Hi! This is Abbe from MosaLingua.
In this video, I'm going to show you another
useful English grammar hack. This one focuses on prepositions which give most
language learners difficulty, no matter what language they're learning. The three
prepositions we will focus on today are prepositions of location: at, on and in.
These prepositions are used before a location but you'll see that their use
varies depending on which type of location you are talking about.
Today I'm going to give you an easy hack to help you remember which one to use in various
situations. Let's start with these examples: "I am in the cafe" "I am walking
on the beach" "I am eating at my place".
We can see that these three example
sentences are quite similar and yet we use different prepositions depending on
the location. Seems pretty confusing, doesn't it? Sometimes more than one
preposition is grammatically correct but unfortunately the meaning changes
depending on which one you use. So is there a trick to remembering which
preposition to use in different contexts? Yes there is! I'm going to show you a
trick that works in most cases. Let's take these three prepositions one at a time:
"I am in the cafe". Here I am inside the building, a location that I can
represent in three dimensions. Other examples could include: "in a car", "in a
room", "in a house" or "in a factory".
"I am walking on the beach". Here the location
I am talking about is a flat surface, unlike the three-dimensional area in the
previous example. Hence, I use the preposition "on". This preposition is also
used if I am talking about a line or moving from point A to point B. Other
examples could include: "on a road", "on a flight", "on a path" or "on a map".
"Let's meet at my place". In this case "my place" (another way to say "my home") can be
thought of as like a point in space. Imagine making an X on a map and saying
"let's meet there". Each time I talk about a specific point in space, I use the
preposition "at". Other examples could include/ "at the shop", "at the traffic light",
or "at the station". Let’s sum this up: "in" is used with three-dimensional places;
"on" is used with a flat area or a line, "at" is used with a point.
This rule of thumb can be used in most situations
but you also need to keep in mind context. For example,
I can say "I'm on the bed" or "I am in the bed": both expressions here are valid
though they have slightly different meanings.
The first example means that I am sitting or standing on top of the bed.
The second example probably means I am under the covers.
Here's another example:
"Have you arrived at the restaurant?" "Yes I am in the restaurant now"
The first sentence describes a point on a map, the second sentence describes a
three-dimensional location, "inside the restaurant". If you aren't sure about a
situation, try to visualize what you are describing and decide whether it is a
three-dimensional location, a line or a point. There are of course some
exceptions but this hack will help you in most cases, especially when you're
just getting started. With time and practice, you will come up with the
correct preposition every time and it will become natural for you. That's all
for today's video. If you liked what you learned, subscribe to our Channel and
don't miss out on the rest of our series of English grammar hacks! You can also
post any questions you might have in the comment section. We're here
to help! Happy learning and see you next time.
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