Tim先生の One-Point Lesson #13

At / in a building.

Hello everyone!

Today we will learn about two prepositions - 'at and 'in'. Using these prepositions can be tricky, because they are often used with the same kinds of places, but the emphasis is slightly different.

When we are talking about places that are buildings, we use 'at' to emphasize a public place, and we use 'in' to emphasize the place as a building with people or things inside it.

Compare these examples:

'I had a busy day AT the office' - emphasizing the office as a public place.
'I left my bag IN the office' - emphasizing the office as a building with something inside it.

'There is a good film AT the cinema' - emphasizing the cinema as a public place.
'It was hot IN the cinema' - emphasizing how things were inside the building.

One important thing to pay attention to is, we always use 'at' before 'home' or 'work'. We never say 'I stayed in home' or 'It was very busy in work'. We always say 'I stayed at home' and 'It was busy at work'.

Just remember: when you want to choose between 'at' or 'in' for buildings, ask yourself how important it is to emphasize that things are INSIDE of the BUILDING. If it's not very important, use 'at'.

Next week we will think about using these prepositions for other kinds of places.

See you then!
- Tim

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