It can be pretty challenging knowing where to use which preposition. But it is not very difficult once you get to know the rules that are associated with it. That is when all the confusion gets cleared.
One such confusion has been noticed regarding working in or working at or work in and work at. Let’s try to figure this one out in this article.
Working in or working at – the basic difference
You might find it confusing where to use working at or working in. Work in or working in is mostly used when we are trying to explain the physical location of your workplace, the department, or the industry.
Work for is mostly used to refer to the company you work for. It can be used interchangeably with ‘work for’ or ‘work in.’ But ‘work for’ or ‘work in’ can never be each other’s place.
Working in is used to describe the field of work, and working at is used to specifically mention the place.
Let’s see this in detail.
What does “work at” mean?
The prepositional phrase “work at” is combined together with the proposition “at” along with the verb “work.” The term shows that the subject is working within a particular workspace or a company. There can be another use of the phrase where it can be used to indicate the improvement of your skill at something.
“Working at” is related to both “working for” and “working in.” this is all because of the preposition ‘at,’ which indicates that something is present within something or means a goal. The preposition ‘at’ can also be used as ‘in’ in certain cases.
For example:
I work in a school, or I work at a school; both are correct. This is when ‘at’ is used to indicate the presence of something within something.
The other definition of ‘at’ is used to define a goal that can be interchanged with another preposition, that is, ‘for.’ both the prepositions share minings and can be used interchangeably, like, “work at” can be used in place of “work for.”
For example:
I work for Google, and I work at Google; both have the same meaning and can be used in place of one another.
From here, we can say that “work at” can be interchanged with “work in” as well as “work for,” but “work for” and “work in” can never be interchanged among one another. In and for has different meanings and have completely different meaning as propositional phrases.
There is another way how “work at” can be used, but the meaning is completely different because the verb work is used in a different sense here. When we are discussing improving at something, there the verb “work” indicates making an effort.
For example:
I am making an effort at making this relationship work.
How to use “work at?”
As a phrase, the term “work at” modifies the object and follows the subject in a sentence. It can be used with pronouns and nouns. As ‘work’ is the verb, the form changes as the point of view and the tense change.
But ‘at’ remains the same in all tenses and points of view. When we are using it to mean getting better at something, then ‘work’ becomes the present participle form that is working. Currently, working at or in? I am working at or in? Let us see some examples.
Examples:
- I work at a school.
- I work at Google.
- I currently working at the museum.
- They started working at the deli.
- They work at the white house.
- I am working in a school.
When we are talking about getting better at a skill or improving something, we can still place “work at” following the subject, but it has to be followed with another verb before the object f the sentence. An adjective or adverb can also be used to denote how the subject is trying to get better at the action.
How to use work in?
Let’s check this one out with the help of a few examples.
- I work in the medical field.
- I work in real estate.
- Would you like to work in the teaching field?
- Do you work in that building?
- Do you work in the IT industry?
Work at or work for?
When a person states the name of their employer without disclosing the physical location of the company, both “work for” and “work at” are correct.
For example:
- I work at Amazon/I work for amazon.
- I work at a school/I work for a school.
- I work at the deli/I work for the deli.
- I work at the White House/ I work for the White House.
- I work at the museum/I work for the museum.
Work at or work with?
The main confusion is about working in or working at. But there is also confusion about work at and work with. Working at a place is a lot more definite than working with a company. Work with does not indicate the employment status but “work at” does. When a person says, “I work with Walmart,” that does not mean that you are an employee of Walmart. Whereas “I work at Google” is a statement that clearly indicates that you are an employee at Walmart.
Both statements do not have any similar meaning, so it is best not to use them for one another.
Here are a few more examples of “work at.”
- I work at the Smith house.
- I worked at that school previously.
- Monica works at the music school.
- You will work at the event tomorrow.
- Josh is working at getting a promotion.
- I am working at getting the bread softer.
- I am working at being a better mom.
Wrapping up!
Prepositional verbs are a lot similar to propositional phrases. But there is a basic difference in that the preposition comes after the verb, and the object is always followed by a preposition. I hope this article helps in guiding you through the confusion and make this better for understanding and clearing your confusion about working in or working at.
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