Use in for inside an area or a container: in the box, in the kitchen, in Cluj. Use on for a surface or a line: on the table, on the wall, on the second floor. Use at for a point: a place on the way, an address or an event: at the bus stop, at 12 Oxford Street, at a party.
The keys are on the table.
Three shapes: in is inside something, on is touching a surface, and at is a point on the map.
| in | Inside something with limits: in the box, in the car, in the kitchen, in Romania, in a photo |
|---|---|
| on | On a surface or a line: on the table, on the wall, on the floor, on page 5, on the coast |
| at | A point, or a place where you do something: at the door, at the bus stop, at work, at a concert, at 12 Oxford Street |
Transport: in a car or a taxi (small, you sit inside), on a bus, a train, a plane or a bike.
She's in the kitchen.
Rooms, boxes, buildings when you mean inside them, and liquids: in the water.
They live in Cluj.
An area with borders is a container too: in Cluj, in Spain, in the park.
There's a picture on the wall.
Touching a surface (table, wall, floor, page) or a line (the coast, a river, a road).
I'll meet you at the station.
You see the place as a point: where you meet, wait or do something. Also events and addresses: at a party, at 12 Oxford Street.
Common expressions worth learning as they are.
Your phone is _____ the table.
Time and place, side by side.
Paste an email or an essay. Clarigram marks the mistakes you actually make, shows the rule behind each one as a picture, and builds your practice from them.
Both are correct, with different meanings. At the station: the station as a point, where you meet or wait. In the station: inside the building.
In the corner of a room (inside, where two walls meet). At (or on) the corner of a street (outside, where two streets meet).
Both are used: in the street is common in British English, on the street in American English. With a house number, use at: at 12 Oxford Street.