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Main Street, USA: prepositions of place and places in town

An A1 ESL lesson plan on prepositions of place and places in town, for asking and saying where a place is.

Grammar
The prepositions of place near and next to (It's near the park.), Where's…? for one place and Where are…? for more, short answers like Yes, it is, and a or an before places.
Topic
Places in town on a classic American Main Street, from the bank and the diner to the bakery and the hardware store.
Activities
A visitor map card to read, a dialogue and a phone message to hear, self-checking drills, a chat and open-box questions about the students' own town, and a post about their street.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Welcome to town!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: places in townVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: Main Street

    • Look at the photo: Main StreetPictureUnlock
    • Read the visitor map cardReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: a trip to Grandma's

    • Listen to Olivia and LiamListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Grandma's phone messageListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen to Grandma and choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: where's the…? It's next to…

    • Study the scheme: places in townGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: on Main StreetDrag and dropTry it
    • Fill in the table: a or an?Fill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: places in your town

    • Choose the right replies: Olivia in your townChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Match the places and what you do thereMatchUnlock
    • Write a post: my streetWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record yourself: places in your townSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

25 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Places in town vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • park
  • library
  • hardware store
  • diner
  • bakery
  • ice cream shop
  • town square

Grammar: prepositions of place: near and next to

A Main Street puts the bank, the diner and the bakery side by side, which makes a small-town map the natural setting for prepositions of place. Learners ask where each place is and answer in one line: It's next to the diner. They check with Is it near here? and choose a or an for every shop on the street.

Where's the…? It's near / next to the…

Ask where a place is, answer with near or next to, and say a or an.

Where's the…? It's near or next to the…

One place takes Where's the, and the answer starts with It's: Where's the library? It's near the park. For two or more places, switch to Where are and answer with They're: They're on Main Street.

Places in town

  • bank
  • post office
  • library
  • diner
  • bakery
  • hardware store
  • ice cream shop
  • town square
  • park
  • bus stop
  • café
  • drugstore

Where's…? It's near / next to…

QuestionAnswer
Where's the bank?It's next to the diner.
Where's the library?It's near the park.
Where is the post office?It's next to the hardware store.
Where are the shops?They're on Main Street.

Near or next to?

Near means not far; next to means side by side. On the Maple Hill map, the bakery is next to the library, and the library is near the park. Near takes no of, and next to always keeps to.

near = not far

  • The library is near the park.
  • My home is near a bus stop.

next to = side by side

  • The bank is next to the diner.
  • The bakery is next to the library.

Is it near here? Short answers

A question about a place starts with Is: Is the bank next to the diner? The answer ends on the verb, so it's Yes, it is, never Yes, it's, and No, it isn't for no.

Is it near…?

QuestionYesNo
Is it near here?Yes, it is.No, it isn't.
Is the bank next to the diner?Yes, it is.No, it isn't.

Short answers

Say Yes, it is. – not “Yes, it's.” And say No, it isn't.

A or an, the or a

The first sound decides between a and an: a bank, an ice cream shop, and with an adjective, a small library but an old library. The is for a place everyone knows; a means any one: Excuse me, where's a bakery?

a or an?

a + b, c, d… soundan + a, e, i, o, u sound
a bankan ice cream shop
a dineran office
a small libraryan old library
a new bakeryan old bakery

the or a?

  • Where's the library?the = we know which one: the library in our town
  • Excuse me, where's a bakery?a = any bakery

Common mistakes

  • Where is library?

    Where is the library?

    say the before the place

  • It's near of the park.

    It's near the park.

    near + the… (no of)

  • It's next the bank.

    It's next to the bank.

    next to: always with to

  • a ice cream shop

    an ice cream shop

    an + a, e, i, o, u sound

More lessons on this grammar: Prepositions lessons and exercises

Try the prepositions of place exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • ask where a place in town is and answer with near or next to: Where's the bank? It's next to the diner.
  • ask Is it near here? and give the short answer Yes, it is or No, it isn't
  • name places in town, from the post office to the town square, and put a or an before them: an ice cream shop
  • use Where are…? and They're for two or more places: They're on Main Street.
  • write a few lines about their own street: My home is near a park.

Lesson 25 opens My town, the seventh unit of English A1.1 · Hello, World. It builds on lesson 14, which taught Where's…? with in, on and under for things at home, and lesson 28 reviews it with the rest of the unit. Its visitor map card places most shops with near or next to, so the reading already models the grammar.

