Finally! An Organized Explanation To Learn Prepositions of Time

Using the correct preposition to talk about days, months, years, deadlines and events can be complicated in English and involve several different prepositions. In this lesson, learn about which preposition of time to use in different situations.

The lesson is organized into the following categories:

1. Clock time / The word "time" / "The beginning or end of..." (at)

2. Calendar time (on, in)

3. Deadlines (by, within)

4. How long from now (in, ago)

5. Starting and ending points (from/to, between/and)

6. Events as periods of time (during, throughout, for the whole)

7. Duration/Length of time (for)

Let's begin by looking at how we use "at" for clock time and with certain specific words, namely "time", "the beginning of..." and "the end of..."

Clock Time / The word "time" / "The beginning or end of..."

At

Clock time With the word “time” With “the beginning of…/the end of…”

The meeting will start at 10am Am I calling at a bad time? I’ll answer questions at the end of my presentation

Calendar Time

On	Days With the word “day”	The meeting is on April 7th I don't have to work on holidays but I have to work on my birthday.
In	Weeks Months Quarters Seasons Years Decades Centuries	Our order will arrive in the first week of May The conference was held in March We performed very well in the 3rd quarter Let’s meet again in the spring. The first iPhone was launched in 2007 Most managers were men in the 1980s The company was established in the 20th century

Deadlines

By	The latest possible time to do something	I need to submit this report by 5pm.
Within	The maximum duration of time	You'll receive a call back within two hours.

How Long From Now

In	How long in the future from now	The meeting starts in 5 minutes
Ago	How long in the past from now	The meeting started 20 minutes ago

Starting and Ending Points

Between + And	A range of time when something happens at some point inside it	The client is coming to the office some time between 1pm and 4pm.
From + To/Until	A range of time when something happens for the whole duration	The staff party will run from 6pm to 11pm
Until	The ending time of something that happens or is true continuously	I will be on vacation until October 10th

Events as Periods of Time

Throughout For the whole	When something happened again and again inside the period of the event (the whole time)	I've been attending meetings throughout this business trip (for the whole business trip).
During	When something happened inside the period of the event (but not the whole time)	Two people asked me questions during my presentation.

Duration (Length of Time)

For

The length of time (usually with a number) that something continuously happens

We talked for only 10 minutes.

Practice

Task 1: Choose the correct underlined option for each sentence below.

Calendar

1. The seminar is on/in January.

2. The seminar is on/in January 4th

Deadline

1. The order will arrive by/within 3 days.

2. The order will arrive by/within this Friday.

From Now

1. We are going to launch our newest product in two weeks ago.

2. We launched our newest product in two weeks ago.

Starting and Ending Points

1. Call me anytime between/from 9am and/to 3pm.

2. The meeting will run between/from 10am and/to 11am.

Events as Periods of Time

1. I was asked one question during/throughout my presentation.

2. There will be opportunities to meet people during/throughout the conference.

Other

1. I’m meeting them in/on/at noon.

2. I’m meeting them in/on/at Tuesday.

3. I’m meeting them in/on/at September.

4. I need to get to work every day until/by 8:00am

5. I stay at work every day until/by 5pm.

6. We did some activities during/for two hours.

7. We did some activities during/for the seminar.

8. You must call prospective customers at/on the right time so that they’ll talk to you.

9. I don’t even eat lunch at/on busy days.

10. We’ll do performance appraisals at/in the end of each quarter.

11. We’ll do performance appraisals at/in the last week of each quarter.

Task 2: Put the correct preposition before each noun. The options are only "in", "on", and "at":

1. July 21st = on July 21st (day)

2. 7pm

3. the spring

4. 2021

5. my birthday

6. the last week of May

7. peak time

8. the beginning of the year

9. October

10. the first day of the month

11. the 3rd quarter

12. Friday

13. the 1990s

14. the end of the quarter

15. the wrong time

16. a busy day

17. the 21st century

Answers

Task 1: Choose the correct underlined option for each sentence below.

Calendar

1. The seminar is in January (in + month)

2. The seminar is on January 4th (on + day)

Deadline

1. The order will arrive within 3 days. (3 days = maximum length of time from now)

2. The order will arrive by this Friday. (Friday = deadline/latest possible time)

From Now

1. We are going to launch our newest product in two weeks. (two weeks in the future from now)

2. We launched our newest product two weeks ago. (two weeks in the past from now)

Starting and Ending Points

1. Call me anytime between 9am and 3pm. (the call will happen inside this period)

2. The meeting will run from 10am to 11am. (the meeting will happen continuously at this time)

Events as Periods of Time

1. I was asked one question during my presentation. (one question happened inside this period)

2. There will be opportunities to meet people throughout the conference. (opportunities will happen again and again inside the period of the conference)

Other

1. I’m meeting them at noon. (at + clock time)

2. I’m meeting them on Tuesday. (on + day)

3. I’m meeting them in September. (in + month)

4. I need to get to work every day by 8:00am (by + latest possible time to arrive - arriving earlier is okay but not after 8:00am)

5. I stay at work every day until 5pm. (until + the time when continuing to stay at work finally ends)

6. We did some activities for two hours. (for + the duration of the activities)

7. We did some activities during the seminar. (during + the event that was happening when we did activities)

8. You must call customers at the right time so that they’ll talk to you. (at + the word "time")

9. I don’t even eat lunch on busy days. (on + the word "day")

10. We’ll do performance appraisals at the end of each quarter. (at + the word "end")

11. We’ll do performance appraisals in the last week of each quarter. (in + week)

Task 2: These answers can be understood by reviewing the tables provided above in this lesson.

1. on July 21st

2. at 7pm

3. in the spring

4. in 2021

5. on my birthday

6. in the last week of May

7. at peak time

8. at the beginning of the year

9. in October

10. on the first day of the month

11. in the 3rd quarter

12. on Friday

13. in the 1990s

14. at the end of the quarter

15. at the wrong time

16. on a busy day

17. in the 21st century