Prepositions "On," "At," and "In"

A preposition is a word that links a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to some other part of the
sentence.

Prepositions can be tricky for English learners. There is no definite rule or formula for choosing
a preposition. In the beginning stage of learning the language, you should try to identify a
preposition when reading or listening in English and recognize its usage.

 to the office
 at the desk
 on the table
 in an hour
 about myself

A preposition is used to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object.

Here are a few common prepositions and examples.

On

Used to express a surface of something:

 I put an egg on the kitchen table.

 The paper is on my desk.

Used to specify days and dates:

 The garbage truck comes on Wednesdays.

 I was born on the 14th day of June in 1988.

Used to indicate a device or machine, such as a phone or computer:

 He is on the phone right now.

 She has been on the computer since this morning.
 My favorite movie will be on TV tonight.

Used to indicate a part of the body:

 The stick hit me on my shoulder.

 He kissed me on my cheek.
 I wear a ring on my finger.

Used to indicate the state of something:

 Everything in this store is on sale.

  The building is on fire.

At

Used to point out specific time:

 I will meet you at 12 p.m.

 The bus will stop here at 5:45 p.m.

Used to indicate a place:

 There is a party at the club house.

 There were hundreds of people at the park.
 We saw a baseball game at the stadium.

Used to indicate an email address:

 Please email me at abc@defg.com.

Used to indicate an activity:

 He laughed at my acting.
 I am good at drawing a portrait.

In

Used for unspecific times during a day, month, season, year:

 She always reads newspapers in the morning.

 In the summer, we have a rainy season for three weeks.
 The new semester will start in March.

Used to indicate a location or place:

 She looked me directly in the eyes.

 I am currently staying in a hotel.
 My hometown is Los Angeles, which is in California.

Used to indicate a shape, color, or size:

 This painting is mostly in blue.

 The students stood in a circle.
 This jacket comes in four different sizes.

Used to express while doing something:

  In preparing for the final report, we revised the tone three times.
 A catch phrase needs to be impressive in marketing a product.

Used to indicate a belief, opinion, interest, or feeling:

 I believe in the next life.

 We are not interested in gambling.

Prepositions
Prepositions are short words (on, in, to) that usually stand in front of nouns (sometimes
also in front of gerund verbs).

Even advanced learners of English find prepositions difficult, as a 1:1 translation is

usually not possible. One preposition in your native language might have several
translations depending on the situation.

There are hardly any rules as to when to use which preposition. The only way to learn
prepositions is looking them up in a dictionary, reading a lot in English (literature) and
learning useful phrases off by heart (study tips).

The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions in
English:

Prepositions – Time

English Usage Example

 on  days of the week  on Monday

 in  months / seasons  in August / in winter

 time of day  in the morning
 year  in 2006
 after a certain period of time (when?)  in an hour

 at  for night  at night

 for weekend  at the weekend
 a certain point of time (when?)  at half past nine

 since  from a certain point of time (past till now)  since 1980

 for  over a certain period of time (past till now)  for 2 years
 English Usage Example

 ago  a certain time in the past  2 years ago

 before  earlier than a certain point of time  before 2004

 to  telling the time  ten to six (5:50)

 past  telling the time  ten past six (6:10)

 to / till /  marking the beginning and end of a period of from Monday to/till Friday
until time

 till / until  in the sense of how long something is going  He is on holiday until Friday.
to last

 by  in the sense of at the latest  I will be back by 6 o’clock.

 up to a certain time  By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

Prepositions – Place (Position and Direction)

English Usage Example

 in  room, building, street, town, country  in the kitchen, in London

 book, paper etc.  in the book
 car, taxi  in the car, in a taxi
 picture, world  in the picture, in the world

 at  meaning next to, by an object  at the door, at the station

 for table  at the table
 for events  at a concert, at the party
 place where you are to do something typical (watch at the cinema, at school, at
a film, study, work) work

 on  attached  the picture on the wall

 for a place with a river  London lies on the Thames.
 being on a surface  on the table
 for a certain side (left, right)  on the left
 for a floor in a house  on the first floor
 English Usage Example

 for public transport  on the bus, on a plane

 for television, radio  on TV, on the radio

 by, next to,  left or right of somebody or something  Jane is standing by / next to /
beside beside the car.

