In, at or on the corner?

E

eddiemel7778

Senior Member
São Paulo
Portuguese/Brazil
Hi there guys! I've heard that you can use all of the three prepositions (in, on and at) with corner, but is there any difference in meaning, at all?
Thanks heaps for your help.
 
    • If you are talking about the corner of a page, please see
    What is the correct preposition?

    If you are talking about the corner of a room, in makes sense, the others don't.

    If you are talking about the corner of a street, on or at make sense, in doesn't.

    On the other hand, others may have completely different views.

    Could you clarify what kind of corner you are interested in?
     
    Could this be a question about the moment at which the market for hog bellies was cornered?

    Might we be discussing ways to corner an animal?


    Ahhhh, context is such a lovely thing, and rare.
     
    panjandrum said:
    If you are talking about the corner of a page, please see
    What is the correct preposition?

    If you are talking about the corner of a room, in makes sense, the others don't.

    If you are talking about the corner of a street, on or at make sense, in doesn't.

    On the other hand, others may have completely different views.

    Could you clarify what kind of corner you are interested in?
    Click to expand...

    I was talking about the corner of a street. So, can I say there was a suspicious-looking guy standing at/on the corner?
     
    eddiemel7778 said:
    I was talking about the corner of a street. So, can I say there was a suspicious-looking guy standing at/on the corner?
    Click to expand...

    Yes, either word works. Here are some examples:
    He is standing on the corner. [my personal preference]
    He is standing at the corner.
    He is standing at the corner of Main Street and Second Avenue. [my preference]
    He is standing on the corner of Main and Second.
     
    In present tense, 'on the corner' is most common in Australia, and in past tense 'at the corner'.
     
    Vikorr said:
    In present tense, 'on the corner' is most common in Australia, and in past tense 'at the corner'.
    Click to expand...
    :confused:
    Sorry, but not in my neck of the woods.
    The use of at, in, or on has nothing whatsover to do with verb tense.
    He waits on the corner.
    He waited on the corner.
    He is going to wait on the corner.
    If I were him, I would wait on the corner.

    I could do the same with at and in (well maybe not the street corner), but I'm too lazy! :p
     
    Sorry, but not in my neck of the woods.
    The use of at, in, or on has nothing whatsover to do with verb tense
    Click to expand...
    Never said it did. I just said it was most common. I hear both versions, just that one version is more common. For one version to be in more common use isn't unusual (and the version can differ from region to region and country to country)
     
    I would say:

    The shop on the corner sells sweets.
    I'll meet you at the corner of the park.

    As far as I can figure out, it's just the same distinction between 'at' and 'on' as there always is, although sometimes, admittedly, they can get quite complicated.
     
    Exactly the same as above, I would definately NOT say the shop at the corner, and I'll meet you on the corner, just sounds really odd...

    Has it got something to do with movement? Like the shop can't move, so it's ON the corner, but we can move, so we'll meet AT a particular location i.e. at the corner? Confusing
     
    We 'meet at' a particular location because that's the collocation that's natural, not because we're mobile.

    'Meet on' is reserved for days of the week or special circumstance: "We met on board the Titanic." (Where the collocation 'on board' trumps 'meet at').

    People can be "on the corner," just ask Lou Reed:

    "Standing on the corner, suitcase in my hand ..."

    Also perfectly natural, in AE at least, to say "I'll meet you on the corner." It's only when you define "the corner of" that you need 'at': "I'll meet you at the corner of Fifth and Main."
     
    Mhm, I don't dispute you can say somebody is on a corner, but maybe it's because he is immobile at that time?

    I'm just grasping for explanations here...
     
    mgarizona said:
    We 'meet at' a particular location because that's the collocation that's natural, not because we're mobile.
    Click to expand...

    Sorry, but I can't agree - "meet at" is not a colocation. I suspect that we use whichever preposition we would normally use, whether or not the verb is "meet".

    Examples:
    I'll meet you on the beach / on the moon / in London, in the restaurant (or "at" to specify outside.)
     
    I think "on the moon" and "in London" are just other 'special circumstances' that trump the norm.

    Might be an AE/BE thing, but "I'll meet you at the beach" and "on the beach" seem about the same.

    "Meet at the restaurant" does not, for me, have any sense of meeting outside. If I understand what you mean correctly, I would say "I'll meet you in front of the restaurant."

    Meet at the restaurant, at the bookstore, at the movies, at your mother's, at the Empire State Building, at the old mill, at the poplar tree, at the fence, at the river ...

    Seems like the standard to me.
     
    You can say both:
    "the shop on the corner"
    and "the shop at the corner"
    but "the shop on the corner" is more common!

    (The latter is almost a cliche; but "the shop at the corner" is perfectly English.)

    You can also say,
    "The shop is on the corner of Main and 2nd."

    or
    "The shop is at the corner of Main and 2nd."


    However you say:
    "I'll be at the corner store"
    (which means in front of it or inside of it)

    but certainly not "on the corner store" which sounds like you are on the roof of the store!

