IN, ON, AT English Test: Can you pass?

Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.  In, on, at, let's talk about it. 

I forget. Did I put it in the cabinet, on the  shelf, or at the front door? In, on, and at  

are three little words that are often tricky for  English learners, and maybe they are for you too.  

But today I have some good news. Today you are  going to test your skills and knowledge of in,  

on, and at with a fun little test. Fun? Test? Yes. If you have been watching my lessons or other  

English content, you have been inputting real  useful English. And our brains are amazing  

things. Our brains are always trying to sort  out which words go where. Our brains are amazing  

at recognizing a pattern. The clouds are  dark. It's going to rain. This is a pattern.  

But I have a little hunch. A hunch is like a  guess. Do you think that these words in, on,  

and at are tricky for you? These little words,  they're called prepositions. I have a hunch  

that you know more than you think you do. These words and concepts seem tricky,  

but our brains are amazing. You are amazing. Your  brain has already created some patterns using in,  

on, and at. So I think you are going to do better  on this test than you think you will. Am I right?  

Am I wrong? Let's find out. Plus, you'll  learn five common fixed phrases using in,  

on, and at, at the end of this lesson. And of course, to help you remember everything  

that you've learned today, I have created  a free PDF worksheet with all of the ideas,  

rules, concepts, sample sentences. And at the end  of the PDF, you will be able to answer Vanessa's  

challenge question. You can download this free  PDF worksheet with the link in the description. 

Before we start with our test, let's review  a few simple rules. Each of the prepositions  

in, on, and at can be used to talk about space  and time. Let's take a look at some examples  

so that we can study before the test. In. I put the medicine in the cabinet,  

in the afternoon. Here we have  space, in the cabinet, and time,  

in the afternoon. We use in for an enclosed  space, in the cabinet. And for a general time,  

usually a time of day, in the morning, in the  afternoon, in the evening, this general time. 

On. I put my phone on the shelf on Monday.  Here we have space, on the shelf, and time, on  

Monday. Usually on is with a surface. Sometimes  it's a flat surface. Sometimes it's not.  

But we talk about on with a surface, on the shelf.  And for time we're talking about a specific day,  

on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday.  This video is coming out on Friday. 

And at. Please be at the entrance of the park  at 4:00 PM. We have space, at the entrance,  

and time, at 4:00 PM. At the entrance of the  park is a specific place, a specific point,  

at the entrance of the park. And for time, at 4:00  PM, we are talking about a specific time, at 4:00  

PM, at 9:00 PM, at 3:00 AM, this specific time. So we've had a little review here.  

Don't stress too much about the rules. I want  you to look into your heart as I give you these  

test sentences. I want you to choose which word  is the best to fill in each of these sentences.  

Maybe you remember the rules, maybe you  don't. That's okay. Remember those patterns  

we talked about. Your brain has created some  patterns already using these three words. 

So let's get started with sentence  number one. Did you find your coat  

the closet? Did you find your coat in, on, at the  closet? I'll give you three seconds to decide.  

Did you find your coat in the closet? In is  an enclosed space. The closet is an enclosed  

space. Did you find your coat in the closet? Number two. My favorite cafe is the end of  

this street. My favorite cafe is  in, on, at the end of this street.  

What do you think? Three, two, one. My  favorite cafe is at the end of this street.  

Here we're talking about a specific place,  a specific point. At the end of the street  

is my favorite cafe. How are you doing  so far? Take a deep breath. You got this. 

All right, let's go to number three.  Oh no. I spilled my coffee my homework.  

Oh no. I spilled my coffee in, on, at my homework.  Three, two, one. Oh, no. I spilled my coffee on  

my work. Here we're talking about the surface of  my homework. It also happens to be a flat surface.  

Like I mentioned, we sometimes use this  for flat surfaces, on my homework. Oh man.  

Now I'm going to have to explain this to my  teacher. I spilled my coffee on my homework. 

