Prepositions of TIME IN ON AT BY Common English Grammar Mistakes
Hello! This is Emma from mmmEnglish,
back with another lesson
on the mmmEnglish YouTube channel.
Now a few weeks ago
I made a video lesson using articles in English.
If you missed it, you can watch it up here.
But in that video, I said that
articles are one of the
biggest problems for English students
because they are the cause of
so many grammar mistakes!
And it’s true!
As a University English teacher,
I saw these mistakes all the time!
But
coming very close behind mistakes with articles
are mistakes with prepositions.
Now, prepositions are words
like these
in, on, at,
by
with
for
over under
of
to
There are many of them in English
and like articles,
prepositions are difficult to understand.
Sometimes the reasons why you should choose one
over another,
it’s not really obvious.
And sometimes there are
exceptions and differences depending on
who you actually talk to
whether they speak American English or
British English.
So what’s the secret to these prepositions?
How can you possibly know
when and how
to use them correctly?
Well, the answer might not be one that you like.
There’s no simple rule,
there’s no one answer.
Prepositions need to be learnt in context
with the other words that they’re used with.
Trying to understand
why we say
“in the car” and
“on the bus”
will only end in tears and frustrations!
By learning the phrase
“in the car”
together, all together
will make it easier to remember it
and also to get it right every time.
You’re not thinking about which preposition
but you’re remembering the phrase.
All of the words together.
Now last week I talked about these
prepositions
in, on, at
and by.
But all when they’re used to talk about place
or the position of something.
Let’s meet at the library.
He’s in the kitchen.
I’ll see you on the bus.
He’s waiting by the car.
If you missed that lesson,
you can catch it up here.
But today we’re going to focus on these
same prepositions
but for when they give information about time.
I’ll be there in five minutes.
I’ll meet you at 3pm
on Thursday.
We need to be there
by noon.
So first,
let’s go over the main points
that we need to remember.
“At” is used in reference
to specific times on the clock
or points of time in the day.
“In” usually refers to
periods of time.
And “on” is used
with dates and named days of the week.
And “by” is used
specifically with an end point of time
and it means
no later than.
Let’s start with “at”.
Use “at” for very specific times.
Clock times for example.
The train arrives at 3:30.
The party starts at midnight.
The meeting will finish at 5:30.
I’ll be there at noon
or at midday
at midnight
at dawn
at dusk.
All of these words refer to
specific time
but we can also use “at” with
other specific times of the day, like
He doesn’t like driving at night.
I’m going shopping at lunchtime.
I read my daughter a story at bedtime.
Let’s talk about it at dinner tonight.
So there, I just called the time
dinner.
It’s not the meal name there,
I’m using the time.
We’ll talk about it at dinner
time, tonight.
But often it’s not spoken.
One thing that you must be careful about is with
morning, afternoon
evening and night.
We say “at night”
but for all of these other times of the day
we say
“in the morning”
“in the afternoon”
“in the evening”
So
- and don’t forget the article as well, right?
Now there’s also some really common
fixed expressions
that use the preposition “at”
when you’re referring to
a specific point in time.
She’s working at the moment.
So when you’re talking about
an action that is happening around the present moment,
you’re not using “in the moment”
- all the Italians out there!
In the moment, I’m working on a very interesting project.
No!
It’s “at the moment”
At the moment,
I’m working on a very interesting project.
She’s a little busy at present,
can I get her to call you back?
It’s quite formal
but “at present” means at this time.
I finish the course at the end of April.
So “at the end of” or “at the
start of” a period of time
is also a common way
to refer to a
specific point in time.
Note that if you say something happened in the middle
of a period of time,
you need to use the preposition
“in”.
But I’ll talk more about that in a moment.
We arrived at the same time.
So we use “at the same time”
to say that two separate actions
happened simultaneously
- at one time.
Okay let’s talk about the preposition “in”.
“In” is used for periods of time,
so seasons or months
or even longer periods of time
like centuries or decades or years.
I was born in 1986.
He’ll visit them in October.
The ski resort is closed in summer.
He grew up in the seventies.
That’s the period of time between 1970 and 1980.
