1. The following are all prepositions:
above, about, across, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below,
beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, since, to, toward, through, under, until, up,
upon, with and within.
2. Prepositions are important when constructing sentences. A preposition sits before a noun to show the noun's relationship to another word in the sentence.
Examples:
 It is a container for butter.
(The preposition "for" shows the relationship between "butter" and "container".)
The eagle soared above the clouds.
(The preposition "above" shows the relationship between "clouds" and "soared".)
3. For native English speakers, grammatical errors involving prepositions are rare. However, there are several points of which to be
aware:
Can you end a sentence in a preposition?
Is the preposition absolutely necessary?
What follows a preposition?
Click on the prepositions:
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EXCEPT AND ACCEPT
Some writers confuse the words except and accept. The word except is a preposition. It has a meaning similar to "not including".
 I know everybody except Tony.
(The preposition "except" shows the relationship between "Tony" and "everybody".)
The word accept, on the other hand, is a verb. For example:
I accept.
She will accept the decision.
PAST AND PASSED
The word past can be used as a preposition; whereas, passed cannot. The word passed is a verb that relates to the action of passing. For example:
Jennifer passed the exam.
She passed the salt.
The word past on the other hand can be used as:
a preposition. e.g.
It went past the post.
an adjective. e.g.
He believes he was a prince in a past life.
a noun. e.g.
It's all in the past.
Whether preposition, adjective or noun, the word past usually relates to either time or distance.
INTO, ONTO AND UP TO
The word "into" is a preposition. It is written as one word.
She turned everything she touched into gold.
However, on occasion, the words in and to appear next to each other in a sentence, and writers are unsure whether to use into or in to. This happens when the verb in the sentence includes the word "in" (e.g. hand in, step in, turn in).
Paul wanted to hand the purse in to see if there was a reward.
(In this example, the word "to" is from "to see". When a verb is preceded by "to", it is said to be in its infinitive form.)
Paul wanted to hand the purse in to the Police.
(In this example, the word "to" is a preposition in its own right.)
More confusion arises with verbs like "drive in", "put in" and "fall in". This is because "drive into", "put into" and "fall into" are equally valid alternatives.
Put the fruit in the basket.
("put in" - okay)
Put the fruit into the basket.
("put into" - okay)
Put the fruit in to the basket.
Dive in the water.
Dive into the water.
(alternative to above)
Dive in to the water.
Dive in to test the water.
Writers should be wary of "turn into" because it has two meanings.
The car turned into a garage.
(Was this a magic trick, or did the car drive into a garage?)
Therefore, to avoid ambiguity, it is normal to use "turn in" and "to" as a preposition in its own right.
The car turned in to a garage.
The guidelines above apply equally to onto. It is noteworthy, however, that "onto" can imply "on top of". When this causes a problem, use "on to".
After seeing the sheep, we moved onto the cows.
After seeing the sheep, we moved on to the cows.
Finally, the easy one: "up to" is never written as one word.
I can afford upto 400 pounds.
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