At, In and On

At, in and on — these prepositions are the most common prepositions in English, and luckily, you can learn them by following a few basic rules. Let’s take a quick look at the following sentence:

What the hell is going on here you might be thinking?!

At first glance, the English prepositions, at, in and on may seem somewhat randomly placed (as you might think when looking at this sentence), however, quite the opposite is true. The prepositions at, in and on are guided by real rules that you can follow.

In today’s lesson, we will get to the bottom of all this and learn the fundamental rules regarding these very common prepositions: at, in and on.

Let’s get started, shall we?

At a fundamental level, we have two categories “time” (anything related with time) and “place” (anything related with place) for the prepositions “at”, “in” and “on”, and if you just learn some simple and easy-to-understand rules for each category, “time” and “place”, you’ll understand how to use these prepositions and you won’t have any more issues.

“At” is used for specific dates and clock time

So, when it comes to anything “time” related, we use “at” when talking about specific dates like Christmas and Easter, as well as clock time. However, we can only use “at” when we consider the specific date we’re talking about as just that: a specific date, and NOT a period of time.

What did you do at Christmas? (So, given that “Christmas” is a specific date, we use “at”).
At Easter I like to eat lots of chocolate! (“Easter” could also take “in” if we’re referring to a period of time – more on this in a few minutes, however, here, we’re using “at” because it’s considered a specific date).
At the weekend, I do lots of sports.

In US English, they use “on” for the weekend

For instance,

On the weekend, I do lots of sports = US.
At the weekend, I do lots of sports = UK.

We will see you at two o’clock. (So, here it’s pretty straight forward, we use “at” with clock time.
At 17:00 I have an important meeting.
At what time will you be there?

“At” for any point in space

When you want to talk about any “point in space”, for example, a cinema, a metro station, a restaurant etc. then we use “at” and NOT “in”. In this case, we use “at” to just mean somewhere at this “point in space”, however, we could mean either inside or outside – we’re not being specific. So, basically, “at this general point”.

I work at a company. (Here, we use “at”, and not “in” because we don’t need to be more specific. That is, it might not be necessary to use “in” unless you want to specify that you’re literally “in” the building, rather we only need a general idea as to the “point in space” where you are located – but more on “in” in just a minute.
Would you like to meet me at the airport? (whenever we use “at” it’s because we consider the noun that follows, in this case “airport” to be a point in space, and not a larger area). Furthermore, when we use “at” to reference a point in space, such as “the airport”, we are not being specific as to exactly where we want to meet, just “this point in space”.
Right now, I’m at home. (Here, “at” is used because relative to the speaker, we don’t need to further specify the exact location, i.e., the bathroom, kitchen etc, which, in those cases we would use “in” because it’s 3-dimensional space. So, to reiterate, we use “at” when talking about any “point in space”, kind of like a vague point and we’re not being too specific).

“In” for periods of time

Whenever we have a period or a duration of time we use “in”.

In Winter we have to keep warm. (Because “winter” is considered a period of time, hence “in”).
We shall see you in the afternoon. (Again, “afternoon” just like “morning”, and “evening” are considered periods of time).
I love playing football in July and in the mornings. (The months, January, February, March etc, are all periods of time, hence in).

“In” used for three dimensional Space (3D space)

Essentially, by three-dimensional-space, we basically mean that if you are in a place with walls and a roof, for example, an office, a building, your home, then we use “in”. Further, you can also use “at” to talk about a 3D space if you want to, however, if you want to be specific regarding where you are exactly in the 3D space, and then use “in”

I’m in my home, and in the lounge. (In this case, even though “home” and “lounge” are also points in space, we can also use “in” when we want to specify exactly where we are. That being said, we’re less likely to say “at the lounge” because this is a very specific location, and it’s more likely, you would use “in”, especially as the “lounge” is 3D space. For example, if your friend calls you, asking you where you are, you would normally tell them “I’m at home”, and you wouldn’t need to tell them that you’re “I’m in my home”, nor “I’m in my lounge”, because it’s too specific, although you can still say this if you want to. It’s correct. We just assume your friend does not need to know your exact, pinpoint location. These are the main differences between “in” and “at”.
Let’s meet in the restaurant. (Meaning, literally, “inside the restaurant”, so we’re being more specific. Plus, “restaurant” = three dimensional space (has walls and a roof).
David is at his home and he’s in the kitchen. (First, we can say his general “point in space” and then if we want to be more specific about his exact location (of course, if it’s a 3D space), then we use “in”, hence, “in the kitchen”). Moreover, we can also say,

David is in his home and he’s in the kitchen. (So, as you can see, when it comes to points in space, like with “home” you mostly have two options “at” or “in”, with “at” meaning “this point in space”, and “in” meaning “inside” because you have walls and a roof (which you would you use if you want to be more specific).

