Home / Prepositions / Prepositions List: IN, ON, BY, AT, WITH, FOR, ABOUT, OF (PDF)

Prepositions List: IN, ON, BY, AT, WITH, FOR, ABOUT, OF (PDF)

Table of Contents show

Prepositions are small words that show the relationship between words in a sentence. The prepositions in, on, by, at, with, for, about, and of are often used in different phrases. Learning these phrases will help you sound more natural in English.

Below is a useful list of common phrases with these prepositions.

Phrases with ‘IN’

Phrase	Meaning
in time	early enough
in demand	popular or needed
in focus	clear, not blurry
in an uproar	in chaos or confusion
in answer to	as a response
in danger	at risk
in debt	owing money
in decline	becoming less
in disguise	hidden identity
in flames	on fire
in high spirits	very happy
in progress	happening now
in trouble	having problems
in love	having strong romantic feelings
in charge	responsible for something

Phrases with ‘ON’

Phrase	Meaning
on time	not late
on demand	available anytime
on the record	officially said
on the road	traveling
on balance	after thinking carefully
on a trip	traveling
on show	displayed for people
on strike	refusing to work
on suspicion of	suspected of something
on board	inside a vehicle/ship
on bail	released from jail with conditions
on fire	burning
on edge	nervous or anxious
on purpose	intentionally
on vacation	taking a break from work

Phrases with ‘BY’

Phrase	Meaning
by chance	accidentally
by luck	fortunately
by accident	not planned
by air	traveling by plane
by sea	traveling by boat
by land	traveling on land
by law	legally required
by mistake	not on purpose
by force	using power or strength
by heart	memorized completely
by nature	naturally
by example	as a model
by surprise	unexpectedly
by phone	using a phone
by email	using email

Phrases with ‘AT’

Phrase	Meaning
at high speed	very fast
at a glance	quickly looking
at a loss	confused or not knowing
at a price	costing money
at a standstill	not moving
at all costs	no matter what
at issue	being discussed
at night	during the night
at noon	at 12:00 PM
at peace	feeling calm
at one’s request	because someone asked
at risk	in danger
at home	in one’s house
at work	at the workplace
at ease	feeling relaxed

Phrases with ‘WITH’

Phrase	Meaning
with ease	without difficulty
with care	carefully
with interest	showing curiosity
with regret	feeling sorry
with a view to	with the aim of
with confidence	without doubt
with patience	calmly waiting
with respect	showing admiration

Phrases with ‘FOR’

Phrase	Meaning
for a reason	with a purpose
for good	forever
for granted	assuming something will always be there
for sale	available to buy
for sure	definitely
for the time being	temporarily
for fun	for enjoyment
for a change	to do something different

Phrases with ‘ABOUT’

Phrase	Meaning
about time	finally happening
about to	going to do something soon
about average	normal or usual
about business	related to work
about life	concerning life matters
about a person	referring to someone
about the future	considering what is next

Phrases with ‘OF’

Phrase	Meaning
of course	naturally
of importance	significant
of value	valuable
of great concern	very worrying
of no use	useless
of necessity	required
of interest	worth attention
of help	useful