Become familiar with prepositions that show time and place - Prepositions and idiomatic expressions - Multilingual Writers and ESL Topics

Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Become familiar with prepositions that show time and place
Prepositions and idiomatic expressions
Multilingual Writers and ESL Topics

The most frequently used prepositions in English are at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, and with. Prepositions can be difficult to master because the differences among them are subtle and idiomatic. The chart in this section is limited to three troublesome prepositions that show time and place: at, on, and in.

AT, ON, AND IN TO SHOW TIME AND PLACE

Showing time

AT

at a specific time: at 7:20, at dawn, at dinner

ON

on a specific day or date: on Tuesday, on June 4

IN

in a part of a 24-hour period: in the afternoon, in the daytime [but at night]


in a year or month: in 2008, in July


in a period of time: finished in three hours

Showing place

AT

at a meeting place or location: at home, at the club


at the edge of something: sitting at the desk


at the corner of something: turning at the intersection


at a target: throwing the snowball at Lucy

ON

on a surface: placed on the table, hanging on the wall


on a street: the house on Spring Street


on an electronic medium: on television, on the Internet

IN

in an enclosed space: in the garage, in an envelope


in a geographic location: in San Diego, in Texas


in a print medium: in a book, in a magazine

Not every possible use is listed in the chart, so don’t be surprised when you encounter exceptions and idiomatic uses that you must learn one at a time. For example, in English a person rides in a car but on a bus, plane, train, or subway.

EXERCISE 31-1

In the following sentences, replace prepositions that are not used correctly. You may need to refer to the chart in 31a. If a sentence is correct, write “correct” after it. Answers appear in the back of the book.

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a. Whenever we eat at the Centerville Café, we sit at a small table on the corner of the patio.

b. In the 1990s, entrepreneurs created new online businesses in record numbers.

c. In Thursday, Nancy will attend her first home repair class at the community center.

d. Alex began looking for her lost mitten in another location.

e. We decided to go to the grocery store because there was no fresh food on the refrigerator.