Prepositions in English do the job that case endings and postpositions do in Uzbek: uyda — at home, stol ustida — on the table, dushanba kuni — on Monday. Some follow clear logic (in/on/at for time and place), but most have to be learned as collocations rather than rules: interested in, good at, depend on. Linking words, in turn, connect clauses and ideas, and the coherence and cohesion score in Writing depends on them. This lesson covers prepositions of time and place, prepositions of movement, fixed collocations and the main linkers.
§1. Prepositions of time: at, on, in
The three main prepositions are easy to remember from small to large: at for a point, on for a day, in for a longer period.
at — clock times and points: at 5 o’clock, at noon, at midnight, at night, at the weekend (BrE)
on — days and dates: on Monday, on 5 May, on my birthday, on Friday morning, on New Year’s Day
in — months, years, seasons, centuries, parts of the day: in June, in 2026, in winter, in the 21st century, in the morning
Note: in the morning, but on Monday morning (a specific day takes on); in the evening, but at night.
Other prepositions of time:
for — duration: for two hours, for ten years.
during — in the course of an event: during the lesson, during the war.
since — from a starting point: since 2020, since Monday.
by — not later than: Hand it in by Friday.
until/till — up to (the action continues): I’ll wait until six.
within — inside a period: within a week.
No preposition before next, last, this, every, today, tomorrow, yesterday: next week (✗ in next week)
Worked example
The exam starts ___ 9 a.m. ___ Monday, ___ June.
9 a.m. is a clock time → at.
Monday is a day → on.
June is a month → in.
Answer: at, on, in.
§2. Prepositions of place
at — a point, an address, an event: at the bus stop, at home, at school, at work, at 15 Navoi Street, at a concert
on — a surface or line: on the table, on the wall, on the second floor, on the left, on the bus (public transport)
in — inside, an area: in the box, in the room, in Tashkent, in Uzbekistan, in the photo, in a car
Transport: on the bus/train/plane (large; you can walk inside), but in a car/taxi (small).
Other prepositions of place: under, above, below, next to / beside, between (two things), among (many things), opposite, behind, in front of, near.
Verbs of arriving:arrive in (a city or country) / arrive at (a building, airport, station); get to the station; go home (no preposition!), go to school.
Worked example
We arrived ___ Samarkand ___ Friday ___ 10 p.m.
arrive + a city → in (✗ arrive to).
A day of the week → on.
A clock time → at.
Answer: We arrived in Samarkand on Friday at 10 p.m.
§3. Prepositions of movement
These show the direction of movement:
to — towards a destination: go to Bukhara.
into / out of — entering / leaving: She walked into the room.He jumped out of the car.
through — from one side to the other inside something: through the tunnel, through the window.
across — from one side to the other of a surface: across the road, across the river.
along — following a line: walk along the river.
towards — in the direction of: He ran towards me.
over — above and to the other side: jump over the fence.
up / down: climb up the hill.
in — position · into — movement inside: She is in the room. / She went into the room.
§4. Fixed collocations
Learn these as whole phrases, with an example sentence:
Adjective + preposition:good at, bad at, interested in, afraid of, proud of, tired of, fond of, keen on, responsible for, famous for, different from, similar to, married to, worried about.
Verb + preposition:depend on, rely on, listen to, belong to, agree with, apologise for, look for, look after, wait for, pay for, consist of, succeed in, insist on, think about.
Noun + preposition:reason for, solution to, increase in, damage to, advantage of, attitude to, demand for.
Preposition + noun:by car, on foot, in time (early enough), on time (punctual), by mistake, on purpose, in danger, at risk, in my opinion.
A verb after a preposition takes the gerund form: She is good at drawing.I’m interested in learning Chinese.
Worked example
She’s very proud ___ her son, who is responsible ___ a big project.
The adjective proud collocates with of: proud of.
The adjective responsible collocates with for: responsible for.
These pairs cannot be worked out from a rule; they must be known.
Answer: of, for.
§5. Conjunctions and linking words
Linkers show the logical relationship between ideas:
Addition: and, also, in addition, moreover, furthermore, as well as.
Contrast: but, however, although/though/even though + clause, despite/in spite of + noun or V-ing, whereas, on the other hand.
Reason: because/since/as + clause, because of / due to + noun.
Result: so, therefore, as a result, consequently.
Purpose: to, in order to + V, so that + clause.
Example: for example, for instance, such as.
although + clause: Although it was raining, we went out.
despite + noun / V-ing: Despite the rain, we went out.Despite feeling tired, he went out.
however usually starts a new sentence and is followed by a comma: It was cheap. However, it was not good.but joins two parts of one sentence: It was cheap, but it was not good.
Worked example
___ his illness, he came to work. (Although / Despite)
The gap is followed by his illness, a noun phrase with no verb.
although would need a full clause (subject + verb).
Before a noun phrase we use despite.
Answer: Despite.
§6. Exam tips
For time or place, ask: a point, a surface/day, or inside/a longer period?
For a gap after an adjective or verb, recall the collocation; if in doubt, say an example sentence in your head.
When choosing a linker, check what follows it: a full clause or a noun.
Record new words with their prepositions: depend on, interested in.
Check yourself
The meeting is ___ Tuesday ___ 3 p.m.
She’s very good ___ maths.
I’m not interested ___ politics.
We were late ___ the traffic. (because / because of)
The cat jumped ___ the window into the garden.
___ she studied hard, she failed. (Despite / Although)
It depends ___ the weather.
We walked ___ the road carefully. (from one side to the other)
Common mistakes
Confusing time prepositions: ✗ in Monday, ✗ at 2026, ✗ in next week.
✗ arrive to Tashkent → ✓ arrive in Tashkent.
✗ despite of → ✓ despite or in spite of.
✗ depend from → ✓ depend on; ✗ listen music → ✓ listen to music.
although and but in the same sentence: ✗ Although it was late, but we stayed → ✓ Although it was late, we stayed.