I am in town. I am at work.
Why don't we say (I am in work ) Or (I am at town)
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Hello Portia! "In" is a preposition of place; we use it with places such as rooms and buildings. "Work" is not really a place; it is more like an event or a concept, so we use "at". For example, I am at work, I am at a party, I am at a conference...etc.
You can say, I am in my place of work, making it grammatically correct and you could say I am a town called No Mans land, again grammatically correct.
In is a preposition of place used for enclosed spaces or areas with boundaries eg "in Paris, in France" at is also a preposition of place but is for specific locations. Eg. " at a supermarket, at home, at school.
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It could be done both ways, there's not really a problem. When you say at you are likely referring to a location (I am at mom's house, I am at the market, I am at the McDonalds across the street, if you use the word (in) in place of (at) in those sentences the would still be correct) When you say I am in it means you are referring to a time presently or that you are taking part of an activity. (I am in a meeting, I am in work, I am in the sports festival)
work goes with the preposition "at" I'm at work. I'm at home. I'm at school.
- Raphael OliveiraCertified TESOL Teacher
The phrase “I am in work” or “I am at town” are not commonly used phrases in English. “In work” is used to indicate that we are currently present and working at our job, while “at town” is used to mean that we are physically present in a city or town.
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Not so genius, but this has worked with my Asian and Latino students: Substitute all "Th-" in words with a "D-", as it is an easier starting point e.g. instead of "The", ask them to say De(almost like a form of pidgin english: de boi VS the boy). Its a matter of throat to tongue, where sounds with "T" and "D" are easier to begin with and then you will gradually progress to the "Th-" sounds as the find confindence and comfort. You could always tell them to pretend they are blowing out candles on a birthday cake; and for the "Th" sound their tongue should gently touch their teeth, like in words like "Thin" or "This". Have them practice the not so elated soft "Th" sound-- its like their tongue is having a short siesta on their teeth! Such a mental jounery and lots of creativity will get you through a lot of pronounciation hurdles.
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The biggest challenge I faced while learning English was understanding and using different tenses correctly. It took time to get used to the various rules and exceptions.
