Let me begin this post by asking you a question. How often do you feel confused with prepositions? Have you ever used the words IN or ON incorrectly? Do you feel confident with English prepositions of time?

It is very possibly that you do get confused with prepositions, have used ON and IN incorrectly and might not feel as confident as you want with English prepositions of time. Well, you’re in luck because today’s blog + video lesson will help you understand prepositions of time with explanations, examples, and of course practice exercises at the end.

We’ll kick off (*start*) today with the 5 Minute English video lesson. I give a lot of information in this video, so feel free to pause, rewind, and listen a few times if you need to. Don’t forget your pen and paper!

English Prepositions of Time

Now, review the following prepositions used with time, how they’re used, and some example sentences.

AT

specific times: at 10 o’clock

• I start work at 9 o’clock.
• He went to bed last night at 10:30pm.

with the words night, noon, and midnight

• I go to bed at night.
• I eat lunch at noon.
• I’m always sleeping at midnight

IN

years

• In 2007, I went to Europe.
• I got married in 2011.
• She will travel to Europe in 2019.

seasons: in the summer, in the winter

• I love going to the beach in the summer.
• He usually goes skiing in the winter.
• The leaves change colors in the fall.

in months: in September

• My birthday is in September!
• I often have vacations in June.
• Jake visits home in March and April.

parts of the day: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening

• I always have breakfast in the morning.
• We met for coffee in the afternoon.
• Jogging in the evening is best because it’s cooler.

ON

days of the week

• I post new lessons on Tuesday.
• Let’s meet next week on Thursday and Friday.
• The typical weekend is on Saturday and Sunday.

special holidays

• On Christmas, we always have a special dinner.
• Their families get together on Easter every year.
• I love watching the fireworks on the 4th of July.

specific dates

• On May 17th, I got a cat.
• The couple met on February 6, 1947.
• I have an appointment on November 12th.

FROM 

in a combination with until/till or to to show the start and end of something.

• I am going to be on vacation from March until/till May.
• I am going to be on vacation from March to May.
• We need your help from 9 until/till/to 12 tomorrow.
• Jake is out of town from Tuesday until/till/to next Friday.

FOR 

countable duration of time

• I lived in Australia for almost 2 years.
• They have been married for over 50 years.
• She waited for 3 hours at the bank.

DURING

an uncountable period of time 

• During the holidays, I was really sick.
• We will be at the beach during the summer
• What are you doing during the weekend?

TO

mark the end of a duration or the start of an event/time   (until/till is also OK here)

• There’s only 6 months to my birthday!
• I’ve hated spiders up to now.
• It’s about an hour to midnight.

SINCE 

something started from a point in the past until now (*often used with the present perfect tense)

• I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. It’s 1 o’clock and I’m starving.
• She hasn’t seen her friend since their argument.
• Since we’ve been married, we cook dinner together every night.

UNTIL/TILL

up to, marks the ending point of something

• I’ll wait here until/ you come.
• Jessica will be sleeping until noon.
• The party lasted until the early morning!

Practice

Fill in the blanks with the correct preposition(s) of time using the information from above. Check your answers below.

1. James and Laura have gone to the same beach house _________ 1999.
2. I’ll see you tomorrow _________ 7:30am because it’s much easier for me to get up _______ the morning, rather than ______ night.
3. The employee needed a special request for her vacation because she wanted to leave ______ January 1st _______ February 5th.
4. We’ll see you ______ August ____ the first Saturday of the month.
5. Are you going to be traveling _____ your next vacation?
6. No, we said we’d be there ______ noon, not ____ the evening!

Use these questions to create your own sentence examples (the answers), to use in a conversation with a partner, or for general practice with conversational language.

1. How many days to your birthday?  (until/till is also OK here)
2. Do you usually do anything special in July or December?
3. Where do you like to go during your vacation/holidays?
4. Do you prefer to get up early in the morning, or do you go to bed late at night?
5. What is your typical routine from Monday to/until/till Friday?
6. What is something you are never doing at 9 o’clock in the morning?
7. Talk about what you did on your last birthday.
8. Have you been studying English for more than 4 years?
9. Have you lived in the same house since you were a child?
10. Where were you on January 1st last year?

If you enjoyed this lesson, please take a moment and share it with a friend or colleague.

Until next time….

Happy Studying ♥

Check your answers from the fill in the blank here:

1. since

2. at, in, at

3. from, until/till/to

4. in, on

5. during

6. at, in