At hand means close by and ready to use: keep your booking reference at hand. Help is at hand means help is near. The task at hand is the job you're dealing with right now: let's focus on the task at hand. It sounds slightly formal; in conversation people often say keep it handy.
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be at hand / keep something at hand / the task at hand
- Keep your booking reference at hand when you call.
- Help is at hand if you get stuck with the equipment.
- Let's focus on the task at hand and discuss next month later.
What changed
First versionKeep the instruction sheet at the hand.
RevisionKeep the instruction sheet at hand.
Hand looks like an ordinary countable noun, so the creeps in: at the hand. But the phrase has no article: at hand. If something is literally in your hand, say in your hand.
In hand means under control: the situation is in hand. At hand means nearby, available, or current: the problem at hand. British speakers also say the matter in hand, and that's correct too.
Your turn
Keep the map easily available: Keep the map at ___.
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hand — Meaning easy to reach, at hand takes no article: the map should be available, not in a particular hand.
Ask someone to keep a useful item close by and say why, using at hand.
Keep a clean cloth at hand while you paint the window frame.
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