Prepositions

[Emanuelli]

a) I've always used the preposition "at"to talk about names of schools and companies, like: "I work at IBM", "I study at Cambridge University"and I still use them to talk about names of public places like, "I have lunch at Dennis bar". Last night I was reading a book and they used the preposition "in" to talk about the name of a public place. Is that right?

b) With the preposition "near" I never use from. Is it OK?

c) If I say: "I will leave this room", can I say "I will go out". Or, I'm not at home and someone calls, what should people say: "She has left" or "She has gone out"?

Thanks

[AintFoolin]

a) either one can be fine, 'at' is indeed more common, but 'in' is perfectly fine. It all depends on what exactly you're talking about

I work at IBM - ok
I work in IBM - not ok
He's at the military - not ok
He's in the military - ok
We had lunch at the mall - ok
We had lunch in the mall - ok
We met at the fountain - ok
We met in the fountain - unlikely

c) "She's not here, can I take a message" or "She's unable to come to the phone right now" or "She's out buying presents"

[Casiopea]

I agree wholeheatedly with AF's response, expecially "She's out buying presents" . In addition, with regards to c), if I am upset, I might use, "I will leave this room". 'will' expresses a strong intent. Otherwise, I'd use, "I'm going out (now)" or "I'm leaving now." If I'm not at home, I wouldn't use the former, "I'm going out (now)." I'd use, "I'm going/leaving (now)."