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PETRA YVONNE ENGLISH
Prepositions of Time At - On - In
A. Compare at, on and in:
- They arrived at 5’oclock.
- They arrived on Friday.
- Thy arrived in October.
We use:
at for the time of day: at five o’clock, at 11:20, at midnight, at lunchtime, at sunset
on for days and dates: on Friday/on Fridays, on 25 June 1991, on Christmas Day
in for longer periods: in October, in 1988, in the 18 th century, in the past
B. We use at in these expressions:
at night
at the weekend/at weekends
at Christmas
at the moment/at present
at the same time
I don’t like going out at night.
Will you be here at the weekend?
Shall we meet at Christmas?
Mr Benn I busy at the moment/at present.
Emily and I arrived at the same time.
C. We say:
In the morning(s)
In the afternoon(s)
In the evening(s)
- I’ll see you in the morning.
- Do you work in the evenings?
on Friday morning(s)
on Sunday afternoon(s)
on Monday evening(s) etc.
- I’ll see you on Friday morning.
- Do you work on Saturday evenings?
D. We do not use at / on / in before last / next / this / every:
- I’ll see you next Friday. (not on next Friday)
- They got married last March.
In spoken English we often leave out on before days (Sunday/Monday etc.). So you can say:
- I’ll see you on Friday or I’ll see you Friday.
- I don’t go out on Monday morning. or I don’t go out Monday mornings.
E. In a few minutes / in six months etc.
- The train will be leaving in a few minutes. (= a few minutes from now)
- Andy has gone away. He’ll be back in a week. (= a week from now)
- She’ll be here in a moment. (=a moment from now)
You can also say ‘in six months’ time’, ‘in a week’s time’ etc.:
- They’re getting married in six months’ time. or …in six months.
We also use in… to say how long it takes to do something:
- I learnt to drive in four weeks. (=it took me four weeks to learn)
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