Are you 'in a pickle' with prepositions? A guide to IN, ON, AT for time and place.

Three little words, only two letters each, all extremely well known, easy to pronounce and used by English speakers hundreds of times per day. So why then, do in, on and at cause English learners so many problems when they are used as prepositions of time and place?

Well, to answer that question, let's take a look at an example sentence.

'I was sitting ____ my chair ____ my desk ____my room ____ 10am this morning'

Can you guess the correct prepositions?

Don't worry if you can't, the fact is that they are tricky! You have to really consider each noun and imagine the situation clearly. Also, it's difficult to directly translate these prepositions from some languages in certain situations, which makes them even more confusing and difficult to get right. In fact, I have some very high level students who still make mistakes with these!

The correct answer is:

'I was sitting on my chair at my desk in my room at 10am this morning'

So, in order to get these absolutely correct and to feel confident when using them, let's go through them one by one!

First off, let's take a look at in for time and place!

You can see here that we often use in for quite general or long periods of time.

However, there are exceptions to this:

1) To describe the amount of time needed to do something:

You can travel there and back in around six hours.

2)To indicate when something will happen in the future:

I will be finished in thirty minutes.

Now, let's take a look at how we use in for places.

Tip: We can also use in for liquids and substances to show what they contain, for example:

Would you like sugar in your coffee?

In is generally used for larger spaces, however this doesn't help us when it comes to things such as rooms or gardens, which in theory could be relatively small. It helps to think of in as three-dimensional, referring to the position of something in relation to the things that surround it.

Try coming up with a few examples using in for time and place. Send them to me or post them in the comments and I promise that I will take a look at them and get back to you!

Next, let's look at how to use on! But, first I'd just like to remind you that this week I will be posting video lessons to help explain in, at and on! You can find them on my Instagram and Facebook pages!

Tip: We can use either on or at when we're talking about the weekend. Generally speaking, Americans would say 'on the weekend' and British people tend to say 'at the weekend'. However, if I'm honest, I use them interchangeably, probably because I watch too many American shows!

So, what about for places?

Tip: You have to think outside of the box when it comes to surfaces. Consider anything that can be thought of as a surface, for example:

Skin - He has a big spot on his face

Floors - I am on the second floor.

Clothes - I like that design on your t-shirt.

We thought of in as three dimensional but on is more specific, so it helps to think of it as two dimensional, referring to the position of something in relation to a surface.

Finally, let's move on to at!

Tip: We can also use at for festivals!

I love the family spirit at Christmas.

Tip: You can also use at for events, take a look at this example:

I first saw her at the conference two years ago.

In is three dimensional, on is two dimensional and yes, you guessed it, at is one dimensional, referring to a specific place or position in space.

Pheww, we did it, well done for taking in all of this information! However, let's be honest it is all useless unless you start practising them frequently! Below, is an activity for you to practise them. If you are not sure, go back and look at the images as well as the tips and consider the 'dimensional' rule! Send me your answers to contact@mlukenglish.com!

I'm __ the shopping centre __ the second floor next to the restaurant.

Do you think it's better to meet up __ 6pm or 7pm?

I think your laptop is __ the bag which is __ the living room.

I think I'm __ the correct street but I'm not sure.

What time will you leave __ the morning?

I think you need to change your shirt, you have a stain __ it.

Thank you

See you on Friday!

Your English teacher,

Mitch