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Which should I use in the next sentence?

Join us at/in our Spanish patio.

Eddie Kal
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vanda
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  • "At" means "next to". "Join us at the barbeque grill for some meat." It is strange unless you truly meant *near* the patio rather than on it. – Neil Feb 13 '18 at 07:28
  • See [Should I say “She is in the park” or “She is at the park”?](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/40439/should-i-say-she-is-in-the-park-or-she-is-at-the-park) – green_ideas Feb 13 '18 at 21:06

1 Answers1

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Neither. It should actually be on rather than at or in. That's because we usually use the preposition on with things like terraces and patios because they're not completely enclosed areas like other structures with roofs and walls such as residential houses, skyscrapers, schools etc. That's why you can't be in or inside a patio or terrace the same way you can be inside an enclosed area such as a building.

At is probably not going to work there either since the preposition at when talking about places is primarily used to specify locations. You can think of locations as points on a map. You can say, for example, "Join us at Mark's." We don't think of Mark's as a physical space in three dimensions, but rather as the particular location where you want your friends to meet you. Mark's is the short form of Mark's place, by the way.

So, long story short, this is how you would say it:

Join us on our Spanish patio.

Michael Rybkin
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