Using At, On and In

At, On and In (Place)

At 

At is used to talk about position at a point 

example:

Its very hot at the center of the earth. 

Turn right at the next traffic lights.

Sometimes we use at with a larger place. If we just think of it as a point: a point on a journey, a meeting place or the place where something happens.

example:

You have to change trains at Dehli. 

The plane stops for an hour at Bellary.

Lets meet at the station.

There's a good film at the cinema in car street.

In address, we use at if we give the house number.

example:

She lives at 72 Albert street. 

ON

On is used to talk about position on a line.

example:

come on supper's on the table.

I'd prefer that picture on the other wall.

There's a big spider on the ceiling. 

We say on (and off) for buses, planes and trains.

example:

He's arriving on the 3:24 train.

We use on for the number of the floor.

example:

She lives  in a flat on the third floor.

IN

In is used for position in a three dimensional space (when something is surrounded on all sides)

example:

I don't think he's in his office.

lets go for a walk in garden.

I last saw her in the car park.

We use in of we just give the name of the street.

example:

She lives in Kuvempu street. 

Learn these expressions:

in a picture, in the sky, 

on a page, in bed/hospital/prison/church/temple/

at home/school/work/university/college

At, On and In (Time)

Exact times

examples:
I usually get up at 6 o' clock.
I will meet you at 4:23 pm.
Phone me at lunch time.

Parts of the day

example:
I work best in the morning.
Three o' clock in the afternoon.
We usually go out in the evening.

Exception : At night

We use on if we say which morning/afternoon etc,.
We are talking about or if we describe the morning / afternoon etc,.
example:
See you on Monday morning.
It was on a cold afternoon in early spring.

Days

example:
I'll phone you on Tuesday 
My birthday on May 4th.
They're having a party on new year. 

In informal speech we sometimes leave out ON (this is very common in American English.) 
example:
I'm seeing her Sunday morning. 

NOTE : The use of plurals (Sundays, Mondays etc,.) when we talk about repeated actions.
example:
We usually go to see Granny on Sundays. 

Weekends and Public Holidays.
We use at talk about the whole of the holidays : at Christmas/ New year / Easter etc,.
example:
Are you going away at Easter?

We use on to talk about one day of the holiday.
example:
It happened on Easter Monday.

British people say at the weekends ;  American use on. 
example:
What did you do at the weekend?

Longer Periods
example:
It happened in the week after Christmas.
I was born in may.
Kent is beautiful in spring.
He died in 1998.
That house was built in the 15th century. 

Expressions without preposition: 

Prepositions are not used in expressions of time before next, last, this, one, any, each, every, some, all.
example:
See you next week.
Are you free this morning.
Let's meet one day.
Come any time.
I'm at home every evening.
We stayed all day.

Prepositions are not used before yesterday, the day before yesterday, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow.
example:
What are you doing the day after tomorrow.

At all

We often use at all to emphasize a negative.
example:
I don't like her at all.(= I don't like her even a little.)
This restaurant is not at all expensive.

We also use at all with hardly ; in question ; and after if.
example:
She hardly eats anything at all.
Do you sing at all? (= Do you sing even a little?)
I'll come in the morning if I come at all. (=perhaps I wont come)

NOTE : We can say not at all as polite answer to thank you.

Correct using Article A AN THE

Articles : Special rules and Exceptions.

 (Continued Part)

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News paper 

The names of news papers usually have the. 

The times, The Washington post etc,.

Most names of Magazines do not have

Punch, New scientist & etc,. 

Special Styles 

We leave out articles in some special ways of writing style.

Example 

News paper headlines : Man killed on mountain 

Notices, posters    :   Super cinema RITZ Hotel 

Telegrams    :   WIFE ILL MUST CANCEL TODAY

Instructions  : Open packet at other end

Dictionary entries : Palm: inner surface of hand between wrist and finger.

Lists  : Take car to garage by buttons, pay parlor 

Notes : J. thinks company needs new office 

Place Names 

We usually use the with these kinds of places names 

Seas (The Atlantic)

Mountains ( The Himalayas)

Island groups (The West indies)

Rivers (The Rhine, The Jordan)

Deserts (The Sahara)

Hotels (The Grand Fortune)

Cinemas and theaters (The Odeon, The play house) 

Museums and Art Galleries (The British Museum, The Tate)

We usually use no article with Continents, Countries, Sates adn Departments and etc,.

[Africa, Brazil, Texas, Berkshire, West Phalia]

Towns (Oxford, Ballari)

Streets (New street, Car street)

Lakes (Lake Michigan, Lake Puma)

Exceptions: 

Countries whose name contains a common noun like republic, State(s), Union (The peoples' republic of China, The USA)

NOTE: also the Netherlands and ots seat of government The Hague.

We do not usually use the with the names of the principal building of a town

example: 

Oxford university (NOT: The Oxford university)

Oxford Station (NOT: The Oxford Station)

Salisbury Cathedral

Birmingham Ariport

Bristol Zoo

NOTE: names of single mountains vary some have articles, some do not (Everest, The Matherhorn) 

  

Articles : Special rules and Exceptions.

Common expressions without article 

Articles are not used in these expressions:

To school, at school, from school to / out / from University / College to / at in/ into prison/hospital to / at from work to / at sea to/ in/ front town at/ from home for / at / to breakfast / lunch / dinner / supper at night/ by car/ bus/ bicycle/ plane / train/ tube / about / on foot go to sleep watch television (TV) on TV. 

Possessives:

A noun that is used after a possessive (like John;s, America's) has no article.

Musical instruments :

We usually use the article the when we talk general about a musical instrument. 
example:
" I'd like to learn the violin.

