Sign In Get Started
Prepositions after verbs

Hide in, hide from, or hide behind?

Hide takes different prepositions depending on place, the person avoided, or the object used for cover.

Quick answer

Which preposition goes with hide?

Use hide in for a place or area, hide from for a person or thing avoided, and hide behind for physical or figurative cover.

The children were hiding in the attic.
He tried to hide from the reporters.
The cat was hiding behind the sofa.

Choose the pattern by meaning

These forms are not interchangeable. Choose the construction by meaning, not by which preposition appears most often.

1
hide in + place

Showing the place where someone hides

Use hide in with rooms, buildings, containers, or areas.

They hid in the basement.
She was hiding in the crowd.
2
hide from + person or danger

Showing who or what is being avoided

Use hide from when avoiding people, animals, or threats.

The witness hid from the police.
We stayed indoors to hide from the storm.
3
hide behind + object or excuse

Showing cover or protection

Use hide behind for physical cover or metaphorical excuses.

He hid behind the door.
Managers should not hide behind technical language.

See the difference in context

The same subject can take different constructions because each sentence answers a different question.

Construction
Example
Meaning
hide in
The documents were hidden in a drawer.
inside a place or area
hide from
She hid from her neighbours.
avoiding someone or something
hide behind
The child hid behind his father.
using someone or something as cover
hide at
They hid at a friend's house.
at is a place adjunct here, not a fixed verb-preposition pattern

Common mistakes

Some combinations appear in real text but do not mean what learners often assume.

Using hide from for a place

Hide from refers to the person or thing avoided, not the location.

✕ They hid from the attic. ✓ They hid in the attic.

Confusing hide behind with hide from

Behind shows cover; from shows avoidance.

✕ She hid behind the police. ✓ She hid from the police.

Missing the object after behind

Hide behind normally needs an object.

✓ The boy hid behind the curtain.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. The rabbit hid ___ the bushes.
2. She tried to hide ___ the photographers.
3. He hid ___ a large tree during the game.

Check your sentence in context

Paste the complete sentence below. Linguix checks the preposition together with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style.

Free to try · No signup required

Frequently asked questions

Can I say hide in the room?

Yes. Hide in is the normal pattern for locations and enclosed spaces.

Can hide behind be figurative?

Yes. People can hide behind excuses, rules, or formal language.

Is hide from always about fear?

No. It can also mean avoiding attention, responsibility, or contact.

hack-into-by-at-to, in "haggle with" or "haggle for"? "hail from" or "hail as"? hamper by, due, in, for or throughout? "handle by" or "handle in"? hang in, from, over, around or onto? "happen to" or "happen in"? harass by, in, at, for or with? "harm by" or "harm to"? harvest from, in, for, at or by? hasten to, by, from, after or into? hate on, for, by, about or in?

Write with confidence in Linguix

Create a free account to check complete texts, apply suggestions, and save your documents.

Create a free account