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
at
at
at

the
the
the
the

bus-stop
door
cinema
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

Prepositions of place show position:

on - used with surfaces (wall, table, etc.)

in - used with countries, cities, regions, etc.
at - used with places in towns, cities, etc.
to - used with movement toward a place or city
no preposition - used with some words like 'home'

1. We have DSL Internet access at work, but I don't have a highspeed connection at home.
2. The kids are learning about the Civil War in their history
class at school.
3. Toby was in the hospital for two weeks after his motorcycle
accident on the freeway.
4. Jane and Debbie saw dolphins in the ocean while they were
having a picnic on the beach.
5. Fred loves to go camping in the desert, but Kyle prefers to
camp in the mountains.
6. The conference was held at a ski resort in Telluride, a small
town in southwest Colorado.
7. You can buy stamps at the post office on Delancy Street.
8. The old man who was standing on the corner yelled at the kids
who were playing in the street.
9. While they were hiking on Ridgeback Mountain, Laurelle and
Frank saw a bear in the woods.
10. They have a small house on a lake in the countryside. When I
visit them, I always love to sit on the shore and watch the kids
swimming in the lake.
1. You can buy your rail passes at the ticket counter in any train
station in the country.
2. The brown bears found on Kodiak Island are the largest in the
world.
3. There is no life on the moon, but there are many forms of
life on the ocean floor.
4. She bought her wedding dress in an exclusive shop on Fifth
Avenue.
5. Nathan was able to exchange money at the exchange
counter in the airport.
6. If you want anything to eat, there is a freshly baked chocolate

cake on the table in the kitchen and plenty of food in the

refrigerator.
7. While Shirley was in Tacy's department store at the mall, she ran
into Evan and Lea in the furniture department.
8. While Dave was at the top of the Eiffel Tower, he could see
several tourist boats on the Seine, the river that runs through Paris.
9. I stood in line for thirty minutes at the ticket window in the movie
theater to get tickets for the film.
10. Mike was sitting at his desk in his office at work when Bill
called; Bill was in Asia on business.
1. Donna went into the store, but I don't think she found what she was looking for
because she came back out almost immediately.

2. As Samantha was climbing out of the swimming pool, she slipped and fell
back in.

3. The post office is just down the street on the left near the hospital.

4. Lily had problems climbing back down from the tree house because she had
injured her ankle as she was climbing up.

5. She didn't have any difficulty pulling into the parking space, but as she was
backing out, she scratched the car parked next to her.

6. Although you can take an elevator up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, we decided
to walk up. I was exhausted by the time we got to the top.

7. When Mrs. Sims saw the kids playing on the roof she screamed, "You kids had
better come down from there, right now!"

8. You can go in now; Dr. Wilson is ready to see you.

9. Our customer service center will help you solve that problem. Just
walk down the hall and take the elevator up to the second floor.

10. Just as Debbie was stepping out of the elevator, she realized she was on the
wrong floor, so she quickly jumped back in before the doors closed.
1. While they were hiking through the forest, Laurelle and Frank saw a mountain
lion.

2. We walked along the river looking for a way to get across it, but there was no
bridge.

3. When the kids saw the snake in the grass, they started
running around screaming hysterically.

4. The train passed through nine tunnels on the way to Denver.

5. They strolled along the beach watching the sunset.

6. The plane flew over the Grand Canyon on the way to Los Angeles.

7. Several animals, including emus, ran across the road in front of the car as
they were driving through the outback of Australia.

8. They walked around the building twice looking for the entrance.

9. The cruise ship passed under the Golden Gate Bridge as it was leaving San
Francisco.

10. His dog is always trying to escape from the backyard. Sometimes he
manages to jump over the fence, and sometimes he digs a hole and
crawls under it.
1. The computer printer is on the table next to the computer.

2. Shawn and Noel stood under the tree waiting for the rain to stop.

3. I didn't see the mailbox even though I was standing right next to it.

4. Everybody was already sitting at the table waiting for dinner to be served.

5. Every evening, the dog sits under the dinner table begging for food.

7. Debra was sitting at the computer surfing the Internet.

8. I asked the woman standing next to me on the bus where I should get out.

9. My car keys were on the desk, but I couldn't see them because they
were under a magazine.

10. When I went to buy the concert tickets, there was nobody at the ticket sales
window.
1. Her wallet wasn't in her purse; it was in her coat pocket.

2. Tony had an ink stain on his coat pocket.

3. Philip waited in front of the movie theater for Simone, so they could buy
tickets and go in together.

4. While Sam was talking to the bank teller, the woman behind him in line kept
sighing impatiently.

5. There was a sign in front of the restaurant saying that it was closed for
renovations.

6. His grandfather, who had passed away years before, was in the painting which
was hanging on the wall.

7. Shelly didn't see Bobby because he was hiding behind the couch.

8. Frank had his passport in his hand as he boarded the plane.

9. There is an electrical outlet behind the desk. Can you help me move the desk,
so I can plug in the computer?

10. The kids were sitting on the floor in front of the TV when Barbara came
home.
1. Jane is arriving on January 26 at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

2. It snows here every year in December. We always go outside and play in the
snow on Christmas day.

3. Michael is leaving on Friday at noon.

4. Frankie started working for her law firm in 1995.

5. Franklin began working on the project NO PREP yesterday.

6. Normally, on New Year's Eve, it's tradition to kiss the one you love at midnight.

7 Don't be ridiculous; there were no telephones in the seventeenth century! The

telephone was invented in the 1870s.

8. The plane leaves NO PREP tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM.

9. The hills here are covered with wildflowers in early spring.

10. We met at the restaurant at 6:30 and stayed until 10:30.

1. She always gets up early in the morning, so she can make it to class on time.
2. I was sick, so I didn't go to work NO PREP last Thursday, but I did go to
work on Friday.
3. Mary stopped talking in the middle of her story, and suddenly started to cry. I
think we were all crying by the time she finished telling us what had happened.
4. Late at night, you can here coyotes howling in the distance.
5. Just wait a second, I'll be there in a minute.
6. I need to give my parents a call. I haven't talked to them in over a month.
7. Barbara is going to start her new job NO PREP next September..
8. The professor said on the first day of the course that there would be a big final
test at the end of the semester.
9. I have been sitting here for more than an hour. If they don't arrive in the next
ten minutes, I'm leaving.
10. We were really worried at first because the banks were closed on Saturdays,
so we couldn't exchange money. But in the end, everything worked out because
we were able to exchange money at the hotel.

1. The exhaust fumes from the cars were so strong that Sherry passed out.

2. When they offered me that job in Miami, I immediately accepted. There was no
way I was going to pass up the opportunity to move to Florida.

3. After I took a quick look at the ancient vase, I passed it back to the art dealer. I
could see she was afraid I was going to break it.

4. He tried to pass the painting off as an original Picasso, but I recognized at

once that it was a fake.

5. The Buddhist monk told me that the old woman had not really died. He said
she had simply passed into her next life.

6. The police helicopter passed over our house several times while they were
looking for the prisoner who had escaped.

7. Every day, when the yellow bus passes by my house on its way to school, I
think of my childhood in Iowa and simpler times.

8. I momentarily lost my cell phone connection when the train

passed through the tunnel.

9. My grandfather lived a very long and active life. He didn't pass away until he
was 107 years old.

10. One by one, we passed the pictures around so that everyone could see what
a talented photographer Jerry had become.