English Collocations: How do you use in, at, & on?

One of the most common questions that English learners ask me is, “How do you use in, at, and on?” or, “What are the rules for using in, at, of, for?”

For a long time, I couldn’t understand why so many English learners were asking this question. Did the student want to know about prepositions of time (in the morning, at night, on Tuesday)? Did the student want to know about prepositions of place (on the table, in the box)? Those are all easy prepositions to learn and memorize, and they are the first prepositions taught in school.

I finally realized people were not asking about prepositions. They were asking about collocations.

A collocation is a combination of two or more words that are commonly used together, in a way that sounds natural to a native English speaker.

This is very important to understand. The key to learning English is learning collocations, not rules. You have to learn the words that go together.

Learn more: What are “collocations”?

 
It’s also very important to understand that prepositions DO NOT translate from your language into English. For example, many students who speak Portuguese or Spanish as a native language often say, “Have you been IN Mexico?” In English, we say “Have you been TO Mexico?” What’s the difference? Using IN tells people that you are still learning English, while using TO makes you sound more natural and more like a native speaker.

 
Here are some examples of verb + preposition collocations:

pay for (something)
laugh at (someone)
concentrate on (something)
lie in bed / lie on your back
invite (someone) to (something)

This doesn’t mean that pay is always followed by for. It just means you need to use for if you are talking about what you bought:

“Have you paid for the tickets?”
~ “No, I haven’t paid yet.”

 
Collocations are different than phrasal verbs. In a phrasal verb, the verb and the preposition have a meaning different from the individual words. In a verb + preposition collocation, the meaning of the verb doesn’t change, but the preposition must be used with the verb. It is not important to memorize which is a phrasal verb and which is a collocation. Native speakers don’t memorize the different categories. They just know that these words go together.

 
Here are some examples of adjective + proposition collocations:

satisfied with
interested in
happy with
impressed with

 
Here are some examples of preposition + noun collocations:

on a first date
in a job interview
in a straight line
on a trip
at a party
in a traffic jam

 

 

Collocations are not limited to prepositions. Collocations are any words that go together in a way that sounds natural to a native speaker.

Learn more: What are “collocations”?

Now, I know the next question you are going to ask. “Do you have a list of collocations? Where can I find a list of collocations?”

You can’t learn collocations by memorizing a list. You learn collocations by listening. You learn collocations by reading. Over and over again. When you see or hear a new word, pay attention to the words around the new word. The new word could be part of a collocation.

You learn collocations by listening to the English Teacher Melanie Podcast & studying the notes.

You learn collocations by using dictionaries specifically for English learners. Both the Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary and the Macmillan Dictionary are excellent dictionaries. When you look up a word in a dictionary for English learners, the listing will tell you collocations with that word, as well as phrases & idioms that include that word.

Stop worrying about rules. Start paying attention to collocations.