'On the Corner' or 'at the Corner'?

This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Jane in Taiwan(China) about two similar prepositions². Here is the question:

Question:

Dear VOA, I'm writing to ask a question about the differences between "at the corner" and "on the corner." Thanks for your help.

-Jane, Taiwan(China)

Answer:

Hello Jane,

We are happy to help.

Corners can be found in many spaces and places, inside and out. There are corners on boxes, for example, as well as on tables, in rooms, in parks and on streets. There are even corners on a piece of paper.

To answer your question today, I will focus on streets. When we are talking about the corner of a street, both "on" and "at" are used in American English. Listen to these two examples of how they might be used:

She is waiting at the corner.

The man stands on the corner every morning.

When the names of the streets are not included, the more common choice for many Americans seems to be "on."

Now, let's suppose you wanted to be more specific. If you specify³ the streets where someone or something is located, or where something happens, the preposition¹ "at" is common. Listen to these examples:

Let's meet at the corner of Pike Street and East Broadway.

A bridge collapsed⁴ at the corner of Kenilworth Avenue and Polk Street Northeast.

The word "on" would also be acceptable⁵ both examples. But in the second example, it could mean that a bridge above the street corner collapsed onto it.

However, in general, American English speakers use either preposition when discussing street corners. For many people, this is often just a matter of personal choice.

Words in This Story

corner – n. a point where two lines, edges or sides meet; a place where two streets meet

focus – v. to direct one's attention to something

specific – adj. relating to a particular person or situation

locate – v. to find the place or position of someone or something

1 preposition   

n.介词

参考例句：

• You should cancel this preposition in the sentence.你应该删去句子中的这个介词。
• We use different preposition to talk about time,days,months and seasons.我们用不动的介词来谈论时间，日，月和季节等。

2 prepositions   

n.介词( preposition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She lays a lot of emphasis on the usage of prepositions. 她把重点放在介词的使用上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Prepositions and conjunctions are particles. 介词和连词是小品词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。