At, On, and In – as applied to time!

Hi. I am always delighted to share with you.

By the time you finish reading this, you will learn how to use three of the most confusing prepositions in English, which are: “at,” “on,” and “in,” as applied to time. If you think you’re alone in having problems with these little words, you are not alone. Many students have difficulty with these words because they’re different in their native languages and probably in yours.
Right? So, what do you do? Keep reading because I have found a solution that has helped many of my students.

Let’s see how it works.
So, like a triangle: “at” is used in particular situations, very narrow situations. For example: “At 5:00”, “At 12:30”, “At midnight”, right? It’s very exact. It’s very narrow. “On,” like the triangle, is slightly broader and used for one day or one date.
For example: “On Monday,” or “On January 25th”, “On New Year’s Day.” Right? Got it? Are you with me? Good.
Let’s continue: “in” is the widest of the lot, as in the triangle; “at,” “on,” and “in.”

So, “in” covers months, seasons, years, decades, centuries, and prolonged periods. For example, we say: “In July,” “In summer,” or “In the summer,” “In 2005”, “In the 1960s”, “In the 1800s”, which was a long time ago, or: “In the past.” We can also say: “In the future,” okay?
Because it’s also a long period of time, did you get that? So: “at” for very narrow situations; “on” for a little bit more expansive, one day or one date-right?-and “in” for the most specific conditions of all, more than one day or one date.

Now, let’s do a little practice to see how well you’ve understood this.
Okay, now let’s fill in the blanks with our three words: “at,” “on,” and “in.” But before we fill them in here, let’s fill them in on our triangle. So, do you remember: What goes at the top, what’s very narrow and covers a specific time? “At,” very good! What’s a little bit more than that, covering one day or one date?
“On,” very good. And what’s the widest of all, covering months, seasons, years, decades, and centuries? “In,” okay? You’ve got it.

Now let’s apply what we’ve learned because otherwise, there’s no point, so let’s do it.
So: “ 6:00.” What do we say? Do you remember? “At 6:00.” Excellent.
“ Sunday.” One day, right? “On Sunday.” Very good. “ winter.
” What do we say? It’s a long time, especially in Canada, okay? So: “In winter.” We can also say: “In the winter.” Same thing.
And: “ Independence Day.” It’s one day, so we need to say: “On Independence Day.” Okay? Very Good. Now let’s continue to some sentences because that’s how you use the language.
Number five: “See you _ noon.” “See you…” Now, what’s “noon”?
“Noon” means 12:noon, and it’s a precise, exact time, so we say: “See you at noon.” Good job so far!

Number six: “I’ll call you Friday.” “I’ll call you on Friday.” Very good, because it was one day.
Next one: “We have a meeting 4:30.” “We have a meeting,” specific time, which one? “…
At 4:30″. Very good. And the last one: “They’re getting married _ March 9th.” It’s one day, okay? One date.
So, this one: “They’re getting married on March 9th.” Okay? So, you can see that the triangle can help you remember which preposition to use when. Here are some more things you can do to help you speak English better.

First of all, go to our website at: https://howtospeakenglishlikeanamerican.com/free

And last, before you go away, always remember my lessons are based on 25 years of teaching. Whatever I put together as a lesson is based on many of my students’ mistakes. Hopefully, you will never make it again. Thanks very much for taking the time to read this, and good luck with your English.