Prepositions of place
There are three main prepositions of place in the English language which everybody must know. They are at, in, and on.
The preposition at
At shows the point.
Jack is standing at the bus stop.
I will meet you at the station.
They are at the cinema now watching a new film.
The nearest shop is at the corner of Maple Street.
You can register at the front desk.
The station is at the end of the street.
Our teacher asked us to describe the picture at the top of the page.
We made a camp at the bottom of the mountain.
There is a man standing at the door and there is another one at the window.
They are on holidays they are at the seaside now.
I am sitting at the table doing my homework.
We use at with places where we live, work or study: at home, at work, at school, at university, at college.
I am at home now, my son is at university, and my husband is at work.
We use at to say that someone is at the event: at the party, at the meeting, at the conference, at the concert.
I will call you back later I am at the concert now.
Let's repeat all the phrases with the preposition at which you have just listened to.
At the bus stop, at the station, at the cinema, at the corner, at the front desk, at the end, at the top, at the bottom, at the door, at the window, at the seaside, at the table, at home, at work, at school, at university, at college, at the party, at the meeting, at the conference, at the concert.
Of course, there are lots of other expressions with the preposition at, but these ones are very common in use.
The preposition on
We use on to show that something is on the surface.
The book is on the table.
The picture is on the wall.
The fly is on the ceiling.
The dog is lying on the floor.
Also, there are a lot of expressions which are used to show the place. Listen to some examples:
The restaurant is on the left, and the hotel is on the right.
I like to listen to my favourite programme on the radio and my sister prefers to watch it on TV.
My apartment is on the second floor.
I saw a strange smile on his face.
Jack spent all his summer holidays on the farm in Texas.
On the way home my aunt met my mom and they had a nice chat.
You can find the exercise about prepositions on page 57.
Let's sum up the phrases with the preposition on.
On the table, on the wall, on the ceiling, on the floor, on the right, on the left, on TV, on the radio, on the second floor, on the face, on the farm, on the way, on the page.
The preposition in
We use the preposition in to show that something is inside the area, in the enclosed space.
I am in my car now.
What is in your bag?
Jack prefers to have parties in the garden, but if it is rainy they have fun in the house.
We sometimes have dinner in the restaurant.
I often work in the kitchen.
Listen to more phrases with the preposition in which are widely spread in English.
There are a lot of cars in the street.
There are not many planes in the sky.
My family lives in Oxford Street in Atlanta in the USA.
There are nine apples in the picture in the book.
My daughter likes to look at herself in the mirror.
This is the biggest statue in the world.
He is in bed now dreaming about his own car.
Oh my God, my teacher is in prison, and my classmates are in hospital.
What interesting news is there in the newspaper you are reading?
So one more time listen to the phrases with in.
In a bag, in the garden, in the house, in the street, in the sky, in the picture, in the book, in the mirror, in the world, in bed, in prison, in hospital, in the newspaper, in a car, in the kitchen, in Oxford Street, in Atlanta, in the USA, in the
restaurant.
I hope the information was useful for you. If you want to remember all these phrases, listen to this podcast twenty times.
Good luck!
