Rules of prepositions

Rule 1 – A preposition must have an object – a preposition is not a preposition unless it goes with a related noun or a pronoun that is the object of the preposition. Like:

• He is in the kitchen.
• You may come in.
• There was a car before me.
• Ram has never seen it before.
• We will catch up after the class.
• They called soon after.

Rule 2- It must be placed before – As the name says ‘Pre-Position’ – it comes before something. Generally, but not always, a preposition goes before a noun or a pronoun.

1. I put the things in the box. 

Rule 3 – The Pronoun should be an object form following the Preposition. The noun or pronoun following a preposition forms a prepositional object. If a pronoun is following a preposition, it should be in the objective form (me, her, them) and not the subjective form like (I, she, they, etc.).

• The gift was from them.
• The secret is between him and her.

Rule 4- Avoid ‘like’ when a verb is involved. The preposition 'like', which means “similar to” should be followed by a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase as an object of the preposition. A subject or a verb should not follow the preposition ‘like’.

• Correct – She looks like her mother.
• Incorrect – She looks like her mother does.

Rule 5 – Do not confuse preposition ‘to’ with infinitive ‘to’. ‘To’ is an infinitive participle (to sing, to dance) as well as a preposition too like (to me, to Delhi).

‘To’ as a preposition-

• I am used to swimming.
• I look forward to seeing you. (not ‘see you’)

Rule 6 – Some words that look like verbs follow the preposition ‘to’. A Verb cannot be an object of a preposition.

• I like to swim.
• These goggles are for swimming.

Rule 7 – Do not confuse the prepositions ‘In’ and ‘Into’. This rule of preposition says, use “into” to express motion toward something and reserve the preposition “in” when you want to indicate a location. See the example for clarity –

• I swam in the pool. 
• Look in the drawer of the table.
• The kitten jumped into the well.
• He drove into the city.

‍