In, On, and At: Prepositions of Time and Place

A preposition is “a word governing, and usually preceding, a noun or pronoun

and expressing a relation to another word or element in the clause.” (from The
Oxford English Dictionary)
The definition from Oxford is perhaps a more complicated way of saying that a
preposition is a word showing the relationship between a noun and another
noun, a verb, or an adjective.

Why Are Prepositions Tricky?

If you are frustrated with prepositions, you are not alone. Many consider
prepositions the hardest tool of grammar to master because they are so
numerous and do not always have specific rules that cover their usage. For
instance, you just have to remember that we think about, talk about, dream
about, but never share about.
There are, however, a few often-used prepositions like in, on, and at—the
prepositions of time and place—whose usage follows a rule that is easy to
remember.
 Prepositions of Time and Place: the Smaller to Bigger Rule

When using the prepositions in, on, and at for time and place, you will find that
as you go from more specific (smaller) to more general (bigger), at gradually
turns into on, which gradually turns into in.
Consider the following examples.

Place

When you want to reveal your location at a precise area, you use the
preposition at.
Examples:
I live at 1234 Sesame Street #2.
I am eating at Subway.
When you want to reveal your location on a street or boulevard, use on.
Examples:
I live on Sesame Street.
Subway is on Orange Boulevard.
When you want to reveal your location in a city, state, country, or beyond, use
in. Examples:
I live in San Jose.
San Jose is in California.
California is in the United States.

PREPOSITIONS OF TIME: AT, IN, ON

We use:
• at for a PRECISE TIME
• in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS
• on for DAYS and DATES

When referring to time, just as with place, at turns into on, which turns into in as
you go from smaller to bigger.
When you want to talk about a meeting at a specific time, use at.
Examples:
I will be here at 9:30.
I will meet you at Philz Coffee at 1:30 p.m.
When you are referring to a day or a date, use on.
Examples:
I will be there on Tuesday.
My essay is due on September 25.
When you are referring to a season, month, or year, use in.
Examples:
My birthday is in November.
I am going to go on a sabbatical; I will see you in 2015.
I am glad Christmas is in the winter; winter is my favorite time of year!
Look at these examples:
• I have a meeting at 9am.
• The shop closes at midnight.
• Jane went home at lunchtime.
• In England, it often snows in December.
• Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
• There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
• Do you work on Mondays?
• Her birthday is on 20 November.
• Where will you be on New Year's Day?
Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard
expressions:
Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common
expressions:

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.
• I went to London last June. (not in last June)
• He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
• I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
• We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)
 What is the simple past tense?

The simple past is a verb tense describing events that already happened. 

The simple past is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened
or existed before now. Imagine someone asks what your brother Wolfgang did
while he was in town last weekend.

Wolfgang entered a hula hoop contest.

He won the silver medal.

The simple past tense shows that you are talking about something that has
already happened. Unlike the past continuous tense, which is used to talk about
past events that happened over a period of time, the simple past tense
emphasizes that the action is finished.

Wolfgang admired the way the light glinted off his silver medal.

SIMPLE PAST: VERB BE

You use the simple past to talk about a past state of being, such as the way
someone felt about something. This is often expressed with the simple past
tense of the verb to be and an adjective, noun, or prepositional phrase.
Wolfgang was proud of his hula hoop victory.
The contest was the highlight of his week.

When the subject of the sentence is singular, use was not or wasn’t. When the
subject is plural, use were not or weren’t.

Subjec
To Be Examples
t

I was not I was not tired this morning.

You were not You were not crazy.
He was not He was not married.
She was not She was not famous.
It was not It was not hot yesterday.
We were not We were not invited.
You were not You were not at the party.
 They were not They were not friends.

I was not tired this I wasn't tired this

morning.
You were not crazy.
He was not married.
She was not famous.
It was not hot yesterday.
We were not invited.
You were not at the party.
They were not friends.
OR
morning.
OR You weren't crazy.
OR He wasn't married.
OR She wasn't famous.
OR It wasn't hot yesterday.
OR We weren't invited.
OR You weren't at the party.
OR They weren't friends.

The third-place winner was not as happy as Wolfgang.

The fourth-place winner wasn’t happy at all.
The onlookers were not ready to leave after the contest ended.
The contestants weren’t ready to leave either.

When asking a question with the verb to be, you don’t need the auxiliary did.
The formula is was/were + [subject].

Affirmativ
e You were happy.

Subjec
  Verb  
t
 
Question Were you happy?
Subjec
  Verb  
t

Affirmative Question

I was late Was I late?

You were sick. Were you sick?
He was surprised. Was he surprised?
She was from Italy. Was she from Italy?
It was a big house. Was it a big house?
We were ready. Were we ready?
 You were early. Were you early?
They were busy. Were they busy?

Was Wolfgang in a good mood after the contest? Were people taking lots of

pictures?

Question Short Answers** Short Answers

Was I late? Yes, you were. No, you weren't.

Were you sick? Yes, I was. No, I wasn't.
Was he surprised? Yes, he was. No, he wasn't.
Was she from Italy? Yes, she was. No, she wasn't.
Was it a big house? Yes, it was. No, it wasn't.
Were we ready? Yes, we were. No, we weren't.
Were you early? Yes, we were. No, we weren't.
Were they busy? Yes, they were. No, they weren't.

How to Formulate the Simple Past

The majority of verbs, called ‘Regular verbs’, follow the same pattern and
create the past simple and the past participle using the same word ending, -ed.
There are, however, verbs that have different endings, and these are called
‘Irregular verbs.’
For regular verbs, add -ed to the root form of the verb (or just -d if the root form
already ends in an e):
Play→Played Type→Typed Listen→Listened Push→Pushed Love→Loved
For irregular verbs, things get more complicated. The simple past tense of some
irregular verbs looks exactly like the root form:
Put→Put Cut→Cut Set→Set Cost→Cost Hit→Hit
For other irregular verbs, including the verb to be, the simple past forms are
more erratic:
See→Saw Build→Built Go→Went Do→Did Rise→Rose Am/Is/Are→Was/Were
The good news is that verbs in the simple past tense (except for the verb to be)
don’t need to agree in number with their subjects.
Wolfgang polished his medal. The other winners polished their medals too.
 How to Make the Simple Past Negative

Fortunately, there is a formula for making simple past verbs negative, and it’s
the same for both regular and irregular verbs (except for the verb to be). The
formula is did not + [root form of verb]. You can also use
the contraction didn’t instead of did not.
Wolfgang did not brag too much about his hula hoop skills. Wolfgang’s
girlfriend didn’t see the contest.

How to Ask a Question

The formula for asking a question in the simple past tense is did + [subject] +
[root form of verb].
Did Wolfgang win the gold medal or the silver medal? Where did Wolfgang
go to celebrate? Did the judges decide fairly, in your opinion?
Common Regular Verbs in the Past Tense

Common Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense