Where things are: Prepositions of place (EAL)

Part of English as an additional languageEnglish vocabulary

Let's learn how to talk about where something or someone is.

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Video

In this film Nazia and Filip help Jess tidy up her home before her mum comes back!

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Key words

Prepositions of place using a football, chair and bag: in, next to, above, on, under, in between, in front of, behind

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  1. The football is in the bag

    1. in

    The football is in the bag.

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Activities

Placing activity

Listening activity

Here is what they said:

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Make a sentence

Ask where something is

Filip asks where the teacher is
Where is the teacher?
  • To ask where something or someone is, you can say:

_

Example:

Filip asks where the teacher is
Where is the teacher?
Jess asks where the cushions are
Where are the cushions?

If you are looking for more than one of something, you say:

_

Example:

Jess asks where the cushions are
Where are the cushions?

Now try to ask where these are:

A ruler

Five rulers in a row

Say where something is

A teacher stands in the foreground of a classroom
The teacher is in the classroom.
  • To say where something is, you can say:

_

Example:

A teacher stands in the foreground of a classroom
The teacher is in the classroom.
Nazia gets cushions from under a chair
The cushions are under the chair.

To say where more than one of something is, you say:

_

Example:

Nazia gets cushions from under a chair
The cushions are under the chair.

Listen to and repeat the sentences below, filling in the missing words:

A pencil is on a book

A roast chicken next to a dog

A whiteboard is behind a desk

Pencils on a book

Stacked roast chickens next to a dog

Two whiteboards behind a desk

How many ways can you describe where Jess is?

Use:

Jess in a family photo. She is on the sofa, in between her mum and grandmother and in front of her grandfather.

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