This presentation on prepositions explains the most commonly used and misused prepositions. It also talks about when prepositions need to be omitted and the various patterns in which they can be used. Look through the presentation and improve the grammar in your spoken and written English.

1. PREPOSITIONS
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2. Between and Among
 Between is used to refer to two persons or things
E.g.: Can you spot the differences between the two products?
 Among is used to refer to more than two persons or things
E.g.: There is no co-operations among the party leaders.
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3. ‘At’ as a Preposition of Place
 1st pattern
At+the+place within a city or town
The women are at the supermarket, bus stop, mall, restaurant,
theatre, university.
 2nd pattern
At+address
She lives at 3575 North 52nd Street, apartment 10
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4.  3rd Pattern
At+the+place within another place
He was waiting in the room at the door
He likes to sit in his apartment at the windows facing the park.
…..at the counter, desk, table
‘At’ indicates a place of attendance
 1st Pattern
Be+at+place or meal of regular attendance
The children are at school
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5.  We aren't allowed to watch television when we are at dinner.
………at church, class, home, practice, breakfast, lunch,
dinner
2nd Pattern
Be+at+noun of event
They are at the movies
….at a concert, celebration, party, wedding, reunion, game,
lecture, function.
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6. Between and And
 When indicating time period, in terms of hours, days, years
or centuries, we tend to use ‘between and to’. This is
incorrect, ‘between and and’ is the correct usage.
Incorrect: The meeting will take place between 2 to 5 p.m
Correct: The meeting will take place between 2 and 5 p.m
Incorrect: The interviews will be held between 15th September
to 30th September.
Correct: The interviews will be held between 15th September
and 30th September.
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7. Omission of Prepositions
 We tend to leave out prepositions where they are necessary,
and as a result, the sentence becomes incorrect and
meaningless. In the examples, the words in brackets are often
omitted, which they shouldn’t be.
E.g.: I disposed (of) my old furniture.
We have two hands to work (with).
He asked me (for) a favor.
I objected (to) his smoking in the room
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8. Unnecessary Use of Prepositions
 It is also wrong to use a preposition when it is unnecessary.
The prepositions highlighted in bold are redundant and
should be avoided.
Eg: I ordered for ten copies of the book
He violated against the law of the state.
The committee investigated into the politician’s assassination.
The CEO entered into the boardroom
Please sign on this bond.
Can you explain about how the blog is written?
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9. Ending sentences with prepositions
 To avoid awkward sentence structure, we should avoid
ending sentences with prepositions
Acceptable: This is the table I’m planning to put the laptop on
Better: This is the table on which I’m planning to put the laptop
Acceptable: We received everything we asked for.
Better: We received everything we requested.
Acceptable: Whom should I give the parcel to?
Better: To whom should I give the parcel?
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10.  But in these instances, the use of prepositions is mandatory
for the sentence to make complete sense, and be
grammatically correct. (These sentences also do not sound
awkward)
E.g.: The watchman seemed to know what the sign stood for.
The customer invariably gets what he pays for.
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11. Bibliography
 The Most Common Mistakes in English Usage, Thomas
Elliott Berry, Mc-Graw Hill
 The Ins and Outs of Prepositions, Jean Yates
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