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Prepositions of Time & Place - Func. Grammar

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Notes from this wonderful Greek website external link and from OWL external link adapted by your teacher

Prepositions: AT, ON, IN
Time Place

AT a precise time
at 6 o’clock
at midnight/noon
at dinner time / bedtime
at noon, at dawn, at dusk
at sunrise, at sunset
at night
at sixteen / at the age of sixteen
at Easter, at Christmas
at the weekend
at the moment
at present
at the same time

ON days and dates
on Sunday
on December 4th
on a cold day
on Tuesday afternoon
on a hot summer day

IN months, years, centuries, long periods
in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon
in November
in summer
in the summer
in the 1990s
in the 20th century
in the Ice Age
in the past/future

Little comment:
At the beginning, At the end - of something
In the beginning, In the end - plus comma
In the end - also has a sense of result (y al final, como resultado, también)

AT a point
(for points in space, geographical points: houses, stations, small villages, a certain address, a certain point; but also, a place with lots of different places to be in)
at home/ at the office
at work/ at school / at university
at the bus stop
at the street corner
at 21 Oxford Street
at the corner (of a street)
at the entrance / at reception
at the crossroads / at the traffic lights
at the top/bottom/side

IN* an area or volume
(for spaces, an area we feel surrounded by, enclosed by, a large area)
in the street / in Oxford street (also, on)
in the garden / in the office
in a row/line/queue
in the corner (of a room)
in my bag/ in a box
in London/France/Europe
in the world
in a car/taxi/helicopter/boat/lift
in the newspaper

ON* a surface
on TV/the radio
on the Internet/this website/the forum**
on a ship/plane/train/bus/motorbike/bike
on the planet
on an island
on the wall / on the ceiling / on the table
on the left / on your right
on the menu / on a page


* Nouns denoting enclosed spaces, such as a field or a window, take both on (if related to the idea of the surface) and in (if related to the idea of being enclosed).
Examples: We are practicing football on the field - The cows are grazing in the field
The frost made patterns on the window - A face appeared in the window.
In and on are also used with means of transportation: in is used with a car, on with public or commercial means of transportation. Some speakers of English make a further distinction for public modes of transportation, using in when the carrier is stationary and on when it is in motion.

**Decide what you want to put on the Internet - What to find in the Internet (depending on your point of view, see?)

Take this exercise from the OWL website:Prepositions of location: AT, ON, IN external link

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