Referncia: CHAGURI, J. P. Grammar in/on/at. Site de Lngua Estrangeira. 2010. Disponvel online em: <http://www.liguaestrangeira.pro.br>. Acesso em (data).

Observe que, ao citar textos encontrados na internet, necessrio colocar a data, devido s freqentes alteraes que os mesmos podem sofrer.

GRAMMAR PREPOSITIONS IN / ON / AT. Jonathas de Paula Chaguri jochaguri@uol.com.br O uso de preposies em ingls segue algumas regras gerais, mas, como no portugus, essas regras podem ter excees. Dessa forma, a melhor maneira de aprender preposies pelo contato com a lngua, atravs de leituras, filmes e outras amostras da lngua falada por falantes nativos. Contudo, seguem algumas sugestes a respeito do emprego de trs preposies da lngua inglesa In On At. Observe o emprego das preposies IN / ON / AT com relao a tempo e lugar. 1) AT *Para as unidades pequenas (horas, nmero de rua) usamos At.. Exemplos: - We arranged to meet at eight oclock. Combinamos de nos encontrar s oito horas. - The bank will be empty at lunchtime. O banco estar vazio na hora do almoo. - I always spend too much at Christmas. Sempre gasto demais do natal. *Com horas (inclusive em expresses com expresso como BEDTIME (hora e dormir) DINNERTIME (hora de jantar), etc. Em expresses com as palavras Time e Moment Na expresso equivalente em portugus seria usada a preposio em: a) AT one time (houve poca em que) Exemplo: - At one time all the traffic had to go through the center of the city. Houve poca em que todo o trnsito tinha que passar pelo centro da cidade. b) At the time (na poca) Exemplo: - At the time I was only three, so I dont remember very well. Na poca eu s tinha trs anos, ento no me lembro muito bem. c) At the moment (neste momento) Exemplo: - Hes busy at the moment. Could you call a little later?
1

Ele est ocupado no momento. Poderia ligar um pouco mais tarde? 2) ON * Para as unidades mdias (dias da semana, datas, ruas) usamos a preposio ON. Exemplos: - The Cup final will be on Sunday. A final da copa ser no domingo. - The classes start on March 9th. As aulas comeam no dia 9 de Maro. a) Usa-se ON com os dias da semana e datas. Exemplos: - on Christmas day. No dia de natal. - on New years day. No dia de ano novo. - on the day we arrived. No dia em que chegamos. *Com os dias da semana, ON pode ser omitida na fala coloquial, como em portugus. Exemplo: Tuesday Ill be at the university all day. Tera-feira eu vou ficar o dia todo na universidade. b) (Verb + ING) Exemplo: - On leaving the town, turn left at the first crossroads. Ao sair da cidade, vire esquerda ao primeiro cruzamento. Observao: - ON TIME - quer dizer na hora prevista. Exemplo: - In spite of the bad weather, our flight left on time. Apesar do mau tempo, nosso vo saiu na hora. - IN TIME - significa a tempo. Normalmente seguida de FOR. Exemplo: - If the traffic continues like this, we wont be in time for the start. Se o trnsito continuar assim, ns no chegaremos a tempo para o comeo. 3) IN *Para grandes unidades (ano, ms, pas, cidade) empregamos a preposio IN. Exemplos: - The bus leaves at eight oclock in the morning O nibus sai s oito horas da manh.
2

- Theyre going to get married in June Eles vo se casar em junho. - In summer a lot of people go to the beach. No vero muitas pessoas vo para praia. - A lot of immigrants came to Brazil in the 19 th century. Muitos imigrantes vieram ao Brasil no sculo XIX. *Usa-se IN, com partes do dia: Exemplos: - In the morning. Pela manh, de manh. - In the afternoon De tarde, tarde. - In the evening De noite, noite. *Com perodos maiores que um dia (com exceo de festas, como CARNIVAL,com as quais usamos AT): Exemplos: - In the week after Christmas. Na semana depois do Natal. - In winter. No inverno. - In the second tern. No segundo semestre. - In the Stone Age Na idade da pedra. * Voc pode observar que IN usado com semanas, meses, estaes do ano, dcadas, sculos, etc, enfim, com perodos em geral.

ATIVIDADES 1) Complete the phrases below with IN / ON / AT. a) She was born ________1970. b) John lives ________Fortaleza, and his sister lives _____So Paulo. c) Sarah got up ________7 oclock yesterday morning. d) He studies English _______Wednesday, _________88 Siriema street. e) When John was a child, he lived ______Canada, now he lives _____ Brazil.

2) Choose the best alternative and complete the sentences. A) She lived ______Paran Avenue. At On In B) Theyre going to a party, they should arrive ___ 10 oclock there. In At On C ) My brother was born ________ 13 January 1970 At In On D) We have to do our homework, because our parents will arrive ___________ 6 o clock. In On At E ) Maybe __________ December, I will travel to So Paulo. On In At F) That pretty girl, whose name is Sally, is living _______ 270 iradentes street, with her brother. AT ON IN G) Brian is leaving of here __________ 8 oclock, but before he will pay the bills. ON AT IN H) I am Brazilian. I live ________ Rio de Janeiro IN ON AT
4

3) Answer the questions. a) What time do you get up? I get up at_________________________________________. b) What time do you go to school. I go to school at ____________________________________. c) Where were you born? I was born in _______________________________________. d) Where do you live? I live in ___________________________________________. 4) Write four phrases using on / in / at. 1. _____________________________________________________________. 2. _____________________________________________________________. 3. _____________________________________________________________. 4. _____________________________________________________________. 5) Write true or false; if false, write the correct prepositions. ( ) In Monday I get up on five oclock. ______________________________________________________________ ( ) I was in the cinema on Friday at nine oclock. _______________________________________________________________ ( ) He was at home with his brother, but his parents were on 384 Brazil avenue. _______________________________________________________________ ( ) They are living at Belo Horizonte. _______________________________________________________________ ( ) Carlos lives on Munhoz da Rocha street. _______________________________________________________________ Bibliografia: WATILINS, Michael. SILVA, Ceclia Mendes. English Prepositions for Brazilians. Curitiba: UFPR, 2000. HOLDEN, Susan. CARDOSO, Renata Lcia. Great. Vol. 02. So Paulo: Macmillan
5