Prepositions in expressions of time

Prepositions in expression of time

1. The preposition in

• months

  in July, in the month of July

  in September, in the month of September

• years

  in 1996, in the year 1996

  in 2012, in the year 2012

• seasons

  in summer

  in the summer, in the summer of '69

• parts of the day

  in the morning

  in the afternoon

  in the evening

• point of time in the future

  in a minute

  in a fortnight

  in three weeks' time, in three weeks (only when not ambiguous)

• duration (within a maximum period)

  in a minute

  in two weeks

2. The preposition at

• parts of the day

  at (the crack of) dawn

  at night

• time of day

  at 6 (o'clock), at 7 p.m., at 18 hrs (24-hour clock: airports, the military)

  at midday , at noon

  at midnight

• festive seasons

  at Christmas

  at Easter

• points in time

  at the weekend (on the weekend, on weekends )

  at the time, at the same time

3. The preposition on

• days

  on Sunday, on Sundays (Sunday: no preposition journalese)

  on Good Friday

  on my birthday

• dates

  on the 25(th) of December*

  on December (the) 25(th)*

• a particular part of a day

  on the morning of September (the) 11(th)*

4. Other prepositions

• after (following)

  after school

• as of (starting), more formal than from

  as of tomorrow

• before (preceding a point in time, future or past)

  before Christmas

• between ... and (limits of a period)

  between Monday and Friday

• by (before, at the latest)

  by Thursday

• during (in the course of a period)

  during the day

  during the holidays (during the vacation )

• for (duration, future or past)

  for up to 10 weeks

  for five minutes

  negated:

  not for* three weeks (not ... in three weeks ) * increasingly being replaced by in

  after a superlative:

  the ...est for* two years (the ...est in three weeks ) * increasingly being replaced by in

• from (starting, as of)

  from today

  from July

• past (time of the day)

  23 minutes past 6 (6:23) ( also: after)

• since (from a point of time in the past, still continuing now)

  since Monday

• till/until (up to a point in time in the future)

  till tomorrow

  until tomorrow

• to (time of the day)

  23 minutes to 6 (5:37) ( also: before)

• within (in less time than)

  within a day

5. No preposition

• next Monday

• last Tuesday

• Saturday week

* These words are only spoken, not written (date).

---