At, in, on: Prepositions of time

At, in, on: Prepositions of time

Download full-size image from Pinterest

At

Use at with times of day, including mealtimes, bedtime, etc.

• at 3 o’clock, at 10.30 am, at noon, at dinnertime, at bedtime, at sunrise, at sunset, at the moment

Use at in the following common expressions:

• at the weekend: I don’t usually work at the weekend.
• at Christmas/Easter: I stay with my family at Christmas.
• at the same time: We finished the test at the same time.
• at present/at the moment: He’s not home at present. Try later.

In

Use in with months, seasons, years, decades, centuries and long periods of time in general.

• in May, in the summer, in 1990, in the 1990s, in the 20th century, in the Ice Age, in the past/future

On

Use on followed by days and dates.

• on Sunday, on Tuesday mornings, on 6 March, on 25 December 2010, on Christmas Day, on Independence Day, on my birthday, on New Year’s Eve

Parts of the day:

• in the morning
• in the afternoon
• in the evening
• at night

Last, next, every and this

When we say last, next, every, this, we do not use at, in, on.

• I went to London last June.
• I went to London in last June.
• He’s coming back next Tuesday. 
• He’s coming back on next Tuesday. 
• I go home every Easter. 
• I go home at every Easter. 
• We’ll call you this evening. 
• We’ll call you in this evening.