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.
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.