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Prepositions of Time & Place In, On, At

Many people cannot use prepositions in, on, at properly and more frequently you will face the question where should I apply in, on, at prepositions? Well, before answering this question, we should know what is preposition in English grammar?

 Well, the preposition is a word or set of words that may refer location (in, on, at, near) or some times make a relationship between a noun or pronoun and other parts of the sentence. 

 When we talk about time and place, we use three words most frequently these are in, on and at. These frequently repeated words are the prepositions and they show a relationship between two words in a sentence. Many speakers, basically non-native English speaker sometimes find it difficult to use them properly, make confusion. Therefore, to make it easy and understandable, here are some rules to be followed.

Prepositions of Time- in, on, at

We generally use:
  • in for Months, Years, Centuries, Long periods
  • on for Days and Dates or more specific periods
  • at for a Precise Time
When talking about time, we use preposition in to refer a longer period of time i.e. years, decades, months or even centuries. For example, we say,
  • in July
  • in 2019
  • in the 21st century
  • in the 90's
  • in spring
When to express more specific periods time, such as particular days, holidays, or dates, we use on. For example, 
  • on Friday
  • on June 4th
  • on the weekend
  • on John's birthday
  • on Easter day
However, to describe the most specific period of times, such as midnight, noon, 10 pm etc., we use preposition at. We use at for holidays when the word days is missing. For instance,
  • at Easter time
  • at noon
  • at midnight

Prepositions of Place- in, on, at

To refer a most general place i.e. Countries, cities, neighborhoods etc., generally, use in preposition. For example,
  • in Australia
  • in Sydney
  • in a car
  • in Chinatown
Unlike time, for more specific places i.e. avenues, surfaces, streets, etc. generally, use the preposition on. The best example could be, Mr. Smith lives on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. For example,
  • on Columbus
  • on seventh avenue
  • on the floor
Similarly, to express the exact address or specific places, we generally use at preposition. "Meet me at 200 bank street", could be a good example. Also, 
  • at 210 bank street
  • at 230 Independence Avenue
  • at station
Hope this article will give you a clear view of prepositions basically in at on. If you would like to know the parts of speech with a clear example, I've published a nice article for you worth reading.
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