IN / ON / AT - Prepositions of PLACE AND TIME | English Grammar Lesson (+ Free PDF & Quiz)

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- Hello, everyone

and welcome back to English with Lucy.

Today we are going to be talking

about the prepositions in, on, and at.

They are prepositions of time and place.

Is it in the morning?

On the morning?

Or at the morning?

Why did we say at Christmas,

but on Christmas day?

Why do you go in a taxi,

but on a bus?

That is what we are going to discuss

in today's English lesson.

As always, there is a free PDF that goes with this lesson.

It's got all of the information from the lesson

plus a quiz that I think you're really like.

You can use it to check

that you've really understood

how to use in, on, and at

as prepositions of place and prepositions of time.

If you would like the free PDF

click on the link in the description box

you enter your name and your email address

you sign up to my mailing list

and I send the PDF directly to your inbox.

Before we get started

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Right, let's get started with the lesson.

Let's start within in, on, and at as prepositions of time.

When we look at, in, on, at

we move from general to more specific.

That's a really good way to think of things,

in is very general, on is quite general

and at is normally more specific.

Let's take a look at in first.

Firstly, we use in to talk about periods of time,

general periods of time

because in is very general.

In the future.

In the past.

In the present.

Some examples in the future,

I'd like to get married.

In the past I studied hard at school.

In is also used to talk about years

and I mean individual years like 1991 for example

groups of years, decades, and centuries.

In 1994, I was born.

I was born in the 90s.

My great grandfather was born in the 19th century.

Maybe he wasn't,

my great, great grandfather was born in the 19th century,

I think.

We also use in to talk about seasons

these are big parts of the year.

In summer.

In winter.

In autumn, I love seeing the changing of the leaves.

In spring I feel really positive.

We also use in to talk about months and weeks.

In June.

In November.

In five weeks time.

In a few weeks.

These all use in.

In June, I will be 27,

I can't believe that.

Or hopefully look down in the UK will end in a few weeks.

Who knows if you're from the future

can you tell me, I would really like to know.

Lastly, we use in to talk about parts,

general parts of days.

For example, in the morning.

In the afternoon.

In the evening, I like to relax and play board games.

So that's clear, in is general.

Let's move on to on it's much more specific

but not quite as specific as at.

We use on to talk about dates.

For example, on the 10th of June, 1994, I was born.

I'm sorry I bring my birthday into everything.

I really enjoyed my birthday.

Another example on his birthday, on his birthday

he went out for a meal.

We also use on to talk about holidays

that include the word day.

On Christmas day.

On new year's day.

On a bank holiday.

A bank holiday is a day where schools are closed

and normally we don't have to work

and most importantly banks are closed

that's why it gets its name.

They normally fall on a Monday

so you have a nice long weekend.

I love bank holidays.

So we don't say on Christmas

but we do say on Christmas day,

I wonder if you can guess which preposition

we use for Christmas.

We also use on for days of the week,

on Monday.

On Friday.

On Friday evening.

On Saturday morning, on is also used

for days of the month.

On the 4th of July.

On the first day of September.

Remember in American English and British English

we say dates differently.

So I would say on the 4th of May, they might say May 4th.

I do have a video on how to say and write dates and English.

It's very old,

I probably look very, very young in it.

I will leave it in the description for you.

I have one miscellaneous, slightly random one

and that is on time.

On time.

I arrived to work on time, at the correct time.

Okay, let's move on to at,

the most specific preposition

we use at to talk

about specific times,

at 10:00 AM.

At three o'clock.

At lunchtime.

At sunset.

At sunrise.

At the moment, right now you will often see us saying atm

for at the moment in spoken slang, English.

What are you doing atm?

What are you doing at the moment,

that's a good one to remember.

We also use at to talk about holidays without the word day.

So at Christmas.

At Christmas I like to spend time with my family.

Although I didn't get to this year.

Thanks, COVID.

At Easter.

So it's on Easter Sunday or at Easter

when we're talking

about the whole weekend of Easter.

