April 30, 2021
AT or IN?
1. A. It's a good idea to visit an art gallery as this weather is only good for ducks. Where exactly in the art gallery shall we meet up?
B. We could meet at the foyer, at the shop, at the cafe, at the room with the portraits of kings or at the gallery with still lives.
2. A. It's a good idea to visit an art gallery as this weather is only good for ducks. Where exactly in the art gallery shall we meet up?
B. We could meet in the foyer, in the shop, in the cafe, in the room with the portraits of kings or in the gallery with still lives.
3. A. Now that we've watched all of the paintings, sculptures and installations, where could we meet with Chris?
B. I'm thinking of the gallery that has those abstract paintings in the rainbow of colours. He's so much into modern arts. But quite
frankly I'd rather meet with him in the Van Gogh gallery in front of the breathtaking sunflowers.
Are those sentences natural and have I used AT and IN correctly?
AT or IN?
It's a good idea to visit an art gallery as this weather is only good for ducks.
Where exactly in the art gallery shall we meet up?
We could meet at the foyer, at the shop, at the cafe, at the room with the portraits of kings or at the gallery with still livesstill life gallery.
"at" works for all of these, but suggests that you may be thinking of meeting *outside* these areas. If you want to meet "at the foyer", I might expect to find you standing at the front door, just outside the foyer. You could step through the door and be in the foyer, but you haven't - so you are only at the foyer. Same for all the others. Maybe you're in the shop, in the cafe, but maybe you're standing just outside the entrance. "In" would explicitly mean that you want to meet inside these rooms.
So if I meet someone while looking at fruit for sale inside a shop, then I "met them at the shop" or "met them in the shop". But if I meet someone just as I am about to walk into the shop, but without actually stepping through the door, I didn't "meet them in the shop".
"Gallery with still lives" works but sounds a bit awkward.
We could meet in the foyer, in the shop, in the cafe, in the room with the portraits of kings or in the gallery with still lives.
Now that we've watchedseen all of the paintings, sculptures and installations, where could we meet with Chris?
It's strange to watch a painting. You watch something when it's changing or you expect that it might change. So you watch TV, because it's changing. You watch people, because they're moving around. But you would probably only watch a painting if you were a security guard and you wanted to make sure people don't steal it.
B. I'm thinking of the gallery that has those abstract paintings in the rainbow of colours.
Not wrong, but not very natural. Maybe "those abstract paintings in all the colours of the rainbow."
He's so much into modern arts.
I can't decide if this is natural. Something like "You know, because he's so into modern art" definitely would be.
But quite
frankly I'd rather meet with him in the Van Gogh gallery, in front of the breathtaking sunflowers.
I assume the sunflowers are Van Gogh's famous paintings; a comma is necessary to say that. Otherwise it sounds like the *gallery* is in front of the sunflowers.
"meet with" is not wrong but it's a little unnatural here, we'd probably just be meeting him.
Are those sentences natural and have I used AT and IN correctly?
Feedback
I think maybe for locations where "at" and "in" both work - like inside a shop - we use "in" when we want to focus on the place as a physical location, and "at" when we want to focus on it as a place that serves a function. "I met her at the shop" - the place I met her was a place that sells things. Maybe you understand where I mean, maybe you don't, it probably isn't important. It isn't even important if we were inside, because this doesn't necessarily mean that. I just want you to have an idea of what a shop is, abstractly, and know that the place I met her was such a place.
Whereas if "I met her in the shop", I probably want you to understand in some sense the actual location, the layout of it. "I met her in the shop, by the ice-cream section". I'm specifically thinking of some point in space, and that point is inside the shop.
I don't know if that's helpful :)
May 1, 2021
Thank you, of course that's helpful (I'm just wondering where you get all this patience from to explain that🙂)
May 1, 2021
It's fun :) you ask an interesting question like "at or in" and I think "huh, I've never thought about that before. how *does* that work?" I like trying to figure out how it works and how to explain it!
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3. A. |
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Where exactly in the art gallery shall we meet up? |
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AT or IN? This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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1. A. |
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It's a good idea to visit an art gallery as this weather is only good for ducks. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Where exactly in the art gallery shall we meet up? This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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B. |
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We could meet at the foyer, at the shop, at the cafe, at the room with the portraits of kings or at the gallery with still lives. We could meet at the foyer, "at" works for all of these, but suggests that you may be thinking of meeting *outside* these areas. If you want to meet "at the foyer", I might expect to find you standing at the front door, just outside the foyer. You could step through the door and be in the foyer, but you haven't - so you are only at the foyer. Same for all the others. Maybe you're in the shop, in the cafe, but maybe you're standing just outside the entrance. "In" would explicitly mean that you want to meet inside these rooms. So if I meet someone while looking at fruit for sale inside a shop, then I "met them at the shop" or "met them in the shop". But if I meet someone just as I am about to walk into the shop, but without actually stepping through the door, I didn't "meet them in the shop". "Gallery with still lives" works but sounds a bit awkward. |
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2. A. |
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It's a good idea to visit an art gallery as this weather is only good for ducks. |
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B. |
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We could meet in the foyer, in the shop, in the cafe, in the room with the portraits of kings or in the gallery with still lives. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Now that we've watched all of the paintings, sculptures and installations, where could we meet with Chris? Now that we've It's strange to watch a painting. You watch something when it's changing or you expect that it might change. So you watch TV, because it's changing. You watch people, because they're moving around. But you would probably only watch a painting if you were a security guard and you wanted to make sure people don't steal it. |
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B. I'm thinking of the gallery that has those abstract paintings in the rainbow of colours. B. I'm thinking of the gallery that has those abstract paintings in the rainbow of colours. Not wrong, but not very natural. Maybe "those abstract paintings in all the colours of the rainbow." |
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He's so much into modern arts. He's so much into modern arts. I can't decide if this is natural. Something like "You know, because he's so into modern art" definitely would be. |
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But quite This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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frankly I'd rather meet with him in the Van Gogh gallery in front of the breathtaking sunflowers. frankly I'd rather meet I assume the sunflowers are Van Gogh's famous paintings; a comma is necessary to say that. Otherwise it sounds like the *gallery* is in front of the sunflowers. "meet with" is not wrong but it's a little unnatural here, we'd probably just be meeting him. |
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Are those sentences natural and have I used AT and IN correctly? This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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