Prepositions of Place: AT, IN, BY, INTO, OUT OF - Common English Mistakes

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Hi everybody, and welcome back to EnglishClass101.com's Youtube channel.

My name is Alisha, and today I'm going to talk about prepositions of location

and movement.

So let's get started!

Okay, so the first preposition of location I want to talk about is “at.”

We use “at” to talk about exact specific locations, so some examples of this are “at

the supermarket,” “at the table,” “at her desk,” this means a person or an object

is at that specific place.

So, for example, I'm at work right now.

I'm at the office.

These are specific points where people or objects can be located, so please use “at”

to talk about a specific location.

Okay, so let's go on to the next preposition of location for now, “in.”

We use “in” when we want to talk about enclosed locations, so locations which are

surrounded or when we're surrounded by something else, something else is all around this, or

we are enclosed within something.

So some examples of this are “in the pool,” we are enclosed or surrounded by the pool.

“In the closet,” completely enclosed by the closet.

“In your bag,” your items are enclosed by your bag.

And “in the water,” so when swimming in the ocean, for example, we say in the water;

I'm in the water, for example.

Now, I'm in the office, I'm in a room, I'm in my home city, for example.

So these are different ways we can use the word “in” when we are enclosed or surrounded

by something.

Please also remember that “in” is used for countries and cities.

I live in Bangkok, I live in Europe, for example.

So please remember to use “in” for countries and cities as well as for locations that are

enclosed or when you're surrounded by something else.

Okay, so let's talk about the next preposition of location, the next preposition is “by.”

We use “by” when we want to express something is near something else, near or close to something

else.

So, for example, by the park, or by the coffee shop, by your computer, by the table, these

mean near something else.

We don't know exactly is it maybe next to, in front of, behind, we don't know, but it

means simply near something else.

So, for example, I'm by the whiteboard right now, I'm by a chair, I'm by a table, these

are ways we can use "by" to express near or close to.

Okay, so the next preposition I want to talk about is a preposition of movement, actually,

the next two are prepositions of movement.

The first one is "into."

So "into" is something we use to express movement from an open location to a more closed location.

So, for example, into the bank, walk into the bank, or into the refrigerator, put food

into the refrigerator, or into the suspects home, the police moved into the suspects home.

In each case, "into" shows moving from an open location to a more closed location.

So because "in" is here you can imagine we are moving to an enclosed location, we could

say jump into the pool, for example, or go into the closet, put something into your bag,

or go into the water.

So in this way, we can kind of think of "in" and "to" being closely related, but "to" shows

us the movement, the relationship that there's some movement happening there.

Okay, so let's talk about the opposite then, of "into," which is "out of."

So because we use "into" to talk about movement from a more open place to an enclosed space;

"out of" is used to talk about movement from an enclosed space to a more open space.

So, for example, out of the house, or out of the washing machine, taking clothes out

of the washing machine; out of your purse, take something out of your purse.

So moving yourself, moving a person, or moving an object from something that is enclosed

to a space that is more open, we use "out of" in this case.

Okay, so now we know about five new prepositions of location and movement, let's try some example

sentences.

Okay, the first one, she's sitting _____ the table.

The table, so here we have the table, I talked earlier about this, at the table with "at,"

yeah.

However, we can use "by" the table as well.

At the table and by the table have slightly different meanings, though both are correct.

At the table means she is sitting in a chair directly in front of the table, she's sitting

at the table.

By the table, however, could mean she's next to the table or she's just near the table.

"By" is a little bit less clear, "at" is very clear here.

To be very clear, say she's sitting at the table; to be less clear, maybe she's somewhere

near the table, used "by."

Okay, so the next example sentence is our company's headquarters is _____ LA.

LA meaning Los Angeles here, so we have a city name, yeah?

A city name, Los Angeles, we know that we should use city names with "in," so the answer

here is "in," in LA.

Okay, the next one, he lives _____ the supermarket.

So the supermarket is a place, and here we have the verb "lives," he lives, we know it's

not "in," because people do not live in supermarkets, probably not "at," he lives at the supermarket

also doesn't make any sense, people do not live at supermarkets.

However, we can use "by."

So he lives by the supermarket, to mean he lives near the supermarket.

Okay, so next one, when we walked _____ the bank, it was raining.

Okay, so here we have the verb "walked" and we have the bank, so there's a motion happening,

yeah?

Walking, and then the bank, the preposition we should use here is probably "into," though

"out of" could also be possible.

When we walked into the bank, it was raining.

When we walked out of the bank, it was raining.

Both sentences are okay, in this case, it just depends on the action you want to communicate.

Okay, next one, I need to run _____ the supermarket for milk.

Okay, so here, there's an objective "for milk," this person wants to buy milk, so they need

to run _____ the supermarket.

So let's use "into," moving from outside the supermarket to inside the supermarket, a more

enclosed space, "into," into the supermarket.

Okay, next one is I have to be _____ the office until 6pm.

So here we have the specific location, the office.

So "office" is an enclosed space, yes?

Which means we can use "in," I have to be in the office until 6pm.

But with work and office spaces, we can also use "at," it's an exact location.

I have to be in the office, or I have to be at the office until 6pm, both are correct

here.

Okay, next, I forgot to take my phone _____ your bag.

Okay, so take this take motion here is a really good hint, there's an action happening.

So there's a very good chance we are moving something from an enclosed location to a more

open location.

So, I forgot to take my phone out of your bag, out of your bag is the correct answer

here.

Finally, I want to get _____ town.

So town is, yes, it's a location, like, in my town or at my town; however, a big hint

here is "get," we use "get" to reflect movement sometimes, and this phrase is a good one to

remember, get out of town.

Get out of town.

So get out of town means leave town, go to a different place outside of town, so I want

to get out of town is the correct answer here.

Okay, so those are a few prepositions of location and movement.

I hope that this was useful for you, if you have any questions, please be sure to leave

them in a comment below this video.

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