English Prepositions: Place, Time and Location

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illustrated scene with the Yak Yacker mascot holding an “English Prepositions” sign, surrounded by tiny characters demonstrating place and time examples

Prepositions are the tiny words that hold English sentences together — telling where, when, how long, and how things happen. Mastering English prepositions for place, time and location helps your speech sound accurate, fluent and natural. This guide covers the most important prepositions, how to use them, common mistakes and lots of examples.

What Are Prepositions?

Prepositions link nouns/pronouns to other words. Examples: in, on, at, by, with, for, to. They often cause problems for learners because their usage doesn’t always follow rules and they vary by context.

Prepositions of Place

Key prepositions

  • in — inside something
    “She lives in London.”
  • on — on a surface or layer
    “The book is on the table.”
  • at — specific point or location
    “Meet me at the station.”
  • by / beside — next to
    “The house is by the river.”
  • under / below — beneath
    “The cat is under the chair.”
  • above / over — higher than
    “The painting hangs above the sofa.”
  • between — in the middle of two
    “We sat between Tom and Anna.”
  • among — in a group
    “She walked among the trees.”
  • behind / in front of — relative position
    “The car is behind the house.”
     “The shop is in front of the school.”

Example Sentences

  • “The keys are in my bag.”
  • “Her jacket is on the back of the chair.”
  • “We arrived at the airport at 6 pm.”
  • “The statue stands beside the fountain.”
  • “The valley lies between two mountains.”

Prepositions of Time

Main prepositions

  • at — exact time
    “The train leaves at 9 o’clock.”
  • on — days and dates
    “My birthday is on Saturday.”
     “On July 4th we celebrate…”
  • in — longer periods: months, years, seasons, parts of day
    “In July”, “In 2025”, “In summer”, “In the afternoon.”
  • by — no later than
    “I’ll finish by Monday.”
  • until / till — up to a time
    “We worked until midnight.”
  • during — throughout a period
    “We slept during the flight.”

Example Sentences

  • “The meeting is on Thursday.”
  • “She was born in 1990.”
  • “Let’s meet at 3 pm.”
  • “I will be back by Christmas.”
  • “He stayed awake until 2 a.m.”

Prepositions of Location / Movement

These describe movement to, from, or through places.

Key prepositions

  • to — movement toward
    “She went to the library.”
  • from — movement away
    “He returned from Paris.”
  • into — entering
    “She jumped into the pool.”
  • out of — exiting
    “He stepped out of the car.”
  • through — going in one side and out the other
    “They walked through the forest.”
  • across — to the other side
    “We ran across the bridge.”
  • along — following a path or line
    “They walked along the river.”
  • past — move by something
    “Drive past the school and turn left.”
  • around — movement in circle or area
    “We drove around the city.”

Example Sentences

  • “She drove to work this morning.”
  • “He came from the train station.”
  • “Jump into the car quickly!”
  • “Walk through the park and you’ll see it.”
  • “They strolled along the beach at sunset.”

Common Mistakes Learners Make

  • Mixing up in / on / at for time and place:
    Wrong: “I’ll meet you in Saturday.” → Correct: “I’ll meet you on Saturday.”
     Wrong: “She is on London.” → Correct: “She is in London.”
  • Using into when in is correct:
    Wrong: “She steps into the room and sits.” → Correct: “She steps into the room.” OR “She is in the room.”
  • Confusing during with until:
    Wrong: “I slept until the flight.” → Correct: “I slept during the flight.”
  • Omitting prepositions:
    Wrong: “I arrived 5 o’clock.” → Correct: “I arrived at 5 o’clock.”

Practice Exercises

Exercise A: Choose correct preposition

  1. The party starts ___ 7 pm.
  2. I will call you ___ Monday.
  3. He walked ___ the tunnel and emerged out ___ the cave.
  4. The cat jumped ___ the table.
  5. We stayed ___ the beach ___ two weeks.

Exercise B: Write two sentences — one about place, one about time

Use at, in, on, to, through, by.

Exercise C: Describe a picture (real or imagined)

“Describe your bedroom, using at least three prepositions of place and movement.”

Yak’s Final Chewables

Prepositions may seem small, but they carry huge meaning. When you use the right preposition — on Friday, in London, walk through the park, arrive by train — your English sounds natural, accurate, and clear. Keep practising, notice which preposition native speakers use, and soon you’ll get them right without thinking. Even a yak knows: “Meet at sunrise” is more powerful than “Meet sunrise”.