2 To indicate location on a small area, such as a small island. e. g. Tom spent his holiday on a small island of the coast of Scotland.
3 To indicate enclosure in a geographical map, such as on the coast on a river on a road.
e, g.
London is on the river Thames. Portsmouth is on the south coast of England.
4. Comparison of the uses of preposition of place at, in and on
Comparison of the uses of preposition of place at, in and on has been introduced Quirk et al., 1980: 310. Observe the following.
• at the door e.g.
The manager stood at the door .
The door is seen as a dimensionless location, and no details concerning its shape or size into focus. Thus, at is a dimension-type 0 preposition.
• on the door e.g.
There was a new coat of paint on the door. It makes us see the door as two dimensional things, i.e. a surface. On can
indicate location of either one or two dimension line or surface. Thus, on is a dimension-type one or two preposition.
• in the door e.g.
There was a wood worm in the door. There door is seen as three dimensional object, an object having volume.
Thus, in is a dimension-type two or three preposition.
The contrast
between on
=surface and in =area has various implications according to context, as the three examples below. Observe the following part
Quirk et al., 1980: 310. a. on the window
: The frost made pattern on the window. window= a glass surface
in the window : A face appeared in the window mirror. window, mirror=
framed area on the field
: The players were practising on the field. field=surface for sport
in the field : Cows were grazing in the field. field= enclosed area of
land b. on the island
: He was marooned on a desert island. viewed as a mere space
in the island : He was born in a long island. viewed as inhabited
interior The opposition between at dimension-type 0 and in dimension-type 2 or
3 can also cause difficulty. In is used for continents, countries, provinces, and sizeable territories of any kind; but for towns, villages, either at or in is
appropriate, depending on the point of view; e.g. at in Stratford-upon-avon. A very large city, such as New York, London, or Tokyo, is generally treated as an
area; e.g. He works in London. However, one can treat it as a point on the map if global distance is in the mind; e.g. our plane refuelled at London on its way from
New York to Moscow Quirk et al, 1980: 310.
Preposition of
place at
and in can also be used preceding buildings, but they are used differently:
‘At’ refers to a building in its institutional or functional aspect, whereas ‘in’ refers to three dimensional structure.
For example: - He is at school =He is attending school.
- I met Mr. Smith in school =the building. Quirk et al al, 1980: 310
The verb arrive is followed by either in or at. “Arrive in” is usually used with countries or towns,
For example: When did he arrive in Britain? “Arrive at” is usually used with buildings,
For example: What time did you arrive at the hotel? Murphy, 1990: 224.
The expressions
of at the front at the back
and in the front in the back give different ideas.
“At the front at the back” suggests the exact position as the following picture shows.
Picture 6. At the back
At the front
”In the front in the back” suggests the enclosure of front back position as illustrated in the following picture.
Picture 7. In the back
In the front
Murphy observes that prepositions of place at, in and on are interchangeable in some cases. We can say ‘in the corner of a room’ but ‘at the
corner and on the corner of a street ’. For example,
- The television is in the corner of the room. - There is a telephone box at on the corner of the street.
To add more information, the rules of preposition of place in Bahasa Indonesia are inserted. By comparing both rules of English prepositions of at, in
and on to preposition of place in Bahasa Indonesia, giving information of what causes the difficulties to the students to learn English L2.
5. Indonesian Preposition of Place di, di atas, di dalam and pada
