Prepositions of movement

We use prepositions of movement with verbs which show movement (go, run, walk, fly ...). The most common preposition of movement is to, but there are many others:

up

go up the stairs

walk up the stairs
drive up the hill

down

go down the stairs

walk down the stairs
run down the hill

across

walk across the road

walk across the road
swim across the river

 

over

walk over the bridge

walk over the bridge
cycle over the hill

under

walk under the bridge

walk under the bridge
crawl under the table

along

walk along the street

walk along the street
race along the river

 

into
walk into the house

walk into the house
go into the garden

out of
walk out of the house

walk out of the house
come out of the garden

through

walk through the town

walk through the town
go through the door

 

past
walk past the house

walk past the house
run past the cat

round/around
walk round the tree

walk round the tree
fly round the park

from ... to ...
walk from A to B

walk from college to the shops
go from A to B

 

Be careful with verbs like fall. My students often say "I fell down", but really they mean "I fell over" - look at the movement and you'll see why.

Also, be careful of the difference between across (preposition) and cross (verb), and past (preposition) and pass (verb).

  • I walked across the road.
  • I crossed the road.
  • I walked past your house.
  • I passed your house.

The verbs pass and cross don't need a preposition. Other movement verbs which don't need a preposition are leave and enter.


Practice

Choose the best preposition to complete these sentences.

  1. I jumped  the swimming pool.
  2. Every morning I go jogging  the beach.
  3. I ran  the beach and into the sea.
  4. I climbed  the bath when I'd finished washing.
  5. The burglar jumped  the garden fence.
  6. The road was closed so we couldn't drive through the town centre, we had to go  it.
  7. I went  the kitchen to make a sandwich.
  8. He climbed  the ladder to clean the second floor windows.
  9. I didn't see the dog lying on the floor, and I fell  it.
  10. I dropped a £1 coin and it rolled  the sofa so I couldn't find it.
  11. We drove  Newcastle on the way to Edinburgh.
  12. When I was a student I travelled  Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
  13. After 6 hours of walking, we decided to go back  the mountain.