I saw this sentence being used on some websites "Flip open the first page of your book". I learnt that we should not use "Open the 2nd page of the book", instead we should use "Open the book to page 2 " or "Open the book at page 2". I am confused if "first page" has an exception or "Flip open" works for any page.
Prepositions – Is “Open the First Page of Your Book” Correct?
prepositions
Related Solutions
Short answer: The word "in" is idiomatic with corner, so I see nothing wrong with the author's wording.
Longer answer:
I was taught that you should say at the top-right corner of something
I don't know where you learned that, but always be skeptical of a simple rule that always tells you which preposition is right – particularly if you think any other preposition would be wrong. These little words are more flexible than a gymnast!
Even without the word corner, I think I prefer in over at or to, although none of these seem "incorrect":
The logo is a tiny picture that sits in the top left.
The logo is a tiny picture that sits at the top left.
The logo is a tiny picture that sits to the top left.
The only 100% accurate, hard-and-fast rule is that there is no 100% accurate, hard-and-fast rule. I can use several prepositions to accurately describe the locations in this picture:
- The logo goes at the top left
- The site name goes at the top beneath the logo
- The site branding goes in the center at the top
- The site utilities go in the top-right corner
- The navigation bar goes below the header and above the body
- The section navigation goes in the body to the left
However, these are okay, too:
- The logo goes on top and to the left
- The site name goes in the header below the logo
- The site branding goes in the middle above the navigation bar
- The site utilities go at the top and to the right
- The navigation bar goes between the header and the body
- The section navigation goes at the left of the body
Best Answer
No, it isn't correct. You don't 'open a page', you open a book. Further, the process of locating a page is normally referred to as 'turning to' a page.
You could say:
That is idiomatic, but a bit long - you can't turn to a page without first opening the book. So you could just say:
or
It would be difficult to open a book at the exact page you want, so there would normally be a process of turning to a page. However, because your example is the first page, it would be more reasonable to say open it 'at' that page.