“In” for larger areas

With regards to any kind of large area such as cities, countries, etc., that expand over a reasonable distance, then we use “in”.

My best friend lives in Berlin, in Germany and in the European Union. (Berlin, Germany and the European Union are all large areas, hence “in”).
I sometimes like to spend time in the countryside. (So, again, “the countryside” is somewhat of a large area).
In science, you need to talk scientifically. (You could think of “science” as “a large field or area”, so even though it’s not an actual physical location like “Berlin”, it’s still a large area of study. Importantly, the prepositions at, in and on are everywhere in English, and it’s not always going to be so easy to distinguish the differences when it comes to things that are not “physical” such as the internet or fields of study, for example. So, in order to use the correct preposition, say either “in” or “at”, it’s all about how we conceptualize things. Is what you conceptualize, say, “the field of linguistics” somewhat of a large area? Then use “in”.
That’s why you should come back to these fundamental rules where we have the categories of “time” and “place” as well as their respective rules, which, for the most part, do function well.

“On” for talking about days

This one is pretty simple, for days we use “on”.

On Mondays I have to work.
Let’s talk on Friday.
On Christmas day, I spend time with my family. (In this lesson, we have used “at Christmas”, and now “on Christmas day”. Here, we have used “on” with “Christmas” because we have the word “day” that follows. If this weren’t the case, then we could say “at Christmas” = specific date. In this case, we’re using the word “day”, therefore, we must use “on”.

“On” used for talking about any kind surface

It’s here where we may find some contradictions, that being said, we have to see through the lens of “how we conceptualize things” in order to process this rule. When we talk about a surface, we mean that something or someone is literally “on” a surface, for instance, the floor, the bus, the street. Whilst, you could also say the floor, the bus, the street etc. are “points in space”, so why don’t we use “at”?, Or a 3D space, so why not “in”? However, if the thing or person to which we are referring is “on” a surface, we use “on” because we generally conceptualize things which are on top of, say, a desk, floor, or the street to be that of a surface. Our conception is that of someone or something on top of said surfaces, hence, “on”.

“How we conceptualize things”

I live on this street. (On one hand, while it’s true that the “street” is a point in space, so you might think to use “at”, however, we consider that the core or what we mean is in reference to quite literally the “surface”, hence, “on”. This is because your intention is to state that your building where you live is quite literally “on top of” or “on” this street, or on this “surface”.
You can watch this programme on the television. (Originally, “on” was for all things that are literal “surfaces” related, so, we continue to apply this meaning. Further, you can think of a screen as a surface, and a tv programme is being presented on this surface. At a fundamental level, this is how we most likely conceptualize it, and ultimately, why we use the preposition “at” in this phrase.

“On” when something is “connected to” something else

When something is literally “connected to” another thing, then we use “on”.

My shoes are on. (Literally, your shoes are “connected to” your feet. So, in a sense, you could say, instead, “my shoes are connected to my feet”, however, don’t ever say this! This is just what it means, quite literally, and to showcase why we use the preposition “on”.
Today I’m going to put my watch on. (In order to understand why we use “on” – we have to think of the concept of being “connected to”, so, in this case, the “watch” is “connected to” your “wrist”. It might be a little weird to think like this, but it should help you!
His glasses are on = “his glasses are connected to his eyes” – Again, this is just the literal meaning and not something you should say, however, this notion of “connected to” between the glasses and your eyes is why we use “on”.

When the verb is explicitly “connected to”, don’t use “on”

That being said, if you use a verb such as, for example, “wear” whose meaning is very explicit, then in this case, the preposition “on” is not necessary. For instance,

I’m wearing a jacket = correct.
I’m wearing a jacket on = incorrect.

Verbs such as “to be”, “have”, and “put” etc., do no have an explicit meaning related to “connected to”, so, it’s for this reason, you need to use the preposition “on” with these verbs when referencing anything related to something being “connected to”.

A few quick examples:

My jeans are on.
I have my jeans on.
I put my jeans on.

All these phrases = my jeans are “connected to” my legs. Of course nobody would ever say, “my jeans are connected to my legs”, but that’s the literal sense of it, and the reason as to why we use the preposition “on” when referring to the sense of “connected to”.

At, in and on — Review

After all that, let’s take our sentence from the beginning of the lesson:

My father works at a company, and he lives in Pamplona on this beautiful street.