Prepositions of time in english (at, on, in…)

of

What sono prepositions of time in English?

To express time in English, three main prepositions are used: in, on, and at. The choice depends on how specific the time period you are looking for is.

In

It is used for long and non-specific periods of time:

  • Months and years: "I was born in 1990." (I was born in 1990.) / "We are going on holiday in July." (Let's go in gocanza in july.)
  • Seasons: "It's cold in winter." (It's cold in winter.)
  • Decades and centuries: "The Beatles were popular in the 60s." (IBeatles were popular in the 1960s.)
  • Parts of the day (with exceptions): "In the morning/afternoon/evening." (In the morning/afternoon/evening.)

On

It is used for specific edate days:

  • Days of week: "The meeting is on Friday." (The meeting is friday.)
  • Date complete: "My birthday is on August 10th." (My birthday is August 10.)
  • Special days: "On Christmas Day" (Christmas Day), "on my birthday" (on my birthday).

At

It is used for specific and short moments:

  • Timetables: "The train leaves at 7:30." (The train leaves at 7:30.)
  • Precise moments: "At midnight" (Half notte), "at noon" (At noon).
  • Gocanza (with "holiday" singular): "At Christmas" (At Christmas), "at Easter" (At Easter).
  • Fixed expressions: "At the weekend" (In the end week), "at night" (By notte).

Exceptions andifimportant references:

  • Remember that "at night" it is used for “of notte”, while for the other parts of the day it is used "in the morning/afternoon/evening".
  • "On the weekend" is a common variant in english americano.
  • With the word "holiday", it is used "at" if we are talking about the entire holiday period (e.g. "at Christmas"), but "on" if you mean the specific day (e.g. "on Christmas Day").

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