Prepositions of Time (at, in, on) | English Grammar Quiz
- AT is used with particular points of time (e.g. at midnight), mealtimes (e.g. at dinner) and festivals (e.g. at Christmas)
- IN is used with parts of the day (e.g. in the morning) and longer periods of time, such as months, seasons, years, etc.
- ON is used with a particular day, date, or part of a particular day (e.g. on Monday morning)
Normally, don’t use “at, in, on” before the following words/phrases:
- yesterday
- the day before yesterday
- tomorrow
- the day after tomorrow
- time expressions that begin with these words: all, any, each, every, last, next, one, some, this, that
(e.g. I’m going to London next Tuesday.)
List of Examples:
AT
- at 11 o’clock
- at 2 pm
- at bedtime
- at break / breaktime
- at breakfast
- at Christmas [ on Christmas Day / Eve ]
- at dawn
- at daybreak
- at dinner / dinnertime
- at dusk
- at Easter [ on Easter Day / Sunday / Monday ]
- at lunch / lunchtime
- at midday
- at midnight
- at New Year [ on New Year’s Day / Eve ]
- at night / night-time [ in the night ]
- at noon
- at present / at the present time
- at recess
- at sunrise
- at sunset
- at the beginning of
- at the end of
- at the moment
- at the same time
- at the time
- at the weekend [ US: on the weekend ]
- at this / that moment
- at this / that time
- at twilight [ in the twilight ]
IN
- in (the) autumn / fall
- in (the) spring
- in 1990
- in 2 weeks / in 2 weeks’ time
- in a moment
- in an hour
- in January
- in July
- in my childhood
- in my youth
- in the 21st century
- in the afternoon
- in the Dark Ages
- in the days that followed
- in the daytime
- in the Easter holiday
- in the evening
- in the future
- in the holidays
- in the hours before
- in the Middle Ages
- in the middle of
- in the morning
- in the night [ at night ]
- in the past
- in the seventies / in the 1970s (’70s)
- in the twilight [ at twilight ]
- in the week of / before
- in those days
ON
- on 1st August 2010
- on a cold day
- on a summer evening
- on August 1st
- on Christmas Day / Eve [ at Christmas ]
- on Easter Day / Sunday / Monday [ at Easter ]
- on holiday
- on Monday
- on Monday morning
- on my birthday
- on my lunch break
- on my wedding day
- on New Year’s Day / Eve [ at New Year ]
- on schooldays
- on that day
- on the afternoon of
- on the evening of
- on the fifth of the month
- on the first day
- on the last day
- on the last weekend of / before
- on the morning of
- on the night of
- on the same day
- on the weekend [ UK: at the weekend ]
- on weekdays
- on winter mornings
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