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Nooon Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

At vs on to indicate the state or condition

Hi:
Could someone help me please?

What is the difference when we use preposition at & on to indicate the state or condition is there a rule to do that ?

ex : Currently many countries in the world are at war.( can we use preposition in instead of at here)
Currently many countries in the world on war.
  

Top answer

nooon What is the difference when we use preposition at & on to indicate the state or condition? Everyone is looking for rules for prepositions! A case-by-case approach seems to work best.

— Avangi

  • nooon What is the difference when we use preposition at & on to indicate the state or condition?
  • Everyone is looking for rules for prepositions!
  • A case-by-case approach seems to work best.
  • " At war " is a fixed expression which describes the state of war.
  • I guess it's something like a compound adjective.
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3 Answers
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nooonWhat is the difference when we use preposition at& on to indicate the state or condition?
Everyone is looking for rules for prepositions!
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nooon is there a rule to do that ?
No rule. Just lists. You'll have to make a list of expressions with "at", and another list with "on". I don't know of an easier way to learn these.

at war
at ease

at attention
at rest
...

on hold
on alert
on edge
on approval
...

CJ
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