Oxford English Grammar Course Basic •

Level 1
TEST 21 • prepositions

Name

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1 Time. Put in by or until.
1 In my country you can’t drive you’re 18.
2 I’m working here the end of the month.
3 You must come home 6 o’clock as we’re eating at 7.
4 The front door of the hotel is unlocked midnight. Then you have to ring the bell to get in.
5 She isn’t starting school next September.
6 You must leave your hotel room 11 o’clock.

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2 Time. Put in for, during or while.
1 Please don’t talk the film.
2 Please don’t make a noise I’m asleep.
3 Can you wait five minutes?
4 I’ve only known Sue and Joe a short time, but I really like them.
5 I saw the Eiffel Tower I was on holiday in Paris.
6 Eddie is going to work in a café the summer.
7 Grandma usually sleeps an hour the afternoon.

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3 Place. Put in at, in or on.
1 It’s very cold my bedroom.
2 I’m standing the bus stop. Can you see me?
3 I didn’t see Mary work. Is she ill?
4 The clock the kitchen wall is showing the wrong time.
5 Something very sad happens the end of the film.
6 I got the bus and sat down.
7 The answer is page 140. Look the top of the page.
8 Do you think this dress looks good me?
9 I couldn’t find any paper my pockets so I wrote her phone number my hand.

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4 Place. Choose the correct prepositions.
There were lots of plates on the table. (above, behind, on)
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1 I don’t drive, so I’d like to live in a flat a bus stop. (against, near, under)
2 The teacher stood Marianne and looked at the answers she was writing. (above, against, behind)
3 This bed is too big to go in the middle of the room - let’s put it the wall. (against, behind, under)
4 It was raining, so we sat a tree. (behind, near, under)
5 My flat is very noisy because I live a railway station. (above, by, between)
6 ‘Where’s the supermarket?’ ‘It’s the bank and the café.’ (above, against, between)
7 She lives in a small flat a restaurant. (above, against, between)
8 You can park in the car park the school. (against, behind, between)
9 I’ll be waiting for you the ticket office. Don’t be late! (against, by, under)
10 I think my keys are the armchair. Can we move it? (between, by, under)

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Oxford English Grammar Course • Basic TEST 21 • prepositions © Michael Swan and Catherine Walter PHOTOCOPIABLE
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5 Movement. Choose the correct prepositions and put them in the correct places.

Level 1
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He walked out of his house and got into his car. (across, into, out of, off, round)
1 Mary got the taxi and walked the bank. (along, off, out of, into, up)
2 You can’t cross the road here. Go the steps and walk the bridge. (down, over, up, through)
3 Go the railway bridge, then turn left New Street. The supermarket is on your right.
(from, into, off, round, under)
4 The dog ran the hill, jumped the water and swam the river.
(across, along, down, into, through)
5 As soon as we arrived in London, we got the train and walked the main entrance
the station. (off, out of, round, past, through)
6 We were going too fast, so we drove the cinema and went the corner into Gordon Street.
How do we get back to the cinema from here? (across, along, past, round, under)

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6 Mixed structures. Put in for, from, to, at, in, off, on, through or under.
I often go to Paris at the weekend. It takes two hours and fifteen minutes to get 1
London 2
Paris by train. If you leave London 3 9 o’clock 4 the morning,
you will arrive 5
Paris 6
12.20. (This includes a one-hour time-difference between the
United Kingdom and France.)

You get 7 the Eurostar train at St Pancras Station, which is 8 central London. The train
goes very fast and travels 9 the tunnel that goes 10 the Channel 11 only
thirty minutes. The train arrives 12
the Gare du Nord, which is a big station 13
the city
centre. When you get 14 the train, you can have lunch 15 one of the restaurants near
the station. 16 there, it’s easy to get 17 the métro (subway). You can be at the Louvre,
the Champs Elysées, or the Eiffel Tower 18 less than thirty minutes. 19 winter, the last
train leaves Paris 20
9.15 p.m., so there’s lots of time for shopping and eating!

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7 Mixed structures. Put in suitable prepositions. (More than one may be possible.)
Does this bus stop at/near Oxford Station?
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1 I couldn’t see the screen at the cinema because the person me was very tall.
2 I put a chair the door to stop it from opening.
3 Let’s meet the main entrance. It’s the one with a big clock the door.
4 I don’t like walking the park at night.
5 I never have coffee night, but I drink three or four cups the day.
6 It isn’t far to the bank. You need to drive this road ten minutes and you’ll
see it your left .
7 Wait the traffic lights turn green. Then drive the post office and park the car
next to the café.
8 I stood Julie and the man who was shouting at her. ‘Leave her alone!’, I said.
9 I’m arriving the 15.30 flight from Berlin. I’ll phone you as soon as I get the plane.
10 ‘I’m in a hurry. Can we leave 5 o’clock?’ ‘OK, I’ll be ready five minutes.’

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8 Mixed structures: All these sentences are wrong. Correct them.
I have to get in the station by 5 o’clock or I’ll miss my train. to
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1 Are you playing football in the park on the weekend?

2 There’s an engagement ring on my finger because Greg and I got engaged on last Tuesday.
3 I can talk to you in half an hour; meet me to the café behind the library.
4 Go into the door on your right; Mr Brown’s office is at the top of the stairs on the second floor.
5 You need to get out of the pool now as it closes by 5 o’clock on Saturdays.
6 I got off of the train at the wrong stop and had to wait for an hour on the platform.
7 Take those plates off from the table and put them on the shelf above the fridge.

Oxford English Grammar Course • Basic TEST 21 • prepositions © Michael Swan and Catherine Walter PHOTOCOPIABLE