arrive in-at

[Humble]

Hi,
Please tell me if I get it right:
arrive in - countries, capitals
arrive at -all the rest
arrive at Detroit, Birminghem, Zurich?
TIA

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Humble

Hi,
Please tell me if I get it right:
arrive in - countries, capitals
arrive at -all the rest
arrive at Detroit, Birminghem, Zurich?
TIA

arrive at [____] Airport, but arrive in [any city], Humble.

[Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by riverkid

arrive at [____] Airport, but arrive in [any city], Humble.

What about the office. I arrive at/in the office. And of course cases when there is no preposition at all: we arrive there. At is a point but in is used spatially so cities are seen spatially but the airport is a meeting point. However, the office can be both. What do you think Riverkid?

Let me make it more complicated:
on:
The police arrived on the scene (space).
He arrived on my birthday (time)

at
He arrived at a decision/ a compromise/a solution

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim

What about the office. I arrive at the office. And of course cases when there is no preposition at all: we arrive there. At is a point but in is used spatially so cities are seen spatially but the airport is a meeting point. However, the office can be both. What do you think Riverkid?

I think you have expanded admirably on my measly offering, Dr Ibrahim.

[Humble]

Any city. What abt a village?

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Humble

Any city. What abt a village?

Probably not for every situation, Humble. This needs more thought. Let me sleep on it.

[Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by riverkid

Probably not for every situation, Humble. This needs more thought. Let me sleep on it.

Let's leave Riverkid have a bit of sleep first.

Some teachers used to contrast village with town/city. They claimed in is used with town/city whereas at with village. This view cannot apply anymore. A villag is not a spot any longer although it is usually a small place in the countryside or in the mountains. In fact the frequency of the word village has declined a bit. Nowadays we speak of towns and cities simply because even some villages have expanded to towns. This means the word village is a little bit old fashioned.

So the whole has nothing to do with size but perhaps with the phrasal verb used:
You can stop at cities/towns/villages but live in them. It depends whether they are seen as a point (a stop over) or a place to live in. Even the distinction between town and city has diminshed. Cities in Britian are cities whern there is a cathedral in them or called so by a decree. City is of Romance origin whereas town is Germanic

[Humble]

Thanks, Riverkid and Dr.J.

[Humble]

A bit confusing:
as soon as they arrived in their summer resting place
Ever since Charity arrived in her flat, Clarissa had not only …
until it arrives safely in port.
Ralph Piggot, whose family arrived in the parish at about this time.
Bonzo arrived in the clubhouse at ten o'clock
since I arrived in the Department of Health 18 months ago.
The train arrived in London
the train arrived in Duisburg
We don't know when the car arrived in the car park.
the train that should arrive at Oxford at 5.35
The train arrives at Bracknell seven minutes late…
… that he had trampled on Mills's feet since arriving at Stoke City…
the two Russian leaders arrived at Portsmouth

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Humble

A bit confusing:

It seems to be, but there is a rhyme and reason to this for it isn't confusing for ENLs, Humble. I'll suggest that this too is not a cut-and-dried, only one choice deal, rather it's a scalar thing where sometimes either could be used depending on what the speaker has in mind.