Parts of Speech & Usage

Arrive in / Arrive at (never 'arrive to')

2 min read

With go and get, you use "to": go to London, get to the station. With arrive, you never use "to". You use in or at.

1. Arrive in → a city, a country, a region

We arrived in Tokyo at 6 a.m.
When did you arrive in Canada?

2. Arrive at → a building, a precise place or an event

I arrived at the office late.
We need to arrive at the airport two hours before the flight.
She arrived at the party with her brother.

Not sure? Use in for a big area you are inside, and at for a point on the map.

3. Arrive home, arrive here, arrive there

No preposition at all, as with "go home".

Text me when you arrive home.
They arrived here last night.

4. Arrive on its own

The guests arrived early.
Your parcel arrived this morning.

5. Get to and reach

Get to takes "to". Reach takes nothing.

How do I get to the station?
We reached the hotel at midnight.

6. Common mistakes

❌ We arrived to Paris on Monday.
✅ We arrived in Paris on Monday.

❌ I arrived to the station late.
✅ I arrived at the station late.

❌ What time did you arrive to home?
✅ What time did you arrive home?

❌ We reached to the top of the hill.
✅ We reached the top of the hill.

💡 Tip

City, country, region → arrive in
Building, precise place, event → arrive at
Home, here, there → arrive home, with nothing in between
Never "arrive to". But get to, and reach with nothing.

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 10Score: 0/10

We arrived ___ Lisbon late at night.

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

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Parts of Speech & Usage

Arrive in / Arrive at (never 'arrive to')

2 min read

With go and get, you use "to": go to London, get to the station. With arrive, you never use "to". You use in or at.

1. Arrive in → a city, a country, a region

We arrived in Tokyo at 6 a.m.
When did you arrive in Canada?

2. Arrive at → a building, a precise place or an event

I arrived at the office late.
We need to arrive at the airport two hours before the flight.
She arrived at the party with her brother.

Not sure? Use in for a big area you are inside, and at for a point on the map.

3. Arrive home, arrive here, arrive there

No preposition at all, as with "go home".

Text me when you arrive home.
They arrived here last night.

4. Arrive on its own

The guests arrived early.
Your parcel arrived this morning.

5. Get to and reach

Get to takes "to". Reach takes nothing.

How do I get to the station?
We reached the hotel at midnight.

6. Common mistakes

❌ We arrived to Paris on Monday.
✅ We arrived in Paris on Monday.

❌ I arrived to the station late.
✅ I arrived at the station late.

❌ What time did you arrive to home?
✅ What time did you arrive home?

❌ We reached to the top of the hill.
✅ We reached the top of the hill.

💡 Tip

City, country, region → arrive in
Building, precise place, event → arrive at
Home, here, there → arrive home, with nothing in between
Never "arrive to". But get to, and reach with nothing.

Test your knowledge 📝

Question 1 sur 10Score: 0/10

We arrived ___ Lisbon late at night.

Discover the app: Shaky English

Join 100,000 people who are improving their English skills on the Shaky English app

Other similar rules

Conjugation

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Common confusions

Who vs. Whom

Common confusions

There vs. Their vs. They're

There, their and they're sound exactly the same, but they do three different jobs. 1. There → a place, or something that exists Put the box over there. There is a problem with the printer. Th...

Common confusions

Peak vs. Peek vs. Pique

Conjugation