PREPOSITIONS IN ENGLISH: work in, as, from, for, at, on...?

In this lesson, you're going to get a chance to practice one of the most

common words that we use in business English. And do you know what that word

is? The word "work". Now, you're asking me: "The word 'work'? I know how to use

the word 'work'." Sure. Of course. You know the meaning and you know what it is

"to work". So, the only question is: Are you using it in the right way? That

means: Are you using the right preposition after the word "work"? All

right? Because we actually have so many different prepositions that we can use

with this very common, everyday word. Okay? So, here, we're going to look at

some of those. And it's really important — those little words, as you know —

those prepositions. Right. So, today on... in this lesson, we're going to

look at the prepositions with "work". Now, separately, I have an entire

course, called: "Correct Your English Errors in Ten Minutes a Day", where we

take items like this, and we correct every day, something — like grammar,

like vocabulary, pronunciation, expressions, something. Little

corrections, and these small changes can make a gigantic difference to the level

of your English and the quality of your English. Okay? So, if you're interested,

check out the link to that course. All right? But now, let's figure out if

you're using the word "work" correctly.

All right. So, this is how we're going to do it. So, let's pretend that each of

these is a sentence and it starts with either: "He works" or "She works", and

then something. For example: "He works _______ the finance department." So,

what preposition would you use there? Now, you could do this in two ways. I'm

standing to the side. If you like, you can pause the video, go through them,

put down... maybe if you have a piece of paper or something, put down what you

think the answers are. And then you can check them with me as we go along. Or

you can do it together with me. Okay? So, I'm going to begin now. So: "He

works _______ the finance department." Which preposition do we use there? "He

works in the... the finance department." Okay? You work "in a department", you

work "in a division", you work "in a branch". Later, I'll be showing you what

some of these prepositions refer to. Okay? But for now, let's go through the

quiz and see where you are. Okay?

Number two: "She works _______ a customer service agent." What's that?

This word can be used as a preposition. Not often, but it can be used as a

preposition. "She works as". Okay? So, when you describe what your position is,

you can say: "I work as an IT manager", "I work as a customer service agent",

and so on. Okay? That means: That is my role; that is my position. All right?

Great. Number three: "He works _______ 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. He works _______

8:00 to 4:00. He works from... from 8:00 to 4:00." Okay? All right. Good. Number

four: "She works _______ a laptop." So, what do we use there? "She works on a

laptop." Okay? Very good. How are you doing so far? Are you getting them?

Good. Good. Excellent. I can see you. All right. Number five: "She works

_______ home." Nowadays, many people are doing this; they're not working in the

office. They're working, what is it? "from home". Okay? "She's working from

home." Now, you could say: "She works at home." It's possible; it has a slightly

different meaning. But: "She works from home" means that the job that she's

doing, either for a company, might be being done right now from her home, or

she works from home for herself. Okay? It doesn't mean that you have to work

for someone else, but that you're working from that location. All right?

Number six: "He works _______ Tuesdays and Thursdays." So, what do we say

there? "He works on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Now, you might be wondering:

"Why does she have an 's' there? Why can't we just say 'on Tuesday and

Thursday'?" You could say that; that's fine, too. But if someone says: "She

works on", "He works on Tuesdays and Thursdays" — that means every Tuesday

and every Thursday. Okay? That's all it means. Or, let's say, if we say: "We

have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays" — that means every Tuesday and every

Thursday. And just like if we said one day or one day, we have to say "on": "on

Tuesday", "on Thursday". Okay? Good. Number seven: "She works _______ ABC

Company." There are a couple of possibilities, here. Let's see if you

get one of them. "She works for" — you could say; that means: "Who do you work

for?" Right? "Who is your employer?" So, then you could say: "She works for ABC

Company." Sometimes people say: "She works at ABC Company." And sometimes

they might even say: "She works in ABC Company." All right? But, really: "She

works for" that person, that employer; or "She works at" that company. All

right? Number eight: "He works _______ the 5th floor." Which floor? The 5th

floor. So: "He works", which preposition is it? "He works on the 5th floor."

