Prepositions: In, On, and At

Prepositions: In, On, and At (with specific times and places)

The prepositions in, on, and at can be used to indicate time and place. Notice how they are used in the following situations: Preposition Time Place In Year, Month, In 1999, In December Country, State, City In Japan, In Utah, InTaipei On Day, Date On Saturday, On May 1 Street On Main Street, On 1st Ave. At Time At 8:00, At 7:30 Address At 815 East Main Street In many languages, there is only one preposition for the above situations. In English there are three. Just remember that in usually indicates the "largest" time or place, and at usually indicates the "smallest" time or place. Examples: A: Where's your office? B: In Taipei, Taiwan. A: Really? What part of Taipei? B: It's on Chung Shan North Road. A: I know that area. Where exactly is it? B: It's at 105 Chung Shan North Road, next to the bookstore. C: When is the wedding? D: It's in June. C: What day? D: It's on Saturday, the 25th. C: What time? D: It starts at 6:00.

Prepositions with articles and locations

When talking about locations, use at to indicate the general vicinity or area, and in to indicate inside the building, enclosed area, etc. For example:

at the swimming pool (on site)		in the swimming pool (in the pool itself i.e. in the water)
at the post office/bank (general)		in the post office/bank (inside the building)
at the zoo (visitors, general area)		in the zoo (animals in their cages)
at school		in the classroom

Sample sentences:

I met my wife at the theater. (while watching a movie) I spilled my drink in the theater (on the floor of the building) She works at the library on Wednesdays. She found a rare coin in the library (building). Dr. Jones works at the hospital every day. John was in the hospital for a week with a broken leg.

For school, prison, and church, the is used to indicate the building. No article indicates the general situation. Note the following:

"practice"/situation		building
in school (studying, listening to teacher, etc.)		in the school (building)
in jail/prison (staying there as a criminal)		in the jail/prison (temporary)
in church (praying, listening to a sermon, etc.)		in the church (building)

Where's Dad?

in church (attending services)		in the church (fixing the windows)
at church		at the church
in prison (He committed a crime.)		at the prison (visiting his friend)

For Practice: See
At-On-In Used in Time and Dates (from The Internet TESL Journal) Prepositions: At, In and On (from The Internet TESL Journal)
See also:
Grammar: Prepositions and Time Words;Prepositions of Location
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We use:

• at for a PRECISE TIME
• in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS
• on for DAYS and DATES

at	in	on
PRECISE TIME	MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS	DAYS and DATES
at 3 o'clock	in May	on Sunday
at 10.30am	in summer	on Tuesdays
at noon	in the summer	on 6 March
at dinnertime	in 1990	on 25 Dec. 2010
at bedtime	in the 1990s	on Christmas Day
at sunrise	in the next century	on Independence Day
at sunset	in the Ice Age	on my birthday
at the moment	in the past/future	on New Year's Eve

Look at these examples:

• I have a meeting at 9am.
• The shop closes at midnight.
• Jane went home at lunchtime.
• In England, it often snows in December.
• Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
• There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
• Do you work on Mondays?
• Her birthday is on 20 November.
• Where will you be on New Year's Day?

Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:

Expression	Example
at night	The stars shine at night.
at the weekend	I don't usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas/Easter	I stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same time	We finished the test at the same time.
at present	He's not home at present. Try later.

Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:

in	on
in the morning	on Tuesday morning
in the mornings	on Saturday mornings
in the afternoon(s)	on Sunday afternoons
in the evening(s)	on Monday evening

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.

• I went to London last June. (not in last June)
• He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
• I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
• We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)