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Prepositions"On,""At,""In"BasicEnglishGrammar

repositions "On," "At," and "In"

Aprepositionisawordthatlinksanoun,pronoun,ornounphrasetosome
otherpartofthesentence.
PrepositionscanbetrickyforEnglishlearners.Thereisnodefiniteruleor
formulaforchoosingapreposition.Inthebeginningstageoflearningthe
language,youshouldtrytoidentifyaprepositionwhenreadingorlistening
inEnglishandrecognizeitsusage.
totheoffice
atthedesk
onthetable
inanhour
aboutmyself
Aprepositionisusedtoshowdirection,location,ortime,ortointroducean
object.
Hereareafewcommonprepositionsandexamples.

On
Usedtoexpressasurfaceofsomething:
Iputaneggonthekitchentable.
Thepaperisonmydesk.
Usedtospecifydaysanddates:
ThegarbagetruckcomesonWednesdays.
Iwasbornonthe14thdayofJunein1988.
Usedtoindicateadeviceormachine,suchasaphoneorcomputer:
Heisonthephonerightnow.
Shehasbeenonthecomputersincethismorning.
MyfavoritemoviewillbeonTVtonight.
Usedtoindicateapartofthebody:
Thestickhitmeonmyshoulder.
Hekissedmeonmycheek.
Iweararingonmyfinger.
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4/13/2016

Prepositions"On,""At,""In"BasicEnglishGrammar

Usedtoindicatethestateofsomething:
Everythinginthisstoreisonsale.
Thebuildingisonfire.

At
Usedtopointoutspecifictime:
Iwillmeetyouat12p.m.
Thebuswillstophereat5:45p.m.
Usedtoindicateaplace:
Thereisapartyattheclubhouse.
Therewerehundredsofpeopleatthepark.
Wesawabaseballgameatthestadium.
Usedtoindicateanemailaddress:
Pleaseemailmeatabc@defg.com.
Usedtoindicateanactivity:
Helaughedatmyacting.
Iamgoodatdrawingaportrait.

In
Usedforunspecifictimesduringaday,month,season,year:
Shealwaysreadsnewspapersinthemorning.
Inthesummer,wehavearainyseasonforthreeweeks.
ThenewsemesterwillstartinMarch.
Usedtoindicatealocationorplace:
Shelookedmedirectlyintheeyes.
Iamcurrentlystayinginahotel.
MyhometownisLosAngeles,whichisinCalifornia.
Usedtoindicateashape,color,orsize:
Thispaintingismostlyinblue.
Thestudentsstoodinacircle.
Thisjacketcomesinfourdifferentsizes.
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Prepositions"On,""At,""In"BasicEnglishGrammar
Thisjacketcomesinfourdifferentsizes.
Usedtoexpresswhiledoingsomething:

4/13/2016

Inpreparingforthefinalreport,werevisedthetonethreetimes.
Acatchphraseneedstobeimpressiveinmarketingaproduct.
Usedtoindicateabelief,opinion,interest,orfeeling:
Ibelieveinthenextlife.
Wearenotinterestedingambling.
[Quiz22.1]
Identifyallprepositionsinthefollowingsentences.
Afterflyingformanyhours,wefinallygotofftheairplane.Wewalkedout
theexitandwenttothebaggageclaimarea.Therewerehundredsof
differentbagsontheconveyerbelt.Ialmostpickedupthewrongone
becauseitlookedlikemine.
[Quiz22.2]
Chooseacorrectprepositioninthesentence.
1)Iwanttolose5kilogram(on,at,in)onemonth.
2)Couldyougetmethispants(on,at,in)alargersize?
3)Sheseemstobeinterested(on,at,in)Psychology.
4)Iwillcometopickyouup(on,at,in)2pmtomorrow.
5)Thisclasswillbeheld(on,at,in)Mondays.
ViewAnswers
[22.1]
Afterflyingformanyhours,wefinallygotofftheairplane.We
walkedouttheexitandwenttothebaggageclaimarea.Therewere
hundredsofdifferentbagsontheconveyerbelt.Ialmostpickedupthe
wrongonebecauseitlookedlikemine.
[22.2]
1)in
2)in
3)in
4)at
5)on

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