Prepositions of time
To talk about times of the day, the most common prepositions are in, on and at.
‘At’ is for exact times, like:
Clock times
- I’ll see you at 7pm.
Exact times of the day (e.g. sunset, sunrise, dawn, dusk, bedtime, dinnertime, midnight)
- The birds sing at sunrise.
Exception: night (this is more of a duration than one exact time)
- The bats come out at night.
‘In’ is for longer periods, like:
Months
- My birthday is in November.
Years
- I graduated in 2017.
Seasons
- It usually snows here in winter.
Centuries
- My parents were born in the 60s.
‘In’ is also for sections of the day (exclude night), like:
The morning
- It’s too early in the morning for talking.
The afternoon
- We can go shopping tomorrow in the afternoon.
The evening
- Mum’s coming to visit in the evening.
‘On’ is for shorter periods, like:
Days
- The meeting is on Tuesday.
Dates
- The concert is on the 8th of September.
Holidays
- We’ll see each other on Christmas Eve.
TOP TIPS!
Remember:
- in the morning (more than one syllable – use in!)
- at noon (one syllable – use at!)
- in the afternoon (more than one syllable – use in!)
- in the evening (more than one syllable – use in!)
- at night (one syllable – use at!)
Memorise this sentence so you always remember the difference:
- My bus left at midnight on a Tuesday in June.