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Prepositions of time – 'at', 'in' and 'on'

Do you know how and when to use at, in and on to talk about time? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how we use at, in and on to talk about time.

At weekends, I love to go skiing.

In spring, the weather is warmer.

On Mondays, I work from home.

In the afternoon, I do activities.

On weekdays, I work until 12.

At 5 o'clock, I do two or three more hours of work.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Test1 

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

We use the prepositions in, on or at to say when something happens.

at

We usually use at with clock times and mealtimes.

I get up at 6.30 a.m. and go for a run.

She doesn't like to leave the office at lunchtime.

We also use at with some specific phrases such as at the weekend and at night.

At the weekend, I can spend the days how I like.

We can also say on weekends or on the weekend. This is more common in American English.

We say at night when we mean all of the night. But we say in the night when we want to talk about a specific time during the night.

She's a nurse and she works at night.

The baby often wakes up in the night.

We use at with Christmas and other holidays that last several days.

The weather is very cold here at Christmas.

At Chinese New Year, many people go home to their families.

clock times	at 6 o'clock at 9.30 at 13.00
mealtimes and breaks	at breakfast time at lunchtime at dinner time at break time
other time phrases	at night at weekends/the weekend at Christmas/Easter

in

We usually use in with parts of the day and longer periods of time such as months, seasons and years.

I usually relax in the evening.

In summer it's too hot to do anything.

I'm always really busy in December.

parts of the day	in the morning/afternoon/evening
months	in January/February
seasons	in (the) spring/summer/autumn/winter
years, centuries, decades	in 2016 in the 21st century in the 80s
other time phrases	in the past in the future in the last few years/months/weeks/days

on

We usually use on with days and dates.

On Fridays, I have a long lunch.

It's his birthday on 19 October.

days	on Monday/Tuesday etc. on my birthday on New Year's Day
dates	on 30 July on the second of August

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Test2