The prepositions in, on, and at are often confusing for English learners. The good news is that there are a few general guidelines 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
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 worksheets here.
I hope you learned a lot about prepositions from this lesson! Let me know if it helped you in the comments below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more great English lessons.
Grab a visual chart for prepositions in, on, at, and to here.
Reblogged this on So, You Think You Can Teach ESL?.
This information is really interesting and helpful 🙂 I speak spanish, so these prepositions are kind of difficult for me. Thank you!
I’m so glad it helped you! I’m learning Spanish, and it’s the same for me- with “para” and “por”. 🙂