This is a list of English prepositions. In English, some prepositions are short, typically containing five letters or fewer. There are, however, a significant number of multi-word prepositions. Throughout the history of the English language, new prepositions have come into use, old ones fallen out of use, and the meaning of existing prepositions changed. Nonetheless, the prepositions are by and large a closed class.

Single-word

• aboard
• about
• above
• absent
• across
• after
• against
• along
• alongside
• amid
• amidst
• among
• amongst
• around
• as
• at
• atop
• before
• behind
• below
• beneath
• beside
• besides
• between
• beyond
• by
• despite
• down
• during
• except
• following
• for
• from
• in
• inside
• into
• like
• mid
• mid
• near
• nearest (as in "call for the location nearest you")
• notwithstanding (also used postpositionally)
• of
• off
• on
• onto
• opposite
• out
• outside
• over
• past
• re
• round
• since
• through
• throughout
• till
• to
• toward
• towards
• under
• underneath
• unlike
• until
• up
• upon
• via
• with
• within
• without

Multi-word

Two words

• according to
• ahead of
• as to
• aside from
• because of
• close to
• due to
• far from
• in to (contracted as into)
• inside of (note that inside out is an adjective, not a preposition)
• instead of
• on to (contracted as onto)
• out of
• outside of
• owing to
• near to
• next to
• prior to
• subsequent to

Three words

• as far as
• as well as
• by means of
• in accordance with
• in addition to
• in front of
• in place of
• in spite of
• on account of
• on behalf of
• on top of
• with regard to

Archaic or infrequently used

• anti (loan word)
• betwixt
• circa (loan word)
• cum (loan word)
• lieu (loan word)
• per (loan word)
• qua (loan word)
• sans (loan word)
• unto (largely supplanted by to; used in some formal, religious, and/or archaic contexts)
• versus (loan word)
• vis-à-vis (loan word)

Not fully grammaticized

• concerning
• considering
• regarding

Preposition-like modifiers of quantified noun phrases

• apart from
• but
• except
• plus
• save

Postpositions

• ago as in "five years ago", sometimes considered an adverb rather than a postposition
• apart as in "this apart", also used prepositionally ("apart from this")
• aside as in "such examples aside", also used prepositionally ("aside from such examples")
• away as in "five light years away", sometimes considered an adverb or an adjective rather than a postposition
• hence as in "five years hence", sometimes considered an adverb rather than a postposition
• notwithstanding also used prepositionally
• on as in "five years on", also used prepositionally
• through as in "the whole night through", also used prepositionally
• withal archaic as a postposition meaning with

References

• David Crystal (1995). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Press Syndicate. ISBN 0-521-40179-8.
• Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43146-8.

English grammar