Prepositions of Place: Definition, List and Useful Examples • 7ESL

Contents

Prepositions of place can help you understand the relationship between objects in a sentence. For example, in “The dog was in front of the window,” “in front of” tells you where the dog is, making the meaning clearer.

You’ll find sections detailing what a preposition of place is and a list of common prepositions. There are also specific guides for using “in,” “on,” and “at,” complete with images to illustrate their use.

Prepositions of Place

What Is a Preposition of Place?

A preposition of place is a preposition used to specify the location of someone or something. Here are some examples:

In America
In a car
On a plane
On the Internet
At the corner
At the bus stop

Prepositions of Place List

Below is a list of prepositions of place, their meanings, and example sentences.

Preposition	Meaning	Example
Above	At or to a higher place or position than something/somebody	Our friends in the apartment above* us are really noisy.*
After	One follows the other	He ran after* her with the book.*
By	Near or at the side of	The telephone is by the window.
Beneath	Under someone or something	Jaime hid the letter beneath* a pile of papers.*
Next to/ Beside	At the side of someone or something	We lay beside* the pool to dry off in the sun.* The hotel is situated next to* the lively bustling port.*
Near/ Close to	A short distance from a person or thing	There is a bush near* the school playground.* The new shopping center is close to* the railway station.*
Between	In or through the space that separates two things, objects, or places	There is a gulf between* the two cities.*
Among	In the middle of or surrounded by other people or things	The girl quickly disappeared among* the crowd.*
In front of	Farther forward than someone or something else	They massed in front of* the city hall.*
Behind	At or towards the back of a thing or person	The horse fell behind* in the race.*
Across from/ Opposite	In a position facing someone or something but on the other side	The hospital is opposite* the post office.* The shoe store is across from* the bank.*
Under	Below or at a lower level than something, or covered by something	We slept under* the open sky.*
Below	In a lower place or position than something else	He dived below* the surface of the water.*
Over	Above or higher than something, without touching it, or on something or covering it	She held the umbrella over* both of us.*

Prepositions of Place IN ON AT

Prepositions of Place: IN

The preposition IN is used for the biggest and most general places. For example, “I lived in London as a child.” It also applies to specific areas like neighborhoods: “He’s a very famous person in Chinatown.”

In + Countries: