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Prepositions of Time and Place

1 min
A2
CEFR A2·other

Formula

in
months, years, seasons
(in June, in 2024)
on
specific days, dates
(on Monday, on 15th)
at
specific times, places
(at 3 PM, at home)

Examples

Positive
The meeting is on Friday at 2 PM.
Negative
He does not work at the office today.
Question
Where are you at the moment? When is your birthday?

Usage

  • •Locating events and objects in time
  • •Indicating physical location and position
  • •Expressing duration and frequency

More Examples

  • She was born in March, in 1990.

    "in" for months and years

  • We have a meeting on Thursday morning.

    "on" for specific days

  • Let's meet at 6 PM at the coffee shop.

    "at" for exact time and place

  • He's sitting in front of the building.

    Preposition of place for position

Common Mistakes

  • ✗❌ "in Monday" → ✓ "on Monday" (days use "on")
  • ✗❌ "at June" → ✓ "in June" (months use "in")
  • ✗❌ "on 3 PM" → ✓ "at 3 PM" (specific times use "at")
  • ✗❌ "in the corner" → ✓ "at the corner" (a point/location uses "at")

Tips

  • ✓Memory trick: in (big: years, months, seasons) → on (medium: days, dates) → at (small: exact times, points).
  • ✓Exceptions: "at night", "at the weekend" (British), "on the weekend" (American).

Advanced Notes

Beyond the in/on/at trio, learners encounter a long tail of prepositions: "by" (deadline), "until" (duration), "since" (start point), "for" (duration), "during" (within a period), "between" (two points). These resist the big-medium-small mnemonic. British and American English differ notably: "at the weekend" (BrE) vs "on the weekend" (AmE), "in the street" (BrE) vs "on the street" (AmE). Preposition errors are among the most persistent in advanced learners because they are largely idiomatic.

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Compare With

Basic Linkers: And, But, Or, Because, So(A2)Question Words: What, Where, When, Why, How, Who(A1)