At, On and In : Prepositions of Place

At, On and In : Prepositions of Place

• We use at to talk about a place we think of as a point rather than an area, and about an event where there is a group of people:

- I arrived at New Street Station at 7.30.

- We were waiting at the far end of the room.

- We last met at the conference in Italy.

- There were very few people at Joan's party.

• We use on to talk about a position touching a flat surface, or on something we think of as a line such as a road or river:

- Is that a spider on the ceiling?

- She owns a house on the Swan River.

• We use in to talk about a position within a larger area, or something within a larger space:

- There's been another big forest fire in California.

- She looked again in her bag and, to her relief, there were her keys.

• Also study how at, in, and on are used in these sentences:

No.	Examples	Explanations
1	·   My dream is to play at Wembley Stadium. ·   Didn't I see you in/at the pool yesterday?	- seen as a point - either seen as within the pool itself, or as a building which is a point in town
2	·  He lives in Perth. ·  We stopped in/at Milan, Florence and Pisa on our way to Rome	-  within the city -  we use at when we see the cities as points on a journey, and in when we see them as areas where we stayed for some time
3	·   They were a great success in/at Edinburgh.	- we can use at when we use a place name instead of an institution or event - here, the Edinburgh Festival - in suggests the city
4	·   He's in Los Angeles on business. ·   He's at Manchester studying Linguistics.	- staying or living there - a student at Manchester University
5	·   She works at Marks and Spencer. ·   She works in a shoe shop.	- the name of a particular organization - the kind of place
6	·   I stopped at the shop on the way home. ·   I was in the bank when in came Sue.	- we use at to talk about buildings such as the supermarket, the bank, school, etc.; - we use in to emphasize that we mean inside the building
7	·  I read the paper in the taxi on the way. ·   I'll probably go on the bus.	- for travel using taxis and cars - for travel using bus, coach, plane, or train; but we use in if we want to emphasize inside the bus, etc.
8	They've opened an office at 28 Lees Road.	- We usually use at before an address

   Complete these sentences with at, in or on. If two answers are possible, write them both.

1.      a. He played ______Wimbledon for the first time this year.

b. Quite by chance, we met _______ the tennis stadium last week.

2.      a. He turned up early to make sure he had a seat _________ the plane.

b. I saw Judith this morning, but she was __________her car so I couldn't say hello.

3.      a. We just got__________ the train and headed for Florence.

b. We were stuck __________ the plane for hours in Jakarta.

4.      a. We went to wave him off ________ the station.

b. It was raining, so he decided to shelter ________the station before he walked home.

5.      a. She worked ______ a restaurant during the evenings to earn some extra money.

b. When she was a student she worked _________ a pizza restaurant at weekends.

6.      a. She won a gold medal ________ Barcelona in 1992.

b. I lived _____ Stockholm for three years during the 1970s.

7.      a. Peter's doing a Master's degree ________ Birmingham.

b. They're _________ Brighton to do an English language course.