Prepositions of time

The correct usage of prepositions of time depends on the time expressions used. The table below shows the most common prepositions in English along with explanations and examples.

	Explanations	Examples
at	hours	at 9 o'clock
	daytime	at noon at night at midnight at lunchtime at sunset
	holidays	at Christmas at Easter
	fixed expressions	at the same time at the weekend at weekends at the moment at present at the end of the month at the end of January
on	days of the week	on Monday on Friday
	dates	on the 23rd of December*
	special celebrations/holidays	on Christmas Day on Good Friday on Easter Sunday on my birthday
	parts of the day	on the evening of the 23rd* on Sunday morning(s) on Monday afternoon(s) on Tuesday evening(s)
	expression: on time	The train left on time. 'Don't be late. Please, be on time.
in	parts of day	in the morning(s) in the afternoon(s) in the evening(s)
	months	in January in June
	year	in 1986
	years	in the 1990s
	centuries	in the 18 century in the Middle Ages
	expressions	in the past in (the) future
	seasons	in (the) summer in (the) winter
	period of time	in a minute in two weeks
	expression: in a few minutes	We're leaving in a few minutes.
	expression: in a moment	He'll be here in a moment.
	expression: in time	Will you be home in time for dinner?
after	'after'	after school
before	'before'	before Christmas
ago	'ago'	2 years ago
between	'between'	between Monday and Thursday
by	'by'	by Tuesday
during	'during'	during the holidays
for	'for'	for two weeks
from ... to ... from ... till/until	'from ... to ...'	from Monday to Friday from Monday till Friday from Monday until Friday
past	'past'	7.27 - 27 minutes past seven
since	'since'	since Monday
till/until	'until'	till Wednesday
to	'to'	8.42 - 18 minutes to nine
up to	'up to'	up to 4 hours a day
within	'within'	within a day
WITHOUT PREPOSITION	before 'last/next/this/every'	I'll see you next Monday. We bought a car last May.
	in colloquial language	I'll see you Friday I don't go out Monday mornings.