Tip 6
Location prepositions (at, on, in)
In tip 5 we learned how to use the prepositions in\on\at in the context of time.
But what happens when these words refer to a location?
Let’s look at a few examples to better understand how to use these prepositions in the context of location.
Many non-native English speakers will use the word -in- for all three examples without thinking twice, but the correct form is:
– I live in New
– We’re at the mall
– The shop is on Iben Gabirol Street
What are the rules?
- When we talk about large places such as countries, provinces or cities we will use the preposition -in- (Also when something is physically inside something else).
- When we talk about a certain location in certain space (such as a city, or a room) and want to indicate where something is exactly – we will use the preposition -at-
- When we talk about something that is on some stretch of land such as a road, or a path, or a street, we will use the preposition -on- (as well as when something is physically on something else).
We will note that the use of prepositions in the context of -location- is similar to the use of prepositions in the context of -time- explained in the previous tip 🙂
- Long periods of time/large places -in-
- Exact time/exact location in some space (imagine a finger kept exactly where) -at-
- A strip of space on which something such as a store sits / a time strip of a week on which a slot of a day -on-
If you like, you can think of these three prepositions as an upside down pyramid:
- -in- describes the most general things
- -on- more specific things on a certain strip (often divided into certain units)
- -at- relates to the most specific and exact.
Good luck and see you in the next tip! 🙂
