The prepositions in, at, and on for indicating place and location.
The general rule is
to use in for an enclosed space, at for a point, and on for a surface. Here are some specific guidelines for their use in American English: Use in for spaces: They always meet in a secret room [in a suuran hotel, in a par!ing lot, in a farm, in a ricefield". Use in for names of specific land areas: #he li$es in a %uiet town [in Tagaytay, in &a$ite, in #outhern Tagalog, in the island of 'alawan, in the 'hilippines, in #outheast Asia". Use in for odies of water: That !ind of fish thri$es in freshwater [in the ri$er, in the la!e, in streams, in the sea". Use in for lines: The registrants are in a row [in a line, in a %ueue". Use at to indicate points: (ou)ll find us at the entrance [at the ta*i stand, at the supermar!et, at the intersection". Use at for specific addresses, as in #he li$es at +, -ilac #t. Use on for names of streets, roads, a$enues, and oule$ards: Her apartment is on #an 'alo #treet [on .rtigas A$enue, on #antolan /oad, on /o*as 0oule$ard". Use on for surfaces: There)s a large stain on the floor [on the wall, on the ceiling, on the roof". The prepositions in, at, and on for indicating location. Use in in these cases: The children are in the !itchen [in the garden, in the car, in the lirary, in the class, in school". 1The article the is mandatory e*cept for the fourth and last e*ample.2 Use at in these particular cases: #he was at home [at the lirary, at the office, at school, at wor!" when we arri$ed. Use on in these particular cases: They are on the plane [on the train, on the oat". #ome locations, though, don)t need a preposition etween them and the $er: They sleep downstairs [inside, outside, downtown, upstairs, uptown". Rules for Usage: PREPOSITIONS THAT ESTABLISH MOTION AND DIRECTION The prepositions of motion to, toward, in, and into. These four prepositions lin! the $ers of mo$ement3mo$e, go, transfer, wal!, run, swim, ride, dri$e, fly, tra$el, and many more3to their o4ect destination. All of these $ers, e*cept transfer, can ta!e oth to and toward. 5e must !eep in mind, howe$er, that to is used to con$ey the idea of mo$ement toward a specific destination, while toward is used to con$ey mo$ement in a general direction that may not reach a specific destination: 'lease ta!e me to the us station. 1The spea!er oligates the listener to specifically ta!e him to a particular place.2 The speedoat headed toward the haror. 1The spea!er indicates only a mo$ement in a general direction.2 5e can actually interchange into and in more or less freely when used with $ers of motion. There are e*ceptions, though. 5e can only use in 1or inside2 when the preposition is the last word in the sentence or occurs right efore an ad$erial of time 1today, tomorrow2, manner 1%uic!ly, hurriedly2 or fre%uency 1once, twice2. E*amples: The woman went into the manager)s office. The woman went in twice. The woman went in. The new tenants mo$ed into the apartment yesterday The new tenants mo$ed in hurriedly. The new tenants mo$ed in. 5e can also use into as the last word in a %uestion: 5hat sort of troule ha$e you gotten yourself into6 0ut we should use in if the %uestion is said in this form: 5hat sort of troule are you in6 7n8into also has two uni%ue uses with the $er mo$e. The first is when mo$e in is followed y a clause indicating purpose or moti$e: The hunters mo$ed in for the !ill. The soldiers mo$ed in for the attac!. 7n oth e*amples, in is part of the $er phrase, so we cannot use into. The second case is when we use into with mo$e to con$ey the idea of simple mo$ement: The firemen mo$ed into the urning uilding. The prepositions of direction to, onto, and into. These prepositions correspond to the common prepositions of location: to for at, onto for on, and into for in. Each is defined y the same space relations of point, line, surface, or area as in the prepositions of location. To, the asic directional preposition, signifies orientation toward a goal. 7f that goal is physical, li!e a specific destination, to con$eys the idea of mo$ement in the direction of that goal: The troops returned to their ase. Toward, of course, also wor!s as a directional preposition, and means aout the same thing as the directional preposition to. 7f the goal is not a physical place, as in an action, to simply puts the $er in the infiniti$e form to e*press a particular purpose: #he sings to earn e*tra money. #he cut her hair to show her displeasure. The directional prepositions onto and into are, as we !now, compounds formed y to with corresponding prepositions of location: on 9 to : onto, to signify mo$ement toward a surface, and in 9 to : into, to signify mo$ement inside a finite three;dimensional space or $olume. 5hen used with many $ers of motion, howe$er, on and in already ha$e a directional meaning. 