What Is a Preposition?

A preposition tells you where something is in relation to something else or when something happened.

In terms of expressing where something is, prepositions can relay a static location or movement. For example, ‘in’ in the sentence, “London is in the United Kingdom,” is an example of a preposition expressing a fixed location. On the other hand, “I am coming into London,” expresses movement.

Common prepositions include ‘at,’ ‘in,’ ‘on,’ ‘of,’ ‘by,’ ‘with,’ ‘under,’ ‘over,’ ‘around,’ ‘to,’ and ‘from.’

Often, prepositions can be used for both locations and for expressions of time. For example, ‘in’ can be used to say, “See you in a week.” ‘On’ can be used to describe a fixed location, “The box is on the table,” or a day upon which something will happen: “The match takes place on Sunday.”

What Is a Compound Preposition?

Sometimes two prepositions are joined together to express a different meaning, such as ‘with’ and ‘without.’ Alternatively, they may be joined in order to relay a more precise location or movement, such as ‘onto,’ ‘into,’ or ‘within.’ These are called compound prepositions.

Sometimes, compound prepositions remain written as separate words, such as ‘in front of,’ or ‘in between.’