Episode 1
· 12:51
So what are prepositions? Prepositions are small words, and they help us give information about the place, the time, or direction. And in general, prepositions establish some kind of relationship between different elements in a sentence. For example, a noun, a person, place, or thing, and a pronoun I, you, he, we, they, it, for example. We're going to focus on prepositions of place.
Speaker 1:So, let's start with the preposition in. So, typically, in is used for enclosed spaces and places that have borders or edges, and not always will it be clear. Now, let's look at some examples. In the car, the car is a very clear enclosed space with very clear edges. So, we are going to use in the car, in the city, in the neighborhood, in the country, in buildings and rooms.
Speaker 1:Now, let's look at some examples. She is in the car. He works in Paris. Paris is a city, so we will use in. They are in Manhattan.
Speaker 1:Manhattan is a neighborhood in New York City. I live in Brazil. Brazil is a country. The TV is in the bedroom. The bedroom is a room in your house, so we are going to use in.
Speaker 1:Now, we can also use in for places where the borders or edges are a little bit more unclear. For example, in regions. In the north, in the south, in the east, and in the west. For example, Antarctica is in the south. Next, we have on.
Speaker 1:On is used for surfaces. Now, notice how I'm saying surfaces and not on top of something. Let's take a look. On the table. On the wall.
Speaker 1:On the 4th floor. So, on the wall, we are talking about the surface of the wall, not necessarily on top of the wall as is the case for the table. So when you think of the preposition on, think of surfaces. And we also use it for on the street, on roads, on rivers, on the coast. For example, the book is on the table.
Speaker 1:The picture is on the wall. The office is on the 10th floor. The park is on 5th Avenue. Big Ben is on the River Thames. And, lastly, we use on for public transportation.
Speaker 1:So, think of very big vehicles, not cars. We saw previously that cars we will use with in. For example, on a bus, on a train, and on a plane. The pilot is on the plane. Next, we have at.
Speaker 1:At is always about a specific place or a point in space. For example, at school, at home, at work, at university, at the supermarket. And we also use it for addresses since it's very specific, and usually, this will include a number and a street name. Let's see some examples. She is waiting at the bus stop.
Speaker 1:The bus stop is a specific place, so we will be using at. I work at the university. No one was at the supermarket. The hospital is at 107 Main Street, so this is the address of the hospital. If we only had the name of the street, Main Street, we would have to use the preposition on.
Speaker 1:The hospital is on Main Street, but the hospital is at 107 Main Street. Next, we have next to, by, and near. Now all three of these are very similar. All of them indicate proximity, so how near or far something is. But next to indicates extremely close proximity, and it's very specific.
Speaker 1:For example, the pencil is next to the book. Now, by indicates close proximity, but it's not as close as next to. For example, The bus stop is by the newsstand, and near indicates unspecific proximity. So, it's still close, but it's not really specific, and it's located in the general area of whatever you're talking about. For instance, the park is near the river.
Speaker 1:Now, we have to the left and to the right. Both of them we use when we're talking about a more specific location, and you might use this inside buildings to locate yourself or when driving, for example. So, the door is to the left. The elevator is to the right. Next, we have in front of and behind.
Speaker 1:Both of these are opposites. In front of located ahead or before something else. For example, the blue car is in front of the red car, or the dog is in front of the door. And next, we have the opposite behind. So, behind shows that something is located at the back of something else.
Speaker 1:For example, the car is parked behind the house. Now, if we take the second example of in front of, the dog is in front of the door, and we wanted to use behind, all we have to do is change the order. So, it would be the door is behind the dog, the dog is in front of the door. So, between is used to describe something right in the middle of 2 or more things, so this is very important. We need 2 things in order to have something in the middle.
Speaker 1:For example, the cat is between the 2 chairs. So, our two objects are, in this case, they are the same objects, which is 2 chairs, and the cat is right in the middle. Now, we have under and above. Under shows that something is beneath or below another object. For example, the keys are under the mat.
Speaker 1:Now, above is the opposite. So, it shows that something is at a higher level, not touching. So, this is very important because if it's touching, then it's on the surface, then we will have to use a preposition on. So, no touching when it is above. For example, if you look in your bathroom, there's probably a mirror above the sink.
Speaker 1:The mirror is above the sink. Next, we have over, and a lot of students think over is a synonym for above, but that is incorrect. That is not true. Above and over are not synonyms. Over indicates that something is above, but it indicates that something is moving above or higher than something else.
Speaker 1:So, there is always movement associated with over. For example, the plane flew over the mountains. There is no way for a plane to be above a mountain because for a plane to fly it needs to be in movement, so we will use the preposition over. The plane flew over the mountains. Lastly, we have opposite and across from, which are actually synonyms.
Speaker 1:Both of them indicate something that's facing someone or something but on the other side. So, this other side can be a street, a table, basically anything as long as these two things are facing each other. So, keyword here is facing. Let's see our examples. The bookstore is opposite the cinema, and the girl is sitting across from the boy.
Speaker 1:So, both the bookstore and the cinema are facing each other. They are probably each one on a different side of the street, and the girl and the boy are also facing each other. Finally, we'll play the story dialogue for a complete listening practice.
Speaker 2:Hey, Anna. Where are you?
Speaker 3:I'm near the river, standing by one of those red British phone booths. Where are you, Elsie?
Speaker 2:I'm right next to a big hotel called Brown's Hotel. Let's meet just to the left of the hotel entrance.
Speaker 3:Finally. We found each other in the middle of this huge city. It's great to see you, Elsie. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm delighted to see you too, Anna. I heard you moved, and now you live on an island, don't you?
Speaker 3:That's right. My house is right by the sea, so I can go to the beach whenever I want. I love it.
Speaker 2:That sounds amazing. Although, I prefer living in the mountains.
Speaker 3:Living in the mountains isn't too bad, but it doesn't compare to living on the coast. Anyways, are you ready for some sightseeing?
Speaker 2:For sure. Let's go to the London Eye so we
Speaker 4:can see all of London from the top.
Speaker 3:Sounds good. Where is it?
Speaker 2:No idea. Let's ask someone. Excuse me, sir. We're looking to get to the London Eye. Could you please help?
Speaker 4:Sure. The London Eye is directly opposite this park. Follow the path east down the river, and you'll see it.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Wow. We can see all of London from here.
Speaker 3:And look, right on the river in the south is Big Ben.
Speaker 2:Excellent. That's our next stop. Let's go. I can't believe we're having trouble finding Big Ben.
Speaker 4:It was so easy to spot from the top of the London Eye.
Speaker 3:I know. Let's see if someone can help us. Excuse me. Can you tell us where Big Ben is?
Speaker 4:It's just to the right. You can't miss it.
Speaker 3:Many thanks.
Speaker 4:I wanna video chat with my mom. She loves Big Ben.
Speaker 2:Uh-oh. Anna, my phone isn't in my backpack. I think I lost it.
Speaker 3:You probably dropped it while we were sightseeing. Let's retrace our steps. We'll start here at Big Ben, then go back to the London Eye, and finally return to the hotel. Don't worry, Elsie. It's probably back at the hotel.
Speaker 2:Anna, I found my phone. It was here in my jacket pocket the whole time.
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