Tuesday, May 3, 2011

In, On or At Places

In, on or at are prepositions that are often confused, when talking about places and time. Although in means en in Spanish, en doesn't always mean in in English! Let's take a look at how we use in, on and at with places.

IN + places with boundaries
She lives in London.
I like milk in my coffee.
Mum’s in the living room.

ON + surfaces
The blanket is on the bed.
The picture is on the wall.
The movie is playing on screen 3.

AT + position at a point
I’ll see you at the cinema tonight.
Let’s meet at the National Gallery at 10:30.
I've been waiting at the bus stop for half an hour.

Now, a trick quiz! The answers are in the comments below.
We had a horrible meal __ the restaurant! There was a fly __ my bowl and a hair __ my plate!
I spent the whole weekend __ home, reading __ bed or watching TV __ the couch!
There were lots of forms __ my desk waiting for me __ work today. I just put them __ the drawer and ignored them.

3 comments:

Home English said...

Answers:
We had a horrible meal AT the restaurant! There was a fly IN my bowl and a hair ON my plate!
I spent the whole weekend AT home, reading IN bed or watching TV ON the couch!
There were lots of forms ON my desk waiting for me AT work today. I just put them IN the drawer and ignored them.

Isabel said...

I had to be english to understand that explanation. Because to me a restaurant is a place with boundaries (the walls) and the fly is in the meal on the plate so It's not on the surface.
I would appreciate correction to the comment.

Home English said...

It's also possible to use "in" with a restaurant. A bowl, since it has depth is considered a container, that's why we use "in".