Lesson goal
This lesson covers three basic prepositions: i, på, til. The goal is to learn to distinguish the meaning of place “where?” and direction “to where?” in simple everyday phrases.
New vocabulary
i — in
på — on, in, depending on context
til — to, toward, up to; direction toward a place
byen — city, city center
skolen — school
jobb — work
hjem — home, at home
butikk — shop, store
butikken — the shop, a specific shop
drar — go, leave, head off
går — goes, go; walks
kommer — comes, arrives
er — is, are; is located
Useful phrases
Jeg er i byen. — I am in the city.
Hun er på skolen. — She is at school.
Vi drar til butikken. — We are going to the shop.
Han går hjem. — He is going home.
De kommer til jobb. — They come to work.
Jeg er hjemme. — I am at home.
Vi er på jobb. — We are at work.
Hun drar til skolen. — She is going to school.
Grammar
The main pattern of this lesson is to distinguish place and direction. If we are talking about where someone is located, i and på are often used: i byen, på skolen, på jobb. If we are talking about movement toward a place, til is usually used: til butikken, til skolen, til jobb. The word hjem is important to remember separately: with it, a preposition is often not needed in the meaning “home”: Han går hjem. But for the state “at home,” the form hjemme is usually used: Jeg er hjemme. At the beginner stage, it is useful to memorize the combinations as whole chunks rather than translate each preposition literally.
Examples
Jeg er i byen. — I am in the city.
Vi er i butikken. — We are in the shop.
Hun er på skolen. — She is at school.
Han er på jobb. — He is at work.
Vi drar til butikken. — We are going to the shop.
De kommer til skolen. — They come to school.
Jeg drar til byen. — I am going to the city.
Han går hjem. — He is going home.
Barna kommer hjem. — The children come home.
Jeg er hjemme. — I am at home.
Hun drar til jobb. — She is going to work.
De er på skolen. — They are at school.