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  • I saw him at / in the station a few days ago
  • I saw a giraffe at / in the zoo yesterday.

What should we use with saw (see)?

Shannak
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1 Answers1

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You should generally use "at", unless it is important to denote the physical location of something. For example someone is not "at" the bathroom they are "in" the bathroom, because they are physically inside the specific room.

However you can be "at" the Mall, or the doctor's office. I think the following example is the best clarifier.

I met him at the jail

This means that "I" met "him", in the administrative offices/visitor center of a prison. The implication is that neither party here is a prisoner, simply that the meeting took place in or around the facility. However,

I met him in jail

Implies that both parties were prisoners, who were in the actual holding facility at the time.

mstorkson
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