GRAMMAR

Shops and Shopping

Prepositions

Use of preposition "at"

·        At the end of the runway;  at the corner of the street; go in at the side door; change at Didcot; at the roundabout take the third exit; I’ll be at home all mor5ning.

·        She’s at the theatre, cinema; She works at the hospital; He is at (staying) the Grand Hotel; at a concert, conference, match;

·        They’re at Keith’s; I was at my father’s; They didn’t have any bread at the baker’s;

·        Employment or study: he’s been at the bank longer than anyone else; I’m at the head office; her three years at Oxford;

·        Start, meet, leave at 2 o’clock; at 3.15; he is to be shot at dawn; I didn’t know he was dead at the time of speaking (when I spoke); At the moment you called I was in the garden; at the end of the holiday;

·        At night you can see the stars; What are you doing at/on  (Am E) the weekend? Take a few days’  holiday at Christmas, Easter, Whitsun;

·        She got married at 55; He left school at (the age of) 16.

·        Aim the ball at the hole; direct one’s advertising at a wider audience; smile, grin, stare, wave at sb: a man with a gun was shooting at the crowd; The dog rushed at me; She shouted at me but I couldn’t hear; throw stones at the can in the water

·        Clutch at the rope; guess at the meaning; she nibbled at the sandwich;

·        Can you read a car number-plate at fifty metres? Hold sth at arm’s length

·        At war with their neighbours; stand at ease; put sb at risk; children at play; she’s at work in the garden;

·        House prices are rising at a higher rate than inflation; I bought this coat at half price/at 50% discount; driving at 70mph

·        At the first attempt; at two-minute intervals;

·        Attend the dinner at the chairman’s invitation; at the king’s command;

·        This was Torvill and Dean at their best;  the garden’s at its most beautiful in June; an example of British craftsmanship at its finest;

·        Good, clever, skilled, etc at restoring furniture; hopeless at (playing) chess; She’s a genius at doing crossword puzzles; busy at their homework; impatient at the delay; amused at the cartoons; delighted at the result; puzzled at her silence; his anger at being beaten.

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Use of preposition "in"

·        The highest mountain in the world; a country in Africa; She lives in a small village in France; the biggest shop in town; islands in the Pacific Ocean; children playing in the street; not a cloud in the sky; swimming in the pool; standing in the corner of the room; It’s in a drawer; I read about it in the newspaper; Can you see the dog in the picture?

·        Lying in bed; sitting in an armchair; leave the key in the lock; a cigarette in his mouth; What have you got in your pocket?

·        He dipped his pen in the ink; throw it in the fire; She got in her car;

·        In the twentieth century; in 1999; in spring, summer; in March; in the morning/afternoon/evening; It happened in the past;

·        Return in a few minutes/hours/days/months; It will be ready in a week; She learnt to drive in three weeks;

·        I haven’t seen him in  years; It’s the only’ first letter I‘ve had in ten days;

·        Seven days in a week; eight pints in a gallon; There’s a cover charge included in the total; I recognize his father in him;

·        A slope/gradient of one in five; taxed at the rate of 15p in the pound; One in ten said they preferred their old brand of margarine.

·        Dressed/clothed in rags; the man in hat; the woman in white; in uniform, mourning, disguise, armour; in high-heeled shoes; in a silk shirt

·        Go out in the rain, sun, cold

·        In order; in good repair; in poor health; in a rage; in a hurry; in fun; in poverty; in ruins; in anger;

·        A novel in three parts; stand in groups; sit in rows; her hair in a pony-tail; curtains hanging in folds; Tourists queue in (their) thousands to see the tomb.

·        Speak in English; write a message in code; written in biro/ink/pencil; printed in italics, capitals; say it in a few words; speak in a loud voice; pay in cash

·        We have lost a fist-rate teacher in Jim; You will always find a good friend in me;

·        He’s behind the others in reading; lacking in courage; equal in strength; a country rich in minerals; blind in one eye; three feet  in length, depth, diameter;

·        In the army/navy/air force; in business, insurance, computers, journalism; He’s been in politics all his life; killed in action; in attempting to save a child from drowning, she nearly lost her own life.

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Use of preposition "on"

·        A picture on the wall; a drawing on the blackboard; dirty marks on the ceiling; Leave the glasses on the table; sit on the grass; leaves floating on the water; the diagram on page 5; stick a stamp on the envelope; a carpet on the floor; hit sb on the head; travel on the continent;

·        A roof on the house; stand on one foot; a spot on one’s chin; a blister on one’s foot; a ring on one’s finger; lean on me/my arm; a flag on a pole; a coat on a hook; hanging on a string; a hat on one’s head; sit on a chair; have sth on one’s mind;

·        On the plane from New York to London; have lunch on the train; travel on the bus/the tube/the coach;

·        Have you got any money on you? The burglar was caught with the stolen goods still on him.

