When - Time and Dates

We use phrases with prepositions as time adverbials

We use at with

clock times
at seven o'clock
at nine thirty
at ten fifteen
mealtimes
at breakfast
at lunchtime
at teatime
these phrases
at night
at the weekend
at Ramadhan


We use in with

seasons
in "the" spring
summer
winter
years, centuries
in 2009
in 1998
in the 60's
months
in January
in February
in April
parts of the day
in the morning
in the afternoon
in the evening


We use on with

days
on Monday
on my birthday
dates
on the thirty-first of July
on June the fifteenth


We say at night when we are talking about all of the night

➧ When there is no moon, it is very dark at night.
➧ He sleeps during the day and works at night.


But we say in the night when we are talking about a specific time during the night

➧ He woke up twice in the night.
➧ I heard a funny noise in the night.


We often use a noun phrase as a time adverbial

yesterday
last week, month, year
last Satuday
the day before yesterday
one day · week · month
the other day, week, etc
today
this week, month, year
this Tuesday
-
-
-
tomorrow
next week, month, year
next Friday
the day after tomorrow
-
-


We can put time phrases together

➧ We will meet next week at six o'clock on Monday.
➧ I heard a funny noise at about eleven o'clock last night.
➧ It happened last week at seven o'clock on Monday night.


We use ago with the past simple to say how long before the time of speaking something happened

➧ I saw Jim about three weeks ago.
➧ We arrived a few minutes ago.


We use in with a future form to say how long after the time of speaking something will happen

➧ I'll see you in a month.
➧ Our train's leaving in five minutes.
More Lessons ➧ Here


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