English Prepositions Quiz
Do you know when to use at, in, or on? Test prepositions of time, place, and movement across 20 multiple-choice exercises — from A2 basics to B2 collocations and fixed phrases.
Start the Quiz →What This Quiz Covers
Prepositions are small words that carry a lot of weight. Whether you are saying where something is, when something happens, or how people and things move, the wrong preposition can change your meaning entirely — or make you sound unnatural even when the rest of your sentence is perfectly correct. This quiz targets the most common preposition problems faced by A2–B2 learners and tests your accuracy across the full range of preposition categories used in everyday English.
The 20 multiple-choice questions are drawn from realistic contexts: everyday conversation, emails, travel situations, and descriptions of places and events. Items are arranged to increase in difficulty, starting with high-frequency time and place prepositions (at, in, on) and progressing through movement prepositions, prepositional phrases, and idiomatic collocations that are frequently tested at B1–B2 level in Cambridge and IELTS exams.
Preposition errors are among the most persistent in English learning because native-language interference is strong, rules have many exceptions, and the same preposition often carries completely different meanings in different contexts. For example, in can describe a location (in the room), a time period (in March), a state (in a hurry), and membership (in a team). The only reliable way to master prepositions is through extensive exposure combined with focused practice — which is exactly what this quiz provides.
This quiz identifies your specific weak points so you can focus your study on the areas that matter most. You can deepen your understanding further with the English Prepositions Guide on our blog, which covers all the categories below with detailed rule explanations and further examples, or by exploring the Grammar hub for related topics including articles, conjunctions, and verb patterns.
Topic Points Covered
- Prepositions of time: at (clock times and fixed points), in (months, years, seasons, parts of day), and on (days and dates) with a focus on the most frequent learner errors.
- Prepositions of place: at (specific locations and venues), in (enclosed spaces and areas), and on (surfaces and public transport) in realistic sentence contexts.
- Prepositions of movement: to, into, onto, towards, through, across, along, past, around — distinguishing direction from position and choosing the correct preposition after verbs of motion.
- Prepositions after adjectives: common fixed patterns such as good at, interested in, afraid of, responsible for, married to, proud of, familiar with.
- Prepositions after verbs: high-frequency verb + preposition collocations including listen to, wait for, agree with, depend on, belong to, apologise for, complain about.
- Prepositional phrases: fixed multi-word expressions such as in time, on time, at the end, in the end, by accident, on purpose, at last, in fact, at least.
- Transport and travel prepositions: by car/train/plane (no article), on the bus/tube, in a taxi/car — a category that confuses even intermediate learners.
- Advanced and idiomatic uses at B2 level: on behalf of, in charge of, under pressure, at risk, in common, out of order and similar noun phrases that appear in IELTS and Cambridge B2 First tasks.
How to Use This Quiz
Read each sentence carefully and choose the preposition that best completes the gap. Each question has four options; only one is correct. Pay close attention to the surrounding words — verbs, adjectives, and nouns often signal which preposition is needed. If you are unsure, eliminate the options that are clearly wrong before making your final choice.
After completing all 20 questions, review any items you got wrong and look up the rule that applies. Note whether your error was in a time/place category, a verb collocation, or a fixed phrase — each type requires a slightly different study strategy. For time and place prepositions, understanding the underlying principle (point vs. period vs. surface) helps you generalise. For collocations and fixed phrases, spaced repetition using flashcards is the most efficient approach.
Use the Complete the Sentence exercise to practise filling in prepositions in a lower-pressure format before returning to timed quiz conditions. For a comprehensive rule-based reference that covers all the categories tested here, read the English Prepositions Guide on our blog. You can also explore the Grammar hub for linked topics such as articles, conjunctions, and modal verbs — all of which interact with preposition choice in complex sentences.
Aim to retake the quiz after a week of focused study. A score of 16 or more out of 20 suggests solid B1 preposition control; 18–20 reflects B2 accuracy. If you score below 12, prioritise the three core time/place prepositions (at, in, on) before moving to collocations and fixed expressions.
Related Quizzes
Related Exercises
These interactive exercises on LexFizz work well alongside this quiz. Use them to practise prepositions in a variety of formats before or after taking the timed quiz.
- Complete the Sentence — fill in missing prepositions (and other grammar items) in sentence contexts, with instant feedback on each answer.
- Flash Cards — drill verb + preposition and adjective + preposition collocations as two-sided cards until they become automatic.
- General Quiz — a mixed-topic multiple-choice quiz that includes preposition questions alongside vocabulary and other grammar areas.
- Gameshow Quiz — a fast-paced format that tests your instinctive recall of prepositions under time pressure, ideal preparation for exam conditions.
For reading-based study, visit the Grammar hub or browse the Vocabulary hub for topic word lists that show prepositions in context. The English Prepositions Guide on our blog provides a comprehensive reference covering all the categories tested in this quiz.
