Preposition of Time

PREPOSITION OF
TIME

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 Preposition of Time

What is Preposition?
• A preposition is a word which precedes a noun (or a pronoun) to show the noun's
(or the pronoun's) relationship to another word in the sentence.

• (The word preposition comes from the idea of being positioned before. It is not

true to say that a preposition always precedes a noun or a pronoun, but it does
most of the time.)

 The following are all prepositions:

above, about, across, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below,
beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside,
into, like, near, of, off, on, since, to, toward, through, under, until, up, upon, with  &
within. 

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 Preposition of Time

Prepositions of Time are prepositions that we use for talking about time.

Some common prepositions of time are:

At, In, On

Meanings :

At : A preposition of time which is used to designate specific times.

In : A preposition of time which is used for nonspecific times during a day, a month, a
season, or a year..

On : A preposition of time which is used to designate days and dates.

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 Preposition of Time

At : to indicate precise time / periods

times: at 8pm, at midnight, at 6:30
at night
at the weekend
at lunchtime, at dinnertime, at breakfast time

Examples :

I have a meeting at 9am.
The train is due at 12:15 p.m.
The shop closes at midnight.
Jane went home at lunchtime.
What did you do at the weekend?

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 Preposition of Time

In : for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS

 years: in 1992, in 2006
 months: in December, in June
 decades: in the sixties, in the 1790s
 centuries: in the 19th century
 seasons: in winter, in summer
 in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, period of time

Examples :

 In England, it often snows in December.

 Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
 There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
 I visited Italy in July, in spring, in 1994
 In the evenings, I like to relax.

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 Preposition of Time

On : for DAYS and DATES

 days: on Monday, on my birthday, on Christmas Day

 days + morning / afternoon / evening / night: on Tuesday morning
 dates: on the 20th of June

Examples :

 Do you work on Mondays?
 Her birthday is on 20 November.
 Where will you be on New Year's Day?
 Many shops don't open on Sundays.
 What did you do on the weekend?

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 Preposition of Time

We do not use any prepositions in the below cases:

 next week, year, month etc.

 last night, year etc.
 this morning, month etc.
 every day, night, years etc.
 today, tomorrow, yesterday

Examples :

 I went to London last June. (not in last June)

 He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
 I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
 We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)
 I am going tomorrow. (not on tomorrow)

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 Preposition of Time

Following are some more prepositions of time:

From a particular time in the past England have not won the World Cup in
Since
until a later time, or until now football since 1966

For Used to show an amount of time. I'm just going to bed for an hour or so.

Back in the past; back in time from

Ago The dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago.
the present
Before At or during a time earlier than She's always up before dawn.
Used when saying the time, to
To It's twenty to six.
mean before the stated hour
Past Telling the time Five past ten
Until a particular time, marking end
To It's only two weeks to Christmas.
of a period of time
Used to show the time when The museum is open from 9.30 to 6.00
From
something starts Tuesday to Sunday.
Till / Until Up to (the time that) We waited till / until half past six for you.
By Not later than; at or before She had promised to be back by 5 o'clock.

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 Preposition of Time

Exercise :

It’s better to get taxi if you are out alone _______ night.

She got married _________ September.

Lucy is arriving ________14th February _______ 8 o’clock ______ the morning.

We are meeting ______ lunchtime ________ next Tuesday.

I will wait ______ 6:30, but then I'm going home.

My parents have been married ______ forty-nine years. 

I told Mom we'd be home ______ an hour or so. 

 It's been snowing ________ Christmas morning.

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