Prepositions

Prepositions are words that express a relationship between things or beings in a sentence, very often relating to ‘where’ or ‘when’.  They are usually a single word, but sometimes consist of more than one word.

Some common prepositions are contained in the table below.

on	in	at	into
onto	over	under	before
after	between	beyond	because of
until	by	since	like
through	along	of	with
near	from	on top of	past
round	beside	for	towards
off	across	above	below
up	down	inside	about

Prepositions can be used with a noun or noun phrase to create a prepositional phrase:

• beyond England
• across the sea
• by teatime
• until 10 o’clock
• along the riverbank
• like a cheetah
• with a friend

These prepositional phrases can be used:

• to extend noun phrases, providing information after the main noun in the phrase (The small girl with the pigtails played the recorder.)

or

• to fill the adverbial slots in sentences, giving information about where, when, how or why things happen.  (The rabbit disappeared down the burrow.  At that moment the man slipped on the banana skin.  She shivered because of the cold.  The fish darted like silver arrows.)

Sometimes we use prepositions with verbs to extend or alter the verb’s usual meaning.  For example, the verb ‘take’ means something different to the verb ‘take off’.

Although children use prepositions and prepositional phrases from an early age to describe where, when, how or why things happen, they will not usually be taught the term ‘preposition’ until Year 3.  Children will be encouraged to create and use prepositional phrases in their writing to provide their readers with more detailed information.

You can use the following activity to help your child use prepositions to create prepositional phrases describing ‘where’ the action happens.

Make preposition cards from the table below.  Using this picture (or one of your choice) ask your child where a small character, like a mouse, could hide or run.  Turn the cards over and see if you can use each one to create a prepositional phrase.  You can provide part of the sentence at first, but encourage your child to experiment with different ideas, changing the character and actions. 

• The tiny mouse hid …  (inside the wall, behind the plants, up the chimney, etc.)
• The mouse ran … (over the wall, across the roof, through the drainpipe, etc.)
• The ant crawled …

on	in	onto	into
up	over	under	before
after	between	beyond	down
along	by	inside	through
off	near	of	across
above	beside	on top of	past
round	below	from	towards

You can discuss prepositional phrases that you notice when reading and also create them when you are out an about.  For example, past the shops, over the bridge, towards the church.  Try to remember your journey so that you can write these phrases down on strips of paper when you get home.  Children can then experiment with creating a prepositional poem, putting the strips of paper in the correct order.  

Here's my example of a sequential journey to give you the idea!

My journey to work

Down the lane,

Across the bridge,

Along the road,

Into the village.

Through the lights,

Past the church,

At the roundabout,

Out of the village.

Up the hill,

Under branches of trees,

Over the top

on Woodbury Common.

Between farm shop and fields

Beyond pubs, parks and houses,

Exeter!

It could be fun creating a poem of a shopping trip in the supermarket: above the sugar, below the carrots, behind the beans.  

Or alternatively, use a picture of a pirate map and ask children to describe their journey to the treasure!  Search 'pirate maps for kids' online for some great examples.