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.