Prepositions of Time edited

8/12/2019 Prepositions of Time edited

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PREPOSITIONS OF TIME AND DATES

AT

at a time

at dawn at six oclock at midnight at 4:30

at an age

at sixteen at the age of . . .

exceptions for a specific period of the year

at Easter at Christmas (time)

ON

on a day or a dateon Monday on !ne 4 on Christmas "ay on !ly #3$ #%%3

on the part of the day of a certain date:

on the morning of the sixth on the e&ening of the ' thof May

IN

in years or periods of years (to specify a time)

in #4%' in the 0s in the #%00s

in parts of the day

in the morning in the afternoon in the e&ening

in months

in !ly in *e+tem,er in an!ary$ #%4'

in seasons

in the s+ring in the s!mmertime in a!t!mn

BY

by+ a time/date/ period indicates at that time or before but not later than that time

-o!d ,est ,e at the air+ort ,y six or they wont ,e a,le to check yo!r ,ags.

hey ex+ect to finish the highway ,y the end of the year.


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by+ a time expression is often used with a perfect tense

he st!dent is s!re hell ha&e finished the thesis ,y the end of the semester.

/y #%$ the mo&ement had achie&ed most of its o,1ecti&es.

BEFORE

beforeis a preposition that indicates something previous to the action being mentioned

2e has to gi&e his +resentation ,efore yo! do.

/efore lea&ing the aircraft$ +lease check to see that yo! ha&e all yo!r ,elongings.

beforecan be a preposition, a conjunction or an adverb, depending on its position in the sentence

and/or the construction of the sentence.

/efore signing this +a+er . . . preposition

/efore yo! sign this +a+er . . . conjunction

&e seen him somewhere ,efore. adverb

FROM

fromis normally used with toor till/untiland indicates the time period the action starts and

finishes:Most +eo+le in ind!strialied co!ntries work from % a.m. to 5 +.m.

6rom morning !ntil night$ yo! will find them toiling the soil.

fromalso indicates of what +lace (not a preposition of time)

7here do yo! come from8

SINCE

sinceis used for time (but never for place) and means from that time referred to until the presenttime!. "t#s often used with a present or past perfect tense.

2e has ,een here since Monday. (from $onday till now)

2e wondered where 9nn was he had not seen her since their ;!arrel.

sincecan also be an adverb

2e left school in #%%3. ha&ent seen him since.

sincecan also be a conjunction of time:


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2e has worked for !s e&er since he left school.t is two years since last saw om % " haven#t seen &om for two years.

FOR

foris used to indicate a period of time

for six years for two months for a long time

for+ a period of time is very common with the present and past perfect tenses

2e has worked here for a year.

2e had already ,een there for a year when he was laid off.

for(to indicate a purpose) may be used with 'nown periods of time

(see during)

he whole family went there for the holidays.

DURING

duringis used with 'nown periods of time (i.e. periods 'nown by name such as hristmas, aster)

or periods which have already been defined.

d!ring the Middle 9ges d!ring the s!mmer of that year d!ring his childhood

with duringthe action referred to can either last the whole period or occur at some time within the

period:

t rained all Monday ,!t sto++ed raining d!ring the night.(at some point of time)

2e was ill for a week and d!ring that week he ate &ery little.

TO

tocan be used as preposition of time and of place

to +fromindicate the period when the action began (from) until the action ended (to)

hey worked from to #0 on that re+ort.

if there is nofromwe cannot use to* only untilcan be used:


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aftermust be followed by a noun, pronoun or gerund

after eating after a meal after it

if a noun/pronoun or gerund is not to be used after the preposition after, we must use afterwards(%

afterthat) or then.

hey ,athed and afterwards +layed games.

hey went swimming and then they s!n,athed.

afterwardscan be used at either end of the clause and can be modified bysoon$ immediately not

long, etc.

*oon afterwards we got a letter.

7e got a letter not long afterwards.

aftercan also be used as a conjunction

9fter he had t!ned the +iano it so!nded ;!ite different.

TILL / UNTIL

till/untilcan only be used as preposition of time

till/until+fromindicate the period when the action began (from) until the action ended (till/until)

hey worked from !ntil #0 on that re+ort.

if we have nofromwe must use till/until


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were vocabulary. or the most part, usage has determined the meanings of these expressions, which

are many times 'nown as idioms, and why one preposition is used instead of another.

on time% at the time arranged, not before, not after.

he :#5 train started on time. ("t started at exactly -:)

in time % not late>assengers sho!ld ,e in time for their train to a&oid last min!te +ro,lems.

in time (for) + noun % with a comfortable margin

arri&ed at the concert hall in time for the concert. (0erhaps the concert started at 1:23 and " arrived at

1:)

in good time (for)+ noun % with a comfortable margin

arri&ed at the concert hall in good time. (same as above)

on arrival / on arriving + clause % when sbdy(smthg) arrives or arrived

?n arri&al$ noticed all the work that had +iled !+.

on+ gerund form of verbs (usually verbs of information 4 hear, chec', review) % when + the action

?n checking$ she fo!nd that some of the money was missing.

at the beginning (of)/ end (of) % literally at the point in time when something initiates or terminates

9t the ,eginning of a ,ook there is often a ta,le of contents and at the end there may ,e an index.

in the beginning / at first% in the early stages, it implies that later there was a change.

n the ,eginning @ 9t first man !sed hand tools$ later$ he de&elo+ed machines.

in the end / at last% eventually, after some time.9t first he didnt agree with his da!ghters marriage$ ,!t in the end he ga&e his consent.

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Prepositions of Time edited