Prepositions and conjunctions
Choosing the right preposition of time, place and movement, and the linking word that fits the meaning
Prepositions are small words that show the relationship between things, especially in time, place and movement. For time we use 'at' with clock times and 'night' (at 6 o'clock, at night), 'on' with days and dates (on Monday, on 5 May), and 'in' with months, years and parts of the day (in July, in 2020, in the morning); we also use 'for' with a length of time and 'since' with a starting point. For place we use 'at' for a point (at home, at school), 'in' for an enclosed space or a town (in a box, in London) and 'on' for a surface (on the table, on the wall), plus words like under, between, among, next to, in front of and behind. For movement we use 'to', 'into', 'onto', 'out of', 'through' and 'across'. Some verbs and adjectives always take a fixed preposition, called a dependent preposition (depend on, listen to, wait for, good at, interested in, afraid of). Conjunctions join ideas: coordinating ones (and, but, or, so) link equal parts, while subordinating ones (because, although, when, if, unless, so that) show reason, contrast, time or condition. For example: 'We stayed at home because it was raining, but we still enjoyed the day.'
Rules
- 1Prepositions of time: use 'at' for clock times and 'night' (at 7 o'clock, at night), 'on' for days and dates (on Friday, on 3 May), 'in' for months, years and parts of the day (in May, in 2019, in the evening).
- 2Prepositions of place: use 'at' for a point (at home, at the bus stop), 'in' for an enclosed space or town (in the room, in Baku), and 'on' for a surface (on the floor, on the wall).
- 3Prepositions of movement: use 'to' (go to school), 'into'/'out of' (walk into/out of a room), 'through' (go through a tunnel) and 'across' (swim across the river).
- 4Dependent prepositions are fixed: depend on, listen to, look at, wait for, good at, interested in, afraid of, proud of, married to.
- 5Conjunctions show meaning: 'and' adds, 'but'/'although' show contrast, 'because'/'since' give a reason, 'so' shows a result, and 'if'/'unless' show a condition.
Practice
10 easy · 10 medium · 10 hard