This is a list of English prepositions.
Prototypical prepositions The following are single-word prepositions that can take a noun phrase complement following the preposition. Prepositions in this section may also take other kinds of complements in addition to noun phrase complements. Prepositions marked with an asterisk can be used transitively or intransitively; that is, they can take noun phrase complements (e.g., he was in the house) or not (e.g., he was in).
a"a 3." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=a+3. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. aboard*Aarts, Bas.Oxford Modern English Grammar. Oxford UP, 2011. p. 76-77. about*Quirk, Randolph, et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman, 1985. pp. 665-67. abt. (written abbreviation)"abt., prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. above* abreast"abreast." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=abreast. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. absentHuddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002. p. 610. . across* after*Huddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002. p. 613. . against* aloft*"aloft." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=aloft. Accessed 18 July 2020. along* alongside* amidHuddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002. p. 635. . amidst mid midst among amongst anti"anti." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=anti. Accessed 22 Aug. 2020. apropos*"apropos." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=apropos. Accessed 6 July 2020. around* round* as aslant"aslant." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=aslant. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. astride"astride." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=astride. Accessed 6 July 2020. at @ (written alternative)"at sign." Dictionary.com Pop Culture Dictionary, Dictionary.com, 2020, www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/at-sign/. Accessed 20 July 2020. atop"atop." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=atop. Accessed 6 July 2020. ontop (nonstandard) bar"bar 1." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=bar. Accessed 6 July 2020. barringAarts, Bas.Oxford Modern English Grammar. Oxford UP, 2011. p. 80. . OCLC 663438373Huddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002. . before* B4 (written abbreviation)"B4." Collins COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary, HarperCollins, 2020, www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/b4. Accessed 20 July 2020. behind* below* beneath* neath"neath." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=neath. Accessed 6 July 2020. beside besides* between* 'tween"'tween, prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. beyond* but"but." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=but. Accessed 6 July 2020. by* chez"chez." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=chez. Accessed 6 July 2020. circa"circa." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=circa. Accessed 6 July 2020. c., ca. (abbreviations) come concerning contra counting cum"cum 1." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=cum+1. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. despite spite (abbreviation) down* during effective ere except excepting excluding failing following for from in* including inside* into less"less." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=less. Accessed 6 July 2020. like minus modulo mod (abbreviation)"mod 2." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=mod+2. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. near* nearer (comparative)Huddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002. p. 609. . nearest (superlative) next notwithstanding* (also postpositional) of o' (written alternative; informal)"o'." Collins COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary, HarperCollins, 2020, www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/o. Accessed 20 July 2020. off* offshore"offshore, adv., adj., and prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. on* onto opposite out"out." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=out. Accessed 6 July 2020. outside* over* o'er"o’er." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=o%27er. Accessed 6 July 2020. pace"pace 2." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=pace. Accessed 6 July 2020. past* pending"pending." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q= pending. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. per"per." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=per. Accessed 6 July 2020. plus post"post, prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 6 July 2020. pre"pre, prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 6 July 2020. pro"pro, n.1, adj.1, and prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 6 July 2020. qua"qua, prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 6 July 2020. re regarding respecting sans save"save 2." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=save. Accessed 7 July 2020. saving short since* sub"sub, prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. than through* thru (informal)"thru." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=thru. Accessed 7 July 2020. throughout* thruout (simplified spelling)"thruout." The Century Dictionary, vol. IX, Century Co., 1911, p. 870, babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015036876855&view=1up&seq=870. Accessed 20 July 2020. till"till 2." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=till. Accessed 7 July 2020. times to* t' (abbreviation)"t', prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. 2 (abbreviation) touching (archaic)"touching, prep." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 7 July 2020. toward, towards under* underneath* unlike until unto (poetic)"unto, prep. and conj." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 7 July 2020. up* upon versus"versus." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=versus. Accessed 7 July 2020. vs., v. (abbreviations) via vice"vice 3." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=vice. Accessed 7 July 2020. (formal) vis-à-vis"vis-à-vis." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=vis-à-vis. Accessed 7 July 2020. (formal) wanting with w/, w. (abbreviation)"w." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=w. Accessed 20 July 2020. c̄ (abbreviation in prescriptions)"c̄" Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, 2020, www.dictionary.com/browse/-c-. Accessed 20 July 2020. within* w/i (abbreviation) without* 'thout"'thout, prep. and conj." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2020. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020. w/o (abbreviation)"w/o." American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2020, ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=w%2Fo. Accessed 20 July 2020. worth"Worth." Merriam-Webster.com, Merriam-Webster, n.d., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worth. Accessed 4 Jan. 2024.
Intransitive prepositions The following are single-word intransitive prepositions. This portion of the list includes only prepositions that are always intransitive; prepositions that can occur with or without noun phrase complements (that is, transitively or intransitively) are listed with the prototypical prepositions. Note that dictionaries and grammars informed by concepts from traditional grammar may categorize these intransitive prepositions as adverbs.
abroadHuddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002. p. 614. . adrift aft afterward(s)Huddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002. p. 615. . ahead apart ashore aside away back backward(s) beforehand downhill downstage downstairs downstream downward(s) downwind east eastward(s) forth forward(s) heavenward(s) hence henceforth here hereby herein hereof hereto herewith home homeward(s) indoors inward(s) leftward(s) north northeast northward(s) northwest now onward(s) outdoors outward(s) overboard overhead overland overseas rightward(s) seaward(s) skyward(s) south southeast southward(s) southwest then thence thenceforth there thereby therein thereof thereto therewith together underfoot underground uphill upstage upstairs upstream upward(s) upwind west westward(s) when whence where whereby wherein whereto wherewith
Conjunctive prepositions The following are single-word prepositions that take clauses as complements. Prepositions marked with an asterisk in this section can only take non-finite clauses as complements. Note that dictionaries and grammars informed by concepts from traditional grammar may categorize these conjunctive prepositions as subordinating conjunctions.
afterAarts, Bas.Oxford Modern English Grammar. Oxford UP, 2011. p. 154.Huddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum. “4.8 Complement of a Preposition or Adverb.” The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002, pp. 971-72. . although as at* because before beside* besides* between* by* considering despite* except for from* given granted if (conditional sense) into* lest like notwithstanding now of* on* once provided providing save seeing since so (purpose or result sense) supposing than though till to* unless until upon* when whenever where whereas wherever while whilst with* without*
Postpositions The following are postpositions, prepositions whose complements typically precede them. Note that some grammars classify prepositions and postpositions as different kinds of adpositions while other grammars categorize both under the heading of the more common variety in the language.