·        On Sundays; on the evening of May the first; on this occasion; on a sunny day in August; on your birthday/New Year’s day/Christmas day;

·        On my arrival home/On arriving home I discovered the burglary; On (my) asking for information I was told I must wait; on the death of his parents; on the unexpected news of his accident;

·        Write, speak, lecture on Shakespeare; a lesson on philosophy; an essay on political economy; a programme on twentieth-century musicians;

·        On the committee/staff/jury; Which/Whose side are you on?

·        Most cars run on petrol; The doctor put me on these tablets; live on bread and water; on (addicted to) heroin;

·        Marching on the capital; turn one’s back on sb; pull/draw a knife on sb; creep up on sb; On the left you can see the palace;

·        A town on the coast; a house on the main road; a village on the border; Just on (almost exactly) a year ago I moved to London; boats moored on both sides of the river; hedges on either side of the road;

·        A story based on fact; have sth on good authority; On your advice I applied for the job; arrested on the charge of theft; You have it on my word

·        Live on pension/one’s savings/ a student grant; be on a low wage; feed a family on £20 a week; an operation on the National Health Service; Drinks are on me;

·        Play a tune on the recorder; broadcast on the TV/radio; speak on the telephone;

·        A tax on tobacco; charge interest on the loan; a strain on our resources

·        On business/holiday; go on an errand/hike/excursion; on loan for a week; on special offer;

·        Suffer disaster on disaster; receive insult on insult.  

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Combinations with different prepositions

Noun+preposition

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Adjective + preposition

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Verb+preposition

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Prepositional combinations with adjectives and verbs

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Games

ROUND THE CIRCLE

Grammar:  prepositions of movement

Level:   beginner to elementary

Time:  10-20 minutes

Materials: soft ball or ball of newspaper

1.       The whole group stands in a big circle(among fixed benches if necessary). Throw the ball and say your name. If people already know all the names turn it into a spelling exercise: P-A-U-L.

2 .      Tell the students to throw the ball and say their name and the name of the person being thrown to, e.g. “From Paul to Jay”. As he catches the ball Jay says, ”From Paul to me”.

3.       In successive rounds try these prepositional patterns:

a)    From A to B for X ( On catching the ball, B says: ”From A to me for X”. On catching the ball, Z says, ”From A to B for me”.

b)    From A to B via X.

c)     From A to B behind X’s back.

d)    From A to B across the floor (rolling the ball).

e)    From A to B round the circle (handing the ball from person to person).

f)      From A to B clockwise/anti-clockwise round the circle.

g)    From A to B over X’s head.

Print game

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THE TRIANGLE GAME

Grammar:  Prepositions, adverbs of time, place, movement

Level:  Intermediate and above

Time:  40-50 minutes

Materials:  One large card triangle and three strips of paper per 9 students

Preparation

Cut out one large card triangle and three strips of paper per each group of nine students.

In  class

1 Dictate this list of adverbs and prepositions:

on foot          during          by

by bus           opposite      across

for                 nowhere      through

until              upstream     in and out

around           apart           downtown

overseas        upstairs       ashore

high up          southward   beyond

among           near             between

next door       aboard        next to

on top of       past             on

into               in      

Ask students to check with their neighbours that they haven’t missed or misspelt any words and check unnkown words. Help them if necessary.

2 Arrange the students into groups of approximately nine people round tables and give each group one of the card triangles and three strips of paper. Ask them to write these words on the strips of paper and place them in the angles of the triangle: place, time and movement.

3 Within each group of nine, three sit near the place angle, three near the time angle and three near the movement angle.

4 Tell them how the game works:

a)    The first team chooses one of the dictated words which they think won’t fit in their corner. They write it on a slip of paper and place it in the most appropriate corner.

b)    The team in that corner has 25 seconds to produce a correct sentence showing the word used in their corner’s meaning. If they manage to do this they get a point. If they can’t they may challenge the first team to give them a sentence with that meaning. If the first team can’t do so then they lose a point (they get minus one).

c)     The team who have just played lay down a new word, but not in their own corner.

5 Get the students playing simultaneously at their tables of nine. Hover between tables and act as a referee for the correctness of the sentences produced.

