Prepositions of Time: “In,” “On,” & “At”

Have you ever asked a co-worker to join you “on 3:00” for a meeting?

Perhaps you mentioned to someone that your birthday was “at Friday.”

Though you may not have realized it, you were using these prepositions of time incorrectly!

In trying to grasp a larger vocabulary, a student of English may start to overlook the small connecting words that bind language together, but these prepositional words have a great impact on others’ perception of your mastery of the language. Using them incorrectly could cause confusion with co-workers or make you feel insecure in your speech.

If you can remember this order, “IN, ON, AT”… then you can remember this general rule for how to describe points in time:

See how “IN, ON, AT” progress from general to specific as you read their descriptions:

At the beginning of this article, the correct usage would mean the meeting is “at3:00,” and that your birthday is “on Friday.”

Take a look at the following practice sentences and see if you can choose the correct prepositions.

Now check out my video from a few years ago that further explains the usage of“IN, ON, AT” and will help you practice how to use them… and then see if you got the sample sentences correct below!

Click here to learn more.