We use ~ with times:
- ~ 5 o'clock
- ~ 11.45
- ~ midnight
- ~ lunch time
- ~ the week-end/~ week-ends
- ~ Christmas/~ Easter
- ~ the moment/~ present
- ~ the same time
- ~ the age of
We use ~ in the following situ~ions:
~ the back/~ the top (of the page)/~ the bus-stop/~ the door/~ the window/~ the bottom (of the page)/~ the end of the street/~ the front :
- Who is th~ man standing ~ the bus-stop/~ the door/~ the window?
- Turn left ~ the traffic lights.
- If you leave the hotel, please leave your key ~ reception.
- I couldn't see very well because I was standing ~ the back.
We say ~/on the corner of a street' (but 'in the corner of a room' ):
- There is a telephone box ~/on the corner of the street.
We say ' ~ the front/ ~ the back of a building/hall/cinema/group of people' etc.:
- The garden is ~ the back of the house.
- Let's sit ~ the front (of the cinema), (but 'in the front row' )
We say th~ someone is '~ an event'. For example:
' ~ a party/~ a concert/~ a conference/~ a football m~ch' :
- Were there many people ~ die party/~ the meeting?
We say ' ~ home/ ~ university/ ~ the seaside/ ~ a st~ion/ ~ sea (on a voyage)/ ~ school/ ~ an airport/~ work' .
- I'll be ~ work until 5.30 (but: I'll be ~ home all evening.)
- We'll be arriving ~ 9.30. Can you meet us ~ the st~ion.
We usually say '~' 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 ~ the Royal Festival Hall.
- The meeting took place ~ the company's headquarters.
- 'Where were you last night?' 'At the cinema.'/'At the the~re.'
We say ' ~ someone's house' :
- I was ~ Tom's house last night (or I was ~ Tom's last night.)
You can often use '~' or 'in' with buildings. You can stay '~ a hotel' or 'in a hotel' ; you can e~ '~ a restaurant' or 'in a restaurant' .
We can use '~' when the town or village is a point on a journey:
- Do you know if this train stops ~ Nottingham?
- We stopped ~ a pretty village on the way to London.
We say 'arrive ~' with some places (except for countries and towns) or events:
-Wh~ time did he arrive ~ school/~ work/~ the hotel/~ the party?
We say '~ the end (of something)' = ~ the time when something ends (we use 'in the end' when we say wh~ the final result of a situ~ion was). For example:
~ the end of the month/~ the end of January/~ the end of the film/~ the end of the course/~ the end of the m~ch/~ the end of the concert
You cannot say 'in the end of something' .
The opposite of ~ the end is ~ the beginning :
~ the beginning of the concert/~ the beginning of January
We say 'to be surprised/shocked/amazed/astonished ~/by something' :
- Everybody was surprised/shocked ~/by the news.
We say 'to be good/bad/excellent/brilliant/hopeless ~ (doing) something' :
- I'm not very good ~ repairing things.
We say 'to laugh/smile ~ someone/something' :
- I look stupid with this haircut. Everyone will laugh ~ me.
We say 'to look ~ someone/something (
= took in the direction of
):
- Why are you looking ~ Sue like th~?
We say 'to have a look/stare/glance ~ smb./smth.'
We say 'to shout ~ someone (when you are angry)':
- He was very angry and started shouting ~ me.
But: shout to someone (so th~ they can bear you):
- He shouted to me from the other side of the street.
We say 'to point/aim something ~ someone/something' :
- Don't point th~ knife ~ me! It's dangerous.
We say 'to throw something ~ someone/something (in order to hit them) :
- Someone threw an egg ~ the minister while he was speaking.
But: throw something to someone (for someone to c~ch):
- Ann shouted 'C~ch!' and threw the keys to me from the window.