Confused about prepositions? I don’t blame you! Remember that there are several different types of preposition (place, time etc). Most prepositions of place follow the rules, but there are quite a lot of exceptions too, which makes things confusing. I’d recommend memorising the exceptions first, then once you are confident with those, think about the prepositions which do follow the rules.
1. “In” a defined space
A defined space can be 3D (three-dimensional), like a box, house,glass or car, or it can be 2D, like a garden or park. We would then use “in” like this:
My new trainers are still in the box.
They’ve been in the house all day.
There’s only a little wine left in her glass.
Let’s go out in the garden today.
He’s gone for a run in the park.
Don’t confuse house with home. More about this when we talk about “at”.
2. “On” a surface
This is when a thing is touching either a horizontal surface, like a beach or table, or a vertical surface like a wall. Bodies of water (lakes, seas and oceans) are referred to as a horizontal surface. Body parts or skin also count as a surface. We would then use “on” as follows:
I’ve been sitting on the beach all morning.
Your dinner is on the table.
We hung your picture on the wall.
We went sailing on the lake yesterday.
He has a lot of tattoos on his arms, doesn’t he?
A native speaker would usually understand if a mistake is made with a preposition, but sometimes a different preposition can change the meaning of a sentence. Consider these two sentences.
I’ve been lying on my bed all morning. The speaker is on top of the duvet.
I’ve been lying in my bed all morning. The speaker is under the duvet.
3. “At”
As I said above, try not to confuse house (a building) with home (a more abstract idea). Native speakers of English always use “at” with home when no other travel is planned:
I’ll be at home all day
We also use “at” with institutions or specific places like work, university, school and the gym. Notice that the gym is the only place that takes an article.
She’s at university right now but is going to the gym around 6pm.
The exceptions
● “In” a car, but “on” a bus. We use “on” for large vehicles like buses, trains, planes and ferries.
● “On” a piece of paper, but “in” a letter. If a certain piece of information is part of a larger document (like a newspaper article or book), we use “in”.
● “On” a webpage. Any piece of information online is “on”.
I hope this helps!