After a spin wheel of questions about their own town, students meet ten words, from leave and buy to hardware store, with pictures and audio, and choose places by picture. They read the visitor map card, which says what Main Street means to Americans, then mark statements true or false and answer a short quiz on it. In the listening chapter, they hear Olivia and Liam plan the trip (an AI-voiced dialogue) and Grandma's phone message about the bus stop and the diner. In the grammar chapter, the scheme leads into four exercises that check every answer: choosing the right word, a drag-and-drop dialogue on Main Street, a table of a or an, and choosing the right sentence. In the speaking chapter, students answer Olivia's questions about their town in a chat, then open boxes of questions about their own town and home.

At home, students put scrambled sentences in order and match each place with what you do there. Then they write a short post about their street and record themselves talking about places in their town; the teacher checks both.

Grammar:
places in town · Where's the…? It's near / next to the… · Is it near here? Yes, it is. · a / an
Topic:
places in town · Main Street · small towns · Illinois

Teaching tips

  • Draw a simple Main Street on the board before the scheme: a bank, a diner, a bakery, a library and a park. Ask Where's the bank? and let students answer from the drawing.
  • Before the listening, ask pairs to find the diner and the ice cream shop on the visitor map card, then check their answers against what Olivia tells Liam.
  • Turn the a or an table into a quick call-out: say old library, small bakery or ice cream shop, and the class answers a or an together.
  • Model the chat with Olivia first, then let pairs role-play a visitor and a local in their own town, with Is it near here? as the key question.

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The whole course: English A1.1 · Hello, World

32 lessons for complete beginners in simple American English, from the verb to be to can and can't. Eight units cover greetings, family, numbers, home, food, daily routines, the town and free time, and each ends with a review lesson. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Hello!

    greetings, the verb to be, countries and nationalities, yes/no questions

    1. Lesson 1Hi, hey, howdy or aloha?The verb to be with I and you
    2. Lesson 2Ellis Island: where are they from?He's, she's, they're: the verb to be
    3. Lesson 3Six languages at the UNYes/no questions with be and short answers
    4. Lesson 4Review: hello from the Statue of LibertyThe verb to be and yes/no questions, reviewed

  2. Unit 2 My people

    family members, possessive adjectives, have got, describing people

    1. Lesson 5Why is Mother's Day in May?Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her
    2. Lesson 6Best in show!Have got and the possessive 's
    3. Lesson 7National Best Friends DaySubject pronouns, possessives and describing people
    4. Lesson 8Review: Bobbie the Wonder DogPossessives, have got and 's, reviewed

  3. Unit 3 Numbers all around

    numbers and dates, a/an and plurals, phone numbers and prices

    1. Lesson 9Why is March 14 Pi Day?Numbers 0 to 100, decimals and US dates
    2. Lesson 10How old is the General Sherman tree?A, an and plurals, with big numbers and How old…?
    3. Lesson 119-1-1 and other numbers to knowSaying phone numbers, emails and prices
    4. Lesson 12Review: 102 floors and 1,860 stepsNumbers, dates, ages and prices, reviewed

  4. Unit 4 Home sweet home

    rooms in a house, this, that, these and those, furniture, opposites

    1. Lesson 13A house with 132 roomsThis is, these are and plurals
    2. Lesson 14Boston's skinny house: where's the bed?This, that, these, those and Where's…?
    3. Lesson 15Can a dorm room be cozy?Opposite adjectives and have got
    4. Lesson 16Review: homes for everyoneShowing and describing a home, reviewed

  5. Unit 5 Food I love

    likes and dislikes, present simple questions, ordering food

    1. Lesson 17Pancakes for breakfast?I like, I don't like and plural nouns
    2. Lesson 18New York pizza or Chicago deep-dish?Present simple questions and short answers
    3. Lesson 19A coffee to go, please!Ordering food with I'd like and Can I have…?
    4. Lesson 20Review: lunch from a food truckI like, Do you like and I'd like, reviewed

  6. Unit 6 My day

    telling the time, daily routines, days of the week, prepositions of time

    1. Lesson 21What time is it in Times Square?Telling the time and daily routines
    2. Lesson 22Who brings the mail?The present simple with we and they
    3. Lesson 23Is it morning in Hawaii?Prepositions of time with parts of the day
    4. Lesson 24Review: a New York morningTime, routines and days, reviewed

