Hello! This is Emma from mmmEnglish,
on the mmmEnglish YouTube channel.
I made a video lesson using articles in English.
If you missed it, you can watch it up here.
But in that video, I said that
biggest problems for English students
As a University English teacher,
I saw these mistakes all the time!
coming very close behind mistakes with articles
are mistakes with prepositions.
There are many of them in English
prepositions are difficult to understand.
Sometimes the reasons why you should choose one
exceptions and differences depending on
whether they speak American English or
So what's the secret to these prepositions?
Well, the answer might not be one that you like.
Prepositions need to be learnt in context
with the other words that they're used with.
will only end in tears and frustrations!
will make it easier to remember it
and also to get it right every time.
You're not thinking about which preposition
but you're remembering the phrase.
Now last week I talked about these prepositions
But all when they're used to talk about place
But today we're going to focus on these
but for when they give information about time.
I'll be there in five minutes.
to specific times on the clock
with dates and named days of the week.
specifically with an end point of time
Use "at" for very specific times.
The meeting will finish at 5:30.
other specific times of the day, like
He doesn't like driving at night.
I'm going shopping at lunchtime.
I read my daughter a story at bedtime.
Let's talk about it at dinner tonight.
So there, I just called the time
One thing that you must be careful about is with
but for all of these other times of the day
- and don't forget the article as well, right?
Now there's also some really common
that use the preposition "at"
an action that is happening around the present moment,
you're not using "in the moment"
In the moment, I'm working on a very interesting project.
No!
I'm working on a very interesting project.
She's a little busy at present,
can I get her to call you back?
but "at present" means at this time.
I finish the course at the end of April.
Note that if you say something happened in the middle
you need to use the preposition
"in".
But I'll talk more about that in a moment.
to say that two separate actions
- at one time.
Okay let's talk about the preposition "in".
"In" is used for periods of time,
or even longer periods of time
like centuries or decades or years.
The ski resort is closed in summer.
That's the period of time between 1970 and 1980.
It happened in the 16th century.
Just as we use "in" for periods of time
we also use it for periods of time
when we're not being specific.
So...
They're leaving in the evening.
The baby sleeps in the afternoon.
I work most productively in the morning.
So there's specific time and there's kind of general time.
We can also use "in" to describe
the amount of time needed to do something.
So again, we're talking about a
They managed to complete the job in two weeks.
You can drive around the island in a day.
We can also use "in" to explain
when something will happen in the future.
I'll be ready in five minutes.
He's gone away but he'll be back in a couple of days.
You can collect your parcel in a week.
Now remember I told you earlier
that if you're using the expression
at the end of or at the start of something
you need to use the preposition "at".
Return it to me at the end of the day.
But, if you're referring to the middle of a period of time
your preposition needs to be "in"
Or it's too hot to go out in the middle of the day.
Okay, here's another really common fixed expression.
Luckily, we arrived just in time.
This means that you weren't late
or you arrived just before the event started.
"on time"
which is another fixed expression
This means at the starting time,
If you're told to arrive on time,
The teacher told them to arrive on time.
And even though they slept in,
more about this preposition now.
"On"
In English we can use this preposition for
specific descriptions of time.
Most commonly with days of the week
and parts of days of the week.
That's a specific and a unique time.
By using the plural form there,
I'm suggesting that this is a regular event.
We're going to the theatre on Wednesday evening.
Let's have a coffee on Friday morning.
It's his birthday on Saturday.
So note that in spoken English
"on" is often omitted in context like this.
suddenly when someone says a sentence like this
you can't hear the preposition.
In spoken English, it's often dropped.
The interview is on the 29th of April.
It's also used with special days.
She was born on Valentine's Day.
We're moving house on Christmas Eve.
I have an exam on my birthday.
But here's another little exception
that you need to keep in mind.
When you're talking about festivals and
about special periods of time,
So, are you going home at Christmas?
So that's talking about the time around Christmas.
If you're referring to the specific day,
What are you doing on New Year's Day?
What are you doing at New Year's?
Now this question is more general,
you're referring to the period of time
usually there is a few days where
they're relaxing and hanging out so
"on Year's Day" means specifically that day
you just mean the time around that day.
that can be a little bit confusing is
What are you doing on the weekend?
is more common in American English and
What are you doing at the weekend?
is more common in British English.
But either way, you'll be understood.
Both of them mean the same thing.
But it's good to know that there are
two different ways to express this.
is very useful to give information about time.
You can use "by" with the end time of an activity.
The show should be finished by 9pm.
So when it's used with a specific time,
it can mean on or before that time.
Please return these books by Friday.
That means no later than Friday.
Let's go over everything that we learnt in this lesson
because it was a lot to take in!
"At" is generally used in reference to
or specific points of time in the day.
"In" generally refers to longer periods of time.
"On" is used with dates or named days.
And "by" is used with times and named days
but specifically telling us an end time.
Well that's it for this lesson!
I hope that it's been good revision for you
to remind yourself about the correct way to
use these really common English prepositions
that give more information about time.
Now if you've got any questions at all,
put them in the comments below
and I will try to answer them as soon as I can.
the mmmEnglish Channel and you enjoy my lessons,
some of the other lessons that I've prepared.
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help you to practice your speaking skills.