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. aboard
2. about
3. above
4. absent (law)
5. across
   • cross (archaic)
6. after
7. against
   • 'gainst, gainst (poetic or archaic); again, gain (archaic)
8. along
   • 'long (abbreviation), alongst (archaic)
9. alongside
10. amid
    • amidst, mid, midst (poetic or archaic);
11. among
    • amongst (poetic or archaic)
    • 'mong, mong, 'mongst (abbreviations)
12. apropos (rare for apropos of)
13. apud (formal)
14. around
    • 'round, round (abbreviations)
15. as
16. astride
17. at
    • @ (abbreviation)
18. atop, ontop
19. bar
20. before
    • afore, tofore (dialectal or archaic)
    • B4 (abbreviation)
21. behind
    • ahind (dialectal or archaic)
22. below
    • ablow, allow (Scotland)
23. beneath
    • 'neath, neath (poetic)
24. beside
25. besides
26. between
    • atween (dialectal or archaic)
27. beyond
    • ayond (dialectal or archaic)
28. but
29. by
30. chez (rare)
31. circa
    • c., ca. (abbreviations)
32. come
    • dehors (law)
33. despite
    • spite (abbreviation)
34. down
35. during
36. except
37. for
    • 4 (abbreviation)
38. from
39. in
40. inside
41. into
42. less
43. like
44. minus
45. near
    • nearer (comparative), nearest (superlative)
    • anear (archaic)
46. notwithstanding (also postpositional)
47. of
    • o' (poetic or eye-dialect)
48. off
49. on
50. onto
51. opposite
52. out
    • outen (archaic or dialectal)
53. outside
54. over
    • o'er (poetic)
55. pace (formal)
56. past
57. per
58. post (often hyphenated)
59. pre (often hyphenated)
60. pro (often hyphenated)
61. qua (formal)
62. re (often used with colon)
63. sans (formal)
64. save
    • sauf (archaic)
65. short
66. since
    • sithence (archaic)
67. than
68. through
    • thru (abbreviation)
69. throughout
    • thruout (abbreviation)
70. to
    • 2 (abbreviation)
71. toward, towards
72. under
73. underneath
74. unlike
75. until
    • 'til, til, till (abbreviations)
76. up
77. upon
    • 'pon, pon (abbreviations)
78. upside
79. versus
    • vs., v. (abbreviations)
80. via
81. vice (formal)
82. vis-à-vis (formal)
83. with
    • w/, c̄ (abbreviations)
84. within
    • w/i (abbreviation)
85. without
    • w/o (abbreviation)
86. 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. back to
11. because of
12. close to
13. due to
14. except for
15. far from
16. inside of
17. instead of
18. left of
19. near to
20. next to
21. opposite of
22. opposite to
23. out from
24. out of
25. outside of
26. owing to
27. prior to
28. pursuant to
29. rather than
30. regardless of
31. right of
32. subsequent to
33. such as
34. thanks to
35. 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. 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 place of
11. in point of
12. in spite of
13. on account of
14. on behalf of
15. on top of
16. with regard to (sometimes written as "w/r/t")
17. with respect to
18. 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

External links

• Wiktionary list of English prepositions (more comprehensive)