Prepositions of place and movement

A2 Talking about the future Grammar

Prepositions of place and movement

Describe where people and things are and how they move through space using common prepositions.

1. Overview

Where exactly is something? Is it in a room, on a table, under a chair or behind a door? How do we describe a person standing between two buildings, a village below a mountain or a small house beside a river? English uses different prepositions to describe these spatial relationships, and each one helps us build a clearer picture of a place.

In this unit, the focus is on describing position, location and movement through space. You will learn the differences between in, on and at, explore expressions such as above, below, opposite, next to and in front of, and discover how movement changes the language we use. A person can be in a castle, walk into it, run through its corridors or climb up its towers. These distinctions are particularly useful when describing scenes, giving directions, following a journey or understanding where characters and objects are in a story.

2. Prepositions of place

Prepositions of place describe the position of a person or object in relation to something else. They answer questions such as Where is it? or Where are they?

The three most common prepositions of place are in, on and at.

Preposition	Main idea	Example
in	Inside a space or area	The children are in the garden.
on	On a surface	The book is on the desk.
at	At a particular point or location	Emma is at the station.

Understanding in, on and at

The preposition in usually presents something as being inside a space or within an area. That space might be small, like a box, or large, like a city or country.

The money is in my bag.
There are three people in the kitchen.
My grandparents live in Scotland.

The preposition on is commonly used when something touches or rests on a surface. The surface can be horizontal or vertical.

The glasses are on the table.
There is a picture on the wall.
Someone left a note on the door.

The preposition at often identifies a particular point or location without focusing on whether someone is inside it.

I’ll meet you at the entrance.
She’s waiting at the bus stop.
My brother is at work.

Sometimes more than one preposition is possible, but the meaning changes slightly. She’s at the station identifies her general location, while She’s in the station makes it clear that she is inside the building.

3. More prepositions of place

Other prepositions describe more specific relationships between people, objects and places:

Preposition	Meaning	Example
under	Lower than something, often directly beneath it	The dog is under* the bed.*
above	Higher than something	The lamp is above* the table.*
below	At a lower level	The village is below* the castle.*
behind	At the back of something	The garden is behind* the house.*
in front of	Before something in space	A taxi is in front of* the hotel.*
next to / beside	Immediately near something	She sits next to* her brother.*
between	In the space separating two things	The bank is between* two shops.*
opposite	Facing something across a space	The café is opposite* the museum.*
near	Not far away	We live near* the river.*
inside / outside	Within or beyond an enclosed space	The children are outside* the house.*

Understanding the differences

Above and over can both describe a higher position. Over can also suggest that something covers or crosses another object:

There is a painting above the fireplace.
A blanket is over the sleeping child.

Under and below both describe a lower position, but under often suggests a more direct relationship:

The cat is under the table.
The temperature is below zero.

Between usually identifies separate people or things. Among describes something within a group:

The castle stands between two hills.
The old house is hidden among the trees.

4. Understanding Space and Movement

When we describe a place, the preposition we choose depends on how we see the position or movement of something. For example, The man is in the castle tells us where he is, while The man walks into the castle describes his movement from outside to inside. In the same way, The cat is on the roof describes a position, but The cat jumps onto the roof tells us how it gets there.

Other prepositions describe the path someone follows. Imagine a traveller walking through an unfamiliar landscape. She walks along a river, across a bridge and through a forest. She passes under an old stone arch, walks past an abandoned house and finally stops in front of a castle. Each preposition adds a different detail to the journey. We use across when moving from one side to another, through when passing inside a space, and along when following something such as a road, a wall or a river.

Even when there is no movement, small differences can be important. A guard standing at the gate is positioned at a particular point, while a guard standing in the gateway is inside that space. A bird flying above the castle is higher than it, while a bird flying over the castle may be crossing the space above it. Understanding these distinctions makes descriptions more precise and helps us imagine the scenes we hear or read.

