T h e  M o s t  C o m m o n  P r e p o s i t i o n s

aboard  about  above  across  after  against  along  among  around  as   at  before  behind   below beneath beside  between  beyond  but (except)  by  concerning  despite  down  during  except for  from  in  into  like near  of  off  on  onto  out  outside  over  past  per  regarding  since  through throughout  till  to  toward  under underneath  until  up   upon  with  within  without

NOTE: to" is also an infinitive and also has two other spellings, "two" the number and "too" to indicate emphasis. "Around," "off," "down," "out" are only some of these words that have other meanings depending upon the context in which they are used within a sentence.

To further complicate matters, some common prepositions have two very different functions. For instance, the preposition "off" can be used two ways: "off" can mean the opposite of "on" as in "to turn the car off" or "to turn the car on." In this case, "off" and "on" are not prepositions. Here are examples of "off" and "on" as prepositions: I jumped off the table, and I jumped on the table. But while a person can jump off a table, the person cannot  jump a table off.  When you say that you are turning off your car you are using the word "off" as part of the verb. Then off is considered a particle not a preposition. If when you move the preposition after the object of the preposition (as in "jump a table off"), and the phrase no longer makes sense, then you are using a preposition and not a particle. Here is another example: I can turn on the car, and I can turn the car on. In this case, "on" is not used as a preposition.

Another preposition to be careful of is "to." Not only are there three spellings of this troublesome word (to / too / two), but the word "to" has two different functions: one as a preposition and one as the infinitive form of a verb. If you go "to" the store, you are using the word as a preposition. If you go to the store "to" buy something, that "to" is an infinitive. For Writing Exercise #1, it is okay to use "to" when it is followed by a verb since that "to" is an infinitive. But it is not okay to use it when followed by a noun since that is a preposition.

Return to Exercise One

Return to Exercise Three

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