Mr.Maru: New Year's is very soon. What are you going to do next year?

Sparky: In the next year, I'm going to learn 1000 new English words.

Mr.Maru: Mmm, I see. What about grammar?

Sparky: I already study grammar on every weekend. I'm going to study on this weekend, too.

Mr.Maru: I think you mean 'every weekend', without 'on'.

Sparky: Um, sure. Every weekend, I study grammar.

Mr.Maru: Maybe you should study a little harder.

How do we use prepositions with time? Today, we will talk about prepositions with time. If you want to read about how to use prepositions for places, please read about using prepositions for public transportation.

Basic rules of the use of prepositions with time

The preposition 'in' is usually used to talk about years, seasons, months or weeks.

I was born in 1982.

The cherry trees blossom in the spring.

Christmas is in December.
We are going on vacation in the second week of April.

It can also be used for parts of the day:

In the evening, you can hear the bullfrogs.
It is very cold in the morning.

The preposition 'on' is usually used to talk about days. For example,

He got married on a Sunday.

The preposition 'at' is usually used to talk about specific points of time or clock time. For example,

They met at dawn.
My doctor's appointment is at 3:45.

When not to use prepositions with time

We do not need to use 'in', 'on', or 'at' before 'next', 'last', 'this', 'that', 'one', 'any', 'each', 'every', 'some', or all. For example,

Call me next week!

Let's go sing karaoke this weekend.

I go to the gym every Wednesday.
One Thursday, it snowed all day.

We also don't use 'in', 'on', or 'at' with 'yesterday', 'the day before yesterday', 'tomorrow' or 'the day after tomorrow'. For example,

I'll see you tomorrow!
I went to the dentist the day before yesterday.

Also casually, we don't have to use 'on' before days of the week. For example,

I'm watching a movie Sunday.
Bill went shopping Saturday morning.

Do you understand?

Let's take a short preposition quiz!

1) I'm meeting my girlfriend ___________.

A) on Saturday

B) Saturday

C) on this Saturday

2) __________ you can see lightening bugs.

A) The evening

B) On some evenings

C) In the evening

3) We are going hiking ____________.

A) on the weekend

B) on this weekend

C) the weekend

Answers

1) A) or B) – Both are correct. You do not need 'on' when speaking casually.
2) C) – This is the most correct.
3) A) – You need 'on' with weekend and you can not use 'on' before 'this'.

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