"work at" and "work on"

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cheche - 30 Oct 2006 15:18 GMT

What are the differences betweens between "work at" and "work on"?

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Peacenik - 30 Oct 2006 15:43 GMT

> What are the differences betweens between "work at" and "work on"?

I work at Microsoft where I am working on a new project.

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R J Valentine - 30 Oct 2006 15:58 GMT

} "cheche" <cfcflycfcf@fastmail.fm> wrote in message
} news:1162217883.244462.68720@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
}> What are the differences betweens between "work at" and "work on"?
}
} I work at Microsoft where I am working on a new project.

Also someone might be working at getting promoted while working on
completing the project on time.

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rjv

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Mark Brader - 30 Oct 2006 23:08 GMT

R.J. Valentine:

> Also someone might be working at getting promoted

Yes.

> while working on completing the project on time.

No, I think that's better with "at". They're working on the project
and working at completing it on time.

You "work on" a specific task; you "work at" a goal.

However, if the task is a big one that you don't think you can complete
in a reasonable time, then you might view it more like a goal and speak
of "working at" it. For example, "I worked at cleaning up the mess for
a while, but you can hardly tell I did anything."

Someone else referred to working at a company. That's the ordinary
verb "work" followed by a phrase that happens to begin with "at"; it's
not the phrasal verb "work at".

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Mark Brader | But I think we can do better next time. (Where the
Toronto | word "we" refers to [those] who do the hard work while
msb@vex.net | I sit back and complain...) -- Keith Thompson

My text in this article is in the public domain.

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saiah@saiah.net - 01 Nov 2006 13:45 GMT

The preposition at refers to location or direction. On refers to
process.

> What are the differences betweens between "work at" and "work on"?

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006

"work at" and "work on"