Prepositions of Time and Place — English — 3rd Year Secondary (Literary Stream) — Baccalaureate — Algerian Curriculum

Prepositions of Time and Place

Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun/pronoun and other words in a sentence. The most common prepositions in English are at, in, on. These three prepositions are used for both time and place, but with different meanings.

Prepositions of Time

• AT: specific times, mealtimes, festivals, night. “at 5 PM, at noon, at midnight, at dinner, at Christmas, at night.”
• IN: months, years, seasons, centuries, long periods, parts of the day. “in January, in 2024, in summer, in the 21st century, in the morning, in the past.”
• ON: days, dates, specific days. “on Monday, on July 19th, on my birthday, on the weekend (US: on, UK: at).”
• SINCE: from a specific point in time until now. “since 2020, since Monday.”
• FOR: duration. “for two hours, for three days, for a long time.”
• DURING: within a period. “during the lesson, during the summer.”
• BY: deadline. “by 5 PM, by tomorrow.”
• UNTIL/TILL: up to a point. “until Friday, till midnight.”
• AGO: past from now. “two days ago, a year ago.”

Prepositions of Place

• AT: specific point/location, addresses, events. “at the bus stop, at 25 Main Street, at the cinema, at the door, at work, at home.”
• IN: inside, enclosed spaces, cities, countries, neighborhoods. “in the room, in the box, in Paris, in Algeria, in the garden.”
• ON: surface, streets, floors, transportation. “on the table, on the wall, on Oxford Street, on the first floor, on the bus, on a plane.”
• UNDER/BELOW: beneath. “under the bed, below the surface.”
• ABOVE/OVER: higher than. “above the clouds, over the bridge.”
• NEXT TO / BESIDE: adjacent. “next to the bank, beside the library.”
• BETWEEN: in the middle of two. “between the school and the mosque.”
• ACROSS FROM / OPPOSITE: facing. “across from the post office.”

For more grammar, see Conditionals and Passive Voice Practice.

Exercises

1. Complete with at/in/on: “I was born … June 15th.” “She arrived … 7 PM.” “He lives … Algeria.” “The book is … the table.”
2. Choose the correct preposition: “I will see you (in/on) Monday.” “She has been here (since/for) 2020.”
3. Write 3 sentences using different prepositions of time and 3 using prepositions of place.