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word choice - Correct usage of ‘on’, ‘at’ and ‘in’


As a foreign English speaker who never really studied too much English grammar other than the basics at high school, I often struggle to decide what is the correct preposition to use in certain phrases.


At is perhaps the easiest choice to identify, but I find it more difficult to determine when to use on or in.


I know things are on the table or in a box. I’m in a house at street XX,YY.


But are there any rules or ways to find (discounting uncommon exceptions) when to use each form?



Answer



Sorry but your question is really too general to answer.


I'm sure some brave person will rush in where I fear to tread, but this is a complex issue: you need to go and look at an English grammar book to find all the cases. There are lots of exceptions and funny rules and overlapping cases and context dependent cases and so on and so on. You could quite easily use all three:



My mother is on the shopping centre



= e.g. My mother is standing on top of the roof of the shopping centre



My mother is at the shopping centre



= e.g. My mother has gone shopping and I am at home



My mother is in the shopping centre



= e.g. I am standing outside the shopping centre waiting for my mother.


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