Prepositions
of time & place
in
at
in
on
In, on or
on
at
at? at
on
on
on
at
In
With buildings/rooms and places that can be thought of as surrounding a person or object on all
sides:
•Can you take a seat in the waiting room please?
•There’s a wedding in the church this afternoon.
•Lots of people were swimming in the lake
With containers:
•There’s fresh milk in the fridge.
•I think I have a tissue in my pocket.
•The money is in the top drawer of my desk.
With liquids and other substances, to show what they contain:
•Do you take milk in your coffee?
•I can taste garlic in this sauce.
•There’s a lot of fat in cheese and butter.
In
To show that someone is wearing something:
Do you know that girl in the black dress?
A man in a brown suit was walking towards her.
To show how things are arranged, expressed or written:
We gathered round in a circle.
Their names are given in alphabetical order.
Complete the form in block capitals.
She spoke to me in Spanish.
On
With surfaces, or things that can be thought of as surfaces:
•The letter is on my desk.
•There was a beautiful painting on the wall.
•The toy department is on the first floor.
•Write the number down on a piece of paper.
•He had a large spot on his nose.
•She placed her hand on my shoulder.
With roads/streets, or other things that can be thought of as a line, e.g.: rivers:
•The bank is on the corner of King’s Street.
•Koblenz is on the Rhine.
•Bournemouth is on the south coast.
•It’s the second turning on the left.
On
To show movement in the direction of a surface:
I dropped my bags on the floor.
To show when the surface of something accidentally hits or touches a part of the
body:
I cut my finger on a sharp knife.
To show that a part of someone’s body is supporting their weight:
She was balancing on one leg.
To show that something is included in a list:
He’s not on the list of suspects.
How many items are on the agenda?
At
With clock times:
•My last train leaves at 10:30.
•We left at midnight.
With specific times of day, or mealtimes:
•He doesn’t like driving at night.
•I like to read the children a story at bedtime.
With festivals:
•Are you going home at Christmas/Easter?
In certain fixed expressions which refer to specific points in time:
•Are you leaving at the weekend?**
•She’s working at the moment.
•He’s unavailable at present.
•I finish the course at the end of April.
•We arrived at the same time.
**Note that in American English, on the weekend is the correct form.
At
With public places and shops:
•Jane’s at the dentist/hairdresser.
•I studied German at college/school/university.
•Shall I meet you at the station?
•We bought some bread at the supermarket.
With addresses:
•They live at 70, Duncombe Place.
With events:
•I met her at last year’s conference. She wasn’t at Simon’s party.
1.Do you think it is a good idea to ban smoking _____ in public places?
2.Look at the picture _____ on the wall.
3.My house is ______
at the end of the street.
4.I stopped ______
at Nancy's house.
5.Do you like walking _____ the
in garden?
6.I found my keys _______on the desk.
7.I met him ______ Paris.
in
8.He was crying _____ the
at back of the classroom.
9.I saw the film _____ TV.
on
10.These people live _____ my
in hometown.
1) There was a loud noise which woke us up________ midnight..
at
2) Do you usually eat chocolate eggs__________ Easter?.
at
3) What are you doing ________the weekend?.
on
4) I always eat a lot ________ Christmas.
at
5) My father always reads the paper ________ breakfast time..
at
6) She plays tennis _________Fridays.
On beautiful ________ spring..
7) The trees here are really
8) I'll see you ________Tuesday afternooninthen..
9) Shakespeare died ________1616..
On
10) They were born _________ March.
in
in
Great job!
