Prepositions: Rules, Usage and Common Errors

Prepositions: Rules, Usage and Common Errors

Preposition কী?

Definition: A preposition is a word placed before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase to show its relationship with another element in a sentence.

বাংলা ব্যাখ্যা: Noun, Pronoun বা Noun Phrase-এর আগে বসে স্থান, সময়, দিক, কারণ, উপায়, অধিকার বা অন্য কোনো সম্পর্ক প্রকাশকারী শব্দকে Preposition বলে।

• The book is on the table.
• She arrived at six.
• We travelled by bus.
• He is afraid of dogs.

Preposition-এর পরে ব্যবহৃত noun/pronoun-কে object of the preposition বলে। Pronoun হলে objective form ব্যবহৃত হয়:

• between you and me
• for him
• with them

Simple, Compound and Phrase Prepositions

Simple Prepositions

at, by, for, from, in, of, off, on, through, till, to, up, with

Compound Prepositions

across, among, around, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, inside, outside, underneath, within, without

Phrase Prepositions

একাধিক শব্দ মিলে একটি preposition-এর কাজ করে:

according to, because of, in front of, in spite of, instead of, on behalf of, with regard to, by means of, in addition to।

• The match continued in spite of the rain.
• She spoke on behalf of the team.

Prepositions of Time: At, On and In

At

নির্দিষ্ট clock time এবং বিশেষ সময়বিন্দু:

• at 5 p.m.
• at noon
• at midnight
• at night
• at the weekend

On

দিন ও তারিখ:

• on Monday
• on 15 August
• on Monday morning
• on my birthday

In

মাস, বছর, ঋতু, শতাব্দী, দিনের অংশ এবং দীর্ঘ সময়কাল:

• in July
• in 2026
• in winter
• in the morning
• in the twenty-first century

Compare:

• at 8 o'clock
• on Tuesday
• in August

Since and For

Since

শুরুর নির্দিষ্ট সময়বিন্দু:

• since Monday
• since 2020
• since morning

For

সময়ের দৈর্ঘ্য:

• for two hours
• for five years
• for a long time

• She has lived here since 2020.
• She has lived here for six years.

By, Until/Till and Within

By

কোনো সময়ের মধ্যে বা তার আগেই কাজ সম্পন্ন হবে:

• Submit the form by Friday.

Until/Till

কোনো সময় পর্যন্ত কাজ চলবে:

• Wait here until Friday.

Within

নির্দিষ্ট সময়সীমা অতিক্রম করার আগেই:

• Finish the work within two days.

During and For

During কোনো event বা period-এর মধ্যে; for সময়ের দৈর্ঘ্য বোঝায়।

• It rained during the night.
• It rained for three hours.

During-এর পরে noun; while-এর পরে clause:

• During the lesson, he remained silent.
• While the teacher was speaking, he remained silent.

Before, After and From…to

• Finish it before Monday.
• We met after class.
• The office remains open from ten to five.

Prepositions of Place: At, On and In

At

নির্দিষ্ট point বা কার্যস্থল:

• at the gate
• at school
• at the station
• at home

On

কোনো surface-এর উপর বা line-এর পাশে:

• on the table
• on the wall
• on the coast
• on the second floor

In

বদ্ধ স্থান, এলাকা, শহর, দেশ বা বৃহৎ স্থান:

• in the room
• in Kolkata
• in India
• in the sky

Compare:

• He is at the school. — school premises/point
• He is in the school. — inside the building

In and Into

In অবস্থান; into বাইরে থেকে ভিতরে movement।

• The children are in the room.
• The children went into the room.

On and Onto

On অবস্থান; onto কোনো surface-এর দিকে movement।

• The cat is on the roof.
• The cat jumped onto the roof.

To and Towards

To destination; towards শুধু দিক বোঝায়, destination-এ পৌঁছানো নিশ্চিত নয়।

• She went to the station.
• She walked towards the station.

Home, here, there-এর আগে movement বোঝাতে সাধারণত to বসে না:

• Correct: Go home.
• Incorrect: Go to home.

From, Off and Out of

• from = starting point
• off = surface থেকে দূরে
• out of = ভেতর থেকে বাইরে

• He came from Delhi.
• The cup fell off the table.
• She walked out of the room.

Across, Through and Along

• across = এক পাশ থেকে অন্য পাশে, surface/area পেরিয়ে
• through = ভেতর দিয়ে
• along = কোনো line/path অনুসরণ করে

• We swam across the river.
• The train passed through the tunnel.
• They walked along the road.

Over and Above

দুটিই উপরে বোঝাতে পারে। Over সাধারণত সরাসরি উপরে, আচ্ছাদন বা movement; above শুধু higher position।

• A fan hangs over the table.
• The temperature rose above 40°C.
• The plane flew over the city.

