At, in, on - prepositions in English: rule, exercises, examples

Prepositions in English play an important role. Unlike synthetic languages (Russian belongs to them), in which the ratio of nouns or pronouns to other words is expressed through the change of case endings, this function is performed by prepositions in analytic languages (including in English).

General information

According to the form, there are three types of prepositions:

• Simple: to (to, to), by (near, near, near, near), with (c), in (in).
• Complex - formed by adding words: upon, on, throughout, inside, in, inside.
• Composite - word combinations, which are a combination of some parts of speech with a union or a simple preposition: as for, because of, in case of, in front of.

Most prepositions have many meanings. Therefore, to accurately understand the meaning of a phrase, you need to consider the context. The various uses of simple prepositions at, in, and on are discussed in detail below.

Designation of time

If it is a question of days of the week, months, numbers or dates, at, in, on are pretexts that should be considered in a complex way. Often there are difficulties in translation, since the equivalent in Russian can be the same lexical unit in different cases. For example, the word "in" in English is translated differently: at the age of 17 - at the age of 17, on Friday - on Friday, in April - in April. Further, each of the above excuses is discussed in detail in the context of time.

At is used:

1. In the designation of time. In the answers to the question (At) what time? When, at what time. (Here and below, instead of the preposition indicated in the subheading, the tilde ~ is used).

• ~ 5 o'clock - at 5 o'clock;
• ~ Lunch time - at lunch time;
• ~ Midnight - at midnight.

2. When it says about holidays:

• ~ Christmas - at Christmas;
• ~ Easter - for Easter;
• ~ The weekend - for the weekend.

3. The beginning and end of any time interval or a certain period (month, year):

• ~ The beginning of May - early May;
• ~ The end of the year - at the end of the year.

Note : There is a phrase in the end, which translates "in the long run," "in the end," "in the end."

4. In many phrases (if it is a question of the present moment, about the age, time of eating, etc.):

• ~ The moment - at the moment;
• ~ Present - at the present time;
• ~ The age of 20 - at the age of 20;
• ~ The same time - simultaneously;
• ~ Breakfast - at breakfast.

In is used in the following cases:

1. Months:

• ~ January - in January;
• ~ May - in May.

2. Seasons:

• ~ (The) summer - in the summer;
• ~ (The) winter - in winter.

3. Years, Centuries, Epochs:

• ~ 1995 - in 1995;
• ~ In the 1980s - in the 80's;
• ~ In the 17th century - in the 17th century;
• ~ The Middle Ages - in the Middle Ages.

4. The designation of a certain period of time in the future. In Russian it is translated by the words "through", "during":

• ~ A few minutes - within a few minutes;
• ~ A week - in a week;
• ~ Seven months - in 7 months;
• ~ Three weeks - in 3 weeks.

5. Time of day, except night (at night / midnight):

• The morning;
• ~ The evening - in the evening.

On is applied if it is necessary to designate:

1. Dates:

• ~ April 15 - April 15;
• ~ 3rd August - 3rd of August.

2. Days of the week:

• ~ Monday - Monday;
• Wednesday on Wednesday;
• ~ Saturday morning - Saturday morning.

In some cases, prepositions are not used. For example, in combination with the words next and last:

• Next summer next summer;
• Last week - last week.

Prepositions of the place

In addition to the designation of time, at, in, on - prepositions, which are also used when specifying the location. Further details are considered for all uses.

At is used mainly in those cases when it comes to proximity in space to an object. There is no direct analogue in Russian. The equivalent in translation can be one of the following words, depending on the context: y, in, near, on. Further details:

1. A concrete reference point, near which the object is located:

• ~ The door, window, traffic lights - near the door, window, traffic light.

2. The extreme position in space:

• ~ The end of the street - at the end of the street;
• ~ The top, bottom of - at the top, bottom.

3. The point with which the object is connected, the destination, etc.:

• ~ Home, work, university - at home, at work, at university;
• ~ The station, bus stop - at the station, bus stop.

4. If we are talking about people:

• ~ His house, Ann's (house) - at his house, at Anna's;
• ~ Teacher's - the teacher.

5. Activities:

• ~ A classical concert - at a classical concert;
• ~ A party - at the party.

In : the main value is "in", "inside". But the scope of this word is somewhat wider.

1. Inside the premises or other facility, in a territory that has limits:

• ~ A bookstore - in the bookstore;
• ~ A pool - in the pool;
• ~ Bed - in bed;
• ~ My pocket - in my pocket.

2. Parts of the world:

• ~ The south, east, west - in the west, east, south.

3. Environment:

• ~ The sky - in the sky;
• ~ The whole world - all over the world.

4. Literature or any printed sources, as well as images:

• ~ A book, newspaper, letter - in a book, newspaper, letter;
• ~ This image, the picture - in this image, in the picture.

5. Position in space, if it is a question of the middle, the center:

• ~ The middle / center of the middle / center.

