Stop Using Prepositions Wrong! 🚨 Fix These Mistakes Today + Quiz

Hi there. This is Harry. And welcome back  to Advanced English Lessons with Harry,  

where I try to help you to get a better  understanding of the English language.

And in this particular lesson, we're going  to look at your favorite prepositions. Oh,  

yes. Prepositions. The one area  that causes greatest confusion.

Let's talk about prepositions of place

okay. So when we're talking about a  preposition of place, we are talking at

you are using these three prepositions mostly  at, on and in. At, on, in prepositions of place

we use at to describe the exact location

Where are you? At home, at a  party, at the train station.

At the top of the page. At the bottom. At the end.  Oh, I'm at a wedding and a concert. At a meeting.

Or I'm at a particular address, like 20  Burton Road or 20 Peyton Place. Okay,  

so that's preposition of  place with at. And when we use

in is to talk about somewhere

larger space.

I'm in France on a holiday. I'm in  a market or in a supermarket. I'm  

in a box or something's in a box. Or you'll  find it in a book. Okay, so larger spaces.

and then we use on to talk about somewhere.  Yeah. On a surface or on a line, for example,

Something could be on the table.

on the ground, on the roof,

On page 34 of your textbook.

On the Chancellor's a particular  street, or indeed on the fourth  

floor of the building where he. Perhaps  you live on the fourth floor. Okay.

Now there are some exceptions. We can say  I'm on a train or I'm on a bus or a plane,  

but I'm never on a car. I'm always in  a on the car. Okay. So unfortunately,  

that rule just goes out the  window. And you have to really,  

really be careful. But you just cannot say I'm  on a car unless you're sitting on the roof.

It's a bit crazy. So you're on a  bus, on a plane, on a boat, on a.

train, wherever it might be. But you're  always going to be in a car and other  

forms of transport. You're going to be on  a bike or on a motorbike, on a skateboard,  

sitting on a horse. Okay. So you can  be on those also, but not in them.

Okay. Except for the car.

There are also other exceptions. Okay. So we  can use at or in when we talk about buildings.

But the meaning can be different. For example.

I can't talk now. I'm at the cinema.

So that means I'm.

there at the moment and I'm watching  a movie. I'm waiting for Adam in the  

cinema. And that means you're inside the  building, either at the foyer or you're

Perhaps you've even taken your seat. So  you're. But in both cases, you're talking  

about the same building, the cinema. So  we can say, I'm I'm at the cinema now,  

but I'm waiting for Adam in the cinema.

Now, you said you were waiting for Adam  at the cinema. It probably mean that  

you're waiting for him outside.  And then you'll go in together.

She is at the beach for the afternoon with the  family. So there's a geographic location about  

that. She's at the beach. But she likes  sunbathing. Not at the beach. She likes  

sunbathing on the beach, lying on a towel on  the sand. Okay, so that's an action. Okay,  

so just be careful. Again, there  are always exceptions to our rules.

Now if we talk about prepositions of movement  okay. So prepositions of movement can include many

different prepositions like to or in or into

of

Out of town. Over, under.

Through, around and across.

Let me give you some examples. It's raining.  Let's go into the house. The cat jumped off  

the table. Can you take the washing out of  the washing machine? The staircase leads  

onto the roof terrace or the terrace on the roof.  Whichever way you would like to put that. Okay,  

so it's raining. Let's go into the  house. The cat jumped off the table.

Can you take the washing out of the washing  machine? And the staircase leads on to.

the roof terrace. Okay.

Now. We'd always want to, and I'm always  asked to explain the difference between  

on and on to and in and into. So let me  try to explain them with these examples.

Into will always suggest there's  a movement you're going to enter  

inside. I'm going into the room now.  I'm going into the building now. So  

it's either into a place or some  system. She walked into the room.

The action from outside. Going into the  room. And then when you're actually there,  

then we use in. So we use in when you're  already inside that particular place,  

the room or the building, whatever  it might be. I'm sitting in the room  

now. It's not about movement.  I'm sitting in the room now.

