PREPOSITIONS OF TIME
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AT |
ON |
| We use at with times: | We use on with dates and days: |
| at 5 o’clock - at 11.45 - at midnight - at lunchtime | on 12 March - on Friday(s) - on Friday morning(s) |
| Tom usually gets up at 7 o’clock. | on Sunday afternoon(s) - on Saturday night(s) |
| on Christmas Day (but at Christmas) | |
| We use at in these expressions: | |
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at night - at Christmas - at the moment / at present - at the same time - at weekends - at the age of... |
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IN |
DURING |
| We use in for longer periods of time: | We use during + noun to say when something happens: |
| in April - in 1986 - in winter - in the 19th century - in the 1970s - in the morning(s) / in the afternoon(s) / in the evening(s) | during the film - during our holiday - during the night |
| In + period of time = a time in the future: | I fell asleep during the film. |
| Jack will be back in a week. | We met a lot of interesting people during our holiday. |
| The train will leave in a few minutes. | |
| In + how long it takes to do something: | |
| I learned to drive in four weeks. | |
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FOR |
SINCE |
| We use for + a period of time: | We use since + a period of time: |
| for six years - for two hours - for a week | since April - since 1992 - since 8 o’ clock |
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I’ve lived in this house for six years. They have been watching TV for two hours. |
It has been raining since one o’ clock. They’ve known each other since they were at school. |
| UNTIL | FROM - TO |
| We use until/till to say how long a situation continues: | We use from - to + beginning and end of a period: |
| Let’s wait until it stops raining. I stayed in bed until half past nine. | Last evening we watched TV from 5 to 8 o’ clock. |
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EXERCISE 4 |
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EXERCISE 5 |
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EXERCISE 6 |
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