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Why can't I say "I'm on Trafalgar square" but "I'm in/at Trafalgar square". It's a surface, isn't it?

I've heard it from this video https://youtu.be/wGV_7az35sg

ColleenV
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Murat
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    Does this answer your question? [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) – ColleenV Apr 24 '20 at 11:00
  • This link may be useful https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/at-on-and-in-place – RubioRic Apr 24 '20 at 11:04
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    But you ***can*** say things like [*I'm on the town square.*](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=on+the+town+square&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Con%20the%20town%20square%3B%2Cc0) It's just that ***on*** isn't the most ***common*** preposition for that exact context, but this certainly doesn't mean it's inevitably "wrong". – FumbleFingers May 25 '20 at 14:07

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The "Square" does NOT refer to a two-dimensional shaped surface, but rather a space surrounded by buildings**. It is also a location. Thus, as per ColleenV's (link)[Should I say "She is in the park" or "She is at the park"? indicates, in/at can be used.

If it were an actual surface such as a field or "baseball diamond"(a section of a baseball field marked with a diamond-shaped chalk outline), then you are correct, we would use "on".

*Trafalgar Square is actually a specific example of a "town square", an open space in the middle of an urban area. Traditionally, these were used as meeting places, market places, and forums, and would be the hearts of their respective communities. Confer with the Spanish/Italian "plaza"/"piazza", which only have this meaning in English.

sharur
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To add some additional information to the posted answers. I agree that you are on the grounds of Trafalgar Square. Though, not specifically "on" Trafalgar Square. The word "on" suggests that you are on something, such as being on a horse.

Campaigner8
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