{"id":6202,"date":"2019-10-07T15:21:16","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T13:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nllanguagep-bali.savviihq.com\/?p=6202"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:34:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T12:34:00","slug":"how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use prepositions of time in English"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prepositions can be a recurring nightmare for English language learners; there are about 150 prepositions in the English language and they are more often used than other individual words. <\/p>\n

The tricky thing about applying them correctly is that much of our existing knowledge of prepositions relies on instinct and not on rules. Luckily, when it comes to prepositions of time, we can refer to the following set of rules to give us some guidance and, eventually, after sufficient practice, allow our instinct to take over the job.<\/p>\n

Prepositions of time: at, on, in, by, since, for<\/h2>\n

We use \u2018at\u2019 for specific times:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 I\u2019ll see you at 3 o\u2019clock.
\n\u2022 I often take a break at lunchtime.
\n\u2022 It\u2019s always busy at the end of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n

We use \u2018on\u2019 for specific days:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Are you available on Wednesday?
\n\u2022 My birthday is on the 13th of March.
\n\u2022 Where will you be on New Year\u2019s Eve?<\/p>\n

We use \u2018in\u2019 for periods of time, including weeks, months, years, and seasons:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 I haven\u2019t seen her in weeks! Luckily, we\u2019ve got a coffee date in the morning.
\n\u2022 We\u2019ll be moving house in two months and hope to grow our family in the coming years.
\n\u2022 Hotels are often more expensive in the summer. They were much cheaper in 2001!<\/p>\n

We use \u2018by\u2019 to express that something happens before the time expressed:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 We\u2019d like to have this ready by Friday.
\n\u2022 Could you please confirm your attendance by the 31st of June?
\n\u2022 The director will take a decision by the end of the week.<\/p>\n

We use \u2018since\u2019 to express the length of time with a specific starting point in the past:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 We\u2019ve lived in London since 2004.
\n\u2022 We haven\u2019t seen each other since high school.
\n\u2022 I\u2019ve had this position since March and have been enjoying the work so far.<\/p>\n

We use \u2018for\u2019 to express the length of time:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 We\u2019ve known each other for 25 years.
\n\u2022 They\u2019ve been working on these changes for a long time.
\n\u2022 She\u2019s lived in New York for three years and will be moving abroad next month.<\/p>\n

Test yourself<\/h3>\n

If you think you\u2019ve got the hang of it, test your knowledge below:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. We\u2019ve had some troubles ____ the past.<\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0____ the early 1990\u2019s, the economy was fairly strong.<\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0Let\u2019s get started ____ 9 a.m.<\/li>\n
  4. \u00a0I\u2019d like to discuss this ____ Monday.<\/li>\n
  5. \u00a0Do you have some time to chat or did I catch you ___ a bad time?<\/li>\n
  6. \u00a0___ the future, we expect that most of the workforce will work remotely.<\/li>\n
  7. \u00a0We faced many challenges as a company ___ 2013.<\/li>\n
  8. \u00a0Have you got the day off ____ Labour Day?<\/li>\n
  9. She\u2019s accomplished a lot for someone ___ her early 30\u2019s.<\/li>\n
  10. I was up very late last night and finally fell asleep ___ midnight.<\/li>\n
  11. \u00a0Could you let me know ____ Friday at the latest?<\/li>\n
  12. \u00a0We\u2019ve been looking to buy a home ___ January but the market is tough right now.<\/li>\n
  13. \u00a0I\u2019ve been trying to reach you ___ weeks! Where have you been?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Scroll down for the right answers.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n

    Answers<\/h2>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. in<\/li>\n
    2. in<\/li>\n
    3. at<\/li>\n
    4. on<\/li>\n
    5. at<\/li>\n
    6. in<\/li>\n
    7. in<\/li>\n
    8. on<\/li>\n
    9. in<\/li>\n
    10. at<\/li>\n
    11. by<\/li>\n
    12. since<\/li>\n
    13. for<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Want to improve your English skills? We can help!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Prepositions can be a recurring nightmare for English language learners; there are about 150 prepositions in the English language and they are more often used than other individual words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to use prepositions of time in English - Language Partners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prepostions can be tricky. Luckily, when it comes to prepositions of time, we can refer to the following set of rules to give us some guidance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to use prepositions of time in English - Language Partners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prepostions can be tricky. Luckily, when it comes to prepositions of time, we can refer to the following set of rules to give us some guidance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Language Partners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-07T13:21:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T12:34:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"435\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alma Bonger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alma Bonger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alma Bonger\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/90f54f870233033e7d6b357e4d83a5b7\"},\"headline\":\"How to use prepositions of time in English\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-07T13:21:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-17T12:34:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":537,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"English\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to use prepositions of time in English - Language Partners\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-07T13:21:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-17T12:34:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/90f54f870233033e7d6b357e4d83a5b7\"},\"description\":\"Prepostions can be tricky. Luckily, when it comes to prepositions of time, we can refer to the following set of rules to give us some guidance.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":435,\"caption\":\"Prepositions of time\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/english\\\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"English\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/categorie\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How to use prepositions of time in English\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Language Partners\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/90f54f870233033e7d6b357e4d83a5b7\",\"name\":\"Alma Bonger\",\"description\":\"Alma is an English language trainer and writer from Canada. She is passionate about education, exploring new cultures, and creative collaboration.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/languagepartners.nl\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/alma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to use prepositions of time in English - Language Partners","description":"Prepostions can be tricky. Luckily, when it comes to prepositions of time, we can refer to the following set of rules to give us some guidance.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to use prepositions of time in English - Language Partners","og_description":"Prepostions can be tricky. Luckily, when it comes to prepositions of time, we can refer to the following set of rules to give us some guidance.","og_url":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/","og_site_name":"Language Partners","article_published_time":"2019-10-07T13:21:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-17T12:34:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":435,"url":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alma Bonger","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alma Bonger","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/"},"author":{"name":"Alma Bonger","@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/90f54f870233033e7d6b357e4d83a5b7"},"headline":"How to use prepositions of time in English","datePublished":"2019-10-07T13:21:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-17T12:34:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/"},"wordCount":537,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg","articleSection":["English"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/","url":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/","name":"How to use prepositions of time in English - Language Partners","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-07T13:21:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-17T12:34:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/90f54f870233033e7d6b357e4d83a5b7"},"description":"Prepostions can be tricky. Luckily, when it comes to prepositions of time, we can refer to the following set of rules to give us some guidance.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Prepositions-of-time-blog.jpg","width":1024,"height":435,"caption":"Prepositions of time"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/english\/how-to-use-prepositions-of-time-in-english\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"English","item":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/categorie\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to use prepositions of time in English"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/","name":"Language Partners","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/90f54f870233033e7d6b357e4d83a5b7","name":"Alma Bonger","description":"Alma is an English language trainer and writer from Canada. She is passionate about education, exploring new cultures, and creative collaboration.","url":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/blog\/author\/alma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6202"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13104,"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6202\/revisions\/13104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/languagepartners.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}