List of English prepositions
This is a list of English prepositions. Many English prepositions are compounds of bare roots and affixes such as a-, be-, -side, and -st,
Some single words
Prepositions
- aboard
- about
- above
- absent (law)
- across
- cross (archaic)
- after
- against
- along
- alongside
- amid
- among
- apropos (rare for apropos of)
- apud (formal)
- around
- as
- astride
- at
- @ (abbreviation)
- atop
- ontop (nonstandard)
- bar
- before
- behind
- ahind (dialectal or archaic)
- below
- beneath
- beside
- besides
- between
- beyond
- ayond (dialectal or archaic)
- but
- by
- chez (rare)
- circa
- come
- dehors (law)
- despite
- spite (abbreviation)
- down
- during
- except
- for
- 4 (abbreviation)
- from
- in
- inside
- into
- less
- like
- minus
- near
- notwithstanding (also postpositional)
- of
- o' (poetic or eye-dialect)
- off
- on
- onto
- opposite
- out
- outen (archaic or dialectal)
- outside
- over
- o'er (poetic)
- pace (formal)
- past
- per
- plus
- post (often hyphenated)
- pre (often hyphenated)
- pro (often hyphenated)
- qua (formal)
- regarding
- sans (formal)
- save
- sauf (archaic)
- short
- since
- sithence (archaic)
- than
- through
- thru (abbreviation)
- throughout
- thruout (abbreviation)
- till
- to
- 2 (abbreviation)
- toward, towards
- under
- underneath
- unlike
- until
- unto (obsolete, poetic)
- up
- upon
- upside
- versus
- via
- vice (formal)
- vis-à-vis (formal)
- with
- within
- w/i (abbreviation)
- without
- w/o (abbreviation)
Multiple words
Two words
- according to
- across from
- adjacent to
- ahead of
- along with
- apart from
- as for
- as of
- as per
- as regards
- aside from
- back to
- based on
- because of
- close to
- counter to
- down on
- due to
- except for
- far from
- inside of
- instead of
- left of
- near to
- next to
- opposite of
- opposite to
- other than
- out from
- out of
- outside of
- owing to
- prior to
- pursuant to
- rather than
- regardless of
- right of
- subsequent to
- such as
- thanks to
- up to
- based on
Three words
- as far as is one example of the many expressions which can be analyzed as as+adjective+as rather than a multiword preposition
- as opposed to
- as soon as
- as well as
Preposition + (article) + noun + preposition
English has many idiomatic expressions that act as prepositions that can be analyzed as a preposition followed by a noun (sometimes preceded by the definite or, occasionally, indefinite article) followed by another preposition.[1] Common examples include:
Archaic or dialectal
See also archaic forms of modern prepositions listed above.
- abaft (nautical or archaic)
- abeam (nautical)
- aboon, abun, abune (dialectal)
- afront (dialectal or archaic)
- ajax (Polari)
- alongst
- aloof
- anenst, anent (rare, U.K. dialectal)
- athwart (nautical or archaic)
- atop, ontop
- behither
- ben (dialectal)
- betwixt, atwix (dialectal or archaic)
- bewest (dialectal or archaic)
- benorth (dialectal or archaic)
- emforth
- ere (poetic or archaic)
- forby (dialectal or archaic)
- foreanent, forenenst (dialectal or archaic)
- foregain, foregainst (dialectal or archaic)
- forth
- fromward, froward, fromwards
- furth (Scotland)
- gainward
- imell (dialectal or archaic)
- inmid, inmiddes
- mang (Devon)
- mauger, maugre
- nearhand (archaic or dialectal)
- next (archaic for next to; originally superlative of nigh)
- nigh, anigh, anighst (poetic or archaic)
- outwith (dialectal)
- overthwart (archaic or dialectal)
- quoad (formal; a Latin term)
- umbe, umb, um (archaic or dialectal)
- unto (archaic or poetic)
- uptill
Postpositions
Mnemonic
(Sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle)
About Above Across Against Among Around At After Before Beside Behind Between Beyond By Down During Into For From In Except Near Of Off To Over Past Throughout Through Towards On Up Without Until With Under
References
- Rodney Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum; et al. (2002). "chapter 7 §3.1". The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 618–620. ISBN 0-521-43146-8.
External links
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