Yep! Today we are going to look at all of these
prepositions of place. Some prepositions you need everyday, like: in, on, and at. Other prepositions
like opposite, and among, are less common - but also important. In today's lesson I'm going to teach
you about all of these and I'll answer some common questions students have about
these prepositions. At the end of this lesson I have a test for you with 21 questions. You know
practice makes perfect so be sure to take this test, and can you please leave me your score in
the comments below? I really do love hearing from you. Did you get 21 correct out of 21? Or maybe
15 correct out of 21? Let me know. My name is Arnel, let's start. This might help you. The word
preposition has the word: position in it. So it's clear that prepositions give us the location,
the position of something. Let's start with the basics. A cup, a cup is on the table. A cup is
on the table. What is in the cup? Coffee is in the cup. Coffee is in the cup. My cup is next
to my book, my cup is next to my book. More formally, you can say: beside. My coffee is
beside my book, my book is beside my coffee, same thing. Beside is just a little bit more formal.
So next to and beside mean touching or almost touching. But what if I don't want this? I want this.
What if I want this? The table is near the window, the table is near the window. You can also say: near
to, but that's just not as common. Let's compare again. The ATM is next to the drugstore.
I can also say the ATM is beside the drugstore. The ATM is near the drugstore. So many
times it's important important that we're specific. Next to. Beside. Near. But when we're speaking,
sometimes these prepositions here can be used interchangeably in the same way. Like, look at this
picture. I can say my hotel is next to the beach, beside the beach, near the beach, by the beach. I
mean, in this situation here it really depends what the person is trying to emphasize. And you can see,
I've added: by. By. By can also be used to mean next to beside. Like, baskets are by the door. Sometimes
it can also mean: near. Public toilets are by the information center. But, usually by, emphasizes a very
short distance. Okay, I've given you quite a few examples so far. There's one little grammar note
I need to mention now. A preposition is always followed by an object. This object can be a noun
or a pronoun. So far we've done this: my cup is on the table, on the table. Our hotel is next to,
next to the beach. Let's get back to this house. The book is between the coffee and the shopping
bag. Between means, in the middle. The book is between the coffee cup and the shopping bag. The
picture frame, the picture frame is between the two plants. Between the two plants. So you can see I
went shopping, I went food shopping. I bought fruit, vegetables, bread, candy, milk, and eggs. There are a
lot of things in this bag. A bottle of nail polish is among the food. A bottle of nail polish
is among the food. Among can mean two things. First, it can mean: surrounded by, surrounded
by. It can also mean: in a group. Let's do some examples. The yellow umbrella is among the
black umbrellas, among the black umbrellas. You can see, the yellow umbrella is surrounded
by the black umbrellas. Our family cabin is among the trees. Oh it's so pleasant, our
family cabin is among the trees. Do you know the famous book series Where's Waldo? I
think you might know these books. You need to find Waldo, the character, among all the
other people, all the other things that are distractions. Among can also mean: in a group. I am
the tallest among my friends. This means I am the tallest in this group. Rachel is popular among
her colleagues, she's popular in this group. Maybe you know the popular video game, Among Us. Among Us.
Well, in a group one character is a bad guy but you don't know who it is, so there's a bad guy Among
Us. I mean, I've never played the game, but that's what people tell me. Amongst, the preposition, is
the same thing, you can use amongst, it's just less common. There is a shelf behind the table. There
is a shelf behind the table. There is a wall behind me, there's a wall behind me. The stool, the stool is in front of
the table. The stool is in front of the table. Can you please not stand in front of me? Now we see two shelves, two shelves. There is one
shelf opposite the other shelf, there is one shelf opposite the other shelf. What's the difference?
In front of and opposite? Well, let's take a look. Opposite. Opposite means two things
are facing, are facing each other. Like in the picture. In front of means: one and then the other. A man with a red cap, a man with a
red cap was opposite me. A man with a red cap was in front of me. Can you see
the difference here? The fruit stall is opposite the vegetable stall. The
fruit stall is opposite the vegetable stall. Can you please not park in
front of my door? Can you please not park in front of my door? You are blocking my entrance. Jenny's office is opposite my office.
