Prepositions

© 2014 – Marie-Claire Hunter, Learn English Spanish Online

The prepositions in, on, and at can be used to indicate time and location.

As a general rule you use ‘in’ when you are not being at all specific, use ‘on’ if you want to be more specific and

use ‘at’ when you’re being even more specific.

Use ‘in’ if you mention just a year by itself.

I was born in 2014We bought the teddy bear in January.

But use ‘on’ with specific dates.

I was born on the first of January, 1998.

I’m going to Argentina in December.

Use ‘in’ if you mention just a month by itself.

But use ‘on’ with specific days.

I’ll see you on Monday.

There is also a difference between ‘in’ and ‘at’ when we talk about locations.

Use ‘in’ with countries, states, cities and towns.

I live in New Zealand.

When the name of the country is an important detail or when it has some

personal significance use ‘in’.

Made in Italy.

But when we refer to a country, state, city, town etc. as just a point (for example a point along a journey) we

use ‘at’ instead of ‘in’.

In such cases the use of ‘at’ shows the location has no personal signficance for us, it’s just a point to which we are referring.

Notice the difference between ‘at Brooklyn’ and ‘in Brooklyn’ en the following 2 examples.

1. The bus stops ‘at’ Brooklyn.

In this case the reference to Brooklyn is purely as a point along a journey without any personal significance.

2. I live in Brooklyn.

But in this example the youth uses ‘in’ because for him

Brooklyn isn’t just a point along a journey, it has personal significance, it’s where he lives, it’s his town.

Often ‘in’ means‘inside a closed space’

The boy is ‘in’ the classroom’

So use ‘at’ if you want to refer to the area surrounding a building’.

I’ll meet you ‘at’ the library.

But use ‘in’ if you actually mean ‘inside’ the building.

I’ll wait for you ‘in’ the library.

Your turn …

Which preposition should you use here ‘at’ o ‘in’?

We had to wait ____ Auckland airport for two hours!

That’s it!

We had to wait ‘at’ Auckland airport for two hours!

… because the airport as a location is not personally important, it’s just a point along a journey.

What about this example?

The cat is __ the dryer.

That’s right, use ‘in’ to refer to an enclosed space.

The cat is in the dryer.

Try another one …

The children are waiting ___ the train station.

If you said ‘at’ … well done!

The children are waiting ‘at’ the train station.

For them the station is just a point along a journey it doesn’t have any personal significance.

And one more … fill the gap with the missing word (use ‘at’ or ‘in’).

I work ___ New York.

I work in New York.

Yes, because you work there this location has personal significance therefore use ‘in’.

Now let’s talk about transport.

As a general rule use ‘on’ when you’re referring to public or commercial transport.

But use ‘in’ when referring to public transport.

Things you get in …

Taxis CarsVans

Things you get ‘on’ …

Trains, planes, boats and buses …

If you sit on the exterior part of a vehicle or an animal you use ‘on’.

This old man is on his bicycle.

This old lady is on her motorbike.

Dora is on her horse.

Let’s test our knowledge!

Complete the phrase with ‘in’ or ‘on’.

I’m going ___ the plane to Mexico.

The man is ___ his tractor.

And one more …

Children, get ___ the car!

Hopefully you said …

I’m going ‘on’ the plane to Mexico.The man is ‘on’ his tractor.Children, get ‘in’ the car.

A little more about the preposition ‘at’.

We often use ‘at’ with names of group activities.

My husband is at a work seminar.

I’m at the theatre.

Unless we are participants in the group activity, then we use ‘in’.

I’m in the theatre.(This can mean either ‘I participate in theatre productions etc’ or ‘I’m inside the theatre building’.

At Oxford. (Referring to the University.)

This means that we often use ‘at’ when we are more interested in the activity that is developing than in the location itself.

I study at Oxford.Estudio en Oxford.

Notice the difference between ‘in Oxford’ (the city) and ‘at Oxford’ (the University).

I live in Oxford. I study at Oxford.The first example focuses more on the location while the second example focuses more on the

activity that happens there.

Another use of ‘at’ is to give a specific address.

He lives ‘at’ 321 Main Street.

And ‘at’ is used with a number of set phrases.

• at home• at work• at school• at church

Your turn …

Fill the gap with either ‘at’ or ‘in’.

I’m ____ a concert. (Spectator.)

And which would you choose for this one?

I’m ___ a concert. (Musician.)

Did you choose ‘at’ for the spectator and ‘in’ for the musician? If you did, well done

I’m at a concert. I’m in a concert.

And finally …

Which word is missing from the sentence?

Where are you? I’m ___ home.

That’s it! ‘At home’ is a set phrase.

Where are you? I’m ‘at’ home

Now we’re going to talk a bit more about the preposition ‘on’.

Use ‘on’ with streets when we are not referring to a specific address.

I live on the main street.Vivo en la calle principal.

Use ‘on’ when something is touching a surface.

The rabbit is ‘on’ the table.

The Mona Lisa is on the wall.

Use ‘on’ if something is near or touching a line on a map (like a border, river, highway etc.

San Juan is ‘on’ the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

But sometimes the difference between ‘at’, ‘in’ and ‘on’ isn’t clear …

This is because sometimes the choice is up to you. But remember the meaning may change depending on which preposition you choose. Eg. ‘at’

may refer to a general location while ‘in’ or ‘on’ would be more specific.

I like to relax at the beach.

This sentence refers to the beach in general.

I like to relax on the beach.

Here the use of ‘on’ makes the sentence a little more specific.

This phrase might make us imagine the sensation of the sand between our toes.

While the example below using ‘in’ is specific, referring to being in an enclosed space at a school.

The boy is ‘in’ the classroom’

We could also use ‘at’ to refer to being at the same schoolbut this would be less specific.

The girl is ‘at’ school. (it doesn’t matter where exactly)

La niña está en la escuela. (no importa dónde exactamente)

That is to say that often the difference is just a nuance and both prepositions are more or less

interchangeable.

I’ll meet you at the café. (general location)I’ll meet you in the café. (more specific, inside)

To conclude, one example that presents a particular challenge for learners of English is when they want to talk about people

attending a meeting.

Should they say that someone is ‘at’ or ‘in’ a meeting?

To tell the truth, very often both work just fine!

Sorry, Mr Jones is ‘in’ a meeting.

Sorry, Mr Jones is ‘at’ a meeting’

What is the difference?

Often the difference is purely regional which means that you can usually use ‘at a meeting’ or ‘in a meeting’ interchangeably with no problems.

Your choice however may also communicate something a little extra …

‘In a meeting’ can mean that the person is participating in a meeting in the very same building.

‘At a meeting’ can mean that the person is attending a meeting at another location, perhaps another office on the other side of town. It’s also possible that ‘at a meeting’ means that the person is only attending the meeting but not participating.

What should you do if you don’t have any idea which preposition sounds better in your sentence?

Choosing the correct preposition and understanding the possible nuances communicated by your choice of preposition is not easy for students of English.

One tool that you can use to help you in this endeavour is ‘Google Ngram Viewer’.

For example, go to the link above and type ‘at a meeting, in a meeting’ (or any two similar phrases separated by a comma) into the box and you will see which is more common and

in which year.

We could go on and on about the prepositions ‘in’, ‘at’ and ‘on’ but this is all for today’s lesson.

We hope that this information helps you to be able to use these prepositions with more confidence and we wish you every success in your endeavour

to learn English.

© 2014 – Marie-Claire Hunter, Learn English Spanish Onlinewww.learnenglishspanishonline.com

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