PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE IN, ON, AT,

Prepositions: in-on-at

-IN

Use: When talking about time, we use ‘in’ when referring to an unspecific time of the day, a month, a season or a year.

We use IN for:

Centuries (The 21st century) IN the 19th century- In the 20th century. Decades (IN the 1990s) “My brother was born in the 1980s.” Years (IN 2012, 2018, 2021) “I graduated in 2001”

Months: IN February, March, November. “My birthday is in June hers is in May .” Time of the day: IN the morning, IN the afternoon, IN the evening “I usually cereal in the morning.” “Sorry I can't! have an doctor's appointment in the afternoon” “Lisa arrived here in the morning and went back home in the evening” Season: (IN spring, summer, winter, fall) “It’s always cold in winter.” “The project will start in summer.”

Use 2: When talking about places, ‘in’ is used to indicate a location or place. Here are a few examples: “I used to live in Florida.” “The city of Bangkok is in Thailand.” “I am in my room.” “He is in the kitchen.”

-ON

Use: The word ‘on’, when talking about time, is for specific dates and days.

We use ON for:

Days of the week (ON Monday, Tuesday, etc…) “I will see you on Thursday”. “She goes back to England on Friday”. “I go to the gym on Mondays and Wednesdays”. Days of the month (ON the 25th, ON the 17th) “The meeting will be on the 24th”. Dates consisting of the month and day (February 25th) “He was born on September 15th”.

*Places (when talking about flat surfaces both big and small). “We played football on the field”. “The eraser is on the table over there”. *Holidays, using the word ‘day’(Christmas Day, Easter Day, New Year’s Day) “James arrives on Easter Day”. “I love watching the fireworks on New year's day!” “I'm going to give her a gift on mother's day.”

-AT

Use 1: When talking about places, ‘on’ is used when we are speaking about a surface. Something is on the surface of something else.

We use AT for:

Specific time (Noon, midnight, 7 o’clock, 7:30, etc…) “I will see you at 8:00 pm.” “My interview is at 3:00 pm.” Holidays, without ‘’day’’ (Christmas, Easter, New Year’s, etc) “We always have a big celebration at Christmas”. “They always travel at Easter”. Night “I don’t eat much at night”.

When talking about places, ‘at’ is used to indicate a specific place. “We are meeting at the cafe.” “The football game is at the stadium.”

Exercise: PART 1

1- ___ September
 2- __ 12 o'clock
 3- __ winter
 4- __ Easter Monday
 5- __ 4th July, 1776
 6- __ Christmas
 7- __ Tuesday

8- __ the weekend
 9- __ my birthday
 10- __ the end of the week

Exercise: PART 2

1- Can you come ___Monday ? 2- It rains a lot ___ winter. 3- My birthday is ___ the 6th of May. 4- I usually get up ___ half past eight. 5- I will meet her __ two months. 6- We usually have lunch ___ one. 7- We've got English ___ Thursday. 8- My grandfather died ___ 1987. 9- Paul isn't here ___ the moment.

10- I'll be back __ ten minutes. 11- I'm going to Italy __ a week. 12- Come and see us ___ Christmas 13- Do you think it is a good idea to ban smoking __ public places? 14- Look at the picture __ the wall. 15- My house is ___ the end of the street. 16- I stoped ___ Nancy's house. 17- Do you like walking ___ the garden? 18- I found my keys ___ the desk. 19- I met him ___ Paris.

20- He was crying __ the back of the classroom. 21- I saw the film ___ TV. 22- These people live ___ my hometown. 23- We live _____Italy. 24- There are many pictures ____ my wall. 25- Lucy is arriving ___ February the 13th ___ eight o'clock ___ the morning. 26- The weather is often terrible ____ London ___ January. 27- It's better to get taxi if you are out alone ___ night.