Prepositions: ESL lesson plans and exercises

Q: When do you use in, on and at for time?

In for months, on for dates, at for clock times. In January , in winter , in 1890 ; on Monday , on January 1st , on New Year's Day ; at 8 a.m. , at noon . Parts of the day take in the ( in the evening ), except at night , and a day with a part of it takes on : on Sunday morning . Americans say on the weekend .

Q: When do you use at, in and on for places?

At workplaces, in rooms and cities, on farms. She works at a hospital in Atlanta. He works in an office. They work on a ranch. Home and work take only at : at home , at work . With a hospital or a school, at means it's your workplace and in means inside the building, so both are fine.

Q: Are there interactive prepositions of place exercises?

Yes, and for time and movement as well. The exercises at the top of this page come from these lessons, which practice next to , between , in , on , at and through with gap-fills, drag-and-drop tasks, tables to complete and quizzes. Students answer in their own edio.ai accounts, and every answer is checked on the spot. A free trial opens all the lessons.

Q: What are prepositions of movement?

Words that show the path something takes. They follow a verb of motion: walk along the trail , drive through the forest , climb up the mountain , run into the tent . Learners often mix up across and through : you go across a road but through a tunnel. In says where something is, while into says it moves from outside to inside.

Q: When do you use by for transportation?

Use by with no a or the : by bus . I go to work by subway , by train , by bike , by cab . Walking is the exception: on foot , never by foot , or simply I walk . With the verb take , the article comes back: take the bus , take the train , take a cab .

Q: Which prepositions go with adjectives like good and afraid?

Each adjective has its own, so learn them as pairs. Good at , bad at , interested in , afraid of , proud of , tired of , excited about , famous for . A verb after the preposition takes -ing: She's good at finding food. Americans also say excited for an event, though the lesson here sticks to excited about .

Q: Do you say rose by or rose to with numbers?

Both: by for the change, to for the new level. Our p99 rose by 270 ms says how much it grew, It rose to 450 ms says where it ended, and from 180 ms to 450 ms gives both. Nouns follow the same idea: an increase in latency names what changed, an increase of 150% the amount. The amount never takes with .

Q: How do I teach prepositions of place to beginners?

Start with a real street and real questions. In English A1.1 on edio.ai, learners ask Where's the bank? on Main Street, USA, and answer with near and next to . English A1.2 adds between , behind , in front of and across from to guide a visitor to a streetcar stop, then at , in and on for the places people work.

Q: What are good prepositions games?

Hide-and-find and map games that need exact answers. Hide a small object and let the class guess where it is ( Is it behind the door? ), or have pairs give directions on a town map: It's between the bank and the café. For time, a class birthday calendar needs in , on and at . The preposition lessons here include a speaking chapter: a chat, then a game such as Spin the wheel or Open the box.

Q: Can these preposition lessons be used one-to-one?

Yes, and they work as homework too. In a private class, the student follows along from their own account while you lead, and you play the other side of the speaking game. At home, the drills on in , on , at and the rest check each answer, and the teacher reviews the tasks that need it.

Levels A1 to C1 17 lesson plans · 3 drill lessons Exercises that check themselves

Prepositions are the short words that say where, when and how: next to the bank, on January 1st, by bus, through the forest. You'll find 17 ready-made lessons on them here, from the edio.ai library, for levels A1 to C1 and in American English. Try exercises from them, see each rule in the lessons' own grammar schemes, and find a lesson for your class in the list by level, from place and time to prepositions with numbers. The lessons are interactive, and their drills, from in, on and at to rose by, check themselves.

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Prepositions lesson plans and drills

17 lesson plans and 3 drill lessons, A1 to C1. Lesson plans are whole lessons with reading, listening and speaking; drill lessons are 45 to 46 self-checking exercises with no new words.

Try the prepositions exercises

One exercise from each of 6 lessons. These are the same exercises your students do in edio.

Prepositions explained

A preposition comes before a noun or pronoun and links it to the rest of the sentence: at night, across from the stop, wait for me. Many have to be learned as fixed pairs, because verbs and adjectives choose their own: listen to, wait for, good at, afraid of.

