English Preposition Exercises, Explanations, Rules, and pdfs 🏠
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.
1️⃣ Place (in/on/at)
🏫 Location
🔹We use ‘in’ for enclosed spaces: He is in his bedroom. The ice cream is in the fridge.
🔹We use ‘on’ for flat surfaces: Your book is on the table.
🔹We 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.
✅ in
ℹ️ The box is an enclosed space.
2.
The apple is ____ (in/on/at) the box.
✅ on
ℹ️ The top of the box is a flat surface.
3.
Rob: Where is Mike?
Sarah: He is ____ (in/on/at) the gym.
💡2 answers are possible!
✅He is at the gym.
We use ‘at’ if we want to mean the general location.
✅He is in the gym.
ℹ️ 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.
✅ on
ℹ️ The desk is a flat surface.
5.
Her phone is ___ (in/on/at) her pocket.
✅in
ℹ️ The pocket is an enclosed space.
Practice lots more ‘prepositions of place fill-in-the-blank exercises’ for free.
🏡 Addresses and areas
🔹We use ‘at’ for street numbers and names: I live at number 21.
🔹We use ‘on’ when we live next to streets, rivers, and borders (a line) : We live on Park Road. They have a house on the river.
🔹We use ‘in’ for areas of land: We live in the countryside. They live in the mountains. You live in the city.
6.
We live ____ number 64.
✅ at
ℹ️ We use ‘at’ for specific house numbers.
7.
They live ___ ‘The Old Mill. It’s a beautiful cottage.
✅ at
ℹ️ We generally use ‘at’ for names of buildings.
8.
She has an apartment ___ Richmond Street.
✅ on
ℹ️ We use ‘on’ when buildings are touching a line (streets/roads/rivers).
9.
They have just bought a small house ___ the River Daw.
✅ on
ℹ️ We use ‘on’ for properties next to a river (a line).
10.
She lives in a house ___ a nice quiet village.
✅in
ℹ️ We use ‘in’ for areas of land.
11.
We have a holiday house ___ the mountains.
✅in
ℹ️ We use ‘in’ for areas of land.
🚝 Transport
🔹We use ‘on’ for larger vehicles that we can walk around in (planes, boats, trains): They travelled on a boat to Australia.
🔹We use ‘in’ for smaller vehicles. We can usually enter these vehicles with a door: Yesterday, Mike took me for a drive in his new car.
🔹We use ‘on’ for vehicles we can sit on, or stand on: She likes to ride on her motorbike.
12.
📱 “We are ___ the train and will arrive in Amsterdam at 3 o’clock.”
✅ on
ℹ️ We use ‘on’ for large methods of transport.
13.
They have been driving ___ the car for 4 hours.
✅ in
ℹ️ We use ‘in’ for smaller vehicles (usually with a door).
14.
📱 “I am ___ the taxi now. I will be there in 20 minutes”
✅in
15.
She feels very happy when she is ___ her scooter.
✅ on
ℹ️ You have to sit on a scooter.
💡 Using ‘by’ for transport
🔹We 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.
🚶♂️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.
2️⃣ Time (in/on/at)
📅 Months/Years/Days/Dates
🔹We use ‘on’ for specific days and dates: On Friday. On the 11th of March.
🔹We use ‘in’ just for months: Her birthday is in September.
🔹 We use ‘in’ just for specific years and decades: My dad was born in 1960. Disco music was popular in the 70’s.
Exercises
16.
His birthday is ____ (in/on/at) August.
✅ in
ℹ️ If we want to say just the month, we use ‘in’.
17.
What are you doing ____ (in/on/at) the 15th of November?
✅ on .
ℹ️ If we say the date and month, we use ‘on’.
18.
She was born ____ 1965.
✅ in
ℹ️ If we just say the specific year, we use ‘in’.
19.
I’m going to meet him ____ Saturday.
✅ on
ℹ️ For specific days, we use ‘on’.
🎄 Holidays / Seasons / Duration / Specific clock time
🔹 We use ‘at’ for periods of holiday: I am staying with my parents at Christmas.
🔹We use ‘in’ for seasons: Our wedding is in the summer.
🔹We use ‘in’ for durations of time: I will meet you in 10 minutes.
🔹 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?
✅ at
ℹ️ We use at because this is a period of holiday time.
21.
Where will you be ____ Christmas day?
✅ on
ℹ️ Christmas day is a specific day
22.
I am going to the south of Spain ___ the winter.
✅ in
ℹ️ We use ‘in’ for seasons.
23.
I’m late, but I will be there ____ 30 minutes.
✅ in
ℹ️ We use ‘in’ to talk about durations of time.
24.
I will meet you at the library ___ 11 am.
✅ at
ℹ️ We use ‘at’ for specific clock time.
🌅 Periods of time in the day
🔹We use ‘in’ for morning, afternoon, and evening: She goes to work in the morning.
🔹⚠️ We use ‘at’ for night: He goes to see his friends at night.
🔹We use ‘at’ for noon, midday, and midnight: I am meeting them at noon.
🔹We use ‘on’ for a specific morning, afternoon, evening, night: I am playing football on Friday night.
Exercises
25.
She eats a bowl of cereal ____ (in/on/at) the morning.
✅in
26.
He likes to read to his son ____ night.
✅ at
27.
Can I meet you today ____ noon?
✅ at
28.
Shall we go to the cinema ____Tuesday evening?
✅ on
29.
We are playing football ____ the afternoon.
✅ in
4️⃣ Prepositions of movement
There are many prepositions of movement and it is good to practise these with pictures. Practise the exercises below.
5️⃣ ‘For’ and ‘To’ (Reason and purpose)
🔹We 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.
☕
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.
✅ for
ℹ️ for + noun
31.
I am going to the park ___ (for/to) have a walk.
✅ to
ℹ️ to + verb
32.
I am studying hard now ____ (for/to) a good job in the future.
✅ for
ℹ️ for + noun
33.
I am studying hard now ____ get a good job in the future.
✅ to
ℹ️ to + verb
6️⃣ ‘During’ ‘While’ ‘For’
🔹We use ‘during’ to show when things happen:
She started crying during the film.
🔹We use ‘while’ to show two things happening at the same time: She kept trying to speak to me while I was talking on the phone.
☕
🔹The 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.
✅ during
ℹ️ during + noun
35.
He spoke on the phone _____(during/while) he was running.
✅ while
ℹ️ while + subject + verb
PDF Downloads
A collection of free pdf worksheets for you to download.
Other Exercises You Might Like
Free Pdf worksheets are available if you click on the above exercise pages.
1 thought on “English Preposition Exercises and pdfs 🏠 Main Page”
This is quite helpful. Many thanks