Happy on her morning walk.

I usually get up at 6:30. If I don’t, I can count on Happy to wake me up. She likes to go for a walk in the morning. The weather was mild on Monday, so we had a nice, long walk through the park. She also likes to go out at night, too. In the winter, it is dark and cold at night, so it’s not my favorite season to walk her. Ever since I’ve had Happy, I haven’t been able to sleep late on the weekends. She usually wakes me up at 7:00 or 7:30. I wonder how she knows what time it is…

We use at, in, and on when we talk about time. Do you know how to use this grammar? Have a look at the paragraph above and then check out today’s lesson: 

We use at before clock time:

  • I usually get up at 6:30.
  • Class begins at 9:00 every day.

We use in before a year or month, or longer periods of time:

  • Happy was born in 1999.
  • It’s usually very cold in NYC in January.
  • The Beatles were very popular in the 1960’s.
  • Most of the high-tech gear we have now was invented in the 20th Century.
  • The Henderson’s usually stay in Miami in the winter.

We use on before a day and a date:

  • The weather was mild on Monday
  • We always have a day off on Independence Day.
  • I started Happy English on October 1, 2010.

Here are some other time expressions that use at, in, and on:

  • We say in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, but at night.
  • At noon means 12:00pm
  • At midnight means 12:00am (0:00am). Remember, in English, midnight is exactly 12:00am (0:00am).
  • In the middle of the night is the period of time between midnight and morning. So, in the middle of the night is from about 12:00am (0:00am) to about 3:30am.
  • We say during the week, but on the weekend.

Do you think you have it? Why not try this quiz and see how much you remembered:

Prepositions of Time (In, At, On) Quiz

Congratulations - you have completed Prepositions of Time (In, At, On) Quiz. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%
Your answers are highlighted below.
Question 1
My sister's birthday is _____ March 15th.
in
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Question 2
I went to sleep early last night, but I woke up _____ midnight.
on
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Question 3
Gloria had a huge party _____ her 80th birthday.
on
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Question 4
Joe likes to relax _____ night watching TV or reading.
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Question 5
Narrow neckties for men were popular _____ the early 1980's
in
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Question 6
I heard Jane is planning to go to Paris ____ the spring.
on
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Question 7
Jack woke up _____ 5:00 this morning.
at
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Question 8
My sister's birthday is _____ March.
in
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Question 9
What are you going to do _____ Valentine's Day?
at
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Question 10
Do you usually work _____ the weekend?
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