Prepositions of location show position in space, on a surface, on a line, and so forth. Many of them are also used to refer to time, because time is often visualized as a line. Other ideas are also shown figuratively as locations. For some prepositions of location, the locational meaning is the base meaning, whereas other usages can be more frequently seen in practice.

antaŭ

Position on that side which is the closest to the speaker, or on the main side, or the side that is most important: Antaŭ la domo staras arbo. (In front of the house stands a tree.) The front side of a person or animal is the side that has the face and eyes: Li haltis antaŭ ŝi. (He stopped before her.)

Position in an order: position which is followed by another: Mi iras antaŭ vi. (I'm going before you.)

A point in time earlier than another time: Antaŭ tri tagoj mi vizitis vian kuzon. (Three days ago I visited your cousin.)

malantaŭ

Position on the opposite side compared to the front: Li estis kaŝita malantaŭ kurteno. (He was hidden behind a curtain.) Tuj malantaŭ si ŝi aŭdis viran voĉon. (Right behind her she heard a male voice.)

apud

Position on the side of something. Usually we mean the right of the left side (not the front or the back.): Apud la skribotablo estis paperkorbo. Beside the desk was a wastepaper basket.) Li staris tutan horon apud la fenestro. (He stood for a whole hour beside the window.)

ĉe

A very close position (touching or not touching). The meaning of ĉe varies according to the context. Often ĉe simple denotes a general location without a precise indication as to its position: Ĉe la angulo de la strato ŝi haltis. (At the corner of the street she stopped.) La gastoj tranoktos ĉe mi (= en mia hejmo). (The guests will stay overnight at my place.)

Extreme temporal proximity: Ĉe la komenco de la tagiĝo la arbaro aperis bele kovrita de prujno. (At the beginning of daybreak the tree appeared beautifully covered with hoar-frost.

ĉirkaŭ

Position on each side of something: La rabistoj sidis en rondo ĉirkaŭ la fajro. (The thieves sat in a circle around the fire.)

Approximate time:Ĉirkaŭ la mateno la ventego finiĝis. (Around morning the strong wind ended.)

ekster

Position outside of something: Mi staras ekster la domo, kaj li estas interne. (I'm standing outside of the house, and he is inside.)

en

Position inside: In the room were three women.

Location regarded as a space when in fact it is perhaps closer to a surface: La rusoj loĝas en Rusujo. (The Russians live in Russia.)

Time regarded as if it were space, inside of which something happens. The "inside" of this time period is between the beginning and the end of the period: En la tago ni vidas la helan sunon, kaj en la nokto ni vidas la palan lunon kaj la belajn stelojn. (In the daytime we see the bright sun, and in the night we see the pale moon and the beautiful stars.)

inter

Position on the sides of which are two or more other things: Sur la kameno inter du potoj staras fera kaldrono. (On the mantle, between two jugs, stands an iron cauldron.) Ni vojaĝis inter Pekino kaj Ŝanhajo. (We travelled between Beijing and Shanghai.) Estas granda diferenco inter li kaj mi. (There is a big difference between him and me.)

Choice (between two or among more): Ni elektis inter Ĉina restoracio kaj Itala restoracio. (We chose between the Chinese restaurant and the Italian restaurant.)

Belonging to a group: Inter miaj amikoj estas multaj Sud-Amerikanoj. (Among my friends are many South Americans.) Note: English differentiates "between" from "among". "Inter" covers both.

Imprecise point in time after one thing and before another: Estis inter la sepa kaj oka horoj vespere. (It was between seven and eight o'clock in the evening.)

kontraŭ

Position of something whose front is directed at the front of someone/somebody else. The two, therefore, have their front facing each other facing in opposite directions with space in between them: La reĝo sidis sur sia reĝa trono kontraŭ la enirejo de la domo. (The king sat on his regal throne opposite the entrance of the house.)

Something towards which something moves facing it:Ili promenis man-en-mane kontraŭ la leviĝanta suno. (They strolled hand in hand towards the rising sun.)

Enmity, disfavour, negativity and the like:Mi ne devas agi kontraŭ mia konscienco. (I must not act against my conscience.)

Someone that one gives or receives in exchange:Ili donas konsilojn kontraŭ kontanta pago. (They give advice for ready money.)

post

A time later than another time:Post tri monatoj ili geedziĝos. (In three months they will get married. lit. "after three months")

Position following another: Ili staris en vico unu post la alia. (They stood in a queue one after the other.)

Behind something:Ŝi aŭdis post si brueton. (She heard behind her a slight noise.) Nowadays we usually use malantaŭ in these cases.

preter

Place at the side of which some movement occurs. The movement normally continues away from this place:Li pasis preter mi sen saluto. (He passed by me without saying hello.)

sub

Place lower than something which is more or less right above it. Sub most often means "malsuper"(below). In that case what is in the lower position does not touch what is found in the higher position: Ĝi kuŝas sub la tablo. (It is lying under the table.) Sometimes sub means "malsur" (under). Then the lower item does touch the one above: Sekaj folioj krakis sub liaj piedoj. (Dry leaves crackled under his feet.)

A place covered by something without regard to which thing is higher: Ŝi portas la libron sub la brako. (She carried the book under her arm.)

super

Position higher than something located more or less directly under it. Between the two locations there is usually a space so there is no contact: Super ni briletas la steloj. (Above us the stars are shining.) Sometimes there is physical contact, but so unimportant that it is not considered: Super la tero sin trovas aero. (Above the earth there is air.) If the contact is important then use sur.

Covering without regard to height or contact: Ŝiaj longaj blondaj haroj pendis super ŝia nuko. (Her long blond hair hung over her neck.)

sur

Location on the surface of something. Normally it concerns support, attachment, pressure, touching or other important contact. Mostly sur indicates a position higher than the touched surface: Sur la tero kuŝas ŝtono. (On the ground lies a stone.) But sur can also indicate a position on a surface without reference to height: Meze sur la muro pendis portreto. (In the middle of the wall hung a portrait.)

tra

A place inside of which movement takes place. The movement starts outside the thing in question, moves into it, and continues to the other end of it. The movement can also start at one end of the thing and continue to the other end. The movement can continue away from the location or stay in it without going further, according the the context: Tra la fenestro la vaporo iras sur la korton. (Through the window the steam goes onto the yard.) La akvo fluas tra tubo. (The water flows through a tube.) Often however, the movement, strictly speaking does not go from one end to the other, but in an unspecified manner from place to place inside of the thing: La soldatoj kondukis la arestitojn tra la stratoj. (The soldiers led those arrested through the streets.)

During the whole time from the beginning to the end: Ili festis tra la tuta nokto. (They celebrated throughout the whole night.)

trans

Position "on the other side of". We use trans (across) when we need to go over or on something to reach the other side: Li loĝas trans la strato. (He lives across the street.)

maltrans

Position "on this side of". We use maltrans very rarely. More commonly we use the expression ĉi-flanke de: Prefere restu maltrans la rivero. = Prefere restu ĉi-flanke de la rivero. (Preferably stay on this side of the river.)

Prepositions of location are often used with a directional N-ending to show movement to a location or position.