Prepositions
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A clear route through destinations, directions, and fixed phrases for travel, deliveries, and directions.
First decide whether you are describing a destination or the course of a path. Use to/into/onto for destinations and through/across/along/past/over for different paths.
Updated: July 2026
A2 · Prepositions · 9 min
A structured ten-slide lesson for A2 learners. Hear a route in context, distinguish destinations from paths, and practise fixed combinations for arrival, direction, and logistics. The whole arc takes about nine minutes and requires no signup.
Movement prepositions relate an action either to a destination or to a section of the path. The first question is where to? A sentence such as *“We go to the office”* names the endpoint. *“She walks into the office”* adds that the movement goes from outside to inside. The second question is which path? In *“Go across the bridge,”* across describes movement from one side to the other. In *“Walk past reception,”* reception is a landmark that the route goes beyond. This distinction makes a long vocabulary list manageable. Instead of learning each preposition as an isolated translation, identify its spatial job first. Destination prepositions show where the movement ends; path prepositions show how the route relates to a place, surface, or landmark. The two types often alternate in real directions: *“Go to the station, walk across the bridge, then turn into the office.”* Each preposition adds different spatial information. Separating destination from path lets you build precise new routes without depending on a single translation from another language.
To directs movement towards a destination: *“go to the office,” “travel to Vienna,” “ship to a client.”* It does not by itself say whether someone or something enters the destination. Into combines the destination with a change from outside to inside: *“walk into the room.”* It therefore contrasts with the place preposition in. *“She is in the room”* describes a position; *“She walks into the room”* describes movement to that position. Onto similarly combines movement with a surface: *“climb onto the platform.”* The corresponding place expression with on says that something is already positioned there. The pairs in → into and on → onto help distinguish location from directional change. Do not mechanically use into or onto for every moving action, however. When only the endpoint matters, to is sufficient. When entry into an interior or movement to a surface forms part of the message, the longer form carries that information. Compare *“go to the office”* with *“walk into the office”*: the destination is similar, but the second sentence provides a more detailed view of the movement.
Path prepositions describe not merely the destination but the shape of the route. Through carries the route inside an enclosed area: *“through the tunnel.”* Across takes it from one side of a surface or connection to the other: *“across the bridge.”* Along follows the line or direction of something: *“along the river.”* Past shows that you pass a landmark and continue beyond it: *“past reception.”* Over carries the route above or across an obstacle: *“over the wall.”* A longer set of directions can use several forms in sequence because every stage creates a new spatial relationship. One memorable route is *“Go across the bridge, past the station, and straight into the office.”* First, the bridge is crossed from one side to the other. Next, the station functions as a landmark that is passed. Finally, the movement changes from outside to inside the office. Draw a simple line when uncertain. At each stage, ask whether the line goes through, side to side, along, beyond, or over. That answer often selects the right path preposition more clearly than a translated word.
Several common combinations are best learned as complete chunks. From…to connects an origin and destination: *“We ship from Hamburg to Vienna.”* The two prepositions create a frame around the route. With get, an ordinary destination takes to: *“get to work.”* Arrive follows a different pattern. Use at before an individual place or landmark: *“arrive at the station,” “arrive at the office.”* Use in before a city or country: *“arrive in Vienna.”* Arrive to does not belong to this standard pattern. Because to marks so many other destinations, the arrive combination may feel surprising at first. Repeat the verb and preposition together: arrive at, arrive in. Then add the place. A logistics sentence can combine several chunks: *“The shipment travels from Hamburg to Vienna and arrives at the warehouse on Friday.”* The first part names the origin and destination of the overall route; the second describes arrival at a specific place. Fixed groups reduce the decision load because you do not have to choose among several translations every time the verb appears.
The direction words home, here, there, and downtown take no to in these movement expressions. English says *“go home,” “come here,” “walk there,”* and *“drive downtown.”* This is particularly difficult for German-speaking learners because German directional phrases with nach or zu encourage a preposition. Direct transfer produces *“go to home.”* Learn the verb and direction word as a short chunk with nothing between them. The missing preposition does not remove the movement meaning; the direction word already carries the destination idea inside the fixed combination. Compare *“go to the office”* and *“go home.”* An ordinary noun such as office uses to, while the special direction word home does not. Arrive creates a separate German transfer trap. A learner may build arrive to even though English uses arrive at for a place and arrive in for a city or country. Keep the two error patterns distinct: no to before the four direction words, but at/in after arrive. Short contrast pairs make these fixed patterns easier to hear and retrieve in real speech.
A useful set of directions divides movement into visible stages. Begin with a landmark and choose a matching preposition for each new section: *“Go across the bridge. Walk past reception. Go straight into the office.”* Imperatives keep the instructions short, while prepositions provide spatial precision. In logistics, from…to links the endpoints: *“We ship from Hamburg to Vienna.”* Add the course of the route with through, across, or along when needed. One small regional variation concerns movement around a corner. British English often uses round: *“round the corner.”* American English prefers around: *“around the corner.”* Both forms are understood. The other core rules in this lesson remain unchanged. Check your finished route like a map. Is the origin clear? Does each change of destination or path have a suitable preposition? Have you used arrive at/in and removed to before home, here, there, or downtown? When every preposition explains a visible stage, another person can follow the directions or delivery route one step at a time.
In and on describe a place or position: *“in the room,” “on the platform.”* Into and onto describe movement to that position: *“walk into the room,” “climb onto the platform.”* The key distinction is location versus directional change.
Home takes no to in this direction expression: English says *“go home.”* After arrive, use at before a place and in before a city or country: *“arrive at the station,” “arrive in Vienna.”* Learn both combinations as fixed chunks.
Alongside home, the words here, there, and downtown take no to in these movement expressions. Say *“come here,” “walk there,”* and *“drive downtown.”* Ordinary destination nouns still use to, as in *“go to the office.”*
British English often uses round where American English prefers around: *“round the corner”* versus *“around the corner.”* Both forms are understood. The choice does not change the basic route meaning.
Use *prepositions-place* (A1) for the location forms in, on, and at that contrast with direction here. *imperatives* (A1) helps you give clear route instructions. *past-simple* (A2) supports the same prepositions when you describe a completed journey.
Into and onto are visible fusions of in + to and on + to. The split spelling can still mark a different structure: *“turn in to the drive”* describes direction, while *“turn into a frog”* describes a transformation. The word boundary therefore carries meaning.
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