Prepositions of time

Prepositions of time

by Isauro Rios

​AT

​We use AT with specific times (hour / minutes):

• I get up at 7 o'clock.

• My English class starts at 10am.

• She finishes work at 6.15

• I left the party at midnight.

​

Midnight (and midday) is a specific hour which is why we use AT.

12am = midnight 12pm = midday / noon

​

We use AT for a holiday period of two or more days:

• Do you normally get together with your relatives at Christmas?

• Did you eat a lot of chocolate at Easter?

​ON

​We use ON for specific days and dates:

• I will return it to you on Wednesday.

• They got married on Friday the 13th.

• We get paid on the 20th of every month.

• I drank too much milk on New Year's eve.

​

Remember that for dates, we use ordinal numbers.

E.g. the First of September (not the one of September)

​IN

We use IN for specific months, years, seasons, centuries and lengths of time.

• My birthday is in January. (I don't mention the date, just the month)

• My grandmother was born in 1927.

• The river near my house is dry in Summer.

• The company was founded in the 19th century.

  We need to have this report ready in 15 minutes. 

​

Compare with on:

The New Zealand National day is in February. (I don't mention the day - only the month)

The New Zealand National day is on February 6th. (I mention the day)

​Special cases

​The Weekend

​Sometimes you will hear AT the weekend and sometimes ON the weekend.

They are both correct. ON the weekend is used in United States.

• Where did you go on the weekend? (American English)

• Where did you go at the weekend? (British English)

​

We don't use Prepositions

​Remember! We do not use at, on, in or the with the following expressions:

• Today, tomorrow, yesterday, this morning, tonight, last, next, every.

​

​

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​Now, it's your turn...

​

​Answer the next questions

Multiple Choice

___ september

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Choice

___ 12 o'clock

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Choice

___ winter

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Choice

___ Easter Monday

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Choice

___ 4th July, 1776

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Choice

___ Christmas

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Choice

___ Tuesday

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Select

___ the weekend

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Choice

___ my birthday

• at

• in

• on

Multiple Choice

___ midnight

• at

• in

• on