Prepositions of Place

Hello everybody! This is Arup from the YouTube channel "Language and Literature." I'm back with another lesson today. Today's lesson is prepositions of place. You know that I am going through a series of lectures on parts of speech. I have completed talking about all the parts of speech except preposition. I have delivered seven lectures on seven parts of speech. each and every lecture is almost complete in itself. You can get almost all the information about a particular part of speech from each class. However, dealing with preposition in 15 minutes is impossible. So, I have decided to make several videos on preposition so that we can practice preposition in a broader way. I have already let you know what preposition is and its seven types in the first lecture. Second lecture deals with prepositions of movement. Now you know how to express various types of movement that you regularly observe. In the third lecture, I talked about prepositions of time. Now we know how to express time correctly. Today, I am going to teach you prepositions of place.


There are three important prepositions of place. They are at, on and in. They are used in various way. This lecture will talk about these various ways at, on, and in are used. The lecture will all bring some other prepositions and prepositional phrase which are used to express time. So, watch the channel attentively and inform yourself about prepositions of place and know how to say where someone or something is. Yes, prepositions of place tell us where someone or something is. Lets start with the preposition at.

AT
At can be used in various ways. I am going to talk about the rules about the usage of at. At the same time I will talk about some expression which do not follow any rule. We just need to remember them. If we use them in our conversation consciously, we brain will automatically recognize them. Let's start with the rules.

Rule one: At is used to talk about specific address.

• I live at 65 College Street. 
• We spent a good time at Rohit's house.

Note: If there is exact address and if there is only name of the street, we use preposition on. 

Rule two: At refers to specific places which is close to something.

• I am at the door. (It means I am standing close to door. and I will knock on the door.   
• I am at the elevator. (It means I am close to elevator and waiting to get in the elevator)
• I am sitting at the table. (It means I am sitting beside the table. Of course, I am sitting in the chair (we use in if it is armed chair) and at the table.

Rule three: At is also used for public places:

• I work at college.
• I studied at East West University.
• Let's meet at the supermarket.
• We can meet different types of people at the station. 
• I spend hours at our college library.
• I saw him at language club.
• He filed a case at police station. 

Rule four: We also use at for a stop/break on a journey. 

• Our car to Chittagong stopped at a cafe. 
• I stopped at a nice village. 
• The bus to Sumamgonj stopped at Sylhet. 

Rule five: We also at for events:

• We spent some quality time at the conference.
• We enjoyed much at the party.
• They all became nervous at the meeting. 
• My friend's song mesmerized us at the concert. 

Some Exceptions: 

• At home
• At work
• At reception

ON

Rule one: On indicates something on flat surfaces. A surface is a continuous set of points that has length and breadth but no thickness. We use on for someone or something in relation to this surface.

• The scenery was hung on the wall. (wall is a surface)
• There is a book on the table. 
• I am going to write something on the white board. 
• You can  find the information on page nine. 
• There was a ship on the ocean.
• I saw a flower floating on the river. 

Rule two: We also use the preposition on when we talk about something which is close to the coast, river or road.

• I live on College Street. (It means I live close to College Street. But, if any specific address is attached to the name of the road yo should use at. 
• Dhaka stands on Buriganga. (It means Dhaka is close to river Buriganga.) 
• Endemic plants are found on the South Coast

Rule three: We can also use on for something which is attached to something. 

• There are some mangoes on the tree.
• She is wearing a ring on her finger.

Exceptions:

• She sits on the left/right.
• He works on a farm.
• He works on a ship.
• I live on fifth floor. 
• I watched the news on television.
• I heard the news on radio. 

IN: 

When we use in, we think about the position of something in relation to what surround it. 

There are also various rules related to preposition in. 

Rule one: In is used for an enclosed space/a large place with boundaries: 

• I am in my bed room.
• We are in our class room. 
• There is something in my bag.
• I spend some time in my garden.
• Suddenly, we got lost in the desert. 

 Rule two: You can also use in when you are talking about villages, towns or cities, forest, desert, ocean, lake. 

• He lives in New York.
• We were in Paris to visit Eiffel Tower.
• I live in village.

Standard usage: 

• I am reading an important article in the newspaper.
• She spends hours in bed. (Don't say the bed)
• He was in hospital. (Don't say the hospital)
• I noticed her in the photograph.
• Birds are flying in the sky. 
• I enjoyed the characters in the movie. 

BY: By means near, beside or next to something. 

• I stood by her. 
• He lives by the river. Similarly, I can say he lives near the river/next to/beside the river.

Note: There is a difference between near and beside/next to. Beside or next to means very close to something. But near does not tell how exactly close to something.  

Between:

Between means in the middle of two persons or things.

• There is a pen between the books.
• I stood between them.

Among: 

Among means in the middle of more than two persons or things. 

• There is a pen among the books.
• I stood among them. 

Over and Above
As prepositions of place over and above carry similar meaning.

• I am holding the book over or above  the table. (you can use either  'over' or above'. They carry similar meaning as preposition of place.) 

Note: Be careful when you are talking about movement). 'Over' and above' carry different meaning as far as movement is concerned)

Below and Under:
I am holding the book under the table. (you can use either 'below' or under'. They carry similar meaning as prepositions of place.)

• I am holding the book below or under the table. 

Note: As prepositions of movement over and under carry a sense of movement. But, Below and above cannot carry such movement.

Behind:
Behind behind at the back of someone or something.

• I saw them singing behind me. 
• I stood behind them.

Before: 

Before means in front of someone or something.

• I saw them singing before me.
• I stood before them and delivered my lecture. 

Look at  Prepositions of Time

              Prepositions of Movement

ARUP ROY

WORKING AS A LECTURER IN ENGLISH  

LITERATURE & LINGUISTICS

AT KANCHKHURA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF IELD

FORMER LECTURER OF STAMFORD COLLEGE

& DHAKA PUBLIC COLLEGE

WORKED AS A MEMBER SECRETARY
AT STAMFORD ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLUB UTTARA