Number four. I enjoy taking walks early the  morning. I enjoy taking walks early in, on,  

at the morning. Three, two, one. I enjoy taking  walks early in the morning. Here we are talking  

about a general time of day. We're not talking  about 9:00 AM. We're talking about a general time,  

in the morning, in the afternoon. And this is one  of the keys to remembering prepositions, is when  

you can remember a full phrase, in the morning,  you're not going to need to think about the rules.  

All right, general time, specific time, time.  No, you don't need to think about that because  

you know the full phrase. So sentences like this  are great ways to remember these tricky words.  

In the morning. Let's go to the next question. Number five. My date will be here 5:15. My date  

will be here in, on, at 5:15. We're talking  about time here. I'll give you three seconds.  

My date will be here at 5:15. Hopefully not 5:14.  Hopefully not 5:16, 5:15. Maybe not exactly,  

but you know what I mean? Here we're talking  about a specific time, 5:15, 6;15, 7:45,  

at 5:15. All right, let's get to the next one. Number six. I love to spend summer vacation  

the mountains. I love to spend summer  vacation in, on, at the mountains.  

Give you three seconds. Three, two, one.  The best answer for this sentence is  

I love to spend summer vacation in the mountains.  We're not talking about digging a hole in the  

mountains and going inside the dirt and the  rocks. No. This would really be an enclosed space,  

in the closet, in the cabinet. But  sometimes we use the idea of an enclosed  

space a little bit more loosely. So here we're  talking about being surrounded by the mountains.  

It's the idea that you're somewhat enclosed  in the warm embrace of the mountains. So  

sometimes we do use this a little bit more  loosely. Well, you can get the idea here. 

Number seven, we are having dinner my favorite  restaurant. We're having dinner in, on,  

at my favorite restaurant. I'll give  you three seconds. Three, two, one.  

We're having dinner at my favorite restaurant.  This is a specific place, a specific point. At  

my favorite restaurant. Well, that's where we're  going to be having dinner. We're having dinner at  

my favorite restaurant, a specific place. Number eight. I jumped when he tapped me  

the shoulder. I jumped when he tapped me in, on,  at the shoulder. Three, two, one. I jumped when he  

tapped me on the shoulder. This is also a little  more loose, but we're talking about the surface of  

my shoulder, the surface of my skin. When  he tapped me on the shoulder, this is the  

surface of it. It's not inside my skin. This is  just the surface. He tapped me on the shoulder. 

How are you doing? We have two more  sentences. Let's go to number nine.  

Do you have a date Saturday night? Do you have a  date in, on, at Saturday night? Do you remember  

which one we should use with days like Saturday?  I'll give you three seconds. Three, two, one.  

Do you have a date on Saturday night? We use  on for a specific day, on Saturday, on Friday,  

on Tuesday. Do you have a date on Saturday night? And our final test question before we get to five  

fixed phrases is using in, on, and at is this. You  can email me [email protected].  

This is a common phrase we use in business, or  whenever you need to tell someone your email  

address. So it's a good expression to remember.  You can email me in, on, or at my email address.  

Three, two, one. You can email me at  [email protected]. This  

is also a more figurative way to use a specific  place. So we said at my favorite restaurant,  

at the entrance of the park. But this is not a  place you can go. You can't go physically to my  

email address. So we're going to use this a little  bit more loosely and we can say, you can email me  

at, this is my specific email address. You can  email me at [email protected]. 

Great. Are you ready for five bonus  fixed phrases that include in, on,  

or at? These are kind of outside the rules  of what we just talked about, but I want  

you to look into your heart and to guess which  preposition do you think would be the best fit? 

Let's look at this sentence. The building is fire.  

The building is in, on, at fire. What is the  fixed phrase we're looking for here? Three,  

two, one. The building is on fire. Ah, run.  So here we're using the fixed phrase to be on  

fire. We can use this in a real way, that there  are flames coming up from the building. So get out  

of the building. It's on fire. But we can also use  this for more figurative ways. For example, you  

might say, "My motivation for learning English is  on fire from watching Vanessa's video," or talking  

about your motivation is on fire. Or we might say,  "I'm on fire for English." This is talking about a  

more figurative way of talking about fire that of  course there is not fire on you, but we're talking  

about in your heart. There is an excitement.  There's determination. There's motivation. I'm  

on fire for English. My motivation is on fire.  And that is another way to use this expression. 