Okay? So, those were just eight. There are many other possibilities that we're

going to be looking at. How did you do on those? Did you get them right? Did

you get any wrong? Let's see, now, why these are like this, and what are the

kind of categories? What do they refer to? When do we usually use: "from"? When

do we usually use "for"? And things like that. Okay? We're going to see that in

one second.

So, here, we have some of the many possibilities of which prepositions to

use with the word "work". So, let's go through them. Okay? Don't worry; it's

not too much. Just trying to understand why certain prepositions are being used

as much as possible. Okay? All right. So, "at": "He works at the airport."

"at" is kind of very specific; specific place. "at the airport", "at a bank".

Okay? Or: "at my desk". "I work at my desk." All right? That's, what? Very

kind of specific place. Here, by the way, you could also say: "He works at

the corner of..." — okay? — "of Main Street and Jane Street". All right? You

could say that. All right? So, that's when we use "at". Next, "for". We can

use "for" a few different ways; you can use "for", again, as I mentioned

earlier, to describe: Who is your employer? So, let's say: "He works for

Microsoft", or "He works for Mr. Johnson." All right? So, we could use it

in that way. You could also use it to talk about the length of time that

someone works. For example: "He works for 8 hours a day." All right? Got it?

Good.

Let's move on. Then, who do you work with? All right? Who are the people, or

the... the teams that you work with? "He works with Susan", or "She works with

the IT department." All right? So, that's who you work "with"; that's who

you work "for"; and this is where you work "at". All right? Let's go on. "She

works in a factory." Okay. "in a factory". "She works in a... in a

building", "She works in an office." We also use it... So, we could talk about

the specific place, like: "in a factory", "in a store". Or we could say

the... a city or a country. "She works in London", "She works in England." All

right? Next, if we're talking about "on" — we mentioned before. Right? — "He

works on a laptop", or "He's working on a project." Usually, there, we'll say

not "works", but "working". But the same verb. Right? "Right now I'm working on a

specific project", "I'm working on a special project." Not: "in a project" —

"on a project". Okay? That's that one. Next: "He works on the 18th floor." All

right? There we go — "on" a certain floor of a building. All right. Next,

"as". Again, we talked about, here, we use "as", plus the type of role that you

have. For example: "He works as a manager." Okay? Or: "works as a waiter".

"She works as a salesperson." Okay?

So, that's one way in which you could describe yourself — try to talk about

this. When you're... whenever you're looking at any of these, whether it's:

"as", or "for", or "with" — the main thing you could do at the very end is to

write about yourself, and use the appropriate prepositions to write about

yourself, to talk about yourself. Say some sentences to tell about yourself.

Talk about some other people in your family: "Who do they work for? Who do

they work with?" and so on. All right? And, that way, it becomes more relevant,

and it's much easier for you to remember it. Next, you could say that someone

works from a certain time to a certain time — okay? — "from 9:00 to 5:00",

usually, we say, or "from Monday to Friday". Or, as we had said before:

"works from home." Okay? "He works from home", or "He works from the New York

office." That's possible. All right? So, this is the place you work from, or the

times you work from. Got it? All right. Then, until what time? Okay? If "from"

is usually going to start with the time you start working; "until" — talks about

the ending time. So: "He starts at 9:00, but he works until 5:00", or "until

midnight". You could say: "until" or "till" — it's the same thing. And

another one, which you sometimes hear: "He works during the week", or "He works

during the day." All right?

So, we see here some... like, these are just nine of the prepositions. You might

actually see a few more, but these are the most common ones to use with the

word "work", which I'm sure you use very often. So, try to learn these well. And

as I said, make some relevant sentences of your own to make it real for you.

Okay? And, again, these are just some of the very common small mistakes that

could... could lower your English. So, if you want to raise your level of

English, also check out my English course: "Correct Your English Errors in

Ten Minutes a Day". By correcting one small thing each day, you can raise your

level quite a lot. A lot of students have already tried it; they say they've

enjoyed it very much. I hope you'll have a chance to do the same. Okay? Thanks

very much for watching, and all the best with your English. Bye for now.