Prepositions "On," "At," and "In"

 Prepositions "On," "At," and "In"

A preposition is a word that links a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to some other part of the sentence.

When English speakers talk about time and place, there are three little words that often come up: in, on, and at. These common words are prepositions that show a relationship between two words in a sentence. ... For describing time and place, the prepositions in, on, and at go from general to specific.

Prepositions-At-In-On-english-grammar

Prepositions can be tricky for English learners. There is no definite rule or formula for choosing a preposition. In the beginning stage of learning the language, you should try to identify a preposition when reading or listening in English and recognize its usage.

• to the office
• at the desk
• on the table
• in an hour
• about myself

A preposition is used to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object.

Here are a few common prepositions and examples.

At

• Used to point out specific time:
• I will meet you at 12 p.m.
• The bus will stop here at 5:45 p.m.

Used to indicate a place:

• There is a party at the club house.
• There were hundreds of people at the park.
• We saw a baseball game at the stadium.

Used to indicate an email address:

• Please email me at abc@defg.com.
• Used to indicate an activity:
• He laughed at my acting.
• I am good at drawing a portrait.

Specific Time

• At 5 o’clock
• At 12.30 am
• At sunset
• At the moment
• At sunrise
• At bedtime
• At noon
• At dinnertime

In

Used for unspecific times during a day, month, season, year:

• She always reads newspapers in the morning.
• In the summer, we have a rainy season for three weeks.
• The new semester will start in March.

Used to indicate a location or place:

• She looked me directly in the eyes.
• I am currently staying in a hotel.
• My hometown is Los Angeles, which is in California.

Used to indicate a shape, color, or size:

• This painting is mostly in blue.
• The students stood in a circle.
• This jacket comes in four different sizes.

Used to express while doing something:

• In preparing for the final report, we revised the tone three times.
• A catch phrase needs to be impressive in marketing a product.

Used to indicate a belief, opinion, interest, or feeling:

• I believe in the next life.
• We are not interested in gambling.

Months, Years, long Periods

• In the past/future
• In 1980
• In the 1970s
• In the next century
• In April
• In the Ice Age
• In the winter
• In summer

On

Used to express a surface of something:

• I put an egg on the kitchen table.
• The paper is on my desk.

Used to specify days and dates:

• The garbage truck comes on Wednesdays.
• I was born on the 14th day of June in 1988.

Used to indicate a device or machine, such as a phone or computer:

• He is on the phone right now.
• She has been on the computer since this morning.
• My favorite movie will be on TV tonight.

Used to indicate a part of the body:

• The stick hit me on my shoulder.
• He kissed me on my cheek.
• I wear a ring on my finger.

Used to indicate the state of something:

• Everything in this store is on sale.
• The building is on fire.

Days and Dates

• On Saturday
• On Tuesdays
• On 9 May
• On 12 April 2012
• On my birthday
• On New Year’s Eve
• On Independent Day
• On Cristmas Day

Read More