Hello everyone, and welcome back to my channel Sparkle English where I teach you how to improve
your level of English. In today's lesson, I'm going to teach you about the prepositions of place
in, on, and at. In, at, and on our prepositions that locate people, objects and events in time
and space. In today's lesson, we're going to talk about in, at, and on as prepositions of place.
We use at to refer to a position as a point. We use in to refer to a position in relation to an
enclosed space. We use on to refer to a position in relation to a surface. So for example, we have
three different pictures. In the first picture, we would say they are sitting at the table.
In the second picture, we would say she is sitting on the table, because this woman is literally on
top of the table. And in the third picture, we would say, the cat is sitting in the box,
because the cat is literally inside of the box. If something is at a point, for example, a building,
we use at: at the airport, at the cinema. We also use at before certain standard
expressions. At home, she's at home, at work, at school, at university, at college.
If we look at this chart on the side, we have some more examples:
at the restaurant, at the traffic lights, at the bus stop, at 123 Jane Street,
at the store, at the door, at the top or bottom, at the side or at the front or at the back.
We use in to refer to a position in relation to an enclosed space when something is surrounded on
all sides. For example, in London, or in England. In these two examples, both London and England,
are surrounded by borders, the border of a country. She is in London, in the city of London,
or in England, in the forest, in a box. All of these are places or spaces that are surrounded
on all sides, by borders or by walls. We also use in with certain standard expressions: in bed,
in church, in prison, or in jail. So for example, in Paris, in France, in the garden,
in my bedroom, in the ocean, in my pocket, in a bag, in the car, in my wallet, in a cup,
in a drawer, in the north, or in the south. And now let's look at on. We use on to refer
to a position in relation to a horizontal or vertical surface or a line: on the table,
on the floor, on the wall. For example, the apple is on the table. We're talking about the position
of the apple in relation to the horizontal surface of the table. It's on the table.
Whereas if we had a box, the apple is in the box because it's surrounded by
all sides. We also use on with certain standard expressions: on TV, on the radio, on the phone.
For example, my mom is on the phone. What's on TV? I like this music on the radio. On a chair,
on the ceiling, on the carpet, on the window, on a plate, on the sofa, on my face, on my arm,
on the menu, on the page. In all of these examples, we're referring to a position
of the object in relation to where it is on the surface of a person or of an object.
Now let's look at prepositions of place in and on in relation to transportation. We would say
she is in the car or in a taxi. In a helicopter and in a boat. But we would say,
on a train, or on a bus, on a horse, on an elephant, on a plane, on a ship,
on a motorcycle, on a scooter, or on a bike. For example, get in the car,
we're late for the appointment. Jane is on a plane to Australia right now.
With prepositions of place in, on, and at, there's also a little trick that you can use.
In is a bit more general, countries, cities, neighborhoods. For example, I live in Toronto.
On is a bit more specific for streets and avenues. I live on Yonge Street. And then at is very
specific. It's a specific point, an address or a specific location. I live at 120 Yonge Street.
So for example, in Toronto, on Yonge Street, at 120 Yonge Street.
In Canada, on Madison Avenue, at 87 Madison Avenue. In Chinatown, which is a neighborhood,
on Main Street, at 60 Main Street. So in, on, and at can be a little complicated,
because there are a lot of standard expressions that you have to memorize. So feel free to go
back in this lesson and write down some of the ones that might confuse you the most.
But now we're going to do practice with 12 fill in the blank sentences where you have to fill
in the prepositions of place in, on, and at. Remember that on is referred to the position
on a horizontal or vertical surface. And in is inside of an enclosed space,
with sides or borders. And at we're referring to a point. So I'm going to read through 1 to 12.
And I want you to let me know in the comment section, how many you got out of 12.
If you have any problems, feel free to go back and look at the charts to help you out because
a lot of these expressions are ones that you have to memorize, especially the standard expressions.
So number one, I have lived __ Spain for many years. Number two, my cat always sits __ my
laptop when I'm trying to work. Number three, my boyfriend lives __ this street. Number four:
mom is __ the supermarket right now. Number five, is there anything __ good TV?
Number Six: Do you have any gum __ your purse? Number seven, can you put the plates __ the table?
Number eight, Jack's __ the cinema at the moment. Number nine: I'm talking __ the
phone with my best friend. Number 10: He's waiting for you __ the bus stop.
Number 11: I think my keys are __ the top drawer. Number 12: The child spilled juice __ the carpet.
So let's correct these together. Number one, I have lived in Spain for many years.
Again, Spain is a country and it's surrounded by a border. So we use in
inside something that's surrounded, an enclosed space by a border or by walls or sides.
Number two, my cat always sits on my laptop when I'm trying to work. We're talking about the cat
that's sitting on on top of the laptop. Number three, my boyfriend lives on the street. Number
four: mom is at the supermarket right now. Number five: Is there anything good on TV?
Number six: do you have any gum in your purse?
Number seven: can you put the plates on the table? Number eight: Jack's at the cinema
at the moment. Number nine: I'm talking on the phone with my best friend.
Number 10: He's waiting for you at the bus stop. Number 11: I think my keys are in the top drawer.
Number 12: The child spilled juice on the carpet.
Okay, so I know the difference between in, on, and at can be quite confusing, especially because
a lot of these are ones that you have to memorize. So this is something that you're going to have
to practice. But the more you get familiar with using in, on, and at, the easier it will become,
and the easier you will understand the difference between how you use each one. And once you're
familiar with the prepositions of place in, on, and at, you should also become familiar with
these three words as prepositions of time, and I have a link in the description below to the
video that explains the difference between in, on, and at as prepositions of time as well. So
thank you guys once again for watching. I hope this lesson has helped you understand
the difference between these three words. And make sure to subscribe to Sparkle English for
more videos just like this one. Thanks again for watching, and I'll see you in my next lesson.