By: Teacher Scarlett
Prepositions indicate relationships between other words in a sentence. It tells us where something is or when something happened. We have a lot of different prepositions which are rather easy for English language learners to understand such as behind, under, next to, and etc but the prepositions in, on at seem to create confusion when used.
Below are a few rules to help you understand when to use in, on, and at in a sentence.
Prepositions of Place:
The prepositions IN, ON, AT go from GENERAL to Specific.
| USED FOR: | EXAMPLES: | |
| GENERAL IN | Countries Cities States Continents Neighborhood Enclosed Space | Tom lives in the United States. He lives in New York City. He is in Florida now. Ben has visited wonderful places in Asia. Many rich people live in this neighborhood. He’s waiting in the car. He’s in the hospital. |
| MORE SPECIFIC ON | Streets/ Avenues/ Roads. Etc Surfaces Floor in a house Means of Transport Communications | He lives on Hill Street. The are some pictures on the wall. My apartment is on the first floor I love traveling in trains/ on the bus/ on a plane My favorite program on TV/radio is …. |
| VERY SPECIFIC AT | Addresses Specific Locations Position Events | He lives at 123 Main Street, New York, NY 10030. He lives at 4472 Hill Street. I met her at the entrance I met her at the bus stop I met her at the party. |
Prepositions of Time :
The prepositions IN, ON, AT go from GENERAL to Specific.
| USED FOR: | EXAMPLES: | |
| GENERAL IN | Centuries Decades Years Months Weeks Seasons Periods of Time Parts of the Day | In the 1900’s In the 90’s Emma was born in 1995. I’m going on a holiday in October. I need to finish all my reports in two weeks’ time. The park is beautiful in spring. She wants to be a doctor in the future. She always reads newspapers in the morning. |
| MORE SPECIFIC ON | Time Days Specific Days Specific Dates Day + Part of Day Holidays with “Day” | She is going to meet her mom on the weekend. I have a scheduled doctor’s appointment on Friday. The garbage truck comes on Wednesdays. The concert is on 22 November She was born on the 14th day of February 1998. They went fishing on Sunday morning. We bought a lot of presents on Christmas Day. |
| VERY SPECIFIC AT | Parts of the Day Specific Time | The shop closes at midnight. She went home at lunchtime I start work at 8 o’clock The bus will stop here at 6:00pm. |
Remember these rules and examples, and you will never go wrong with your prepositions of time and place.