Preposition Practice Lists

A preposition is a word that shows a relationship – such as direction, location, or time – between a noun and another word. Words found on preposition practice lists can also be adverbs or conjunctions.

Children understand and use the most frequently occurring prepositions from an early age. Some prepositions, such as in, to, up, and at, are taught in kindergarten as high-frequency words. More preposition lists are introduced as vocabulary words in Grades 1 and 2; however, preposition practice is not taught as English grammar until Grade 3. Pairing these additions of new word lists with VocabularySpellingCity’s fun preposition games for kids can help students retain this information more effectively.

In Grades 3 and 4, students learn that a preposition is the first word in a prepositional phrase, and that prepositional phrases end with a noun or pronoun. For example, students should be able to identify the prepositional phrases in these sentences: “We bought a cake with chocolate frosting,” and “The bus stops near the library.” Students learn that all the words in a prepositional phrase work together to act like an adjective (in the first example sentence) or an adverb (in the second example sentence). Examples at these grade levels include prepositional phrases which come at the end of a sentence. Preposition practice lists continue to grow and gain more phrases at this age.

By Grade 5, students should be able to identify and understand the functionality of prepositional phrases within sentences by looking at them and asking themselves, “Is that a preposition?”, such as “The boy with the red hair is my brother.” The prepositional phrase in this sentence functions as an adjective because it describes what the boy looks like. Practicing with a prepositions list, paired with games for kids, can help students of all ages learn and master a way to create more meaningful, detailed sentences.

View Common Core State Standards Related to Prepositions Close

Common Core State Standards Related to Prepositions

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.1.e
Use the most frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., to, from, in, out, on, off, for, of, by, with).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1.i
Use frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during, beyond, toward).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1.e
Form and use prepositional phrases.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1.a
Explain the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and their function in particular sentences.

View Words at a Glance Close

Preposition Practice List 1: above, against, at, behind, below, beside, down, in, into, near

Prepositions List 2: on, onto, out, outside, over, to, toward, underneath, up, within

Prepositions List 3: after, before, during, following, since, until, past

Prepositions List 4: about, by, along, among, around, between, concerning, except, for, from, without

VocabularySpellingCity.com provides word lists, printables, activities, and interactive preposition games for kids that give students the opportunity to identify and use prepositions and to form and use prepositional phrases.

Try Sentence Unscramble as an engaging preposition practice game for kids with the Prepositions 1 list.