coffeeandenglish.blogspot.com.

es  

PREPOSITIONS  

AT,  IN  &  ON:  These  prepositions  are  used  to  express  time  and  place.    

TIME  

AT  
To  use  with:  
a. times:  at  five  o’clock,  at  half-­‐past  eight,  at  7.15…  
b. festivities:  at  Christmas,  at  Easter…  
c. precise  time:  at  lunch,  at  breakfast-­‐time,  at  dinnertime,  at  sunrise,  at  noon…  
d. some  expressions:  at  night,  at  the  weekend.  

IN  
To  use  with:  
a. parts  of  the  day:  in  the  morning,  in  the  afternoon,  in  the  evening.  
b. months:  in  January,  in  April,  in  September…  
c. years:  in  1980,  in  2008,  in  2025…  
d. seasons:  in  spring,  in  summer,  in  autumn,  in  winter.  
e. decades:  in  the  seventies,  in  the  1980s…  
f. centuries:  in  the  twentieth  century,  in  the  fifteenth  century…  
g. periods  of  time:  in  5  minutes,  in  an  hour,  in  a  month…  

ON  
To  use  with:  
a. days:  on  Thursday,  on  Saturday,  on  Thanksgiving…  
b. days  +  parts  of  the  day:  on  Friday  night,  on  Tuesday  evening…  
c. dates:  on  the  5th  of  September,  on  the  22nd  of  July…  

PLACE  

AT  
To  use  with:  
a. specific  places  and  points  in  space:  

 
 coffeeandenglish.blogspot.com.es  

I’ll  meet  you  at  reception.  

She  is  at  the  office.  
Write  your  name  at  the  top  of  the  page.  
b. public  places  and  shops:  
Are  you  at  the  dentist?  
Let’s  meet  at  the  shopping  centre.  
I  studied  English  at  university.  
c. addresses:  
They  live  at  69  Dunham  Street.  
d. events:    
They  weren’t  at  my  party.  
Jim  and  Julia  met  at  last  year’s  conference.  

IN  
To  use  with:  
a. geographical  regions:  
Juliet  was  born  in  France.  
When  they  were  in  the  waterfall,  it  started  to  rain.  
b. cities,  towns  and  larger  areas:  
They  live  in  London  since  2009.  
Were  you  in  Central  Park  yesterday?  
c. enclosed  spaces:  
She  was  waiting  for  us  in  the  waiting  room.  
I  was  in  my  office.  
Are  you  working  in  your  father’s  farm?  
d. containers:    
Put  that  milk  in  the  fridge.  
There’s  a  book  in  my  bag.  Could  you  take  it  for  me?  
e. liquids  and  other  substances:  
Do  you  want  some  sugar  in  your  coffee?  
What’s  in  this  sauce?  It’s  tasty!  
 

 
 coffeeandenglish.blogspot.com.es  

ON  
To  use  with:  
a. surfaces  or  spaces  considered  as  surfaces:  
Michael  was  on  the  first  floor.  
Are  you  going  to  hang  all  those  pictures  on  the  wall?  
b. roads,  streets  and  other  things  that  can  be  thought  as  a  line,  e.g.:  rivers:  
There  are  too  many  cars  on  this  road.  
The  shop  is  on  the  corner.  
New  York  is  on  the  East  coast.  

Exceptions  
There  are  some  fixed  expressions:  
 
at  home,  at  work,  on  the  bus,  on  the  plane,  on  the  train,  on  TV