PREPOSITINS PART - II

English ( Master) Preposition

USES OF PREPOSITIONS

‘In’ and ‘Into’
‘In’ denotes position or rest inside something ‘Into’ denotes motion towards inside from outside. For example,

There is a frog in this well. (not, into)
A cat has just fallen into this well. (not, in)
He is in his room. (not, into)
He came into my room. (not, in)

‘In’ indicates a state or condition. ‘Into’ indicates a change in state or condition. For example,

He is in a good mood. (not, into)
He flew into a rage. (not, in)
In Into

‘By’ and ‘with’
‘By’ is used to indicate the doer or agent of an action. This is usually a person, but may sometimes be expressed by an
abstract noun. ‘With’ indicates the material, instrument or tool used in the action. For example,

The stick was broken by Ranjana.
Let me write with a pen.
The horse was beaten with a ship by the rider.
He was struck by the beauty of Kashmir.
Floods were caused by heavy rain.
He was struck by lightning.
This bill has been passed by Parliament.
The Test Match has been won by Australia.
This industry is controlled by the government.
The whole town was destroyed by fire.
The gardener cuts the grass with a lawnmower.
The sailor rowed the boat with a pair of oars.
He drove the nail into the wall with a hammer.

‘In’ and ‘Within’

(i) ‘In’ indicates ‘at the end of period of time’. For example,ENGLISH
He will get back home in a week. (at the end of the week)
(ii) ‘Within’ indicates ‘before the end of a period of time’. For example,
He will get back home within a week. (before the end of the week)

‘In’ and ‘with’
(i) With + a pen or a pencil
‘with’ is used before ‘pen’ and ‘pencil’ to express means or instruments when these nouns are preceded by ‘a’. For
example,

(ii) in + pen or pencil
‘pen’ and ‘pencil’ without ‘a’ take ‘in’ to express medium. For example,
We often write in pencil/ball point pen. (not, with)

‘On’, ‘Over’ and ‘Above’

(i) ‘On’ indicates contact of one thing with another; in contact with, i.e., touching a thing. For example,
She placed her hand on his head.
The cups are on the table.
He is standing on the road.

(ii) ‘Over’ indicates absence of contact; not touching a thing, i.e., higher than something. For example,

There is a spider over his head. (not, on)
A lamp is hanging over the door, (not, on)

Note: ‘over’ and ‘above’ can often be interchanged in this sense. For example,

A plane is hovering over/above the field.
(iii) ‘Above’, like ‘over’ can mean ‘more than’ (in price, age, or weight). For example,
She is above twenty.
This suitcase weighs above 70 kilos.
‘At’ and ‘About’
‘At’ denotes a fixed moment. ‘About’ suggests proximity to a certain time. For example,
He left work at 3 o’clock
It is about seven now.
‘Till’ and ‘By’
‘Till’ means ‘not earlier than’. ‘By’ means ‘not later than’. For example.
I was kept waiting till 5 o’clock.
I shall return home by 10 o’clock.
‘Between’ and ‘Among’
(i) between + two people or things.
‘Between’ is usually used with reference to two people or things. For example,
Aligarh is between Lucknow and Delhi.
We have to choose between two evils.
(ii) between + more than two people or things.ENGLISH
(a) ‘between’ is used with reference to more than two people or things when modified by a definite numeral.
For example,
He divided his property equally between his four sons.
(b) ‘between’ is also used with reference to more than two when mutual or reciprocal relationship is indicated. For
example,
There is a treaty of friendship between the five great powers.
(among is not acceptable here)
(iii) Between + noun + and + noun
‘And’ is always used to join two nouns or pronouns, so ‘and’ cannot be replaced by ‘to’. For example,
Please see me between 4 pm and 5 pm.
(not, Please see me between 4 pm to 5 pm.)
(iv) among + more than two people or things.

‘Among’ is usually used with reference to more than two people or things when a definite number is not
mentioned. For example,

She is happy to be among her people again.
He likes to work among little children.
(v) among + collective noun

‘Among’ is also used for more than two people or things considered as a group. For example,

He distributed sweets among the class.
She is standing among the crowd.
(between is not possible here).

‘For’ and ‘Since’

(i) ‘for’ and ‘since’ are used with present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive
forms.
Present perfect is used for an action that began at definite time in the past and extends into the present (till now).

For example,

He has lived in India for ten years.
India have not won the world cup in cricket since 1983.
I have been here for half an hour/since 9 o’clock.
Present perfect progressive is used for an action that began at a definite time in the past and is continuing and may
extend into the future as well. For example,
He has been living in India for ten years.
He has been living in Belgium since 1980.
She has been waiting here for one hour/since 8 o’clock.

(not, she is waiting)

Note: (a) ‘for’ or ‘since’ is not used with a simple present or progressive tense. For example,
We don’t say:
She is absent for a week.
It is raining since Tuesday.ENGLISH
(b) ‘for’ (but not ‘since’) is used with simple past tense when it indicates that an action began in the past and
terminated. For example,
She worked here for twenty years. (She doesn’t work here now)
(ii) ‘for’ is used of a period or length of time, ‘since’ is used of a point of time. For example,
Leena has been working here for 10 years since 1988.
It has been raining for weeks since the end of June.
People have been demanding an inquiry for a long time.
We have been waiting to see you since morning.
‘From’ and ‘Since’
(i) ‘From’ and ‘since’ indicate a point in time. For example,
He has been ill since Monday.
He will be absent from Monday.
(ii) ‘Since’ is always used with reference to past time, not present or future time. For example,
She has been watching TV since 7 pm. (not, from)
He has written ten letters since morning. (not from)
From is used with reference to present / future time as well. For example,
He will report for work from Monday. (not, since)
(iii) ‘From’ is used to indicate the time at which an action starts. For example,
The tournament will be on from Monday.
(iv) ‘From’ is also used in combination with ‘to’ or ‘till’. For example,
She has to work from 9 am to /till 5 pm.
(since is not possible here)
‘Beside’ and ‘Besides’
‘Beside’ means ‘by the side of’ or ‘near’ or ‘next to’.
‘Besides’ means ‘In addition to’. For example,
He stood beside the RT bus.
He gave me a watch besides a pen.
He is sitting beside his wife.
The hut is beside the river.
There are nine students here, besides the teacher.
We cannot go-we have no touches. Besides it’s raining.
Across Through
From one to the side.ENGLISH
I swam across the river.
‘With’ cannot be used with ‘come across’.
E.g. (i) I came across with him. ()
(ii) I came across him. ()
On Upon
The books is on the table. (placed in contact)
E.g. The cat jumped upon the rat. (in motion)
Over
Motion or position higher than but no physical contact.
E.g.: The fan is over my bed. (no physical contact).
Write the appropriate preposition in the blank spaces.
1. On Upon
(Fixity) (Motion)