Prepositions in English

Friends, in this post we shall see some important rules of Prepositions.

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
• When I was going to market, I came across an old friend. ✔
• I suddenly came across him ☓
• I came across him. ✔

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.  ✔