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I would like to know what usually follows after each proposition in sentences with the word "work".

These are what I understand so far:

I work for my boss. ( usually for certain person )

I work in a accounting corporation. (usually for business area )

I work at Samsung. ( usually for specific name of company )

Could you please tell me if I understand rightly?

ColleenV
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Liuyihaoge
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  • Useful: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/58291/i-am-working-in-company-name-or-at-company-name – Maulik V May 19 '16 at 06:55

1 Answers1

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I work for my boss.

This is OK grammatically, but feels odd to me because it seems rather tautological: by definition the person you work for is your boss, so there's no need to say so. It would be better to indicate the specific person who is your boss:

  • I work for him
  • I work for Amanda Jones
  • I work for Dr Jenkins
  • I work for the CEO (you'd only say this if you report directly to the CEO)

(Of course if you are self-employed, or unemployed, then you wouldn't be talking about working for somebody in the first place.)

I work in a accouting corporation. (usually for business area )

You wouldn't say that you work in a corporation, you'd say at or for them. It is correct to say in when talking about which part of the company you work for, or if you are talking about a place. So:

  • I work for an accounting company.
  • I work at a famous legal firm.
  • I work in the accounting department at Samsung.
  • I work in the cafeteria.
  • I work in London.
  • I work for Samsung in London.

(Also, note that it's an accounting corporation, not a accounting corporation.)

I work at Samsung.

This is correct. It would also be correct to say I work for Samsung.

nnnnnn
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  • Thank you for your answer! But i have one question. Per what you said, "work at" can be replaced by"work for" , and vise versa. So there is no difference at all between the two? For example, " I work for an accounting company." / " I work at an accounting company." They are exactly the same meaning? – Liuyihaoge May 19 '16 at 05:03
  • Yes, that is correct, both mean the same thing when talking about the organisation where you work. – nnnnnn May 19 '16 at 05:13
  • It is correct to say in when talking about which part of the company you work for... hmm so what about "I work in* an IT company'* or it should take *'for'* – Maulik V May 19 '16 at 06:53
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    @MaulikV - That should be for or at. As per the example in my answer I work for an accounting company. You can say more generally I work in IT. (IT is the field/profession in which you work, but "an IT company" refers to a specific entity, even though you haven't named it.) – nnnnnn May 19 '16 at 08:17