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adverbials of direction

 

Direction

We also use prepositional phrases to talk about direction:

across along back  back to down into
onto out of  past through to towards

She ran out of the house.
Walk past the bank and keep going to the end of the street.

We also use adverbs and adverb phrases for place and direction:

abroad away anywhere downstairs downwards
everywhere here indoors inside nowhere
outdoors outside somewhere there upstairs

I would love to see Paris. I’ve never been there.
The bedroom is upstairs.
It was so cold that we stayed indoors.

We often have a preposition at the end of a clause:

This is the room we have our meals in.
The car door is very small so it’s difficult to get into.
I lifted the carpet and looked underneath.

Exercise

Comments

dharitriputra's picture
Submitted by dharitriputra on 23 March, 2012 - 07:54. India

I'm confused about the proper use of 'on' and 'onto'. What's the difference? Could anyone help? Thanks in advance.

Stephen Jones's picture
Submitted by Stephen Jones on 24 March, 2012 - 22:41. United Kingdom (Great Britain)

Hello dharitriputra,
 
Thanks for your question. There are quite a few different uses of onto. ​Try using our  ​Cambridge Dictionaries Online ​search box on the right of this page if you are looking for a specific example.
 
As a general rule though, onto shows movement from one place to another. So grammar books would give examples like ​The cat jumped from the chair onto the table. 
 
Regards,
 
Stephen Jones
The LearnEnglish Team
 

uesna_rashlani's picture
Submitted by uesna_rashlani on 18 January, 2012 - 18:50. Albania

can you help me because i am an albanian girl and i don't know so moch and i wont to learn english

Arif Saad's picture
Submitted by Arif Saad on 13 December, 2011 - 00:14. Indonesia

it is very difficult, it make me so confused

alexanderrincon's picture
Submitted by alexanderrincon on 11 September, 2011 - 00:18. Colombia

I´m happy studying English, this web site is very good!!!
I have a question, When I should use: At?, In? or On? What´s the difference?
Thanks.  

AdamJK's picture
Submitted by AdamJK on 21 September, 2011 - 17:02. Poland

Hello,
These words are used in many different ways so it's hard to give you a short answer. However, here's one area to get you started: at, in and on used with times and dates.
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team

alan1980's picture
Submitted by alan1980 on 2 August, 2011 - 08:05. Netherlands

it is very difficult for me. i don t know why

unique_boy1's picture
Submitted by unique_boy1 on 25 January, 2011 - 05:33. Malaysia

 3 wrong answers

Engahmed89's picture
Submitted by Engahmed89 on 29 August, 2010 - 13:56. Egypt

i'm so glad to join the british council students