Prepositions - ToEIC Grammar

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PREPOSITIONS

1. Prepositions of time

Prepositions of time (giới từ chỉ thời gian) indicate time.

We use:

AT

- for the time:

at eight o’clock

at 7 p.m

- with expressions:

at Christmas/ Easter

at noon/ midday/ night/ midnight

at breakfast/ lunch/ dinner

at the weekend

at the moment

at present

ON

- with days of the week:

on Monday/ Sunday

- for part of a specific day:

on Friday evening

on Monday morning

- with dates:

on 9th August

- with expressions:

on a hot/ cold day

on Christmas Eve

on New Year’s Day

on my birthday

IN


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- with centuries:

in the twentieth century

in the sixteenth century

- with years:

in 1998

in 2002

- with seasons:

in spring

in the summer

- with months:

in March

in September

- with expressions:

in the morning

in the afternoon

in the evening

BY, UNTIL

The preposition by (vào lúc) means “by”, “not later than”

You must be back by midnight.

The preposition until means “until” (cho đến khi).

You can keep my car until Monday.

By and until are not used in the same way.

With by, we refer to something that will take place (at the latest: muộn nhất) by some time in the future. With

until, we refer to the duration that an action or state will have.

Compare the examples below:

I’ll be at the office by eight. (I will get to the office by eight at the latest: Tôi sẽ đến văn phòng muộn

nhất là lúc 8 giờ.)


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I’ll be at the office until eight. (I will be at the office until eight. Then I will leave.: Tôi sẽ ở văn phòng

đến 8 giờ, sau đó tôi sẽ đi.)

DURING

The preposition during means “during” and is always followed by a noun.

You must be quiet during the lesson.

During is used in the same way as while. While is not a preposition and is followed by a clause (mệnh đề).

Compare the following examples:

during + noun

Mary fell asleep during the film.

while + clause

Mary fell asleep while she was watching the film.

2. Prepositions of place

- Prepositions of place (Giới từ chỉ địa điểm) indicate a place. Some of these are:

at Mike is at the office.

on I left a note on the kitchen table.

over Let’s hang the painting over the sofa.

above There’s a sign above the entrance.

in My purse was in my bag five minutes ago!

inside Let’s see what’s inside that box.

outside He’s been standing outside the bank for hours.

under There’s a mouse under the sofa!

below I usually wear my skirts below the knee.

near Is there a bank near here?


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next to The cinema is next to the post office.

beside They have a beautiful house beside the river.

by We sat by the fire to get warm.

in front of She parked her car in front of our house.

behind The shop assistant was standing behind the counter.

opposite Let’s put the bed opposite the window.

among I found this magazine among some old books.

between Liam is sitting between Jill and Tom.

- We use specific prepositions with some expressions.

at on in

at home

at school

at work

at the top/ bottom (of)

on the left/ right

on the first/ second floor

on page 25

on an island

in bed

in hospital

in prison

in London/ Greece

in the middle (of)

in the sky

- Please note the following:

in Willow Street BUT at 25, Willow Street

on a chair BUT in an armchair.

on a bus/ train/ plane/ ship/ bike/ horse BUT in a car/ taxi

3. Prepositions of movement

Prepositions of movement indicate movement and are usually used with verbs that indicate movement, such

as come, go, walk, move, fly, etc.


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up Let’s go up that mountain

down She ran down the stairs.

onto The cat jumped onto the bed

into He got into his car and left.

out of Get out of my room now.

from I come home from work at six.

to Do you usually walk to school?

towards I saw her walking towards me.

over The dog jumped over the wall.

round Go round the corner.

along Let’s go for a walk along the river.

across He swam across the river.

off The little boy fell off his bike.

through We drove through the tunnel.

4. Dependent prepositions

Verb dependent prepositions

Some verbs are followed by specific prepositions. Some of them are:

agree with believe in disagree about st listen to talk about

apologize for belong to dream about look at tell sb about

apply for borrow from escape from pay for thank sb for


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argue with sb consist of explain to reply to think about

argue about st crash into hear from/ about search for wait for

arrive in/ at depend on laugh at shout at write to

ask for/ about disagree with sb lie about rake care of worry about

I wish you’d stop shouting at me!

She apologized for being late.

Adjective dependent prepositions

Some adjectives are followed by specific prepositions. Some of these are:

addicted to dependent on full of nervous about scared of

afraid of different from good at proud of similar to

angry with sb dressed in guilty of ready for sorry about/ for

angry about sth enthusiastic about interested in responsible for sure of/ about

bad at excited about jealous of sad about surprised at/ by

bored with fed up with keen on the same as tired of

connected to fond of made of satisfied with worried about

crazy about

I’m not very good at Maths.

Mark is crazy about football

I’ve always been interested in History.

Nouns and prepositions:

Some nouns are followed by specific prepositions. Some of these are:

advice on/ about description of interest in reason for


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answer to difficulty in/ with invitation to responsibility for

cause of discussion on/about lack of result of

cost of example of need for solution to

demand for information about/on photo/picture of

She gave them a detailed description of the robbers.

They have not found a solution to the problem yet.

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Prepositions - ToEIC Grammar