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.	公園に行きます。
She walked to her friend’s house.	彼女は友達の家まで歩いて行きました。

Into

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

He went into the kitchen.	彼はキッチンへ行きました。
The dog ran into the garden.	犬は庭に走っていきました。

Onto

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

The cat jumped onto the counter.	猫はカウンターに飛び乗った。
The glass fell onto the floor.	ガラスが床に落ちた。

Out of

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

She walked out of the room.	彼女は部屋から出て行った。
The bird flew out of the tree.	鳥が木から飛び立ちました。

From

From is used to show a starting point.

I came from school.	学校から来ました。
This letter is from my sister.	この手紙は私の妹からです。

Toward

Toward is used to indicate movement to a destination.

He walked toward the station.	彼は駅に向かって歩いた。
The dog ran toward me.	犬は私に向かって走っていきました。

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.	私たちは公園を歩きました。

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.	猫は通りを走って向かいました。