作為一個(gè)以英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)的人，你可能會(huì)意識(shí)到in,on與at之間存在差異。而大多數(shù)學(xué)生則擲骰子決定該用哪一個(gè)。好吧，收起你的骰子，讓我們來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)這三個(gè)單詞之間的區(qū)別。

我認(rèn)為想一想這些介詞的定義是很有幫助的。只是作為一個(gè)提示，介詞是用來(lái)辨別句中位置關(guān)系的語(yǔ)體。因此，如果你在談?wù)撘粋€(gè)對(duì)象或一個(gè)人，并且你想包括一個(gè)地方，那么介詞可以幫助你來(lái)表述。

IN
在...里面

So first, let us look at the word in. This word means surrounded by or encircled by. If you want to say something is encased or surrounded by anything, this is your go to preposition.
首先，讓我們看看in這個(gè)單詞。這個(gè)詞的意思是被包圍或被圍繞。如果你想說(shuō)某物被什么東西包圍或圍繞，這就是你要找的介詞。

Right now, I am in my room.
現(xiàn)在，我在房間里。

There are four walls, a ceiling and a floor. I am surrounded by the room.
這兒有四堵墻，一個(gè)天花板和一個(gè)地板。我被整個(gè)房間包圍。

This also works for cities and countries. Go ahead look outside. What country are you surrounded by? Then you are in this country!
這也適用于城市和國(guó)家。往前看外面。你周?chē)悄膫€(gè)國(guó)家？那么你就在這個(gè)國(guó)家！

I am in the United States of America. I am in New York City.
我在美利堅(jiān)合眾國(guó)。我在紐約。

What about water? Yes, that too.
水呢？是的，也一樣。

She is in the pool. She is in the ocean. He is in the lake or pond or bathtub.
她在游泳池里。她在海里。他在湖里、池塘或浴缸里。

Again, if you are surrounded by the location, then you are in that location.
同樣，如果你被某一地點(diǎn)所包圍，那么你就處在那個(gè)位置上。

If you say that you are in a door (I hope that you are not), then as a fluent English speaker, I understand that you have broken the door and you are somehow trapped in the door.
如果你說(shuō)你在一個(gè)門(mén)里（我希望你沒(méi)這么說(shuō)過(guò)），然后作為一個(gè)流利的說(shuō)英語(yǔ)的人，我知道你打破了門(mén)，你不知怎么被困在門(mén)上。

Here are some more examples:
下面是一些例子：

I am in bed. (The covers are over me or I am under a blanket).
我在床上。（被子蓋在我身上，或者我在毯子下面）。

You can find the answer in the book. (The answer is surrounded by the book, this is easier to imagine if the book is closed).
你可以在書(shū)中找到答案。（答案在書(shū)里，如果這本書(shū)合起來(lái)就更容易想象了）。

He looks so cute in the picture. (The outline or frame of the photo is surrounding him).
他在照片里看起來(lái)很可愛(ài)。（照片的輪廓或框架?chē)@著他）。

Betty is in school. (This means that she is a student and not physically at the school).
貝蒂在上學(xué)。（這意味著她是學(xué)生而不是單純地在學(xué)校里）。

ON
在...上面

Now let’s talk about on as a preposition. For me, the word on means specific location. I am not talking about being surrounded by something. I am focusing on a more specific location.
現(xiàn)在我們來(lái)談?wù)劷樵~on。對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，on是指特定的位置。我不是說(shuō)被什么東西包圍著。我把重點(diǎn)放在一個(gè)更具體的位置上。

For example
例如

I am in my room, but I am on a chair.
我在房間里，但我坐在椅子上。

I have given you a more specific location to help you locate me.
我給了你一個(gè)更具體的位置來(lái)幫助你找到我。

Perhaps, you need to find keys that belong to someone. You ask them in English, Where are your keys? They will answer, The keys are on the table.
也許，你需要找到屬于某人的鑰匙。你用英語(yǔ)問(wèn)他們，你的鑰匙在哪里？他們會(huì)回答的，鑰匙在桌子上。

If they were to answer you like this, The keys are in the living room. It might take you a little longer to find those keys, since it wasn’t so specific.
如果他們像這樣回答你：鑰匙就在客廳里。你可能要花更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間才能找到那些鑰匙，因?yàn)榛卮鸩皇悄敲吹木唧w。

