This is a list of English prepositions. In English, many prepositions are short, typically containing five letters or fewer. However, there is a significant number of multi-word prepositions. Throughout the history of the English language, new prepositions have come into use, old ones fallen out of use, and the meaning of existing prepositions changed. Indeed, prepositions are one of the most unstable parts of the lexicon in any language.

Contents

1 Single-word 2 Multi-word 2.1 Two words 2.2 Three words 3 Archaic or infrequently used 4 Not fully grammaticized 5 Preposition-like modifiers of quantified noun phrases 6 Postpositions 7 References

Single-word

1. aboard
2. about
3. above
4. across
5. after
6. against
7. along
8. alongside
9. amid
10. amidst
11. among
12. amongst
13. around
14. as
15. at
16. before
17. behind
18. below
19. beneath
20. beside
21. besides
22. between
23. beyond
24. by
25. despite
26. down
27. during
28. for
29. from
30. in
31. inside
32. into
33. like
34. near
35. nearest (as in "call for the location nearest you")
36. notwithstanding (also used postpositionally)
37. of
38. off
39. on
40. onto
41. opposite
42. out
43. outside
44. over
45. past
46. re
47. round
48. since
49. through
50. throughout
51. till
52. to
53. toward
54. towards
55. under
56. underneath
57. unlike
58. until
59. up
60. upon
61. via
62. with
63. within
64. without

Note that with in and with out are no longer grammatical, unlike in to or on to and their contracted forms into and onto.

Multi-word

Two words

1. according to
2. ahead of
3. because of
4. close to
5. due to
6. far from
7. in to (contracted as into)
8. inside of (note that inside out is an adjective, not a preposition)
9. instead of
10. on to (contracted as onto)
11. out of
12. outside of
13. near to
14. prior to

Three words

1. as far as
2. by means of
3. in accordance with
4. in place of
5. in spite of
6. on behalf of

Archaic or infrequently used

1. anti (loan word)
2. betwixt
3. circa (loan word)
4. cum (loan word)
5. in lieu of (loan word)
6. per (loan word)
7. qua (loan word)
8. sans (loan word)
9. unto (largely supplanted by to; used in some formal, religious, and/or archaic contexts)
10. versus (loan word)
11. vis-á-vis (loan word)

Not fully grammaticized

1. concerning
2. considering
3. regarding

Preposition-like modifiers of quantified noun phrases

1. apart from
2. but
3. except
4. plus
5. save

Postpositions

1. ago as in "five years ago", sometimes considered an adverb rather than a postposition
2. apart as in "this apart", also used prepositionally ("apart from this")
3. aside as in "such examples aside", also used prepositionally ("aside from such examples")
4. away as in "five lightyears away", sometimes considered an adverb or an adjective rather than a postposition
5. hence as in "five years hence", sometimes considered an adverb rather than a postposition
6. notwithstanding also used prepositionally
7. on as in "five years on", also used prepositionally
8. withal archaic as a postposition meaning with

References

• David Crystal (1995). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Press Syndicate. ISBN 0-521-40179-8.
• Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43146-8.