Prepositions of movement: into, out of, across, through…

When you use it

A preposition of movement answers the questions where to? and which way?. It comes after a verb of movement such as go, come, walk, run, drive, fly, jump, fall or get, and before the place: walk into the room, run across the road. Prepositions of place say where something is; prepositions of movement say where it goes. Compare Anna is in the kitchen (a place) and Anna walks into the kitchen (a movement from outside to inside).

Every movement has a start, a way and an end. From marks the start, to marks the end, and words such as across, through, along and past describe the way in between: We drove from the station through the town to the beach. Ukrainian shows the difference with the case of the noun: у кімнаті (place) and у кімнату (movement). English changes the preposition instead: in and into. Russian shows the difference with the case of the noun: в комнате (place) and в комнату (movement). English changes the preposition instead: in and into. German shows the difference with the case: in der Küche (dative, place) and in die Küche (accusative, movement). English changes the preposition instead: in and into, on and onto.

How it is formed

The pattern is verb of movement + preposition + place. The preposition stays the same for every subject and every tense.

Towards is the usual British form and toward the usual American one. Round is British too; around is used everywhere. Both forms of each pair are correct.

In or into, on or onto? After go, come, walk and run, use into for the moment you enter: Tom walked into the room. Tom walked in the room can sound as if he was already inside, walking around. With verbs like put, jump, throw and get, everyday English also uses in and on for movement: Put the milk in the fridge, The cat jumped on the table. Both forms are correct there. With no noun after it, use in: Come in, Get in.

Across, through or over? Across goes over a flat surface or a line: a road, a river, a square, a field. Through goes inside something with sides, a top or many things around you: a tunnel, a forest, a door, a crowd. Over goes above something, or up and down to its other side: a wall, a fence, a hill. For a bridge, over and across mean the same: We walked over the bridge or across the bridge.

Getting in and out. For a car or a taxi, you get in (or into) and get out of. For a bus, a train, a plane, a ship or a bike, you get on and get off. This follows the same split as in a car but on a bus (see city and transport). Get on and get off are also phrasal verbs. They can stand without a noun when the vehicle is clear: This is our stop. Let's get off.

No preposition at all. Some words already contain the direction, so they take no to: go home, come home, get home, go there, go upstairs, go downstairs. Two verbs need special care. Arrive takes at for a building, a point or an event (arrive at the hotel, arrive at the party) and in for a city or a country (arrive in Spain), never to. Enter takes its object directly: enter the room, not enter into the room. More verbs like these are in prepositions that differ.

Examples

• Anna walked into the kitchen and switched on the light.
• Tom got out of the taxi and paid the driver.
• We got off the train in the centre and walked to the hotel.
• A dog ran across the road in front of our bus.
• The road goes through a small village before it reaches the sea.
• Anna likes to walk along the river after work.
• A bird flew over our heads and sat on the wall.
• Tom climbed up the ladder and onto the roof.
• The number 9 bus goes past our house every ten minutes.
• We cycled from the station to the beach in twenty minutes.

Common mistakes

• ✗Tom went to home after the film.

  ✓ Tom went home after the film.

  After go, come and get, home already means to your home, so no preposition goes in front of it. For the place, you say at home. Іти додому has no separate preposition either: додому is one word, like home. The slip comes from go to school and go to work. Идти домой has no preposition either: домой is one word, like home. The slip comes from go to school and go to work. Nach Hause gehen has a preposition, which makes go to home feel right. English home takes none after go, come or get.

• ✗Anna arrived to London on Friday.

  ✓ Anna arrived in London on Friday.

  Arrive does not take to. Use in for a city or a country and at for a building, a station or an airport. If you want to, use get to: Anna got to London on Friday. Приїхати до Лондона has a word for direction, so to feels natural after arrive. Приехать в Лондон uses в for direction, so to feels natural after arrive. Here German helps: in London ankommen matches arrive in London. Just do not carry the to of go to London (nach London fahren) over to arrive.

• ✗Tom got out from the car.

  ✓ Tom got out of the car.

  Leaving the inside of something is out of. From says where a movement starts, but it does not replace of after out. Вийти з машини: з usually becomes from, so out from seems logical. Выйти из машины: из usually becomes from, so out from seems logical. Aus dem Auto aussteigen: aus is from in Ich komme aus Berlin, but leaving the inside of something is out of.

• ✗We walked across the forest for two hours.

  ✓ We walked through the forest for two hours.

  In a forest there are trees all around you, so the natural word is through. Across fits a flat, open place, like a road, a square or a field. With a forest, across is possible only when you mean from one side to the other. Через covers both через дорогу and через ліс, so the difference is not visible in Ukrainian. Через covers both через дорогу and через лес, so the difference is not visible in Russian. Durch den Wald matches through the forest. The German trap is über, which can be across (über die Straße) or over (über die Mauer).

• ✗The teacher entered into the classroom.

  ✓ The teacher entered the classroom. / The teacher walked into the classroom.

  Enter takes the place directly, with no preposition. If you want into, use go, come or walk with it. Увійти в клас has a preposition, so learners add into after enter. Войти в класс has a preposition, so learners add into after enter. Das Klassenzimmer betreten takes a direct object, just like enter the classroom. Ins Klassenzimmer gehen is go into the classroom.

Practice

The exercises go from easy to harder. Each answer is checked at once. If it is wrong, you get a hint and a second try.