Prepositions with Ways to Travel

How many different ways to travel can you think of? Give yourself one minute ⌛ and make a list! 📝

Now, have a look at these three lists below:

LIST A
⚫ A car
⚫ A taxi/cab
⚫ A golf buggy (short distances) 🏌
⚫ A helicopter

LIST B
⚫ A train
⚫ A plane
⚫ A bus
⚫ A coach

LIST C
⚫ A motorbike
⚫ A bike / bicycle
⚫ A horse

This week’s blog looks at prepositions; these are small words which are always extremely difficult for students. I’ll show you a simple tendency to remember when you are talking about different ways to travel.

Look at this spoken sentence: 👁️

“I’m sorry. I can’t talk. I’m + preposition + the train.”

Which preposition should we use? 💡

List A are all smaller vehicles. We can sit down but we can’t stand up and walk around. Therefore, we use the preposition ‘in’.

“I’m sorry. I can’t talk. I’m in the car.”

List B are all larger vehicles. We can sit down and we can stand up and walk around. Therefore, we use the preposition ‘on’.

“I’m sorry. I can’t talk. I’m on the train.”

List C are all modes of transport which we sit on. Therefore, we use the preposition ‘on’.

“I’m sorry. I can’t talk. I’m on my bike!”

Finally, if you are walking, we say ‘on foot’. 🚶

A: How are you getting to the meeting?
B: I am walking / I’m going on foot.