PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS- RULES AND EXAM TRAPS 100%

PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS

What is a Preposition?

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun/pronoun and another word in a sentence.

Preposition	Example	Relationship
in	She is in the room.	Place
on	The book is on the table.	Position
at	He is at school.	Place
under	The bag is under the chair.	Position
between	The shop is between two buildings.	Position
with	She went with her friend.	Company
from	He came from India.	Source
to	I am going to school.	Direction
for	This gift is for you.	Purpose
by	The book was written by him.	Agent

MAIN TYPES OF PREPOSITIONS

Type	Common Prepositions	Example
Place	in, on, at, under, over, behind, beside	The cat is under the table.
Time	at, on, in, since, for, during, until	We met on Monday.
Direction	to, into, towards, through	She walked into the room.
Movement	across, through, along, over, around	He walked across the road.
Position	above, below, between, among	The picture is above the sofa.
Agent	by	The poem was written by her.
Instrument	with	He cut it with a knife.
Purpose	for	This room is for meetings.
Source	from	I received a letter from John.
Relation	about, of, with	We talked about the problem.

IN, ON and AT- For Time

Preposition	Use	Examples
IN	Months	in January
IN	Years	in 2026
IN	Seasons	in winter
IN	Parts of the day	in the morning
ON	Days	on Monday
ON	Dates	on 7 October
ON	Specific day + part of day	on Monday morning
AT	Exact time	at 5 p.m.
AT	Night	at night
AT	Specific times	at noon, at midnight

Examples

I was born in 1996.
She will arrive on Monday.
The class starts at 10 a.m.
We usually study in the evening.
I do not go out at night.

IN, ON and AT- For Place

Preposition	Use	Example
IN	Inside an area/space	She is in the room.
IN	Cities/countries	He lives in Canada.
ON	Surface	The phone is on the table.
ON	Street	She lives on King Street.
AT	Specific point/place	I am at the bus stop.
AT	Events/locations	We met at the party.

Easy rule:

IN = inside an area
ON = surface
AT = specific point

FOR AND SINCE

Preposition	Use	Example
FOR	Length/period of time	I have lived here for five years.
SINCE	Starting point	I have lived here since 2021.

Remember:

FOR → How long?
SINCE → From when?

Examples:

for two hours
for three days
for ten years
since Monday
since 2020
since morning

BY AND UNTIL

Preposition	Meaning	Example
BY	Not later than a particular time	Finish the work by Friday.
UNTIL/TILL	Up to a particular time	I will wait until Friday.

BY = deadline

Submit the assignment by Monday.

UNTIL = continues up to that time

I will stay here until Monday.

TO AND FOR

TO	FOR
Direction	Purpose
I went to school.	This book is for you.
Give it to me.	This room is for meetings.
She spoke to him.	I bought it for my mother.

Important:

TO → direction/receiver
FOR → purpose/benefit

FROM AND OF

Preposition	Common Use	Example
FROM	Source/origin	I am from India.
FROM	Starting point	The train leaves from Delhi.
OF	Possession/relationship	The name of the student
OF	Part/quantity	A glass of water

BY AND WITH

BY	WITH
Shows the agent	Shows the instrument/tool
The book was written by John.	He wrote with a pen.
The cake was made by my mother.	She cut it with a knife.

Easy rule:

BY = who did it?
WITH = what did they use?

BETWEEN AND AMONG

Preposition	Use	Example
BETWEEN	Two people/things	The discussion was between John and Mary.
BETWEEN	Separate or distinct items	Divide the money between the two brothers.
AMONG	A group	She was sitting among her friends.
AMONG	More than two	The prize was divided among the students.

Between is not only for exactly two in every situation. It can also be used when separate, clearly identified people or things are being compared or related.

ABOVE, OVER, BELOW AND UNDER

Preposition	Meaning	Example
ABOVE	Higher than	The picture is above the sofa.
OVER	Directly above / covering / movement	The plane flew over the city.
BELOW	Lower than	The temperature is below zero.
UNDER	Directly below / covered by	The cat is under the table.

BESIDE AND BESIDES

These two are often confused.