It happened in the 16th century.
Don’t worry,
it all happened in the past.
Just as we use “in” for periods of time
we also use it for periods of time
during the day
when we’re not being specific.
So…
They’re leaving in the evening.
The baby sleeps in the afternoon.
I work most productively in the morning.
But compare this to
I start work at 9am.
So there’s specific time and there’s kind of general time.
We can also use “in” to describe
the amount of time needed to do something.
So again, we’re talking about a
period of time.
A period of time.
They managed to complete the job in two weeks.
You can drive around the island in a day.
We can also use “in” to explain
when something will happen in the future.
I’ll be ready in five minutes.
He’s gone away but he’ll be back in a couple of days.
You can collect your parcel in a week.
Now remember I told you earlier
that if you’re using the expression
at the end of or at the start of something
you need to use the preposition “at”.
At the start of July.
Return it to me at the end of the day.
But, if you’re referring to the middle of a period of time
your preposition needs to be “in”
“in the middle”
In the middle of June .
Or it’s too hot to go out in the middle of the day.
Okay, here’s another really common fixed expression.
“In time”
You’ll hear it all the time!
We made it in time.
Luckily, we arrived just in time.
This means that you weren’t late
or you arrived just before the event started.
Don’t confuse this with
“on time”
which is another fixed expression
Please arrive on time.
This means at the starting time,
not later.
If you’re told to arrive on time,
don’t be late!
The teacher told them to arrive on time.
And even though they slept in,
they arrived just in time!
Now let’s explore
more about this preposition now.
“On”
In English we can use this preposition for
specific descriptions of time.
Most commonly with days of the week
and parts of days of the week.
She’s working on Monday.
That’s a specific and a unique time.
She usually works on Mondays.
By using the plural form there,
I’m suggesting that this is a regular event.
It happens every week.
We’re going to the theatre on Wednesday evening.
Let’s have a coffee on Friday morning.
It’s his birthday on Saturday.
So note that in spoken English
“on” is often omitted in context like this.
She’s working Monday.
So don’t be confused if
suddenly when someone says a sentence like this
you can’t hear the preposition.
In spoken English, it’s often dropped.
“On” is also used with dates.
The interview is on the 29th of April.
He was born on February 14th.
It’s also used with special days.
She was born on Valentine’s Day.
We’re moving house on Christmas Eve.
I have an exam on my birthday.
But here’s another little exception
that you need to keep in mind.
When you’re talking about festivals and
about special periods of time,
you can use “at”.
So, are you going home at Christmas?
So that’s talking about the time around Christmas.
If you’re referring to the specific day,
you need to use “on”.
On Christmas Day.
On New Year’s Eve.
What are you doing on New Year’s Day?
What are you doing at New Year’s?
Now this question is more general,
you’re referring to the period of time
around this holiday
usually there is a few days where
everyone’s not working and
they’re relaxing and hanging out so
“on Year’s Day” means specifically that day
but if you say
“at New Year’s”
you just mean the time around that day.
Another fixed expression
that can be a little bit confusing is
“at or on the weekend”.
What are you doing on the weekend?
is more common in American English and
What are you doing at the weekend?
is more common in British English.
But either way,
you’ll be understood.
Both of them mean the same thing.
But it’s good to know that there are
two different ways to express this.
And lastly, “by” .
Our last little preposition
is very useful to give information about time.
You can use “by” with the end time of an activity.
The show should be finished by 9pm.
It means no later than.
So when it’s used with a specific time,
it can mean on or before that time.
Please return these books by Friday.
That means no later than Friday.
So let’s recap.
Let’s go over everything that we learnt in this lesson
because it was a lot to take in!
“At” is generally used in reference to
specific times on the clock
or specific points of time in the day.
“In” generally refers to longer periods of time.
“On” is used with dates or named days.
And “by” is used with times and named days
but specifically telling us an end time.
Well that’s it for this lesson!
I hope that it’s been good revision for you
to remind yourself about the correct way to
use these really common English prepositions
that give more information about time.
Now if you’ve got any questions at all,
put them in the comments below
and I will try to answer them as soon as I can.
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