  7. Unit 7 My town

    places in town, prepositions of place, giving directions

    1. Lesson 25 · you're hereMain Street, USAPrepositions of place: near and next to
    2. Lesson 26Meet me at Union SquarePresent simple questions and negatives with we and they
    3. Lesson 27Turn left on 42nd StreetImperatives for giving directions
    4. Lesson 28Review: streets for peoplePlaces, the present simple and directions, reviewed

  8. Unit 8 Free time

    hobbies, can and can't, sports, making plans

    1. Lesson 29Can you play Scrabble?Can and can't for ability
    2. Lesson 30Can you surf?Can for ability and how well
    3. Lesson 31Saturday morning: Little LeagueFree time and making plans
    4. Lesson 32Review: a book for every childCan, can't and free time, reviewed

Questions about this lesson

What are prepositions of place in English?
Prepositions of place are words that tell you where something is: in, on, under, near, next to, opposite. They go before a noun, usually with the or a: near the park, next to a bakery, on Main Street. The A1 lesson Main Street, USA on edio.ai teaches near and next to on a small-town street, where the bank is next to the diner.
How do you ask where a place is in English?
Ask Where's the…? and answer with It's and a preposition: Where's the post office? It's next to the hardware store. For more than one, it's Where are the bus stops? They're near the bank. Use the for a place you both know, and a when any one will do: Excuse me, where's a drugstore? To check the distance, ask Is it near here?
How do you describe your town in English?
To describe your town, say what kind of place it is, then name a few places and say where they are: I live in a small town. My home is near a park. The bakery is next to the bank. Finish with a favorite, such as My favorite place is the library. A partner can then ask What's next to your home?
What's the difference between "near" and "next to"?
Next to means beside, with nothing in between; near only means not far. The bank is next to the diner means no shop between them, while The library is near the park can mean a short walk. Anything next to a place is near it, but not the other way around. In the lesson Main Street, USA on edio.ai, the map card uses both: next to the bakery, near the park.
Is it "near the park" or "near of the park"?
It's near the park, with no of. Near goes straight before the place: near the bus stop, near my home. Next to is the opposite case: it always needs to, so it's next to the bank, never next the bank. The chat in the A1 lesson Main Street, USA on edio.ai offers both slips as wrong replies, so students have to spot them.
Is it "Yes, it is" or "Yes, it's"?
Say Yes, it is, because it's can't end a sentence. Positive short forms like it's, I'm and they're need a word after them, so a short answer uses the full form: Is the bank next to the diner? Yes, it is. Negative short forms can end a sentence: Is it near here? No, it isn't.
What are the places in town in English?
The everyday places in town are the bank, post office, library, park and bus stop, plus shops like the bakery, the drugstore and the hardware store (hammers, nails, paint). A diner is a small, simple restaurant, and the town square is an open place with trees and benches. In a small American town, many of them stand on Main Street, the main shopping street.
How do I teach prepositions of place to beginners?
Teach two or three prepositions at a time, on a map, so the meaning is clear before any rule: The bank is next to the diner. The library is near the park. Then let students ask each other about the map. This lesson moves from reading a small-town map card and hearing a dialogue to the scheme's rules and mistakes, and ends with students saying where places are in their own town.
What's a good game for practicing prepositions of place?
A question game about the students' own town works well: a player opens a box and answers What's next to your home? or Where's a good café in your town? Real places make every answer new, so the others listen and ask back: Is it near here? The lesson Main Street, USA on edio.ai has eight such boxes, after a spin-the-wheel warm-up about the same town.
How do you practice prepositions of place one-to-one?
Talk about real places you both know, and take turns asking: Where's the post office? Is it near here? The chat in this lesson needs no partner: a visitor messages from the student's town, and the student picks replies such as It's near the park. or No, it isn't. It's ten minutes by bus. The open boxes then work as a two-person conversation.
What's good homework for practicing places in town?
Good homework is a short post about the student's own street: what's on it, with a or an, and where, with near or next to. My home is next to a small bakery. In the A1 lesson Main Street, USA on edio.ai, a self-checking match comes before the post: post office goes with You send letters there. The teacher then gets the post and a short recording about the student's town.
Are there interactive exercises for prepositions of place?
Yes: drag-and-drop gaps and chats that mark each answer. Four parts of Main Street, USA, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, can be tried on this page without an account: the visitor map card, the listening about a small-town trip, a drag-and-drop dialogue on Main Street and a chat that asks where places are in the student's town. The a or an table and the other drills are locked.
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