English Preposition Exercises, Explanations, Rules, and pdfs đ
English prepositions are problematic for many language learners. This page has a variety preposition exercises and explanations to help you to become more accurate and understand the differences through practice.
Free printable pdf worksheets are available below.
Exercises
Practise the exercises below to understand the main rules of when we use different prepositions.
1ī¸âŖ Place (in/on/at)
đĢ Location
đšWe use ‘in’ for enclosed spaces:Â He is in his bedroom. The ice cream is in the fridge.
đšWe use ‘on’ for flat surfaces: Your book is on the table.
đšWe use ‘at’ for to describe general, and exact locations: She is at the supermarket.  We are at the entrance of the theatre.
Exercises
  1.
     The apple is ____ (in/on/at) the box.
â
in
âšī¸Â  The box is an enclosed space.
  2.
   The apple is ____ (in/on/at) the box.
â
on
âšī¸Â The top of the box is a flat surface.
  3.
   Rob:  Where is Mike?
Sarah:  He is ____ (in/on/at) the gym.   Â
đĄ2 answers are possible!
â
He is at the gym.
We use ‘at’ if we want to mean the general location.
â He is in the gym.
âšī¸Â We use ‘in’ to describe an enclosed space. This would be more appropriate if you were having a conversation in a big sports centre which also contained a gym.
  4.
      The computer is ___ (in/on/at) the desk.
â on
âšī¸Â The desk is a flat surface.
  5.
     Her phone is ___ (in/on/at) her pocket.
â in
âšī¸Â The pocket is an enclosed space.
Practice lots more ‘prepositions of place fill-in-the-blank exercises’ for free.
đĄ Addresses and areas
đšWe use âatâ for street numbers and names: I live at number 21.
đšWe use âonâ when we live next to streets, rivers, and borders (a line) : We live on Park Road. They have a house on the river.
đšWe use âinâ for areas of land: We live in the countryside. They live in the mountains. You live in the city.
  6.
We live ____ number 64.
â at
âšī¸ We use âatâ for specific house numbers.
  7.
They live ___ âThe Old Mill. Itâs a beautiful cottage.
â at
âšī¸ We generally use âatâ for names of buildings.
  8.
She has an apartment ___ Richmond Street.
â on
âšī¸ We use âonâ when buildings are touching a line (streets/roads/rivers).
  9.
They have just bought a small house ___ the River Daw.
â on
âšī¸ We use âonâ for properties next to a river (a line).
  10.
She lives in a house ___ a nice quiet village.
â in
âšī¸ We use âinâ for areas of land.
  11.
 We have a holiday house ___ the mountains.
â in
âšī¸Â We use âinâ for areas of land.
đ Transport
đšWe use âonâ for larger vehicles that we can walk around in (planes, boats, trains): They travelled on a boat to Australia.
đšWe use âinâ for smaller vehicles. We can usually enter these vehicles with a door: Yesterday, Mike took me for a drive in his new car.
đšWe use âonâ for vehicles we can sit on, or stand on: She likes to ride on her motorbike.
  12.
đą âWe are ___ the train and will arrive in Amsterdam at 3 oâclock.â
â on
âšī¸ We use âonâ for large methods of transport.
  13.
They have been driving ___ the car for 4 hours.
â in
âšī¸ We use âinâ for smaller vehicles (usually with a door).
  14.
đą “I am ___ the taxi now. I will be there in 20 minutes”
â in
  15.
She feels very happy when she is ___ her scooter.
â on
âšī¸Â You have to sit on a scooter.
đĄ Using ‘by’ for transport
đšWe also use the preposition ‘by’ for nearly all transport. We use it to say how we get somewhere.
We came here by train.
Today I came to the office by bus.
Â
đļââī¸Do we use ‘on foot’ or ‘by foot’ for walking?
People do say ‘by foot’, but it is more common to say ‘on foot’.
He travels to work on foot every day.
2ī¸âŖ Time (in/on/at)
đ Months/Years/Days/Dates
đšWe use ‘on’ for specific days and dates: On Friday. On the 11th of March.
