OXFORD LEARNER''''S GRAMMAR 8 doc

Prepositions

E Near, close, by, and next to

Near, near 10, and close to mean 'nol far from '.

MOlherwelf is flear Glasgo/v.

'fIlere's a taxi rank quite near (to) the hOlel.

You shouldn't put a healer close to curtains.

Here close is pronounced /klous/.

Near (to) and close to have comparative and superlative forms.

We were gradually getting nearer (to) our destin.alion.

f was sitting closest to the door.

Nearby and close by mean 'not far away'.

We don't serve dinner, bu.t there is all excellent restauranl nearby / close by.

By means 'at the side of or 'very near',

We live rigilt by the hospllUI.

Come and sit by me,

Next to means 'directly at fhe ~ide of'.

The woman siuing next to me was smoking the whole time,

Tllere's a flewsagent's nexl Lo tile post office.

NOTE

NOW/litre near means '(1 long way from'

Blfmillghnm' tS nowhere near Glnsgow.

F In front of, before, behind, after, and opposite

When we cue talking about position, we prefer ill front of to before.

There's (l statue in fronL of the museum.

Tina spends hours in front of the mirror.

We prefer behind to after,

The car behind uS ran into the back of us.

Before usually means 'earlier in tune', and after means 'later in time'. But we

also usc be/ore and after to talk about what order things come in.

J comes before K.

K comes after ).

Opposite means 'on the other side from'. Compare in front o[and opposite.

Simon was sitting in front of me in the cinema.

Simon was Silting opposite me at lunch.

G Between and among

2911

We use between with a smalJ number of things, especially with two things.

Tile bungalow is between two houses.

(= There is a house 011 bOlh sides of the bungalow.)

Tile ball went belween the player's legs.

It's an area a/countryside between three quire large TOwns,

For expressions such as a conflict between and a link between, > 2260.

212 At, on, and In expressing time

Among suggests a larger Ilumber.

I thought I caught sight oJ someone among the trees.

H (A) round ,and about

Around or round mcans movement in a circle> 209A. We can also use it to

mean 'in differcnt directions' or 'in different places'.

We just like tiriIJing arollndlround the country visiting different places.

There were piles oJ old magazines lying aroundJround the ]Iat.

Americans use around rarher Ihan round.

We can use about in the sallle way.

t:veryone was rus/ling around/about the place in a panic.

,

[212 At, on, and in expressing time

A We usc at wiLh a ptHticular time such as a clock time or a meal lime.

The perJormance stal"ls at eight o'clock.

I'll see you at breakfasl,

At that lime there were no mobile phones.

We're velY busy at the mornenl.

We also lise at with short holiday periods.

The family IS always wgeliler at Christmas/at Thanksgilling.

Are you domg anything at the weekend? (US: on I.he weekend)

We also use at with ages.

A sporling career can be over at thirty.

B We usc on with a day.

The meeting is on Tuesday/on 7 August.

I have to go to an interview on thac day.

Do they play foolball games on Christmas Day/oil. EaSler Sunday?

On can mean 'immedialCly after'.

On his arrival, the President held a press conference.

C We usc ill with longer periods.

I'll have to make my mind up in the next few days.

We'll halle lots of rime in the summer holidays.

The term starts in September.

The company was set up in 1997.

III the 16th cenfury only about 5 million people spoke English.

We also lise in with a part of a day.

Why don't you come over in the afternoon?

I always work better in the mornings.

299

Prepositions

But we usc on if we say which day.

Why don 't YOll come over on Friday afternoon?

The incident occurred 011 I.he evening of 12 May.

NOTE

We say In IIle nigllt but at flighl wIthout lhe

I heard (J nou;c ill the night. (= in the middle or the night)

The willdows are shut at night. (= when it is night)

D We can use in to say how long something takes.

Have you read 'Around the World in Eighty Days?

Lots of athletes can run a mile in four minutes.

We can also use in for a lime in the future measured from the present.

We take our exams in three weeks.

(= three weeks from nowlin three weeks' time)

Compare these examples.

YOLI can walk there in half an hour. (It takes half an hour.)

I'm going oW in half an hour. (= half an hour from now)

E Sometimes we can use an expression of time without a preposition.

300

I received the leller last Thursdny.

I'm slarting a new course next year.

We've got visitors this week.

The same thing happens ellery time.

You aren't going to lie in bed all day, are you?

Don't be fate tomorrow morning.

A week later I got a reply.

We do not normally use al, on, or in with last, next. or lllis, with every or aff,

with yesterday or tomorrow. or wi[h the adverb later.

In some contexts we can either use the preposition or leave it out.

Something unusual happened (on) that day.

Profits were £50 milliol1, compared with £35 million (in) the previous year.

They agreed to play the match (on) the following Sunday.

In informal Engl ish. and especially in American English, we can sometimes

leave out 011 before a day.

I'll see you (on) Monday.

NOTE

a We can use ol.her prepositions with laH, (Wery, e tc.

After this week, I'll 'II!(.'(/ a holiday. J feel ncruou.s during every jliRIIt.

b We do not use a preposilion wi th these days (0:0. nowadays).

It's 0./1 dOTle by comfJuters these days

213 For, Sin ce, and ago

113 For, since, and ago

A We use for wilh a period of time 10 say how long something continues.

The kids play computer games faT hours on end.

1 once stayed at that hotel for (l week.

I ju.'it watll to sit down for fiue minutes.

We do not use for before a phrase with ali.

/I rained all day. (NOT }/-mittet1-fo,.aJl-day.)

And we do not usually usc for before a phrase with whole.

It rained the whole day.

This is more usual than It rained for lhe whole day.

B We often lISC for and since with the perfect.

fnr

/lachel has worked for I.he company

for fl/Je yea.rs now.

We ha/Jen't been to the lheatre

for months.

rile been waiting here for twenty

minutes.

We lise for + length of time.

for two years for a week

for four days for a few minutes

We can somctimes Icave out for in

jnformal English.

I've been waiting twenty minutes.

NOTE

since

Hachel has worked for the company

since 1999.

We h01)en ', been to the theatre

since April.

rrJe been waiting here since twelve

o'clock.

We use since + time when.

since 2003 since last week

since Monday since hal! past. two

We sometimes also use since with

an event.

I hal/en't heen anywhere since

the concert.

For more examples with for and sillce. > 46D.

We can also use SII'lU! a~ a conJunction. > 2311A

For the pattern It's momhs since we last wmJt CO file Ihealre, > 461:.

C We use the adverb ago for something that happened in the past at a tIIllC

measured from the present.

Rachel joined the company jille years ago. (= five years before now)

We last went lO the theatre months ago. (= months before now)

An hour tlgO I was still in bed. (;: an hour hefore now)

Ago comes after the length of time (fi ve years, months, an hour).

When we look back from the past to an even earlier lime, we usually lise the

adverb beJore.

Rachel left the company last year. She'd joined them jille years before.

(;: five years before last year)

This is more usual than She'd joined them five years ago.

301