at

We use at with times:

- at 5 o'clock

- at 11.45 - at midnight - at lunch time - at the week-end/at week-ends - at Christmas/at Easter - at the moment/at present - at the same time - at the age of

We use at in the following situations:

at the back/at the top (of the page)/at the bus-stop/at the door/at the window/at the bottom (of the page)/at the end of the street/at the front:

- Who is that man standing at the bus-stop/at the door/at the window?

- Turn left at the traffic lights. - If you leave the hotel, please leave your key at reception. - I couldn't see very well because I was standing at the back.

We say at/on the corner of a street' (but 'in the corner of a room'):

- There is a telephone box at/on the corner of the street.

We say ' at the front/ at the back of a building/hall/cinema/group of people' etc.:

- The garden is at the back of the house.

- Let's sit at the front (of the cinema), (but 'in the front row')

We say that someone is 'at an event'. For example:

' at a party/at a concert/at a conference/at a football match':

- Were there many people at die party/at the meeting?

We say ' at home/ at university/ at the seaside/ at a station/ at sea (on a voyage)/ at school/ at an airport/at work'.

- I'll be at work until 5.30 (but: I'll be at home all evening.)

- We'll be arriving at 9.30. Can you meet us at the station.

We usually say 'at' when we say where an event takes place (for example: a concert, a film, a meeting, a sports event etc.):

- We went to a concert at the Royal Festival Hall.

- The meeting took place at the company's headquarters. - 'Where were you last night?' 'At the cinema.'/'At the theatre.'

We say ' at someone's house':

- I was at Tom's house last night (or I was at Tom's last night.)

You can often use 'at' or 'in' with buildings. You can stay 'at a hotel' or 'in a hotel'; you can eat 'at a restaurant' or 'in a restaurant'.

We can use 'at' when the town or village is a point on a journey:

- Do you know if this train stops at Nottingham?

- We stopped at a pretty village on the way to London.

We say 'arrive at' with some places (except for countries and towns) or events:

-What time did he arrive at school/at work/at the hotel/at the party?

We say 'at the end (of something)' = at the time when something ends (we use 'in the end' when we say what the final result of a situation was). For example:

at the end of the month/at the end of January/at the end of the film/at the end of the course/at the end of the match/at the end of the concert

You cannot say 'in the end of something'.

The opposite of at the end is at the beginning:

at the beginning of the concert/at the beginning of January

We say 'to be surprised/shocked/amazed/astonished at/by something':

- Everybody was surprised/shocked at/by the news.

We say 'to be good/bad/excellent/brilliant/hopeless at (doing) something':

- I'm not very good at repairing things.

We say 'to laugh/smile at someone/something':

- I look stupid with this haircut. Everyone will laugh at me.

We say 'to look at someone/something (= took in the direction of):

- Why are you looking at Sue like that?

We say 'to have a look/stare/glance at smb./smth.'

We say 'to shout at someone (when you are angry)':

- He was very angry and started shouting at me.

But: shout to someone (so that they can bear you):

- He shouted to me from the other side of the street.

We say 'to point/aim something at someone/something':

- Don't point that knife at me! It's dangerous.

We say 'to throw something at someone/something (in order to hit them) :

- Someone threw an egg at the minister while he was speaking.

But: throw something to someone (for someone to catch):

- Ann shouted 'Catch!' and threw the keys to me from the window.