front
left
middle
right
side
top
~
east
north
north-east
north-west
south
south-east
south-west
west
~
bankside
bedside
dockside
graveside
hillside
kerbside
lakeside
mountainside
poolside
quayside
ringside
roadside
seaside
waterside
When the place that you are referring to is obvious or has been stated earlier, you use the nouns in the singular with the determiner the.
I ran inside and bounded up the stairs. Wendy was standing at the top.
He was sitting towards the rear.
To the north are the main gardens.
We found him sitting by the fireside.
Other determiners, for example this and each, are used with nouns such as side, end, and edge, because an object or place may have several sides, ends, or edges.
Loosen the two screws at each end of the fuse.
Standing on either side of him were two younger men.
If the person or thing has been mentioned or is obvious, a possessive determiner can be used.
…a doll that turns brown in the sun, except for under its swimsuit.
There was a gate on our left.
6.90 Note that two- or three-word prepositions that include the word of are more specific because of can be followed by any noun.
She turned and rushed out of the room.
There was a man standing in front of me.
My sister started piling the books on top of each other.
specific distances
6.91 The place where an action occurs, or where someone or something is, can also be shown by stating its distance from another object or place.
You mention the actual distance before a prepositional phrase with from or away from.
Here he sat on the terrace a few feet from the roaring traffic.
The ball swerved two feet away from her.
Distance is also expressed in terms of the time taken to travel it.
My house is only 20 minutes from where I work.
They lived only two or three days away from Juffure.
The method of travelling can be stated to be even more precise.
It is less than an hour’s drive from here.
It’s about five minutes’ walk from the bus stop.
showing position and distance
6.92 To show both where something is and how far from another object or place it is, the distance is stated before the following prepositions:
above
along
behind
below
beneath
beyond
down
inside
outside
past
under
up
The volcano is only a few hundred metres below sea level.
The distance can also be stated before prepositional phrases including left and right or points of the compass such as north and south-east.
We lived forty miles to the east of Ottawa.
Showing direction
6.93 The prepositional phrases in the following examples show the place that someone or something is going to, or the place that they are moving towards.
I’m going with her to Australia.
They jumped into the water.
He saw his mother running towards him.
He screwed the lid tightly onto the top of the jar.
She stuck her knitting needles into a ball of wool.
prepositions used
6.94 The following prepositions are used to show destinations and targets:
aboard
all over
along
alongside
around
at
away from
beside
down
from
inside
into
near
off
onto
out of
round
to
toward (American)
towards
up
Note that onto is sometimes written as two words.
The bird hopped up on to a higher branch.
In American English and some varieties of British English, out is used as a preposition without of to show direction.
He walked out the door for the last time.
The prepositional phrases to the left and to the right are also used to indicate direction, from your own viewpoint or that of someone else. See paragraph 6.96.
6.95 There are some restrictions in the choice of preposition.
At is not usually used to show the place that the subject of the verb is moving to or towards. It is used to show what someone is looking at, or what they cause an object to move towards.
They were staring at a garage roof.
Supporters threw petals at his car.
After is used to show that someone or something is following another moving person or thing, or is moving in the same direction but behind them.
He hurried after his men.
…dragging the sacks after us along the ground.
direction relative to the front
6.96 You use the prepositional phrases to the left and to the right to say which direction someone or something is moving in relation to the direction they are facing.
They turned to the left and drove away.
several directions
6.97 The prepositions about, round, around, and all over are used to show movement in several directions within a place.
I wandered round the garden.
She jumped around the room in front of the children as she acted out her story.
The boys began climbing all over the ship.
starting point