Grammar explanation

In/at/on: time and place


Time

Use At with times of day
On days and dates
In long periods (eg. months/years/seasons)



Look at the following examples:

At 5 o’clock/midnight/sunset
On Friday/12 March/Christmas day
In October/the 1970’s/the past/the future/the 18th Century/1968


Place


Use at or in to show where an event takes place/where something happens:

Eg. The concert will be held at/in the opera house.
The party will be held at/in Sue’s apartment.

We use at to mean next to:

I waited at the station for her for ages.
I live at The Pyramids (not in The Pyramids!)


Use In when you are thinking about the building itself:
To mean inside.

Eg.There are many amazing things to see in The Egyptian museum.

We also use in with the following:

In a street the sea
A square the mountains
A town the building
A country
A city
Cairo




On to mean ‘on top of’

Eg. On the mountain/the ground