Prepositions "On," "At," and

"In"
Aprepositionisawordthatlinksanoun,pronoun,ornounphrasetosomeotherpartofthesentence.
PrepositionscanbetrickyforEnglishlearners.Thereisnodefiniteruleorformulaforchoosinga
preposition.Inthebeginningstageoflearningthelanguage,youshouldtrytoidentifyapreposition
whenreadingorlisteninginEnglishandrecognizeitsusage.

totheoffice

atthedesk

onthetable

inanhour

aboutmyself

Aprepositionisusedtoshowdirection,location,ortime,ortointroduceanobject.
Hereareafewcommonprepositionsandexamples.

On
Usedtoexpressasurfaceofsomething:

Iputaneggonthekitchentable.

Thepaperisonmydesk.

Usedtospecifydaysanddates:

ThegarbagetruckcomesonWednesdays.

Iwasbornonthe14thdayofJunein1988.

Usedtoindicateadeviceormachine,suchasaphoneorcomputer:

Heisonthephonerightnow.

Shehasbeenonthecomputersincethismorning.

MyfavoritemoviewillbeonTVtonight.

Usedtoindicateapartofthebody:

Thestickhitmeonmyshoulder.

Hekissedmeonmycheek.

Iweararingonmyfinger.

Usedtoindicatethestateofsomething:

Everythinginthisstoreisonsale.

Thebuildingisonfire.

At
Usedtopointoutspecifictime:

Iwillmeetyouat12p.m.

Thebuswillstophereat5:45p.m.

Usedtoindicateaplace:

Thereisapartyattheclubhouse.

Therewerehundredsofpeopleatthepark.

Wesawabaseballgameatthestadium.

Usedtoindicateanemailaddress:

Pleaseemailmeatabc@defg.com.

Usedtoindicateanactivity:

Helaughedatmyacting.

Iamgoodatdrawingaportrait.

In
Usedforunspecifictimesduringaday,month,season,year:

Shealwaysreadsnewspapersinthemorning.

Inthesummer,wehavearainyseasonforthreeweeks.

ThenewsemesterwillstartinMarch.

Usedtoindicatealocationorplace:

Shelookedmedirectlyintheeyes.

Iamcurrentlystayinginahotel.

MyhometownisLosAngeles,whichisinCalifornia.

Usedtoindicateashape,color,orsize:

Thispaintingismostlyinblue.

Thestudentsstoodinacircle.

Thisjacketcomesinfourdifferentsizes.

Usedtoexpresswhiledoingsomething:

Inpreparingforthefinalreport,werevisedthetonethreetimes.

Acatchphraseneedstobeimpressiveinmarketingaproduct.

Usedtoindicateabelief,opinion,interest,orfeeling:

Ibelieveinthenextlife.

Wearenotinterestedingambling.

[Quiz22.1]
Identifyallprepositionsinthefollowingsentences.
Afterflyingformanyhours,wefinallygotofftheairplane.Wewalkedouttheexitandwenttothe
baggageclaimarea.Therewerehundredsofdifferentbagsontheconveyerbelt.Ialmostpickedupthe
wrongonebecauseitlookedlikemine.

[Quiz22.2]
Chooseacorrectprepositioninthesentence.
1)Iwanttolose5kilogram(on,at,in)onemonth.
2)Couldyougetmethispants(on,at,in)alargersize?
3)Sheseemstobeinterested(on,at,in)Psychology.
4)Iwillcometopickyouup(on,at,in)2pmtomorrow.
5)Thisclasswillbeheld(on,at,in)Mondays.