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Question prepositions about places

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
would you check my sentences and give me some comments if needed?

1 My car is in the garage.
2 My mother is in the kitchen.
3 "Where is my bike?" "It's over there."
4 "Where's your father?" "He's in the yard."
5 "Where's the city library?" "It's by my school."
6 Jane is at my house.
7 Someone is at the front door.
8 Your bag is on the table in the living room.
9 "Is your house near Kyoto Station?" "No, it isn't."
10 "My eraser's gone." "It's on your desk."
11 My father is in Osaka. / My father is at Osaka. [Do you ever use the latter?]
12 "Where is your mother?" "She's in the kitchen."
13 "Where's my bag?" "It's under the table."
14 "Where's your car?" "It's over there."
15 "My pen's gone." "It's under your desk."
16 The city library is near/by my house. [Can "near" and "by" be used?]
17 "Where are your brothers?" "They are on the beach."
18 "Are your parents in London?" "Yes, they are."
19 My house is near/by Shukugawa Station. [Can "near" and "by" be used?]
20 My dog is under that big tree.

Hirashin
 
Last edited:
They all look good.
11 My father is in Osaka. / My father is at Osaka. [Do you ever use the latter?]
No. I would never use "at" for a city like this. However it's ok to say "My father is at work" (and you would never say "in work.").

16 The city library is near/by my house. [Can "near" and "by" be used?]
Both are fine.

19 My house is near/by Shukugawa Station. [Can "near" and "by" be used?]
Both are fine.
 
I would avoid 'by' for 16 and 19. It's possible, but to me it implies an extremely short distance (you could hit it with a stone), and very few people live right by a station or library. I agree with mdchachi about 11.
 
Beside is similar to by.
I'm going by the principle that when you're giving sentences to foreign language learners that as well as being grammatically correct, they shouldn't force the student to think about whether the sentence is likely to be true. Imagine the sentence
My house is ----- Shinjuku station.
By would he extremely unlikely!
 
Thanks for the help, Lothor. How about "beside" instead in 16 and 19?


16 The city library is beside my house. X
16 My house is beside the city library. O

Similarly,
19 My house is beside Shukugawa Station. O
19 Shukugawa Station is beside my house. X

The general rule is that the smaller thing is "beside" the bigger thing, at any scale.

So for example you would say "The cat is beside the chair" but you wouldn't say "The chair is beside the cat".
 
16 The city library is beside my house. X
16 My house is beside the city library. O

Similarly,
19 My house is beside Shukugawa Station. O
19 Shukugawa Station is beside my house. X

The general rule is that the smaller thing is "beside" the bigger thing, at any scale.

So for example you would say "The cat is beside the chair" but you wouldn't say "The chair is beside the cat".
I don't necessarily disagree on the general rule but they all are correct. It's misleading to say any of these are NG.
And I think there are natural exceptions. Like:
"That chair is uncomfortable."
"Which chair?"
"The chair beside the cat."
 
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