I gave the medal to the best runner.

Prepositions

This KS2 English quiz takes a look at prepositions. Prepositions are linking words. Prepositions are very important words - they link words together in a way that makes sense. Prepositions come before a noun (or pronoun) to explain its relationship to other words in the sentence. In the sentence, 'I gave the medal to the best runner', the preposition 'to' explains the relationship between 'the runner' and 'the medal'. Prepositions often describe time (i.e. 'after' and 'before') and place (i.e. 'behind' and 'below').

You may not notice these little words in a sentence, but they do the key job of bringing a whole sentence together. If you read a sentence without any prepositions, you'll soon notice a difference!

Try this quiz on prepositions to check your understanding.

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Find the prepositions in the following sentence.
The man was standing near the edge of the stage.

man, standing

near, edge

near, of

edge, stage

'Near the edge' describes the man's location; 'of the stage' explains the relationship between 'stage' and 'edge'.

Find the prepositions in the following sentence.
At midnight, the bell in the ancient tower began to toll.

At, in

bell, in

the, tower

tower, to

'At midnight' describes a time; 'in the ancient tower' describes a place; 'to toll' is a verb, however, so 'to' is not a preposition in this case.

Find the preposition in the following sentence.
She found the rusty old key beneath a flowerpot.

found

rusty

beneath

flowerpot

'Beneath a flowerpot' describes the key's location.

Find the prepositions in the following sentence.
After calm reflection, I made a promise to myself not to lose my temper again.

After, not

After, to

made, lose

lose, temper

'After calm reflection' describes a time; 'to myself' describes the relationship between 'a promise' and 'myself'.

Find the preposition in the following sentence.
Mrs. Jones poured hot coffee into her mug.

poured

into

her

mug

'Into her mug' describes where the coffee is being poured.

Find the prepositions in the following sentence.
The train went through the tunnel and then over the bridge.

The, tunnel

through, then

through, over

then, over

'Through the tunnel' and 'over the bridge' both describe location.

Find the prepositions in the following sentence.
In the last minute of the match, he kicked the ball between the posts.

In, of, between

last, of, ball

minute, between, posts

kicked, the, the

'In the last minute' describes the time; 'of the match' explains the relationship between 'minute' and 'match'; 'between the posts' describes a location.

Find the preposition in the following sentence.
The sun shone brightly on the mountaintop.