Prepositions of time and place

What you will practice

• Use at, on, and in for times.
• Use at, on, and in for places.
• Keep at night separate from in the morning.

Explanation

Time

For time, at is for a clock time: at five o’clock. on is for a day or date: on Monday, on 3 May. in is for a month, a year, a season, and a part of the day: in May, in 2024, in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. in Monday and at the morning cross these groups.

Place

For place, at is a point such as a station, a bus stop, or an address used as a meeting point: at the station. on is a surface: on the table, on the wall. in is inside a space: in the room, in the bag, in Turkey. A city uses in: in Berlin.

The odd one

Night is the exception in the time set. Say at night, not in the night, for the general period. The other parts of the day keep in the: in the morning. A particular night on the calendar can use on: on Monday night. That phrase names the day as well as the night.

Examples

1. at five o’clocka clock time
2. on Mondaya day
3. in the morninga part of the day
4. at the stationa meeting point
5. on the tablea surface

Common mistakes

• on the morning is not the general pattern. Use in the morning, or on Monday morning when the day is named.
• Do not use at for a country or a city. The pattern here is in Turkey and in Berlin.