IN ON AT English Test Can you pass

Hi, I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. 
In, on, at, let’s talk about it. 

I forget. Did I put it in the cabinet, on the 
shelf, or at the front door? In, on, and at  

are three little words that are often tricky for 
English learners, and maybe they are for you too.  

But today I have some good news. Today you are 
going to test your skills and knowledge of in,  

on, and at with a fun little test. Fun? Test? Yes.
If you have been watching my lessons or other  

English content, you have been inputting real 
useful English. And our brains are amazing  

things. Our brains are always trying to sort 
out which words go where. Our brains are amazing  

at recognizing a pattern. The clouds are 
dark. It’s going to rain. This is a pattern.  

But I have a little hunch. A hunch is like a 
guess. Do you think that these words in, on,  

and at are tricky for you? These little words, 
they’re called prepositions. I have a hunch  

that you know more than you think you do.
These words and concepts seem tricky,  

but our brains are amazing. You are amazing. Your 
brain has already created some patterns using in,  

on, and at. So I think you are going to do better 
on this test than you think you will. Am I right?  

Am I wrong? Let’s find out. Plus, you’ll 
learn five common fixed phrases using in,  

on, and at, at the end of this lesson.
And of course, to help you remember everything  

that you’ve learned today, I have created 
a free PDF worksheet with all of the ideas,  

rules, concepts, sample sentences. And at the end 
of the PDF, you will be able to answer Vanessa’s  

challenge question. You can download this free 
PDF worksheet with the link in the description. 

Before we start with our test, let’s review 
a few simple rules. Each of the prepositions  

in, on, and at can be used to talk about space 
and time. Let’s take a look at some examples  

so that we can study before the test.
In. I put the medicine in the cabinet,  

in the afternoon. Here we have 
space, in the cabinet, and time,  

in the afternoon. We use in for an enclosed 
space, in the cabinet. And for a general time,  

usually a time of day, in the morning, in the 
afternoon, in the evening, this general time. 

On. I put my phone on the shelf on Monday. 
Here we have space, on the shelf, and time, on  

Monday. Usually on is with a surface. Sometimes 
it’s a flat surface. Sometimes it’s not.  

But we talk about on with a surface, on the shelf. 
And for time we’re talking about a specific day,  

on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday. 
This video is coming out on Friday. 

And at. Please be at the entrance of the park 
at 4:00 PM. We have space, at the entrance,  

and time, at 4:00 PM. At the entrance of the 
park is a specific place, a specific point,  

at the entrance of the park. And for time, at 4:00 
PM, we are talking about a specific time, at 4:00  

PM, at 9:00 PM, at 3:00 AM, this specific time.
So we’ve had a little review here.  

Don’t stress too much about the rules. I want 
you to look into your heart as I give you these  

test sentences. I want you to choose which word 
is the best to fill in each of these sentences.  

Maybe you remember the rules, maybe you 
don’t. That’s okay. Remember those patterns  

we talked about. Your brain has created some 
patterns already using these three words. 

So let’s get started with sentence 
number one. Did you find your coat  

the closet? Did you find your coat in, on, at the 
closet? I’ll give you three seconds to decide.  

Did you find your coat in the closet? In is 
an enclosed space. The closet is an enclosed  

space. Did you find your coat in the closet?
Number two. My favorite cafe is the end of  

this street. My favorite cafe is 
in, on, at the end of this street.  

What do you think? Three, two, one. My 
favorite cafe is at the end of this street.  

Here we’re talking about a specific place, 
a specific point. At the end of the street  

is my favorite cafe. How are you doing 
so far? Take a deep breath. You got this. 

All right, let’s go to number three. 
Oh no. I spilled my coffee my homework.  

Oh no. I spilled my coffee in, on, at my homework. 
Three, two, one. Oh, no. I spilled my coffee on  

my work. Here we’re talking about the surface of 
my homework. It also happens to be a flat surface.  

Like I mentioned, we sometimes use this 
for flat surfaces, on my homework. Oh man.  

Now I’m going to have to explain this to my 
teacher. I spilled my coffee on my homework. 