Here are some more examples:
下面是一些例子：

I am on the bed. (I am NOT under the covers or blankets).
我在床上。（我不在被子或毯子下面）。

Her office is on the third floor. (A specific location in the building).
她的辦公室在三層。（建筑物中的特定位置）。

I often hear my students tell me, My workbook is on my house. In English, this means that they have thrown their workbook on top of their house, on the roof. Why did they do that?
我經(jīng)常聽(tīng)到我的學(xué)生告訴我，我的工作手冊(cè)在我的房子上。在英語(yǔ)中，這意味著他們把他們的練習(xí)本扔在房頂上。他們?yōu)槭裁匆菢幼觯?/div>

Well, thankfully they did not throw it on their house. They meant to say, My workbook is at my house.
謝天謝地，他們沒(méi)有把錢(qián)丟在房頂上。他們的意思是說(shuō)，我的工作手冊(cè)在我家里。

AT
在...

This brings me to the next preposition at. At means general location. If the place that you are talking about is big, like an airport, hotel or even your house (with many rooms and locations) then you should use at.
這就引出了下一個(gè)介詞at。它指的是大體的位置。如果你所談?wù)摰牡胤胶艽?，比如機(jī)場(chǎng)，旅館，甚至你的房子（有許多房間和地點(diǎn)），那么你應(yīng)該使用at。

This lets the listener know your general location.
這能讓聽(tīng)眾知道你的大體位置。

For example
例如

My wife calls and says, Where are you?.
我妻子打電話說(shuō)，你在哪里？

I would answer, I am at home. (Or even I am home)
我會(huì)回答，我在家里。（甚至“我在家”這樣回答也可以）

If she wanted to know more specifically, (for example, she is home and she can’t find me) she would say, Yes, but where in the house?
如果她想更具體地知道，比如說(shuō)，她在家，卻找不到我，她會(huì)說(shuō)問(wèn)：是的，但是在家里的哪塊兒呢？

I would respond, I am in the kitchen.. The preposition in lets her know that I am surrounded by the kitchen and if she wants to find me, then she can go there.
我會(huì)回答：我在廚房里。介詞in讓她知道我在廚房里，如果她想找我，她就可以去那里。

We can use at for the following situations:
我們可以在下列情況下使用at：

They are at the beach. (This is a big location).
他們?cè)诤┥稀＃ㄟ@是個(gè)大地方）。

They are at the airport.
他們?cè)跈C(jī)場(chǎng)。

I am at the hotel or conference.
我在旅館或在開(kāi)會(huì)。

Sara is at work. (This lets me know her general location).
薩拉在上班。（這讓我知道她的大體位置）。

Someone is at the door. (There are many different places someone can stand while next to a door. Just move 1 cm and you are at a “new” location.
有人在門(mén)口。（在門(mén)旁邊有許多不同的地方可以站著。）只要移動(dòng)1厘米，你就站在一個(gè)“新”的位置。

Bob is at school. (You can go to this school and you will find Bob there).
鮑伯在上學(xué)。（你可以去這所學(xué)校，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)鮑伯在那里）。

Now, at can also be used for time. I argue that the position of the earth and the sun are at a general location (given the huge size of the two objects). This is just my way of simplifying the way to remember when to use the preposition at.
現(xiàn)在告訴你，AT也可以用在時(shí)間前。我認(rèn)為地球和太陽(yáng)同處于在一個(gè)大體的位置上（考慮到兩個(gè)物體的巨大尺寸）。這正是我簡(jiǎn)化使用介詞短語(yǔ)的方法。

You can still think of the definition for at as a general location for time.
你仍然可以把它定義為時(shí)間上的大體位置。

So, I have English class at 8am.
所以，我在8點(diǎn)上英語(yǔ)課。

BUT
但是

I have English class on Tuesday. (It is a specific day of the week).
我星期二有英語(yǔ)課。（這是指一周中的特定一天）。

I love to relax on the weekend. (It is a specific part of the week).
我喜歡在周末放松一下。（這是指本周的一部分）。

My birthday is on December 7th. (This is a specific day in December).
我的生日是12月7日。（這是十二月中的某一天）。

