How do you explain the difference between at and on?

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Bunny

Marketing Team

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12:51pm Wed, Jul 21, 2010
My little sister keeps getting confused with At and On. Every time I try to explain when to use either one I end up confusing the both of us more and more....so I just end up correcting her in hopes she might just get it...

For example when she says "We'll go at Monday" I correct her and say "No, we'll go ON Monday silly".


Can anyone here explain it in a way that wont do either of our heads in? =P

 

 

Plastic

Fuzzy Kid Bunny

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This is a head-scratcher.
It's really all about context. Just keep doing sentences like that with her, but with fill-in-the-blank type questions, and she'll get used to it. How old is she?

"We went ___ noon."
"We'll go ___ Monday."


Hehehe. I didn't realize this was such an old topic. Ah well!

 

Bunny

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Old topics are great topics to revive!

I'm not living with her any more and she's 9 now. I think she's gotten the hang of it but it took us for ever. She gets it mixed up in talking sometimes but never typing which is funny.

 

kraiten

Growing Baby Bunny

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Bunny (03:48am Wed, Oct 13, 2010)
Old topics are great topics to revive!

I'm not living with her any more and she's 9 now. I think she's gotten the hang of it but it took us for ever. She gets it mixed up in talking sometimes but never typing which is funny.
I know how it feels. Kids kind of forget a lot when they hear it. They need constant reminders and extra help when learning something new.

 

QuirkyJessi

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(I'm going to re-bump a really old thread yet again because I'm still working my way through what I missed from before, hehe.)

Here's a really good breakdown for anyone else who might struggle with this:

http://www.talkenglish.com/Grammar/prepositions-on-at-in.aspx

"At" would be the more specific of the two in your example about schedules.

For example:

We will meet ON Monday (general) AT 2:30pm (specific).

 

Bunny

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THANK YOU! It was driving me insane and I could not for the life of me find anything online. Thank you! You're a legend!!

 

EllyMarks

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To my understanding, prepositions that refer to concepts nonexistent in actual space and time (and therefore they do not have a position) is regional.

I've read--although, I haven't heard, so English people correct me if I'm wrong--that U.K. English tends to favor "at" whereas U.S. English tends to favor "for" when it comes to prepositions referring to periods of time.

Just repeat what sound right, then, and it'll eventually get in there--hopefully!

 

Bunny

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Keep in mind, you have to try to explain this to a 7 year old.

 

QuirkyJessi

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I think for a 7 year old, it's really going to come down to repetition. The English language is such a fickle pain with all sorts of rules and exceptions that don't always make sense that we simply have to memorize some of them without any rhyme or reason. She'll get the hang of it!

 

thetravellingbling

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Hi, guys! Just in case you need some more help, here's a forum I used to visit every time I have a problem with English. The owner of the forum contributes articles about proper English usage on one of the local newspapers here in the Philippines, and has several English textbooks.

Here's an article about the use of 'in', 'on' and 'at'.

http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=139.0

Personally, I still find them confusing. :|

 

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Jade Elizabeth (Bunny) is a Poet who has made 6253 posts since joining Creative Burrow on 12:15am Sun, Nov 2, 2008. Bunny was invited by No one (creator of this site).

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