1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,679 Are you home or at home, in the office or at the office. 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,800 Are you listening to this podcast at your house or in your house? Those 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:26,199 tricky English prepositions always cause trouble until today, let's discuss. Welcome to another 4 00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:31,120 Happy English podcast, coming to you from New York City, and here's your 5 00:00:31,199 --> 00:00:36,240 English teacher, Michael. All righty, thank you John, and thanks everyone. 6 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:42,039 It's Michael here from Happy English and I help people speak English better. 7 00:00:42,439 --> 00:00:50,719 And this is Happy English Podcast Episode seven twenty one, on versus AT. 8 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:57,759 Among the various aspects of learning English, prepositions seem to cause more problem than 9 00:00:57,799 --> 00:01:03,280 anything else. In particular, a lot of listeners to the podcast have told 10 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:08,959 me that understanding when to use in and when to use AT to talk about 11 00:01:10,079 --> 00:01:15,239 location tends to be confusing. Well, today I'm going to help you out 12 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:23,719 with exactly that. Let's dive in. Here are two sentences. Kate is 13 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:30,599 in her office, Kate is at her office. What's the difference. Well, 14 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:38,599 the fact is that in everyday English conversation, these two sentences Kate is 15 00:01:38,799 --> 00:01:45,319 in her office and Kate is at her office have little difference in meaning and 16 00:01:45,439 --> 00:01:53,079 can be generally used interchangeably. That's because when we speak in a general way. 17 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,799 We can use either at or in to describe a location. However, 18 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:07,159 AT and in have some specific uses and meanings when you need to be less 19 00:02:07,319 --> 00:02:13,520 general and more specific. What I'm going to talk about next is what we 20 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:21,680 tend to do and tend to do is the key concept here. It's what 21 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:28,319 we tend to do. When we use the be verb to talk about location. 22 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:34,080 We tend to use in. When we talk about the location, in 23 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:39,400 simply goes with the be verb to tell us the location. Here are some 24 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:45,919 examples of this. I was in the lounge for an hour waiting for my 25 00:02:46,039 --> 00:02:53,159 flight. Noriko is in a cafe on Madison Avenue. Tammy was in the 26 00:02:53,199 --> 00:03:00,280 library all afternoon. She sure likes to study. I was in the lounge, 27 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:09,840 Norico is in a cafe. Tammy was in the library. In goes 28 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:15,719 with the b verb. On the other hand, when we talk about an 29 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:23,280 action using an action verb, we tend to use at to talk about the 30 00:03:23,319 --> 00:03:30,039 location. At gives us the nuance about something that happens at a location. 31 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:38,039 At goes with an action verb. Here are some examples of that. I 32 00:03:38,319 --> 00:03:43,800 had lunch at the lounge while I was waiting for my flight. Remy had 33 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:50,719 a cappuccino at a cafe on Madison Avenue. Elena likes to study at the 34 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:58,120 library because it's nice and quiet there. Again, this is what we tend 35 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,120 to do. Can I say I had lunch in the lounge? Sure I 36 00:04:03,159 --> 00:04:09,879 can, just like I can say I was at the lounge. But the 37 00:04:10,039 --> 00:04:15,480 key idea here is that we tend to use in with the b verb and 38 00:04:15,959 --> 00:04:25,040 at with an action verb. That said, we also have some set phrases 39 00:04:25,439 --> 00:04:32,639 within and at which have particular meanings. Let's look at those next. The 40 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:40,439 first set is in the hospital and at the hospital. If I say Jack 41 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:45,959 is in the hospital, it means he's a patient there. But if I 42 00:04:46,079 --> 00:04:51,639 say Jack is at the hospital, it means that he's visiting someone, or 43 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,759 he works there, or maybe he went there to pick up some medicine. 44 00:04:58,519 --> 00:05:01,959 By the way, for all of you British English fans, when they talk 45 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:10,800 about a patient, they usually say that Jack is in hospital without the That's 46 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:15,759 one of those differences between American and British English. In a similar way, 47 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:23,079 we have in jail and at the jail. If I say the bank robber 48 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:29,759 is in jail, it means he's incarcerated. In other words, when the 49 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,560 bank robber is in jail, it means he is a prisoner. The police 50 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:41,920 officer is at the jail, this means that he is working there or doing 51 00:05:41,959 --> 00:05:49,160 some official business there. The third set is in college and at college. 52 00:05:49,439 --> 00:05:57,319 Jenny's daughter is in college now. In college means she is a college student 53 00:05:57,399 --> 00:06:02,519 now. But if I say that Jenny's daughter is at college, this has 54 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:09,319 a nuance that Jenny's daughter is away from home, living on a college campus 55 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:15,720 and probably in a dormitory. Keep in mind, the best way to remember 56 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,879 this and any other word or phrase in English is to take that word or 57 00:06:19,959 --> 00:06:26,279 phrase, write it in a sentence that's true for you or true in your 58 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:30,519 world, and then memorize your sentences. By the way, can you imagine 59 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:35,439 getting a chance to practice this kind of English with me directly? You can 60 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:42,800 get more practice using your English when you join my podcast Learner's Study Group. 61 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,839 There you can make new friends, join us for live group coaching every week 62 00:06:48,079 --> 00:06:55,120 where we practice these podcast lessons together. Plus you get access to the pdf 63 00:06:55,160 --> 00:07:00,680 transcript and audio download for every Happy English podcast in the past and in the 64 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:05,879 future. And on top of that, each episode has exercises where you can 65 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:12,519 practice this English point with speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more 66 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,279 or to see some of the example sentences from this lesson, just visit Myhappy 67 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:25,199 English dot com and choose podcast lesson seven twenty one. Remember, learning another 68 00:07:25,279 --> 00:07:29,600 language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help 69 00:07:29,639 --> 00:07:33,839 you on your journey. This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. 70 00:07:33,959 --> 00:07:41,000 Please visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy English by leaving us 71 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:56,959 a review. Get English, Get Happy, Happy English.