betweenFind to reveal
Between traces to Old English be tweonum, meaning by the two, so its hidden core is the number two.
Prepositions Word Search
Find familiar words. Discover something unexpected.
Puzzle10 words · 11×11 grid · Medium · Answer key included
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Find a puzzle word to reveal its fact.
0 of 10 facts revealed
outsideFind to reveal
A nine-dot puzzle needs lines outside its apparent square to connect every dot with four straight strokes, without lifting the pencil.
behindFind to reveal
Behind built from be plus hind, the old word for rear; the same hind survives in hindsight and hind legs.
besideFind to reveal
Ecstasy's Greek ancestor meant standing outside yourself, sharing the image behind beside yourself: an overwhelming feeling pictured as leaving your own body.
insideFind to reveal
Tagalog can insert um inside bili, buy, to form bumili, showing that grammar can change the middle of a word.
aroundFind to reveal
Magellan led the first world-circling expedition, but Elcano completed the voyage, giving the famous journey around Earth two different leaders.
underFind to reveal
Underwhelmed sounds like overwhelmed's ancient twin, but English added the humorous opposite centuries after the older word had already become established.
aboveFind to reveal
Aboveboard originally suggested keeping hands where others could see them, giving a word for honesty a place at the table.
belowFind to reveal
Below the salt once described lower-status diners, seated farther from an important salt container on a formal table.
overFind to reveal
Older English called the day after tomorrow overmorrow, packing four words into one forgotten label for something only two days away.
True stories · London, England
The rule no one could keep
In 1672 John Dryden criticized Ben Jonson for ending a sentence with a preposition. An earlier grammarian, Joshua Poole, had also objected to separating prepositions from their usual position. A preference associated with making English more like Latin gradually hardened into a supposed rule. English speakers had been ending sentences that way happily for centuries. Schoolteachers later turned that stylistic preference into an iron law, and millions of students learned to twist their words to avoid it. Today most language scholars call the rule a myth, noting that even careful writers break it constantly. The story is a gentle reminder that grammar is not handed down from above; people make it, and people can let it go.
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Trivia
A preposition usually sits in front of which kind of word to show position, direction, or time?
A noun (or pronoun).
In the phrase under the table, which word is the preposition?
Under.
In a construction such as look after someone, the verb is followed by a preposition. What is this type of verb commonly called?
A prepositional verb.
Historical objections to ending English sentences with prepositions are often associated with attempts to imitate which classical language?
Latin.
A preposition plus its noun, such as in the box, forms what kind of phrase?
A prepositional phrase.
Trivia · 1 / 5
A preposition usually sits in front of which kind of word to show position, direction, or time?
A noun (or pronoun).
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Play →or printTrue stories · Springfield, Massachusetts
The dictionary picks a fight
In February 2024, Merriam-Webster posted a cheeky note on Instagram: it is permissible in English for a preposition to be what you end a sentence with. The sentence broke the old rule on purpose, ending on with. Thousands of people argued in the replies. Some thanked the dictionary for freeing them from twisting their words, while others insisted the trailing preposition still sounded careless. The editors explained the ban was never real grammar, just an old attempt to bend English toward Latin. Lexicographer Ellen Jovin noted that almost nothing starts a public quarrel faster than a small claim about prepositions.
One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.
Frank Smith
Find under, over and above among the words hidden in this puzzle. Play free online or print the puzzle with its answer key.
Is this prepositions word search free to print?
This prepositions word search is a free printable puzzle with 10 hidden words in an 11×11 grid. Find words like BETWEEN, OUTSIDE, BEHIND hidden across, down, and diagonally. You can play it right here in your browser — tap the first and last letter of a word — or download it as a printable PDF with the full answer key on page two. It's free for personal and classroom use, so teachers can print copies for a whole class with no sign-up and no account. Word searches like this one are a proven way to build vocabulary, spelling, and word-shape recognition, which is why they're a favourite with ESL learners, elementary classrooms, and anyone who likes a quiet puzzle with their coffee.
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Sources: Dryden and the preposition rule (Merriam-Webster) · Merriam-Webster preposition post goes viral (OPB) · against, excrescent final t (Online Etymology Dictionary) · between, etymology (Online Etymology Dictionary)
Word list, facts & trivia researched and compiled by Sam Letterman — spotted a mistake? Tell us and we’ll fix it.