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 date
on 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 '(
th
of 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.
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 #%(0$ the mo&ement had achie&ed most of its o,1ecti&es.
BEFORE
before is 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.
before can 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
3&e seen him somewhere ,efore. adverb
FROM
from is normally used with to or till/until and indicates the time period the action starts and
finishes:
Most +eo+le in ind!striali4ed co!ntries work from % a.m. to 5 +.m.
6rom morning !ntil night$ yo! will find them toiling the soil.
from also indicates of what +lace (not a preposition of time)
7here do yo! come from8
SINCE
since is used for time (but never for place) and means from that time referred to until the present
time!. "t#s often used with a present or past perfect tense.
2e has ,een here since Monday. (from $onday till now)
2e wondered where 9nn was: he had not seen her since their ;!arrel.
since can also be an adverb
2e left school in #%%3. 3 ha&ent seen him since.
since can also be a conjunction of time:
2e has worked for !s e&er since he left school.
3t is two years since 3 last saw .om % " haven#t seen &om for two years.
FOR
for is used to indicate a period of time
for six years for two months for a long time
for + a period of time is very common with the present and past perfect tenses
2e has worked here for a year.
2e had already ,een there for a year when he was laid off.
for (to indicate a purpose) may be used with 'nown periods of time
(see during)
.he whole family went there for the holidays.
DURING
during is used with 'nown periods of time (i.e. periods 'nown by name such as (hristmas, )aster)
or periods which have already been defined.
d!ring the Middle 9ges d!ring the s!mmer of that year d!ring his childhood
with during the action referred to can either last the whole period or occur at some time within the
period:
3t rained all Monday ,!t sto++ed raining d!ring the night. (at some point of time)
2e was ill for a week and d!ring that week he ate &ery little.
TO
to can be used as preposition of time and of place
to + from indicate the period when the action began (from) until the action ended (to)
.hey worked from ( to #0 on that re+ort.
if there is no from we cannot use to* only until can be used:
<ets start now and work !ntil dark. (no to is possible)
AFTER (preposition) vs AFTERWARDS (adverb)
after must be followed by a noun, pronoun or gerund
after eating after a meal after it
if a noun/pronoun or gerund is not to be used after the preposition after, we must use afterwards (%
after that) or then.
.hey ,athed and afterwards +layed games.
.hey went swimming and then they s!n,athed.
afterwards can be used at either end of the clause and can be modified by soon$ immediately not
long, etc.
*oon afterwards we got a letter.
7e got a letter not long afterwards.
after can also be used as a conjunction
9fter he had t!ned the +iano it so!nded ;!ite different.
TILL / UNTIL
till/until can only be used as preposition of time
till/until + from indicate 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 no from we must use till/until
<ets start now and work !ntil dark.
till/until is often used with a negative verb to emphasi+e lateness:
7e didnt get home !ntil ' a.m.=
till/until is often used as a conjunction of time:
7ell stay here !ntil it sto+s raining.
SPECIAL EXPRESSIONS OF TIME WITH PREPOSITIONS
&he following is a list of special expressions with prepositions that indicate a time of some 'ind. &here
is no rule for which preposition to use with which expression. &hese must be memori+ed as if they
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 0:#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
3 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
3 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$ 3 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.
3n 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.