সংখ্যার ক্ষেত্রে over অর্থ more than-ও হতে পারে।

Under and Below

Under সাধারণত সরাসরি নিচে বা আচ্ছাদিত; below শুধু lower level।

• The cat is under the table.
• The temperature fell below zero.

Between and Among

Between সাধারণত দুটি পৃথক ব্যক্তি/বস্তু বা স্পষ্ট পৃথক সম্পর্ক; among একটি group-এর মধ্যে।

• Divide the money between Rina and Mina.
• She was sitting among her friends.

দুইয়ের বেশি হলেও পৃথক সম্পর্ক স্পষ্ট হলে between হতে পারে:

• Negotiations between India, Nepal and Bhutan continued.

Beside and Besides

• beside = পাশে
• besides = এছাড়া; in addition to

• Sit beside me.
• Besides English, she knows Bengali.

In Front of and Before

In front of physical position; before সময়/ক্রম বা formal presence।

• A car is parked in front of the house.
• He appeared before the committee.

By and With

Passive sentence-এ by doer/agent এবং with instrument বোঝায়।

• The poem was written by Tagore.
• The bread was cut with a knife.

Transport-এর ক্ষেত্রে:

• by bus, by train, by air, by car
• on foot

Article/possessive থাকলে সাধারণত in/on:

• in my car
• on the bus

Of, From and With: Material

• made of: উপাদান দৃশ্যমান/অপরিবর্তিত
• made from: উপাদান পরিবর্তিত
• made with: ingredients

• The chair is made of wood.
• Paper is made from wood.
• The cake is made with flour and eggs.

Cause, Reason and Purpose

• because of the rain
• die of a disease
• die from an external cause/injury
• tremble with fear
• punished for misconduct

• The match was cancelled because of rain.
• He was praised for his honesty.

Fixed Adjective + Preposition Combinations

• afraid of
• angry with a person / angry at something
• aware of
• capable of
• different from
• famous for
• good at
• interested in
• junior/senior to
• kind to
• proud of
• responsible for
• similar to
• satisfied with
• superior/inferior to

Examples:

• She is good at Mathematics.
• This book is different from that one.
• He is senior to me.

Fixed Verb + Preposition Combinations

• agree with a person / agree to a proposal / agree on a matter
• apply for a post / apply to an authority
• believe in
• belong to
• consist of
• depend on
• insist on
• listen to
• look at
• object to
• participate in
• prevent from
• rely on
• suffer from
• wait for

• She applied for the post.
• This book belongs to me.
• Success depends on effort.

Fixed Noun + Preposition Combinations

• cause of
• demand for
• difference between
• invitation to
• need for
• reason for
• reply to
• solution to

• What is the reason for the delay?
• We need a solution to this problem.

To: Preposition or Infinitive Marker

To-এর পরে noun/pronoun/gerund বসলে এটি preposition; base verb বসলে infinitive marker।

• I look forward to meeting you. — preposition
• I want to meet you. — infinitive marker

যেসব expression-এ to preposition, তাদের পরে gerund ব্যবহৃত হয়:

be used to, look forward to, object to, devoted to, committed to, addicted to।

• She is used to waking early.
• We look forward to hearing from you.

Preposition at the End

প্রশ্ন, relative clause এবং passive construction-এ preposition শেষে থাকতে পারে। এটি আধুনিক ইংরেজিতে স্বাভাবিক।

• Who are you talking to?
• This is the book I was looking for.
• She is easy to work with.

Formal alternative:

• To whom are you talking?

Unnecessary Prepositions

কিছু Verb-এর পরে অতিরিক্ত preposition বসে না:

• discuss the issue — not discuss about
• enter the room — not enter into the room (ordinary physical entry)
• reach the station — not reach at
• resemble his father — not resemble with
• marry someone — not marry with
• order food — not order for food

Preposition Omission

Last/next/every/this-এর সঙ্গে day/time expression-এর আগে সাধারণত preposition লাগে না:

• We met last Monday.
• I shall visit you next week.
• She practises every morning.

Home, abroad, upstairs, downstairs, here, there-এর আগে movement বোঝাতে preposition প্রায়ই লাগে না:

• Go home.
• They went abroad.

Common Errors

• Incorrect: He is good in English.

Correct: He is good at English.

• Incorrect: She is married with a doctor.

Correct: She is married to a doctor.

• Incorrect: He is senior than me.

Correct: He is senior to me.

• Incorrect: We discussed about the problem.

Correct: We discussed the problem.

• Incorrect: He entered into the room.

Correct: He entered the room.

• Incorrect: The train arrived to the station.

Correct: The train arrived at the station.

• Incorrect: I prefer tea than coffee.

Correct: I prefer tea to coffee.

• Incorrect: Divide the sweets among the two boys.

Correct: Divide the sweets between the two boys.

• Incorrect: He has been ill from Monday.

Correct: He has been ill since Monday.

• Incorrect: She has lived here since five years.

Correct: She has lived here for five years.