English Prepositions for the TOEIC®: Rules, Pitfalls, and Strategy for Part 5

English prepositions (in, on, at, for, by, with, etc.) are essential for expressing time, location, and relationships between ideas.

The 3 Types of Prepositions for the TOEIC®

Prepositions fall into three main categories, each with its specific rules and pitfalls.

Type	Function	Common Examples	Typical Pitfall
Time	Locating something in time	in, on, at, since, for, during, by, until	Confusing for (duration) and since (starting point)
Place	Locating something in space	in, on, at, to, from, into, onto, between, among	Confusing in (inside) and at (specific point)
Logical	Connecting ideas (cause, means, possession)	of, for, by, with, about, to, from	Confusing by (means) and with (accompaniment)

This table gives you an overview. Now, let's delve deeper into each category.

Time Prepositions

Preposition	Usual Translation	Example in English	Translation of Example
in	in (months, years, periods)	The project will start in April.	Le projet commencera en avril.
on	on (days, dates)	The meeting is scheduled on Monday.	La réunion est prévue lundi.
at	at (specific time/moment)	The train leaves at 7:30.	Le train part à 7h30.
since	since (starting point)	She has worked here since 2020.	Elle travaille ici depuis 2020.
for	for (duration)	They stayed abroad for two years.	Ils sont restés à l’étranger pendant deux ans.
during	during (specific period)	No phones are allowed during the exam.	Les téléphones sont interdits pendant l’examen.
by	by / no later than	Please send the report by Friday.	Merci d’envoyer le rapport au plus tard vendredi.
until	until	The shop is open until 6 PM.	Le magasin est ouvert jusqu’à 18h.

Place Prepositions

Preposition	Usual Translation	Example in English	Translation of Example
in	in / inside	She is working in the office.	Elle travaille dans le bureau.
on	on	The file is on the desk.	Le dossier est sur le bureau.
at	at (specific point)	Meet me at the entrance.	Retrouve-moi à l’entrée.
to	to (destination)	He is going to the airport.	Il va à l’aéroport.
from	from / since	She came from London.	Elle vient de Londres.
into	into (movement inward)	He walked into the room.	Il est entré dans la pièce.
onto	onto (movement onto a surface)	The cat jumped onto the table.	Le chat a sauté sur la table.
between	between (distinct items)	The office is between the bank and the café.	Le bureau est entre la banque et le café.
among	among (group)	She felt comfortable among her colleagues.	Elle se sentait à l’aise parmi ses collègues.

Logical Prepositions

Preposition	Usual Translation	Example in English	Translation of Example
of	of	The manager approved the budget of the department.	Le directeur a validé le budget du département.
for	for	This document is for internal use.	Ce document est destiné à un usage interne.
by	by / by means of	The report was written by the assistant.	Le rapport a été rédigé par l’assistant.
with	with / with the help of	She solved the issue with a new tool.	Elle a résolu le problème avec un nouvel outil.
about	about	They talked about the new strategy.	Ils ont parlé de la nouvelle stratégie.
to	to / toward	He explained the issue to his manager.	Il a expliqué le problème à son responsable.
from	from / received from	We received feedback from clients.	Nous avons reçu des retours de la part des clients.

The Most Frequent Pitfalls in Part 5

Among our TOEIC® candidates, three errors constantly reappear, even among those with a generally good level.

1. Literal Translation from Their Native Language

For example, in French, we say "intéressé par quelque chose" (interested by something). Many mistakenly write interested by instead of interested in.

"She is interested in the new marketing strategy."

2. Confusing Similar Time Prepositions

For indicates a duration, since a starting point, during a defined period.

"The team has worked on this project for three months."
"The team has worked on this project since January."

3. Forgetting That Some Prepositions Change the Verb's Meaning

Look at (to observe), look for (to seek), look after (to take care of). In the TOEIC®, just one preposition changes everything.

And we see this all the time in Part 5.

Even among candidates who already have access to a preparation platform through their school, confusion between for and since keeps coming up. The reason: these tools emphasize the rule but rarely instill the reflex needed under pressure.

Ready to Practice?

Memorizing lists of prepositions is not enough. What makes the difference is recognizing the clues in the sentence (duration, starting point, exact time) and automatically associating them with the correct preposition.

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