Prepositions of Place
Prepositions of place can be difficult – here’s some help
about using ‘at’, ‘in’ and ‘on’ when you’re talking about where things
are.
Basics:
If something is contained inside a box or a wide flat area, we
use ‘in’:
in the newspaper
in a house
in a cup
in a drawer
in a bottle
in a bag
in bed
in a car
in London
in England
in a book
in a pub
in a field
in the sea
in my stomach
in a river
If something is on a line or a horizontal or vertical surface,
we use ‘on’:
on the table
on the wall
on the floor
on the window
on my face
on a plate
on the page
on the sofa
on a chair
on a bag
on the river
on a t-shirt
on the ceiling
on a bottle
on a bike
on his foot
If something is at a point, (it could be a building) we use ‘at’:
at the airport
at the door
at the table
at the bus stop
at the cinema
at the top
at the bottom
at the pub
at the traffic lights
at the front
at the back
at school
at university
at the window
at the hospital
at the piano
Here are some more common ones that don’t really fit:
- on TV
- on the bus
- on a train
- on a plane
- on the radio
- at home
- at work
Click here to download this explanation as a pdf.
Try an exercise about prepositions of place
here.
Try another one here.
