Page 260 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
124 in/at/on (position) 2

A We say that somebody/something is:

in a line, in a row, in a queue in an office, in a department
in a picture, in a photo(graph) in the sky, in the world
in a newspaper, in a magazine, in a book in th e country (= not in a town)
When I go to the cinema, I like to sit in the front row.
Amy works in the sales department.
Who is the woman in that picture?
Do you live in a city or in the country?
It’s a lovely day. There isn’t a cloud in the sky.
They’re standing in a row.

B We say that somebody/something is:

on the left, on the right (or on the left-hand side, on the right-hand side)

Do you drive on the left or on the right in your country?

on the ground floor, on the first floor, on the second floor etc.
Our apartment is on the second floor of the building.
on a map, on a menu, on a list, on a page, on a website
Here’s the shopping list. Don’t buy anything that’s not on the list.
You’ll find the information you need on our website.
We say that a place is on a river / on a road / on the coast:
Vienna is on the (river) Danube.
The town where you live – is it on the coast or is it inland?
We say on the way (from one place to another):
We stopped at a shop on the way home.

C We say: at the top (of the page)
at the top (of …), at the bottom (of …), at the end (of …)
Write your name at the top of the page.
Jane lives at the other end of the street.
at the bottom (of the page)

D We say: at the back
in the front, in the back of a car
I was in the back (of the car) when we had the accident.

at the front, at the back of a building / theatre / group of people etc.
The garden is at the back of the house.
Let’s sit at the front (of the cinema).
We were at the back, so we couldn’t see very well.
on the front, on the back of an envelope / a piece of paper etc.
I wrote the date on the back of the photo. at the front

E We say:
in the corner of a room
The TV is in the corner of the room.
at the corner or on the corner of a street
There is a small shop at the corner (of the street).
or … on the corner (of the street). in the corner at or on the corner

248 in the world ➜ Unit 108D in/at/on (position) ➜ Units 123, 125 American English ➜ Appendix 7