In, On, At: prepositions of place and time

See it in action

Lucy and Sam are planning to meet. Read or listen, and notice the words in bold.

Let’s meet!

Sam: Are you free on Friday? Let’s meet at the new café on King Street.

Lucy: Great! What time? I finish work at five.

Sam: Six o’clock? I’ll wait in the café, by the window.

Lucy: Perfect. I’m on the bus now — I’ll text you when I’m at the station.

Quick check

Look at “at five”, “at the station”, “on Friday”. Which word comes before a time on the clock?

Quick check

Lucy says “I’m on the bus”. Where is she?

Place and time

1. Place: a point, a surface, a space

atat the bus stop
onon the table
inin the box

at = a point or a place where you do something; on = a surface; in = inside a space with sides, or an area.

at — a point, or a place where something happens: at the bus stop, at the station, at the door, at the doctor’s, at a party, at 25 King Street. And three fixed ones with no “the”: at home, at work, at school.

I’ll wait for you at the bus stop.

She’s at home today. We met at a party.

Practise this

at + a point or an event (at the station)

on — touching a surface or a line: on the table, on the wall, on the floor, on the sofa, on the beach, on the left.

There’s a clock on the wall. Your keys are on the table.

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on + a surface or transport (on the table, on the bus)

in — inside something with sides, or inside an area like a city or a country: in the kitchen, in a box, in the garden, in Paris, in Japan.

The milk is in the fridge. They live in Madrid.

Quick check

The keys are ___ the drawer.

Practise this

in + inside or an area (in the kitchen, in Paris)

2. Time: small, medium, big

Think of three sizes: at for an exact point, on for a day, in for anything longer.

at — 7 o’clock, night, lunchtime, Christmaspoint
on — Monday, 5 May, my birthdayday
in — the morning, May, summer, 2019longer

The film starts at 8 o’clock. I can’t sleep at night.

See you on Monday! My birthday is on 14 March.

I study in the morning. We’re going to Italy in July. She was born in 2015.

Watch the mix: in the morning, but on Monday morning (a day) and at night. At Christmas is the holiday period; on Christmas Day is one day. At the weekend is British; Americans say on the weekend — both are fine.

Quick check

My birthday is ___ 14 March.

Practise this

Questions and answers

The preposition goes before the place or time — usually with the, a, my… for places. Use Where…? for places and When…? / What time…? for times. A short answer starts with the preposition.

in, on and at for place and time
	Place	Time
at	a point, an event, an address: at the station, at a party, at home	clock times, moments: at 6, at night, at Christmas
on	a surface, a line, transport: on the wall, on the left, on the bus	days and dates: on Friday, on 5 May
in	inside, an area: in the box, in the park, in Rome	parts of the day, months, years: in the evening, in May, in 2019

Where’s Tom? — At the station.

When’s the party? — On Saturday.

What time does the film start? — At eight.

Quick check

What time does the class finish?

Practise this

Where…? When…? What time…? — short answers

Transport, pictures, floors

A2–B1

inin a car, in a taxi
onon the bus, on a plane

in a car or a taxi (small, you sit inside); on a bus, a train, a plane or a bike (you can stand up or walk around).

I left my umbrella on the bus. She’s waiting in the car.

in a photo or a picture (inside the image), but on a page or a screen: You look great in this photo. The map is on page 20.
on floors of a building: We live on the second floor.
at the top, the bottom, the end; in the middle: at the end of the street, in the middle of the room.
on the coast, on a river, on an island; on the left / right.

There’s a café at the end of the street. The table is in the middle of the room.

Some places take two prepositions with almost no difference: in / at the park, in / at a hotel, in / at the library, in / at the office, on / at the beach. Both are right.

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Tricky places: in a car / on a bus, in the corner

No preposition: next week

Don’t use in, on or at before next, last, this, every, or with today, tomorrow, yesterday, tonight.

Wrong: I’ll see you on next Friday.I’ll see you next Friday.

Wrong: We moved here in last year.We moved here last year.

