If you work in English, you’ll often use verbs with in on at. The question is: which one fits with each verb?
Take the verb “succeed,” for example. You hear it all the time in meetings, interviews, and other workplace situations. But when it’s your turn to speak, which preposition should you use? Do you say succeed in, succeed on, or succeed at something?
Another common workplace verb is “focus.” Should you say focus in, focus on, or focus at a task or project?
The bad news is that there’s no clear rule to follow. This is an area of English where you simply need to remember the correct expression.
The good news is that after reading this article, you will know 9 of the most common workplace verbs with in on at. It’s another building block for expanding your professional English vocabulary, so let’s get started!
Work activities that use the word “in”
1. Work in: If you are part of a team or department, you can say that you work in a team or department.
For example, “I work in the marketing department”.
2. Invest in: If you’re talking about time, money, effort, you’ll say invest in something.
For example, “We want to invest in more researchers”.
3. Specialise in: When you describe your expertise, you specialise in a particular field.
For example, “The company specialise in digital marketing”.
“If you want to explain your general location, say that you work at that location. “
Work activities that use the word “on”
4. Collaborate on: A way to describe working together with other people is to collaborate on an activity.
For example, “We collaborated on the report together”.
Another possibility is to collaborate with a person, on an activity. (Yes, there are even more confusing elements to verbs with in on at. The joys of English!).
For example, “I collaborated with Thomas on the presentation”.
5. Share updates on: When exchanging information about new developments of projects or events, it’s called sharing, giving, or receiving an update on a situation.
For example, “Can you give me an update on the sales numbers?”.
For more preparation in this area, and to go further than verbs with in on at, here is a helpful resource for confident questions for English work meetings.
6. Work on. When you work on a project, or a task, or an assignment, you focus your energy on advancing that particular project or task or assignment.
For example, “We’re working on a more efficient strategy”.
Work activities that use the word “at”
Our final round of verbs with in on at will help you improve your English vocabulary for work. Let’s check them out!
7. Work at a location: This one can be confusing, because people often mix up “work at a location” with “work in a location”. Here’s the difference!
If you want to explain your general location, say that you work at that location.
For example, “I’m working at the office today”. This gives a general idea of where you are in the world.
If you want to emphasise you are in an enclosed location, use work in a location.
For example, “Thomas is working in his office right now”. This time, we imagine Thomas working inside a specific room with four walls, like a box.
8. Aim at: If you want a group of people to be influenced or reached by your activities, you can say aim at.
For example, “The campaign is aimed at Millennials”.
Here we say aim at a person or group of people. However, you can also use “aim at” with an activity. Note here the structure is with -ing. You aim at + doing something.
For example, “The training program is aimed at boosting leadership skills”.
9. Meet at scheduled appointments or times: At work, you’ll probably talk about having a scheduled appointment with someone. Make sure you use “at” when referring to the time.
For example, “I’m meeting the client for a quick appointment at 10am”.
CONCLUSION
Hopefully you can remember these expressions next time you need them, but if you can’t – do not worry! If you say “in” instead of “on”, or “on” instead of “at”, the other person will still understand you perfectly. The purpose of taking time in articles like this is to improve step by step, little by little.
And if you remember to say the right word – awesome! You are showing your advanced, professional level of English as you correctly use verbs with in on at.
Want to go further?
