Prepositions - English Grammar

Prepositions of Time:

Prepositions in, on, at

We use in for nonspecific times during a day, a month, a season, or a year.

• He started the job in 1971.
• She likes to jog in the morning.
• It's too cold in winter to run outside.
• He's going to quit in August.

We use on to designate days and dates.

• My brother is coming on Monday.
• We're having a party on the 4th of July.

We use at to designate specific times.

• The train is due at 12:15 p.m.

Prepositions for, since

We use for when we measure time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years).

• He held his breath for seven minutes.
• She's lived there for seven years.
• The British and Irish have been quarreling for seven centuries.

We use since with a specific date or time.

• He has worked here since 1970.
• She has been sitting in the waiting room since two-thirty.

Prepositions of Place

Prepositions in, on, at

And we use in for the names of land-areas (towns, counties, states, countries, and continents).

• She lives in London.
• London is in the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom is in Europe.

We use on to designate names of streets, roads, avenues, etc.

• Her house is on Baker Street.

We use at for specific addresses.

• He lives at 55 Baker Street in London.

Prepositions of Movement

Prepositions to, no preposition

We use to in order to express movement towards a place.

• They were driving to work together.
• She's going to the dentist's office this morning.

With the words home, downtown, uptown, inside, outside, downstairs, upstairs, we use no preposition.

• My grandfather went upstairs
• My grandmother went home.
• Yesterday they both went outside.