I go running every morning. We met this morning.

Quick check

I’ll call you ___ tomorrow.

Practise this

No preposition: next week, last year, tomorrow

Tricky cases: corners, arrive

Corners

in the corner of a room (inside it), but on or at the corner of a street (the point where two streets meet).

There’s a lamp in the corner of the room. There’s a café on the corner.

Quick check

There’s a big plant ___ the corner of the living room.

arrive at / arrive in — never arrive to

arrive at a building or a point (at the airport, at the hotel, at work); arrive in a city or a country (in London, in Spain). To is for movement towards a place (go to, fly to), not for arriving.

Wrong: We arrived to the airport at six.We arrived at the airport at six.

They arrived in Rome late at night.

Quick check

We arrived ___ London at midnight.

Practise this

Advanced uses

B2–C2

Many common phrases with in, on and at have their own meaning. Learn them as whole chunks.

Show the advanced uses

No “the”: in bed, at university, on TV (B1–B2)

When we mean what happens in a place, not the building, there’s no article: in bed, in hospital, in prison, in class, at school, at university, at church, at sea, at work. Media and trips have their own prepositions: on TV, on the radio, on the internet, in the newspaper, on holiday, on a business trip.

Grandad is in hospital. She’s studying law at university.

I heard it on the radio and read about it in the newspaper.

We’re going on holiday next week.

In American English: in the hospital, and often in school / in college for “studying there”.

Practise this

in bed, at university, on TV, on holiday

Time expressions that change meaning (B2)

on time = at the planned time, not late. in time (to do / for something) = early enough.
at the end (of something) = at the last part. in the end = finally, after a long time.
on the way (home / to…) = during the journey. in the way = blocking someone.
at first = in the beginning; at the moment = now; at the same time = together.
in + a period = after that time from now: I’ll be back in five minutes.

The train left on time. We got there just in time to catch it.

At the end of the film, everyone cried. We argued, but in the end we agreed.

Could you buy some milk on the way home? Please move — you’re in the way.

Quick check

“We got to the station just in time.” Were they late?

More fixed phrases (C1–C2)

Fixed phrases with in, on and at
in	on	at
in a hurry (quickly)	on purpose (deliberately)	at any time (ever)
in favour of (supporting)	on fire (burning)	at your best (as well as you can)
in silence (without speaking)	on average (usually)	at first, at the moment
in touch (in contact)	on the whole (in general)
in talks (discussing)	on the verge of (very close to)
in charge of (responsible for)	on its way (coming)

Sorry, I’m in a hurry. He broke it on purpose.

She was on the verge of tears. On the whole, it was a good year.

Practise this

Expressions: on time / in time, at the end / in the end

Common mistakes

All

Wrong: I live at Madrid.I live in Madrid.Cities and countries: in.

Wrong: See you in Monday.See you on Monday.

Wrong: The meeting is in 3 o’clock.The meeting is at 3 o’clock.

Wrong: She was born on 1998.She was born in 1998.

Wrong: I study at the morning.I study in the morning.

Wrong: The picture is in the wall.The picture is on the wall.

Wrong: I left my bag in the bus.I left my bag on the bus.

Wrong: We arrived to the hotel.We arrived at the hotel.

Wrong: She’s in home.She’s at home.

Wrong: I’ll do it on next week.I’ll do it next week.

Remember

Place: at a point or an event, on a surface, in a space or an area.
Time: at clock times and moments, on days and dates, in longer periods.
on the bus / train / plane, but in a car or a taxi.
No preposition before next, last, this, every, tomorrow, yesterday.
arrive at a building, arrive in a city — never arrive to.
Learn fixed phrases as chunks: on time, in time, at the end, in the end, on holiday.

Practise in, on and at

Pick your level. Each one mixes places and times, gap-fills, “find the mistake” and more — new exercises every time. Add a tense in the practice setup to mix both.

Sample exercises by level:A1 · A2 · B1 · B2 · C1 · C2

Ready to try it?

Practise in, on and at