How to use IN, AT, & ON in English

[00:00:00]All right, let's talk about in, at, and on. These are three prepositions that cause a lot of problems for a lot of students learning English. It can be very difficult to know when to use in, when to use at, and when to use on, but that's why in today's video I'm going to teach you everything you need to know about this concept, so you'll be able to use these correctly.

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[00:00:50]Let's get into the lesson and talk about in, at, and on.

[00:00:56]Now, I'm going to divide this into two uh sections. We have place and we have time.

[00:01:03]Place. Let's talk about place.

[00:01:07]We use in when we have enclosed spaces.

[00:01:11]When I say enclosed, I mean inside something with boundaries, right?

[00:01:18]The cat is in the box.

[00:01:22]It's an enclosed space. The box is enclosed. You put something inside something.

[00:01:28]She is in the car.

[00:01:32]The car is an enclosed space. You're sitting in the car, so we'd use in.

[00:01:38]I'm working in my office. You have four walls and a roof, right? [snorts] It's an enclosed space. You are inside the office. So, we would use in because it's an enclosed space.

[00:01:52]Cities, countries, provinces, and states. In the United States, they use states. In Canada, we call them provinces. I'm from Canada, >> [snorts] >> so I call them provinces here in Canada.

[00:02:04]Uh we use in for cities, countries, provinces, and states. For example, I live in New York. New York is a city, but actually it's also a state, New York state. So, we would use in.

[00:02:19]They traveled a lot in France last summer. So, inside France. Maybe they went to Paris, maybe they went to Nice, maybe they went to Marseille.

[00:02:30]They were in France.

[00:02:32]A country.

[00:02:34]Right now, I'm in Alberta, Canada.

[00:02:37]Alberta is a province here in Canada.

[00:02:41]So, we would use in.

[00:02:42]Okay? You can think of these as larger geographic areas.

[00:02:49]They're larger, right? It might be a large city, it might be a large province, a large state, a large country.

[00:02:57]In.

[00:02:59]For fields of work or study, for example, marketing. You work in marketing.

[00:03:06]I'm studying in the field of medicine, or he works in medicine.

[00:03:14]I'm working as a secretary in the HR department. These are all fields or industries, so we would use in.

[00:03:24]Right? Somebody asks you, "What do you do for work?" You can say, "I work in business. I work in marketing. I work in human resources. I work in finance."

[00:03:38]Okay? That's a field of work. So, we would use in.

[00:03:44]When do we use at? Remember, we're still talking about place, so locations here.

[00:03:50]We use at for specific places.

[00:03:54]Not an enclosed area, but a precise space, a precise point. For example, she is at the bus stop.

[00:04:04]She is at the specific point.

[00:04:09]They are at the entrance. This is specific is Excuse me. It's a hard word to pronounce. It's a specific location, the entrance. So, we'd say at.

[00:04:22]I'll pick you up at the airport. Again, specific location, specific point.

[00:04:29]At.

[00:04:30]So, at is very specific. You'll see this later when we talk about time as well.

[00:04:36]At is quite specific. It's used for quite uh precise things.

[00:04:47]Addresses. Again, addresses are very specific, right? Uh 123 Main Street. I'm at 123 Main Street.

[00:04:55]He lives at a different address now.

[00:04:59]He lives at Den uh 10 Downing Street. The Prime Minister of the UK lives at 10 Downing Street. So, whenever we have a specific numbered street address, this is very important. It has to be numbered.

[00:05:15]123 Main Street. 10 Downing Street.

[00:05:19]Then, we would use at.

[00:05:25]At events, right? They are at a concert.

[00:05:27]They are at a presentation. They are at a meeting. I'm at my doctor's appointment.

[00:05:34]Specific place or event.

[00:05:38]At.

[00:05:41]All right. Now, let's talk about on.

[00:05:43]Again, we're still referring just to place here.

[00:05:46]The book is on the table. This is a surface, a flat surface. We place something on something else.

[00:05:55]She put the vase on the shelf.

[00:06:00]I am sitting on the ground.

[00:06:04]Okay?

[00:06:05]The ground, the shelf, the table, these are surfaces that you put something on top or on the surface.

[00:06:15]Streets.

[00:06:18]He lives on Elm Street.

[00:06:21]The store is on Main Avenue. I walked on Broadway in New York.

[00:06:28]Remember earlier I said that uh numbered addresses use at because those are specific addresses.

[00:06:41]Streets use on.

[00:06:46]On Elm Street.

[00:06:47]On Main Avenue. On Broadway.

[00:06:51]But at 123 Elm Street.

[00:06:55]I'm going to write that here if I can.

[00:06:58]Yeah.