Number four. I enjoy taking walks early the 
morning. I enjoy taking walks early in, on,  

at the morning. Three, two, one. I enjoy taking 
walks early in the morning. Here we are talking  

about a general time of day. We’re not talking 
about 9:00 AM. We’re talking about a general time,  

in the morning, in the afternoon. And this is one 
of the keys to remembering prepositions, is when  

you can remember a full phrase, in the morning, 
you’re not going to need to think about the rules.  

All right, general time, specific time, time. 
No, you don’t need to think about that because  

you know the full phrase. So sentences like this 
are great ways to remember these tricky words.  

In the morning. Let’s go to the next question.
Number five. My date will be here 5:15. My date  

will be here in, on, at 5:15. We’re talking 
about time here. I’ll give you three seconds.  

My date will be here at 5:15. Hopefully not 5:14. 
Hopefully not 5:16, 5:15. Maybe not exactly,  

but you know what I mean? Here we’re talking 
about a specific time, 5:15, 6;15, 7:45,  

at 5:15. All right, let’s get to the next one.
Number six. I love to spend summer vacation  

the mountains. I love to spend summer 
vacation in, on, at the mountains.  

Give you three seconds. Three, two, one. 
The best answer for this sentence is  

I love to spend summer vacation in the mountains. 
We’re not talking about digging a hole in the  

mountains and going inside the dirt and the 
rocks. No. This would really be an enclosed space,  

in the closet, in the cabinet. But 
sometimes we use the idea of an enclosed  

space a little bit more loosely. So here we’re 
talking about being surrounded by the mountains.  

It’s the idea that you’re somewhat enclosed 
in the warm embrace of the mountains. So  

sometimes we do use this a little bit more 
loosely. Well, you can get the idea here. 

Number seven, we are having dinner my favorite 
restaurant. We’re having dinner in, on,  

at my favorite restaurant. I’ll give 
you three seconds. Three, two, one.  

We’re having dinner at my favorite restaurant. 
This is a specific place, a specific point. At  

my favorite restaurant. Well, that’s where we’re 
going to be having dinner. We’re having dinner at  

my favorite restaurant, a specific place.
Number eight. I jumped when he tapped me  

the shoulder. I jumped when he tapped me in, on, 
at the shoulder. Three, two, one. I jumped when he  

tapped me on the shoulder. This is also a little 
more loose, but we’re talking about the surface of  

my shoulder, the surface of my skin. When 
he tapped me on the shoulder, this is the  

surface of it. It’s not inside my skin. This is 
just the surface. He tapped me on the shoulder. 

How are you doing? We have two more 
sentences. Let’s go to number nine.  

Do you have a date Saturday night? Do you have a 
date in, on, at Saturday night? Do you remember  

which one we should use with days like Saturday? 
I’ll give you three seconds. Three, two, one.  

Do you have a date on Saturday night? We use 
on for a specific day, on Saturday, on Friday,  

on Tuesday. Do you have a date on Saturday night?
And our final test question before we get to five  

fixed phrases is using in, on, and at is this. You 
can email me [email protected].  

This is a common phrase we use in business, or 
whenever you need to tell someone your email  

address. So it’s a good expression to remember. 
You can email me in, on, or at my email address.  

Three, two, one. You can email me at 
[email protected]. This  

is also a more figurative way to use a specific 
place. So we said at my favorite restaurant,  

at the entrance of the park. But this is not a 
place you can go. You can’t go physically to my  

email address. So we’re going to use this a little 
bit more loosely and we can say, you can email me  

at, this is my specific email address. You can 
email me at [email protected]. 

Great. Are you ready for five bonus 
fixed phrases that include in, on,  

or at? These are kind of outside the rules 
of what we just talked about, but I want  

you to look into your heart and to guess which 
preposition do you think would be the best fit? 

Let’s look at this sentence. The building is fire.  

The building is in, on, at fire. What is the 
fixed phrase we’re looking for here? Three,  

two, one. The building is on fire. Ah, run. 
So here we’re using the fixed phrase to be on  

fire. We can use this in a real way, that there 
are flames coming up from the building. So get out  

of the building. It’s on fire. But we can also use 
this for more figurative ways. For example, you  

might say, “My motivation for learning English is 
on fire from watching Vanessa’s video,” or talking  

about your motivation is on fire. Or we might say, 
“I’m on fire for English.” This is talking about a  

more figurative way of talking about fire that of 
course there is not fire on you, but we’re talking  

about in your heart. There is an excitement. 
There’s determination. There’s motivation. I’m  

on fire for English. My motivation is on fire. 
And that is another way to use this expression. 