On: a popular translation into Russian is a preposition "on":

1. Designation of the location of the object on the surface or indication of points of contact with the object:

• ~ The wall, ceiling, floor, table - on the wall, ceiling, floor, table;
• ~ The beach - on the beach;
• ~ The motor-bike, bicycle - on a motorcycle, bicycle.

2. If it refers to parts of the body:

• ~ Face, head, finger - on the face, head, finger.

3. Public transport:

• ~ A bus, ship, airplane, steamboat - by bus, ship, airplane, steamer.

4. Floors:

• ~ The ground floor - on the first floor;
• ~ The third floor - on the fourth floor.

Note: in the UK and some other countries, the ground floor is called the lower floor. It is translated into English as a ground floor. Accordingly, what we are considered to be the second floor, will be translated into English as the first floor, etc. In the US, the floor design system corresponds to ours. Therefore, when translating, one should take into account which country is being discussed.

5. Designation of direction and path:

• ~ Her way - on her way;
• ~ The way from ... to ... - on the way from ... to;
• ~ The way home - on the way home.

Other Uses

This section discusses other cases in which prepositions in, at, on are used. The rule of their use is not limited only to the notation of time and location. The following are considered common examples with examples.

At:

1. Direction, movement, action:

• What are your cat looking ~? "What's your cat looking at?"
• Do not laugh ~ me. - Do not laugh at me.
• She threw a stone ~ him. She threw a stone at him.
• My cat ran ~ the mouse. - My cat rushed at the mouse.
• He smiled ~ me. - He smiled at me.

2. Status, position, activity:

• I am hard ~ my work. - I am persistent in my work.
• I work much ~ my Spanish. - I work a lot on studying Spanish.
• Their ship is ~ anchor. "Their ship is at anchor."

3. Reason, reason:

• The teacher was pleased ~ her answer. - Teachers were pleased with her response.
• He's angry. - He was angry because of what his sister said.
• Her dog was frightened ~ the noise. - Her dog was scared of noise.
• I did it my teacher's request. - I did it at the request of my teacher.

4. Prices:

• I've bought these apples. - I bought these apples at three dollars per kilogram.

In:

1. Condition, circumstances:

• They were ~ danger. "They were in danger."
• I am always ~ a good mood. "I'm always in a good mood."
• Her father is ~ good health. - Her father is healthy.
• She is love with him. "She's in love with him."

2. Form, type, composition:

• This classic novel is ~ two volumes. - This classic novel is in two volumes.
• Milk was sold ~ bottles. - Milk was sold in bottles.

3. Motive, purpose, reason:

• She went home. - She went home, hoping to meet her friends there.
• She said it ~ reply. - She said it in response.

On:

1. Theme, subject of discussion:

• The professor lectures ~ Chopin. - The professor is giving a lecture on Chopin.
• I want to congratulate you. - I want to congratulate you on your success.

2. Status, process:

• His house was ~ fire. "His house was on fire."

Stable expressions

At, in, on are prepositions that are part of many stable phrases. Such expressions are indivisible semantic units. The main difficulty of such phrases is that the translation of each individual word most often does not reflect the general meaning of the entire phrase, so they need to be memorized.

At	In	On
~ All - in general, in general; ~ Any rate - in any (Any) case; ~ Best is best; ~ Most - most of all; ~ Once - right away; ~ Peace - quietly, at rest; ~ Times - sometimes, from time to time; ~ Last - finally; ~ Least - at least (Less) least.	~ According with; ~ Advance - forward, early; ~ Case of - in Case; ~ Front of - in front; ~ Love - in love; ~ Spite of - despite; ~ Time - on time.	~ Cheap - by Cheap; ~ Duty - at the post; ~ Fire - in the fire; ~ Guard - on the alert, on the alert; ~ Hand-in Disposal, on hands; ~ Purpose - deliberately, specially; ~ Strike - During the strike.

Prepositions at, in, on: exercises with answers

When learning a foreign language, any new material is desirable to practice in practice. Exercise will help to identify gaps in knowledge and will show which topics need to be worked out additionally.

Assignment 1 . Fill in the blanks, correctly placing the prepositions in English:

1. Tom lives ... the ground floor.
2. I saw a cat ... the gate.
3. She went to sleep ... midnight.
4. He became popular ... the 1920s.
5. The course begins ... 9 January.

Task 2. Translate into English, taking into account the correct use of prepositions at, in, on:

1. I saw him last Monday.
2. I see the stars in the sky.
3. I'm going to learn Spanish in a year.
4. What are you laughing at?
5. Do not sit on the grass.

Answer 1:

• At - 2, 3.
• In - 4.
• On - 1, 5.

Answer 2:

1. I saw him last Monday.
2. I see the stars in the sky.
3. I'm going to learn Spanish in a year.
4. What are you laughing at?
5. Do not sit on the grass.

At, in, on - prepositions, easy to remember. However, for free communication requires detailed study of this grammatical theme. One of the common mistakes peculiar to beginners is the desire to translate phrases into English, guided by the logic of the native language. That is literally. In order to eliminate this drawback, it is important to learn to think in a new way. Learning any foreign language is not just memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules. This is a new system of thinking and presenting information that you need to get used to.