at/in

Question

it make me feel confusing.i know for places , in should be used such as in malaysia, in singapore,etchow about these below ?which sholud be right?at/in school??at/on work?

New2grammar · Accepted Answer

I don't know about on work but the rest are possible depending on context.

Evo25 · Answer

can someone explains further to me.....!
what means depending on the context?
can give me few examples??
thanks.

New2grammar · Answer

Is Amy home?
Nope. She's at school.

My daughter is in school/college.

My husband is at work. You can reach him on his cell phone.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Evo,

Prepositions are very, very tricky in English and they often seem to have few rules to help you with figuring out when to use which ones. However, there are some general guidelines.

Here are two sites that may help you:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep2.html

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep.html

These both relate to places.

Don't be discouraged by these. No native speaker will misunderstand you if you say "I arrived to New York at Saturday" instead of "I arrived in New York on Saturday."

New2grammar · Answer

Grammar GeekDon't be discouraged by these. No native speaker will misunderstand you if you say "I arrived to New York at Saturday" instead of "I arrived in New York on Saturday."

I feel so good hearing this. I'm always afraid of using the wrong preposition.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Trust me, no one will care.

Sometimes it's important - I need this report by Friday versus on Friday, but when it comes to places, no one will misunderstand. Same with "I rode on a car" (although someone may smile, picturing you gripping the roof rack as you sped down the highway). No one will misunderstand. The first goal is simply to communicate. Perfecting these little things later is fine - don't let them keep you from trying to speak.

at/in

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