Prepositions of place: IN, ON and AT

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Prepositions are words that show things like:

TIME = at 2:00 o’clock

PLACE = in Moscow

DIRECTION = near the airport

First, let’s learn a few basic prepositions of place.

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE show where something/someone is.

Here is a list of basic prepositions of place with example sentences:

  • The ball is on the box.
  • The ball is in the box.
  • The ball is near the box.
  • The ball is between the boxes.
  • The ball is above the box.
  • The ball is in front of the box.
  • The ball is behind the box.
  • The ball is next to the box.
  • The ball is under the box.

The video below is at a beginner level. Start by watching it if you need to review the prepositions of place.

IN = inside something

ON = just above something, but touching it

AT = an exact location or point

PRACTICE: Complete the sentences with in, on or at, and find the answers at the end of the lesson.

1. The dog is _____ London.

2. My friend is _____ the cinema.

3. The man is _____ the island.

4. The students are _____ school.

5. The teacher isn’t _____ the classroom.

6. My black bag is _____ the desk.

7. The cat is _____ the chair.

8. The boy is _____ the English class.

9. My uncle is _____ Scotland.

10. My dad is _____ work.

Now, look at the pictures in the video. Where is the ball? Choose the best preposition of place for each question.

We usually use IN with towns, cities, and countries, ON with streets, and AT with streets + number.

This was my student’s practice:

Hi Andrea,
I live in Brazil.✔️
I live in Blumenau.✔️
I live in the Salto do Norte neighborhood.✔️
I live on Luiz Wilhelm Street.✔️
I live at 47 Luiz Wilhelm street.✔
Salto do Norte is near to (❌sem o to) the Itoupava Norte neighborhood.
Salto do Norte is far from Ponta aguda.✔️
My house is next to my job.✔️

Good job Evair!?????????

ANSWERS: in 2. at 3. on 4. at 5. in 6. on 7. on 8. in 9. in 10. at

Sentence stress

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What is stress?

Stress means pronouncing some syllables in a word and the content words in a sentence more strongly than others.

Stress is about contrast.

Pronouncing sentence stress well depends on creating a clear contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables.

You should pronounce stressed syllables or words more clearly, more slowly, and more loudly than unstressed syllables or words.

Native speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables and words, not the weak ones.

Pronouncing sentence stress correctly will make a big difference to how you pronounce English and will improve your comprehension. You’ll immediately sound clearer and more natural when you speak English.

Portuguese, French, Italian, and Spanish are described as SYLLABLE-TIMED LANGUAGES, which are languages that take approximately equal amounts of time to pronounce. 

English, German, and Dutch are described as STRESS-TIMED LANGUAGES, where the stressed syllables are said at approximately regular intervals, and unstressed syllables shorten to fit this rhythm.

Pronunciation: stress and intonation and Stress and intonation: quais palavras enfatizar are the two introductory lessons. Review them if necessary.

Now, listen carefully to the following video and take notes. It will help you to understand what sentence stress is in English pronunciation. It will help you recognize and pronounce stress correctly in a sentence and how it can change the meaning of a sentence.

Sometimes, one idea in your sentence is more important than others. You’ll add extra stress to this idea.

Read the full script and test your understanding of the lesson with a quiz.

Sentence stress is flexible, and the line between content words and grammar words isn’t fixed. So there are the most probable ways, but there are other possibilities. It depends on the meaning you want to express. 

  • Content words – words that give you the meaning of the sentence are usually stressed.
  • Structure or grammar words – words that don’t carry meaning are usually unstressed. They’re grammatically necessary; they connect the content words together.

Content words – stressed

Words carrying the meaningExample
Main verbsSELL, GIVE, EMPLOY
NounsCAR, MUSIC, MARY
AdjectivesRED, BIG, INTERESTING
AdverbsQUICKLY, WHY, NEVER
Negative auxiliariesDON’T, AREN’T, CAN’T

Structure words – unstressed

Words for correct grammarExample
Pronounshe, we, they
Prepositionson, at, into
Articlesa, an, the
Conjunctionsand, but, because
Auxiliary verbsdo, be, have, can, must

You can add extra stress to a word if you want to:

  • emphasize one particular idea,
  • contrast two ideas,
  • or to correct or contradict someone else.

