Page 138 - DENG101_Communication Skills-I

Unit 12: Prepositions

Notes
at for night at night
for weekend at the weekend
a certain point of time (when?) at half past nine
since from a certain point of time (past till now) since 1980
for over a certain period of time (past till now) for 2 years
ago a certain time in the past 2 years ago
before earlier than a certain point of time before 2004
to telling the time ten to six (5:50)
past telling the time ten past six (6:10)
to/till/until marking the beginning and end of a period of time from Monday to/till Friday
till/until in the sense of how long something is going to last He is on holiday until Friday.
by in the sense of at the latest I will be back by 6 o’clock.
up to a certain time By 11 o’clock, I had read fi ve pages.

12.4 Prepositions of Place

To express notions of place, English uses the following prepositions: to talk about the point itself:
in, to express something contained: inside, to talk about the surface: on, to talk about a general
vicinity, at.

Examples: 1. There is a wasp in the room.
2. Put the present inside the box.

3. I left your keys on the table.
4. She was waiting at the corner
Here are some uses with examples:

English Usage Example
in room, building, street, town, country in the kitchen, in London
book, paper etc. in the book
car, taxi in the car, in a taxi
picture, world in the picture, in the world
at meaning next to, by an object at the door, at the station
for table at the table
for events at a concert, at the party
place where you are to do something typical (watch at the cinema, at school, at work

a film, study, work)
on attached the picture on the wall
for a place with a river London lies on the Thames.
being on a surface on the table
for a certain side (left, right) on the left
for a floor in a house on the fi rst fl oor

for public transport on the bus, on a plane
for television, radio on TV, on the radio
by, next to, left or right of somebody or something Jane is standing by/next to/beside the
beside car.
under on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something the bag is under the table
else
Contd...

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