- Common prepositions of time
- Preposition ‘ON’
- Preposition ‘AT’
- Preposition ‘IN’
- Prepositions ‘PAST’ and ‘TO’
- Prepositions ‘FROM…UNTIL’ and ‘BETWEEN…AND…’
- Preposition ‘UNTIL’ / ‘TIL’
- Prepositions ‘SINCE’ and ‘FOR’
- Preposition ‘DURING’
- Prepositions ‘BEFORE’ and ‘AFTER’
- No preposition
- Common prepositions of time
- Preposition ‘ON’
- Preposition ‘AT’
- Preposition ‘IN’
- Prepositions ‘PAST’ and ‘TO’
- Prepositions ‘FROM…UNTIL’ and ‘BETWEEN…AND…’
- Preposition ‘UNTIL’ / ‘TIL’
- Prepositions ‘SINCE’ and ‘FOR’
- Preposition ‘DURING’
- Prepositions ‘BEFORE’ and ‘AFTER’
- No preposition
Prepositions of time tell us when something happens, and for how long. They are usually used with clock times, mealtimes, parts of the day, months, years, and other durations:
- I’ll see you at 8 o’clock.
- My brother gets up late on Sundays.
- Shakespeare died in 1616.
Common prepositions of time
The most common prepositions to talk about time are ‘in‘, ‘on‘, and ‘at‘.
![prepositions of time](http://hidupgrammar.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/7/3/30730895/6004373_orig.gif)
![prepositions of time](http://hidupgrammar.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/7/3/30730895/6004373_orig.gif)
![prepositions of time](http://hidupgrammar.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/7/3/30730895/6004373_orig.gif)
Preposition ‘ON’
We use the preposition on to talk about days, parts of the day, dates and special days:
– days: on Monday, on my birthday, on Christmas Day
– days + morning / afternoon / evening / night: on Tuesday morning
– dates: on the 15th of June
- Shall we go shopping on Sunday afternoon?
- I usually go out on Saturday.
- The festival will take place on the 15th of August.
- We always have a huge celebration on New Year’s Eve.
Preposition ‘AT’
We use the preposition at to talk about a point in time (clock time or mealtime):
– times: at 8pm, at midnight, at 6:30
– holiday periods: at Christmas, at Easter
– at night
– at the weekend
– at lunchtime, at dinnertime, at breakfast time
- My alarm clock buzzed at 8.00am.
- David and Stephanie will see us tomorrow morning at breakfast.
- My favorite TV program starts at six thirty.
Note: The preposition at is also used in the following expressions: at night, at the weekend, at the moment, at Christmas, at Easter. |
Preposition ‘IN’
We use the preposition in to talk about parts of the day, months, seasons and years (meaning ‘during’ them):
– years: in 1992, in 2006
– months: in December, in June
– decades: in the sixties, in the 1790s
– centuries: in the 19th century
– seasons: in winter, in summer
– in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening
- Yesterday Peter woke up early in the morning.
- I graduated from the University in 2003.
- Have you been to Los Angeles in autumn?
In can also mean after some time:
- I’ll call you back in an hour.
- Jeremy hopes to finish his new painting in a week.
Prepositions ‘PAST’ and ‘TO’
We usually use the prepositions past and to to tell the time:
- It’s half past four. (4:30 – ‘past’ means ‘after’)
- It’s twenty to nine. (8:40 – ‘to’ means ‘before’)
Prepositions ‘FROM…UNTIL’ and ‘BETWEEN…AND…’
We use prepositions ‘from…until…‘ and ‘between…and…’ to say when an action starts and when it finishes:
- The shop is normally open from 8am until 6pm.
- The train is late, it’s supposed to arrive between 4pm and 6pm.
Preposition ‘UNTIL’ / ‘TIL’
We use the prepositions until or til o say when the ongoing action finishes (meaning ‘up to the time’):
- Michael has to stay at work until six o’clock.
- We will live together until next year.
Prepositions ‘SINCE’ and ‘FOR’
We use the preposition since to say when an ongoing action started:
- I’ve been studying German since last year.
- Kate’s been playing with her daughter since 11am.
We use the preposition for to say how long the action has been happening:
- John has been practicing yoga for 10 years.
- I’ve been working for 9 hours already.
Preposition ‘DURING’
We use the preposition during to say something happened in a period of time:
- I met Jane during the summer.
- She stayed at a hostel during her trip.
Prepositions ‘BEFORE’ and ‘AFTER’
We use the prepositions before and after to show a sequence of actions:
- I will finish my work before 5 o’clock. (earlier)
- I will do the dishes after dinner. (later)
No preposition
Sometimes we don’t need prepositions when talking about time. No prepositions are used with the words ‘last, ‘next’, ‘this’, ‘every’, etc.:
– next week, year, month, etc.
– last night, year, etc.
– this morning, month, etc.
– every day, night, year, etc.
– today, tomorrow, yesterday.
- He promised to come tomorrow.
- I’ll see you next week.
Here’s an interesting video from mmmEnglish explaining common mistakes of using the prepositions of time:
Read more about prepositions: