PRIMBON : PREPOSITION IN, ON, & AT

·      I live in Palangka Raya.

·      We will meet the principal on Monday.

·      My sister and I always study at night.

The bold-typed words are prepositions. A preposition is a word or groups of words used before a noun or a pronoun to show place, position, time or method.

Preposition	Usage
in	You use ‘in’ with periods of times and places. Example: ·       Months " in May ·       Seasons " in winter ·       Country " in France ·       City or town names " in Paris ·       Times of the day " in the morning, afternoon or evening. Exception: at noon, at night
on	You use ‘on’ with specific days. Examples: on Friday, on New Year’s Day, on August 7th Note: American English " ‘on the weekend’ or ‘on weekends’
at	You use ‘at’ with specific times and specific places. Examples: at 7 o’clock, at 7.30, at night, at school Note: British English " ‘at the weekend’ or ‘at weekends’

Look at these examples:

>>       I have a meeting at 9am.

>>       The shop closes at midnight.

>>      Mitchie went home at lunchtime.

>>       In England, it often snows in December.

>>       Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?

>>       There should be a lot of progress in the next century.

>>       Do you work on Mondays?

>>       Her birthday is on 7 August.

>>       Where will you be on New Year's Day?

Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:

Expression	Example
at night	The stars shine at night.
at the weekend	I don't usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas/Easter	I stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same time	We finished the test at the same time.
at present	He's not home at present. Try later.

Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:

in	on
in the morning	on Tuesday morning
in the mornings	on Saturday mornings
in the afternoon(s)	on Sunday afternoons
in the evening(s)	on Monday evening

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.

• I went to French last August. (not in last August)
• He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
• I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
• We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)