English Prepositions Difference between IN TIME and ON TIME

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hi everybody my name is Alisha in this

lesson I’m going to talk about the

differences between in time and on time

let’s begin let’s begin with in time the

expression in time we use this

expression to refer to activities with

deadlines or limited time periods for

completion let’s take a look at some

examples so we can see how to use this

phrase first he made it to the station

in time for his train so made it means

like was able to arrive he was able to

arrive to the station he made it to the

station in time for his train this use

of in time before the noun phrase his

train shows us that he in this situation

was able to arrive at the station before

the deadline for his train so his train

has a specific time there’s a specific

time period in which he is able to catch

a train in able to is able to catch his

train rather so using in time shows us

that he was able to do that and we have

a positive sentence here so he made it

to his train he was able to catch his

train let’s look at another expression

or another example of this expression I

finished work in time to watch the

soccer game I finished work in time to

watch the soccer game so here in time

comes before this verb phrase to watch

the soccer game this means I finished

work with enough time to watch the

soccer game so the soccer game there’s a

fixed amount of time a limited time

period that I can watch the soccer game

I finished work

at a point in time that allowed me to

watch the soccer game so I finished work

and there was still time remaining to

watch the soccer game so we use in time

to show that I was still able to do that

thing here it’s with a verb phrase let’s

continue to the next example sentence

this one is a negative

she didn’t arrive at the examination

Center in time to take the test in time

to take the test here we see it’s

another verb phrase in time to take the

test so in time to do this action so

this is the action here as we’ve seen in

each of these example sentences the item

the noun phrase or the verb the activity

comes after the end time expression so

in this case in time to take the test

but remember I pointed out this is a

negative she didn’t arrive at the

examination center in time to take the

test means she didn’t arrive at the

Center with enough time to take the test

so there was a deadline to take the test

there was some limited like period of

time within which she needed to arrive

in order to complete this action however

she did not arrive in time she did not

arrive within that limited time period

or before that deadline and therefore

she did not take the test let’s continue

to another negative example of this they

didn’t get to the concert hall in time

for the show so again here after in time

we see for the show in this case it’s a

noun phrase so we see this is the thing

that was not able to happen we know that

it was not able to happen because of

this negative they didn’t get get means

arrive or come to they didn’t get to the

concert hall in time for meaning they

weren’t able to arrive before the

began or in the limited period that the

show was happening they didn’t arrive in

time to do that so we use in time to

show these sorts of deadlines or that we

weren’t able to do something within the

limited time period that we have to

complete that activity we can also use

this expression in questions for example

are you going to get to the office in

time for your meeting

here we see get again which means like

arrive or come to are you going to get

to the office in time for your meeting

this is a question that’s asking are you

going to arrive at the office with

enough time to join this meeting so that

means a meeting is scheduled there’s

some plan and the speaker is asking the

listener if the listener is going to

arrive with enough time or within this

limited time period to participate in

this activity so we can use this in

questions as well I pointed out

throughout the example sentences to

these noun phrases and verb phrases that

we see after in time so you’ll notice

when we use in time for we followed for

with our noun phrase so we saw in time

for his train or in time for the show in

time for your meeting so these are all

noun phrases when we want to talk about

a verb however

like an action doing some kind of action

we use to with our verb phrase and the

verb is in the infinitive form so we saw

here time to watch the soccer game so

here’s my verb in the infinitive form in

time to watch the soccer game here in

time to take the test so the infinitive

form of the verb is there so when you

use in time please make sure to think

about these two points is it a noun

phrase is it a verb phrase you’re

talking about okay so with this in mind

let’s continue to the second part of

this lesson

on time on time on time the meaning here

is it refers to activities that happen

at the appointed appointed means

scheduled time so on time therefore

implies or we know when we hear on time

that in the past a schedule was set so

we decided on something for example like

transportations or like meeting

schedules class schedules those kinds of

timetables are very commonly used with

on time so on time refers to something

happening at a scheduled time in time

refers to activities with deadlines or

there’s a limited time period to

complete it let’s look at some examples

of how we can use on time then first she

arrived at the office on time so here

what was the action the action was this

arrived she arrived past tense she

arrived at the office on time this shows

us she arrived at the office at the

scheduled time or as scheduled this is

another way to say it she arrived at the

office as scheduled she arrived at the

office at the scheduled time let’s look

at one more we finished work on time

today so we finished work at the

scheduled time today is another way to

say this we finished work on time today

not we finished work in time today I’ll

come back to a point like that in just a

moment but on time shows it was

scheduled another example this one a

negative the game didn’t start on time

the game didn’t start on time

shows us the game was probably late the

game didn’t start on time the game was

supposed to or the game was scheduled to

start at 3 p.m. for example but the game

started at 3:30 for example in that case

we could say the game

didn’t start on time a negative let’s

look at another negative I didn’t turn

in my

homework on time I didn’t turn in my

homework on time so here I did not turn

in my homework but this shows on time

this shows us the action was completed

it was just late so I didn’t turn in my

homework on time at the scheduled time

in other words the homework was due at

10 o’clock I turned in the homework at

10:30 or 11:00 for example so this

sentence I didn’t turn in my homework

means the action just did not happen I

didn’t turn in my homework on time means

the action happened late ok let’s take a

look at a couple other expressions one

he’s on time for his 3:00 p.m. meeting

he’s on time for his 3:00 p.m. meeting

this is something you might hear for

example a secretary or an assistant or

just someone else reporting the

activities of another person he’s on

time for his 3 p.m. meeting this is a

sentence that means the person here he

or she they this person their activities

throughout the day today have led them

to be in a position of being on time in

the future now that’s a very strange way

to say this I know but it means that

person has been doing many things all

day long and so now they know that they

have this 3 p.m. meeting but they’ve

been doing all these other things and

now they’re still okay they’re still

okay to attend this meeting at 3 p.m.

that’s what this implies he’s on time

for a 3 p.m. meeting so this is

typically something that’s used for like

busy people to describe busy people’s

schedules he’s on time for this she’s on

time for that so like you might hear it

used for like a president or a prime

minister like someone that has a very

very hectic or crazy schedule you might

hear people reporting about that person

schedule and that person’s upcoming

activities with something like this ok

we can use this in a question as we saw

with in time for example is the

conference going to finish on time is

the conference going to finish on time

means is the conference going to finish

as scheduled at the scheduled time so

you can see we use on time to refer to

scheduled to like asking questions and

making statements about scheduled things

we use in time to refer to deadlines for

completion of an action I mentioned one

point though I think I talked about it

here we finished work on time today I

mentioned this is one situation where I

might see some like mistakes from

students we finished work in time today

we could say this week we finished work

in time today we finished work in time

today for something else so when you’re

using in time you need to explain the

activity the thing that you were able to

do or not able to do when you’re using

in time when you’re using on time you’re

referring to some past scheduled action

so you don’t always need to explain the

specific thing that you’re talking about

so for example she arrived at the office

on time there was some schedule or every

day she starts work at 9:00 a.m. for

example that’s on time when you’re

talking about in time it may be a good

idea to include it in your sentence here

as I’ve done occasionally in

conversation when the activity is

obvious native speakers will drop that

from end time but you don’t always need

to include it with on time it might be a

good idea to include the activity within

time however so this is a quick

introduction to some differences between

in time and on time and some sample

sentences of course if you have any

questions or comments or if you want to

practice making sentences with one of

these two points please feel free to do

so in the comment section of this video

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again soon bye

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