One last miscellaneous one

we have at night, at night.

In the PDF I mentioned before I have included a quiz

so you can check your understanding

of in, on, and at as prepositions of time,

the link for that is in the description box.

Let's move on to, in, on, and at,

as prepositions of place.

And I have some good news in, on, and at

as prepositions of place.

Also follow that same rule as before.

In is more general.

On is in the middle.

And at is more specific.

If you're stuck in an exam, just keep that in your head

at least you can have a good estimation

of which preposition to use.

Let's start with in again,

nice and general in.

In is used to talk about countries.

I am in England.

He is in Ireland.

We also use in talk about cities, very general once again.

I stayed in Jakarta, in Jakarta.

In Seville.

When I went to Italy, I stayed in Palermo.

Like cities we also use in for neighbourhoods

and large areas.

For example, in the Cotswolds,

the Cotswolds is a beautiful large area of England.

Or in Kensington.

That's an big neighbourhood in London.

We also use in for enclosed spaces

and this is an important one to remember,

we are in a taxi.

In a car.

Now I'll talk about trains and buses later on

because we don't use in with them we use on.

And I like to think that because taxis, cars,

and helicopters are small spaces

and you have to crouch down

and make yourself small to get into them

we use in.

We also use in for in a classroom.

In the house.

In the books.

Finally, we use in for books and newspapers.

In the Times.

In the dictionary

I saw that in the newspaper.

Let's move on to on,

this is less general than in

but not quite as specific as at.

We use on to talk about streets or roads or avenues,

on Fleet Street.

On Fifth Avenue.

On the Kings Road.

We also use on to talk about surfaces.

On the floor.

On the ceiling.

On the roof.

On the table.

We also use on to talk about floors of buildings.

Her office is on the first floor.

I am on the top floor.

Important we use on to talk about public transport.

On the train.

On a bus.

On a plane.

So it's in a taxi, car, helicopter,

on a train, bus, tram, plane.

These are less enclosed spaces

in general, you can enter them and remain standing up

that's how I like to think of them.

Finally, we use on for communications and media.

On the TV.

On the internet.

On the news, meaning on the news on TV.

On the radio.

I was on the radio last week

did you hear me?

Finally, we have at,

very specific usually.

We use at for addresses,

this are very specific.

Number 10 High Street.

Or the Red Hous, Bedford Street.

In England most houses have house numbers

but especially in villages or for very big houses

some have names.

Whenever I've lived in a city

my house or flat has always had a number

but where I grew up and where I live now

I live in a rural location

there aren't many people nearby,

we have a house name.

We also use at for specific locations.

I am at the bus stop.

He is at the museum.

At is also used for shops,

at the coffee shop.

At the bakery.

At the butchers.

We also use art for group activities,

at a party.

At a concert.

At a theatre.

An important one to remember

is that we use at for home, work, and places of study.

I'm at school.

I'm at university.

I'm at work.

I'm at home.

We also use at with

top, bottom, and start

for example, at the end of the river.

At the top of the page.

At the bottom of the stairs.

Finally, this one is slightly strange

but do you remember I said we use on for surfaces,

so my laptop is on my desk.

However, I am sitting at my desk.

You sit at a table, at a surface,

but you put your things on a table, on a surface.

If I were to get up and sit on top of my desk

then I would be on the desk.

Right that is it for today's lesson.

Again, I have included a quiz

for in, on, and at prepositions of both place and time.

If you would like to do the quiz

click on the link in the description box

you sign up to my mailing list and I send the quiz

and all of the information directly to your inbox,

and you can share your results

in the comment section down below.

Another big thank you to Lingoda,

the sponsor of today's video.

Click on the link in the description box

and use code LOVE2021

for 20% of all of their courses.

This offer on the 1st of March.

If you've missed the deadline

I will put another active code in the description box

so that you don't miss out.

Don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media,

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my Facebook, and my website, englishwithlucy.co.uk.

I will see you soon for another lesson.

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