Prepositions express relationships such as:

• location — where something is
• direction — where something goes
• origin — where something comes from
• path — how something moves

For example:

• in the room
• on the table
• at the station
• to school
• from Tokyo

English also uses small words with verbs. These combinations sometimes keep a clear spatial meaning, and sometimes create a new idiomatic meaning.

come in
go out
stand up
look after

In Japanese, similar ideas are often expressed through particles such as に, で, を, と, and から.

Prepositions show where something is in space.

Concept	Kanji	English	Example	Japanese
inside	中なか	in	live in Tokyo	東京とうきょうに住すむ
surface	上うえ	on	sit on the chair	いすの上うえに座すわる
point	点てん	at	arrive at the station	駅えきに着つく
between	間あいだ	between	stand between the trees	木きの間あいだに立たつ
above	上うえ	above	fly above the trees	木きの上うえを飛とぶ
below	下した	under / below	hide under the table	テーブルの下したに隠かくれる

The book is on the table.
本ほんは テーブルの上うえにあります。

Prepositions describe movement.

Concept	Kanji	English	Verb	Japanese
direction	向むく	to	go / come / move	に
origin	出でる	from	come / start	から
path	通とおる	through	walk / pass / go	を
crossing	越こえる	over	jump / fly	を越こえて
entry	入はいる	into	go / fall	の中なかに / に

We walked through the tunnel.
トンネルを通とおって歩あるいた。

In English, movement is often expressed with a preposition. In Japanese, the same idea may be expressed by a particle together with the verb itself.

Some small English words express abstract relationships rather than physical space.

Concept	Kanji	English	Verb / Phrase	Japanese
together	共とも	with	work with / live with	と
purpose	為ため	for	buy for / prepare for	のために
topic	関かん	about	talk about / think about	について
agent / method	由よる	by	written by / made by	により / によって
belonging	属ぞくする	of	part of / one of	の

She is talking about the problem.
彼女かのじょは その問題もんだいについて話はなしている。

English often combines verbs with small words such as up, out, in, and off.

These combinations are often called phrasal verbs. Sometimes the meaning stays clear:

• come in — enter
• go out — leave
• stand up — rise

But sometimes the meaning becomes more idiomatic:

• look after — take care of
• give up — quit
• find out — discover

This is one reason prepositions and small particles are so important in English.