39. Prepositions At / on / in (time)

AT

Clock time public holiday

E.g. at 5 o’clock E.g. at Christmas

ON

days, dates

E.G. On Monday

On Monday morning

On the first of April

IN

parts of the day longer periods

E.g. in the morning, E.g. in winter, in 1945,

in the afternoon, in the evening in the Middle Ages

REMEMBER:

At the week-end

At night / at midnight

At the moment

At present

At the same time

At the age of …

At the end / beginning of …

We don’t use at / on / in before this, last, next

E.g. this morning

E.g. last September

E.g. next Monday

We use in:

1. to speak about time in the future

E.g. I will do it in a few minutes.

2. to say how long it took to do something

E.g. I translated this text in two days.

Ex. 1. Insert at, in, on or nothing.

1. …Easter

2. … Wednesday

3. …1921

4. … night

5. … the evening

6. … Friday evening

7. … September

8. … dinner time

9. … next Saturday

10. … Saturday

11. … Saturday afternoon

12. … 12.30 a.m.

13. … a quarter to ten

14. … Easter day

15. … spring

16. …8 o’clock

17. … Victorian times

18. … the same time

19. … 7^th February

20. … the moment

21. … the end of this month

22. … Christmas day

23. … the week-end

24. … Tuesday afternoon

For / During

for is used to say how long something goes on;

during is used to say when something happens.

E.g. He was absent for two weeks.

During those 2 weeks he visited all his relatives.

Ex. 2. Insert for or during.

1. She will come up to you … the interval.

2. She will stay with you … about 2 hours.

3. They met … the war.

4. They were together … 3 years.

5. He studied in France … two years.

6. They haven’t seen each other … a long time.

7. I fell asleep … the flight.

8. He broke his ankle … his walk around the mountains.

By / until (till is informal)

By is used to say that something will happen at or before a certain moment, not later.

E.g. We have to finish our work by 5 o’clock.

I don’t doubt it, we’ll get our salaries by Monday.

Until is used to say how long a situation will continue.

E.g. We will be working until 5 o’clock.

They will keep our salaries until Monday.

Ex. 3. Insert by or until.

1. Can I stay with you … the end of the month?

2. I think, you’ll have to leave … Friday.

3. I have to arrive at the airport … 6 o’clock.

4. You can stay at home … 4 o’clock and then call a taxi.

5. She cried and cried … midnight.

6. She stopped crying … midnight.

7. You have to bring the books back to the library … Tuesday.

8. You can keep the books … next week.

9. You can do the washing … midday.

10. You have to finish the washing … midday.