A at, in; in, into; on, onto

A at and in

(For arrive at/in, see 93 B.) at

We can be at home, at work, at the office, at school, at university, at an address, at a certain point e.g. at the bridge, at the crossroads, at the bus-stop.

In

We can be in a country, a town, a village, a square, a street, a room,

a forest, a wood, a field, a desert or any place which has boundaries or is enclosed.

But a small area such as a square, a street, a room, a field might be used with at when we mean 'at this point' rather than 'inside'.

We can be in or at a building, in means inside only; at could mean inside or in the grounds or just outside. If someone is 'at the station' he could be in the street outside, or in the ticket office/waiting room/ restaurant or on the platform.

We can be in or at the sea, a river, lake, swimming pool etc. in here means actually in the water:

The children are swimming in the river.

at the sea/river/lake etc. means 'near/beside the sea'. But at sea means 'on a ship'.

B in and into

in as shown above normally indicates position. into indicates movement, entrance:

They climbed into the lorry. I poured the beer into a tankard. Thieves broke into my house/My house was broken into.

with the verb put, however, either in or into can be used:

He put his hands in/into his pockets. in can also be an adverb:

Come in = Enter. Get in (into the car).

C on and onto

on can be used for both position and movement:

He was sitting on his case. Snow fell on the hills. His name is on the door. He went on board ship.

onto can be used (chiefly of people and animals) when there is movement involving a change of level:

People climbed onto their roofs. We lifted him onto the table. The cat jumped onto the mantelpiece. on can also be an adverb: Go on. Come on.

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