Rules for Prepositions IN,
ON, AT, TO
Basic Rules
A. AT a time
B. ON a day
C. IN a month (season, year, decade, century)
D. AT an address
E. ON a street
F. IN an area (neighborhood, town, borough,
state, country, continent, ocean,
the world, the solar
system, the universe)
20 Special
Rules for Prepositions IN, ON, AT, TO
1. look AT and listen TO
2. TO with verbs of desire, necessity,
expectation
love TO, like TO, hate
TO, want TO, need TO, have TO, hope TO, expect TO
3. AT night
IN the morning, IN the
afternoon, IN the evening
4. ON transportation
ON the bus, ON the
train, ON the subway, ON a plane, ON a jet, ON a ship,
ON a bicycle, ON a motorcycle,
ON a surfboard, ON a skateboard
BUT
IN a car, IN a taxi, IN
a small boat, IN an elevator, IN a helicopter
5. AT an intersection (where two streets cross)
AT Broadway and 42nd
Street, AT Fifth Avenue and 34th Street
6. ON an island, ON a farm, ON a college campus,
ON earth, ON a planet
7. expressions that mean sometimes use different
prepositions:
from time TO time, ON
occasion, once IN a while
8. IN a park, IN a yard, AT a playground
9. ON anything flat
ON a plate, ON the
wall, ON the floor, ON a shelf, ON the blackboard,
ON a table, ON a desk,
ON the stove, ON your face, a hat ON your head
10. IN a room or anything
smaller
IN the closet, IN a
drawer, IN a cup, IN a bowl, IN a glass, IN your
mouth, ideas IN your
head, a look IN your eye, a ribbon IN your hair
11. TO when moving from
point A TO point B
go TO school, drive TO
work, take a trip TO Boston, take your kids TO
school, fly TO London,
walk TO the library, bring your dog TO the vet
12. ON a/an [adjective]
morning, afternoon, evening, night, day
ON a cold afternoon, ON
a sunny morning, ON a rainy evening,
ON a Saturday night, ON
a spring day, ON a special night
13. ON vacation, ON the
weekend, ON a trip, ON a picnic, ON your break,
ON a leave of absence,
ON your lunch hour
14. IN the water swimming
(or drowning), ON the water boating
15. AT the beach (the whole
place), lie ON the beach (=ON the sand), play IN the sand
16. ON anything like a line
ON the coast, stand ON
line, ON the border, ON the side, ON a team/committee
17. ON forms of
communication
ON TV, ON the radio, ON
the phone, ON the fax machine, ON the computer, ON
a disk, ON a CD, ON a
hard drive, ON a channel, ON a screen
18. a report or news
article ON the economy (ABOUT the economy)
19. ON time for an event or
activity: Come to the meeting ON time. Be in class ON time.
20. IN time (or too late) TO do something: Get to the
station IN time TO catch a train.
