How to remember when to use ON, IN and AT correctly | English prepositions of time | part 1

227,375 views ・ 2018-05-24

Accent's Way English with Hadar


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hey guys.
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It’s Hadar, and this is the Accent’s Way.
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In this two-part video lesson, we are going to untangle the
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‘on’, ‘in’, and ‘at’ confusion.
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And I’m going to give you my best tips and tricks as to remember when to use which.
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This video is going to deal with ‘on’, ‘in’ and ‘at’ when
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it comes to time, and the next video is going to be about places.
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But before we begin, I want you to visualize these three words.
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And understand the hierarchy and the difference, the bigger difference.
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When it comes to time and place, ‘at’ is always going to be the most
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specific, ‘on’ a little less specific, and ‘in’ is usually the least specific.
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‘at’ - most specific.
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‘on’ - less specific.
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‘in’ - least specific.
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Now, let’s look at it when it comes to time.
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I want you to visualize your calendar.
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Look at this month’s calendar.
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Okay, so you have the box, which is the entire month.
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And it’s divided into columns, these are the days.
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And then you have small boxes, these are the hours.
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So when you schedule a meeting, you pick a certain hour.
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That is the most specific time that you have in the calendar,
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and this is when you use ‘at’.
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Because ‘at’ is used when you indicate a specific time.
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‘At 9 a.m.’ ‘At 3:45’.
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‘At 8 p.m.’ ‘At noon’ because noon is always 12 p.m.
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- midday.
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Or at midnight because it’s always 12 a.m.
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There is one exception when we use ‘at’ and I’ll talk about it later.
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Okay?
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So ‘at’ is a specific time.
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You only use ‘at’ when you want to indicate a specific hour.
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Then we move on to ‘on’.
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‘on’ is the columns in your calendar, meaning days and dates.
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‘On’ Wednesday the 5th.
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"Let’s meet ‘on’ the 4th of July."
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"Let’s meet ‘on’ April 15th."
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Or "Let’s meet ‘on’ a Saturday, next month."
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And then we use ‘in’.
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‘in’ is the least specific.
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So we use ‘in’ to indicate a specific time within a larger time frame.
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A specific time within a larger timeframe, where you don’t
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want to commit to exactly when.
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Because it doesn’t matter, because you don’t know yet.
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For example, "let’s meet in the morning."
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A time frame, right?
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You can meet at 9:00 a.m.
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9:30, 9:45.
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You can meet at 10:00.
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That’s all in the morning, so you don’t commit to when exactly, but it’s ‘in’.
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So ‘in’ a specific time within a larger time frame.
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"Let’s meet ‘in’ the afternoon."
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‘afternoon’ is again, like you have a few options there, but you don’t want
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to commit to one and you say ‘in’.
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Maybe it doesn’t matter, maybe you don’t know yet.
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So you use ‘in’ when you want to talk about a specific time
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within a larger time frame.
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You can also use it when you talk about months.
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‘In’ August.
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‘In’ July.
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It can be on the 1st, on the 2nd, on the 4rd.
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On the first Wednesday in July.
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But it’s still ‘in’ July.
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You can use it when you talk about seasons.
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‘In’ the summer.
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I’ll see you ‘in’ the winter.
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It can be when you talk about years.
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‘In’ 2020 I plan to travel to Japan.
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‘In’ 2001 I moved to New York.
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‘In’ 2013 my first daughter was born.
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And you can also use it to talk about eras: ‘In’ the Middle Ages.
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‘In’ the Renaissance.
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‘In’ the 60s.
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So, ‘at’ - always remember it - is a specific time.
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‘on’ is the columns, days or dates.
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And then ‘in’ is a specific time within a larger time frame where you
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don’t want to commit to exactly when.
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So it’s least specific.
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You need more information to know when exactly to show up.
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Okay?
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So, that is ‘in’.
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The only exception is when we use ‘at night'.
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Because night is a larger time frame, and night can be 10 p.m., 11 p.m., 12 a.m.
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But we still use ‘at’.
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Why?
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Because it’s English, and we have to something irregular.
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Otherwise, it won’t be that interesting.
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So use ‘at’ night.
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And for other parts of the day just use ‘in’.
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Okay, so that was ‘on’, ‘in’ and ‘at’ when it comes to describing time.
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And next week we are going to talk about ‘on’, ‘in’ and
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‘at’ when it comes to place.
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And you definitely don’t want to miss it out.
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Because I have a really great tool that can help you remember when to use
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‘on’, ‘in’ and ‘at’, really easily.
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So, if you haven’t subscribed yet, this would be a good time, so subscribe to
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my channel and don’t forget to click on the bell, so you get notifications
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to know when I upload a new video, like the ‘on’, ‘in’ and ‘at’ video.
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Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about
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‘on’, ‘in’ and ‘at’ when it comes to time, or you have other tips
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as to remember when to use what.
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We’d love to hear.
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Have a wonderful week.
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And I will see you in the next video.
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Bye.
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