5e therefore can freely use them instead of onto and into. <ote that on and onto wor! e%ually well in the following sentences: The cats fell on [onto" the floor. The whales washed up onto [on" the each. The girl 4umped into [in" the ri$er. (ou will notice, howe$er, that always, the compound locational prepositions onto and into con$ey the consummation of an action, while the simple locational prepositions on and in indicate the su4ect)s end;position as a result of the action. -et)s loo! at some e*amples. &onsummation of action: The oy fell onto [to" the ground. The sailor di$ed into [to" the pool. 'osition of su4ect: The oy is on the ground. The sailor is in the pool. <ow we disco$er something interesting: directional prepositions actually ser$e to con$ey the idea of cause, while locational prepositions ser$e to con$ey the idea of effect. This, in fact, is as near a rule of thum as we can get in dealing with these two !inds of prepositions. 5e cannot lea$e this su4ect, of course, without discussing at as a preposition of motion and direction. 0eing the least specific of the prepositions in space orientation, we can use at in a good numer of ways. To mar! a $er of motion directed towards a point: #he arri$ed at the airport late. The mar!sman aimed at the hostage;ta!er with precision. To indicate direction: The man leaped at the thief to sudue him. #he 4umped at me without warning. Rules for Usage: PREPOSITIONS THAT ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS IN TIME The prepositions for specific points in time: on, at, in, and after. .n is used with the days of the wee!: 5e are going out on =onday [on Tuesday, on #unday". .n is used for specific dates 1optional in informal usage2: The trade fair will start on =arch >?, ?,,@ [on =arch >?, on the >?th of =arch, on the >?th ". At is used with cloc!ed time: #he pic!s her son from school at +:@, p.m. At is used with the following times of the day: noon, night, midnight, sunrise, sunset: 5e sail for 'alawan at noon [at midnight, at sunrise". At is used with certain ma4or holidays 1without the word Aay2 as points of time: The family always gets together at Than!sgi$ing [at &hristmas, at Easter, at Halloween". 7n is used with the following times of the day: morning, afternoon, e$ening: #he waters her roses in the morning [in the afternoon, in the e$ening". 7n is used with dates that do not carry the specific day: The #panish e*plorer reached the 'hilippines in =arch >B?>. 7n is used with months, years, decades, and centuries as points of time: The famous writer was orn in April [in >C+D, in the >C+,s, in the ?,th century". 7n is used with the seasons as points of time: He promised not to lea$e her in autumn [in summer, in spring, in winter". After is used with e$ents that happen later than another e$ent or point of time: The o$erseas wor!er came home only after the holidays. The prepositions for periods or e*tended time: since, for, y, from...to, from...until, during, within, etween, and eyond. #ince is used with an e$ent that happens at some time or continuously after another time or e$ent: #he has not watched a mo$ie since last month. They ha$e een producing noodles since the war. Eor is used with particular durations: .ur president will e aroad for three wee!s [not for long, for most of ne*t month". 0y is used with an act completed or to e completed y a certain time: #he e*pects to finish writing the oo! y April [y then, y the second %uarter". Erom...to is used to refer to the eginning and end of an acti$ity or e$ent: The weather was stormy from 5ednesday to Eriday. Erom...until is used to refer to the eginning of one period to the eginning of another: .ur sales rose continuously from &hristmas until right efore Holy 5ee!. Auring is used to refer to a period of time in which an e$ent happens or an acti$ity is done: #he had coffee during the morning rea!. 0etween is used to refer to an action ta!ing place etween the eginning and the end of a period: (ou must get the 4o done etween now and Eriday. 5ithin is used to refer to an action that must ta!e place or e completed within a gi$en period: (ou must get the 4o done within the wee!. 0eyond is used to refer to a period of time after a particular e$ent has ta!en place or a particular time has elapsed: 0eyond the mid;>CC,s all of our offices had shifted to word processors. 'repositions for specific time frames. 7n is used with the three asic time frames: past, present, future: He was a !indly man in the past. #he is doing nothing in the present [...at present is the preferred usage at present". 7n the future, change the oil of your car regularly. 7n is used with prescried time periods: The pro4ect must e completed in a month [in a year, in fi$e years".
The Verbalist: A Manual Devoted to Brief Discussions of the Right and the Wrong Use of Words and to Some Other Matters of Interest to Those Who Would Speak and Write with Propriety