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Unit 125 · Prepositions

in/at/on (position) 3

Study

A

We say that somebody is in bed / in hospital / in prison:

›

James isn't up yet. He's still in bed.

›

Anna's mother is in hospital.

We say that somebody is at home / at work / at school / at university / at college:

›

I'll be at work until 5.30.

›

My sister is at university.

›

My brother is still at school.

We say be at home or be home (with or without at), but do something at home (with at):

›

I'll be home all evening.

›

I'll be at home all evening.

›

Shall we go to a restaurant or eat at home?

B

We say that somebody is at an event (at a party, at a conference etc.):

›

Were there many people at the party / at the meeting / at the wedding?

›

I saw Steve at a conference / at a concert on Saturday.

C

You can often use in or at with buildings. For example, you can eat in a restaurant or at a restaurant; you can buy food in a supermarket or at a supermarket.

We usually say at when we say where an event takes place (a concert, a party, a meeting etc.):

›

We went to a concert at the National Concert Hall.

›

The meeting took place at the company's head office in Frankfurt.

›

There was a robbery at the supermarket.

We say at somebody's house:

›

I was at Helen's house last night. or I was at Helen's last night.

In the same way we say at the doctor's, at the hairdresser's etc.

We use in when we are thinking about the building itself. Compare at and in:

›

I was at Helen's (house) last night.

›

It's always cold in Helen's house. The heating doesn't work well. (not at Helen's house)

›

We had dinner at the hotel.

›

All the rooms in the hotel have air conditioning. (not at the hotel)

We say at the station / at the airport:

›

There's no need to meet me at the station. I can get a taxi.

D

We normally use in with cities, towns and villages:

›

The Louvre is a famous art museum in Paris. (not at Paris)

›

Sam's parents live in a village in the south of France. (not at a village)

We use at when we think of the place as a point or station on a journey:

›

Does this train stop at Oxford? (= at Oxford station)

E

We usually say on a bus / on a train / on a plane / on a ship but in a car / in a taxi:

›

The bus was very full. There were too many people on it.

›

Laura arrived in a taxi.

We say on a bike (= bicycle) / on a motorbike / on a horse:

›

Jane passed me on her bike.

→ At school / in hospital etc. ➜ Unit 74 · In/at/on (position) ➜ Units 123–124 · To/at/in/into ➜ Unit 126 · By car / by bike etc. ➜ Unit 128B

Exercises (3)

0/3 exercises checked
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125.1

Complete the sentences about the pictures. Use in, at or on with the words below the pictures.

  1. 1
    You can hire a car the airport.example
  2. 2
    Dave is a train.
  3. 3
    Karen is a conference.
  4. 4
    Martin is hospital.
  5. 5
    Judy is the hairdresser's.
  6. 6
    I saw Gary his bike.
  7. 7
    We spent a few days New York.
  8. 8
    We went to a show the Savoy Theatre.
125.2

Complete the sentences. Use in, at or on + the following:

the planethe stationa taxithe art galleryTokyoschoolprisonthe sports centre
  1. 1
    Some people are for crimes that they did not commit.example
  2. 2
    We can get coffee while we're waiting for our train.
  3. 3
    We walked to the restaurant, but we went home .
  4. 4
    I play basketball on Friday evenings.
  5. 5
    I enjoyed the flight, but the food was awful.
  6. 6
    Vicky has gone to Japan. She's living .
  7. 7
    'Does your sister have a job?' 'No, she's only 16. She's still .'
  8. 8
    There's a new exhibition of paintings . Let's go and see it.
125.3

Complete these sentences with in, at or on.

  1. 1
    We went to a concert the National Concert Hall.example
  2. 2
    There isn't a shop the village where I live. It's very small.
  3. 3
    Joe wasn't the party. I don't know why he didn't go.
  4. 4
    There were about ten tables the restaurant, and four tables outside.
  5. 5
    I don't know where my umbrella is. Perhaps I left it the bus.
  6. 6
    What do you want to study university?
  7. 7
    I didn't feel well when I woke up, so I stayed bed.
  8. 8
    We were Sarah's house last night. She invited us to dinner.
  9. 9
    It was a very slow train. It stopped every station.
  10. 10
    Shall we travel your car or mine?
  11. 11
    We took a taxi and Ben followed his motorbike.
  12. 12
    I'd like to see a movie. What's on the cinema this week?
  13. 13
    We went to see a movie last night. It was really cold the cinema.
  14. 14
    Two people were injured in the accident and are still hospital.
  15. 15
    Our flight was delayed. We had to wait the airport for three hours.
  16. 16
    I didn't expect you to be home. I thought you'd be work.