PREPOSITIONS
In English, there are several prepositions. In this section we will see the use of three of them: in, on and at. They can cause difficulty in their use because in general these three prepositions can have the same meaning.
AT
We use AT with clock times:
My class starts at 8 o’clock
Special Dates:
I will see you at Christmas
She wasn’t there at Easter
** When there is the word “DAY” after the commemorative date, we do not use AT. Use ON:
My brother will arrive on Christmas Day
We also use At with the words: noon, night, midnight and dawn.
She arrived at dawn
See you at night
Complete Addresses:
Joshua lives at 74 Lincon Street
In places, but without specifying you are inside.
I’m at the movie theater waiting for you
IN
Use the preposition IN with:
Months or Seasons of the year
My birthday is in April
It’s very cold in winter
With morning, afternoon and evening
We work out in the morning
My son studies in the afternoon
Years, centuries or expressions of time
Brazil is going to win the World Cup in 2018
The society was very different in the 19th century
She will come to the city in a few weeks
In places, specifying you are inside
The students are in the classroom
Cities, states, countries and continents
She lives in New York
There are beautiful beaches in the Bahamas
The 2020 Olympics will be held in Tokyo
I would like to live in Europe
ON
Use the preposition ON with:
Days of the week
I don’t work on Saturdays
Days, dates and expressions like Tuesday morning and Friday evening
I started a diet on February 4th
We are going to travel on Saturday morning
Transportation
It’s my first time on the plane
There were too many people on the bus
** The preposition ON is used with transportation, but when referring to a car or taxi, use the preposition IN:
In the car, in the taxi
We also use ON with avenues and streets
I’m on Bush Street
Refering to a farm or an island
I would like to spend my vacation on a island
The horses live on the farm
There are many other prepositions in English. Other frequently used ones are the prepositions of places, used to indicate the position of objects, people and so on. Se the picture below:
