List of English prepositions

This is a list of English prepositions. Many English prepositions are compounds of bare roots and affixes such as a-, be-, -side, and -st, giving English a relatively high number of morphemically distinct prepositions. However, these processes are no longer productive, and many of these prepositions have fallen out of use or become limited to a certain dialect. English prepositions generally remain a closed class.

Single words

1. a, an (meaning "per")
2. aboard
3. about
   • 'bout, bout (abbreviations)
4. above
   • bove (archaic)
5. abreast
6. abroad
7. absent (law)
8. across
   • cross (archaic)
9. adjacent (US, rare)
10. after
11. against
    • 'gainst, gainst (poetic or archaic); again, gain (archaic)
12. along
    • 'long (abbreviation), alongst (archaic)
13. alongside
14. amid
    • amidst, mid, midst (poetic or archaic);
15. among
    • amongst (poetic or archaic)
    • 'mong, mong, 'mongst (abbreviations)
16. apropos (rare for apropos of)
17. apud (formal)
18. around
    • 'round, round (abbreviations)
19. as
20. astride
21. at
    • @ (abbreviation)
22. atop, ontop
23. bar
24. before
    • afore, tofore (dialectal or archaic)
    • B4 (abbreviation)
25. behind
    • ahind (dialectal or archaic)
26. below
    • ablow, alow (Scotland)
27. beneath
    • 'neath, neath (poetic)
28. beside
29. besides
30. between
    • atween (dialectal or archaic)
31. beyond
    • ayond (dialectal or archaic)
32. but
33. by
34. chez (rare)
35. circa
    • c., ca. (abbreviations)
36. come
    • dehors (law)
37. despite
    • spite (abbreviation)
38. down
39. during
40. except
41. for
    • 4 (abbreviation)
42. from
43. in
44. inside
45. into
46. less
47. like
48. minus
49. near
    • nearer (comparative), nearest (superlative)
    • anear (archaic)
50. notwithstanding (also postpositional)
51. of
    • o' (poetic or eye-dialect)
52. off
53. on
54. onto
55. opposite
56. out
    • outen (archaic or dialectal)
57. outside
58. over
    • o'er (poetic)
59. pace (formal)
60. past
61. per
62. post (often hyphenated)
63. pre (often hyphenated)
64. pro (often hyphenated)
65. qua (formal)
66. re (often used with colon)
67. sans (formal)
68. save
    • sauf (archaic)
69. short
70. since
    • sithence (archaic)
71. than
72. through
    • thru (abbreviation)
73. throughout
    • thruout (abbreviation)
74. to
    • 2 (abbreviation)
75. toward, towards
76. under
77. underneath
78. unlike
79. until
    • 'til, til, till (abbreviations)
80. up
81. upon
    • 'pon, pon (abbreviations)
82. upside
83. versus
    • vs., v. (abbreviations)
84. via
85. vice (formal)
86. vis-à-vis (formal)
87. with
    • w/, c̄ (abbreviations)
88. within
    • w/i (abbreviation)
89. without
    • w/o (abbreviation)
90. worth

Multiple words

Two words

1. according to
2. adjacent to
3. ahead of
4. apart from
5. as for
6. as of
7. as per
8. as regards
9. aside from
10. astern of
11. back to
12. because of
13. close to
14. due to
15. except for
16. far from
17. inside of
18. instead of
19. left of
20. near to
21. next to
22. opposite of
23. opposite to
24. out from
25. out of
26. outside of
27. owing to
28. prior to
29. pursuant to
30. rather than
31. regardless of
32. right of
33. subsequent to
34. such as
35. thanks to
36. up to

Three words

1. as far as is one example of the many expressions which can be analyzed as as+adjective+as rather than a multiword preposition
2. as opposed to
3. as soon as
4. as well as

Preposition + (article) + noun + preposition

English has many idiomatic expressions that act as prepositions that can be analyzed as a preposition followed by a noun (sometimes preceded by the definite or, occasionally, indefinite article) followed by another preposition.^[1] Common examples include:

1. at the behest of
2. by means of
3. by virtue of
4. for the sake of
5. in accordance with
6. in addition to
7. in case of
8. in front of
9. in lieu of
10. in order to
11. in place of
12. in point of
13. in spite of
14. on account of
15. on behalf of
16. on top of
17. with regard to (sometimes written as "w/r/t")
18. with respect to
19. with a view to

Archaic or dialectal

See also archaic forms of modern prepositions listed above.

1. abaft (nautical or archaic)
2. abeam (nautical)
3. aboon, abun, abune (dialectal)
4. afront (dialectal or archaic)
5. ajax (Polari)
6. alongst
7. aloof
8. anenst, anent (rare, U.K. dialectal)
9. athwart (nautical or archaic)
10. atop, ontop
11. behither
12. ben (dialectal)
13. betwixt, atwix (dialectal or archaic)
    • 'twixt, twixt (abbreviations)
14. bewest (dialectal or archaic)
15. benorth (dialectal or archaic)
16. emforth
17. ere (poetic or archaic)
    • or
18. forby (dialectal or archaic)
19. foreanent, forenenst (dialectal or archaic)
20. foregain, foregainst (dialectal or archaic)
21. forth
22. fromward, froward, fromwards
23. furth (Scotland)
24. gainward
25. imell (dialectal or archaic)
26. inmid, inmiddes
27. mang (Devon)
28. mauger, maugre
29. nearhand (archaic or dialectal)
30. next (archaic for next to; originally superlative of nigh)
31. nigh, anigh, anighst (poetic or archaic)
32. outwith (dialectal)
33. overthwart (archaic or dialectal)
34. quoad (formal)
35. umbe, umb, um (archaic or dialectal)
36. unto (archaic or poetic)
37. uptill

Postpositions

1. ago
2. apart
3. aside
   • aslant (archaic)
4. away
5. hence
6. notwithstanding (also prepositional)
7. on
8. short (also prepositional)
9. through
10. withal (archaic)

See also

• Preposition and postposition

References

1. Rodney Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum; et al. (2002). "chapter 7 §3.1". The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 618–620. ISBN 0-521-43146-8.

External links

• Wiktionary list of English prepositions (more comprehensive)