Prepositions for Kids

English

Prepositions for Kids

Reviewed by:

Aiswarya Ittianath

What are Prepositions?

Prepositions are the words that allow relationships to be formed between words in a sentence.

A preposition is a word that comes before a noun (or a pronoun) and conveys the relationship that exists between the noun (or pronoun) and the rest of the phrase.

Examples of Prepositions

There is a bridge over the river.
I am afraid of lizards.

The underlined words in the above sentences demonstrate how the nouns or pronouns relate to the person or thing.

Prepositions for Time

A list of the prepositions that indicate time are tabulated below.

Preposition	Usage	Examples
By	At the latest Up to this point	I’ll complete my holiday homework by tomorrow. By 21st July, I’ll empty this space.
At	Age Time of day Exact time	She graduated at 18 years old. He’s coming by at noon. His classes end at 3:00 PM.
On	Days of the week Exact date	Let’s have lunch on Saturday. Her birthday is on August 20.
In	To denote duration Seasons Months Years	Get a job in the summer. I’ll be home in January. I was born in 1999. I’ll see you in an hour.
Before	Precession	I was here before you.
After	Succession	I’ll go home after this game.
During	Something that happened at a specific time period	He died during the war.
Since	From a certain period of time	He’s been like that since 2010.
For	Over a certain period of time	He’s been studying for 5 years.
To	Time range	My classes are from 3 to 5.
Until	To denote an end	I won’t leave until the end of the play.

Prepositions for Place

A list of the prepositions that indicate place are tabulated below.

Preposition	Usage	Examples
At	To represent the settled location Target	He arrived at home past curfew. Throw the ball at me.
On	To reference something located on a surface	I placed the mug on the table.
By	To indicate proximity to something	She sat by the window.
About	To show estimation To show relation to a subject	He’s about 6 feet tall. She talked about her job.
Above	To represent one object is higher in position than another	The salt tea is placed on one shelf above the cookies.
After	To represent an object is located at one point succeeding the point of reference	His house is located after the stop sign.
Against	To indicate an opposing force on something	He leaned against the door causing him to fall backwards.
Along	To indicate parallelism to an object	He ran along the white lines.
Below	To represent one object is lower in position than another	My bunk is below yours.
Behind	To represent an object is located at a point preceding the point of reference.	I put my bag behind hers.
From	To show the starting point of something.	Run from the green line to the red.
Onto	To show movement to the top or surface of something	Jump onto the countertop.
Into	To show entering an enclosed/surrounded place	She went into the classroom with a ton of books with her.
Over	To show getting to another point by overcoming an obstacle.	He drove over the hump to get to school on time.
Towards	Movement in the direction of a point of reference.	Run towards the flagpole.
Through	To indicate movement from one to another side by entering into something.	She drove through the tunnel since it was a shorter path.

Prepositions, Indicating Place

An Example of The Preposition on Dog

Other Important Prepositions

Some of the other important prepositions are tabulated below.

Preposition	Usage	Examples
Off	To show moving away or farther from a point of reference	She got off the bus after 3 stops.
Among	Comparison among either 3 or more things To indicate inclusion with other things	Who among the 3 of us will you choose to bring? I found my letter to him among his papers.
To	To indicate movement from one place to another To bridge words to demonstrate a goal	I’m heading to the mall. You can use prepositions to form a complete thought.
Of	To show the possession/origin	The title of the book was quite long.

Worksheets Based on Prepositions

Prepositions worksheets are great for teaching children about prepositions. Also, they get familiar with how these words allow them to construct relationships between words in a phrase. And, how some of them are used to indicate time and place.

Some Prepositions’ Worksheets

Conclusion

Prepositions are a very important part of learning English. It introduces kids to different components of a sentence. It enables children to learn English efficiently and effectively. Also, in this article, we have learned different types of prepositions, their usage and examples.

FAQs on Prepositions for Kids

1. What is the importance of prepositions?

Prepositions have a significant role in sentences. They can occasionally be used to connect subject, object, and verb in order to convey extra information. They are used before a noun or a pronoun, as the name suggests (pre-position). A rule against ending a statement with a preposition was demolished by Sir Winston Churchill in his unique funny style - a preposition is a part of speech that is not used to conclude a sentence.

Some examples are “There is a book,” “The bird just flew,” “There is a book on the table.”

2. What is the function of prepositions?

The word "preposition" is significant enough to clarify its meaning. A preposition is a result of combining the words "pre" and "position." Pre refers to the time before anything happens, while position refers to the location. It's a term that's usually used before a noun or pronoun. It demonstrates the relationship between the words after it and another word or word in the phrase.

For example, “The government will declare the bill in the coming week.”