The Expression of Time

Definition :

Some prepositions show when something happens. They are called Prepositions of time.

At

For a certain moment or point in time

e.g

at seven o’clock	at noon	at midnight
at surrise	at sunset	at dawn
at dusk	at half-past seven	at about seven
at Christmas	at Easter	at Dewali

On

For a day, days, a date, dates, at the required time, at the exact minute

e.g

For Dates	on 6th	on 26th
For Days	on Saturday	on Monday
For Date, Months and Year	on December 25th	on 15th August, 1947
For Festivals	on Christmas day	on my birth day
At the required / exact time	on time	on the dot

In

For an event, seasons, length of time taken

e.g

For Months	in January	in December
For Years	in 1947	in 90’s
For seasons	in winter	in summer
For period of time	in the summer holiday	in the afternoon
At the required / exact time	on time	on the dot
Length of time taken	in five hours / days	in this week
For an event	in time	Try to get here in time to help me

Note: (in, on and at)

in the morning	in the afternoon	in the evening
on Sunday morning	on Monday afternoon	on Saturday evening
at night	on Monday night

By

By is used to denote the latest time by which something was or is to be done. The implication that it may be done before then, and not later.

e.g

by Sunday	not later than Sunday
on Sunday	exactly

Before / After

Before denotes previous to a time, and After denotes subsequent to a time.

e.g

before seven o’clock

after two o’clock

Since / For

Since is used for a point in time and For is used for period of time.

e.g

since last year	between a past time and now
for yesterday	during a length of time

Since means when and For means for how long

since 1980	for last week
since Christmas	for last month
since last Thursday	for six o’clock
since seven years	for seven days
since a long time	for seven months

During

During is used to express the idea, for part of a period

e.g

work during the day

sleep during the night

 

e.g

I met him last Sunday	on last Sunday
She goes there every day	on every day

 

e.g

He shall meet you tomorrow	not on tomorrow
She has come today	not on today

To, Of

To and OF denote minutes before the hour

e.g

It’s nine to ten

It’s nine of ten

Until, Within, Towards, Through

e.g

He slept through the day	They will be here within five minutes
The party will last until five	It was towards evening when she called

The Expression of Place or Location

Place of Residence : In

e.g

Many people live in cities

She lives in California

similarly : in a village, in the desert, in a country, in a city, but at the seaside and on an island

For villages and smaller towns : At

e.g

I met him at San Francisco

He lives in San Francisco

But if a person lives there, or because he happens to be there at the moment of speaking : in

Houses, Streets

For a kind of house or residence, when no specific one is mentioned, use in

e.g

She lives in a small house

He lives in a big house

(Similarly : in a modern house, in a hotel, in a cottage, in a flat, in a mansion, etc.)
For a particular house or place of residence, use at.

He lives at 12 car street

For the names of streets and roads, use in

She lives in car street

Place of work

For the kind of place, use in if it is a building

His father works in a college

(Similarly : in an office, in a shop, in a factory, in a restaurant)
But if it is not a building : use on

on a farm

on the railway

on an estate

If a particular place is indicated, at is generally used.

at the Town Hall

at the railway station

at the City General Hospital

For a particular room of department, use in

She is working in the French Department

The Expression of Direction

e.g

across	He goes across the road
into	He walks into the room
along	He rides along the road
out of	She goes out of the area
onto	Cat is jumping onto the table
through	The message sent through email
from	The train moves from London
away from	The train away from London
for	The plane is leaving for Spain
with	The boat sails with the wind

The Expression of Numbers

e.g

about (approximately)	There were about 200 people there
around (approximately)	There were around 200 people there
over (more than)	She has over a hundred books on that subject
above (more than)	She has above a hundred books on that subject
under (less than)	The car costs under a thousand dollars
between (higher than one number and lower than another)	The tickets will cost between twenty and twenty-five dollars
from (subtraction)	Three from ten equals seven
by (multiplication)	Three multiplied by four equals twelve
into (division)	Three into twelve equals four

The Expression of Weather

during	We stayed at home during the storm
in	The children played in the snow
on	I sit on the balcony on sunny mornings

during a flood	during an earthquake
in the good weather	in the cold water
on rainy weekends	on nice day

Some Important Phrases for on

on purpose	on holiday	on television
on the radio	on the phone	on fire
on time (not late)	on duty	on leave
on the corner	on the balcony	on the sofa
on the beach	on the left side	on his arm

Some Important Phrases for at

at (the age of) 20	at 50 killometers an hour	on business
at 100 degrees	at night or during the night	at the end of
at the moment	at the weekend	at the busstop
at the door	at the traffic lights	at the top of the page
at the bottom fo the page	at home	at work
at school	at college	at university
at the station	at the airport	at David’s house
at the doctor’s	at the butcher’s	at a conert
at a football match	at the kitchen sink	at the beach
good at English	angry at something	bad at grammar

Some Important Phrases for about

talk about	speak about	think about
hear about	know about	a book about
a question about	a programme about

Some Important Phrases for of

get rid of

accused of	afraid of	approve of
sure of	aware of	boast of
careful of	careless of	cured of
die of	full of	glad of
proud of	take care of

Some Important Differences in Prepositions

Made of and Made from

When one substance is changed into another, so that a new substance is produced, we use from, but when the original material is not actually changed, but is formed into some object, then we use of.

Her dress was made of silk

Flour is made from wheat

superior to	inferior to
junior to	senior to
sit on a chair (without arms)	sit in a chair (with arms)
write in ink	write in pencil
write with a pencil	write with a pen
write in English and French	Translate English into French
a work by	a painting by
useful to a person	useful for a purpose
agree with a person	agree to a proposal
angry with a person	angry at something
on the ground floor	on the first floor
come in my car (own)	come by car (taxi)

Some Important Phrases for with

pleased with	happy with	agree with
angry with	satisfied with	contented with

Some Important Phrases for by

by bus	by auto	by car
by lorry	by train	by ship
by plane	by sea	by air

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