Word	Meaning	Example
BESIDE	Next to	She sat beside me.
BESIDES	In addition to	Besides English, she speaks French.

Beside = next to
Besides = in addition to

INTO AND IN

IN	INTO
Position	Movement
He is in the car.	He got into the car.
The children are in the classroom.	The children went into the classroom.

ON AND ONTO

ON	ONTO
Shows Position	Shows movement towards a surface.
The book is on the table.	The cat jumped onto the table.

ACROSS AND THROUGH

Preposition	Meaning	Example
ACROSS	From one side to another	We walked across the road.
THROUGH	From one end/side and inside something	We walked through the tunnel.

Across = surface/area
Through = inside

ALONG AND AROUND

Preposition	Meaning	Example
ALONG	Following a line/path	We walked along the river.
AROUND	On all sides / surrounding	We walked around the park.

COMMON PREPOSITION COMBINATIONS

Some words naturally take specific prepositions.

Word + Preposition	Example
good at	She is good at mathematics.
bad at	He is bad at drawing.
interested in	I am interested in music.
afraid of	She is afraid of dogs.
proud of	We are proud of you.
famous for	The city is famous for its food.
responsible for	He is responsible for the project.
similar to	This is similar to my idea.
different from	My opinion is different from yours.
married to	She is married to a doctor.
angry with someone	He is angry with me.
angry about something	He is angry about the decision.
worried about	I am worried about you.
depend on	It depends on the situation.
listen to	Listen to me.
belong to	This book belongs to me.
wait for	I am waiting for the bus.
look at	Look at the board.
look for	I am looking for my keys.
look after	She looks after her brother.

COMMON PREPOSITION ERRORS

Incorrect	Correct
discuss about the issue	discuss the issue
enter into the room	enter the room
request for help	request help
order for food	order food
married with him	married to him
good in English	good at English
senior than me	senior to me
different than yours	different from yours
depend of	depend on
listen at me	listen to me
wait the bus	wait for the bus
reach to school	reach school
return back	return

PHRASAL VERBS

A phrasal verb is usually made with:

Verb + Adverb/Preposition

The meaning can be different from the original verb.

Verb	Phrasal Verb	Meaning
give	give up	stop trying
look	look after	take care of
turn	turn off	stop a machine
find	find out	discover
put	put off	postpone

Example:

Give = hand something to someone

Give up = stop trying

Never give up on your dreams.

COMMON PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSTIONS: UP

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
wake up	stop sleeping	I wake up at 7.
get up	leave your bed	I get up early.
give up	stop trying	Never give up.
pick up	lift/collect	Please pick up the phone.
set up	arrange/establish	They set up a new business.
bring up	mention/raise	She brought up an important issue.
look up	search for information	Look up the word in a dictionary.
grow up	become an adult	I grew up in India.
make up	invent/reconcile	They made up after the argument.
turn up	increase volume / arrive	Turn up the music.
use up	finish completely	We used up all the milk.

COMMON PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS: DOWN

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
sit down	take a seat	Please sit down.
calm down	become calm	Calm down and listen.
slow down	reduce speed	Slow down the car.
turn down	reduce/reject	Turn down the volume.
break down	stop working	My car broke down.
write down	record in writing	Write down the answer.
cut down	Reduce	We need to cut down expenses.
look down on	consider inferior	Never look down on others.
put down	place something	Put down your phone.
settle down	become calm/stable	He wants to settle down.

COMMON PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS: OUT

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
find out	discover	I found out the truth.
go out	leave home / socialise	We went out last night.
come out	appear/be published	The results came out today.
run out of	have no more	We ran out of water.
work out	exercise / solve	I work out every morning.
figure out	understand/solve	I can’t figure out the answer.
point out	show/mention	She pointed out my mistake.
carry out	perform	They carried out the plan.
fill out	complete a form	Please fill out this form.
check out	examine/leave a hotel	Check out this website.

COMMON PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS: OFF

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
turn off	stop a machine	Turn off the TV.
take off	remove / leave the ground	Take off your shoes.
put off	postpone	Don’t put off your work.
call off	cancel	They called off the meeting.
cut off	disconnect	The electricity was cut off.
go off	ring/explode/become bad	My alarm went off.
set off	start a journey / trigger	We set off early.
show off	try to impress	He likes to show off.
drop off	leave someone/something	I will drop you off at school.

