Prepositions — Study Notes for Bihar TET

Overview

Prepositions are small but mighty words that establish relationships between nouns, pronouns, and other elements in a sentence. They indicate position, direction, time, manner, and various other connections. Despite their brevity, prepositions carry significant weight in Bihar TET Language II (English), appearing in fill-in-the-blanks, error spotting, and sentence correction questions.

Mastering prepositions is essential because even advanced learners make errors with them—there are few absolute rules, and usage often depends on convention rather than logic. Indian English speakers frequently transfer Hindi prepositional patterns into English, leading to common mistakes that examiners specifically target. A solid grip on the thirty to forty most common prepositions and their standard collocations will help you score consistently in this section.

The good news: preposition questions are predictable. Once you learn the patterns tested repeatedly—time prepositions, place prepositions, and fixed phrases with verbs/adjectives—you can answer these questions quickly and accurately.

Key Concepts

**Definition**: A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relationship with another word in the sentence. Example: The book is *on* the table.

**Object of Preposition**: A preposition must have an object (noun/pronoun). "On" alone means nothing; "on the table" creates meaning. The object always takes the objective case (him, her, them—not he, she, they).

**Prepositions of Time**: Use *at* for specific times (at 5 o'clock), *on* for days/dates (on Monday, on 15th August), and *in* for longer periods (in January, in 2024, in the morning).

**Prepositions of Place**: Use *at* for specific points (at the bus stop), *on* for surfaces (on the wall), and *in* for enclosed spaces (in the room, in Bihar).

**Prepositions of Movement**: *To* indicates direction toward (go to school), *into* indicates movement from outside to inside (jumped into the river), *onto* indicates movement to a surface (climbed onto the roof).

**Prepositional Phrases**: Fixed combinations where the preposition cannot be changed—"depend on," "interested in," "afraid of." These must be memorised.

**No Preposition Needed**: Certain verbs like *discuss*, *enter*, *reach*, *resemble*, *comprise* do not take prepositions. "Discuss about" is wrong; "discuss the topic" is correct.

**Preposition at Sentence End**: In modern English, ending a sentence with a preposition is acceptable in informal contexts. "What are you looking for?" is correct.

Formulas / Key Facts

**Time Prepositions**

AT: specific time (at noon, at midnight, at 3 pm), festivals as points (at Diwali), age (at the age of ten)
ON: days (on Sunday), dates (on 26th January), specific mornings/evenings (on Monday morning)
IN: months (in March), years (in 1947), seasons (in summer), parts of day (in the evening), centuries (in the 21st century)
BY: deadline (finish by 5 pm), latest time (by tomorrow)
FOR: duration (for two hours, for three years)
SINCE: starting point continuing to now (since 2010, since morning)
DURING: throughout a period (during the holidays)

**Place Prepositions**

AT: specific location/point (at the station, at home, at the corner)
ON: surface contact (on the floor, on page 5, on the left)
IN: enclosed space (in the box, in Patna, in India)
ABOVE/OVER: higher than (above sea level, over the bridge)
BELOW/UNDER: lower than (below average, under the table)
BETWEEN: two items (between you and me)
AMONG: more than two (among the students)

**Common Verb + Preposition Combinations**

Agree with (a person), agree to (a proposal), agree on (a matter)
Angry with (a person), angry at (a thing/action)
Consist of (comprise), insist on
Congratulate on, complain about
Depend on, rely on
Die of (disease), die from (injury)
Good at, weak in
Prevent from, prohibit from
Succeed in, fail in

**Adjective + Preposition Combinations**

Afraid of, aware of, capable of, fond of, proud of, tired of
Interested in, successful in, rich in
Keen on, dependent on
Different from (not "different than" in British English)
Similar to, married to, related to
Responsible for, famous for, suitable for

Worked Examples

**Example 1**: Fill in the blank with the correct preposition. *She has been working here ______ 2018.*

**Solution**: The sentence indicates a starting point in the past that continues to the present (indicated by "has been working"—present perfect continuous). Use *since* for a specific point in time. **Answer**: since

---

**Example 2**: Spot the error. *The teacher discussed about the lesson with the students.*

**Solution**: "Discuss" is a transitive verb that takes a direct object without a preposition. "Discuss about" is incorrect. **Corrected sentence**: The teacher discussed the lesson with the students.

---

**Example 3**: Choose the correct option. *He jumped ______ the river to save the drowning child.* (a) in (b) into (c) on (d) at

**Solution**: The action describes movement from outside to inside the river. Use *into* for movement entering an enclosed or defined space. "In" would indicate static position. **Answer**: (b) into

Common Mistakes

**Using "since" for duration** → Wrong: "I have lived here since five years." Fix: Use "for" with duration ("for five years"). Use "since" only with a point in time ("since 2019").

**Adding prepositions after transitive verbs** → Wrong: "He entered into the room" / "She reached at the station." Fix: Verbs like enter, reach, discuss, comprise, resemble take direct objects without prepositions.

**Confusing "between" and "among"** → Wrong: "Distribute the sweets between the five children." Fix: Use "between" for two entities; use "among" for three or more.

**Using "in" instead of "on" for days** → Wrong: "I will meet you in Monday." Fix: Use "on" for specific days and dates; "in" is for months, years, and longer periods.

**Wrong case after preposition** → Wrong: "Between you and I, this is wrong." Fix: Prepositions take objective case pronouns. Correct: "Between you and me."

**Confusing "to" and "at" for destinations** → Wrong: "I reached to the school." Fix: "Reach" does not need a preposition. For "arrive," use "at" for specific places (arrived at school) and "in" for cities/countries (arrived in Patna).

Quick Reference

**Time rule**: AT specific time, ON days/dates, IN months/years/seasons.
**Place rule**: AT a point, ON a surface, IN an enclosed space.
**Since vs For**: SINCE = point in time; FOR = duration of time.
**Between vs Among**: BETWEEN = two; AMONG = more than two.
**No preposition**: discuss, enter, reach, resemble, comprise, approach.
**Into vs In**: INTO = movement inside; IN = already inside (static).

Prepositions