AT

Topic 24

AT

The chief uses of the proposition are:

(1) to indicate place or position:

* I saw him at his office (at the station, at the sailing club, at my uncle’s, at the barker’s).

Note that in is used with name of countries, provinces, countries and large town and cities. At is used with names of institution, etc. Compare the used of in and at in these examples:

* He lives in Oxford.

* He studied at Oxford (i.e. at the University of Oxford).

(2) to indicate direction:

* to look (stare, shoot, aim, etc.) at somebody or something; to laugh (smile, growl, etc.) at somebody or something.

* What do you think you’re aiming at? Throw the ball at the wicket, you foot, not at me!

(3) to indicate a point of entry or exist (= through or by):

* She looked in at the window.

* What the teacher says often goes in at one ear out at the other.

(4) to indicate a point of time.

* At two o’clock; at noon (midnight, dawn, sunset); at this (that) moment; at Christmas.

(5) to indicate age:

* He left school at the age of fifteen (or at fifteen).

(6) to indicate order:

* At first; at last; at the third attempt.

(7) to indicate occupation or activity:

* While we were at dinner; at work (play); to be hard at it (i.e. working hard).

(8) after certain adjectives, to indicate proficiency or its opposite:

* He is good at science (poor at arithmetic, bad at languages, clever at music).

(9) to indicate state or condition:

* to be at peace (at war); to be at ease (at leisure); to be at fault.

(10) to indicate manner:

* To go at a gallop (a trot, at a slow pace, at 95 kilometres an hour, at full speed).

(11) to indicate value or cost:

* At great expense; to sell something at a loss; to buy articles at a shilling apiece and sell them at one shilling and three pence.

With superlatives:

* At most; at best; at least; at the worst.

(12) to indicate cause:

* She rejoiced at her son’s success.

* He was delighted at the idea of going to England.

* They were impatient at the delay.