Onto also suggests movement. Okay, so for example,  

he stepped onto the platform. He  stepped onto the weighing scales.  

I climbed onto the roof. So there's an action  there going from one place to the other. He  

stepped onto the platform. He stepped onto  the weighing scales. He climbed onto the roof.

And we use “on” when something  is already in place, like the  

pen is on the table. My laptop is on the table,

so there's no movement in those situations.

And as always, if you like this particular lesson  then please like the video. And if you can please,  

please subscribe to the channel  because it really, really helps.

Okay. So then let's look at  prepositions of time okay.

So often use “at” to introduce time.

I will meet you at 3:00.  The library closes at 6:00.

And we can use that when we talk about  special times of the year at New Year.

or meals at breakfast, at dinner, at lunch.

And when we talk about parts of  the day, we use in in the morning,  

in the afternoon, in the evening.  I'd be there in only two days.  

Don't worry. I'll see you in a couple  of days. I'll be there in two days.

And then we'll talking about months. Season,  years and centuries again. It's in. So any  

long period of time, it's for example,  in April season in winter year in 2002.

In the last century, all in in in

And we use two when we want to,

introduce

days

and dates, for example. So

On Wednesday. Okay. On Wednesday, I will meet  you. Yeah, I will be in the office on Tuesday.

I left work on Friday. So any time we're talking,

About days that we want to introduce  days of dates use. On what day is your  

birthday? It's on Monday this year.  Or if you want to be specific. Oh,  

my birthday's on the 5th of July or the 5th of  November. What are you doing on your birthday  

on that particular day? So use on when we're  introducing a talking about days and dates.

Now there can be some prepositions that  people consider to be a little bit confusing.

Two of them the most confusing are  across and over. We can go across  

the river. We can go over the river.  We can walk across the bridge. We can,

walk over the bridge. The  meaning is exactly the same.

However we use over and not across to mean

on. Okay. For example, the prisoner  escaped by climbing over the roof,  

not across the roof. The horse jumped  over the fence, not across the fence.

And when we're talking about  above and below, they have some.

Confusion as well. So we use above and below when  

one thing is knocked directly  over or under another. Yeah.

He said something to the man  below him and not under him.

And we use over and under when one thing  is covered by another. For example,  

the kitten is hiding under the bed. He's  not below the bed. He's under the bed.

And we can also use below when  we're talking about measurements,  

particularly temperature and  height, you know, for example,  

temperatures can drop below zero. Okay. So  we're always talking about that below zero or

above

Zero. Yeah. It's so below zero.

Over and under can also be used when we're talking  about speed of driving cars, people's ages,

Prices. Okay. You have to  be over 18 to join the club.

A minor is defined as a person  who is under the age of 16.

If you drive over the speed limit that is set,  

you will be fined, or you'll get  three penalty points on your license.

Okay, so over and under, when we're  talking about speeds, ages, prices.

Another preposition that people have confusion  with is until okay, and we use until to talk about  

activities or state. Are states that continue up  to a particular time. Let me give you an example.  

My sister lived at home until the day she got  married. Yeah, or my sister lived at home until

my father told her it was  time to get her own place.

And if we use the preposition by, we use  about activities that happen before or at  

a particular time. I'll definitely be home by  8:00. I need to have this work done by Friday.

The boss has given me until the end of the month,  

so I need to completed by the  30th of the month. Okay, so by.

Alright, let's see how well you  understand prepositions. I’ve  

got a short quiz for you. You’ll see a  sentence with a missing preposition...  

and you have just a few seconds  to choose the correct one before  

time runs out. Keep track of your score  and let me know how you did at the end.

Okay. So prepositions, as I said, can be really,  

really confusing. Very very small words and  people will always understand you if you make  

a mistake. Don't worry about that so much. You  try and practise them to make sure you get the  

right preposition with the right word in  the right situation, at the right time.

Okay, as always, I really appreciate you  watching and listening. And if you need  

any more help, you can contact me on  www.englishlessonviaskype.com. Always  

happy to take on board your suggestions.  So remember join me for the next lesson.