In, on, at

hello everyone today we're going to be learning about three important prepositions in English in on and at a simple way to understand in on and at is by thinking about position location time and how you get around I will be dividing this video into four parts position location time and transportation to help you understand prepositions better but first of all what are prepositions they are words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and the other words in the sentence they tell you where something is when something happens or how things are related so

let's start with in on and at and see how they're used for talking about position we use in when you're inside in is used for enclosed spaces larger areas and containers for example I'm in a restaurant my sunglasses are in my car my phone is in my pocket my bottle of water is in the backpack and we use on when something is on top of something else on is used for surfaces for example my keys are on the table my credit card is on the floor my phone is on on the table I am sitting

on a bench Can you think of some other things you can sit on well you can sit on a chair on the ground on the floor or on the couch when we talk about positions in and on aren't the only options you might also use words like under above or next to but that's a topic for another video for now let's stick with in on and at so we've covered positions now let's see how we can use in on and at with locations we use in for countries for example I live in the United States

my brother is in China he's visiting the Great Wall of China we use in for cities or states I live in Cincinnati we use in for a neighborhood or an area I grew up in Over the Rind we also use in with directions for example in the North in the east in the south in the west but we use on with streets and roads for example my apartment is on Elm Street my friend lives on Gerard street at is used for specific addresses points and locations it's the most precise of the three we use it

when speaking about a specific location or activity if you are writing your address you need to use at for instance this package needs to be delivered at this ad address 1513 Elm Street Cincinnati Ohio if you're talking about a specific meeting point or location you can use at I'm waiting at the bus stop let's meet at the corner of the street I'm at the main entrance of the soccer stadium I am at the movie theater we also use is at when you're speaking about a location and there's an activity my friend is at the football

game my little sister's at school she's studying she's doing an activity prepositions can be tricky and in some situations you need to know the difference to give you a better idea imagine I call my mom if she says Ariana I'm in the hospital I'm immediately going to think something bad has happened but if she says Ariana I'm at the hospital then I'd assume that she's working or visiting a friend see I'm in the hospital usually means she's sick and needs medical care that means she's the patient while I'm at the hospital suggests she's visiting someone

or maybe she works there did you see how the preposition made a different in that sentence now let's see how in on and at is used with time if we're talking about longer periods of time we use in for instance we use in for centuries decades years months afternoons mornings and Seasons we use in for centuries this house was built in the 19th century this train station opened in the 20th century we also used the preposition in when talking about decades technology has advanced so much in recent decades gas prices used to be cheap in

the 70s now I have to pay $3 per gallon the music in the early 9s was the best [Music] when referring to years in English we use the preposition in I was born in 2001 I moved to my new apartment in 2019 and we use in for months two the flowers bloom in April the leaves change color in October it usually snows in December Christmas is in December finally you'll use the preposition in when talking about Seasons I love going to the beach in summer I like to travel in the spring I work a lot

in the fall when referring to a day of the week the correct preposition is on on Monday on Tuesday on Wednesday Etc the restaurant is closed on Monday and Tuesday but it opens on Wednesday I go to the gym on Saturdays I will go to the movies on Saturday the preposition on is also used in phrases that include the word day I always get flowers on Valentine's Day I usually sleep in on my day off I like to wear a hat on a sunny day like this one to talk about dates we also use on

I graduated from college on April 23rd 2023 the movie Snow White comes out on March 21st the preposition at is used when talking about a certain time I wake up at 700 a.m. the movie Moana 2 starts at 4:00 meet me in the Cincinnati history museum at 1:00 the store closed at 4:00 right now it's 5:00 and before we jump into the next rule let's quickly note this exception we say in the morning in the afternoon but at noon and at night for example I eat lunch at noon I normally get off work in the

afternoon let's move on to how we use in on and at with different kinds of Transportation when talking about Transportation if you can't stand up and move around inside we'll usually use in I am in the car I'm in the SUV it was really loud in the helicopter even with the headphones it was a bit cramped in the taxi with all our luggage so we use in if you cannot walk around inside the vehicle and we use on if you can walk around right now I'm on the boat because there's no ceiling above me so

I'm not inside the boat or I'm not in the boat I'm outside on the boat and behind me you can see Alcatraz I am on a train I am on a bus I am on a plane also if you write something we use the preposition on I am on a motorcycle I am on the scooter she's riding on a horse now it's time to check out the bonus round if you're listening or watching something on your phone TV or something like that use the preposition on on the radio on your phone on TV on the

internet for example I watch the news on the TV I am reading my emails on the computer I'm on YouTube and by the way don't forget to subscribe now we usually use in when we're talking about written materials these are things we read in a physical object like in a book in the newspaper in a magazine in a notebook I saw the accident in the newspaper I'm reading the story in the brochure okay everybody that's all for today's video remember that in is used for general areas enclosed spaces or containers on is used for surfaces

and Roads and at is used for specific addresses points or locations and now you guys have a general understanding of the prepositions in on and at thank you so much for watching and don't forget to like this video leave a comment and subscribe I'll see you guys next week bye