“In” and “On” with Time Expressions

13 Responses to ““In” and “On” with Time Expressions”

1. Sajib @ Techie Post on November 17, 2009 11:13 am

   Thank you very much for this post. Though this is a helpful post for those who are in a bloody confusion with “on” and “in”, along with me, I think I will still be confused sometimes.

2. Tony Hearn on November 17, 2009 1:32 pm

   It’s a real can of worms. Here in Britain, at least, commonly heard dialectal variations include ‘of’ or ‘-s’, as in ‘I go there of a Monday’,’ I go there Mondays’, ‘I see him there of a night’, or ‘I see him there nights’.

3. Suzanne on November 17, 2009 3:04 pm

   I agree, definitely a can of worms.

   While writing yesterday’s blog post I found myself questioning whether it should be “in a journey” or “on a journey.”

   Of course, it’s “on,” but I wavered! I’m easily influenced by seeing different usages (esp between British and US English) and repeated misspellings.

   Thanks for another great post.

   Cheers,
   Suzanne
   Online Business Cookbook

4. Brad K. on November 17, 2009 3:11 pm

   So . .

   If I think of a timeline, then I would use *in* to specify a broad range of times.

   *On* would identify a well understood interval, but imply a specific event or time within that interval. On Monday I will set out the trash, as usual. While the phrase might include the entire day of Monday, what is meant is a specific act, pretty well understood to occur at or before a fixed time. Say, by 7:45 am when I leave for work, or 8:06 or whenever the trash truck arrives. The specific time within, in, the interval is implied or understood.

   *At* identifies a referenced point of time within the interval.

   I imagine than in and on might have different meanings, within the realm of small intervals. Say, for someone reviewing tests of a new microprocessor (Do they still say “micro-”?) would refer to a vasty large series of events that took place within the minute, 8:06 am. Or is it a.m.?

   Thanks!

5. Michael Batey on November 17, 2009 5:17 pm

   To all learners of English as a second language, I’d just like to say… I’m sorry.

6. rod on November 19, 2009 3:36 pm

   A post about in, on and at for places would be useful.
   and should be as clear as this one

7. Rondy on December 18, 2009 12:03 pm

   Could anyone please correct me:
   “In the days left of the month, I usually go visit my family” Is it in here?
   Thank you in advance.

8. Maeve on December 18, 2009 5:34 pm

   I’d suggest some rephrasing:

   On the remaining days of the month I usually go visit my family.

9. Brad K. on December 19, 2009 1:59 am

   Rondy,

   I find the two phrases of your example fit together clumsily. Pardon me, please, while I think through my thought.

   “In the remaining days of the month” implies a fixed number of days. That is, today, whenever the statement was first made, through the last day of the month. I would take a trip “in” that time span, on one of the days remaining in this month.

   And I would have used “this month”, too. The reason is that “remaining” implies that the number of days in the group you mention – the remaining day of the month – is fixed, is known, is certain, as of the time the statement is made. This means that you are referring to this month, the current month, even though you don’t state that explicitly. I don’t feel terribly strongly about this point – “this month” or “the month” would be understood, but I prefer “this month”.

   “I usually go visit my family” is a general point of information. “Usually” implies that the action, visiting my family, is repeated according to some pattern. Maybe weekly, maybe monthly, maybe daily – but at some customary interval.

   Stating a specific time interval, the remaining days in this month, seems at odds with the repeating action of visiting my family.

   The customary, or usual, part of action might be to visit only in the last few days of each month. “In the remaining days of the month” implies that there are fewer days remaining than have already passed in this month. But there is no sense that the time part of the sentence is repeated for each visit, or contains repeated visits.

   The numbers of actions and time intervals when they happen don’t agree.

   The “In the remaining days of the month” implies that the action of the sentence, the visit, occurs exactly once during the time from now to the end of this month. The ‘usually’ qualifier on the action, though, implies repetition, multiple visits.

   “I usually visit my family in the last part of the month.”

   There. My soul is content. (I read that somewhere, and like the phrase.)

10. Rondy on December 19, 2009 5:34 pm

    Maeve, thank you so much for the rephrasing.
    Brad, well, I was confused at first, reading your comment, but it did make sense thinking about it. Thank you so much.

11. Rondy on December 19, 2009 6:09 pm

    The website in the link of the name is not mine… sorryyyyy, just wanted to try putting one (

12. Rondy on December 19, 2009 6:10 pm

    I did it again!! accept my deepest apologies please.

13. vignesh on April 21, 2010 5:46 am

    eventhough it like to be very useful but not yet satisfy because so many examples are not given and exercise is also not given

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