at/on & at/in

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unthoughtknown

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1.
the (area) at the corner of Blah street.
or
the (area) on the corner of Blah street.

I thought it was on.


2.
at
the front of the blah building
or
in front of the blah building

I thought it was in.


What do you guys think?
 

Fern

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I'll meet you at the corner of blah and blah street.

I'll meet you in front of the blah building.

Don't ask me why I think that is right. I haven't a clue.
 

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I think they're both correct. I could be wrong though.
 

reph

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jen.nifer, some things are at a corner and some things are on a corner. Your examples need more context. Any of them could be right, depending on what else was there.
 

unthoughtknown

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Okay, an assembly area for example.

So, if I wrote: go to assemby area on the corner of blah street.

And: go to assembly area in front of the whatever building.

Also, if I say on the corner of blah street, am I expected to mention the adjacent street too? Oh, this is crazy. It's part of an assignment for an editing class and maybe I'm reading too much into things.
 

reph

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jen.nifer said:
Okay, an assembly area for example.

So, if I wrote: go to assemby area on the corner of blah street.

And: go to assembly area in front of the whatever building.

Also, if I say on the corner of blah street, am I expected to mention the adjacent street too? Oh, this is crazy. It's part of an assignment for an editing class and maybe I'm reading too much into things.
A building can be at the corner of Fifth and Main or on the corner of Fifth and Main. Something like a tree or a trash can, however, can only be at the corner of... At least, those are the prepositions that seem natural to me.

"At the front of" can mean inside or outside a building. If an assembly area is in front of the Highrent Apartments, it's outdoors; it's between the façade and the street. An assembly area in the lobby of the Highrent Apartments would be at the front of the building. It would also be correct to say an area between the façade and the street was at the front of the Highrent Apartments, with a slight difference from "in front of": the mental picture now has the area close to the building, right up against it.

You have to have two streets to make a corner. If you don't mention both of them ("Go to the corner of Fifth and Main"), you have to have mentioned the missing one recently ("Walk one block up Fifth, past the Highrent Apartments, to the corner of Main" – but even this is a bit dialectal). "Go to Fifth and Main" is also possible.
 
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