[Grammar] AT, IN and ON

[Huda-M]

Hi!

I sometimes face confusion whether to use AT, IN or ON for any places etc

As an example:

The play is going on AT the stadium or is it going on IN the stadium??

The bakery is AT the ABC road or ON the ABC road??

Please help me solve this confusion

Thanks!

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi!

I sometimes face confusion whether to use AT, IN or ON for any places etc

As an example:

The play is going on AT the stadium or is it going on IN the stadium??

The bakery is AT the ABC road or ON the ABC road??

Please help me solve this confusion

Thanks!

A play isn't usually on at a stadium. Plays are on at a theatre (theater in AmE). Perhaps you meant "the match" or "the game" if you were talking about sport. If that is the case, then you can use "at" or "in" with stadium.

The bakery is in ABC Road (BrE).
The bakery is on ABC Road (AmE).

However, in BrE, we are starting to hear "on ABC Road" more often so it's not actually wrong in BrE.

 

[Huda-M]

A play isn't usually on at a stadium. Plays are on at a theatre (theater in AmE). Perhaps you meant "the match" or "the game" if you were talking about sport. If that is the case, then you can use "at" or "in" with stadium.

The bakery is in ABC Road (BrE).
The bakery is on ABC Road (AmE).

However, in BrE, we are starting to hear "on ABC Road" more often so it's not actually wrong in BrE.

Yes, I meant some sport actually! Can ''going on at the stadium'' be used for the game then? Secondly, is there any particular rule for the use of the three prepositions (esp ON and AT)?

Thank You!

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, I meant some sport actually! Can ''going on at the stadium'' be used for the game then? Secondly, is there any particular rule for the use of the three prepositions (esp ON and AT)?

Thank you!

With your stadium example, I would say something like:

The football match is on at the stadium.
The rugby match is being played at the stadium.
The tennis match has started already. It's going on at the stadium right now.

The "rule" with prepositions in English is that (annoyingly for learners) you just have to learn which one to use in all the different contexts. Here are some examples (which should prove that you can't just learn a rule):

I'm on the bus.
I'm on the train.
I'm in the car.
I'm on the plane. (BrE)
I'm in the plane. (AmE)
It's in the High Street.
It's on the High Street.
He is swimming in the river.
He is sailing on the river.
They are having a picnic at the river.
They are having a picnic by the river.

 

[Academic Writing]

With your stadium example, I would say something like:
The "rule" with prepositions in English is that (annoyingly for learners) you just have to learn which one to use in all the different contexts. Here are some examples (which should prove that you can't just learn a rule)

That's exactly how I tend to explain it emsr2d2. It's a bit unfortunate that there isn't an easier way, but I think it's the way that most students will learn the prepositions. As a learner of another language myself (Spanish), I wouldn't be too excited about memorizing every grammatical condition for every preposition and trying to process those while writing or speaking (and that would only get me so far anyway, as there are always exceptions). Personally, I find it less intimidating to learn the prepositions that fit with various verbs and phrases one by one. Over time I have noticed that my brain naturally extends a given usage to other similar verbs. That doesn't always work of course, but the mistakes are a necessary and often humorous part of learning.

 

[Huda-M]

With your stadium example, I would say something like:

The football match is on at the stadium.
The rugby match is being played at the stadium.
The tennis match has started already. It's going on at the stadium right now.

The "rule" with prepositions in English is that (annoyingly for learners) you just have to learn which one to use in all the different contexts. Here are some examples (which should prove that you can't just learn a rule):

I'm on the bus.
I'm on the train.
I'm in the car.
I'm on the plane. (BrE)
I'm in the plane. (AmE)
It's in the High Street.
It's on the High Street.
He is swimming in the river.
He is sailing on the river.
They are having a picnic at the river.
They are having a picnic by the river.

Thank you, Ma'am I get it now

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you, Ma'am I get it now

I'm glad it helped. Just a note - there is no need to add an extra post to say thank you to anyone. You can just click the "Like" button on the posts which help. Also, there is no need for such salutations as "Sir/Madam/Ma'am" on this forum. Much as it's nice for someone to manage to get my sex right first time (!), being addressed as "Ma'am" makes me feel like either the Queen of England (no thank you) or an officer in the armed forces (no thank you again!)