Lesson 5. Prepositions of Movement and Direction

Introduction

In this lesson, you'll learn the English prepositions for movement, direction, and travel. At the end of the lesson is a short story to help you improve your English reading and listening skills.

Prepositions

This lesson focuses on the English prepositions for movement, direction, and travel. These include:

• to
• into
• onto
• out of
• from
• toward
• across
• through

These prepositions help you describe how someone or something moves from one place to another. They answer questions like:

• Where are you going?
• Where does the movement start?
• What path does something take?

To

To indicates a destination.

I’m going to the park.
She walked to her friend’s house.

Into

Into is used to show an object is entering a space or area.

He went into the kitchen.
The dog ran into the garden.

Onto

Onto is used to show an object is moving onto a surface.

The cat jumped onto the counter.
The glass fell onto the floor.

Out of

Out of is used to show a person or object is leaving a space.

She walked out of the room.
The bird flew out of the tree.

From

From is used to show a starting point.

I came from school.
This letter is from my sister.

Toward

Toward is used to indicate movement to a destination.

He walked toward the station.
The dog ran toward me.

Through

Through is used to show movement from one side of an enclosed space to the other.

She drives through the tunnel.
We walked through the park.

Across

Across is used to show movement from one side of a surface or line to the other.

We walked across the bridge.
The cat ran across the street.