Prepositions of time:in/on/at

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

The prepositions at, in and on are often used in English to talk about times.

Here are some examples of their usage:

At

Specific Time:
Example:
at 7 o’clock
at midnight
at noon

Holiday Period:
Example:
at Christmas
at Easter

Meal Time:
at lunchtime
at dinnertime

Expressions:
at present
at the moment
at night

In

Months:
in April
in May

Seasons:
in summer
in winter

Years:
in 1990
in 2020

Decade:
in the 50s
in the 70s

Centuries:
in the 18th century

Long Periods:
in the present
in the past
in the ice age

Parts of the day:
in the morning
in the afternoon
in the evening

On

Days:
on Tuesday
on my birthday
on Halloween

Dates:
on 15th of August
on May 4th
on our wedding

Parts of a day:
on Monday morning
on Saturday evening

Adverbial Phrases Of Frequency, Time And Place

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

An adverb or adverbial phrase is one or more words that change the verb in a sentence. There are 3 main types of adverbial phrases: time, place, and frequency (how often something happens).

Adverbs that change the meaning of a sentence and tells us how often or how frequently something happens are called adverbs of frequency.
Example:
hourly.
annually.
usually
often
seldom
daily

Adverbs that change the meaning of a sentence and tells us when something happens are called adverbs of time.
Example:
today
tomorrow
over the summer
this week / this month / this year
next week / next month / next year
last week / last month / last year
the day before yesterday

Adverbs that change the meaning of a sentence and tells us where something happens are called adverbs of place.
Example:
here
down
there
up
back
up front
around the corner
near the (place)
away from
under the bed
in the box
out in the street

Personal Pronouns

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

A personal pronoun is a short word we use as a simple substitute for the proper name of a person.

There are two cases of personal pronouns: subject pronouns and object pronouns.

SUBJECT PRONOUNS
I
-I went to school.
you
-You are my friend.
she
-She is my sister.
he
-He studied hard.
it
-It is a boy!
we
-We went home early.
they
-They are not here yet.

OBJECT PRONOUNS
me
-Give me your phone.
you
-Mom will talk to you.
her
-Take her to the hospital.
him
-Please drive him home.
it
-I had to buy it.
us
-Please give us food.
them
-Throw them away!

Modals – Deductions about the Past

Level: Intermediate-Advanced

Modal verbs for deduction are used when trying to see whether something is true or not. The way we choose these modal verbs is an indication of how big we think the possibility is. Some modals of deductions about the past are must have, might have/may have, and can’t have/couldn’t have.

Compare:

She must be really exhausted from working all day. (present deduction)
She must have been very exhaused when she had to work all day. (past deduction)

must have


Must have + past participle is used to express certainty about something.

She couldn’t find her purse. She must have left it at the restaurant.
Allan must have had the flu. He didn’t show up at any of his appointments today.
We’ve got enough money. Michelle must have saved on her meal earlier.

might have / may have


Might have or may have + past participle is used to express the possibility that something happened.

I might have bought the wrong brand. Can you please ask Mom to check?
Joe thinks his wife may have left with her lover.

Note: Might have is the less formal form compared to may have. Could have is another possible form to be used in such context but it is not that very common.

can’t have / couldn’t have

Can’t have and couldn’t have + past participle are used to express that it is not possible for something to happen.

They can’t have left the party yet because their car is still outside.
Andrea thought she saw her old university professor this morning but it couldn’t have been her – she moved abroad years ago.

Possessives II

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Possessive pronouns are words that show ownership.

Here are some examples of possessive pronouns used in sentences:

my
-My job is to teach you.

mine
-This apple is mine.

our
-Our house is big.

ours
-These bags are ours.

its
-Its lid is broken.

his
-His dad is a businessman.

her
-Her umbrella is yellow.

hers
-That yellow umbrella is hers.

their
-Their car is blue.

theirs
-That blue car is theirs.

your
-Your dress looks nice.

yours
-This dress is yours.

Phrasal Verbs III

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Phrasal verbs are combinations of words that when used together, usually have a different meaning to that of the original verb. Phrasal verbs are phrases that indicate actions.

Here are some examples of phrasal verbs:

drop out
-quit a class, school, etc.
Example: I dropped out of Math because it was too difficult.

catch up
-get to the same point as somebody else
Example: You’ll have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with me.

come back
-to return
Example: Come back and see us again sometime.

wake up
-stop sleeping
Example: We have to wake up early.

enter into something
-to start to become involved in something
Example: We don’t need to enter into that yet.

throw away
-to get rid of something you do not want any more:
Example: People throw away plastic bags.

come into
-To arrive in a place, or to enter a place
Example: Children are not coming into school.