5. Prepositions of movement

Prepositions of movement describe how someone or something travels from one position to another. They answer questions such as Where is she going? or How did they get there?

Preposition	Movement	Example
to	Towards a destination	She walked to the station.
into	From outside to inside	He went into* the house.*
out of	From inside to outside	They ran out of* the castle.*
onto	Movement to a surface	The cat jumped onto* the table.*
off	Away from a surface	He jumped off* the wall.*
across	From one side to the other	They walked across* the bridge.*
through	Passing inside something	She walked through* the forest.*
along	Following a line or route	We walked along* the river.*
past	Going beyond something	He ran past* the church.*
around	Moving around an object or area	They walked around* the lake.*
over	Moving above and across something	The bird flew over* the castle.*
under	Passing beneath something	The train went under* the bridge.*
up / down	Moving towards a higher or lower level	She ran up the stairs.

Across or through?

Use across when movement goes from one side of a surface or area to the other:

The soldiers marched across the field.
She swam across the river.

Use through when movement passes within an area, space or opening:

The travellers walked through the forest.
The train passed through the tunnel.

The difference is clear in walk across a field and walk through a forest.

To, into and onto

To identifies the destination: She walked to the house.

Into shows movement from outside to inside: She walked into the house.

Onto shows movement towards a surface: The cat jumped onto the roof.

6. Common mistakes

Incorrect	Correct
The picture is at the wall.	The picture is on the wall.
The keys are at my bag.	The keys are in my bag.
The bank is next the café.	The bank is next to* the café.*
The shop is between the library, across the road.	The shop is opposite* the library, across the road.*
The cat is in the table.	The cat is under* the table.*

Exercises

1. Where are they?

Complete each sentence with a suitable preposition of place: in, on, at, under, behind, next to, between or opposite.

Answers

The books are ___ the shelf.
We waited ___ the entrance to the museum.
The dog is sleeping ___ the table.
The post office is ___ the bank and the supermarket.
There’s a small garden ___ the house.
Our hotel is ___ the beach, on the other side of the road.

2. Choose in, on or at

Complete each sentence with in, on or at to describe a place.

Answers

The children are playing ___ the garden.
Your coat is ___ the back of the chair.
I’ll wait for you ___ the main entrance.
There’s a large map ___ the wall.
My grandparents live ___ a small village.
Meet me ___ the bus stop outside the station.

3. Describe the position

Complete each sentence with a suitable preposition: above, below, in front of, next to, opposite, between or behind. Use each expression once.

Answers

The picture is ___ the sofa, on the wall.
The basement is ___ the ground floor.
The bus stop is ___ the library entrance.
The cinema is ___ the bank and the post office.
The café is ___ the museum, across the square.
The garden is ___ the house, so you can’t see it from the street.
The taxi is waiting ___ the hotel entrance.

4. Correct the mistakes

Rewrite each sentence with the correct preposition.

Answers

The picture is at the wall.
My shoes are under of the bed.
The supermarket is next the school.
The cat is in the table.
The post office is opposite between the bank and the library.

5. Listen and answer the questions

Listen to the text and answer the questions. Read the transcript after your first listen.

My name is Eleanor, and I work at a small observatory in the mountains. Every morning, I arrive at eight and check the instruments before breakfast. On Mondays, we usually have a meeting at half past nine. During the afternoon, I study photographs of the night sky and prepare reports. In winter, the weather is often difficult, so we sometimes wait for several days before we can observe the stars. Last Friday, we worked from six in the evening until two in the morning. We discovered something unusual just before midnight. Our director wants the report by Tuesday, so I’m going to finish it over the weekend. I’ve worked here since 2021, but every new discovery still feels exciting.

Answers

What time does Eleanor arrive?
When do they usually have a meeting?
What does Eleanor do during the afternoon?
When is the weather often difficult?
How long do they sometimes wait to observe the stars?
When did they work late?
What time did they finish that night?
When did they discover something unusual?
When must Eleanor finish her report?
Since when has she worked at the observatory?