Prepositions Of Time In English

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Prepositions of Time in English

After / Later

Use after + phrase, and use later alone (at the end of a sentence or phrase).

I’ll call you later.
I’ll call you after I get home from work.
First he bought a new car. Two weeks later, he bought a new motorcycle.
He bought a new motorcycle two weeks after he bought a car.

You can say “later + time period” to refer to an unspecified time in the future, for example:

I’ll finish the project later this week.
We’ll go on vacation later this year.

Never end a sentence with “after.” Instead, you can use “afterwards”

“Did you go straight home after the baseball game?”
“No, we went out for drinks after.”
“No, we went out for drinks afterwards.“

Ago / Before

Use ago to talk about past times in reference to the current moment.

Use before to talk about past times in reference to another moment in the past.

Difference between “before” and “ago”

By / Until

Use by for one specific event that will happen before a certain time in the future. Use untilfor a continuous event that will continue and then stop at a certain time in the future.

Please send me the information by Monday.
He’s staying in London until the 30th.

Difference between “by” and “until”

During / While

Both during and while mean that something happens at the same time as something else.

Use during + noun.

She cried during the movie.

Use while + subject + verb, or while + gerund.

She cried while she was watching the movie.
She cried while watching the movie.

From… To / Till / Until

We use from + to / till / until to define the beginning and end of a time period.

The museum is open from 8 AM to 4 PM.
Jack will be on vacation from tomorrow until next Friday.
I studied English from 2001 till 2004.

On / In / At

Use in for centuries, decades, years, seasons, and months:

In the 18th century
In the 1960s
In 2001
In the summer
In October

Use on for days:

On Friday
On March 15th.
On my birthday
On the weekend

Use at for times:

At 3:30.
At noon.
At quarter past four.

Be careful with morning, afternoon, evening, and night!

In the morning
In the afternoon
In the evening
At night

Past / To

We can use these prepositions with minutes in relation to the hour:

3:50 = Ten to four
6:15 = Quarter past six

For / Since

For is used for a period of time, and since is used to reference a specific point in time.

I’ve been waiting for three hours.I’ve been waiting since ten o’clock.
We’ve lived here for four years.
We’ve lived here since 2008.
She’s been working there for six months.
She’s been working there since she graduated from college.

As Soon As / As Long As

As soon as means “immediately after another event.”

We’ll call you as soon as we arrive.
(if we arrive at 8:00, we’ll call you at 8:05)

As long as means “for the period of time” or “on the condition that”:

I stayed awake for as long as I could. (period of time)
I’ll take the job as long as I have the freedom to work from home a few days a week. (condition)

What is a preposition of time?

A preposition of time is a preposition that allows you to discuss a specific time period such as a date on the calendar, one of the days of the week, or the actual time something takes place. Prepositions of time are the same words as prepositions of place, however they are used in a different way. You can easily distinguish these prepositions, as they always discuss times rather than places.

At – This preposition of time is used to discuss clock times, holidays and festivals, and other very specific time frames including exceptions, such as “at night.”
In – This preposition of time is used to discuss months, seasons, years, centuries, general times of day, and longer periods of time such as “in the past.”
On – This preposition of time is used to discuss certain days of the week or portions of days of the week, specific dates, and special days such as “on New Year’s Day.”
Prepositions of time allow you to tell your readers when things are taking place. They are vital parts of speech to use in stories, as well as when writing simple communications, reports, and other items.

PREPOSITIONS OF TIME

	Prepositions of time (at, in, by, for, since, on)

'At' is used with a definite point of time.

Examples
	I go to library at 7:30 pm everyday,
	She will come at X-mas.
	I do not work at night.
	She is good at badminton.

‘In’ is used for months, years, decades, centuries, and long periods of time:

Examples
	Amit will be back in a week.
	The train will leave in a few minutes.
	I learned English grammar in four weeks.
	This school was built in 2002.

‘By’ refers to latest time by which an action will be completed.

Examples
	She will arrive by Sunday.
	I will be back by 6 o’clock.
	By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.
	I will have finished this project by Friday.

FOR

'For' denotes a period of time and is used with the perfect continuous tense.

Examples
	She has been working with Philips for the last fifteen years.
	I’ve lived in this house for six years.
	My friend has been living in Canada for five years.
	They have been watching TV for two hours.

SINCE

'Since' denotes a certain point of time (past till now) and is used with the perfect continuous tense.

Examples
	It has been raining since one o’ clock.
	I have been waiting for you since seven o'clock.
	I am staying in this house since my birth.
	Since you left, I haven’t celebrate x-mas.

'On' is used with Days/Dates.

Examples
	X-mas is celebrated on 25th December.
	He will come on Monday.
	Her birthday is on 20 November.
	Do you work on Sundays?

Exercise

September
12 o'clock
winter
Easter Monday
4th July, 1776
Christmas
Tuesday
the weekend
my birthday
the end of the week

Ans:

in September
at 12 o'clock
in winter
on Easter Monday
on 4th July, 1776
at Christmas
on Tuesday
at the weekend
on my birthday
at the end of the week

Prepositions of time are used to show when something happened. As we saw in the previous lesson, the three most common prepositions (“in”, “at”,“on”) can be used both as prepositions of place or time. Below are several other common prepositions of time.

BEFORE

Meaning: preceding, earlier than

Examples:

Call me before one.

They arrived before me.

AFTER

Meaning: subsequent to in time

Examples:

We will see you after the movie.

I arrived after them.

DURING

Meaning: throughout the duration of or at a point in the course of

Examples:

Don’t talk during the movie.

I don’t like to watch television during the day.

FOR

Meaning: a function word used to indicate duration of time, how long something has happened

Use: Although the meaning of “for” is similar to “during”, in the sense of indicating a duration of time, “for” is used to express a period of time (hours, days, months, years, etc.) while “during” is used to express when something happened (within a period of time).

Examples:

I lived in England for three years.

He studied for the exam for one week.

Related Page:

What are prepositions?

Types of preposition.
Preposition of place

Preposition of Movement

Preposition of Time

Preposition of Position

Preposition of Direction