Welcome to your “In” / “At” / “On” with time lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• When do we use “In” / “At” / “On”?
• “At”
• “In” and “on”
• When do we not use “In” / “At” / “On”?
• Other uses of “In”
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.
When do we use “In” / “At” / “On”?
Have a look at these sentences:
“They will arrive in twenty minutes.“
“They will arrive at three pm.“
“They will arrive on the 21st of January.”
“At” is used for the time of day:
| at four pm | at midnight | at sunrise | at 11:30 |
“On” is used for days and dates:
| on Tuesday | on 14 July 2015 | on Easter Day | on independence day |
“In” is used for longer periods:
| in January | in 2014 | in the Middle Ages | in the past |
| in (the) summer | in the 70s | in the 16th century | in (the) future |
“At”
At is used with these expressions:
| at night |
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| at the weekend at weekends |
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| at Christmas |
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| at the moment |
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| at the same time |
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“In” and “on”
| in the morning(s) | on Monday morning(s) |
| in the afternoon(s) | on Tuesday afternoon(s) |
| in the evening(s) | on Wednesday evening(s) |
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When do we not use “In” / “At” / “On”?
“In” / “at” / “on” are not used before “last” / “next” / “this” / “every” :
“I’m going to the market this Saturday.”
(not “…onthisSaturday.”)“Were were you last week?”
(not “…atlastweek.“)
In spoken English, we sometimes leave out “on” before days of the week:
“I’m off, see you Monday.“
“My plane leaves tonight, it lands Saturday morning.”
Other uses of “In”
Have a look at these sentences:
“The plane lands in a few minutes.”
(a few minutes from now)“I’ll be back in a week.”
(a week from now)“He went to the shop, he’ll be back in a moment.”
(a moment from now)
You can also say:
“We’re going on holiday in four months’ time.“
“In” can also be used to say how long it takes to do something:
“I learnt to speak French in six months.”
Useful Links“On time” / “In time” / “At the end” / “In the end” |
