Basic Prepositions: Time and Place - at, in, on and to

I was born in Seattle, Washington on the 19th of April in 1961. Seattle is in the State of Washington in
the United States. That was many years ago... Now, I live in Leghorn in Italy. I work at the British
School. I sometimes go to a movie on the weekend. I meet my friends at the movie theater at 8
o'clock or later. In the summer, usually in August, I go home to visit my family in America. My family
and I go to the beach and relax in the sun in the morning and in the afternoon! In the evening, we
often eat at a restaurant with our friends. Sometimes, we go to a bar at night.

We use in with months - in May

seasons - in winter
country - in Greece
IN city or town names - in New York
times of the day - in the morning, afternoon or
evening
BUT at night!
We use "on" with specific days - on Friday, on New
Year's Day, on April the 19th
ON
American English - "on the weekend OR on
weekends"
We use "at" with specific times - at 7 o'clock, at 6.15
at night
AT
specific places in a city - at school
British English - "at the weekend OR at weekends"
We use "to" with verbs which show movement such
as go and come - He goes to school.
TO
She returned to the store.
They are coming to the party tonight.
IN

Use 'in' months and years and periods of time:

 in January
 in 1978
 in the twenties

Use 'in' a period of time in the future:

 in a few weeks
 in a couple of days

AT

Use 'at' with precise time:

 at six o'clock
 at 10.30
 at two p.m.

ON

Use 'on' with days of the week:

 on Monday
 on Fridays

Use 'on' with specific calendar days:

 on Christmas day
 on October 22nd

IMPORTANT NOTES

in the morning / afternoon / evening - at night

We say in the morning, afternoon or evening BUT we say 'at night »

IN

Use 'in' with spaces:

 in a room / in a building
 in a garden / in a park

Use 'in' with bodies of water:

 in the water
 in the sea
 in a river

Use 'in' with lines:

 in a row / in a line
 in a queue

AT

Use 'at' with places:

 at the bus-stop
 at the door
 at the cinema
 at the end of the street

Use 'at' with places on a page:

 at the top of the page

 at the bottom of the page

Use 'at' in groups of people:

 at the back of the class

 at the front of the class

ON

Use 'on' with surfaces:

 on the ceiling / on the wall / on the floor

 on the table

Use 'on' with small islands:

 I stayed on Maui.
Use 'on' with directions:

 on the left
 on the right
 straight on

IMPORTANT NOTES

In / at / on the corner

We say 'in the corner of a room', but 'at the corner (or 'on the corner') of a street'

In / at / on the front

 We say 'in the front / in the back' of a car

 We say 'at the front / at the back' of buildings / groups of people
 We say 'on the front / on the back' of a piece of paper

IN

Use 'in' with static (non-movement) verbs and cities, countries, states, etc.:

 stay in the USA

 work in New York

AT

Use 'at' with static (non-movement) verbs and places:

 at the cinema
 at work
 at home

TO

Use 'to' with verbs of movement such as go, come, drive, etc.:

 go to work
 drive to California
IMPORTANT NOTES

The use of ' ' (nothing)

 With verbs of movement and the noun 'home' - He went home. - they drove home.
 With the verb 'visit' - She visited France last summer.