Hi all,

 

in the light of the recent questions about language accuracy (the use of a prep with page, for example), I�d like to ask you (and, first of all, all the honourable native speakers here) what preposition we should use with the noun "farm". In some resources you see that "the farm" is preceded by "at", but the bulk of them seem to teach us to use "on"... And what about "in"? Is it the case of British / American tendencies again?

 

Thank you all in advance!  

 

P.S. can�t wait to upload something new and, hopefully, useful but have been working myself to the ground all the time ... 

Hi,

 

I�m a UK native speaker. I would say "on the farm" for nearly all farming situations (things that happen within the boundaries of the farm) but "at the farm" in some cases just to show that that�s where a non-farming thing happens. Does that make sense? I can�t really explain it.

There are 400 cows on the farm. (farming activity)

Mrs Brown lives at the farm. (not a farm animal!)

We have to work really hard on the farm. (doing farming activities)

There�s really poor phone reception at the farm. (non-farming)

 

I�d really welcome some other opinions on this .... 

As an AE native speaker:

 

 "on" the farm is the common (correct?)  preposition if we are talking about a traditional farm (e.g agricultural where crops are grown and harvested and/or animals are raised).

 

There are some cases where "farm " is used for other institutions e.g. a  (somewhat derogatory and not politically correct) slang term for a sanitarium  is "funny farm", in this case I can see using "at the (funny) farm"

 

my two (Lincoln) cents worth..

I grew up on a farm in the USA and will try to explain why we use the prepositions at and on with farm, but not in.

 

On is used for a surface.

At is used for a point.

In is used for an enclosed space.

 

ON: In your mind, think of a farm. You see the farm out in an open space and it covers / extends over an area of ground / the surface of the earth.

 

We live on a farm. There are many cows and pigs on our farm. We grow corn and soybeans on our farm. (Our farm = our area that covers / extends over the surface of the earth.)

 

AT: A point / where.

 

I will meet you at the farm.

FrauSue�s example: There is really poor phone reception at the farm. 

 

Note: AT and ON can sometimes be used interchageably with subtle differences in meaning:

 

Days are always busy at/on the farm. 

 

IN: In is not used with farm because the traditional farm is not in an enclosed space.

 

I can�t think of any instances where in is used with farm. Can anyone else?