Position in space seen from different viewpoints

When referring to space (i.e. a very wide area), we have a choice of preposition, depending on the meaning we wish to express. For example, we can say:

in/at'to'from'under/over/across London A speaker's personal viewpoint of a place may affect his choice of preposition. If a speaker says:

/ live in London he feels 'enclosed' by London. But if a speaker says:

We stopped at London on the way to New York he sees London as a point on a route.

We use at to imply that the location has a special purpose: it may be a stopping place, a meeting place, an eating place, a work place, etc seen externally.

We can consider position in space in relation to:

- a point (i.e. a place or e.g. event): at the cinema, at a party, to/from London We stood at the door and waited (i.e. at that point)

- a line (i.e. a place we think of in terms of length): across/along/on a border/over/road There s a letter box across the road (i.e. across that line)

- a surface (i.e. a place we think of as a flat area): across'off'on a table'floor'wall'ceiling I stared at a fly on the wall (i.e. on that surface)

- area or volume: (i.e. a place which can 'enclose'):
in 'into'out of outside'within a room/ship'car'factory forest
We all sat in the car (i.e. in that area)

A single place (e.g. river) can be viewed from different angles:
We went to the river (a point)

Greenwich is down the river (a line)

The paper boat floated on the river (a surface)
We swam in the river (an area or volume)

Prepositions reflecting movement or lack of movement

A preposition takes on the idea of movement (fly under) or lack of movement (stop under) from the verb in the sentence. Some prepositions combine either with 'movement verbs' (e.g. bring drive fly get go move pull run take walk) or with 'position verbs' (e.g. be live keep meet stay stop work).

Movement and position

Some prepositions, such as into onto out of to, etc., normally combine only with 'movement verbs':

A bird flew into my bedroom this morning

I drove out of the car park Other prepositions, such as at, in, on, etc. normally combine only with 'position verbs':

The bird perched on the curtain rail