ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: I'm confuzzled! : In vs On vs At

Goodman — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 17:32:16 GMT

HMFindlay wrote:

In vs On vs At

Why can't I say ' I prefer to stay in home' but have to say 'at home' when I am inside the house?

or 'Im at the airport' instead of 'in the airport' when I am already inside the arriving hall?

And why 'my dog plays in the field/playground' and not 'at the field/playground' or something else?

Hi,

Questions about preposition indeed is confusing to a lot of ESL students. I had been there ! I know! Some of them just have to be memorized and used often because explanation may not make sense, i.e. âWe were at sea for 4 days with no sight of landâ. I will try to give some examples to help you understand. If I am wrong, maybe others can pitch in.

âAtâ suggests very close proximity Ex: 1) â I will be waiting for you at the corner of Nathan Rd and Jordanâ. 2) âWe were at the movie last nightâ; not âinâ. However you were in the theater.

A: âWhere are you at; we are looking for you?â B: âI am at my cousinâs houseâ

Also keep in mind the following:

Iâve just arrived at the airport.

I am waiting for you at the taxi stand.

You are still at the ball park!

Children were playing: In the playground / At the park/ On the soccer field/

Re: I'm confuzzled! : In vs On vs At

CalifJim — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 17:21:09 GMT

at home is just a special idiom. If you want to emphasize staying inside, that is, the interiority of the situation, use in the house. If you want to emphasize that you don't want to leave the house (Maybe there's a dangerous animal just outside the door!), then say that you want to stay in the house. If you want to emphasize that you don't want to participate in social activities in the world at large (shopping, going to a restaurant, going to work, etc.), then say you want to stay at home.

You can say at the airport when you are in the airport.

You can say that your dog plays at the playground.

home, airport, and playground can be conceived of as places where certain typical activities occur. When they are conceived of in this way, we use at.
When we conceive of such places simply as delimited volumes -- i.e., objects with interiors (house, airport) -- or delimited areas (field), we use in.

CJ

I'm confuzzled! : In vs On vs At

HMFindlay — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 16:01:10 GMT

In vs On vs At

Why can't I say ' I prefer to stay in home' but have to say 'at home' when I am inside the house?

or 'Im at the airport' instead of 'in the airport' when I am already inside the arriving hall?

And why 'my dog plays in the field/playground' and not 'at the field/playground' or something else?