But the is not used when we talk about jazz or pop music 
example:
This recording was made with Miles Davis on Trumpet. 

All and Both

We sometimes leave out the after both and after all when there is a number 
example:
Both (the) children are good at maths.
All (the) eight students passed the exam.

We can say all day, all night, all week, all summer / winter, all year, without the.
example:
I've been waiting you all day.

Seasons

We can say in spring or in the spring, in summer or in the summer, there is little difference. 

Jobs and Positions.

We use the article with the name of jobs.
example:
My sister is a doctor. (NOT: My sister is doctor)
But the is not used in titles like Queen Elizabeth, President Lincoln.

Exclamations

We use a/an in exclamations after what, with singular countable nouns.
example:
What a lovely dress! (NOT: What lovely dress!) 

Nature 

We often use the with the words town, country, sea, seaside, and mountains, even when, we are talking in general. The same happens with wind, rain, snow and sun 
example:
Do you prefer the town or the country?
I love the mountains.
I like the noise of the wind.
She spends her time lying in the sun.

Click here to read Continued Part 

The Different between A, An and The

The Different between A, An and The.very simply:
* A and An just mean one of a class.
* The means 'you know exactly which one.'

Compare :

* A doctor must live people.
(= any doctor, any one of that profession)
* My brother's a doctor
(= one of that profession)
* I am going to see the doctor.
(= you know which one: my doctor)
* I live in a small flat at the top f an old house near the town hall.
(=a small flat : there must be two or three. At the top of the house - it could be any one of these. an old house : there are lots near the town hall - it could be anyone. The top : we know exactly which town hall is meant: there's only one in the town.)

Article with uncountable nouns

Click here to know Special rules and exceptions.

Using Articles A, AN and THE

Introduction : 
    The correct use of the article (a/an/the) is one of the most difficult points in English grammar. Fortunately, most mistakes do not matter too much even if we leave all the articles out of a sentence.

Most of western European languages have article system very like English.

A / An

* We use a/an with a noun to talk about just one number of that class (A/an means one).

example : 

She lives in a nice big house

My father is an engineer (NOT: My father is a engineer) 

Tanaka is a Japanese name.

A girl phoned this morning.

* We use a/an when we define or describe people or things (when we say what class of kind they belong to)

example: 

He's a doctor.She's a beautiful woman.

It's a calculator.

* We do not use a/an with plural or uncountable noun because a/an means one.

example:

My parents are doctors. (NOT: My parents are a doctors)

Would you take some salt? (NOT: Would you take a salt?)

* We do not use a/an with an adjective alone (without a noun) example:
She's a very good engineer 
She's very good. (NOT: She's a very good)

* We do not use a/an to gather with another determiner (for example my, your)
examples:
He's a friend of mine (NOT: He's is a my friend)
She's writing another drama (NOT: She's writing an other drama)

The 

The means something like 'you know which one i mean.' It is used with uncountable, singular and plural nouns 
Examples:
The water (uncountable noun)
The table (Singular)
The Stairs (Plural)

* We use the to talk about people and things that we have already mentioned.
example: 
She's got two children; a girl and a boy; The boy's fourteen and the girl's eight.
* When we are saying which people or things we mean.
example:
Who's the girl is the car over there with John?
* When it is clear from the situation which people or things we mean.
example:
Could you close the door? (only one door is open)
Could you pass the salt.
'Where;s ann?' 'In the kitchen.'
* We do not use the with other determiners.
(for example my, this, some)
Examples:
This is my uncle. (NOT: This is the my uncle.)
I like this beer. (NOT: I like the this beer.)
* We do not usually use the with proper nouns (there are some exceptions we see forward)
example:
Mary lives in Switzerland. (NOT: Mary lives in the Switzerland) 
* We do not useually use the to talk about things in general.
example: 
Books are expensive. (NOT: The books are expensive.)

[NOTE: For the pronunciation of the will be listed forward]

Click here to know the different between A,An and The 

Using words Above, Over, Across and Through

Above and Over

Above and Over can both mean 'higher than'

A is above / over B

* The snow came up above/over our knees.

* There's a spider on the ceiling just above / over your head.

We use above when one thing is not directly over another 

A is above B

* We have got a little house above the lake 

We use over when one thing covers another 

A is over B

* There is cloud over the south of India.

And we use over when one thing crosses another (Across is also possible)

A is moving over / across B

Examples:

* Electricity cables stretch over / across the fields.

* The plane was flying over / across the channel.

We usually use over to mean more than.

* 'How old are you?' 'Over thirty'.

* He's over two meters tall.

But we use above in some expressions, particularly when we are thinking of a vertical scale.

Examples:  Above zero (for temperature), above sea level, above average. etc. 

Over and Across

We use both across and over to mean 'on the other side of' or 'to the other side of'

Examples:

* His house is just over / across the road.

* Try to jump over / across the stream.

We prefer over to talk about a movement to the other side of a something high.

* Why is that women climbing over the wall? (NOT: Why is that women climbing across the wall?)

We prefer across to talk about a movement to the other side of a flat area

* It took six weeks to walk across the desert. (NOT: It took six weeks to walk over the desert.)

Across and Through 

The difference between across and through is like that difference between On and In. 

Across is used for a movement on a surface. 

Through is used for a movement in a Three-dimensional space, with things on all sides. 

Compare :

* We walked across the ice.

* We drove across the desert.

* I walked across the square to the cafe.

* I walked through the wood. 

* We drove through several towns.

* I Walked through the crowd to the bar.

* People swim and ships move across rivers, lakes etc,

* The river is too wide ti swim across.