Preposition of

place & time

Created by Azmi Randu Farhani

 Preposition of place
A preposition of place is a preposition which is used to refer to a place where
something or someone is located. There are only three prepositions of place,
however they can be used to discuss an almost endless number of places.
• At – A preposition of place which is used to discuss a certain point
• In – A preposition of place which is used to discuss an enclosed space
• On – A preposition of time which is used to discuss a surface
 In
• In
Now the best way to think about the preposition, “in” is being within something,
inside the edges of something.
I’ve got the key in my pocket.
Now, it’s easy to think about all of these examples as being inside something because
the edges are really clear. You can see inside them. There’s a clear inside and an
outside.
Take our earlier example, I’m in the car. The car has clear edges, I’m definitely inside the
edges of the car.
We can use “in” with buildings or rooms and places that can surround a person
or an object on all sides.
• Can you take a seat in the waiting room, please?
I’ve left my bag in your office.
But there are lots of times when you need to use this preposition when the
edges are less clear. when the edges are less clear. with areas or regions or cities
and towns.
• I’m filming this video in Spain.
Regolisa is a small village in the mountains.
Lots of people were swimming in the lake.
Now, all of these nouns have borders or edges, even if they’re not really
obvious or clear. We can physically be located inside the edges of this space.
Now when talking about groups of people, you can often use “in”.
• She works in the finance team, surrounded by people.
He got selected to play in the national team.
But there’s an exception for important high-level groups where members are
often elected.
He’s on the board.
Or they’re on the committee, or on the council..
We can also use “in” with liquids and other substances or on the council.
• Careful! There’s a lot of chilli in that sauce.
Do you have milk in your coffee?
 On
Now the preposition “on” is used to talk about the position of something on
surfaces on surfaces like walls or tables.
• My phone is on the table.
You can see a painting on the wall behind me.
We live on the fourth floor of the building.
Now, keep thinking about this idea of flat surfaces because it includes roads
and streets and rivers.
• The supermarket is on the corner of Martin Street.
Nice is on the south coast of France.
Now the idea of flat surfaces also includes water, so rivers, oceans, lakes.
• What’s that on the water? [Floating on the water.]
We’ll take you out on the lake, in our boat.
We’ll be on the lake, in our boat.
 At
It’s used to talk about specific places or points in space.
• Sarah’s still at school.
I’ll meet you at the bus stop.
Turn left at the traffic light.
Now it’s also used with public places and shops. Now it’s also used with public places
and shops.
• I studied design at college or school or university.
Let’s meet at the station.
We have to stop at the supermarket on the way home.
We also use it with addresses.
• They live at 14 Eagle Road.
We can use “at” with events.
• We met at a party.
So in all of these examples, the preposition “at” is used to talk about specific
places or points in space.
We can draw conclusions :
• “At” is one-dimensional. Think of a map. When you’re looking at a map,
you’re referring to a specific place or position in space.
• “On” is more two-dimensional. You have a flat surface and you’re referring
to the position of something or someone in relation to that surface. So
you’re recognising the space around you a little more when you’re using that
preposition.
• Now “in” is the sort of three-dimensional preposition. So when you use
it, you need to think about the position of something in relation to what
surrounds it.
 Preposition of time
A preposition of time is a preposition that allows you to discuss a specific time period such as
a date on the calendar, one of the days of the week, or the actual time something takes place.
Prepositions of time are the same words as prepositions of place, however they are used in a
different way. You can easily distinguish these prepositions, as they always discuss times rather
than places.
• At – This preposition of time is used to discuss clock times, holidays and festivals, and other
very specific time frames including exceptions, such as “at night.”
• In – This preposition of time is used to discuss months, seasons, years, centuries, general
times of day, and longer periods of time such as “in the past.”
• On – This preposition of time is used to discuss certain days of the week or portions of
days of the week, specific dates, and special days such as “on New Year’s Day.”
 In
“In” is used for periods of time, so seasons or months or even longer periods of time like centuries or decades
or years.
• I was born in 1986.
He’ll visit them in October.
Just as we use “in” for periods of time we also use it for periods of time during the day when we’re not being
specific.
• They’re leaving in the evening.
The baby sleeps in the afternoon.
I work most productively in the morning.
But compare this to:
• I start work at 9am.
So there’s specific time and there’s kind of general time. We can also use “in” to
describe the amount of time needed to do something. So again, we’re talking
about a period of time. A period of time.
• They managed to complete the job in two weeks.
You can drive around the island in a day.
We can also use “in” to explain when something will happen in the future.
• I’ll be ready in five minutes.
He’s gone away but he’ll be back in a couple of days.
 On
In English we can use this preposition for specific descriptions of time. Most
commonly with days of the week and parts of the week.
• She’s working on Monday. That’s a specific and a unique time.
• She usually works on Mondays. By using the plural form there, I’m suggesting
that this is a regular event. It happens every week.
• We’re going to the theatre on Wednesday evening.
Let’s have a coffee on Friday morning.
“On” is also used with dates.
• The interview is on the 29th of April.
He was born on February 14th.
It’s also used with special days.
• She was born on Valentine’s Day.
If you’re referring to the specific day, you need to use “on”.
• On Christmas Day.
On New Year’s Eve.
usually there is a few days where everyone’s not working and they’re relaxing
and hanging out so “on Year’s Day” means specifically that day.
 At
“at” use for very specific times. Clock times for example.
• The train arrives at 3:30.
The party starts at midnight.
All of these words refer to specific time but we can also use “at” with other
specific times of the day, like:
• He doesn’t like driving at night.
I’m going shopping at lunchtime.
Now there’s also some really common fixed expressions that use the
preposition “at” – when you’re referring to a specific point in time.
• She’s working at the moment.
• I finish the course at the end of April.
So “at the end of ” or “at the start of ” a period of time is also a common way to
refer to a specific point in time. Note that if you say something happened in
the middle of a period of time, you need to use the preposition “in”.
• We arrived at the same time.
• So we use “at the same time” to say that two separate actions happened
simultaneously – at one time.
Sources :

https://www.mmmenglish.com/2017/10/10/prepositions-of-time-in-on-at-by/

https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-
rules/preposition/preposition-time/

https://www.mmmenglish.com/2017/10/03/prepositions-of-place-in-on-at-by/

https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-
rules/preposition/preposition-place/