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.	Ich gehe zum Park.
She walked to her friend’s house.	Sie ging zu dem Haus ihrer Freundin.

Into

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

He went into the kitchen.	Er ging in die Küche.
The dog ran into the garden.	Der Hund rannte in den Garten.

Onto

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

The cat jumped onto the counter.	Die Katze sprang auf die Arbeitsplatte.
The glass fell onto the floor.	Das Glas fiel auf den Boden.

Out of

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

She walked out of the room.	Sie ging aus dem Raum hinaus.
The bird flew out of the tree.	Der Vogel flog aus dem Baum.

From

From is used to show a starting point.

I came from school.	Ich kam von der Schule.
This letter is from my sister.	Dieser Brief ist von meiner Schwester.

Toward

Toward is used to indicate movement to a destination.

He walked toward the station.	Er ging auf den Bahnhof zu.
The dog ran toward me.	Der Hund rannte auf mich zu.

Through

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

She drives through the tunnel.	Sie fährt durch den Tunnel.
We walked through the park.	Wir gingen durch den Park.

Across

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

We walked across the bridge.	Wir sind über die Brücke gegangen.
The cat ran across the street.	Die Katze rannte über die Straße.