Prepositions in English
Rule 1 : Across
- Across - On teh opposite side of
- My Cousin lives across the river.✔
- Across - From one side to another
- The boy swam across the river ✔
- Across - both sides
- He threw the luggage across his shoulders ✔
- Come Across - means meet accidentally / suddenly
Rule 2 :
- Between
- Used for two persons / things.
- She is sitting between munni and sheela. ✔
- Among
- Used with more than two persons / things
- The principal distributed prizes among the winners ✔
- Amid or Amidst
- Used for more than two persons / things (groups)
- Amid his friends ✔
- It was hard to hear amid all the cheering. ✔
Rule 3 :
- During - denotes duration.
- During the war, many people suffered hardship. ✔
- We go to Darjeeling during summer every year. ✔
Rule 4 :
- From - is used with past / future tenses.
- I stayed there from Monday to Wednesday. ✔
- I will start my preparation from Monday next. ✔
Rule 5 :
- Of - denotes origin / cause
- She comes of a rich family (origin) ✔
- He died of Malaria (cause) but she died in an accident. ✔
- Off - denotes 'separation'
- A button has come off. ✔
- He is off duty today. ✔
Rule 6 : After a preposition, a pronoun under objective case should be used.
- He depends on I. ☓
- He depends on me. ✔
Rule 7 : When two words are connected by 'and / or' etc., the prepositions should be mentioned clearly to be used with them.
- He was surprised at as well as pleased with her performance. ✔
- She is conscious and engaged in her work. ☓
- She is conscious of and engaged in her work ✔
Rule 8 : No preposition should be used with the noun 'Home'
except when it is followed by an adjective in the possessive case, say
go to home / arrive home / reach home / get home.
- I went to his home / He went home. ✔
- He decided to go to Krishna's home. ✔
Rule 9 : After transitive verbs such as
'Discuss/Describe/reach/order/tell/demand/attach/resemble/ridicule etc.
no preposition is used. The verbs directly take an object.
- The poet describes about the beauty of nature.☓
- The poet describes the beauty of nature. ✔
- He ordered for two cups of tea. ☓
- He ordered two cups of tea. ✔
Rule 10 : After the verbs "Say / suggest / propose / speak / explain / reply / complain / talk / listen / write" the proposition "to" should be used if any object is used.
- He did not reply me. ☓
- He did not reply to me. ✔
- You never wrote me. ☓
- You never wrote to me. ✔
- He suggested her that she should eat less. ☓
- He suggested to her that she should eat less. ✔
Rule 11 :
- Since - Denotes point of time
- For - denotes period of time.
- They should be used with present tense or the present perfect continuous tense / past perfect tense / past perfect continuous tenses.
- I know her since 2011. ☓
- I have known her since 2011. ✔
- He is working in the bank for the past 3 years. ☓
- He has been working in the bank for the past 3 years. ✔
Rule 12 : After the verb "Enter" the preposition "into" should
not be used except when it is used with reference to agreement or
conversation.
- He entered into the premises without any permission. ☓
- He entered the premises without any permission. ✔
- They entered a hot discussion. ☓
- They entered into a hot discussion. ✔
Rule 13 :
- Wait for - Await.
- He is awaiting for the reply. ☓
- He is awaiting the reply. ✔
- Despite - inspite of.
- Despite of his hard work, he failed in the examination. ☓
- Despite his hard work he fail3ed in the examination. ✔
- This book comprises of 5 chapters.
- This book comprises of 5 chapters. ✔
- This book consists of 5 chapters. ✔
Rule 14 :
- Dispose of - Sell away.
- He disposed off his scooter. ☓
- He disposed of his scooter. ✔
