Mastering Prepositions

Prepositions are vital, but can be hard to master.

Prepositions in English give us information about time, location and direction.

In, on, at, for, by, between, forward

Sometimes two prepositions can have the same or very similar meanings, depending on the context. For example:

My brother is in University.

My brother is at University.

Here ‘in’ and ‘at’ have the same meaning if I'm answering the question:

What does your brother do?

He's at University or He’s in University. Both make sense

But at other times, a change in prepositions can change the meaning of a sentence massively.

‘Watch out. There is a car coming.’ She shouted to him.

‘Shouting to’ someone means you are saying something out loud so another person can hear.

‘Stop calling me!’ She shouted at him. 

‘Shouting at’ someone means you are angry at them.

If you want a complete guide on prepositions, check out the following resource.

🤦Avoid saying this

‘I closed the lights’

We can’t say ‘closed’ here. Instead, say ‘turned off’ or ‘switched off’.

‘I turned off/switched off the lights’

✅Sound like a native

‘The ball is in your court’

It’s your turn to make a decision or take action.

After presenting my proposal to the team, I informed them that the ball is in their court now, and they need to decide on the next steps

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