Frequently Asked Questions
The three prepositions follow a size rule. Use at for precise clock times and fixed daily points: at 3 o'clock, at noon, at midnight, at sunrise. Use in for longer periods — months (in March), years (in 2024), seasons (in winter), and parts of the day (in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening). Use on for specific days and dates: on Monday, on 15 June, on Christmas Day, on my birthday. The key exception is at night (not in night).
For place, think of the three prepositions in terms of how specific or enclosed the location is. Use at for a specific point or venue treated as a location rather than a space: at the bus stop, at the door, at school, at work, at the airport. Use in for enclosed spaces and areas with boundaries: in the room, in a city, in France, in the box, in bed. Use on for surfaces and lines: on the table, on the floor, on the wall, on the right, on the coast. Also use on for public transport vehicles you board: on the bus, on the train, on the plane.
Movement prepositions describe how someone or something travels from one place to another. To indicates destination: I'm going to London. Into indicates entering an enclosed space: She walked into the room (contrast with in the room, which is static). Onto indicates moving onto a surface: He climbed onto the roof. Through indicates passing from one side to the other: We drove through the tunnel. Across indicates crossing a surface or area: We swam across the river. Along indicates moving parallel to something: We walked along the beach. Past means passing a point: Go past the church and turn left.
Verb + preposition combinations must be memorised because they do not always follow a logical pattern. The most frequent include: listen to (music, a podcast), wait for (a person, a bus), agree with (someone) or agree on (a topic), depend on (circumstances), belong to (an owner), apologise for (an action), complain about (a problem), apply for (a job), look forward to (an event), concentrate on (a task), succeed in (doing something), and insist on (a course of action). These appear frequently in B1–B2 exams.
Like verb collocations, adjective + preposition patterns are fixed and must be learned as chunks. Key examples include: good at (a skill), bad at (a skill), interested in (a subject), afraid of / scared of / frightened of (something), proud of (an achievement), responsible for (a task), married to (a person), familiar with (a topic), similar to (something else), different from (something else), bored with / bored of (an activity), keen on (a hobby), and aware of (a situation). These combinations are frequently tested in Cambridge B1 Preliminary and B2 First exams.
On time means punctual — arriving or happening at the scheduled moment: The train arrived on time. In time means not too late — arriving before a deadline or before something happens: We got there just in time to catch the last performance. The difference is subtle but important: if your meeting is at 10:00 and you arrive at 10:00 exactly, you are on time. If you arrive at 09:55 before a door closes, you are in time. A similar contrast exists between at the end (at a specific final point in time or space: at the end of the film) and in the end (eventually, after a process: In the end, we decided to stay).
Transport prepositions are a notorious source of confusion. Use by + transport noun (no article) to describe the mode of travel: by car, by train, by plane, by bus, by bike, by taxi. This structure focuses on the method rather than the vehicle itself. However, when referring to being physically inside or on a specific vehicle, different prepositions apply: use on for vehicles you board and stand or sit in (bus, train, plane, tube, ferry): I'm on the bus right now. Use in for smaller enclosed vehicles (car, taxi, van): She was sitting in the back of the taxi. The key distinction is size and whether you can stand up and move around inside.
Prepositional phrases are fixed multi-word expressions built around a preposition. They function as adverbials (modifying the whole sentence) or as part of a noun phrase. High-frequency examples include: in fact (used to add emphasis or correct a misunderstanding), at least (minimum amount or concession), at last (after a long wait), by accident / by mistake (unintentionally), on purpose (intentionally), in a hurry (rushing), out of order (not working), under pressure (in a stressful situation), in charge of (responsible for managing), and on behalf of (representing someone). Knowing these chunks improves both writing fluency and comprehension of authentic texts.
Noun + preposition collocations are best learned as whole chunks rather than trying to derive rules. Common patterns include: reason for, solution to, advantage of, increase in, decrease in, effect on, attitude towards/to, relationship between, demand for, reaction to. A practical strategy is to note the preposition whenever you encounter a new noun in reading or listening, and to record it as a phrase (e.g. a solution to the problem) rather than as a single word. Flashcard exercises — such as the Flash Cards tool here on LexFizz — are effective for drilling noun + preposition pairs until they become automatic.
Preposition accuracy is assessed in every IELTS and Cambridge exam component. In IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, you must describe trends using phrases like an increase in, a rise of, a decline from — all requiring precise prepositions. In IELTS Writing Task 2 and Cambridge B2 First essays, incorrect prepositions lower your Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy scores. In IELTS Reading and Cambridge Use of English, gap-fill tasks frequently test verb + preposition and adjective + preposition collocations at B2 level. Practising with this quiz builds the automatic recall needed to use prepositions correctly under timed exam conditions. You can also read the English Prepositions Guide for rule-based explanations that complement this quiz.