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Using Prepositions with Times & Dates

Prepositions are used to relate things or people to various ways of time, place, direction and distance. It is difficult to use prepositions correctly as most of them have a variety of uses and meanings.

Reading through the examples below will help you to become more familiar with the uses and meanings of prepositions of time and dates.

Use at + a particular time

at ten o'clock
at half-past eleven
at 2.30 p.m.
at the time of his resignation at that moment

(But not in the following: 'What time is it?' 'It's eight fifteen.')

Periods of the day

No preposition with this ... or tonight

I'm busy this morning / this afternoon / this evening / tonight.

No preposition with yesterday ... or last/next ...

She spoke to me yesterday afternoon.
I had a call from him last week.
The meeting has been rescheduled for next Tuesday.

But notice: at night

The power supply is switched off at night.

Use on + a particular day/date

I sent the information on Monday morning.
Our new office opens on the 15th.
Deborah works late on Wednesdays and Fridays.
We close the office early on Christmas Eve.

On time, in time, by the time; at the end of, by the end of, in the end

These phrases seem similar but have different meanings. Look at the examples below:

My plane to Beijing arrived on time. (It came at the scheduled time.)
I was in time for my meeting. (I arrived before the meeting started.)
The report was finished by the time the clients arrived in Hong Kong. (Finished before something else happened.)
Gerald is leaving at the end of May. (Around 30 or 31 May.)
Gerald is leaving by the end of May. (Any date before 31 May.)

In the end means 'finally/as a final result'

There were a lot of problems with the contract, so in the end we didn't sign it.
 
 
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