The Sunday News
Highway to Success: Charles Dube
The difference: At and in are generally used for position; ‘to’ is used for movement or direction. Compare these: He works at the market. He gets to the market by bicycle. My sister lives in Kenya. I go to Kenya to see her whenever I can.
Expressions of purpose: If we mention the purpose of a movement before we mention the destination, we usually use at/in before the place. Compare: Let’s go to Nando’s for tea. Let’s go and have tea at Nando’s. I went to Kenya to see my sister. I went to see my sister in Kenya.
Targets: After some verbs, ‘at’ is used to indicate the target of a perception or non-verbal communication. Common examples are look, smile, wave, frown, point. Why are you looking at her like that? Because she smiled at me. ‘At’, is also used after some verbs referring to attacks or aggressive behaviour. Common examples are shoot, laugh, throw and shout.
It is quite uncomfortable to have somebody shoot at you. “Stop throwing stones at others, you will hurt them, “his mother said.
He had to shout at them to stop making noise. ‘Throw to’ and ‘shout to’ , are used when there is no idea of attack. Please do not throw food to the animals. Could you shout to Peggy and tell her it is time to leave.
At, on, and in (place): At, is used to talk about a position at a point. It’s very hot at the centre of the earth.
Turn left at the next street. Sometimes we use ‘at’ with a larger place, if we just think of this as a point: a stage on a journey or a meeting place, for example compare:
The plane stops for an hour at Heathrow. (a point on a journey). She lives in Bulawayo. (somebody’s home). Let’s meet at the club. (a meeting point).
We very often use ‘at’ before the name of a building, when we are thinking not of the building itself, but of the activity that happens there.
There is a good film at the cinema in Robert Mugabe Way. Eat at the steak house – best food in town. He did bot phone last night, he was at the theatre. ‘At’, is particularly common with proper names used for buildings or organisations. Compare:
I first met your father at/in Edgars. I first met your father in a shop. She works at Legal and general insurance..
She works in a big insurance company. ‘At’ is used to say where people study: She is at the Zimbabwe School of Mines. ‘At’ is also used before the name of a city to refer to that city’s university. Compare: She is a student at Oxford. He lives in Bindura.
‘At’ is also used before the names of group activities: at a party, at a meeting, at a concert, at a lecture, at the match.
On: ‘On’ is used to talk about position on a line. (for example a road or a river). His house is on the way from Bulawayo to Gwanda. But ‘in’, is used to talk about the position of things, which actually form part of the line.
There is a wrong spelling in line 2 on page 2. The smart boy is in the sixth row. ‘On’, is used for position on a surface. Hurry up – dinner is on the table.
That picture would look better on the other wall. There is a big hole on the celling. On, can mean attached to. There are many mangoes on the tree this year. The drawing pin was stuck on his shoe. ‘On’, is also used for positions by a lake or sea.
In: ‘In’ is used for position inside large area and in three-dimensional space (when something is surrounded on all sides). She grew up in Botswana. He is not in his office. He lived in the desert for two years. You can go for a walk in the park. They spotted an unfamiliar animal in the woods.
Public transport: We use on (and off) to talk about travel using buses, planes and trains, as well as (motor) cycles and horses. He is arriving on the 7.3o train. (not . . . in/with the 7.30 train). She is booked on flight 553.
There is no room on the bus. But we use( in and out of) to talk about private cars, planes and boats. Jump in and let us get into town. He fell into the river when he was getting out of his canoe.
Addresses: We generally use ‘at’ to talk about addresses. He is still at the same addresses. She lives at 21 Cleary drive.
We use ‘in’ for the number of the floor. She lives in a flat on the second floor. ‘At’ can be used with a possessive to mean at somebody’s house or shop’. She is at Paddy’s.
He is always at the hairdresser’s. There is still more to consider along this vein.
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