A preposition is a word that expresses the relationship between two other nearby words. In the examples below, each preposition (shown in bold ) shows the relationship between the word book and the word table.

• The book about the table.
• The book by the table.
• The book near the table.
• The book behind the table.
• The book under the table.

Here is a list of common prepositions:

above, about, across, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, since, to, toward, through, under, until, up, upon, with and within.