Jenny's office is is opposite my office. Instead of opposite you can also say: across from, across
from. Many times when we use across from, we are thinking of a space in the middle, something
clear in the middle. I think I need to give you some more examples. I have a street, I have
a table, I have a river. Bus stop A is opposite bus stop B. Bus stop A is across from bus stop B.
Bus stop A is across the street from bus stop B. You can see in this example, I am mentioning the
street. The two interviewers were opposite me. The two interviewers were across from me. The two
interviewers were across the table from me. In this example I am mentioning the table. The bear
is opposite the deer. The bear is across from the deer. The bear is across the river from the deer.
So there are many ways you can say the same thing. But if you want to emphasize the thing in the
middle, use: something + is + across + thing + from + other thing. Okay, I want to remove everything except the table. Over the table, under the
table. Above the table, below the table. You can see over and above mean higher
than the table. Under and below mean lower than the table. So what's the difference between these
prepositions here? Let's take a look. Many times, over and above can be used interchangeably. I
put a dream catcher, a dream catcher over my bed. I put a dream catcher above my bed. In this
example here they mean the same thing. But, sometimes there is a difference. When we use, over,
something can be touching and covering. Touching and covering. Help me put this tarp, help me put
this tarp over the boat so it doesn't get wet. The tarp is touching the boat, it's covering
the boat. Your mask, your mask has to be over your nose and mouth - it has to cover it. And many
times it is touching it. In these two examples above would not be appropriate. When we use above,
we're clearly thinking of different levels. One level and something else above it. Think about
an apartment building. In an apartment building there are very clear levels. A nice family
lives above me, a nice family lives above me. North America. North America is above the equator,
above the equator. We can apply this concept to under and below. With under, again, something can
be covered, something is covered, and probably touching something else. The boat is under
the tarp, the boat is under the tarp, they're touching. Which hand do you think the coin is
under? Is the coin under my right hand? Or is the coin under my left hand? The coin is covered
and it's touching my hand. Below. Again, below usually has to do with different levels. I can say:
a nice family lives below me, a nice family lives below me. Chile is below the equator, Chile
is below the equator. Now, imagine you're on a plane. There is nothing below us, there is nothing
below us except for the ocean. You can see there's a pretty clear space. Nothing is being covered,
nothing is touching. Let's bring the house back. Inside the house it is nice and cool. Outside
the house, outside the house it is hot. Oh my God. My neighbor, my neighbor is outside my
window. I don't want to let her inside the house. What's the difference? What's
the difference between inside and in? Well again, many times inside and in can
be used in the same way. For example: look in the fridge, look inside the fridge. Here these
two sentences are exactly the same, there is no difference. But many times inside emphasizes
something is in a closed space, it is completely surrounded. If something is in a closed space
this means something can open. Let's do a few examples. A gift is inside the box. You can open a
box. A nut, a nut is inside a shell. You can open a shell. Inside an atom there are neutrons,
protons, and electrons. Yes, I had to Google that - don't judge me. With the preposition, in,
there isn't always something you can open. For example: I have candy stuck in my
tooth, I have candy stuck in my tooth. Here, only in works. You can't really open a tooth. Okay, I know there's already been a lot of
information so far are but there's one important preposition I'm missing: at. At. And in my opinion,
you can't really learn at without comparing it to in. So that's what we need to do. We can say,
in or at + location. This means you're inside a building or a place. For example, I'm in the
restaurant, I'm at the restaurant - same thing. I can't talk now I'm in the library, I'm at the
library. Here, these two prepositions can be used interchangeably. But many times with locations
you are not inside a building. This is when at is necessary. At + location, but you are not
inside a building or a place. I'll meet you at the train station and then we can walk to to the
restaurant together. At the train station. I won't be inside the train station. I'll meet you by the
front door and then we can walk to a restaurant together. We are at the park. This is our location but we're clearly not
inside a building, we're at the park. I spend most weekends at the beach. You know,
you can't really be inside a beach, so you are at the beach. We can say: Jacob is at the beach, but
his head is in the sand, but he's still at the beach. I'm at my desk about 12 hours a day. This is