đšWe use ‘in’ just for months: Her birthday is in September.
đš We use ‘in’ just for specific years and decades:Â My dad was born in 1960. Disco music was popular in the 70’s.
Exercises
  16.
His birthday is ____ (in/on/at) August.
â in
âšī¸Â  If we want to say just the month, we use ‘in’.
  17.
What are you doing ____ (in/on/at) the 15th of November?
â on .
âšī¸Â  If we say the date and month, we use ‘on’.
  18.
She was born ____ 1965.
â in
âšī¸Â  If we just say the specific year, we use ‘in’.
  19.
Iâm going to meet him ____ Saturday.
â on
âšī¸ For specific days, we use âonâ.
đ Holidays / Seasons / Duration / Specific clock time
đš We use ‘at’ for periods of holiday: I am staying with my parents at Christmas.
đšWe use ‘in’ for seasons:Â Our wedding is in the summer.
đšWe use ‘in’ for durations of time:Â I will meet you in 10 minutes.
đš We use ‘at’ for specific clock time: I will meet you at 2:15 this afternoon.
  20.
     What are you doing ____ (in/on/at) Christmas?
â
at
âšī¸ We use at because this is a period of holiday time.
  21.
     Where will you be ____ Christmas day?
â on
âšī¸Â Christmas day is a specific day
  22.
I am going to the south of Spain ___ the winter.
â in
âšī¸Â We use ‘in’ for seasons.
  23.
I’m late, but I will be there ____ 30 minutes.
â in
âšī¸Â We use ‘in’ to talk about durations of time.
  24.
   I will meet you at the library ___ 11 am.
â at
âšī¸Â We use ‘at’ for specific clock time.
 đ Periods of time in the day
đšWe use ‘in’ for morning, afternoon, and evening: She goes to work in the morning.
đšâ ī¸ We use ‘at’ for night: He goes to see his friends at night.
đšWe use ‘at’ for noon, midday, and midnight:Â I am meeting them at noon.
đšWe use ‘on’ for a specific morning, afternoon, evening, night:Â I am playing football on Friday night.
Exercises
  25.
She eats a bowl of cereal ____ (in/on/at) the morning.
â in
  26.
He likes to read to his son ____ night.
â at
  27.
Can I meet you today ____ noon?
â at
  28.
Shall we go to the cinema ____Tuesday evening?
â on
  29.
We are playing football ____ the afternoon.
â in
4ī¸âŖ Prepositions of movement
There are many prepositions of movement and it is good to practise these with pictures. Practise the exercises below.
5ī¸âŖ ‘For’ and ‘To’ (Reason and purpose)
đšWe use ‘for’ and ‘to’ to show reason and purpose.
I am going to the ATM for some money.
I am going to the ATM machine to get some money.
â
I am going to New York for new job opportunities.
I am going to New York to find a new job.
Exercises
  30.
I am going to the park ____ (for/to) a walk.
â for
âšī¸Â for + noun
  31.
I am going to the park ___ (for/to) have a walk.
â to
âšī¸Â to + verb
  32.
I am studying hard now ____ (for/to) a good job in the future.
â for
âšī¸Â for + noun
  33.
I am studying hard now ____ get a good job in the future.
â to
âšī¸Â to + verb
6ī¸âŖ ‘During’ ‘While’ ‘For’
đšWe use ‘during’ to show when things happen:
She started crying during the film.
đšWe use ‘while’ to show two things happening at the same time:Â She kept trying to speak to me while I was talking on the phone.
â
đšThe preposition ‘for’ is also used to express how long something happens:
I will be in Beijing for 1 month.
  34.
She spoke on the phone ______(during/while) her run to the office.
â during
âšī¸Â during + noun
  35.
He spoke on the phone _____(during/while) he was running.
â while
âšī¸Â while + subject + verb
PDF Downloads
A collection of free pdf worksheets for you to download.
Other Exercises You Might Like
đ All grammar exercises
Free Pdf worksheets are available if you click on the above exercise pages.
1 thought on “English Preposition Exercises and pdfs đ Main Page”
This is quite helpful. Many thanks