Prepositions of time in English

This chapter discusses the prepositions of time in English. These prepositions are used to indicate when an action took place.

Lesson outline

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1.What are prepositions of time?
2.A complete list of English prepositions of time
2.1.Expressions of time without preposition
3.Exercises
3.1.Choose the correct preposition of time in English
3.2.Fill in the English preposition of time

What are prepositions of time?

Prepositions of time in English are used to describe when an action happened. The prepositions are used for days, months, seasons, times and more.

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A complete list of English prepositions of time

The table below shows the different prepositions of time with examples and their usage.

Preposition of time	Use	Example
After	Following something	After school I will go to the dentist. She will go to the gym after work.
Ago	Back in the past	She moved to London 3 years ago. I went to Spain 2 years ago.
As of	Starting from a point in time	As of next year I will be living in Spain. As of tomorrow they will go to the gym.
At	Parts of the day Time of the day Points in time	At night the cat comes home. I woke up at 7 o'clock. They did their homework at the same time.
Before	A prior point in time	I finished the assignment before the weekend. They went to the cinema before they went to the party.
Between ... and	Period of time	There will be a lot of rain between Thursday and Saturday. I have to go to school between Monday and Friday.
By	At some time before another given time.	I have to be home by 10 o'clock. We will finish by the end of June.
During	In the course of a period of time	They played soccer outside during the winter. There were sunny days during the holidays.
For	To show an amount of time	We listened to the music for 10 minutes. We ran every day for 4 weeks.
From	Starting point in time	I have been working on this project from 9 pm. The museum is closed from July to September.
In	Months Years Seasons Parts of the day Point of time in the future	I went to France in March. The trees were green in spring. He was born in 1997. In the evening, he watches television. I will join you in a minute.
On	Days Dates A particular part of a day	She will visit her grandmother on Sunday. It's my birthday on the 28th of March. On the morning of June 28th I had an appointment with the dentist.
Past	Telling the time	It's 5 minutes past 10. It's 20 minutes past 12.
Since	From a specific point of time in the past, continuing now	Since Monday I go to the gym every day. They haven't won a game since 2010.
Till / until	Up to a time in the future	I waited until 6 o 'clock. You have till tomorrow to finish the assignment.
To	Telling the time Until a particular time	It's 5 minutes to 10. It's only three weeks to Christmas.
Within	In less time than	I can finish the assignment within a day. They will arrive within 24 hours.

The prepositions 'in', 'at', and 'on' have multiple different usages, take a look at the chapter to find a detailed explanation.

Expressions of time without preposition

There are some expressions of time that do not require a preposition, see the examples below.