‘On the Table’ vs ‘At the Table’ – Learn English Online

Learn the difference between ‘on the table’ and ‘at the table’ so you don’t make this common mistake.

Hi, I’m Joel. In this video, I’m going to talk about a common mistake that a lot of students have made.

The mistake is, when you’re talking about a table or a desk.
Now, what is the difference between sitting on the table or sitting on the desk, and sitting at the table or
at the desk, because many students will use “on the table” or “on the desk?”

However, if something is “on the table” it means that it is on top of the table.

So, if you say that you are sitting on the table, or on the desk, it means you are sitting on top of the table.
You’re using the table like a chair, if you say that.

So, in 99% of the cases, that’s not what you mean. Normally, you mean you’re sitting at the table; you’re sitting at the desk.

That means you are sitting down in a chair and you have the desk in front of you, and you’re writing something on the computer or reading, whatever.

So, sitting at the table, is when you’re sitting in your chair, and the table’s in front of you.

And sitting on the table, is a strange situation, when you’re sitting on top of the table, like a chair.

Sometimes it happens, but not usually.

All right, well I hope that you learned something new and that you will not get confused with sitting on
the table anymore.

Thanks for watching.

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