Past Simple

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Past simple is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened in the past.

To turn verbs into simple past, add -ed to the root form of the verb, or just -d if the root form already ends in an e.
Example:
walk > walked
play > played
love > loved
like > liked

There are a lot of irregular past tense forms in English. Here are some examples:
choose > chose
come > came
bring > brought
buy > bought
drive > drove
eat > ate
feel > felt
find > found
cost > cost
go > went
be > was/were
begin > began
break > broke
get > got
give > gave
build > built
have > had
cut > cut
do > did
draw > drew

Prepositions of Place

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Prepositions of place describe the position of a person or thing in relation to another person or thing. Prepositions of place give you the ability to tell others where something is located.

In

-when something is inside something
Example:
She is in the car.
I watch TV in the living-room

On

when something is in a position above something else and touching it
Example:
Please place the flowers on the table.

television, radio, internet (website)
Example:
I watched the news on TV.
I saw the picture on Facebook.

used for showing some methods of traveling
Example:
I love traveling on trains.

At

to show an exact position
Example: I am at the airport.

event
Example:
I met her at a concert.
Let’s meet at the party.

a place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work)
Example:
I’m at work now.
I watched a movie at the cinema.

Modals: can/can’t/could/couldn’t

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

We use CAN to make general statements about what is possible:
Example:
It can be very hot here in summer. (= It is sometimes very hot here in summer.)
You can easily get lost in this city. (= People often get lost in this city.)

We also use CAN and CAN’T to talk about someone’s skill or general abilities:
Example:
He can speak two languages.
She can dance.
She can’t swim very well.

We use COULD to show that something is possible, but not certain:
Example:
They could come by bus. (= Maybe they will come by bus.)
They could be at school. (= Maybe they are at school.)

We also use COULD to mean that we were able to do something in the past.
Example:
When she was 1, she could talk.

We use COULDN’T to mean that we weren’t able to do something in the past.
Example:
When he was 1, he couldn’t walk.

Gerunds After Prepositions: What’s Next?

As a general rule, gerunds are always after prepositions.

preposition + gerund

She had snacks after finishing her homework.
The tourists are excited about visiting the Trevi Fountain.
Try to sober up before leaving the party.

Note that we do not follow prepositions with infinitives. Noun clauses come after prepositions. When you put a verb after it, the verb must be a gerund. That verb then act as a noun.

Preposition + Gerund

after
After finishing her studies, she moved to the big city.

before
Check facts before reposting news or stories from disreputable websites.

by
They won the award by working hard as a team.

in spite of
In spite of failing too many times, he didn’t give up.

on
What was the President’s reaction on learning about the issue?

without
He hit his wife and children without batting an eyelash.

Adjectives

Adjective + Preposition + Gerund

angry about/at
Laura is angry about waiting for John for two hours.

disappointed about/at
Matt is disappointed about finding out he failed the test.

fed up with
They are fed up with being discriminated against.

interested in
Is she interested in taking care of a dog?

tired of
He’s tired of listening to you whine all day.

Nouns

Noun + Preposition + Gerund

advantage of
What is the advantage of exercising?

chance of
There’s a chance of raining today.

choice between
There’s a choice between traveling to Brazil or Mexico.

danger of
Donald is in danger of committing a serious felony.

difficulty in
He has difficulty in remembering names and faces.

Verbs

Verb + Preposition + Gerund

accuse of
He was accused of embezzling the organization’s funds.

apologize for
I would like to apologize for treating you this way.

complain about
They complained about overpricing.

concentrate on
You need to concentrate on studying.

cope with
Luis and his family are not sure how to cope with having to downsize.

Gerunds After Prepositions Exercise

Answer this exercise on gerunds after prepositions.

1. Can you sleep ______ ?

a. without snoring

b. without snore

2. Her sister decided ______ her studies this coming semester.

a. against postpone

b. against postponing

3. Do you think he can ______?

a. give up smoke

b. give up smoking

4. I ______ from you soon.

a. look forward to hearing

b. look forward to hear

5. Are you ______ up late?

a. used to staying

b. used to stay

6. My father got exhausted ____ all day.

a. after drive

b. after driving

7. In spite ______ the long route, we still arrived early to the wedding.

a. of taking

b. of take

8. I find no sense  ______.

a. in complain

b. in complaining

9. I would like to ______ you this way.

a. apologize for treating

b. apologize to treat

10. You need to _______.

a. concentrate to study

b. concentrate on studying

Find the answers to this exercise here.

See also: Verb + -ing/infinitive: Like and Gerunds

For additional information on this topic, check out this Education First lesson.

For other English grammar lessons, go to this page.