English Prepositions Made Simple: A Guide for ESL Professionals

Prepositions are small words that cause big problems. They don't translate directly between languages, and the "rules" often have exceptions. This guide focuses on the prepositions that matter most in business English.

Time Prepositions: In, On, At

Preposition	Use for	Examples
At	Specific times	at 3pm, at noon, at midnight
On	Days and dates	on Monday, on January 5th
In	Months, years, periods	in March, in 2024, in the morning

Place Prepositions: In, On, At

Preposition	Use for	Examples
At	Specific locations/addresses	at the office, at 123 Main St
On	Surfaces, streets	on the desk, on Main Street
In	Enclosed spaces, cities, countries	in the room, in New York, in Japan

Common Business Preposition Mistakes

1. Interested in (not "on" or "about")

2. Depend on (not "of")

3. Consist of (not "from")

4. Good at (not "in")

5. Responsible for (not "of")

6. According to (not "according with")

Prepositions with Common Verbs

Verb	Correct Preposition	Example
Agree	with (person) / on (topic)	I agree with you on this point
Apply	for	Apply for a job
Apologize	for	Apologize for the delay
Arrive	at (place) / in (city)	Arrive at the airport / in London
Ask	for / about	Ask for help / Ask about the project
Belong	to	This belongs to the finance team
Believe	in	I believe in this approach
Complain	about	Complain about the service
Concentrate	on	Concentrate on priorities
Focus	on	Focus on the deadline
Listen	to	Listen to feedback
Look	at / for / into	Look at this / Look for solutions / Look into it
Participate	in	Participate in the meeting
Pay	for	Pay for the subscription
Refer	to	Refer to the document
Reply	to	Reply to the email
Respond	to	Respond to the request
Search	for	Search for information
Spend (time)	on	Spend time on research
Wait	for	Wait for approval

Tricky Cases

On time vs. In time

• On time = punctual, at the scheduled time ("The meeting started on time.")
• In time = before a deadline, not too late ("I submitted the report in time.")

At the end vs. In the end

• At the end = at the final point ("At the end of the meeting...")
• In the end = finally, after everything ("In the end, we decided to...")

By vs. Until

• By = at the latest ("Please submit by Friday" = Friday or earlier)
• Until = up to that point ("I'll be in meetings until 3pm" = continuous)

No Preposition Needed

Some verbs that need prepositions in other languages don't need them in English:

Wrong	Correct
Discuss about	Discuss (no preposition)
Enter into the room	Enter the room
Reach to a conclusion	Reach a conclusion
Emphasize on	Emphasize (no preposition)
Contact to someone	Contact someone

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