When to use “in”, “on” and “at”

Question

I’m not a native speaker and I started English classes in school later than everyone else, so I started in 4th grade when everyone else has already 3 years of learning the basics, and since these are really basic words I never learned them in class

So, please, how do I know when to use each one? I can get by a bit as evidenced in this post, but a lot of times I get it wrong

In: Other

Answer 1

Like most things in English, there’s a difference between the literal meaning and the meaning used in common figures of speech.

I’ll stick with the literal for now.

Thse words describe WHERE a thing is relative to something else.

**”Thing_1 is **in** thing_2.”**: Means thing_1 is smaller than thing_2 and thing_2 surrounds it. (“My television is in my house.”)

**”Thing_1 is **on** thing_2.”:**: Means thing_1 is outside thing_2, touching it, and usually also means it’s above it. (“My roofing tiles are on my house.”) The “above it” part of the meaning isn’t mandatory. The word can also be used to mean thing_1 is *attached to* thing_2, even when not strictly *above* it. (“The wheels are on the car.”)

**”Thing_2 is **at** thing_2.”:**: Means thing_1 and thing_2 are close enough to each other to think of them as the “same” location, without containing any information about whether it’s inside, outside, above, to the side, or whatever. You could say both “My car is **at** my house.” Meaning it’s parked on the street at the same address, or use it for a more close location like, “My television is at my house.” when the television is actually so close it’s inside the house.

Two things touching each other might be called “on” or “at” depending on if you are meant to think of them as connected into becoming part of the same object. Wheels installed properly with bolts to your car’s hubs would be “on” your car, while wheels disconnected and leaning against the body of the car would be “at” your car.