Learning English

Some extra tips

So, you've done one activity about in, at, and on. But what about when things are not so clear?

Barreeffama kana dubbisii shakala kana xumuri

Tip 1 - On Saturday night

Look at this sentence. Should in, on or at go in the gap?

• We're meeting __ Saturday night.

We would normally say on Saturday and at night. So should it be on – for Saturday – or at – for night? The answer is:

We're meeting on Saturday night.

We use the preposition on even though there is another time expression afterwards.

Tip 2 - On Christmas morning

Why do you think we use on in this sentence?

• What did you do on Christmas morning?

Normally we use at for festivals like Christmas and we use in for parts of the day like the morning, but Christmas Day is actually a specific day, rather than a whole festival, so we use on. Again, we use the preposition on even though there is another time expression afterwards.

Tip 3 - No preposition

Finally, in, at and on are not generally used before the words today, tomorrow and yesterday:

• I can't go tomorrow
• He wrote that article yesterday

We don't use in, on or at in time expressions with the words this, that, next, last, all, one, each, some and every:

• I slept all day
• He didn't come last night

To do

Now, use the information from the whole of this session to answer the questions in this quiz. Good luck!

End of Session 1

That's the end of this session. Join us next time when we focus on grammar - the present perfect continuous tense. Here's an example: How long have you been learning English? See you in the next session!