Prepositions of Time

A. At, In, and On

We use:

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

at	in	on
PRECISE TIME	MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS	DAYS and DATES
at 3 o'clock	in May	on Sunday
at 10.30am	in summer	on Tuesdays
at noon	in the summer	on 6 March
at dinnertime	in 1990	on 25 Dec. 2010
at bedtime	in the 1990s	on Christmas Day
at sunrise	in the next century	on Independence Day
at sunset	in the Ice Age	on my birthday
at the moment	in the past/future	on New Year's Eve

Look at these examples:

I have a meeting at 9am.
The shop closes at midnight.
Jane went home at lunchtime.
In England, it often snows in December.
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 Mondays?
Her birthday is on 20 November.
Where will you be on New Year's Day?

Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:

Expression	Example
at night	The stars shine at night.
at the weekend	I don't usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas/Easter	I stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same time	We finished the test at the same time.
at present	He's not home at present. Try later.

Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:

in	on
in the morning	on Tuesday morning
in the mornings	on Saturday mornings
in the afternoon(s)	on Sunday afternoons
in the evening(s)	on Monday evening

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.

I went to London last June. (not in last June)
He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)

 

B. Place and Time

Some prepositions of place can also be used as a preposition of time.

I'll be with you between three and half past.
It must have been close to ten when I finally got home.
Lots of people work from nine o'clock to five.
You can do the journey inside an hour.
I had a stream of visitors throughout the day.
Towards midnight people were starting to leave.
We can park here up to six o'clock.

At, on, and in can also express either place or time.

C. During and Over

Look at these examples.

Nobody does any work during the festival.
The office will be closed during August.

We use during with an event (the festival) or a specific period (August). It means the whole period. 

We cannot use during + length of time. 

The office will be closed for a month. (NOT during a month)
The festival went on for five days. (NOT during five days)

But we can use during with a specific period of time.

No one does any work during the five days of the festival.
I've been extremely busy during the last few weeks.

We can also use during for a period in which a shorter action takes place.

The e-mail arrived during the meeting.
I have to make several trips abroad during the next few weeks.

During is a preposition; while is a conjuction.

My phone rang during lunch.
My phone rang while I was having lunch.

We can also use over for a whole period of time.


Over/During the past year, 25,000 refugees have entered the country.
Free meals will be served to the poor over/during the Christmas period.

NOTE:

a. When something continues for a complete period, we can also use throughout or all through.

The population grew rapidly during/throughout the 19th century.
The man at the end of the table kept staring at me during/all through lunch.

D. Before and After

Look at these examples.


I usually go jogging before breakfast.
Everyone will need to study the proposals prior to our discussions.
People felt nervous after the attack on the World Trade Center.
Following a change of sponsor, the competition now has a new name.

Prior to (formal) means 'before'. Following means 'after' or 'as a result of'.

E. From ... to/till/until

We use from for the time when something starts.

Tickets will be on sale from next Wednesday.
From seven in the morning there's constant traffic noise.

We can use from ... to or from ... till/until for the time when something starts and finishes.

The cricket season lasts from April to September.
The road will be closed from Friday evening till/until Monday morning.

American use through e.g from Friday through Monday.

LET'S DO SOME PRACTICE NOW, SHALL WE?^^  

Fill in the correct prepositions. Good luck!^^

1. Peter is playing tennis Sunday.
2. My brother's birthday is the 5th of November.
3. My birthday is May.
4. We are going to see my parents the weekend.
5. 1666, a great fire broke out in London.
6. I don't like walking alone in the streets night.
7. What are you doing the afternoon?
8. My friend has been living in Canada two years.
9. I have been waiting for you seven o'clock.
10. I will have finished this essay Friday.