North South East West | English Grade 7 CBSE

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Explore prepositions of place

A preposition of place tells us where something is. Tap a word to reveal its meaning and an example sentence.

Explore · Prepositions of placetap a word

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The three big ideas

A preposition is a small word that shows the position or direction of one thing in relation to another.

In The book is on the table, the word on tells you where the book is.
In She ran into the room, the word into tells you which way she moved.
A preposition almost always sits just before a noun or pronoun (on the table, into the room).

Common prepositions include in, on, under, between, behind, near, to, from, into, towards and across.

Prepositions of place tell us where something is. Use the explorer above to collect them:

in → inside something (the pen is in the box)
on → on top of a surface (the book is on the table)
under → below something (the ball is under the chair)
between → in the middle of two things (she sat between her friends)
behind → at the back of (the cat hid behind the door)
near → close to (the shop is near my house)

Worked example. Fill in the blank: The cat is ___ the table (it is sitting on top of it).

The cat is resting on the surface of the table, so the preposition is on → The cat is on the table.

Common mistake: in means inside; on means on a surface. Choose by meaning — in the box (inside it) vs on the box (on top of it).

Prepositions of direction show movement from one place to another:

to → the destination (she walked to the gate)
from → the starting point (he came from the market)
into → movement to the inside (the dog ran into the house)
towards → in the direction of (we cycled towards the river)
across → from one side to the other (they swam across the pond)

Notice how each one answers the question which way? rather than where?

Where you'll meet it

Why prepositions matter

Giving & following directions

"Go across the road, turn towards the temple, the shop is near the bus stop." The right prepositions let you guide someone — or follow directions — without getting lost.

Describing a picture or a map

To describe a photo or a map clearly you say what is in, on, under, between and behind what. Picture-description questions in exams reward exactly this precision.

Check yourself

Competency quiz

Modelled on the competency-based pattern — choosing the correct preposition of place and direction, plus an assertion–reason and a case study — testing whether you can use prepositions, not just recall them.

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