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.
