Prepositions for direction: to, on (to), in (to)

Use of prepositions in English

In English, there are a number of prepositions that indicate the direction of an object or person. They show where an object is going and where it is coming from and can also specify the way it is moving. There is a special group of English words that describe the state of motion. Prepositions of direction are accompanied by verbs of motion. The verb itself in these cases is determinative because it indicates the fact of movement, and the preposition already implies the vector of this movement.

Many people often confuse the prepositions of place and direction because they are close in meaning, as they indicate the location of an object in space or its relation to another object. Prepositions of place often appear in the form of prepositions of direction. The difference is mainly in the verb itself because when you look at it, you will know right away where the direction is concerned.

Directional prepositions and their use

Preposition in

The preposition in is a preposition of place, but it can change its meaning depending on the verb.

Examples:

• ✔️ I only recently arrived in Munich.
• ✔️ He has lived in Munich for many years.

In the first example, we see that the preposition in expresses the direction of the object, while in the second, it indicates its location. Note the verb in the first example. It indicates the active action of movement.

Preposition to

The preposition to is one of the most common directional prepositions. It implies movement toward a certain object or point. It answers the question “Where to?”

Examples:

• ✔️ This week I am going to Paris, which has been a dream of mine for a long time.
• ✔️ My mom went to a neighbor's house while I was in music school.

The preposition to is also used to refer to the person to whom the action is directed.

Examples:

• ✔️ Peter wrote a letter to John warning him of the upcoming meeting.
• ✔️ The day before yesterday, I went to Evan's to get my scooter back from him.

If the emphasis in the sentence is on the type of activity rather than the direction itself, the noun after the preposition is used without the article. This rule applies when we are talking about the names of institutions or emphasizing the kind of activity rather than the building itself.

Examples:

• ✔️ I go to work and see some man running across the street and losing his wallet.
• ✔️ Catherine is not going to school tomorrow because she wants to visit her sick grandmother.

There are also stable word combinations with the preposition to.

To the left/to the right.
To the north/to the south/to the east/to the west.

Examples:

• ✔️ After this intersection, turn to the left and drive to the end of the street.
• ✔️ We headed to the east because the compass pointed us in that direction.

The preposition to is used after some adjectives:

Useful, similar, opposite, important, grateful, necessary and so on.

Examples:

• ✔️ This holiday is very important to her.
• ✔️ This book is very similar to the one I saw in this store yesterday.
• ✔️ I was very grateful to our doctor for his attention and care.
• ✔️ This seminar is really necessary to our group.

The preposition to is used after verbs:

apologize to, agree to, prefer to, listen to and so on.

Examples:

• ✔️ They apologized to me for laughing at my fall for so long.
• ✔️ We agreed to our director and set to work.
• ✔️ I prefer to remain silent if I do not know what to say in such a situation.
• ✔️ Do you know anyone who does not like listening to music?

Prepositions Into/onto

The other prepositions of direction in English are also formed from the word to: into/onto. Into combines in with the meaning “inside of something” and the preposition of direction to. Onto combines the preposition on with the meaning of “on top of something” and to.

Examples:

• ✔️ Mr. Douglas came into the room and greeted everyone present.
• ✔️ The girl climbed onto the attic and could not come down because she was afraid of the strange man.

The preposition into can be used to indicate the collision of objects.

Examples:

• ✔️ A cab crashed into our cousin's car.
• ✔️ A bicycle crashed into a tree due to a ridiculous accident.

In the figurative sense, into is used with indicators of time.

Example:

• ✔️ When we were young, we used to walk far into the night and did not feel tired at all.

Conclusion

Directional prepositions are an important part of prepositions in English that often cause confusion for those who learn it. As we have already learned, most directional prepositions are similar to place prepositions and can be distinguished by the verb as well as the context. Besides the fact that there are general rules, there are also certain stable expressions with directional prepositions that you just need to remember.