English A1 · Prepositions of place
영어 A1 주제 10 4:46 영어 내레이션 · 영어 + 중국어 자막 burned-in
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Where is your phone? In your bag? On your desk? Under a pile of homework? The little words that answer are the prepositions of place. Chinese has the same map with zai and friends, so the idea is familiar; only the word order and the in-on choice are new. The memory hook: in is a box, on is a floor. If you can put walls around it, it's in; if you can only put feet on it, it's on.
The big three. In is inside a container or space: the keys are in my bag. On touches the top surface: the book is on the table. Under is below, covered: the cat is under the chair, and the cat is not lost; it is judging you, which is different. And notice the order: shu zai zhuozi shang becomes the book is on the table, thing first, place last, the same flip as there is two topics ago.
Pause and choose. The picture is on the wall. Pictures hang on the surface, so on. In the wall is where the pipes live; a picture in the wall is a horror film, not a decoration. Under the wall defies gravity, and between needs two things, and the wall refuses to be cloned.
The rest of the map. Next to is beside: I sit next to the window. Behind is at the back, in front of faces it: the garden is behind the house, the teacher stands in front of the class. Between needs one on each side: the bank is between the shop and the café; one side alone is not between, it is just standing there. And near is close but not touching, while opposite is across from. Your best friend sits next to you; your homework sits near you, unfinished, watching.
Pause and choose. Between the shop and the café. The word and is the clue: between always brings a partner, one thing on each side. Next to takes a single neighbour, opposite faces one thing across the street, and near just waves from a distance.
Three words, three zoom levels. At is a pin on the map: at school, at the bus stop, at home; you are a dot. In is a bigger area: in Beijing, in the classroom. On is a surface or a line: on the wall, on the second floor, on the left. And at home has no the; home is special. Go home, stay at home; home is not a place, it's a feeling with its own grammar.
Pause and choose. I study at home, and my classroom is on the second floor. Home is a point, so at, with no the. A floor is a level surface, so on. The other mixes put you inside the floorboards or on top of your house, both excellent plots and neither of them grammar.
Two traps close this level. First, the order flips again: Chinese puts the place before the verb, shu zai zhuozi shang; English puts it last, the book is on the table. Second, the book on the table is only a phrase; it needs is to become a sentence. Topic one's rule never sleeps: every English sentence needs a verb. And prepositions come as fixed phrases, like passwords: next to, in front of, never next with.
Describe your classroom without pointing, and your partner draws what you say. The clock is on the wall, above the board. My bag is under the desk, between my feet and a dream. The teacher is in front of the class; the homework is in front of me; only one of them is moving. Then swap roles. If the drawings match the room, your prepositions work, and if they don't, the art is still lovely.
Pause for four checks. The keys are in my bag: inside, a box. The picture is on the wall: touching the surface. The bank is between the shop and the café: two sides make a between. And I study at home: a point, with no the. That is the end of A1: be, pronouns, pointing words, articles, existence, possession, the present simple, can, commands, questions and places. A2 waits with the past, the future, and the tenses in between.