Prepositions showing time and place
The most frequently used prepositions in English are at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, and with. Prepositions can be difficult to master because the differences among them are subtle and idiomatic. The chart below is limited to three troublesome prepositions that show time and place: at, on, and in.
Not every possible use is listed in the chart, so don’t be surprised when you encounter exceptions and idiomatic uses that you must learn one at a time. For example, in English a person rides in a car but on a bus, plane, train, or subway.
At, on, and in to show time and place
Showing time
| AT | at a specific time: at 7:20, at dawn, at dinner |
| ON | on a specific day or date: on Tuesday, on June 4 |
| IN |
in a part of a 24-hour period: in the afternoon, in the daytime [but at night] in a year or month: in 2008, in July in a period of time: finished in three hours |
Showing place
| AT |
at a meeting place or location: at home, at the club at the edge of something: sitting at the desk at the corner of something: turning at the intersection at a target: throwing the snowball at Lucy |
| ON |
on a surface: placed on the table, hanging on the wall on a street: the house on Spring Street on an electronic medium: on television, on the Internet |
| IN |
in an enclosed space: in the garage, in an envelope in a geographic location: in San Diego, in Texas in a print medium: in a book, in a magazine |