Prepositions, prepositions!

     I noticed that most of the non-native Engligh speakers misuse prepositions most of the time. most often than not, the prepositions in, at, on have been interchanged or used at the wrong instances. To have a clearer picture of when to use these prepositions, here are some tips that will help you understand when to use them: (Taken from esl.about.com, Prepositions by Kenneth Beare)

For the preposition IN:

Use 'in' with spaces:
Examples:
    * in a room / in a building
    * in a garden / in a park

Use 'in' with bodies of water:
Examples:
    * in the water
    * in the sea
    * in a river

Use 'in' with lines:
Examples:
    * in a row / in a line
    * in a queue

For the preposition AT:

Use 'at' with places:
Examples:
    * at the bus-stop
    * at the door
    * at the cinema
    * at the end of the street

Use 'at' with places on a page:
Examples:
    * at the top of the page
    * at the bottom of the page

Use 'at' in groups of people:
Examples:
    * at the back of the class
    * at the front of the class

For the preposition ON:

Use 'on' with surfaces:
Examples:
    * on the ceiling / on the wall / on the floor
    * on the table

Use 'on' with small islands:
Examples:
    * I stayed on Maui.

Use 'on' with directions:
Examples:
    * on the left
    * on the right
    * straight on

Some things that you might want to bear in mind though:

In / at / on the corner

We say 'in the corner of a room', but 'at the corner (or 'on the corner') of a street'

In / at / on the front

    * We say 'in the front / in the back' of a car
    * We say 'at the front / at the back' of buildings / groups of people
    * We say 'on the front / on the back' of a piece of paper

I hope this will be very useful in learning English. Until next time! Cheers!