Welcome to your “On time” / “In time” / “At the end” / “In the end” lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• “On time” and “In time”
• “At the end” and “In the end”
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.
“On time” and “In time”
“On time” means “punctual” or “not late”:
“The plane took off on time.“
“Despite the traffic, I arrived on time.“
“In time” means “early enough”:
“Will you be there in time for a coffee?”
(will you have time for a coffee?)“I sent him a birthday present, I hope it arrives in time.”
(at some point before his birthday)
The opposite of “in time” is “too late”:
“I arrived at the stadium too late to see the first goal.“
“Just in time” means “almost too late”:
“She got to the airport just in time for registration.”
“A lizard ran across the road, but I managed to stop just in time.”
“At the end” and “In the end”
“At the end” means “at the time when something ends”:
“I get paid at the end of the month.”
“At the end of the film, everyone left.“
“At the end of the concert there was a huge party.”
You cannot say “In the end of + time reference” for example:
“
In the end of Januarywe’re buying a house.”
The opposite of “at the end of…” is “at the beginning of…”:
“We’re going to France at the beginning of next week.”
“In the end” means “finally”:
“Our dog was so loud that in the end we gave it away.“
“We planned a fantastic weekend but we didn’t go in the end.“
The opposite of “in the end” is usually “at first”:
“At first I hated snails, but in the end it became my favourite meal.”
