continued... Some important kinds of places, only use ‘IN' - IN the bedroom, IN the bathroom, IN the back room — always use ‘in’ for rooms never ‘at' - IN the wilderness, IN the sky, IN the Arctic, IN Space (ie. where the planets and stars are) - for these huge concepts you should only use ‘in' - IN London, IN France, IN Europe - for villages, towns, cities, countries, regions, continents only ‘in’, including expressions like, ‘I live in the city’ (never ‘I live at the city’) There are some places don’t follow the rules, and you must use the right preposition e.g.: - Beach - you can only be ‘at the beach’, never ‘in the beach’ - Corners of rooms - only ‘in a corner’ not ‘at a corner’ - Corners of streets (where streets cross) - you are ‘at’ the corner, or ‘on’ the corner, never 'in' the corner - The Moon (and other planets) - only ‘on the moon’, not ‘in the moon’, not ‘at the moon’ I’m sure there are lots of others like this! Have fun learning!

Interesting question and certainly a little complicated! There are times when you must use ‘in’ or you must use ‘at’, and there are times when both are possible, but they do have different meanings. The good news is if you use either AT or IN when speaking, most english speakers will understand you, even if it’s wrong. My advice is to use ‘IN’ if in doubt. AT is for places - AT the top of the stairs, AT the back of the room, AT the door - descriptions of locations use ‘at’ only, never ‘in' - AT the park, at a forest, AT the mall, AT a carpark, AT the shoe store, AT school, AT the shop, AT home - all places so use AT, but you could also use IN (see below) IN is for when you are inside or within a place or thing with a physical or conceptual border or boundary. This boundary can be very loose, very big and also conceptual! If it’s not a place, use ‘IN' - IN the bath, IN the bag --- these are not places, so always ‘in’ and never ‘at' - IN a train, IN traffic --- these are not places, so always ‘in’ and never ‘at' - IN your dreams, IN your imagination, IN my plans - these are not places, so only use ‘in' Places that have a border or boundary - you could use either ‘IN’ or ‘AT' - in the park, at the park - in a forest, at the forest - in the mall, at the mall - in a carpark, at a carpark - in the shoe store, at the shoe store - in school, at school - in a shop, at a shop - in my home, at home However, they do have different meanings. ‘In’ will mean more specifically that you are inside that place. ‘I am AT the mall’ - means I am at the mall place ‘I am IN the mall’ - means I am inside the mall building Sometimes this difference will important. This example shows how the two can be used in a conversation: Me: Where are you now? You: I am AT the train station. (the place) Me: Where IN the train station? You: IN the ticket office (a place with a boundary) AT the ticket counter (place has no boundary)

In is specifically indoors, at refers to the area. Example: if you are in the parking lot of a bowling alley you would say "I'm at the bowling alley," if you were inside the bowling alley you could say "I'm in the bowling alley" or "I'm at the bowling alley." Simply put they mean the same thing, but "in" is only for indoors. :)