    You use "at" when you are talking about a person's location with respect to a building;
    you cannot use "on" if the person is at a store because like I said, that means on the roof!

    But "He's hanging out on the corner" is fine.

    And "He's standing at the corner of Main and 2nd" is fine.

    Don't say "in the corner"
    unless you mean in the corner of a box (inside a box) or room (inside the room),
    eg,
    "The teacher asked him to stand in the corner and say he was sorry for fighting."

    For more "on the corner," see the Credence Clearwater (I did like CCR as a kid):
    http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/creedence+clearwater+revival/down+on+the+corner_20034359.html
    some of the lyrics will not make sense, but on and in are used correctly! at is not used in this song alas!
    Also:
    http://www.lyricsdownload.com/creedence-clearwater-revival-down-on-the-corner-lyrics.html)


    --C. E. Whiteherad
     
    From One Happy Fella Well, I'm standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls go by
    I'm always standin' on the corner, underneath the springtime sky
    Well, you can't go to jail for what you're thinkin'
    Or for the "wooo" look in your eye
    You been standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls
    Watchin' all the girls, watchin' all the girls, they go by
     
    I'd say either a building is "at the corner of Main and 2nd Street" or "on the corner."

    But,

    "Let's meet at" (and not on) "the corner" (though "on the corner would be understandable).

    (This is for American English)

    "He's standing on the corner"
    is o.k.; sometimes though I prefer "at the corner" when talking about a person!

    "He's waiting at the corner of Main and 2nd."

    (this is for someone already there; so I disagree here with caballoschica--and we are both in the States!
    There may be some dialect differences though!)

    (Again, "on" would be o.k. for me for "He's waiting . . . ;"
    this is for American English! I'm from the South, my mother from the north, and I've lived all over the States and also outside of the States, if that helps elucidate my dialect)

    --C. E. Whitehead
     
    Moderator note.
    Please keep the discussion on the topic of corners.
    There are other threads that discuss prepositions appropriate to other locations, and it seems that we cannot generalise.
    panjandrum
     
    What if I am talking about the corner of a paper, like 'something is written on/at the lower-left corner', how would you say it? Thanks in advance :)
     
    Dear all, I am wondering how to interpret in the corner in I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King:

    "One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land."

    I have a translation the meaning of which differs from the common meaning of "in the corner". The translator regards "in the corners" as "in every layer and every aspect of American society". I am not sure if this is correct. What do you think?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    The image is of a room. The corners of a room can be dark and neglected. Important things take places of honor in a room where everyone can see them. Something that is pushed to the corners of a room is unimportant. Does that help?
     
    JamesM said:
    The image is of a room. The corners of a room can be dark and neglected. Important things take places of honor in a room where everyone can see them. Something that is pushed to the corners of a room is unimportant. Does that help?
    Click to expand...

    Thanks James! It helps. I think the "corners" in this context bear a sort of metaphorical meaning right? And the translation I quoted is not accurate in that it deviates from the original literal meaning of “corner” I guess?
     
    Last edited:
    You use "ON" when you are talking about the corner of a street where their edges meet as a corner., .

    "There is a hotel on the corner of Olive and Olympic Street."

    "We can't have police officers on every corner."




    You use "AT" when you are talking about the corner of a building where their faces meet as a corner.

    "Let's meet at the corner of Nomad Hotel.

    ...but some people use "ON" and "AT" interchangeably.



    You use "IN" when you are talking about the corner of an interior where their edges meet as a corner.

    "Put the television set in the corner of the living room"
     
    Last edited:
    Dear all, which preposition should I use with the corner of the field. Does the choice depend on how high the plants are in the field?

    For example " Captain hardly needed the reins;so many years of plodding,just so, down the new stubble next to the still-standing ears. Only at the corners did Lewis cry, softly, coaxing the old horse round." from Daniel Martin. I think in this case, at the corners means captain is within the boundary of the field.

    But how about this? "The mesa trail begins in the campoodie at the corner of Naboth's field, though one may drop into it from...................." from The Land of Little Rain. After this sentence, there is no further description of the corner of Naboth's field. How to imagine this? A( the beginning of the trail is within the boundary of the field) , B (the beginning of the trail is outside the boundary of the field） or both are possible ?
     
    Hello everyone,
    Let's see if I can make myself understood. We use 'on' when we refer specifically to a place in terms of its surface and 'at' when we refer to that same place in terms of a destination or location. That's why we say that the shop is ON the corner (i.e. physically occupying the surface that we know as 'the corner'), but we say that we'll meet AT the corner (even if we are not specifically waiting on the surface occupied by the corner, but maybe on the opposite side of the street).The latter is the corner as a place, as a location, as a concept if you want.

    For the same reason, we say that I was walking ON the beach (meaning physically and specifically on the sand, as a surface), but my wife and my kids are AT the beach at the moment (even if they may be having a drink in a bar outside the sand, i.e. outside the specific surface known as 'the beach' but still at the beach as a location or a destination).

    Hope that helps.
    Karraspito
     
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