Am I late?

In time? On time?
At the end? In the end?
The meeting starts at 10 o’clock. John is running late.
Will he be on time for the meeting?
No. He won’t, he’ll be late, but he’ll be in time for the main speaker.

In the end he was only seven minutes late, but he did apologise to the speaker at the
end of the meeting.

On time = at the planned time; neither late nor early:

Peter wants the meeting to start exactly on time.
In time = with enough time to spare; before the last moment:
He would have died if they hadn’t got him to the hospital in time.
In the end = finally, after a long time:
In the end, we decided to get a taxi home.
At the end = at the point where something stops
The movie was almost finished when there was a blackout, so we
don’t know what happened at the end.

Fill the gap: on time, in time, in the end, at the end

She’s very punctual, she’s always __________________

Am I _____________ to see him, or has he already left?
You need to get to the airport _____ plenty of _________ because there may be a
queue.
When I went to the post it took a long time because I was __________ of a queue.
He couldn’t decide on a colour for his new car and _____________ he chose blue.
Fred is always late. I don’t think he’s ever _____________________
If she doesn’t get here soon she won’t be ________________ for the birthday cake.
A car nearly ran him over, but he got out of the way __________________
That doctor never keeps people waiting; he always sees his patients right ____________
He gave me a lift home and I told him to drop me off _____________ of the street.
I’ve been waiting for the bus for ages. They are never ____________________
At the restaurant our meal took so long to arrive that _______________ we complained
to the waiter.
The traffic is really bad today, I don’t think I’ll get to work ______________
I won’t be able to get to the city ____________ to visit you before I go to my
appointment, and I must get to my appointment ____________________
If you keep practising you’ll be able to do it __________________
Answer Key
Fill the gap: on time, in time, in the end, at the end

She’s very punctual, she’s always __on time_____

Am I ___in time_________ to see him, or has he already left?
You need to get to the airport __in__ plenty of ___time______ because there may be a
big queue.
When I went to the post it took a long time because I was __at the end____ of a queue.
He couldn’t decide on a colour for his new car and ___in the end______ he chose blue.
Fred is always late. I don’t think he’s ever ____on time________
If she doesn’t get here soon she won’t be ___in time______ for the birthday cake.
A car nearly ran him over, but he got out of the way just ______in time__________
That doctor never keeps people waiting, he always sees his patients right _on time_____
He gave me a lift home and I told him to drop me off _at the end______ of the street.
I’ve been waiting for the bus for ages. They are never _on time_________
At the restaurant our meal took so long to arrive that ___in the end_____ we
complained to the waiter.
The traffic is really bad today, I don’t think I’ll get to work ____on time___
I won’t be able to get to the city __in time___ to visit you before I go to my
appointment, and I must get to my appointment __on time____________
If you keep practising you’ll be able to do it __in time____