Prepositions govern and typically precede a noun or pronoun, expressing its relation to another word or element within the clause.
Prepositions of place
At
As a rule, ‘at’ is used to tell us the specific point or location of the thing to which the noun refers:
In
‘In’ is used quite differently. What it does is tell us that the thing that the noun refers to is in an enclosed space, often surrounded or closed off on all sides. For example:
On
‘On’ is used to tell us that the noun is located on a surface, either attached to something or touching it:
Sometimes, these prepositions can be used interchangeably, depending on the desired emphasis. For example, we might say either:
Both are grammatically correct, but the former focuses on location, whilst the latter explains the type of building that the ‘she’ in the example is in.
Be careful!
It’s important to note the use of ‘at’ and ‘on’ when we’re referring to addresses. We do not use ‘at’ for addresses without house or building numbers, so rather than saying…
X She lives at Street Lane.
…We would say…
V She lives on Street Lane.
Prepositions of time
At
Let’s start with ‘at’. We use ‘at’ for a precise time, so we might say:
In
We would use ‘in’, on the other hand, to refer to periods of time, such as months, seasons, or years:
On
Now let’s look at ‘on’. ‘On’ is used to refer to days and dates:
Be careful!
We do not use ‘at’, ‘in’, or ‘on’ before the words ‘all’, ‘any’, ‘each’, ‘every’, ‘last’, ‘next’, ‘one’, ‘some’, ‘this’, or ‘that’, even where these are followed by a time expression
He went on Sundays He was there each Sunday.
He was there at the weekend He was there last weekend.
Here are some interesting websites with online exercises and quizzes to test your newfound knowledge.
Advanced English Prepositions Quiz
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