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

Prepositions in English play a crucial role. Unlike synthetic languages ​​(Russian belongs to them), in which the relation of nouns or pronouns to other words is expressed by changing case endings, in analytical languages ​​(including English) prepositions perform this function.

General information

There are three varieties of prepositions in form:

• Simple: to (in, to), by (near, near, near, beside), with (c), in (in).
• Complex - formed by adding words: upon (on), into (in), throughout (through), inside (in, inside).
• Compound - phrases that are a combination of some parts of speech with a union or a simple pretext: as for (as for), because of (because of), in case of (in case), in front of (before).

Most prepositions have many meanings. Therefore, for an accurate understanding of the meaning of a particular phrase, context needs to be taken into account. Further, the various uses of the simple prepositions at, in and on are examined in detail.

Time designation

If we are talking about the days of the week, months, dates or dates, at, in, on are prepositions that should be considered in a complex. Often there are difficulties in translation, since the equivalent in the Russian language in different cases can be the same lexical unit. For example, the word "in" is translated into English in different ways: at the age of 17 - at the age of 17 years, on Friday - on Friday, in April - in April. Further, each of the above prepositions is considered in detail in the context of time.

At used:

1. When designating time. Answers to (At) what time? - when, what time. (Hereinafter, instead of the preposition indicated in the subtitle, the tilde sign ~ is used).

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

2. When it comes to holidays:

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

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

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

Note : there is a phrase in the end, which translates as "ultimately", "in the end", "in the end".

4. In many phrases (if we are talking about the present moment, about age, meal time, etc.):

• ~ the moment - at the moment;
• ~ present - at the present time;
• ~ the age of 20 - at the age of 20;
• ~ the same time - at the same time;
• ~ 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, eras:

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

4. Designation of a certain period of time in the future. Translated into Russian by the words "through", "during":

• ~ a few minutes - within a few minutes;
• ~ a week - in a week;
• ~ seven months - after 7 months;
• ~ three weeks - after 3 weeks.

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

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

On applies if you need to indicate:

1. Dates:

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

2. Days of the week:

• ~ Monday - on 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.

Place prepositions

In addition to designating time, at, in, on are prepositions that are also used when indicating a place. Further, all use cases are examined in detail.

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

1. A specific landmark, next to 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 - above, below.

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

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

4. When it comes to people:

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

5. Activities:

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

In : the primary meaning of "in," "inside." But the scope of the word is somewhat wider.

1. Indoors or other facility, in a territory that has limits:

• ~ a bookstore - in a 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. The position in space, if we are talking about the middle, center:

• ~ the middle / center of - in the middle / center.

On: a common version of the translation into Russian - the preposition "on":

1. The designation of the location of the object on the surface or an indication of the points of contact with the subject:

• ~ 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 is about parts of the body:

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

3. Public transport:

• ~ a bus, ship, airplane, steamboat - by bus, ship, plane, steamboat.

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 first floor is called the lower floor. It is translated into English as ground floor. Accordingly, what we commonly consider the second floor will be translated into English as the first floor, etc. In the United States, the system for designating floors corresponds to ours. Therefore, when translating, you should consider which country in question.

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 use cases

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

At:

1. Direction, movement, action:

• What are your cat looking ~? - What is your cat looking at?
• Don't 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 to the mouse.
• He smiled ~ me. - He smiled at me.

2. Status, position, activity:

• I am hard ~ my work. - I persist in my work.
• I work much ~ my Spanish. - I work a lot on learning Spanish.
• Their ship is ~ anchor. “Their ship is anchored.”

3. Reason, reason:

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

4. Prices:

• I've bought these apples ~ three dollars a kilo. - I bought these apples for 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 ~ hope of meeting her friends there. - She went home, hoping to meet her friends there.
• She said it ~ reply. - She said that in response.

On:

1. Topic, subject of discussion:

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

2. Condition, process:

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

Persistent expressions

At, in, on - prepositions that are part of many stable phrases. Similar 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 whole phrase, so you just need to remember them.

Prepositions at, in, on: exercises with answers

When learning a foreign language, it is advisable to practice any new material in practice. Performing exercises will help identify gaps in knowledge and will show which topics need to be addressed further.

Task 1 . Fill in the gaps, correctly arranging 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, given the correct use of the prepositions at, in, on:

1. I saw him last Monday.
2. I see the stars in the sky.
3. I am 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. Don't sit on the grass.

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