 under  on the ground, lower than (or covered by)  the bag is under the table
something else

 below  lower than something else but above ground  the fish are below the surface

 over  covered by something else  put a jacket over your shirt

 meaning more than  over 16 years of age
 getting to the other side (also across)  walk over the bridge
 overcoming an obstacle  climb over the wall

 above  higher than something else, but not directly over it  a path above the lake

 across  getting to the other side (also over)  walk across the bridge
 getting to the other side  swim across the lake

 through  something with limits on top, bottom and the sides  drive through the tunnel

 to  movement to person or building  go to the cinema

 movement to a place or country  go to London / Ireland
 for bed  go to bed

 into  enter a room / a building  go into the kitchen / the house

 towards  movement in the direction of something (but not  go 5 steps towards the house
directly to it)

 onto  movement to the top of something  jump onto the table

 from  in the sense of where from  a flower from the garden

Other important Prepositions

English Usage Example

 English Usage Example

 from  who gave it  a present from Jane

 of  who/what does it belong to  a page of the book

 what does it show  the picture of a palace

 by  who made it  a book by Mark Twain

 on  walking or riding on horseback  on foot, on horseback

 entering a public transport vehicle  get on the bus

 in  entering a car / Taxi  get in the car

 off  leaving a public transport vehicle  get off the train

 out of  leaving a car / Taxi  get out of the taxi

 by  rise or fall of something  prices have risen by 10 percent

 travelling (other than walking or  by car, by bus
horseriding)

 at  for age  she learned Russian at 45

Prepositions of Time: at, on, in, for and since

We use at to indicate specific times.

e.g.

The bomb is due to explode at 7p.m. precisely.

The Hong Kong to Beijing train leaves at 6.30 a.m.

We use on to indicate days and dates.

e.g.

The entire Committee is meeting on Monday.

Westerners celebrate New Year on 31st December.

We use in for non-specific times during a day, a month, a season, a year or

an event.

e.g.

She always reads her emails in the morning.

In the summer, it is difficult to work without air conditioning.
The project began in March 2002.
In the past she seldom took a taxi.

We use for when we measure time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, months,
years).

e.g.

The average working day lasts for 8 hours.

Manufacturing industries have thrived in Hong Kong for many years.
For over a century, the Americans have had business interests in the Pacific region.

We use since with a specific date or time (with the present perfect tense).

e.g.

He has worked here since 1999.

She has been studying at the PolyU since September.
He has been waiting to see his supervisor since10.00a.m.

This website gives short explanations and examples of prepositions of time,

place, and those used to introduce objects (at, in, on, since, for, during, within;
at, of, for, about etc)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep4.html
(Accessed 7 February 2003)

2. Prepositions of Place or Location: at, on, and in

We use at for specific addresses.

e.g.

Many of the dotcom companies were situated at 21 Lyndhurst Terrace.

…also at home, school, the office, the airport, the shops…

We use on to designate names of streets, avenues, etc.

e.g.

Kowloon Mosque is on Nathan Road.

…also on the computer, the bed , the floor, the plane, the MTR

We use in for the names of land-areas (towns, counties, states, countries, and
continents).

e.g

Festival Walk shopping mall is in Kowloon Tong.

Mai Po marshes, famous for migrating birds, is in the New Territories.
The Hong Kong SAR is in China.

…also in (the) class, the library, the lab, the train, the car, the bedroom.

This website gives explanations, with graphics, of prepositions of location or

place (at,in,on)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep2.html
(Accessed 7 February 2003)

3. Prepositions of Movement or Direction: to, into, onto, toward etc

We use to in order to express movement towards a place.

e.g.

They were driving to work together.

She's going to the professor's office this morning.

Toward(s) is also a helpful preposition to express movement.

e.g.

We're moving toward the end of an era.

This is a big step towards the fruition of my life's work.

This website gives explanations, with graphics, of prepositions of direction (to,

into, onto).
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep.html
(Accessed 7 February 2003)

4. Prepositions of spatial relationships: above, before, across, through,

around

These prepositions describe how one object relates to another

e.g.

70% of the group earned incomes above the poverty line.

The soldiers entered through the air conditioning shaft.
The children were asked to draw a circle around the face they recognised.
This website gives explanations, with graphics, of prepositions describing
spatial relationships (above, below, around, behind, through etc)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep3.html
(Accessed 7 February 2003)

5. Idiomatic Expressions with Prepositions

Idiomatic expressions use a variety of prepositions, depending on the object

following; the context and the intended meaning.

e.g. agree to a proposal, suggestion, decision etc

agree with a person
agree on a price
agree in principle

They agreed to abide by his decision.

She never agrees with me professionally but I like her.
Bargaining is the skill of both buyer and seller agreeing on a price.

e.g. argue about a matter

argue with a person
argue for or against a proposition

My father and I always argue about politics.

I never argue with my instructor.
Father Mello argues for asylum for the abode seekers.

e.g. correspond to a thing

correspond with a person

A Postgraduate Diploma corresponds to a Masters degree without the dissertation.

Jean Paul Sartre corresponded with other French philosophers in exile.

e.g. compare to ( to show likenesses)

compare with ( to show differences, sometimes similarities)

It is difficult to compare living in Hong Kong to living in Canada.

Her marks are above average compared with others in her year.

e.g. live at an address

live in a house or city
live on a street, housing estate
live with other people

I live at 10 Downing St.

They have lived in Shanghai for many years.
We live on a residential estate in Aberdeen.
The children live with their grandmother.