All right, let's go to the next sentence. Do  you believe love at first sight? Do you believe  

in, on, at love at first sight? I'll  give you three seconds. Three, two, one.  

Do you believe in love at first sight?  Here our fixed expression is to believe in  

something. You can believe in love. You can  believe in peace. You can believe in your  

ability to learn English. You can believe in  something. And this means you have hope that  

it will happen. You have high hopes that this  will come true. I believe in love. Wonderful. 

Question number 13. He is really good juggling.  Juggling is when you throw balls in the air.  

He is really good in, on, at juggling. I'll  tell you in three, two, one. He is really good  

at juggling. Here we're going to use the fixed  expression to be good at something. This is used  

all the time. You might say, "I thought that  I wasn't good at English. And then I found  

Vanessa's lessons and realized, 'Oh, it's not too  hard. I can do this.'" You can be good at English. 

Number 14. Do you have this a smaller size? This  is a common expression when you're shopping.  

Do you have this in, on, or at a smaller size?  Three, two, one. Do you have this in a smaller  

size? This expression, to be in a size or color is  commonly used when we're shopping and we're trying  

to find the best thing that we are looking  for. So you might say, "Do you have this in  

a large? Do you have this in a medium?" Or we  can use it for color. "Do you have this in red?  

Do you have this in stripes?" Great. This is a  great expression to use when you're shopping. 

And our final test question. Are  you ready, drum roll, is my date was  

his phone all night. It was so rude. My date was  in, on, at his phone all night. Such a shame.  

Three, two, one. My date was on his phone all  night. It was so rude. He's not actually standing  

on his phone, but instead that means he's using  his phone. And this is a common expression, to be  

on your phone. Sometimes you could  say this maybe to teenagers. "Hey,  

get off your phone. You are on your phone all day.  Why are you always on your phone? I wish I wasn't  

on my phone so much." It doesn't mean that  you're standing on your phone. It just means  

you're using your phone. So this is a great  fixed expression to know, to be on your phone. 

So let's do a little review. I'm going to  read all of these sentences one more time  

and I would like you to try to say them out loud  with me. Do you think you can do this? Of course,  

you can, because you are good at English.  Let's say all of these sentences together. 

Did you find your coat in the closet? I  enjoy taking walks early in the morning.  

I love to spend summer vacation in the mountains.  Do you have this in a smaller size? Do you believe  

in love at first sight? Oh no. I spilled  coffee on my homework. Do you have a date  

on Saturday night? I jumped when he tapped  me on the shoulder. The building is on fire.  

My date was on his phone the whole night. It  was so rude. My favorite cafe is at the end of  

this street. My date will be here at 5:15. We are  having dinner at my favorite restaurant. You can  

email me at [email protected].  He is really good at juggling. 

So how did you do on this test? I hope that it was  better than you imagined, because your brain is  

amazing. You are amazing. You have been creating  patterns by watching my videos and other English  

content so that these seemingly tricky words  are maybe actually easier than you thought. 

Don't forget to help you remember everything  you learned in this lesson, you can download  

the free PDF worksheets with all of the rules,  sentences, and ideas that we talked about today,  

and you can answer Vanessa's challenge  question. You can click on the link  

in the description to download that PDF. And now I have a little question for you.  

In the comments, let me know what your score was,  and also, what is something that you are good at?  

Let us know in the comments. I can't wait to read  to see what you have to say. Make sure you read  

other people's comments as well to get to know  wonderful people from around the world. Well,  

thank you so much for learning English with me  and I'll see you again next Friday for a new  

lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. The next step is to download the free  

PDF worksheet for this lesson. With this  free PDF, you will master today's lesson  

and never forget what you have learned. You  can be a confident English speaker. Don't  

forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  for a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.