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If I make a general statement about a farmer keeping his animals, should I use "in the farm" or "on the farm"? For example,

"Jack keeps his animals on/in the farm."

Or both phrases are okay?

If both are okay, do they still have some slight differences in meaning?

brilliant
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2 Answers2

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I just checked the Oxford Collacations Dictionary and "in" is not one of the prepositions that collocate with "farm. It should be "on the farm".

The dictionary has also given an example of "at the farm". The sentence reads as follows:

The police are investigating a fire at a farm nearby.

It seems to me that "at" is used when something (in this case a fire) happens "at" the farm.

Mohsen Sadi
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The idiomatic expression when referring to things or events that occur there is "on the farm".

That said, there could be valid contexts in which to say "in the farm", as this ngram shows, but you will see that "on the farm" is used far more often.

It would likely depend on what was meant by 'the farm'. As it normally refers to the entire farm estate, a great deal of which is outdoors (traditionally, at least), it makes sense to say "on", like you would say "on the land".

Astralbee
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  • Will it grate on one's ear if to confuse "on" with "at" with "farm". To me as a non-native speaker (and we've been taught this way) "at" infers that some activity is of the prior importance, not location. "I work at the farm" would mean to me that the farm is a facility where some farming activity is taken up and I am in this activity. "I work on the farm" - I can work there as a plumber, usher, entertainer etc. (it's not related to the farming activity). Thank you. – Eugene Dec 03 '23 at 13:24