Main points
*You use ‘at’ to talk about a place as a point.
*You use ‘in’ to talk about a place as an area.
*You use ‘on’ to talk about a place as a surface.
a) You use ‘at’ when you are thinking of a place as a point in space.
- She waited at the bus stop for over twenty minutes.
- ‘Where were you last night?’ – ‘At Mick’s house’.
b) You also use ‘at with words such as ‘back’, ‘bottom’, ‘end’, ‘front’, and ‘top’ to talk about the different parts of a place.
- Mrs. Reategui was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
- They escaped by a window at the back of the house.
- I saw a taxi at the end of the street.
You use ‘at’ with public places and institutions. Note that you also say ‘at home’ and 'at work’.
- I have to be at the station by ten o’clock.
- We landed at a small airport.
- A friend of mine is at Training College.
- She wanted to stay at home.
You say ‘at the corner’ or ‘on the corner’ when you are talking about streets.
- The car was parked at the corner of the street.
- There’s a telephone box on the corner.
You say ‘in the corner’ when you are talking about a room.
- She put the chair in the corner of the room.
c) You use ‘in’ when you are talking about a place as an area. You use ‘in’ with:
*a country or geographical region
- When I was in Spain, it was terrible cold.
- A thousand homes in the east of Scotland suffered power cuts.
*a city, town, or village
- I’ve been teaching at a college in London.
*a building when you are talking about people or things inside it
- They were sitting having dinner in the restaurant.
You also use ‘in’ with containers of any kind when talking about things inside them.
- She kept the cards in a little box.
d) Compare the use of ‘at’ and ‘in’ in these examples:
- I had a hard day at the office. (‘at’ emphasizes the office as a public place or institution)
- I left my coat behind in the office. (‘in’ emphasizes the cinema as a building)
- There’s a good film at the cinema. (‘at’ emphasizes the cinema as a public place)
- It was very cold in the cinema. (‘in’ emphasizes the cinemas as a building)
e) When talking about addresses, you use ‘at’ when you give the house number, and ‘in’ when you just give the name of the street.
- They used to live at 5, Weston Road.
- She got a job in Oxford Street.
Note that American English uses ‘on’: ‘He loved on Penn Street’.
You use ‘at’ when you are talking about someone’s house.
- I’ll see you at Fred’s house.
f) You use ‘on’ when you are talking about a place as a surface. You can also use ‘on top of’.
- I sat down on the sofa.
- She put her keys on top of the television.
You also use ‘on’ when you are thinking of a place as a point on a line, such as a road, a railway line, a river, or a coastline.
- Loreto is on the north coast.
- Yurimaguas is on the Ipuatia Avenue between Tabalosos in Lamas.
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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A - Part B
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See also:
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