[00:06:59]I'll just add an annotation. Uh at 123 Elm Street.

[00:07:08]Right?

[00:07:11]But on Elm Street. So, when you have the number here, that makes a big difference.

[00:07:17]Because then it becomes a specific address. And when we have a specific address, we need to use at.

[00:07:26]Does that make sense?

[00:07:28]Specific addresses, specific places always use at.

[00:07:36]Yeah, I explained this here as well. He lives on Elm Street, that's correct.

[00:07:41]He lives at Elm Street. Incorrect. He lives at 94 Elm Street. That's correct because it's a specific address, so we would use at.

[00:07:50]He lives on 94 Elm Street.

[00:07:53]Incorrect because it's a specific address.

[00:07:59]All right, so let's talk about a common point of confusion for a lot of students in my program. Again, if you're interested in joining the program, you can click the link in the description below. I've helped thousands of students improve their English. We have live classes every single week.

[00:08:14]Click the link in the description.

[00:08:16]What's the difference between at home or in the home?

[00:08:21]At home is what's known as a fixed phrase.

[00:08:26]I am at home right now.

[00:08:30]I am at the hospital. I'm at the office. These are all fixed phrases, right? At the hospital, at home, at the office.

[00:08:41]If you want to stress or emphasize that you are physically inside the building, then we would use in.

[00:08:49]For example, it's better to stay in your house when there's a storm.

[00:08:53]It's better to stay in your house.

[00:08:58]In the building, right? In the enclosed environment.

[00:09:03]In.

[00:09:05]We're emphasizing that you need to say inside the house.

[00:09:09]I just parked. Now, I'm in the hospital building on my way to see you.

[00:09:14]Okay, I'm in the building.

[00:09:17]I'm inside the building. It's almost like a synonym of inside.

[00:09:21]I was in my office when the earthquake began.

[00:09:26]Yes, you you could say I'm or I was at the office, right? But, if you want to emphasize that you were in the building, if you were in the enclosed space, you would say I'm in my office.

[00:09:42]Okay, let's talk about transportation because you might have heard the rule that, you know, if you can get up and walk around, we use uh on.

[00:09:54]For example, on the bus, on the train, on the plane, on the cruise ship.

[00:10:00]Uh generally that is correct, right? If you can get up and walk around, for example, on the bus, you can stand up, get out of your seat, you can walk around, we'd say on the bus.

[00:10:13]Same with the train, right? You can walk on the train. You can get up and walk uh down the aisle, right? On the plane, on a cruise ship.

[00:10:24]Now, you can't really walk on a bike, motorcycle, or scooter, but you can stand up, right? You are standing up on a scooter, you are standing up on a motorcycle if you if you wish.

[00:10:37]Might be a bit dangerous, but you can uh on a bike as well, right?

[00:10:43]So, we would use on for bikes, motorcycles, and scooters.

[00:10:49]Now, if you really can't get up and walk around, we would use in.

[00:10:56]For example, in the taxi, in the car.

[00:10:59]You can't stand up in a car.

[00:11:01]You're going to hit your head on the roof, right?

[00:11:03]Uh in the kayak, you can't stand up in a kayak.

[00:11:09]You have to stay seated. So, in that case, we would use in.

[00:11:15]Transportation, right? Bus, on the bus, on the train, on the plane, on the cruise ship, on the bike, motorcycle, scooter, in the taxi, in the car, in the kayak.

[00:11:25]Obviously, there are other examples, but I think you get the principle.

[00:11:31]So, quick review for place. In is used for a big or enclosed space.

[00:11:38]At is used for an exact or specific point. On is used for a surface or a street.

[00:11:46]Got it?

[00:11:48]Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about this so far. Again, we just talked about place. We're going to talk about time now. I just want to remind you if you want to improve your English with me, I give live classes every single week inside my community.

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[00:12:26]All right, let's talk about time.

[00:12:30]We use in for months.

[00:12:33]We're going on vacation in July.

[00:12:38]January, February, March through December, we use in.

[00:12:42]Her birthday is in December.

[00:12:48]That's clear. Okay, December, it's a month. July, it's a month. We use in.

[00:12:55]We use in for years.

[00:12:57]The concert was held in 2020.

[00:13:02]The COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, if you remember that period period of of time.

[00:13:11]And Napoleon died in 1821. Those are years, we're going to use in. So, months and years, in.

[00:13:20]Same with seasons.

[00:13:22]I enjoy skiing in winter.

[00:13:25]Flowers bloom beautifully in spring. It's a nice tongue twister. Flowers Flowers bloom beautifully in spring.

[00:13:34]Spring, winter, summer, fall, or autumn, those are seasons we use in.

[00:13:44]In the morning.