My birthday is in December. (My birthday is on the 7th, but it is surrounded by the other days in the month.
我的生日在十二月。（我的生日在十二月份的第七天，但這一天被這個(gè)月的其他日子包圍著。

I was living in France in 2007. (The entire year of 2007 was surrounding the time that I lived in France).
我2007年住在法國(guó)。（整整2007年都是我在法國(guó)的時(shí)候）。

I have breakfast in the morning. (Morning starts from about 6am until 11:59.).
我早上吃早飯。（早上是指從早上6點(diǎn)到11:59一段時(shí)間）。

So we use the preposition “in” because this is a time that is surrounding you during that time period.
所以我們使用介詞“in”，因?yàn)檫@是一個(gè)伴隨著你的時(shí)間段。

The same goes for afternoon and evening.
下午和晚上也一樣。

Night is different because the darkness is changing (you know with daylight savings time and such). So you say “at” when using night.
黑夜是不同的，因?yàn)楹诎翟谧兓模阒腊滋旃?jié)約時(shí)間等）。所以你用晚上說(shuō)“在”。

Please, be careful when driving at night.
晚上開(kāi)車(chē)時(shí)要小心。

There are some other things to keep in mind when talking about time.
談?wù)摃r(shí)間還有一些其他的事情要記住。

Let us say that you want to plan a brunch Monday morning. Because we have the specific day of the week “Monday”, we give preference to that word and the preposition is on.
我們打個(gè)比方說(shuō)，你在星期一早上計(jì)劃吃早午餐。因?yàn)槲覀冇幸恢苤刑囟ǖ囊惶臁靶瞧谝弧?，我們偏?ài)那個(gè)詞，所以用介詞on。

I will have brunch on Monday morning.
我星期一上午吃早午餐。

Here are some more examples:
下面是一些例子：

She went dancing on Saturday night.
她星期六晚上去跳舞了。

They went to a restaurant on Friday evening.
星期五晚上他們?nèi)チ艘患也宛^。

When talking about future time (you know what you plan to do later), be sure to use the preposition in.
當(dāng)談?wù)搶?lái)的時(shí)間（你知道你以后打算做什么）時(shí)，一定要使用介詞in。

For example
例如

I will see you in two weeks.
我兩周后見(jiàn)你。

She will graduate in 4 years.
她將在4年內(nèi)畢業(yè)。

When talking about TRANSPORTATION, the two prepositions on and in follow different rules. Don’t worry, they are pretty simple.
當(dāng)談到交通時(shí)，兩個(gè)介詞on和in都遵循不同的規(guī)則。別擔(dān)心，它們很簡(jiǎn)單。

ON: When you CAN WALK around on the transportation.
你可以在交通工具上到處走動(dòng)。

The idea here is if the mode of transportation has enough room to walk around, then use on.
這里的意思是，如果交通工具上有足夠的空間走動(dòng)，就使用on。

For example:
例如：

I was on the plane when you called me. (There is enough room on a plane to walk around).
你打電話給我時(shí)我在飛機(jī)上。（飛機(jī)上有足夠的空間走動(dòng)）。

I was on the bus yesterday. (Again, there is sufficient room to be able to move around with your feet on a bus).
昨天我在公共汽車(chē)上。（同樣，你有足夠的空間在公共汽車(chē)上走動(dòng)）。

IN: When you can NOT WALK around on the transportation.
使用in的情況：當(dāng)你不能在交通工具上走來(lái)走去的時(shí)候。

If the vehicle too small to walk around, then you need to use in.
如果車(chē)輛太小你不能在上面走動(dòng)，那么你需要使用in。

For example
例如

Get in the car. (There is not enough space in a car to walk around).
上車(chē)。（車(chē)?yán)餂](méi)有足夠的空間走動(dòng)）。

Please, be careful when you get in the taxi.
當(dāng)你上出租車(chē)時(shí)要小心。

The opposite follows the same rule. The opposite of ON = OFF.
反義詞則遵循相同的規(guī)則。上車(chē)的反義詞=下車(chē)。

So you get off a bus.
所以你下了公共汽車(chē)。

The opposite of IN = OUT
進(jìn)去的反義詞＝出來(lái)

So you get out of a car.
所以你從車(chē)?yán)锍鰜?lái)。