7/30/2019 Prepositions of Time and Place in, On, At[1]

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Prepositions of Time: at, in, on

at for a PRECISE TIME

in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS

on for DAYS and DATES

at in on

PRECISE TIME MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS DAYS and DATES

at 3 o'clock in May on Sunday

at 10.30am in summer on Tuesdays

at noon in the summer on 6 March

at dinnertime in 1990 on 25 Dec. 2010

at bedtime in the 1990s on Christmas Day

at sunrise in the next century on Independence Day

at sunset in the Ice Age on my birthday

at the moment in the past/future on New Year's Eve

Look at these examples:

I have a meeting at 9am. The shop closes at midnight.

Jane went home at lunchtime. In England, it often snows in December.

Do you think we will go to Jupiterin the future? There should be a lot of progress in the next century.

Do you workon Mondays? Her birthday is on 20 November.

Where will you be on New Year's Day?

Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:

Expression Example

at night The stars shine at night.

at the weekend I don't usually workat the weekend.

at the same time We finished the test at the same time.

at present He's not home at present. Try later.

Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:

in on

in the morning on Tuesday morning

in the mornings on Saturday mornings

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use

at, in, on.

I went to London last June. (not in last

June)

He's coming back next Tuesday. (noton

next Tuesday)

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in the afternoon(s) on Sunday afternoons

in the evening(s) on Monday evening

Prepositions of place and time : IN /

ON / AT

Use IN before:

- Countries and cities :Colombia, Bogota (Paises y ciudades)

- Buildings: a shop, a museum (Edificios)

- Months: February, June (Meses)

- Seasons: winter, summer (Estaciones del ao)- Years: 1998, 2003 (Aos)

- Times of the day: morning, afternoon, evening NOT night (Partes del da)

Use ON before:

- Transport: a bike, a bus, train, plane, a ship NOT car (Transporte)

- A surface: the floor, a table, a shelf, the balcony, the roof, the wall (Superficies)

- Dates: March 1st (Fechas)

- Days: Tuesday, New Years Day, Valentines Day (Dias)

Use AT before:

- The following words: school, home, work, university, the airport, the station, a bus

stop, a party, the door, night, the weekend

- Times: 6 oclock, half past five, 4:45 pm (Hora)

- Festival periods: Christmas, Easter (Festivales)

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Preposition of place (at, on, in)

Part 1: Uses of at, in, and on

In: We use in to specify that a noun (object, person etc) isinside.

Figura #1:

Examples:

- Where is your father? Hes in the kitchen.

- Who is in the room?

- Brian was swimming in the ocean.

- Bogota is in Colombia.

* IN es usado para decir y explicar que un objeto, animal o persona se encuentra

dentro de un lugar, objeto o sitio.

At: We use at to refer to a general location.

Figura # 2

Examples:

- Maria is at the window talking on the phone.

- Juan is at the table with his girlfriend.

- Please read the paragraph at the top of the page.

- The restaurant is at the end of German Avenue.

*AT: es usado para explicar que un objeto animal o persona se encuentra en el sitio de

forma general. Es decir, si uno quiere decir: Mi padre esta en la puerta uno no puede

utilizar in puesto que in es usado para decir que algo se encuentra dentro de otro y

una persona no puede estar dentro de una puerta. Es por eso que en estos casos unohabla de forma general. Por ende seria de la forma siguiente: My father is at the door.

On: We use on when we want to say that an object or personis on the surface of another object.

Examples:

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- Your books are on the shelf.

- Dont put your hands on my head.

- There is an orange on the table.

We always say : on a horse, on a bike (bicycle) , on a motorcycle and we usually say on

a plane.

*ON:Es usado para explicar que un objeto esta sobre la superficie de otro.

Part 2 rules to use (at, in, on)

- Reglas para usar (at, in, on). En los siguientes cuadros vemos frases comunes que van

con at, in y on.