Prepositions of place: 'in', 'on', 'at'

Do you know how to use in, on and at to talk about location? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how we use these prepositions.

Please put the book on the shelf.
They live in Helsinki.
You should keep milk in the fridge.
Mette is studying at the library.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1: MultipleChoice_MjQ3NDE=

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

We can use the prepositions in, on and at to say where things are. They go before nouns.

I am in the kitchen.
My dog likes sleeping on the sofa.
The children eat lunch at school.

in

We use in to talk about a place that is inside a bigger space, such as a box, a house, a city or a country.

The clothes are in the wardrobe.
The children are playing in the park.
There's a bookshop in the shopping centre.
My grandmother was born in Sweden.

We also use in with other physical locations such as:

in the world
in water / the sea / a river / a lake / a pool
in the mountains / the countryside / a valley / the forest
in a car / a taxi

on

We use on to talk about location on a surface.

The books are on the desk.
We live on the fifth floor.
There are pictures on the wall.
She likes to sit on the floor.

We also use on for some types of public transport.

He's on the bus now.
You can't make phone calls on a plane.
They go to school on the train.

We also use on for lines (including rivers, borders, streets, etc.) and islands.

London is on the River Thames.
The Pyrenees are on the border of Spain and France.
There's a market on James Street.
I'd love to live on the Isle of Wight.

at

We use at in many common phrases, especially when we are talking about a place for a specific activity.

I'm at work.
She's working at home today.
The children are at school.
See you at the train station!
They're at the supermarket.
I met him at a party.

We also use at for addresses or exact positions.

I live at 15 Craig Street.
She's sitting at a desk.
He's waiting at the entrance.
Please sit at the back of the room.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2: MultipleChoice_MjQ3NDI=

Language level

A1 Elementary

A2 Pre-intermediate

Hello,

In the lesson, you say to use "in" when talking about "lake," but in Grammar Test 2, line 5, you say, "5. Last summer we stayed in a cabin on a lake."

Is this a mistake, or why do we say "...on a lake" instead of "...in a lake"?

Thank you

Hello Ama1,

'In' describes actually being in the water, so you can swim in a lake, for example.

'On' is used in two ways. First, it is used for activities which are on the surface of the water, so you can sail on a lake or waterski on a lake. 'On' can also be used to describe the location of a place, so you can say it is a house on a lake, meaning beside. It's similar to 'on the coast' or 'on a river'.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

In this sentence, the correct option is "because it is played inside the park."

Let’s play football in the park

Hi teacher

Let's play football (in or at )th park.

Which one is true or both this.

Hi 20414641,

I think both are perfectly fine here. At could mean inside or nearby (at the entrance or just outside, for example), but since you are playing football I don't think there is any ambiguity so you can use either.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team