How to Use ON and IN. English Prepositions Rules Explained

Ok class Who can tell me,

What is he doing?

- He is sitting on the chair.

That's incorrect.

Kate?

- She's sitting in the chair.

- That's right.

What about this one ? Where's she?

... Is she IN bed or ON the bed?

She's ON bed?

No.

She's in bed.

Great job.

And the last one.

Where's the cat?

She is on bed?

No, you're wrong.

- It's ON the bed.

Great job!

- Come see me after class.

Hey guys!

Today we're going to learn how to use ON and IN correctly.

I will give you examples and explanation so you will learn what’s the difference between

these confusing prepositions.

Let’s do it!

In the chair or On the chair?

What’s the difference?

We say sit in the chair.

It's correct.

But we can also say ON the chair, if something is hanging on the chair, for example, the

clothes are on the chair.

If we’re talking about someone who is sitting in the chair we always say IN the chair.

Stay in the chair. Promise me.

Now let's talk about the difference between IN bed and ON the bed.

In bed that means that someone is under the blanket.

She's lying in bed.

We don't say in THE bed.

It's correct to say in bed.

ON the bed.

That means on the blanket, so the cat is on the bed.

The girl is ON the bed.

If we're talking about electronic devices, we always say ON - ON MY LAPTOP, on my tablet,

On my computer, ON the Phone.

I was speaking on the phone, Can you guys please shut up, I'm on the phone.

I was working on my laptop, We also say On the screen.

I see the picture on the screen.

When we describe different ways to connect we say I'm on the computer or I'm on the Internet.

I watched this on the Internet.

We never say IN the Internet.

That’s incorrect.

BUT!

When we describe a place we say I'm at the computer.

When you sit in front of the computer you can say: I'm sitting at the computer.

We also say at the desk and at the table when we speak about the place.

When we talk about books, textbooks we always say in the textbook, in the book, in the article.

I read this information in the textbook.

When you learn prepositions, it’s better just to memorize these phrases.

We need to remember that we always use IN with parts of the day: In the morning, In

the afternoon, In the evening.

Let's meet in the morning.

But there are two exceptions- We say AT noon and AT night, and At midnight.

But we will be talking about that later.

We use IN with Seasons -In summer, In winter, In spring

We use IN with years, for example.

He was born in 1995.

With Months - In May, In April.

My birthday is in January.

And what about you?

Where is your birthday?

Good You need to remember that we always use ON

with the days - ON Monday, On Tuesday, on Wednesday.

We always say- ON the weekend, ON my birthday, ON Saturday evening

Please be careful, we say IN the evening but ON Saturday evening, because there is a word

Saturday.

ON is used when we're talking about dates.

- on September 19.

IN is used with names of cities, towns, states and countries.

I would like to live in California.

Which country would you like to live in?

I'm so curious, please let me know in the comments below.

We use in when we talk about a period of time, in a minute, in an hour.

Where’s she?

Is she On the bus or In the bus?

The correct answer is ON the bus.

Let's get on the bus

When we're talking about transport we say - ON the bus, ON the train, but IN the car.

We also say ON the plane, In the plane is incorrect.

When we are talking about a specific place with the borders, a space with walls like

a box, we use IN.

I'm in the room, She's in the house, They're in the office.

But at the office is also correct.

I work at the office.

IN is about a physical place and AT is about a concept of the place.

For example, if someone asks me Where are you?

I can say I'm in the office.

I'm physically in and if I say about what do I do in this place, I work here, and I

say I'm at the office however I can stay outside the building, I should say: I'm at the office.

I will explain how to use AT in my next video.

And there's one more example.

IN the sea or On the sea?

The boat is ON the sea, because we're talking about a flat surface, the sea.

But I'm swimming in the sea.

I'm physically IN it.

So it’s correct to say “swim IN the sea” Thank you for watching this video!

I hope it was useful.

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