at and in

can someone tell me the difference between in and at

i ll meet you in the restaurant
i ll meet you at the restaurant

i study this in school
i study this at school

i worked in a hotel at a restaurant
i worked at a restaurant in a hotel

[Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

can someone tell me the difference between in and at
i ll meet you in the restaurant
i ll meet you at the restaurant
i study this in school
i study this at school
i worked in a hotel at a restaurant
i worked at a restaurant in a hotel

At is a point in time and place:
At 8 O'clock
At the baker's. At my friend's

In is either a period of time or spatial:
In the morning
In my house

A the beginning. Point: At the beginning he greeted everybody.
In the beginning: implies change: In the beginning they were reserved.

Because at is a point it is used for a meeting point such as the email sign @ called commercial at. A point means a target and a target can be aggressive:
She shouted at me. (aggressive)
She shouted to me. (friendly)

He threw the ball at me. (aggressive)
Her threw the ball to me. (friendly)

In addition at can collocate with certain adjectives like good at which are seen spatially in other languages:
She is good/bad at English.