Preposition of time and place

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 3

Preposition of time and place

www.bbc.co.uk

At what time can Rob meet Mike?

Time to show off your knowledge

Misha and Surya live in different countries and haven't seen each other for a long time. Misha is thinking about visiting Surya at her home in the mountains.

Try to answer the main question at the end: 

When does Misha decide to fly?

Misha: I really want to visit! It's pretty ___ spring, isn't it?

1. in
2. at
3. on

Surya: Spring is the best! Can you come ___ April or May?

1. at
2. in
3. on

Misha: Yeah, my Easter holidays start ___ the third of April

1. on
2. at
3. in

Surya: Great! There are direct flights here that have London ___ the morning, I think. Take look.

1. at
2. in
3. on

Misha: Let me see... Yes, there's a flight that leaves ___ midday ___ Friday.

1. in - on
2. on - in
3. in - at
4. at - on

Surya: Cool. Is it expensive? I think there's another flight which leaves ___ night which is usually cheaper.

1. in
2. at
3. on

Misha: You're right, there's another one ___ 7pm. OK.... I'm booking it!

1. at
2. in
3. on

Surya: Great, so we'll see each other ___ Easter.

1. in
2. at
3. on

Misha: Yes! I'm so excited. The last time I was there was __ 2012.

1. in
2. on
3. at

And do you know when Misha decided to fly? (day, date, month and time!)

3 extra points

So, you've done one activity about in, at, and on. 

But what about when things are not so clear?

tip 1 - On Saturday night 

We would normally say on Saturday and at night. 

So should it be on – for Saturday – or at – for night? 

We're meeting on Saturday night.

We use the preposition on even though there is another time expression afterwards.

Tip 2 - On Christmas morning

Normally we use at for festivals like Christmas and we use in for parts of the day like the morning, but Christmas Day is actually a specific day, rather than a whole festival, so we use on. 

Again, we use the preposition on even though there is another time expression afterwards.

Tip 3 - No preposition

Finally, in, at and on are not generally used before the words today, tomorrow and yesterday:

I can't go tomorrow

He wrote that article yesterday

We don't use in, on or at in time expressions with the words this, that, next, last, all, one, each, some and every:

I slept all day

He didn't come last night