Hi everybody.
I’ve got a tricky question. How to say it grammatical: “I live in King Street” or “I live on King Street”?
The first variant is in the “English Grammar in Use” by Raymond Murphy, Cambridge University Press and the second one is in the “Preposition Practice” by L.L.Keane, Longman Publishing Group.
Hi Andrey
In American English, we would say “I live on King Street”.
I think people in the UK use either “in” or “on” in such a sentence.
.
Hi,
Out of interest there is a song from the musical (which is American) My Fair Lady based on the play, Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw (who was Irish) where one of the main male characters sings of his infatuation for the principal female character, Eliza (who is English):
How’s that for cooperation?
Alan
I’m not sure which form is more common in the north of England, but I would say that in the south of England you would usually hear e.g. “I live in King Street”; though “on” is sometimes used with “the High Street” (or, in the West Country, “Fore St”), e.g.
1a. I live on the High Street, just past the Odeon.
1b. I live on Willesden High Street, just past the Odeon.
“On” is also sometimes used with roads whose name indicates their function or character, e.g.
- I live on the London Road.
- I live on Chesil Rise.
I would probably also use “on” for “streets” of Roman origin, e.g.
- I used to live on Watling Street, just outside St Albans.
MrP
Hi,
To me ‘in’ is the favoured preposition associated with ‘living’ referring to the name of a road,lane.street or whatever. To my mind ‘on’ with those words suggests objects physically situated there such as buildings,premises, obstacles, roadworks and so on or indeed following along those routes. I would therefore live in Acacia Avenue, travel to work on the B456 sometimes when there were roadworks on the A1 motorway.
Alan
Thanks for the detailed input, MrP and Alan. 
Returning to Andrey’s question, both “in” and “on” are grammatically correct in your sentence. To sum everything up, Raymond Murphy is British, and L.L. Keane is American – that’s why they use different prepositions in that particular sentence.
.
Hello Alan,
Would you travel to work on King St, though?
MrP
You might travel to work on Avenida Rivadavia, BA. If you live and work on that street, for example.
Hi MrP,
I still can’t understand why we use ‘in’ when there is not the article ‘the’, and ‘on’ when there is:
‘I live in King Street’
‘I live on the High Street’
Hi Alan,
Could you think of other context (other than ‘living’) in which ‘in the street’ is used?
And, I don’t understand ‘physically situated there such as buildings,premises, obstacles, roadworks and so on’ very well. Buildings, obstacles, and roadworks are surely phisical, but what about ‘premise’? I don’t think it’s physical…
By the way, what do you think about these: (I find them in the OALD - 7th edition)
the man (and/ or the woman) in the street
(out) on the streets/ street
Many thanks,
Nessie.
The article is there because there is usually only one high street in any town. It’s nothing to do with the choice of preposition. We hear both these:
I live in the High Street.
I live on the High Street.
Hello Nessie,
In BrE, if the road name contains “street”, you never use “the”. Thus:
- I live in King St.
- Drive along King St and take the first turning on the left.
The exception is High Street, where the name describes its function. Then either form is available:
- I live in Kensington High St.
- I’ve got to meet him in the high street. [Your addressee knows you mean High St Kensington.]
Capitalisation is not required, if you use the article.
If the road name contains “road”, in the case of a main road whose name describes its direction, again, both forms are available. Thus:
- I live in London Road.
- Take the London road and turn off just before you reach the junction with the A30.
I would say that the second form tends to turn up in “travel” contexts.
In some cases, however, one form is dominant:
- I live on/in the Old Kent Road.
Best wishes,
MrP
.
This is a situation in which American English is far less complicated: :lol:
I live on Main Street.
I live on the main street.
His shop is located on Broadway.
I parked on a side street.
There was a three-car accident on I95.
We drove to California on Route 66.
We drive on the right side of the road in the US. 8)
.
Even here?
John Walker’s shop was at number 59 the High Street.
Number 76 the High Street is Barclays Bank.
Simply Mee, Number 95, The High Street, Odiham, Hampshire.
In addresses, capitalisation is required. In examples such as my earlier #4, where a proper name is replaced by a descriptive phrase, capitalisation is not required.
MrP
Thanks for the missing info.
Sorry for saying this but still I didn’t get the answer for the question.I know that all what u said is about using in in some places and on in other places but suppose that this was a question in some kind of a test what are we going to choose ( in king street ) or ( on king street )
Hi Waelsaeed
I would say that most reputable standardized tests will accept either “in” or “on”.
In American English, we would only use “on” in that sentence. In British English, it appears to be more typical to use “in” in that particular sentence.
.
Hi MrP,
=> could you please be a bit more specific about this? Does it mean:
- High street: the street is high
- London road: a road in London?
=> What does ‘addressee’ here mean, MrP? (I can only find one definition for ‘addressee’ in most dictionaries, which is ‘The addressee of a letter or parcel is the person or company that it is addressed to’, but I don’t think it suits this case) and, how can the addressee know the speaker means High st Kensington? Do you mean there is only one high street, and that is High Street Kensington?
Many thanks,
Nessie.
Hi Nessie
While you’re waiting for MrP, you could take a look here for information about “(the) High Street”:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Street
By the way, why don’t you start a thread about your experiences and adventures as a brand-spanking-new university student? I bet lots of people would be interested in hearing about that.
.
Hello Nessie,
To answer your questions in order:
-
As Amy’s link suggests, the main street in a town is usually called “High St” on signs, and referred to as “the high street”.
-
Many towns in England have a “London Road”: originally, it was the road that led to London. On signs, they appear as “London Road”; but they are often referred to as “the London road”.
-
If I say something to you, you are the “addressee”: the person to whom my comment is addressed. In discussions of language, this is the usual meaning of the word; elsewhere, your “letter/parcel” definition would probably apply.
-
When you are in a particular area, “the high street” means the local high street. So if I’m in Kensington, and say “I’ll meet you in the high street”, the other person will assume I mean “Kensington High St”.
Let me know if it’s still unclear!
Best wishes,
MrP