Preposition of Location

There are hundreds of different prepositions and prepositional phrases. To learn them all will take years of practice. The best way to learn them well is by reading books, magazines, and newspapers. Listening to the radio helps as well. You can also learn about prepositions in class from a teacher, but it's important to realize that it requires a lot of practice and memorization (ghi nho, hoc thuoc). Some common prepostions are listed below in alphabetical order. I'll add more as I think of them.

1. At, On, In:
At.              /o tai (at a point/place)
    _ He needs to be at work in the afternoon.
On.                 /tren (on a surface)
    _ Look on the table and you'll see the books.
On top of.     /tren mat (on top of the roof)
In.              /o trong (in an area or space)
    _ Now he lives in Minnesota.

2. Opposites:
Above.         /phia tren
     _ Planes fly above the ground
Over.          /qua phia tren (over the fence)
Under          /duoi (under the ground)
Below          /duoi
    _ It was 41 degrees below zero yesterday. (- 41 degrees!)
Beneath.      /phia duoi (beneath the sky)
    _ Get beneath the covers and keep warm tonight.

Note: Over/above are often synonymous, so are under/below, but over and under sometimes suggest movement.
    _ When we flew over Paris we couldn't see much because we were above the clouds.
    _ Below us was the river which ran under the bridge.

In front of:      /phia truoc
    _ The sign in front of the store told him to park in back.
Behind.          /dang sau (behind them)
    _ What's behind the door?

Close to.        /gan
Near.             /gan (near them)
Far from.      /xa (far from the shore) (bo bien)

Up
Down
   _ Let's walk down the street and get some gyros.

Inside.      /ben trong
   _ Is there any food inside the refrigerator?
Outside.   /ben ngoai
   _ The teachers are talking together outside the classroom.

Into
    _ When we walked into the classroom, we met the teacher.
Out of
   _ I saw her get out of the car.

3. Some more common prepostion of place:
Between.    /giua hai (between them and us)
     _ B comes between A and C.
Among.     /giua (among the team) nhieu,
    Meaning 'surrouding, part of or included in":
    _ She wanted to be among friends.
    _ Among his books, we found some rate frist editions.
    Among others and among other things:
    _ Her parents, among others, were worried about her travelling alone.
    _ Among other things, I still have to pack.
Around.      /chung quanh

Along.       /doc theo
    _ I noticed a lot of garbage along the side of the highway.
From.       /tu
     _ Ali moved to Minnesota from Somalia.
To.            /den
Next to.    /ben canh
Beside.     /ben canh
     _ I put the shovel beside the fence.
Across:
      _ We walked across the street to get a slice of pizza.
Across from:
      _ Across the street from the park is a hospital.
Near:
     _ Jorge lives near the place where he works, so he walks to work.

_ We drove along the river, round the lake, past the old castle, and through the village.
_ We came over the bridge and parked next to the house, which was opposite the hotel.
_ Our house is between two shops and it is near a bus stop, you just go across the road and walk along the other side towards the church.
_ We took the boat across the channel, then we drove through France and into Switzerland, where we spent the first night in a small town quite near Lucerne.
_ The next morning we walked along a river which ran between two mountains. We had lunch at/in a small restaurant and then walked round the lake and through the small town of Stans, before going back.

4. Others:
+ about:

      They read about the car accident in the newspaper.
+ after:
    Tom and Sue had some ice cream after dinner.
+ against: 
       She was so tired that she had to lean against the wall.
+ before:
   Before Tom and Sue went out for dinner, they saw a movie.
+ by:
      You should try to be here by 10:00.
+ for:
    They work for a big company.
+ in back of:
   John parked his car in back of the store.
+ of:
   There are plenty of apples for everybody to have one.
+ off: 
     She got off the bus at the corner.
+ onto:
    They walked onto the airplane and sat down.
+ out: 
    A cat fell out the window, but he survived the fall.
+ through:
     Running through a waterfall is refreshing.
+ to: 
      Did you go to the store yet?
+ with:  Who did you go to movies with?
       or....With whom did you go to the movies?