Conclusion

  • You do not need to hear every word to understand the meaning of a sentence. If you focus on listening to the stressed words, you can understand what someone means even if you do not hear the unstressed grammar words.
  • Pronounce the stressed words more strongly, clearer as possible, and pronounce the unstressed words at a lower volume and as fast as you can, like a weak pronunciation.
  • Pay equal attention to the unstressed words, and try to get a clear contrast between the stressed and unstressed words.

What does he like, what is she like and what does she look like?

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The word like is used in different ways to ask questions. Such questions with like may have different meanings.

Like may be used to ask questions about:

  • Personality or the characteristics of something.
  • Preferences.
  • Hobbies.
  • Physical appearance.

The word like in these questions is used either as a verb or as a preposition.

Talking about personality or the characteristics of something

Like can be used to ask about personality or the characteristics of something. Example:

  • What’s your friend like? → He’s nice.
  • What’s the house like? → It’s huge.
  • What was the weather like? → It was sunny.

Like in the above examples is used as a preposition.

Talking about about preferences

Like can be used to talk about preferences. Examples:

  • What music does Julie like? → She likes rock music.
  • What would you like to eat? → Fish, please.

Like is used in these questions as a verb.

Talking about hobbies

To ask about hobbies, use like in questions as follows:

  • What does he like doing? → He likes singing.
  • What do you like doing? → I like reading.

Like in these examples is used as a verb.

In this video we look at two meanings of like and fix a common mistake. They will compare the verb like with like as a preposition and you’ll learn how to use two useful English questions: Do you like…? and What’s it like? Video script here.

If one thing is like something else, it’s similar. Like is a preposition here, and it is used to talk about things that are similar.

Talking about physical appearance or resemblance

Like may be used in questions to ask about physical appearance. Examples:

  • What does he look like? → He is tall and has got black long hair.
  • What does she look like? → She is beautiful. She has brown eyes and short black hair.
  • Who do you look like? → I look just like my father.
  • Who does she look like? → She looks like her grandmother.

Like in the above questions is used as a preposition.

The next video explains the differences between the three question with the word like: What does he like, what is she like and what does she look like?

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE that we usually use How?, not What … like?, when we ask about someone’s health or temporary state:

A: How’s your brother today? B: He’s feeling much better.

A: How was your boss today? B: He was very friendly today!

Now, PRACTICE:

LEVEL 1 EXERCISE

LEVEL 2 EXERCISE: Write an appropriate question to the following sentences. You’ll find the correct questions, in order, below the answers. 

  1. Oh, she is very interesting. She is very involved in community activities and loves the outdoors.
  2. He’s fine, thank you.
  3. Just awful, it hasn’t stopped raining for the last three days.
  4. Reading science fiction, watching classic films on late night TV.
  5. Very pretty, she’s got short blond hair, blue eyes and she usually wears jeans and a t-shirt.
  6. He’s quite the entertainer. He loves having people over for dinner.
  7. It can be spicy and sweet. It’s delicious.
  8. It’s a painting of a countryside with lots of flowers in the foreground.
  9. He can be difficult at times.

Questions:

  1. What’s she like?
  2. How is he?
  3. What’s the weather like?
  4. What does she like doing?
  5. What does she look like?
  6. What’s he like? or What does he like doing?
  7. What’s it like?
  8. What does it look like?
  9. What’s he like?

Stress and intonation: quais palavras enfatizar

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Sim, precisamos estudar vocabulário e gramática, mas tão importante quanto, para que nossa compreensão e comunicação seja efetiva, se faça “sem ruídos”, é a observação do ritmo. E o ritmo da língua inglesa depende de dois tipos de stress.

Quando dizemos stress (tonicidade), queremos dizer a ênfase*, como dizemos uma sílaba ou palavras mais fortemente do que outras partes da palavra ou frase, fazendo com que aquelas sílabas e palavras tônicas se destaquem e se tornem mais perceptíveis.

* Olhe a lição anterior, para uma boa introdução ao assunto.

