Representing when, where, how and why
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Representing where | page 6 of 8 |
Using prepositional phrases: at, on and in
To see a relevant teacher's question, click on this icon 
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A place can be viewed from different angles and so different prepositions can be used:
There will be no fish in the river that high up. (SCMP 19/3/94)
They can swim underwater to catch birds on the river.
(Microconcord Corpus A)
In the first example, river is viewed as a volume. In the second example, it is viewed as a surface.
One of the occupants of the flat opened the metal gate to officers who identified themselves at the door. (SCMP 21/9/92)
The sign firmly stuck on the door says the giant 14,000-square-foot club is closed for renovations. (SCMP 4/6/92)
In these examples, at the door refers a general location while on the door refers to a surface.
I was sleeping in my bed.
I was sleeping on my bed.
Here, in my bed suggests that the speaker is under the cover while on my bed suggests that the speaker is on top of the bed cover.
He then hid some of the arms in the grass. (SCMP 13/5/94)
Hoomey happened to be standing on the grass. (Microconcord Corpus B)
In the above examples, in the grass refers to a volume, ie the grass is long, while on the grass refers to a surface, ie the grass is short.
Note that in some cases, although more than one preposition, eg at and in,
can be used with the same noun, eg college, we tend to use one preposition rather
than another. To see a relevant teacher's question, click on this icon .
It is more common to say study at a college, university, etc, rather than study in:
She studied at Lee Strasburg's Studio in New York. (Bank of English)
... having studied at Birmingham University for 35 years.
(Bank of English)His son Themba, who is studying at Liverpool University ...
(Microconcord Corpus A)
In these sentences at is used because we are thinking of the places as institutions where teaching and learning takes place rather than as buildings.
Introduction
Using prepositional phrases: at, on and in
