2024-05-10 Prepositions of place – Prepositions with Georgie

Prepositions of place

To talk about where things are, we have words like in, on, under, next to, behind, in front of, between, above 

Some are quite unambiguous (they usually have one clear meaning):

• In
• On
• Under
• Next to
• Behind
• In front of
• Between
• Above

Others are more complicated. Why do we say ‘in Germany’, but ‘at’ the airport’?
The answer is not simple. Sometimes we can separate the uses like this: 

Use ‘in’ for larger, more general spaces

• The dogs are in the park.
• My cousin lives in Germany.
• My house is in the countryside.
• I wouldn’t like to live in space.

Use ‘at’ for places that have quite specific activities

• We met at a party.
• They are at the supermarket.
• The children are at school.
• They’ve arrived at the airport.

But then there are some strange examples:

• ‘in the shopping centre’ but ‘at the supermarket’
• ‘in the house’ but ‘at home’
• ‘in the office’ but ‘at work’

So, how can we remember them?! 

TOP TIPS!

• When you learn new place words, don’t learn them by themselves, learn them in chunks e.g. in the supermarket, at home, in Asia, at work
• Expose yourself to English as much as you can, so you get used to the combinations e.g. listen to podcasts, watch videos, read