Why do I need this? Prepositions are followed by noun phrases and together make up Prepositional Phrases. Prepositional Phrases are very common and may be used to modify various elements of a sentence. Our interactive table can help students narrow down which Prepositions might fit for a given situation.
Try typing a Usage term (‘amount’, ‘association’, ‘context’, ‘discord’, ‘exception’, ‘hierarchy’, ‘location’, ‘method’, ‘objective’, ‘recipient’, or ‘time’) into the search bar to filter the table and only view the relevant Prepositions. You can also filter by Space.
| Preposition | Alternative | Usage | Space |
|---|---|---|---|
| aboard | location | point | |
| about | abt. | amount / context / time | area |
| above | hierarchy / location | area/point | |
| abreast | location | point | |
| according to | context | source | |
| across | location | point | |
| across from | location | point | |
| after | location / time | area/point | |
| against | discord / location | point | |
| ahead of | hierarchy / location / time | area | |
| along | location | way | |
| along with | association | ||
| alongside | location | way | |
| amid(st) | midst | context / location | area |
| among | amongst | context / location | area |
| apart from | association | ||
| around | amount / context / location / time | area | |
| as | comparison | ||
| as of | context / time | source | |
| as per | context / objective | way | |
| as soon as | time | point | |
| as well as | association | ||
| aside from | association | ||
| astride | location | point | |
| at | amount / location / recipient / time | point | |
| atop | location | point | |
| away from | location | source | |
| à la | method | way | |
| back to | context / location | goal | |
| barring | discord / exception | ||
| because of | objective | source | |
| before | location / time | area/point | |
| behind | hierarchy / location | point | |
| below | amount / hierarchy / location | area/point | |
| beneath | 'neath | hierarchy / location | point |
| beside | association / hierarchy / location | point | |
| besides | exception | ||
| between | 'tween | amount / location | stretch |
| beyond | amount / context / location | area | |
| but | exception | ||
| by | location / method / time | goal/way | |
| circa | ca. | time | area |
| close to | amount / location / time | area/point | |
| come | time | goal | |
| concerning | context | area | |
| counting | amount / association / exception | ||
| despite | discord | ||
| down | amount / location | way | |
| due to | objective | source | |
| during | time | stretch | |
| effective | time | source | |
| ere | time | goal | |
| except (for) | exception | ||
| excepting | exception | ||
| excluding | exception | ||
| far from | amount / discord / location | area | |
| following | time | source | |
| for | recipient / time | stretch | |
| from | context / location / recipient / time | source | |
| in | location / time | point | |
| in between | amount / location / time | point | |
| including | amount / association | ||
| inside | location | point | |
| instead of | discord | ||
| into | location | goal | |
| like | association / method | way | |
| minus | amount / exception | ||
| near | amount / hierarchy / location / time | area | |
| next to | hierarchy / location | point | |
| notwithstanding | discord | ||
| of | o' | association / context | area/source |
| off | context / location | point | |
| off of | location | source | |
| on | context / location / time | point | |
| onto | location | goal | |
| opposite (from) | discord / location | point | |
| other than | discord | ||
| out | location | way | |
| out from | location | source | |
| out of | context / location | source | |
| outside | location | area | |
| outside of | context / location | area | |
| over | o're | amount / hierarchy / location / time | way |
| past | location / time | way | |
| pending | objective | way | |
| per | a | distribution / method | way |
| pertaining to | context | area | |
| plus | association | ||
| post | time | area | |
| pre | time | area | |
| prior to | hierarchy / time | area | |
| pro | opinion | ||
| pursuant to | objective | goal | |
| rather than | discord | ||
| regarding | re | context | area |
| regardless of | discord | ||
| sans | exception | ||
| save | exception | ||
| since | objective / time | source | |
| sub | amount / hierarchy | area | |
| such as | association | ||
| than | comparison | ||
| through | thru | location / time | way |
| throughout | context / location / time | stretch | |
| till | location / time | goal | |
| times | amount | ||
| to | location / recipient / time | goal | |
| toward(s) | location / objective | goal | |
| under | hierarchy / location / time | area | |
| underneath | location | point | |
| unlike | discord | ||
| until | amount / context / time | goal | |
| unto | recipient | goal | |
| up | amount / location | way | |
| up against | discord / location | point | |
| up to | amount / time | goal | |
| upon | context / location | point | |
| versus | vs. | discord | |
| via | method | way | |
| vis-à-vis | association | ||
| with | w/ | association / method | way |
| within | location / time | point | |
| without | w/o | discord | |
| worth | amount |
We define Prepositions here as linkers that are heads of Prepositional Phrases (which are not clauses and which serve as modifiers in a sentence). A Prepositional Phrase is made up of a Preposition followed by a noun phrase.
To keep this list from getting too out of hand, we have not included many of the longer, multi-word terms that can be used to start modifier phrases; terms like “for the sake of”, “in accordance with”, and “with respect to”, just to name a few.
The categories we’ve used for Usage are subjective. We encourage educators and students to work together to sort Prepositions according the designations that make sense for them.
Space is the following noun phrase’s where or when in relation to whatever the Prepositional Phrase modifies. For instance, in “The monster came from outer space!” from tells us that ‘out space’ is the source or the monster or the monster’s journey. Similarly, in “The seminar begins at 7:00,” we know that seven o’clock is the point at which the seminar begins.
These terms are fairly fluid, and we’ve applied them not just to time and location Prepositions, but to context, hierarchy, method, objective, and recipient as well. Here’s how we define the Space terms we’ve used here:
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