Prepositions of Place

This lesson is on prepositions of place prepositions have place refer to the location of objects people or places.

The most common prepositions of place are at en and in the others that will look at.

Also in this lesson are by near close to next to the side between behind in front of over above below and under.

we use at a specific location or event I will wait for you at the cinema entrance Paul is sitting at the bar.

We met the customers at the head office Sid’s house is at the end of the street everyone had a great time at the party yesterday Steve is studying maths at university Read on for surfaces or if something is on top of something else the mug is on the table don’t sit on the grass if it’s wet please leave the drinks on the tray Jack hung a picture on the wall.

don’t sit on that chair it’s just been painted me in when we’re talking about enclosed spaces or even geographical locations the plates are in the cupboard.

there are thousands of books in the library most people cook in the kitchen.

London is in England we have a meeting in Toronto next week in your opinion what is the best band in the world.

we use by near and close to when the distance between two things is small and it is worth noting that close to is the only one that uses the word to you wouldn’t have by two or near to but Peter prefer to sit by the window when flying train likes to sit near the entrance of the cinema.

we have Jane likes to sit near to the entrance of the cinema you wouldn’t that the two is is wrong there.

We do not need that the first version Jane likes to sit near the entrance of the cinema is correct however don’t stand so close to me.

and next to and beside our phone two things are adjacent and beside is slightly more formal than next to the bus was empty why did he have to sit down next to me.

Jenny sits beside Mary at school.

my uncle is standing next to my sister in the photo John’s house is beside the restaurant we use between when one thing is in the middle of two other things put a slice of cheese between two slices of bread voilà you now have a cheese sandwich would you like to sit between Tony and Peter Donny is an idiot nothing between this is at all his house is between the Browns and the Bulls old joke time Mr. Mrs. Brown one side.

Mr. Mrs. Ball the other side.

And this is how we say their house is between the Browns and the bulls.

And this is the punchline of the old joke is when his house caught fire.

He was very happy to be pulled out by the Browns use behind when one thing is to the rear of the back of something else and it is the opposite of in front of pull got behind the wheel of the car and drove away Peter is standing behind Paula in the queue Sadie’s hung her coat behind the door the car park is behind the supermarket and then we have in front of what we mean one thing is situated before another thing.

And as we heard it’s the opposite behind which you’ve just seen the teacher stood in front of the class let us not put the cupboard in front of the television.

Bad idea the man in front of Jim looks a bit like Churchill English people are usually too polite to push in front of you in a queue of course and we use over and above.

When one thing is higher than something else and these are very similar but we use over when one thing is in direct contact or where one thing covers another.

We’ll see the examples she pulled the blanket over her head that the blanket was touching her hand held the umbrella over both of us.

So in this case the umbrella isn’t actually touching us but it does cover both of us.

I like jelly with cream poured over it put the towel over the radiator to dry we said on the previous slide we use over and above.

When one thing is higher than something else although they are very similar in use we use above when something is higher but not necessarily directly over something else but we walked along the path above the lake that the path was higher than the lake but around it.

In this case we hung the picture above her bed not much of Holland is above sea level the pupil raised her hand above her head to ask a question now below and under the offices of over and above and we use these when something is lower than something else and we use under when one object covers another and underneath is another word for under the dog is hiding under the bed.

The boy put the tooth under his pillow I found your earring under the sofa there is a troll under the bridge in all these cases.

The thing that is under something else is completely under it is covered by it and then below is again used when something is lower than something else but it’s really just when it’s in a lower position not necessarily covered by it.

We can also use beneath as another word for below much of Holland is below sea level her flat is below mine.

the ship is just below the horizon I saw a big fish below the surface of the water.