Prepositions of time and place In, on, at
Look at the following sentences and complete the with the correct preposition I’ll see you outside the cinema 7 o’clock in Meet me next to the clock tower the morning. on I’ll see you outside the cinema Friday evening at Let’s meet behind the church midnight. in How about meeting on the bridge an hour? on I’ll wait for you under the oak tree the 4th of July.
Use AT Time and fixed periods of the day National Holidays Expressions At 5 o´clock midday / midnight lunchtime National Holidays Expressions At the weekend Christmas Easter He never works at night. She’s ill at the moment. We arrived at the same time.
To express the function of places In reference to buildings, public institutions and other places when its function is taken into consideration He’s waiting at the bus stop There’s somebody at the door Addresses (to indicate the beginning or end of a street) and emails I live at the end of the road at number 24 To express the function of places I saw your husband at the basketball game What’s on at the cinema? I met my husband at Maggie’s house. Turn left at the supermarket.
In the following expressions, without THE At home / work school / university / college sea
Use IN Parts of the day In the morning the afternoon the evening Longer periods of time In January / February (the) winter / (the) spring 2014 / 1066 / in the 1960 / in the sixties in the 21st century / the Middle Ages
Meaning a period of time Meaning “after a period of time” in the future In a few minutes two months Meaning a period of time In twenty seconds two days With past and future In the past the future
To specify the inside of buildings To indicate position regarding defined places Russia is the biggest country in the world. There’s somebody in the bathroom. For buildings I bought these sweets in a supermarket. at To specify the inside of buildings It’s very smoky in that club.
Groups and series of people, images, mirrors, letters and texts It’s very smoky in that club. Stop looking in the mirror We never sat in groups. Did you read it in the book? There are too many people in the queue Materials for writing or ways to express colloquially In ink / pencil capital letters / bold / italic Polish / Lithuanian / French Colored paper
Use ON Days of the week and periods of certain days On Monday(s) / Tuesday(s) Friday morning / Saturday night Special days and specific dates On my birthday / Christmas day January 1st / 31st December
To indicate position regarding surfaces He’s sitting on a towel on the beach There’s blood on your shirt For the floors of a building and sides (left and right) I live on the second floor on the right. My flat is on the third floor on the left. For maps, menus, lists and pages I can’t find this place on the map. What’s on the menu today? The answers are on page 3.
Meaning “with a view to” To mean the written form and to electronic means On word processor / the radio cassette / CD / video Meaning “with a view to” Mairselles is on the south coast of France. A certain point during a journey. We stopped in a pub for a drink on the way home
IN, ON and AT are not used with Tomorrow Yesterday Tonight This What time Every / each Next Last
At the end vs In the end At the end In the end = when something ends: He got a large bonus at the end of his contract In the end = finally Our car was always breaking so in the end we sold it.
In time vs On time In time On time = early enough, with time to spare: Joe’s ill at the moment but he hopes to be better in time for our party. On time = punctual, the right / exact time: German trains are famous for arriving on time.