[00:13:46]In the afternoon, in the evening, right?

[00:13:48]I usually have breakfast in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon.

[00:13:55]Long periods of time, right? Decades. A decade is 10 years.

[00:13:59]10 years, okay? Or an era. An era is a very, very long period of time.

[00:14:07]She studied art in the 1980s.

[00:14:10]In the 1980s, that's an example of a decade, right? The 1950s, 1960s, '70s, '80s, '90s.

[00:14:17]In.

[00:14:19]The city underwent major changes in the last decade.

[00:14:24]In the decade, in the last decade.

[00:14:27]Dinosaurs lived in the Jurassic period.

[00:14:30]That's an era, a long period of time.

[00:14:34]In the Jurassic period.

[00:14:40]All right, when we're talking about future time, for example, in plus a length of time, right? From now until then, we'll have a meeting in 3 days, in 1 week. He plans to start a new job in a few weeks.

[00:14:59]You get the point, okay? Future time, in.

[00:15:03]In a year, in 2 years, in a week, in a month.

[00:15:06]In.

[00:15:08]We use on for days of the week.

[00:15:12]For example, I have a meeting on Monday.

[00:15:14]She usually goes shopping on Saturdays.

[00:15:19]On Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday, right?

[00:15:24]On specific dates, March 9th, right? My birthday's on March 9th. The event is scheduled on July 20th, 2023.

[00:15:37]Okay?

[00:15:38]Uh these are specific dates, and if you think about it, you might be thinking, "Well, why don't we use at?" Right? At is used for specific periods of time or specific points in time, rather.

[00:15:50]These are actually days, right? March 9th was a day.

[00:15:54]July 20th was a day.

[00:15:58]Monday, Saturday, Sunday are also days.

[00:16:01]So, in that sense, on is used for specific days as well.

[00:16:09]Right? On March 9th, on July 4th, on December 20th.

[00:16:14]Cuz these are actually days.

[00:16:17]The trend continues, right? Special days, holidays, it's the day itself.

[00:16:22]We celebrate Christmas on December 25th.

[00:16:27]Valentine Valentine's Day falls on February 14th. Many people stay home on New Year's Day. That's a specific day.

[00:16:36]January 1st is New Year's Day.

[00:16:40]On New Year's Day.

[00:16:42]On Independence Day in the United States, that's July 4th. It's a specific day, so we'd say on.

[00:16:53]At is used for specific times.

[00:16:57]The meeting starts at 3:00 p.m.

[00:16:59]I usually have dinner at 7:30. So, whenever you have a number like 3:00 p.m., 7:30, uh 4:30, right? 4:15, we use at.

[00:17:12]Okay?

[00:17:14]Holidays and festivals, when we're talking about the general occasion, not the specific day, but the general occasion.

[00:17:23]For example, we exchange gifts at Christmas.

[00:17:27]Now, on Christmas Day, when we're talking about the specific day, on New Year's Day, when we're talking about the specific day, but at Christmas, at New Year's, when we're just talking about the general occasion.

[00:17:47]Very important difference here.

[00:17:49]We never say never, never, never, never, we never say at Christmas Day.

[00:17:54]We only say on Christmas Day.

[00:17:58]Or at Christmas.

[00:18:02]At dawn, early morning, at dusk, in the evening, at night, at noon, at midnight.

[00:18:09]Again, those are specific points in time.

[00:18:11]She prefers to exercise at dawn.

[00:18:14]I like to relax at dusk. Some animals, like bats, are active at night.

[00:18:21]He finishes work at noon.

[00:18:24]The train arrives at midnight.

[00:18:30]I shared this with you a moment ago, but uh if you want to see this slide here, you can pause the video. Basically, yeah, when you have a holiday, and you're just talking about it generally, uh we use uh All right, now I'm going to talk to you about the rules of in, at, on for fixed phrases.

[00:19:04]We talked about time and place, and now we're going to talk about fixed phrases.

[00:19:08]Remember, a fixed phrase is a phrase that never changes. You just have to memorize it. Unfortunately, there are quite a few in English.

[00:19:17]This is not a This is not a complete list, but uh some of the most common ones with on, for example, on short notice, on schedule, uh on a daily basis, on occasion.

[00:19:34]These are all fixed phrases. They never change.

[00:19:38]Within, we have in the meantime, in the short term, in the middle of.

[00:19:43]Okay?

[00:19:44]If you want me to do a lesson on this in the future, um I definitely can do that. Let me know in the comments if if that's something that would interest you, cuz there are definitely more fixed phrases, but uh for the purposes of today's video, we're just going to look at a couple here.

[00:20:01]So, at the moment, at the last minute, at the same time.

[00:20:06]Those are all fixed phrases with at.

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