Propositions of movement, place, time

Предлоги места:

in – в, обозначает нахождение предмета внутри другого предмета, нахождение предмета в замкнутом пространстве;

on – на, обозначает нахождение предмета на поверхности другого предмета;

under – на, обозначает нахождение предмета под другим предметом;

at – у, около, обозначает нахождение предмета вблизи другого предмета.

Предлоги направления и движения:

to – к, в, на, обозначает направление, движение предмета по направлению к другому предмету;

into – в, обозначает движение предмета по направлению к другому предмету с проникновением внутрь его;

from – от, из, с, у, обозначает движение предмета от другого предмета, иногда с поверхности другого предмета;

off – с, обозначает движение предмета с поверхности другого предмета;

out of – из, обозначает движение предмета изнутри другого предмета наружу.

Предлоги времени:

at 5 o’clock – в 5 часов, at the weekend – на выходных, at night – ночью, at the end of – в конце…;

on Monday – в понедельник, on Friday evening – в пятницу вечером, in November – в ноябре;

in spring – весной, in 1994 – в 1994 году, in the morning – утром, in five minutes – через пять минут;

from 1889 to 1956 – с 1889 по 1956, until – до, пока не, for – в течение.

Предлоги не употребляются в следующих случаях:

this morning / this month и т.д., every day / every month и т.д., last /next May и т.д.

Grammar exercises

8. Fill in the gaps in this paragraph with the prepositions in, on, at or to:

Janet was born … Rochester … December 22^nd … 3 o'clock … the morning. Rochester is the state of New York … the United States. Now, she goes … classes … the university. She usually arrives … the morning …8 o'clock. … weekends, she likes driving … her friend's house … Canada. Her friend lives … Toronto. She usually arrives … 9 … the evening and leaves … Sunday morning. Saturday, they often meet friends … the cinema. … summer, … July for example, they often go … the countryside.

9. Put in the right preposition if necessary:

1. Don’t forget to put a stamp … the postcard before you post it. 2. What time are you going … home? 3. The girls are … the bus stop. 4. Would you like to live … another country? 5. Water freezes … 0 degrees Celsius. 6. In Britain it’s expensive to travel … train.7. Do you usually walk … work? – No, I go …bicycle. 8. The train leaves … five minutes. 9. Can you play tennis … next Sunday? 10. I work … an international company. 11. My office is quite … the centre of the city.

10. Read and translate two short texts. Pay attention to the usage of the prepositions in them:

1. There are many combinations of different rhythms in nature. In this wonderful world there are rhythms that men can see, like those of sea waves. There are unseen (невидимые) rhythms that we cannot see, but which we can measure by scientific instruments. There are different rhythms in trees from the straight pine-tree to the curve of a palm. In each leaf there is rhythm.

There are rhythms in verses even without music. Rhythm is a part of poetry.

2. Geysers are hot springs, found in currently or recently volcanic regions, that intermittently jet steam and superheated water into the air. It consists of a tube leading down to the heat source. Ground water that accumulates in the pipe starts to bubble when critical temperature is reached, heating the upper layers which extend and jet out of the orifice. This reduces the pressure enough for substantial steam formation, with subsequent eruption. The process then recommences (возобновляется).

Yellowstone national park is the oldest and largest national park in the US. The park has 10 000 hot springs and 200 geysers. ‘Old faithful’ is the most famous of these. Every 33-93 minutes it embraces hot water and steam to a height of more than 50 meters.