Easy way to explain prepositions: In,On, At
The TOP, which is BIGGER and more GENERAL (IN)
The MIDDLE, which is SMALLER and MORE SPECIFIC (ON)
The BOTTOM, which is SMALLEST and the MOST SPECIFIC (AT)
بصفة عامة :
- تستخدم (IN) مع الفترات والاماكن الكبيرة عموما.
- تستخدم (ON) مع الفترات والاماكن الاصغر واكثر تحديدا.
- تستخدم (ON) مع الفترات والاماكن المحددة.
Prepositions of Time
IN- The pyramid’s TOP (wider), which is BIGGER and more GENERAL:
Description: Bigger periods of time: Centuries, Decades, Years, Months
Examples: in the 20th century, in the 1980’s, in March, in the third week of April, in the future
Exceptions: in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon
ON- The pyramid’s MIDDLE part, which is SMALLER and MORE SPECIFIC:
Description: Days, or periods of time shorter than three days
Examples: on my birthday, on Saturday,on the weekend (United States), on June 8th
Exceptions: on my lunch break, on time
AT- The pyramid’s BOTTOM (pointed), the SMALLEST, and the MOST SPECIFIC:
Description: Specific times or small time periods.
Examples: at 9:00 PM, at lunch, at dinner,at the start of the party, at sunrise, at the start of the movie, at the moment
Exceptions: at night, at the weekend (England)
Prepositions of Location
IN – The TOP (wider), which is BIGGER and more GENERAL:
Description: In larger areas (countries, states, cities, neighborhoods)
Examples: in the United States, in Miami,in my neighborhood
Exceptions: in downtown (“I work indowntown”)
ON – The MIDDLE, which is SMALLER and MORE SPECIFIC:
Description: a longer area, street, beach, river
Examples: on Broadway Street, on the beach, on my street
AT – The pyramid’s BOTTOM (pointed), the SMALLEST, and the MOST SPECIFIC:
Description: the address or specific location, specific points.
Examples: at 345 broadway street, at the store, at my house
Prepositions of Placement
The mind map pyramid below explains TIME in the same way we did above (only this one isnot inverted), but it also introduces prepositions PLACE/PLACEMENT, which we will focus on here.
IN – for enclosed spaces and personalmodes of transportation
- Enclosed Space: in the kitchen, in the house, the water is in the glass
- Personal Modes of Transportation: getin the car, my friend is in the taxi
ON – for surfaces andpublic modes of transportation
- Surfaces: on the floor, on the wall, the book is on the table, on a page, I put on my clothes (my clothes are on my body)
- Public Modes of Transportation: on the bus, on the plane, on a boat, on a ship,
- Exceptions: on my motorcycle, on my bike (these are personal modes of transportation, but we use “on”)
AT – for specific point(the same as prepositions of location)
- at the bus stop, at the cinema, at the corner, at the top of the hill, at the mall
Watch this video