IN, AT, ON. Are you confused by prepositions in English? You are not alone :)
Rule number one, when learning English, is that there is no literal translation, especially when we are talking about prepositions. If you guess which one is used on which occasion then it is like doing a lottery! The only cure is practice.
Today we will go through the most commonly used suggestions and when to use them properly.
ON
We use ‘On’ for the days of the week and dates, that is, when you are talking about a particular day.
The next meeting is on the 15th of May.
I don't work on Sunday.
In Australia, we go to the beach on Christmas Day.
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IN
We use ‘In’ for months, years, and seasons. As the word itself suggests, ‘in’ is used when talking about something within a time period. When we use a specific date, then we use on: 'He was born on the 2nd of January', and in when we talk about the period within a month, a year ... Like, for example, 'I take my vacation in July'.
He moved to Canada in 1996.
We pick olives in November.
It's not that warm in Canberra, even in summer.
‘In’ is also used when we want to say that we are in some place i.e. village, neighborhood, city, or state. When we talk about an area, such as Victoria or Fitzroy, we also use ‘in'.
He lives in Melbourne.
I work in East Brunswick.
I love taking holidays in Europe.
One of the most common mistakes made by speakers is when they want to say that they will do something in the future. ‘I’m going home for 5 minutes’ is often mistranslated as, ‘I’m going home for 5 minutes’. In five minutes, in two weeks, in 10 years - instead of 'for', use ‘in'.
Lunch will be ready in 10 minutes.
If you’re talking about the weather - snow, rain, sky - we use ‘in’. For example: ‘The sun is in the sky’ is translated as: ‘the sun is in the sky’.
Her kids love playing in the snow.
There are a lot of clouds in the sky today.
I don't like walking in the rain.
AT
The easiest way to explain this to you is when using a GPS :). When you want to go somewhere and the point on the GPS shows you the destination, then for that place that the point represents we use the ‘at’ preposition. We use ' at ' when you are in a place that has an address, such as schools, hospitals, shops, cafes, restaurants, etc. If you work in a company we also use the preposition 'at' - eg I work at Uniqlo, I work at Starbucks. If you took a picture on the beach in St Kilda and tagged yourself on Facebook, you may notice that it says 'at St. Kilda Beach'.
I work at Ace Language Academy.
He often watches games at the MCG.
You can get a burger at McDonald's.
If the sentence has to do with time or clock, we use ‘at’.
I came to work at 8.00 am.
She started working at the beginning of the year.
I'm not hungry at the moment.
Here are two tables that will surely help you:
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Credit: https://inicijativa.biz/in-at-on-tko-ce-vise-znati-zbunjuju-li-vas-prijedlozi-na-engleskom-niste-sami/