Between, behind, in front of, across from

Prepositions of place say where a building is on a street. Between needs two places (between the bank and the bookstore), in front of keeps its of while behind has none, and Americans often say across from for opposite.

Words	Example	See it
between … and …	The café is between the bank and the bookstore.	🏦 ☕ 📚
behind	The garden is behind the house.	👀 ➜ 🏠 ➜ 🌷
in front of	The fountain is in front of the hotel.	👀 ➜ ⛲ ➜ 🏨
across from	The bookstore is across from the stop.	📚 \| the street \| 🚋
on the corner of … and …	The stop is on the corner of Elm Street and Pine Street.	Elm Street ➕ Pine Street = 📍
at the end of	The hotel is at the end of the street.	🛣️ ➜ ➜ ➜ 🏨

From the lesson Where's the streetcar stop? (English A1.2)

In, on and at for time

In goes with months, seasons, years and parts of the day (in January, in the morning), on with days and dates (on January 1st, on the weekend), and at with clock times: at 8 a.m., at noon.

in + month, season, year, part of the day

in January
in winter
in 1890
in 2023
in the morning
in the evening

on + day, date, special day

on Monday
on January 1st
on Monday, January 2nd
on New Year's Day
on my birthday
on the weekend

at + a time

at 8 a.m.
at eight o'clock
at noon
at midnight

From the lesson Never on a Sunday? The Rose Parade (English A1.2)

At, in and on for places of work

Places use the same three words in their own way: at a workplace or home (at a hospital, at work), in a room, city or state (in an office, in Kentucky), and on a farm, a ranch or a ship.

at + a workplace, home, work

at a hospital
at a school
at a clinic
at home
at work

in + a room, a city, a state, an area

in an office
in a kitchen
in Atlanta
in Kentucky
in the mountains

on + a farm, a ranch, a ship, a horse, the road

on a farm
on a ranch
on a ship
on a horse
on the road

From the lesson Nurses on horses? (English A1.2)

Movement: along, over, through, into

Prepositions of movement follow a verb and trace a path: We walked along the river, Biscuit jumped over the log. Across means from side to side of something flat, through in one side and out the other, and into from outside to inside.

Word	The way	Example
along → → →	next to a long line: a road, a river, a trail	We walked along the river.
over ↗ ↘	from one side to the other, above it	Biscuit jumped over the log.
across ⟷	from one side to the other of a flat thing	Nora walked across the road.
through → ▢ →	in one side and out the other	We drove through the forest.
up ↑	to a higher place	Emma climbed up the mountain.
down ↓	to a lower place	We walked down the hill.
into → ▢	from outside to inside	Biscuit ran into the tent.
out of ▢ →	from inside to outside	Marco climbed out of the river.
past → • →	by something, with no stop	We drove past the farm.
around ↻	in a circle	We walked around the lake.

From the lesson She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers (English A2.1)

Good at, afraid of: adjectives with prepositions

Some adjectives always take the same preposition: good at, interested in, afraid of, famous for. After it comes a noun or a verb + -ing, never the base form: afraid of planes, afraid of flying.

Which preposition?

Adjective	Preposition	Example
good, bad	at	Beagles are good at sniffing. Maya is bad at cooking.
interested	in	Maya is interested in animals.
afraid	of	Biscuit is afraid of thunder.
tired	of	We're tired of the rain.
proud	of	Nate is proud of his beagle.
excited	about	Biscuit is excited about his treat.
famous	for	Snoopy is famous for his doghouse.

+ a noun or + verb-ing

Adjective + preposition	+ a noun	+ verb-ing
good at	good at games	good at finding food
afraid of	afraid of planes	afraid of flying
interested in	interested in dogs	interested in becoming a handler
excited about	excited about the trip	excited about getting a treat

From the lesson Beagles at the airport (English A2.2)

Rose by, rose to: prepositions with numbers

At C1, prepositions carry the numbers in a report. Rose by 270 ms gives the size of the change and rose to 450 ms the new level, while a noun takes in for what changed: a sharp increase in latency.

