PREPOSITION

1.    In

In July (month) / in 1999 (year)

In a city / town

In a line / in a row / in a street

In the sky / in the world

In a book / in a newspaper / in a magazine / in a letter (But on a page)

In photograph / in a picture / in a mirror

In bed / in hospital / in prison

2.    At

At 7 am (clock)

At the bus / at the door / at the window

At the top / at the bottom / at the end

At the traffic light / at the church / at the cinema

At home / at work / at university / at college

At + events : at a party / at a concert

3.    On

On Thursday (days) / on 17^th (dates)

On the floor / on the ground / on the grass / on the chair / on the bench

On the wall / on the ceiling / on your nose (parts of body) / on your shirt

On page / on billboard / on the door

On the front / on the back of letter

On the left / on the right

On the ground floor / on the first floor

On the map / on the menu / on the list

On a farm

4.    In and At

a.    There were a lot of people in the shop. (di dalam toko)

Go along this road, then turn left at the shop. ( di luar toko)

b.    The TV is in the corner of the room.

There is a public telephone at/on the corner of the street.

c.    In the front / in the back of the car

At the front / at the back of the building / cinema / group of the people

d.   In and At – buildings

They want to go to buy CDs in the mall.

At – where an event takes place

We went to a concert at the royal festival hall.

e.    At : berada pada rumah atau tempat seseorang.

I was at Judy’s house last night.

f.     In : fokus pada gedung itu sendiri.

The rooms in Judy’s house are small.

5.    On, In and At

a.    There is some water in the bottle. (di dalam botol)

There is a label on the bottle. (tertempel di botol)

b.    On a bus / on plane / on a ship / on a bicycle / on motorcycle / on a horse

In a car / in a taxi

c.    There is somebody at the door. (di depan pintu)

There is a notice on the door. (tertempel di pintu)

6.    About

He asked the teacher about the subject. (tentang)

The class starts about 8 am. (sekitar)

He looked about the house. (di sekelliling)

He had a party about here. (di sekitar)

7.    Below/under

Below menyatakan suhu atau ketinggian.

The temperature is three degrees below zero.

The plane came down below the clouds.

Under menyatakan sesuatu yang tertutupi (covered) oleh sesuatu diatasnya.

What are you wearing under your jacket?

The whole house is under water.

Under menyatakan tingkatan usia.

The film is not for under 17.

Underneath juga merupakan preposisi hanya untuk menyatakan posisi.

The mouse hid underneath the bed.

Under bisa berfungsi sebagai adverb menjelaskan action.

A lot of businesses are going under due to the economic crisis.

8.    Above/over

Over menyatakan sesuatu yang saling melingkupi (cover each other)

There is cloud over south of Makassar.

He put on a coat over his pyjamas.

9.    After

“Are you going to the mosque?” “After you.” (saya menyusul)

He named his daughter after his father. (seperti)

After umumnya ditemukan pada phrasal verbs seperti look after (menjaga) dan run after (mengejar).

10.    Against

Are you for or against the plan? (menentang)

He leaned against the wall. (bersandar pada)

11.    Along/across/over/through

Along digunakan dengan kata road/river.

I saw her running along the road.

Across berarti di sepanjang sisi/tepi.

He walked across the street.

Over dipasangkan dengan sesuatu yang lebih tinggi.

He has climbed over the mountain.

Across identik dengan in  sedangkan through identik dengan on.

We walked across the ice. (we were on the ice.)

We walked through the wood. (We were in the wood.)

Through menyatakan periode atau aktivitas.

Through the centuries.

Through the journey.

12.    Among/between

Among identik dengan kelompok  sedangkan between identik dengan dua atau lebih item yang terpisah.

His house is among the trees.

His house is between the wood, the river and the village.

Between dipasangkan dengan kelompok yang memiliki dua sisi.

A small valley between two mountains.

Among berarti salah satu.

Among the students is a foreigner.

13.    (A)round

(A)round menyatakan movement in a circle.

We all sat round the table.

(a)round dan about sama sama menyatakan gerakan atau posisi yang tidak jelas; going everywhere in lots of places.

Stop running around/about and do some work.

(A)round dan about berarti approximately.

Around/about fifty people are attending the workshop.

14.    Before/in front of

Before: time

Come before 9 pm.

In front of: place

He came in front of the class.

I am standing before/in front of you.

I am going to get married before long (tidak lama lagi).

15.    Behind

I am behind my friends in class. (ketinggalan)

They walked one behind the other. (beriringan)

16.    Beside

Put the box beside the other, please. (disamping)

I seem rather ordinary beside my brother. (dibandingkan)

To be + beside + reflexive : tak tahan lagi

I am beside myself with pain.

17.    By

I will have left Chicago by Sunday. (sebelum)

(transportation) by train, tram, car, boat ….

I live by the sea. (dekat)

The song is by Jimi Hendrix. (oleh)

What do you mean by that sign? (dengan)

He took his clothes off and went to sleep by and by. (segera)

By and large, it is a good plan. (pada umumnya)

By the by, what are you doing now? (o ya)

18.    During

Menyatakan kapan sesuatu terjadi (dalam situasi).

He was in hospital during  the winter.(selama)

Menyatakan kejadian berlangsung di awal sampai di akhir suatu event.

I met them during my stay in China.

19.    For

Menyatakan berapa lama sesuatu terjadi.

He was in hospital for 3 weeks. (selama)

Can I do something for you? (untuk)

My boss will leave for Amsterdam next week. (tempat tujuan)

He is grounded for skipping school. (karena)

Some of the members of the board were for the decision. (setuju)

For all his pain, he is still happy. (walaupun)

20.    From

The letter came from his wife. (dari)

From now on, I am in charge in the meeting. (mulai sekarang)

My grandfather died from heart attack. (karena)

21.    Into/onto

In dan on berbicara mengenai posisi sedangkan into dan onto menunjuk pada gerakan.

She is in the house.

She walked into the house.

The cat is on the roof again.

How did the cat get onto the roof?

22.    Near

He is standing near the car. (dekat)

He is near death. (hampir)

23.    Next to

There was next to no one there. (hampir)

It’s hard to get next to him. (mendekati)

I sit next to him in bus everyday. (dekat)

24.    Since

Our house has long since disappeared. (sejak)

25.    Through

Peace through understanding (melalui)

To become rich through diligence (karena)

Friday through Sunday (hingga)

I am through with the work. (selesai)

26.    To

The way to success (menuju)

A quarter to ten (9.45)

Bring the book to me (kepada)

I talked to him several times. (dengan)

Ambassador to France (untuk)

To date (hingga saat ini)

The score is 9 to 5 (lawan)

27.    Until/till

Until/till berarti sama dengan before

There is only two weeks left until/before Christmas.

28.    With

He cut the tree with an axe. (dengan)

I will go with you. (bersama)

I am always with you. (setuju)

29.    Without

Without; with no

Without saying anything, he left the room. (tanpa)

30.    But dan Except for (kecuali)

Selain menjadi coordinate conjunction, But juga berupa preposisi yang mengikuti phrase/noun, sama halnya except.

All of the eye witnesses were accused of the homicide but/except for the old lady.

31.    Prepositional phrase

Frase yang diawali dengan preposisi disebut prepositional phrase, adverb of place dan adverb of time yang diawali preposition juga merupakan prepositional phrase seperti in the classroom, in the car, above the closet,

on Monday afternoon, in the last century

juga termasuk: