Prepositions of place
We can use the prepositions in, on and at to say where things are. They go
before nouns.
I am in the kitchen.
My dog likes sleeping on the sofa.
The children eat lunch at school.
in
We use in to talk about a place that is inside a bigger space, such as a box,
a house, a city or a country.
The clothes are in the wardrobe.
The children are playing in the park.
There's a bookshop in the shopping centre.
My grandmother was born in Sweden.
We also use in with other physical locations such as:
in the world
in water / the sea / a river / a lake / a pool
in the mountains / the countryside / a valley / the forest
in a car / a taxi
on
We use on to talk about location on a surface.
The books are on the desk.
We live on the fifth floor.
There are pictures on the wall.
She likes to sit on the floor.
We also use on for some types of public transport.
He's on the bus now.
You can't make phone calls on a plane.
They go to school on the train.
We also use on for lines (including rivers, borders, streets, etc.) and islands.
London is on the River Thames.
The Pyrenees are on the border of Spain and France.
There's a market on James Street.
I'd love to live on the Isle of Wight.
at
We use at in many common phrases, especially when we are talking about
a place for a specific activity.
I'm at work.
She's working at home today.
The children are at school.
See you at the train station!
They're at the supermarket.
I met him at a party.
We also use at for addresses or exact positions.
I live at 15 Craig Street.
She's sitting at a desk.
He's waiting at the entrance.
Please sit at the back of the room.
In front of
A band plays their music in front of an audience.
The teacher stands in front of the students.
The man standing in the line in front of me smells bad.
Teenagers normally squeeze their zits in front of a mirror.
Behind
Behind is the opposite of In front of. It means at the back (part) of something.
When the teacher writes on the whiteboard, the students are behind him (or
her).
Who is that person behind the mask?
I slowed down because there was a police car behind me.
Between
Between normally refers to something in the middle of two objects or things (or places).
There are mountains between Chile and Argentina.
The number 5 is between the number 4 and 6.
There is a sea (The English Channel) between England and France.
Across From / Opposite
Across from and Opposite mean the same thing. It usually refers to something being in
front of something else BUT there is normally something between them like a street or
table. It is similar to saying that someone (or a place) is on the other side of something.
I live across from a supermarket (= it is on the other side of the road)
The chess players sat opposite each other before they began their game.
(= They are in front of each other and there is a table between them)
Next to / Beside
Next to and Beside mean the same thing. It usually refers to a thing (or person) that is
at the side of another thing.
At a wedding, the bride stands next to the groom.
Guards stand next to the entrance of the bank.
He walked beside me as we went down the street.
In this part of town there isn't a footpath beside the road so you have to be
careful.
Near / Close to
Near and Close to mean the same thing. It is similar to next to / beside but there is
more of a distance between the two things.
The receptionist is near the front door.
This building is near a subway station.
We couldn't park the car close to the store.
Our house is close to a supermarket.
On
On means that something is in a position that is physically touching, covering or
attached to something.
The clock on the wall is slow.
He put the food on the table.
I can see a spider on the ceiling.
We were told not to walk on the grass.
Above / Over
Above and Over have a similar meaning. The both mean "at a higher position than X"
but above normally refers to being directly (vertically) above you.
Planes normally fly above the clouds.
There is a ceiling above you.
There is a halo over my head. ;)
We put a sun umbrella over the table so we wouldn't get so hot.
Our neighbors in the apartment above us are really noisy.
Over can also mean: physically covering the surface of something and is often used
with the word All as in All over.
There water all over the floor.
I accidentally spilled red wine all over the new carpet.
Over is often used as a Preposition of Movement too.
Under / Below
Under and Below have a similar meaning. They mean at a lower level. (Something is
above it).
Your legs are under the table.
Monsters live under your bed.
A river flows under a bridge.
How long can you stay under the water?
Miners work below the surface of the Earth.
Sometimes we use the word underneath instead of under and beneath instead
of below. There is no difference in meaning those they are less common nowadays.
Under is often used as a Preposition of Movement too.
Examples
Here are some examples of prepositions of place in sentences:
The book is on the table.
My phone is in my pocket.
The cat is under the bed.
The bird is above the tree.
The car is beside the house.
The store is near the park.
Jane is waiting for you at the bus stop.
The shop is at the end of the street.
My plane stopped at Dubai and Hanoi and arrived in Bangkok two
hours late.
When will you arrive at the office?
Do you work in an office?
I have a meeting in New York.
Do you live in Japan?
Jupiter is in the Solar System.
The author's name is on the cover of the book.
There are no prices on this menu.
You are standing on my foot.
There was a "no smoking" sign on the wall.
I live on the 7th floor at 21 Oxford Street in London.
at in on
at home in a car on a bus
at work in a taxi on a train
at school in a on a plane
helicopter
at in a boat on a ship
university
at college in a lift on a
(elevator) bicycle, on
a
motorbike
at the top in the on a
newspaper horse, on
an
elephant
at in on
at the in the sky on the
bottom radio, on
television
at the side in a row on the left,
on the
right
at in Oxford on the
reception Street way
POINT in on
ENCLOSED SURFACE
SPACE
at the in the on the wall
corner garden
at the bus in London on the
stop ceiling
at the door in France on the
door
at in on
at the top in a box on the
of the cover
page
at the end in my on the
of the road pocket floor
at the in my wallet on the
entrance carpet
at the in a building on the
crossroads menu
at the front in a car on a page
desk
Excercises
1.Places you can eat or drink
café
cinema
library
supermarket
2.Places people normally stay for less than an hour
bank
bus stop
cinema
post office
3.Places for learning or health
library
school
sports centre
train station
4.Places open to the public (anyone can go there)
bus stop
factory
post office
train station
Bibliography
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/sites/kids/files/attachment/gramm
ar-games-prepositions-of-place-worksheet.pdf
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-place-at-in-on.php
https://promova.com/english-grammar/prepositions-of-place-in-english
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/prepositions-place