Pattern	Use it for	Example
rise / fall by + amount	the size of the change	Our p99 rose by 270 ms.
rise / fall to + level	the new level	Our p99 rose to 450 ms.
from … to …	the start and the end	It rose from 180 ms to 450 ms.
an increase / a spike in + metric	what changed	a sharp increase in latency
an increase / a fall of + amount	the size of the change	an increase of 150%
peak / level off / stand at	a point or a level	Availability stands at 99.93%.

From the lesson Metrics, Dashboards and SLOs (English for IT C1)

Questions about prepositions

When do you use in, on and at for time?

In for months, on for dates, at for clock times. In January, in winter, in 1890; on Monday, on January 1st, on New Year's Day; at 8 a.m., at noon. Parts of the day take in the (in the evening), except at night, and a day with a part of it takes on: on Sunday morning. Americans say on the weekend.

When do you use at, in and on for places?

At workplaces, in rooms and cities, on farms. She works at a hospital in Atlanta. He works in an office. They work on a ranch. Home and work take only at: at home, at work. With a hospital or a school, at means it's your workplace and in means inside the building, so both are fine.

Are there interactive prepositions of place exercises?

Yes, and for time and movement as well. The exercises at the top of this page come from these lessons, which practice next to, between, in, on, at and through with gap-fills, drag-and-drop tasks, tables to complete and quizzes. Students answer in their own edio.ai accounts, and every answer is checked on the spot. A free trial opens all the lessons.

What are prepositions of movement?

Words that show the path something takes. They follow a verb of motion: walk along the trail, drive through the forest, climb up the mountain, run into the tent. Learners often mix up across and through: you go across a road but through a tunnel. In says where something is, while into says it moves from outside to inside.

When do you use by for transportation?

Use by with no a or the: by bus. I go to work by subway, by train, by bike, by cab. Walking is the exception: on foot, never by foot, or simply I walk. With the verb take, the article comes back: take the bus, take the train, take a cab.

Which prepositions go with adjectives like good and afraid?

Each adjective has its own, so learn them as pairs. Good at, bad at, interested in, afraid of, proud of, tired of, excited about, famous for. A verb after the preposition takes -ing: She's good at finding food. Americans also say excited for an event, though the lesson here sticks to excited about.

Do you say rose by or rose to with numbers?

Both: by for the change, to for the new level. Our p99 rose by 270 ms says how much it grew, It rose to 450 ms says where it ended, and from 180 ms to 450 ms gives both. Nouns follow the same idea: an increase in latency names what changed, an increase of 150% the amount. The amount never takes with.

How do I teach prepositions of place to beginners?

Start with a real street and real questions. In English A1.1 on edio.ai, learners ask Where's the bank? on Main Street, USA, and answer with near and next to. English A1.2 adds between, behind, in front of and across from to guide a visitor to a streetcar stop, then at, in and on for the places people work.

What are good prepositions games?

Hide-and-find and map games that need exact answers. Hide a small object and let the class guess where it is (Is it behind the door?), or have pairs give directions on a town map: It's between the bank and the café. For time, a class birthday calendar needs in, on and at. The preposition lessons here include a speaking chapter: a chat, then a game such as Spin the wheel or Open the box.

Can these preposition lessons be used one-to-one?

Yes, and they work as homework too. In a private class, the student follows along from their own account while you lead, and you play the other side of the speaking game. At home, the drills on in, on, at and the rest check each answer, and the teacher reviews the tasks that need it.

More English grammar

Lessons for every grammar point, from the verb to be to reported speech. All grammar points

Prepositions: ESL lesson plans and exercises

Prepositions lesson plans and drills

Is it morning in Hawaii?

Main Street, USA

How do you get to work?

Where's the streetcar stop?

Never on a Sunday? The Rose Parade

Nurses on horses?

Can you be a lifeguard?

In, on, at: times, days and months

Prepositions of place: in, on, under, next to

She walked 2,000 miles in sneakers

Beagles at the airport

A doctor and an Olympic champion?

Why do corn, beans and squash grow together?

The robot car that crossed the desert

Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift

The count that took eight years?

Volunteer on vacation?

A day for grandparents

Dependent prepositions: depend on, interested in, a reason for

Metrics, Dashboards and SLOs