All right, let’s go to the next sentence. Do 
you believe love at first sight? Do you believe  

in, on, at love at first sight? I’ll 
give you three seconds. Three, two, one.  

Do you believe in love at first sight? 
Here our fixed expression is to believe in  

something. You can believe in love. You can 
believe in peace. You can believe in your  

ability to learn English. You can believe in 
something. And this means you have hope that  

it will happen. You have high hopes that this 
will come true. I believe in love. Wonderful. 

Question number 13. He is really good juggling. 
Juggling is when you throw balls in the air.  

He is really good in, on, at juggling. I’ll 
tell you in three, two, one. He is really good  

at juggling. Here we’re going to use the fixed 
expression to be good at something. This is used  

all the time. You might say, “I thought that 
I wasn’t good at English. And then I found  

Vanessa’s lessons and realized, ‘Oh, it’s not too 
hard. I can do this.'” You can be good at English. 

Number 14. Do you have this a smaller size? This 
is a common expression when you’re shopping.  

Do you have this in, on, or at a smaller size? 
Three, two, one. Do you have this in a smaller  

size? This expression, to be in a size or color is 
commonly used when we’re shopping and we’re trying  

to find the best thing that we are looking 
for. So you might say, “Do you have this in  

a large? Do you have this in a medium?” Or we 
can use it for color. “Do you have this in red?  

Do you have this in stripes?” Great. This is a 
great expression to use when you’re shopping. 

And our final test question. Are 
you ready, drum roll, is my date was  

his phone all night. It was so rude. My date was 
in, on, at his phone all night. Such a shame.  

Three, two, one. My date was on his phone all 
night. It was so rude. He’s not actually standing  

on his phone, but instead that means he’s using 
his phone. And this is a common expression, to be  

on your phone. Sometimes you could 
say this maybe to teenagers. “Hey,  

get off your phone. You are on your phone all day. 
Why are you always on your phone? I wish I wasn’t  

on my phone so much.” It doesn’t mean that 
you’re standing on your phone. It just means  

you’re using your phone. So this is a great 
fixed expression to know, to be on your phone. 

So let’s do a little review. I’m going to 
read all of these sentences one more time  

and I would like you to try to say them out loud 
with me. Do you think you can do this? Of course,  

you can, because you are good at English. 
Let’s say all of these sentences together. 

Did you find your coat in the closet? I 
enjoy taking walks early in the morning.  

I love to spend summer vacation in the mountains. 
Do you have this in a smaller size? Do you believe  

in love at first sight? Oh no. I spilled 
coffee on my homework. Do you have a date  

on Saturday night? I jumped when he tapped 
me on the shoulder. The building is on fire.  

My date was on his phone the whole night. It 
was so rude. My favorite cafe is at the end of  

this street. My date will be here at 5:15. We are 
having dinner at my favorite restaurant. You can  

email me at [email protected]. 
He is really good at juggling. 

So how did you do on this test? I hope that it was 
better than you imagined, because your brain is  

amazing. You are amazing. You have been creating 
patterns by watching my videos and other English  

content so that these seemingly tricky words 
are maybe actually easier than you thought. 

Don’t forget to help you remember everything 
you learned in this lesson, you can download  

the free PDF worksheets with all of the rules, 
sentences, and ideas that we talked about today,  

and you can answer Vanessa’s challenge 
question. You can click on the link  

in the description to download that PDF.
And now I have a little question for you.  

In the comments, let me know what your score was, 
and also, what is something that you are good at?  

Let us know in the comments. I can’t wait to read 
to see what you have to say. Make sure you read  

other people’s comments as well to get to know 
wonderful people from around the world. Well,  

thank you so much for learning English with me 
and I’ll see you again next Friday for a new  

lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye.
The next step is to download the free  

PDF worksheet for this lesson. With this 
free PDF, you will master today’s lesson  

and never forget what you have learned. You 
can be a confident English speaker. Don’t  

forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel 
for a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.