Prepositions

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A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. It can show time, place, direction, or other relations. Example: The car stopped at the …

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'At' is used for a point of time, a festival, a mealtime, or an indefinite period. Examples: at 5 o'clock, at Christmas, at lunch, at midnight.

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'On' is used for days, dates, and day plus part of day. Examples: on Friday, on the 17th of March, on Saturday night.

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'In' is used for seasons, years, months, and parts of the day. Examples: in spring, in 2019, in March, in the morning. It can also show future time starting from now, such as in two hours.

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'In' means at the end of a time period. 'Within' means before the end of a time period. Example: I'll be back in two hours means at the end of two hours. I'll be back within two hours means before two…

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'By 5 o'clock' means any point before 5 or exactly at 5. It includes the stated time. Example: Will you be home by 5 o'clock?

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'Until 5 o'clock' means not before 5. The action does not happen earlier than 5. It is often used with negative verbs. Example: I won't leave the office until 5 o'clock.

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'Before 5 o'clock' excludes the exact point of 5 o'clock. 'By 5 o'clock' includes any point up to and including 5. So 'before' is stricter than 'by'.