Gateway to Grammar: Prepositions of Time Part 1- In, At and On

Welcome to part 1 of Prepositions of Time, where we look at the most commonly used prepositions: in, at, and on. And, unlike most English learning websites, we will then go on to talk about all the other ones in the weeks to come!

In as a Preposition of Time

We use ‘in’ to talk about:

• Parts of the day - “in the morning”, “in the afternoon” (‘Night’ is short for ‘nighttime’, so we use ‘at’ for this instead)

• Months - “in May”, “In September”

• Seasons - “In Spring”, “In Winter”

• Years - “In 1986”

• Decades - “In the 1940s”

• Centuries - “In the 1700s”

• Counting forward from now - “In 3 hours”, “In 18 minutes”, “in 2 months and 3 days”

At as a Preposition of Time

We use ‘at’ to talk about:

• Specific times - “at 19:05”, “at 6”, “at 9 AM” “at 4 o’clock”

• Holidays - “at Easter”, “at Christmas”

On as a Preposition of Time

We use ‘on’ to talk about:

• Days of the Week - “on Thursday”, “on Sunday”

• Calendar Dates - “On the 23rd of March”, “on the 18th”, “on September 21st”

  • Note: Even when saying “Monday morning”, we will still use ‘on’ because the word “Monday” comes first.

Summing Up

I’m hoping I’ll see you again on Monday, when we will be learning some new vocabulary in the Morning. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful time on the weekend, and I will be going to a Lego festival because… well, why not?