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Prepositions of Time Explained

This document provides a comparison of the uses of different prepositions of time in English - in, on, at, during and for. It explains that: - In is used for months, seasons, years, centuries, times of day and longer periods of time. - On is used for days of the week, days with specified times, dates and special days. - At is used for clock times and festivals. It also discusses some exceptions and clarifies the differences between using for to indicate duration and during to indicate the time something occurs.

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70 views1 page

Prepositions of Time Explained

This document provides a comparison of the uses of different prepositions of time in English - in, on, at, during and for. It explains that: - In is used for months, seasons, years, centuries, times of day and longer periods of time. - On is used for days of the week, days with specified times, dates and special days. - At is used for clock times and festivals. It also discusses some exceptions and clarifies the differences between using for to indicate duration and during to indicate the time something occurs.

Uploaded by

silcab67
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Centro Lingstico & Cultural

GORA

PREPOSITIONS
We use many different prepositions for talking about time.
Here we are looking at: in, on, at, during and for.
We use in, on and at for lots of different times. Heres a table comparing the uses:

IN

ON

Months: in January / in April


Seasons: in spring / in
winter
Years: in 1984 / in 2015
Centuries: in the 20th
century
Times of day: in the
morning / in the evening
Longer periods of time: in
the past / in the 1990s / in
the holidays

Days of the week: on Monday


Days + parts of days: on
Tuesday afternoon / on
Saturday mornings
Dates: on November 22nd
Special days: on my birthday /
on New Years Eve

AT

Clock times: at 7.30 a.m. /


at 5 oclock
Festivals: at Christmas / at
Easter
Exceptions: at night / at the
weekend

EXCEPTIONS:
Sometimes we dont use a preposition of time, for example after next/this/last/every.
We go skateboarding every Saturday afternoon.
Ill see you next Friday. But I could also say: Ill see you on Friday.
Ill see you Friday.
Dates ... You write on 8th July but how do you say that?
We say on the eighth of July.
Can I use it for the future, as in Ill do it in a minute? Yes, thats very common. We
use in for talking about something in the future a certain length of time from now.
Shell be back in a moment.
Were going away in two weeks.
And can I say, Were going away for two weeks?
Yes, but the meaning is completely different.
Were going away in two weeks. (= we leave two weeks from now)
Were going away for two weeks. (= our holiday will be two weeks long)
Ah, and what about Were going away during two weeks?
No, you cant say that. We use for + a length of time, to say how long something
goes on for, and during + a noun / noun phrase, to say when something happens.
It snowed for three hours.
It snowed during the night.
OK, thats a useful rule. But, hang on, I can also say It snowed in the night.
Yes, absolutely.
And: I did a lot of work in the holidays or I did a lot of work during the holidays?
Yes, youve got the hang of this.
Good, so now Im going to study for a few hours. Ill see you on Tuesday, in the
morning, at about 10 oclock.
See you at some time during the morning!

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