Learn about prepositions of time

Grammar is the strength of the English language. Its incorrect usage can kill the meaning of a sentence. Generally, people get confused between prepositions, such as “at, in, and on”. A preposition is one of the most important parts of speech. A preposition is a word that shows the relation between a word and a noun or a pronoun that comes after the preposition. Understanding prepositions are important for a strong grammatical base.

There are three types of preposition, namely:

1. Preposition of place
2. Preposition of time
3. Preposition of movement

Let’s learn prepositions of time. Prepositions of time include at, on, in, by, till, until, up to, during, for, throughout and since.



Learning the prepositions - at, on, and in

We use “at” for a precise time, “in” for months, years, centuries and long periods and “on” for days and dates.

At

In

On

 

At 3 o'clock

 

 

In September

 

On Tuesday

 

At sunrise

 

 

In Winter

 

On Sunday

 

At noon

 

 

In the Summer

 

On 7 May

 

At bedtime

 

 

in 2000

 

On 12th September

 

At the moment

 

 

In the past/future

 

 

On the New Year’s Eve

 

At 10.30am

 

 

in the next century

 

On Independence Day

 

At sunset

 

 

In the Ice Age

 

 

On my birthday

 

At dinner time

 

 

In 1992

 

 

On 31st July 1990


Examples

- I have a meeting at 5 PM
- The shop closes at 8 o'clock
- Shilpa went home at 7:30 PM
- In Mumbai, it often rains in June
- Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?

- There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
- Do you work on Sundays?
- His birthday is on 31 July.
- Where will you be on Valentine’s Day?

Preposition of time ‘at’ in the following regular expressions:

Expression

 

Example

At night

 

The stars shine at night.

At the same time

 

We finished the test at the same time.

At present

 

He's not home at present. Try later.


Preposition of time in and on in the following regular expressions:

 

In

On

In the morning

On a Monday morning

In the mornings

On Sunday mornings

In the afternoon(s)

On Saturday afternoon(s)

In the evening(s)

On Friday evening(s)


When you use ‘last, next, every, this’ in your sentence, don’t use at, in, on.

- I went to Delhi last (notin last June)
- He's coming back next (noton next Monday)
- I go home every (notat every Easter)
- We'll call you this (notin this evening)

The above-mentioned examples of prepositions will help you complete the sentence formation. Keep practicing these prepositions and improve your communication skills by using them appropriately. You can study them with the help of an online English guide that will help you improve and develop your English grammar skills.

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