Prepositions of Place: Guide & Examples

Today we are going to learn more about what the preposition of place are and how to use them.

Prepositions are usually used in front of nouns or pronouns and they show the relationship between the noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence.

A preposition of place is a preposition which is used to refer to a place where something or someone is located.

The most common prepositions of place are:

At	by	for	among
from	in	of	around
on	to	with	because of
about	above	across	before
after	against	along	behind
below	beneath	beside	between
close to	down	during	except
inside of	into	like	near
off	on top of	onto	out of
outside	over	past	since
through	toward	under	until
up	upon	within	without

Prepositions are most commonly followed by a noun phrase or pronoun:

• The last time I saw him he was walking down the road.
• I’ll meet you in the cafe opposite the cinema.
• It was difficult to sleep during the flight.
• It was the worst storm since the 1980s.

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Prepositions of Place and their Definition

Prepositions can be used to show where something is located.

This is a list of preposition of place with their respective use.

Preposition of Place	Use
Above	in or to a higher position than something else
Across	from one side to the other of something with clear limits
After	following in time, place, or order
At	used to show an exact position or particular place
Behind	at the back
Below	in a lower position
beside	next to
between	into the space that separates two places, people, or objects
by	near or at the side of
close	not far in position or time
In front of	further forward than someone or something else
Inside	in or into a room, building,container, or something similar
Near	not far away in distance
Next to	people or things that are very close to each other with nothing in between
Outside	not inside a building
Under	in or to a position below or lower than something else

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Sentences with Prepositions of Place

These are examples of sentences using different prepositions of place.

Preposition	Sentence
Across	My Cousin Kristy lives across from the park
at	She was at the entrance of the supermarket
at	The secretary was sitting at her desk
behind	The car park is behind the building
behind	Maria is the one sitting behind Nick
below	When flying I enjoy watching the clouds below me
below	Miners work below the surface of the Earth
between	The prisoner sat between the two policemen
between	The house is between the market and the drugstore
between	There are mountains between Chile and Argentina.
By	She lives by the beach
in	The pen was in the drawer
in	She is in Liberia
in front of	The teacher stands in front of the class
in front of	The hospital is in front of the park
Inside	The gift is inside the box
Inside	I found a pack of cigarretes inside your backpack
Near	My house is near the school
Near	This building is near a subway station.
next to	In my English lesson I always sit next to my friend
next to	The soccer field is next to the basketball court
on	The painting was hanging on the wall
on	There were three books on your desk this morning
outside	She was sitting in a bench outside the hospital
Outside	I was waiting for my kids outside the house
over/above	The sign hanging over the door read ‘No smoking’
Through	They walked slowly through the woods
under	The woman was sheltering under a tree
Under	Monsters live under your bed

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Prepositions of Place Exercises

These are some preposition of place exercises that can help you determine how much you know about the topic

• Preposition of Place Exercises 101
• Preposition of Place Exercises 102
• Preposition of Place Exercises 103
• Preposition of Place Exercises 104
• Prepositions of Place, Direction and Time – Exercise
• Exercises on Prepositions of Place

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