The prepositions in, on, and at are often confusing for English learners. The good news is that there are a few rules you can follow to help sort them out.

Prepositions can be learned by topic: transportation, location, time, and media. Learn preposition rules by topic to get you back on the map.

Transportation

For transportation, remember the following guidelines:

IN

Use IN for private transportation.

in a car
in a truck
in a taxi
in an Uber
in a small boat or kayak

ON

use ON for public transportation.

on the bus
on a plane
on a ship or cruise
on a train
on the subway
on the trolley

Use ON for things that one person can sit or stand on.

on a bicycle
on a motorcycle
on a horse
on a surfboard
on a skateboard

AT

Use AT for places where you wait for transport.

at the bus stop
at the taxi stand
at the airport
at the train station
at a stop sign
at an intersection
at a crosswalk

Location

IN

Think of IN for enclosed spaces and places with borders, like rooms, towns, cities, counties, states, countries, and continents.

in the kitchen
in Sydney
in Australia
in the south
in the world
in the universe

Use IN for geographical locations and bodies of water (if you’re swimming.)

in the mountains
in the forest
in the desert
in the water
in the lake
in the ocean

Preposition “cheat sheets” can help you learn the rules.

Get yours here.

ON

Use ON for street names, borders, and floors of buildings.

on 10th Ave.
on the border
on the coast
on the first floor
on the roof

Use ON for surfaces.

on the ground
on the floor
on the wall
on the beach (if you’re tanning.)

AT

Use AT for specific locations and places of business.

at the supermarket
at the beach
at the library
at the zoo
at the restaurant
at the mall
at home

Time

IN

Use IN for enclosed time periods.

in December
in the summer
in 1997
in the ’90s
in the summer, winter, etc.
in the morning
in the afternoon
in the evening

ON

Use ON for specific days, dates, and holidays.

on Monday
on weekends
on January 22
on my birthday
on Christmas
on vacation

AT

Use AT for times of the day.

at 6:00pm
at midnight (12 am)
at lunchtime (12 pm)
at night (but in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening)

Media

IN

Use IN for paper media.

in a book
in a newspaper
in a magazine
in a dictionary
in a journal
in the comments
in a blog post

ON

Use ON for electronic media and technology.

on the internet
on tv
on the radio
on the phone
on social media
on facebook, instagram, WhatsApp, etc.

AT

Use AT or the @ symbol for

websites
url’s
emails

Ready to practice? Get the In, On, At Prepositions PDF worksheet here.

I hope you learned a lot about prepositions from this lesson! Let me know if it helped you in the comments below, and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more great English Learning lessons.

Grab a visual chart for prepositions in, on, at, and to here.