my location, at my desk. Okay, I want to compare in and at again. The next two things I'm comparing,
it's more about nuance, this isn't a hard grammar rule. In, this specifically emphasizes location. At,
this can also be location but the emphasis is on someone doing something. They are busy, they are
working, there are some sort of task or activity. For example, where's Margo? Oh, she's in the meeting
room. I'm interested in her location. Oh, she's in the meeting room. Where's Margo? She's at her
lawyer's office, she's at her lawyer's office. When we use: at, there's a feeling that
something is being done. Oh, I hope Margo's okay! Let's compare again. It's raining outside so I'm
I'm waiting in the post office. I'm waiting for the rain to pass. This is just my location, I'm at
the post office, I'm trying to send my passport to the Embassy. Again, I'm at the post office, I'm
doing something. So with this difference here once again it's a nuance, it's a feeling. It is not
a strict grammatical rule. But I want you to listen out for it. When you're watching something, when
you're read something. See if you can put at or in into one of these four parts. Okay, wonderful. I
have good news and bad news. The good news is these are all the prepositions we have looked at and
we're not going to add any new prepositions. The bad news is, prepositions can be used in so many
different ways in English. So let's keep going. I want to go through a list of exceptions. So we've
done: in, at, for location. But let's look at some specific differences. I want you to memorize these,
there really isn't a rule. First, we always say: at home. I'm at home. He's at home. We never say: in
home. We can say: in the house, but not in home. In school means in the education system. All children
must remain in school until they are 18. My son is only three so he's not in school. At school
means currently in the school building. It's 1 p.m. my kids are still at school. In the hospital,
at the hospital - usually there's a difference. In the hospital means, you are a patient.
Zara is in the hospital. I hope she's okay. My grandma has been in the hospital, for
weeks. At the hospital, it doesn't necessarily mean you're a patient, you're doing something
there. Remember earlier I mentioned, at, often emphasizes that there's some sort of activity
happening. We are at the hospital visiting Bob. The whole family's at the hospital waiting to hear
from the doctor. One more I need you to memorize: in bed. In bed means you're either sleeping, or you
are sitting in bed, lying in bed, and you have the blanket pulled up. The kids are in bed, they're
sleeping. I love sitting in bed watching movies and reading books. If you say on the bed, then
something is physically on top. I can say: the clean towels are on the bed. We have two more things
to look at before the test, let's keep going. I have the prepositions pyramid. Maybe you've seen
this before, let's take a look. We have: in, on, at. In at the bottom is for big locations. In +
country, city, town, village, neighborhood. I was born in the USA, but now I live in England. I live
in a city called Bristol. One of my good friends lives in a famous neighborhood in New York. She
lives in the Bronx. On. On streets, roads, highways. Samuel lives on Baker Street. Heather's yoga
studio is on Wilmington Road. We are driving to California. We just have to stay on Route 66 the
entire way. And, Route 66 is a famous Highway in the US. At + address. Samuel lives
on Baker Street, but he lives at 32 Baker Street. You can see with a
specific address you have to change the preposition. Complete these sentences
with your own examples: I live in (country). I live in (City/Town/Village). I live on
+ street name. I live at + address. Last but not least, transportation. We use: on, with
these forms of transportation. And: in, for these forms of transportation. Here's a little trick. We
use: on, when you can move around. Like on a bus, on a train, on a plane. There's always a big platform,
right? So you can walk on it. You're on a bus, you can walk on a bus. You're on a train, you can walk
on a train. And of course, you could be literally on something. Like, you're on a bicycle, or you're
on a horse. Then you need to use, on. With, in you can't move around. Like when you're in a car, you
can't walk in a car. You can't walk in a limousine. You're really, in. So think about: on, you can move. In,
you can't move. But maybe you've noticed this. You can say, on a boat or in a boat. When you're on it's
a big boat, like a ship. Because again, you can move around. But if you're in a rowboat or if you're
in a canoe, you definitely can't move around them. Test time! I have 21 sentences, can you
please choose the correct preposition for each sentence? There is
only one answer possible per sentence. Remember the rules, remember the
exceptions as well. Pause the video to do this. And here are the answers! How did you do? Please let me know your score in the comments
below, I'm really looking forward to reading some of your comments. Thank you so much for
watching today's video, I'll see you next time! Bye!!!