Prepositions (in,on and at)

Prévia do material em texto

Preposition Place Nature 
IN 1. Place having some boundary (physical or virtual boundary), 
surrounded on all sides 
e.g. In hall - In school - In garden - - In cupboard – in a square – in 
the street (BE)– in the rain – in the paper – in the sky – in a line – in 
the picture 
2. Larger areas like cities, states, countries, continents, towns, 
village 
e.g. In America – in London – in the city – in the country- in the 
river 
3. With words that describe the relative position of something 
e.g. In the middle of the square – in a corner of a tent – in the 
south of England 
4. With words like HOSPITAL, CHURCH, PRISON 
e.g. In hospital – in church 
5. Newspapers and magazines 
e.g. Na article in the Daily Mail 
6. With the words BACK, FRONT, CORNER, MIDDLE 
e.g. He sits in the corner of the room. 
He sits in the back of the car. 
ON 1. Horizontal or vertical surface of something. 
On blackboard - On a page - On the wall - On the roof - On a map 
e.g. On the west coast of Scotland 
On the north bank of the River Thames 
On the border between Italy and Austria 
2. With machines 
e.g. On the phone – on his computer – on television 
3. To designate names of streets, avenues, etc. 
 e.g. Her house is on Boretz Road. 
4. With RIGHT, LEFT and SIDE 
e.g. On the right – on the left – on the other side of the river 
AT 1. Specific Place. 
At the entrance - At bus stop - At the edge of roof 
e.g. The bus stops at Graz. 
She sits at the desk. 
I stand at the door. 
2. Specific addresses. (with the number) 
 e.g. Grammar English lives at 55 Boretz Road in Durham. 
3. Social activities 
e.g. At a football match – at the cinema – at the party. 
4. With words such as: HOME, WORK, SCHOOL 
e.g. At home – at work – at school 
5. Buildings when we are not thinking about what normally 
happens there, and not about the building itself. 
e.g. Alan works at a garage 
I study economics at university. 
I stay at my grandmother's. 
6. With words such as: TOP, END, BEGINNING, BOTTOM, 
FRONT 
e.g. The car stands at the end of the street. 
At the bottom of glass 
 
 
At front of the chair 
Write this information at the beginning of the letter. 
Look at the top of the page. 
NOTE: 1) We were at the theater (=watching a play) 
It was dark in the theater (=inside the theater) 
The boys are at the swimming pool (=swimming or watching the swimmers) 
It was cold in the swimming pool (=in the water) 
We stopped at a village near Coventry (=point) 
There were two shops in the village (=inside the village) 
The trains stops at Balham (= appoint on the railway line) 
The Perrings live in Balham (=surrounded by houses) 
 
2) WE SAY at the corner of the street (a point), but in the corner of the room 
(a place surrounded on all sides) 
3) IN BED – under the sheets. X ON BED – on the sheets. 
4) AT THE LIBRARY – in the front of it.X IN THE LIBRARY – inside the 
building 
 
 
 
 
PREPOSITIONS AND MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION 
 
PUBLIC 
Get on – off are used for a bus, plane, ship or train. 
(Originally, from "on board" or "aboard" a wooden ship, on now refers to all public or 
mass transportation: on a bus, on a ship, on a plane, on a ferry.) 
The expression CANNOT be separated by an object or object pronoun. 
Get on the bus. Get off the bus. 
Get on the plane. Get off the plane. 
 
 
Get on the ship. Get off the ship. 
Get in the van (enclosed) Get out of the van. 
Get on the train. Get off the train. 
Get on the elevator. (Br. Eng – lift) Get off the elevator. 
Get on the escalator. (moving stairs) Get off the train. 
PRIVATE 
Get in - out of are used for enclosed, private transportation. 
On - off are used for other modes such as bikes and motorcycles. 
The expression CANNOT be separated by an object or object pronoun. 
Get on the motorcycle. (open-air) Get off the motorcycle. 
Get on the bicycle. (open-air) Get off the bicycle. 
Get in the car. (enclosed) Get out of of the car. 
Get in the taxi / limousine. (enclosed) Get out of of the taxi / limousine. 
Get in the elevator. (enclosed – usage 
varies) 
Get out of of the elevator.