The cat is asleep next to the fireplace.
beside	I lay the spoon beside the bowl.
near	The coffee shop is near my work.
between	Intermission took place between Acts I and II.
behind	My pond is behind my house.
in front of	They hung Christmas lights on the trees in front of their house.
under	My dog hid under the table during the fireworks display.
below	The book you are looking for is below the top shelf.
over	James went over the waterfall on a kayak.
above	The kites danced playfully above us.
across	Leigh skated gracefully across the ice.
through	Little Red Riding Hood walked through the woods.
to	I am excited about traveling to Brazil again.
into	Anna needs to go into the bakery to pick up donuts for breakfast.
towards	The couple ran happily towards one another.
onto	The players ran onto the field.
from	The flight from Missouri to Vietnam is quite long.

Do I Get It?

What have you learned about prepositions? Check your understanding in the following interactive exercise.

Choose the preposition that best fits each sentence, below.