At, on and in (time) - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

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At, on and in (time) 

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Grammar > Prepositions and particles > At, on and in (time)

from English Grammar Today

We use at:

with particular points on the clock:

I’ll see you at five o’clock.

with particular points in the day:

The helicopter took off at midday and headed for the island.

with particular points in the week:

What are you doing at the weekend?

with special celebrations:

At the New Year, millions of people travel home to be with their families (but we say on your birthday).

We don’t use at with the question What time …? in informal situations:

What time are you leaving? (preferred to At what time are you leaving?)

We use on:

with dates:
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We moved into this house on 25 October 1987.

with a singular day of theSettings

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https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/at-on-and-in-time[30/05/2021 3:33:03 AM]

At, on and in (time) - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

I’ve got to go to London on Friday.

with a plural day of the week to refer to repeated events:

The office is closed on Fridays. (every Friday) In informal situations, we often leave out on before
plural days:

Do you work Saturdays?

with special dates:

What do you normally do on your birthday?

We use in:

with parts of the day:

I’ll come and see you in the morning for a cup of coffee, okay?

with months:

We usually go camping in July or August.

with years:

The house was built in 1835.

with seasons:

The garden is wonderful in the spring when all the flowers come out.

with long periods of time:

The population of Europe doubled in the nineteenth century.

At or on ?
We use at to talk about public holidays and weekends, but when we talk about a particular special day or
weekend, we use on.
Compare

We never go away at the New Year because the On New Year’s Day, the whole family gets
traffic is awful. together.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/at-on-and-in-time[30/05/2021 3:33:03 AM]

At, on and in (time) - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

I’ll go and see my mother at the weekend if the The folk festival is always held on the last
weather’s okay. weekend in July.

*Note that American English speakers usually say on the weekend.

In or on ?
We use in with morning, afternoon, evening and night, but we use on when we talk about a specific
morning, afternoon, etc., or when we describe the part of the day.
Compare

I always work best in the morning. I often get The ship left the harbour on the morning of
tired in the afternoon. the ninth of November.

In the evening they used to sit outside and It happened on a beautiful summer’s
watch the sun going down. evening.

At or in ?
In the night usually refers to one particular night; at night refers to any night in general:

I was awake in the night, thinking about all the things that have happened.

‘It’s not safe to travel at night,’ the officer said.

At the end or in the end ?

We use at the end (often with of) to talk about the point in time where something finishes. We use in the
end to talk about things that happen after a long time or after a series of other events:

At the end of the film, everyone was crying.

Not: In the end of the film …

I looked everywhere for the book but couldn’t find it, so in the end I bought a new copy.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/at-on-and-in-time[30/05/2021 3:33:03 AM]

At, on and in (time) - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

At the beginning or in the beginning ?

We use at the beginning (often with of) to talk about the point where something starts. We usually use in
the beginning when we contrast two situations in time:

At the beginning of every lesson, the teacher told the children a little story.

In the beginning, nobody understood what was happening, but after she explained everything very
carefully, things were much clearer.

See also:

At

Other uses of in with time

We use in to say how long it takes someone to do something:

He was such a clever musician. He could learn a song in about five minutes.

We use an apostrophe -s construction (in a year’s time, in two months’ time) to say when something will
happen. We don’t use it to say how long someone takes to do something:

I won’t say goodbye because we’ll be seeing each other again in three days’ time. We can also say in
three days, without time, in this example.

He ran the marathon in six hours and 20 minutes.

Not: He ran the marathon in six hours and 20 minutes’ time.

Time expressions without at, on, in

We don’t normally use at, on or in before time expressions beginning with each, every, next, last, some,
this, that, one, any, all:

He plays football every Saturday.

Are you free next Monday at two o’clock?

Last summer we rented a villa in Portugal.

See also:

Time
Next

At, on and in (time): typical errors

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/at-on-and-in-time[30/05/2021 3:33:03 AM]

At, on and in (time) - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

We use on not at to talk about a particular day:

The two couples were married in two different cities on the same day, 25 years ago.

Not: … at the same day, 25 years ago.

We don’t use at to refer to dates:

The General was killed on 26 August.

Not: … at 26 August.

We use at, not in, with weekend(s):

What do you usually do at the weekend? Do you go away?

Not: What do you usually do in the weekend?

We use in with months, not on:

They’re going to Australia in September for a conference.

Not: They’re going to Australia on September …

Popular searches
01 Since

02 Inversion

03 Present simple (I work)

04 Suggest

05 Either … or…

06 Made from, made of, made out of, made with

07 Although or though?

08 Collocation

09 Present perfect continuous (I have been working)

10 As … as

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/at-on-and-in-time[30/05/2021 3:33:03 AM]

At, on and in (time) - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

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At, on and in (time) - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

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https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/at-on-and-in-time[30/05/2021 3:33:03 AM]