Main Takeaways:
- There are five types of prepositions in the English language.
- A preposition is a word that helps connect nouns and pronouns with a verb or adjective in a sentence.
- The five types of prepositions are simple, double, compound, participle, and phrase prepositions.
- Prepositional phrases contain a preposition plus a noun or pronoun.
There are five types of prepositions. They are simple, double, compound, participle, and phrase prepositions. A preposition is used to show a relationship between the noun, pronoun, or phrases in a sentence. They are used to connect people, objects, time, and locations.
What is a Preposition?
The definition of a preposition is a word or phrase that connects a noun or pronoun to a verb or adjective in a sentence. They are usually short words, and they normally are found in front of nouns. On rare occasions, prepositions can be found in front of gerund verbs.
If the subject, noun, and verb are the bricks of sentence, then prepositions are the mortar that connects them. They express position, movement, possession, time, and how an action is completed.
How Many Types of Prepositions are There?
There are five types of prepositions:
- Simple preposition
- Double preposition
- Compound preposition
- Participle preposition
- Phrase preposition
These are spoken and written quite often in English. In fact, many of us use all types of prepositions naturally without realizing that they are distinct and have a name.


What are the Most Common Prepositions?
The Top 10 most common prepositions in the English language are: of, with, at, from, into, during, including, until, against. These represent the most frequently used prepositions. They are also called “simple prepositions.”
What is a Simple Type of Preposition?
Simple prepositions are the short words used to show the relationship between nouns, pronouns, or to join parts of a clause or sentence.
List of Simple Prepositions
Here are some of the most common, or simple prepositions:
aboard about above across after against along alongside amid among around at before behind below beneath beside besides between beyond but by concerning
considering despite down during except excepting for from in inside into like near of off on onto opposite out outside over past regarding
round save since through throughout till to toward under underneath until unto up upon via with within without
Examples of Simple Prepositions Used in Sentences
Car is the object of the preposition out.
Upon is the preposition. Tin Man is the object.
Homework is the object and the preposition is without.
What are Prepositions of Place?
Writers use this type of preposition to describe where something is located. There are four Prepositions of Place. “At” describes a specific point in space. “In” describes an enclosed space. “On” describes an object’s relationship to a surface. “By” describes an object’s proximity to something else.
Prepositions of Place Examples
“At”
“In”
“On”
“By”
Prepositions of Direction
If you ask “Where?”, this type of preposition is usually part of the answer. Prepositions of Direction let you know where something is going. They indicate which direction something is moving. There are dozens of examples, but the most common examples of Prepositions of Direction are:


What is a Double Preposition?
Easily form a Double Prepositions by joining two simple prepositions.
Examples of Double Prepositions in Sentences
What is a Compound Preposition?
Double prepositions and compound prepositions are very similar. Both are two-word phrases. The double preposition is formed through the conjunction of two simple prepositions. Whereas the compound preposition is formed through the conjunction of a non-prepositional word and a simple preposition.
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This sentence can be simplified to:
Then, I didn’t know the answer.
or
I didn’t know the answer.
The Most Common Compound Prepositions
according to ahead of along with alongside of apart from around about as against as between as compared with as compared to as for at that point in time at this point in time at the point of at the time of because of by force of by means of by reason of by virtue of by way of due to during the course of except for for fear of for lack of for the purpose of for the reason that for the sake of from above from among from behind from beneath from between from the point of view of in accordance with in a manner similar to in care of in case of in close connection with in common with in comparison to in compliance with in connection with on account of on behalf of on the basis of on the part of on the point of on top of out of outside of owing to previous to prior to pursuant to regardless of relating to relative to short of similar to
subsequent to under cover of what with with a view to with regard to with reference to with respect to with the intention of in consequence of in consideration of in contrast to in default of in deference to in exchange for in excess of in favor of in front of in lieu of in opposition to in order to in place of in preference to in receipt of in regard to in relation to in search of in spite of in terms of in the course of in the event of in the face of in the immediate vicinity of in the nature of independently of inside of instead of on account of on behalf of on the basis of on the part of on the point of on top of out of outside of owing to previous to prior to pursuant to regardless of relating to relative to short of similar to subsequent to under cover of what with with a view to with regard to with reference to with respect to with the intention of
Participle Prepositions
Participle prepositions have endings such as -ed and -ing.
Prepositional Phrase Example Sentences
How do you Identify a Prepositional Phrase?
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that doesn’t contain a verb or a subject. It functions as a unified part of speech. A prepositional phrase normally has a simple preposition and a noun or a simple preposition and a pronoun.
You can jazz up your hamburger by adding cheese, grilled onions, mustard, tomatoes, etc. The same can be done for prepositional phrases. Add adverbs and adjectives to make your sentence more enjoyable to read.
Prepositional Phrase Examples
Prepositional phrases contain a preposition followed by an article followed by a noun.
Let’s spice up this sentence.
Next, we add more details.
Adjectives make the sentence more enticing to read.
Adding a number adjective makes the sentence for informative.
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