COMMON PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS: ON

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
put on	wear	Put on your jacket.
turn on	start a machine	Turn on the fan.
carry on	continue	Carry on with your work.
go on	continue/happen	Please go on speaking.
try on	wear to see if it fits	Try on this dress.
hold on	wait	Hold on for a minute.
take on	accept responsibility/work	She took on a new role.
keep on	continue	He kept on talking.

COMMON PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS: IN / INTO

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
come in	enter	Please come in.
get in	enter a vehicle/place	Get in the car.
check in	register	We checked in at the hotel.
fill in	complete information	Fill in the form.
join in	participate	Come and join in the game.
break into	enter by force	Someone broke into the house.
look into	investigate	The police will look into the matter.
run into	meet unexpectedly	I ran into an old friend.
get into	become involved / enter	He got into trouble.

COMMON PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS: BACK

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
come back	return	She came back yesterday.
go back	return	I want to go back home.
give back	return something	Please give back my book.
take back	return/withdraw	I take back my words.
call back	return a phone call	I will call you back.
pay back	return money	I will pay you back tomorrow.
get back	return	What time did you get back?

COMMON PHRASAL VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS: AWAY

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
go away	leave	Please go away.
give away	give for free / reveal	She gave away her old clothes.
throw away	discard	Don’t throw away the paper.
put away	return to proper place	Put away your books.
take away	remove	Please take away these plates.
run away	escape	The dog ran away.

THREE IMPORTANT TYPES OF PHRASAL VERBS

Type of Phrasal Verb	Meaning / Rule	Examples
1. Intransitive Phrasal Verb	Does not take an object.	The plane took off. Please sit down. He woke up early.
2. Transitive Separable Phrasal Verb	Takes an object. The object can come between the verb and particle.	Turn off the light. / Turn the light off. Pick up the book. / Pick the book up.
3. Separable + Pronoun	When the object is a pronoun, it must come between the verb and particle.	Turn it off- Correct Pick it up- Correct Turn off it- Incorrect Pick up it- Incorrect
4. Transitive Inseparable Phrasal Verb	Takes an object, but the verb and particle cannot be separated.	She looks after her brother. I am looking for my keys. They looked into the matter.
5. Three-Word Phrasal Verb	Contains verb + particle + preposition. These are generally inseparable.	I can’t put up with his behaviour. She gets along with everyone. We ran out of money.
6. Phrasal-Prepositional Verb	A verb + adverb + preposition that takes an object.	She came up with a great idea. He looks forward to the holidays. They got away with the mistake.
7. Phrasal Verb with Multiple Meanings	The same phrasal verb can have different meanings depending on context.	Take off your shoes. = remove The plane took off. = left the ground The business took off. = became successful

PHRASAL VERBS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Phrasal Verb	Meaning
ask for	Request	hold on	wait
back up	support/make a copy	keep up	maintain the same speed/level
break down	stop working	look after	take care of
break up	end a relationship	look for	search
bring up	mention/raise	look into	investigate
call back	return a call	look up	search for information
call off	Cancel	make up	reconcile/invent
carry on	Continue	pass away	die
catch up	reach the same level	pick up	collect/lift
come across	find/meet unexpectedly	put off	postpone
come back	Return	put up with	tolerate
cut down	reduce	run out of	have no more
deal with	handle	set up	establish/arrange
drop off	leave someone/something	show up	arrive
figure out	understand/solve	take after	resemble
fill in	complete	take off	remove/leave the ground
find out	discover	take over	take control
get along	have a good relationship	think over	consider carefully
get back	return	turn down	reject/reduce
get over	recover from	turn into	become
give up	stop trying	turn off	stop a machine
go ahead	proceed	turn on	start a machine
go through	experience/examine	work out	exercise/solve
grow up	become an adult

PREPOSITION VS PHRASAL VERB

Preposition	Phrasal Verb
Shows a relationship	Creates a new meaning
in, on, at, from, to	give up, look after, turn off
The book is on the table.	She gave up smoking.
He is at school.	Please turn off the light.