bh9e_ch31

31a. Prepositions showing time and place

31Prepositions and idiomatic expressions

31aBecome familiar with prepositions that show 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 on this page 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.

#em#At#/em#, #em#on#/em#, and #em#in#/em# 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