Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997
87 Prepositions of place in, on, at: in my bag on the table at the traffic lights
Quick reference
We use in:
• when we talk about an enclosed space that is surrounded on all sides, There were six people in the room. He ’s got a gun in his hand!
• with buildings and areas surrounded by walls, etc.
He lives in a big house. There’s a lake in the park
• with larger areas like cities, states, countries, continents. They live in the USA, in Texas
• with words that describe the relative position of something, in the corner of the square He sat in the middle of the room. Manchester is in the north of England.
• with words like hospital, church, school. He’s in hospital. They got married in church.
• with newspapers and magazines. I read it in the Daily Mail
We use on:
• when we talk about a horizontal or vertical surface.
The book’s on the table The picture’s on the wall
• with any kind of line, on the border between the USA and Canada on the road to Paris
• with machines. I heard it on the radio She was on TV. Your mother’s on the phone.
• with right, left. I sat on the left and she sat on the right.
We use at:
• when we talk about a particular point, at the bus stop at the bottom of the hill
• with a building when we're talking about what normally happens there, and not the building itself: She works at the chemist’s. He's at the bank getting some money.
• with social activities. We met at a party. I see him every week at the football match.
• in the expressions at home, at work, at school. He ’s at school. She 's at work.
• with addresses if we give the house number: I live at 6, Freeland Road.
1 Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space.
Last year we read an article about house-swapping (1) ... the Sunday Times. As a result we swapped houses with a Canadian family - the Montmignys. Paul Montmigny works (2) ... the University of Quebec: his wife Anna works (3) ... home as a freelance journalist. Both their children are (4) ... school.
We made all the arrangements (5) ... the phone. For three weeks they lived (6) ... our house (7) ... the west of England, and we lived (8) ... their house (9) ... Canada. They live (10) ... the small town of St Nicholas, (11) ... 39 Rue de I'Eglise to be exact. St Nicolas is (12) ... the main road between Quebec and Montreal. The house itself is (13) ... a small lake. Quebec, which is (14) ... the middle of Canada, is (15) ... the St Lawrence River and there are lots of mountains, rivers and lakes (16) ... the area.
The arrangement worked perfectly - both families had a very enjoyable 'free' holiday.
2 Complete this description with the prepositions in, on or at.
Two people are sitting (1) ... a table (2) ... a restaurant. The woman has got a glass (3) ... her hand. There's a wine bottle (4) ... the middle of the table. There’s very little wine left (5) ... the bottle. (6) ... the back of the restaurant is the door to the kitchen. (7) ... the door there's a sign saying 'Staff Only'. (8) ... the corner of the restaurant there’s a small bar. A man is sitting (9) ... the bar. He’s (10) ... the phone. (11) ... his right there’s a bottle of whisky and (12) ... his left a lamp. There’s an old clock (13) ... the wall.
3 Write a description of the room you are in now or your home using the prepositions of place in, on, at in as many different ways as possible.
Examples: I line in Santander, at No 7, Calle Cadiz. I'm alone in my room. There's a table in the corner. There's a computer and a printer on the table. Etc.
Check your answers with a teacher.