Move through English: into, out of, across, along, past

01into and out of: entering and leaving

Use into for movement ending inside: walk into the room, jump into the pool, get into the car. Use out of for movement ending outside: walk out of the building, get out of the taxi. The pair is a perfect mirror — one reverses the other — so learn them together with the same verb.

02across, through, along, past: four paths

Swim across the river: you cross from one side to the other over a surface. Walk through the park: you are inside a space, surrounded by trees. Stroll along the river: you follow its line without crossing it. Walk past the bank: you go by it without going in. Each word draws a different map — sketch them once and the difference stays with you.

03to, towards, for, from

Go to school names the destination. Run towards the school describes the direction — you may or may not arrive. Leave for Shanghai announces the planned destination of the trip. Come from Beijing names the origin. Four words, four different relationships to the same place.

Two traps live here. Go home takes no preposition at all — home behaves like an adverb in go home, come home. And arrive never takes to: arrive at the station for points, arrive in London for cities and countries. Memorize arrive at and arrive in as fixed pairs.

04up, down, over, under

Climb up the stairs, go down the hill: vertical paths. Jump over the fence: the path arcs above an obstacle. Crawl under the table: the path passes beneath. Combine them with the verbs they love — climb up, fall down, get over, hide under — and store each combination as one chunk instead of two separate words.

YOUR TURN

Make the connection.

Read the situation before choosing. The reason matters as much as the answer.