As palavras geralmente enfatizadas são consideradas palavras de conteúdo , content words, como:

  • Substantivos (por exemplo cozinha, Peter)
  • A maioria dos verbos principais (por exemplo visitar, construir)
  • Adjetivos (por exemplo bonito, interessante)
  • Advérbios (por exemplo frequentemente, com cuidado)
  • Negativos, incluindo verbos auxiliares negativos e palavras com “não”, como “nada”, “lugar nenhum” etc. 
  • Determiners (por exemplo, o, a, esse, isto, aquilo, alguns, alguns, meu, nosso, WH-words)
  • Palavras que expressam quantidades (por exemplo muito, alguns, muitos)

Palavras não acentuadas são consideradas palavras funcionais, function words, como:

  • Verbos auxiliares (por exemplo, don’t, am, were, have)
  • Preposições (por exemplo, antes, ao lado, oposto)
  • Conjunções (por exemplo, mas, enquanto, como)
  • Pronomes (por exemplo, eles, ela, nós)
  • Verbos “ter” e “ser”, mesmo quando usados ​​como verbos principais

No entanto, stress é sobre contraste, e isso significa que o stress é relativo.

O stress na sentença é flexível e a linha divisória entre palavras de conteúdo e palavras gramaticais não é fixa. As sentenças, os exemplos acima, são apenas as mais prováveis; existem outras possibilidades.

Pronuncie as palavras tônicas o mais claramente possível. Exagere um pouco o stress, e fale as palavras átonas o mais rápido que puder. Tente obter um contraste muito claro entre as palavras tônicas e átonas.

Abaixo, Gavin traz o assunto através de um informal bate papo.

Passe a ouvir com atenção como os falantes nativos enfatizam as palavras tônicas. À medida que você começar a ouvir atentamente, você descobrirá que no inglês, palavras que você parece não entender, têm importância, mas não são determinantes para a compreensão do todo. 😉

Pronunciation: stress and intonation

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Sentence stress é fundamental para uma boa comunicação em inglês. Iniciantes no aprendizado da língua, devem aprender a respeito, desde as primeiras lições.

Ao aprendemos uma palavra em inglês, observamos significado, escrita (spelling), uso em diferentes contextos e pronúncia.

Fonética (estudo do sons da fala), foi até pouco tempo, negligenciada, sendo que boa pronúncia, ou uma pronúncia o melhor possível, é extremamente importante para não haver falha na comunicação, para se fazer compreender, para ser compreendido.

Stress é falar, soar palavras, ou partes de palavras, com mais ênfase do que outras.

E o inglês tem dois tipos básicos de tonicidade:

  1. Word stress (ênfase silábica)
  2. Sentence stress (ênfase de palavra)

O stress observado na sílaba da palavra, é o word stress. As sílabas em negrito nas palavras abaixo indicam qual é a sílaba tônica em cada uma delas, e falaremos mais sobre isso numa próxima lição:

  • important /ɪmˈpɔrtnt/
  • police /pəˈlis/
  • computer /kəmˈpjutər/
  • communication /kəˌmjunɪˈkeɪʃn/
  • interesting /ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/
  • difference /ˈdɪfrəns/
  • Brazil /brəˈzɪl/

Além do word stress, a segunda parte fundamental para uma boa compreensão e comunicação, é observar o sentence stress. Exemplos encontram-se no vídeo abaixo.

Sentence stress é o que ocorre quando uma palavra ou várias palavras, são ditas de modo mais enfático em uma sentença. 

A palavra ou as palavras principais da sentença – aquela ou aquelas que carregam o significado central do que está sendo dito – serão enfatizadas. Dependendo da palavra a ser enfatizada dentro da sentença, o significado, a ideia expressa, poderá mudar completamente.

Muitos falantes de português, queixam-se de que os falantes de língua inglesa falam muito rapidamente, ou “engolem” palavras. 

Em línguas silábicas como o português – SYLLABLE-TIMED LANGUAGE, cada sílaba tem igual importância e, portanto, igual tempo é gasto em cada uma. 

O inglês, uma língua tônica – STRESS-TIMED LANGUAGE entretanto, enfatiza as palavras importantes, enquanto passa rapidamente por palavras menos importantes.

E INTONATION, entonação, é o som resultante do aumento ou queda do tom de voz, sobretudo para enfatizar o sentido de uma frase.

Por exemplo, em perguntas, a voz se eleva em tom, no final da pergunta.

Hey Dylan↘️, how’s it going↗️?

Neste vídeo, Carina Fragozo, mostra alguns padrões de acento frasal (sentence stress) do inglês.

Passe a ouvir com atenção como os falantes nativos enfatizam as palavras tônicas. À medida que você começar a ouvir atentamente, você descobrirá que no inglês, palavras que você parece não entender, têm importância, mas não são determinantes para a compreensão do todo.