We’re meeting in Monday! Or was it on Monday (hint: it’s the latter)? Read this post and learn to choose the right preposition for the right time!

One of the main headache generators for English learners is the use of prepositions, especially when it comes to expressing points in time. To help you with this, we have prepared this article!

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The Prepositions At/On/In

There are some broad guidelines in English regarding the use of different prepositions for points time, which go as follows:

At: For a very specific time or smaller units of time.
On: For days and dates (which could be seen as days, anyway).
In: For larger periods of time, such as months, years,

But remember! Not all expressions follow these rules, which makes it advisable to remember these guidelines when choosing which preposition to use:

At General rule: specific time	On General rule: days and dates	In General rule: larger periods of time
Specific time (hours and minutes) The class finishes at 18:35. Midnight The doorbell started ringing at midnight. At breakfast/lunchtime/ dinner time, etc. We’ll meet in the restaurant at lunchtime. At night Cats tend to go out at night. At noon We always have lunch at noon. At present At present, we are not ready to create a new version of the website. At the end of the day We will have an answer to our inquiry at the end of the day. At the end of the day, being happy is what matters the most. Weekend (British English) She will stay at home at the weekend. Easter Many families meet at Easter. At Christmas (Season) People buy quite a lot of things at Christmas. At the moment They are upset with the company’s behaviour at the moment.	Days of the week I think it would be better to meet on Saturday. Days of the week + part of the day (even if the part of the day would take another preposition) There’s a party on Saturday night. Dates The meeting will take place on July 5th, 2017. Specific days/holidays We want to go there on my wife’s birthday. Non-Christian traditional or religious holidays They meet at home on Yom Kippur. On Christmas (meaning the day of Christmas, not the season in general). Quite often expressed as Christmas day I have to go home for dinner on Christmas day. Weekend (American English) We will go rafting on the weekend.	Weeks I have finals on next week. Months Summer holiday takes place in August. Seasons I enjoy sunbathing in summer. Years The new phone will be released in 2017. Decades There were lots of interesting movies in the 80’s. Centuries There’s going to be lots of progress in the next century. Millennia (singular millennium) Greek philosophy was born in the first millennium BCE. Historical or geological ages In the Ice Age, it was cold. In the morning I eat cereal in the morning. In the afternoon They always take a nap in the afternoon. In the evening They like to go shopping in the evenings.

General rule: specific time

General rule: days and dates

General rule: larger periods of time

Specific time (hours and minutes)
- The class finishes at 18:35.
Midnight
- The doorbell started ringing at midnight.

At breakfast/lunchtime/ dinner time, etc.
- We’ll meet in the restaurant at lunchtime.
At night
- Cats tend to go out at night.
At noon
- We always have lunch at noon.
At present
- At present, we are not ready to create a new version of the website.
At the end of the day
- We will have an answer to our inquiry at the end of the day.
- At the end of the day, being happy is what matters the most.
Weekend (British English)
- She will stay at home at the weekend.
Easter
- Many families meet at Easter.
At Christmas (Season)
- People buy quite a lot of things at Christmas.
At the moment
- They are upset with the company’s behaviour at the moment.

Days of the week
- I think it would be better to meet on Saturday.
Days of the week + part of the day (even if the part of the day would take another preposition)
- There’s a party on Saturday night.
Dates
- The meeting will take place on July 5th, 2017.
Specific days/holidays
- We want to go there on my wife’s birthday.
Non-Christian traditional or religious holidays
- They meet at home on Yom Kippur.
On Christmas (meaning the day of Christmas, not the season in general). Quite often expressed as Christmas day
- I have to go home for dinner on Christmas day.
Weekend (American English)
- We will go rafting on the weekend.

Weeks
- I have finals on next week.
Months
- Summer holiday takes place in August.
Seasons
- I enjoy sunbathing in summer.
Years
- The new phone will be released in 2017.
Decades
- There were lots of interesting movies in the 80’s.
Centuries
- There’s going to be lots of progress in the next century.
Millennia (singular millennium)
- Greek philosophy was born in the first millennium BCE.
Historical or geological ages
- In the Ice Age, it was cold.

In the morning
- I eat cereal in the morning.
In the afternoon
- They always take a nap in the afternoon.
In the evening
- They like to go shopping in the evenings.

There are also cases in which we can (or, sometimes, must) omit the preposition in/at/on. We will discuss that in a future article! For the time being, focus in practising these rules and let us know in the comments if you have any question!

For those of you who feel the need to learn about other time-related uses of prepositions, please watch this wonderful video!

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Note: For the sake of making it easier to understand the general rule of usage (from smaller to bigger units of time) we use the ordering at/on/in. In grammars and other reference works, it is usual to see them ordered as at/in/on, following alphabetical ordering.