Prepositions of Place
Level A1 · Prepositions
Use at for a specific point: at the bus stop, at home, at the door.
Use in for enclosed spaces or areas: in the box, in London, in the kitchen.
Use on for surfaces: on the table, on the wall, on the second floor.
A few place words are adverbs and never take a preposition: upstairs, downstairs, here, there, outside, inside, abroad: the bathroom is upstairs, not the bathroom is in upstairs; she lives abroad, not she lives in abroad.
The most common mistake is overusing one preposition everywhere, especially in (since many languages use a single word for both in and on): say at the bus stop and on the table, not in the bus stop or in the table.
A useful pattern: you're in an enclosed personal vehicle (in a car, in a taxi) but on public or two-wheeled transport (on a bus, on a train, on a plane, on a bike, on a motorbike).
Other fixed expressions:
- at: at work, at school
- in: in bed, in hospital (UK; US in the hospital)
- on: on the left, on the phone