Prepositions beginning with O

One-word prepositions

of

• I live in the house at the end of the road.
• Where is the key of the car?
• Do you like the work of Shakespeare?
• What was the cost of this book?
• He lives in the City of Westminster.
• It was kind of you to help me.
• This is the cause of the problem.
• He died of cancer.
• Most tables are made of wood.
• Can I have a cup of coffee?
• I know some of these people.
• I don't know any of these people.
• He lives south of London.
• He lives in the south of London.

off

• Please take your shoes off the table.
• Keep off the grass.
• It fell off the table and broke.
• They live in a street off Fifth Avenue.

on

• Please don't put your shoes on the table.
• The picture is on page 7.
• We live on a busy road. It's very noisy.
• She is sunbathing on the beach.
• Is there water on the Moon?
• I need a book on bio-chemistry.
• My birthday is on Monday.
• I start work on 7 May.
• Let's meet on the weekend. (American English)
• I'll see you on Christmas Day.
• You must be on time.
• He broke his leg on getting out of the car.

onto (mainly American English) see on to

• The cat jumped onto the chair.
• The police are onto us. (slang)

opposite

• There is a post office opposite my house.
• She sat opposite him and looked into his eyes.

outside

• I don’t live in London. I live outside London.
• It was very cold outside the car.
• This is outside my scope.

over

• We are flying over the mountains.
• Put the blanket over the bed.
• The cat jumped over the wall.
• Let’s discuss it over dinner.
• The king ruled over the country for many years.
• The town is just over the border.
• It cost over $50. It was $53.25.
• There is rain over the whole country.
• It took over an hour to do my homework.
• The population has increased over the past twenty years.
• Can you stay with us over Christmas?

Complex prepositions

on account of

• Don't worry on account of me. Think about yourself.

on behalf of

• I'm calling you on behalf of Mr Brown. I represent him in legal matters.

on board

• Is there a doctor on board this plane?

on to (mainly British English) see onto

• The cat jumped on to the chair.

on top of

• The cat is sitting on top of the television.

opposite to

• There is a tree opposite to the house. Straight across the road.

other than

• Sorry, we're out of whisky. But we have every drink other than whisky.

out of

• Take your hands out of your pockets and help me!
• He went out of the room to smoke a cigarette.
• We're out of eggs. Shall I buy some?

outside of

• They stopped outside of the city to check the map before entering.

owing to

• We didn't go swimming, owing to the cold weather.