6 Draw the game to a close just before the energy begins to flag and handle any language problems arising.

Print game

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Training exercises - Internet resources

http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/prepositions.htm - theory on prepositions (very good), several quizzes with prepositions, also crosswords

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep.html - theory on prepositions of direction (to, in, into, on, onto), with drawings

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep2.html - theory on prepositions of location (at, in, on), with drawings

http://a4esl.org/q/h/fb-bd-preposition.html - Click on the answer button to see the answer. I bought a
new dress ___ the store. Answer. I found my car keys ___ my pocket. Answer. ...

http://a4esl.org/q/j/vm/mc-prep.html - This is an interactive multiple-choice JavaScript quiz for students of English as a second language.

http://grammar.englishclub.com/prepositions-list.htm - list of English prepositions

http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/tips/sentence/preposit.htm list of prepositions, click on a preposition and find an example of its use

http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/prepositions.html - verb+preposition exercises (bring, check, come, get, look, pass, put, take, turn, mixed)

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/200/grammar/prepo.htm - This page shows you how to use the prepositions on, in, and at in different contexts, interactive exercises

http://iteslj.org/cw/1/vm-prep.htm - crossword puzzle on prepositions, click on each box to enter letters in the crossword puzzle, then press the Check Answers button.

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/preposit.html -theory on prepositions

http://www.better-english.com/grammar/prepositions.htm - Choose the correct answer for each question.

http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/prep3.html - after answering *all* the questions, press the 'submit' button, and your answers will be automatically checked in seconds. Have fun while you learn!

http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/prep1.html - after answering *all* the questions, press the 'submit' button, and your answers will be automatically checked in seconds. Have fun while you learn!

http://www.englishlearner.com/online/grint6.html - Complete the following text with a word in each gap, when necessary; enter "-" if nothing is missing.

http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz%20center/mtprep.htm - Movie Titles: Prepositions, Click on the correct answer.

http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz%20center/preploc.htm - Making Dinner: Prepositions of Location, Click on the correct answer.

http://218.103.45.154/vlc/preps/preptable.htm - Fill in the correct prepositions or particles (words like of, in, by etc) which are missing from the texts.

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep1.htm - theory & quiz on prepositions at, in, on

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep2.htm - theory & quiz on prepositions of movement in at, to, nothing

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep4.htm - theory & quiz on prepositions for, while, during

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep3.htm - c time and date - in, at, on

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep5.htm - theory & quiz on nouns+prepositions

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep6.htm - theory & quiz on prepositions+nouns

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep7.htm - theory & quiz on adjectives+prepositions combinations (about, at, by, for, from)

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep8.htm - theory & quiz on adjectives+prepositions combinations(of, on, to, with)

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep9.htm - theory & quiz on prepositions of position and direction

http://grammar.englishclub.com/prepositions.htm - list of prepositions, simple rule for English prepositions, prepositions of place and time

http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/preposition_quiz2.htm - interactive exercise on recognizing prepositions in the text

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/grammar/prepositions.htm - theory on prepositions

http://www.english-zone.com/grammar/1preps.html - at / in lesson and quiz, verb and preposition combinations dictionary

http://eslus.com/LESSONS/GRAMMAR/POS/pos7.htm -theory and quiz on prepositions

http://www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/handouts/1503.html - problematic prepositions, well-explained usage of the most common English prepositions

http://www.collegeem.qc.ca/cemdept/anglais/javaqz/prepinon.htm - prepositions at, in, on quiz

http://aliscot.com/bigdog/prepositions.htm - theory and self-test on prepositions

http://www.linguarama.com/ps/194-7.htm - Prepositions play an important part in written business communication. The following verbs and prepositions are often found in business letters.  interactive business letters after the theory.

http://www.better-english.com/vocabulary/findthepreposition.htm - interactive exercise, find the preposition

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0885526.html - what a cat can do with a coach ;-)))

http://www.stufun.com/prepositions/ - kids' page, theory and links to exercises

http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/writing/on-line/preptime.html - prepositions of time and place, printable exercises

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/prepositions01.html - in time vs. on time, in the end vs. at the end

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/prepositions02.html - grammar game & links

http://www.smic.be/smic5022/prepositions7.htm - gap-fill exercise

http://www.smic.be/smic5022/prepositions5.htm - gap-fill exercise, complete with at, in, on

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/words/activities/prepositions_place.html - drag and drop game, use your mouse to move the words from the top to the boxes below, very interesting

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/prepositions.htm - Lots and lots of interactive resources, ideas and worksheets to teach your children about prepositions. ... Prepositions. ... Prepositions Worksheets. ...