Quick Review For Busy People: Using In/On/At For Time

Using  in/on/at  can really be a confusion at times…is it in Monday,  or on Monday?   In Christmas,  or at Christmas?    Here’s a list of the rules to follow in using these prepositions of time : 




1   You use at  with  :
..at Christmas
      
     a.    clock times               at ten o’clock, at midnight
     b.    meals                      at breakfast
     c.     religious festivals      at Christmas, at Easter

     And notice these special expressions :  
         at the weekend       at the moment               
         at night                  at the end of the month





2    You use in with  :
...in winter
  
      a.     months                   in January, in September
      b.     years                      in 1998, in the year 2001
      c.     centuries                 in the fourteenth century,
                                         in the last century
      d.     parts of the day       in the morning, 
                                         in the evening
      e.     seasons                  in the spring, in winter

     **  You also use in to talk about something that 
               will happen in the future :

 I’m busy now,  so I’ll talk to you in ten 
                       minutes.
 They say he will be an important person in a few years.
 The London train leaves in two minutes.       

...on my birthday 
3    You use on with :

      a.     days                         on Monday, 
                                           on Sunday
      b.     parts of specific days  on Tuesday 
                                                evening
      c.     special days               on New Year’s 
                                                  Day, 
                                           on Christmas Eve
      d.     dates                        on Friday 13th, 
                                           on the ninth of 
                                                  May
      e.     special occasions       on my birthday, 
                                           on our anniversary

**  Careful! We do not use  at, in or on  before adverbs like this, next, last, or every,  today, or tomorrow. 

As  we repeatedly say, practice makes perfect.  Take a Quick Test  to check if you remember the rules. 

Source :  Collin’s Cobuild ESL Advanced Grammar, 1995


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Related Articles : 
Say It In English And Say It Correctly
A Quick Review On Verb Usage for Busy People
Helpful Tongue Twisters








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