23. Place Prepositions

ON, AT, IN In general, we use (generalmente usiamo): •

at

for a POINT (Un punto di riferimento)

•

in

for an ENCLOSED SPACE (spazio racchiuso)

•

on for a SURFACE (superficie)

There is no one in the room. Non c’è nessuno nella stanza. Who is that man standing at the bus stop? Chi è quell’uomo alla fermata dell’autobus? The little boy is playing on the beach. Il ragazzino sta giocando sulla spiaggia.

at

in

on

Point of reference

Enclosed space

Surface

at the corner

in the garden

on the wall

at the bus stop

in London

on the ceiling

at the door

in France

on the door

at the top of the page in a box

on the cover

at the end of the road in my pocket

on the floor

at the entrance

in my wallet

on the carpet

at the crossroads

in a building

on the menu

at the entrance

in a car

on a page

Notice the following expressions (fai attenzione alle espressioni seguenti): In / at / on the corner We say / noi diciamo: 'in the corner of a room', nell’angolo di una stanza. but 'at the corner (or 'on the corner') of a street' all’angolo di una strada. In / at / on the front We say / noi diciamo: 'in the front / in the back' of a car. Nella parte anteriore /nella parte posteriore della macchina 'at the front / at the back' of buildings / groups of people. Nella parte anteriore 4

/nella parte posteriore di un edificio/di un gruppo di persone. 'on the front / on the back' of a piece of paper. Nella parte anterior e/nella parte posteriore di un un foglio di carta. Diciamo che un posto si trova/ We say that a place is: On a river, on a road, on the coast, on the way to another place Diciamo/ We say: On a bus, on a train, on a plane, on a ship, on a bicycle, on a motorcycle, on a horse, but in a car, in a taxi.

We use 'in' with spaces.

IN Use 'in' with bodies of

We use 'in' with lines.

Usiamo “in” con spazi

water. Usiamo “in” con

Usiamo “in” quando

in a room / in a building

riferimento all’acqua. in the water, in the sea,

parliamo di fila. in a row / in a line

in a garden / in a park

in a river

in a queue

We use 'at' with places.

AT We use 'at' with places

We use 'at' in groups of

Usiamo “at” con luoghi.

on a page. Usiamo “at”

people. Usiamo “at” con

at the bus-stop, at the

con pagina. at the top of the page

gruppi di persone. at the back of the class

door,

at the bottom of the page

at the front of the class

We use 'on' with

ON We use 'on' with small

We use 'on' with

surfaces.

islands. Usiamo “on”

directions. Usiamo “on”

Usiamo “on” con

con piccolo isole.

con direzioni.

superficie. on the ceiling / on the wall

I stayed on Los Roques.

on the left, on the right,

at the cinema, at the end of the street

/ on the floor, on the table

straight on

More place prepositions. Altre preposizioni di luogo. Preposition above below

Meaning sopra sotto

Examples The picture hangs above my bed. My flat is below Peter’s.

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around/round behind among

intorno dietro tra

between

tra

beside by close to in front of near

A lato vicino accanto Di fronte a vicino Accanto, a

next to inside outside opposite over under in the middle of

lato dentro fuori Opposto, di fronte sopra sotto In mezzo a

We're sitting around the campfire. Our house is behind the supermarket. I like being among people. Our house is between the supermarket and the church. Our house He lives in Our house Our house Our house

is beside the supermarket. the house by the river. is close to the supermarket. is in front of the supermarket. is near the supermarket.

Our house is next to the supermarket. You shouldn't stay inside the castle. Can you wait outside? Our house is opposite the supermarket. The cat jumped over the wall. The cat is under the table. The table is in the middle of the room.

*Interactive Exercises http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7hzH2UNA2c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnqIVWkA4vQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLX9UqIo_kw&feature=fvsr http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g6PT9NgW2w

*Please note: Listen carefully to the following videos in youtube, they speak about the Place prepositions. Ascoltate attentamente i seguenti video di youtube, essi parlano delle Preposizioni di luogo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jE5NMRNAAs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaXTyFtQx9o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0-Y7-tnDK0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHmOHhl7saQ&feature=PlayList&p=09 FEFF5C9A859A40&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=16 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g6PT9NgW2w

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