Grammar Lesson. Prepositions of Time IN, ON, AT

In today’s lesson, I’m going to teach you how to  use prepositions of time in English correctly,  

and we’re going to focus on some  commonly used time expressions with IN,  

AT and ON. These expressions are frequently  used, so it's important to know them. 

Hello, my name is Kate, and this is English  Lessons with Kate Channel. Let's begin with  

a quick exercise. I'll read a sentence with  different endings, and you'll decide whether they  

are correct or incorrect. Here’s the sentence:  "Let's meet..." And here are the endings:  

"...in the morning," "...in the afternoon,"  "...in the evening," and "...in the night." Think  

about these for a moment. Are they all correct? Most of these are correct, but one is not commonly  

used. We say "in the morning," "in the afternoon,"  and "in the evening." However, we don’t say "in  

the night"; instead, we say "at night." So the  correct expression is "Let's meet at night." 

Why this difference? Honestly, it’s just the way  the language has evolved. Some expressions don't  

follow a clear rule and must be memorized. So  remember, while it’s "in the morning," "in the  

afternoon," and "in the evening," it’s "at night." Understanding these rules will help you speak  

English more naturally. Now, let’s move on to some  more examples and practice what we’ve learned.

Let's look at another example. Think about  these sentences: "I worked out this morning," "I  

worked out this afternoon," "I worked out this  evening," and "I worked out this night." Do all  

these sentences sound right to you? Actually,  one of them is not correct. The last one should  

be different. Instead of saying "I worked out  this night," we say "I worked out tonight."  

The word "night" is used differently from  "morning," "afternoon," and "evening." 

Why is it different? Well, in English,  we sometimes say, "Because that's just  

the way it is," which means there isn’t  a specific reason; it’s just the rule. 

Now, let’s look at another set of examples: "She  came yesterday morning," "She came yesterday  

afternoon," "She came yesterday evening," and  "She came yesterday night." Any mistakes here?  

Yes, the last one again. We should say "She  came last night" instead of "She came yesterday  

night." We use "last" with "night," but not  with "morning," "afternoon," or "evening." 

These examples show how English uses certain  words differently, and knowing these differences  

can help you speak more correctly. In all these examples, we can see  

that "night" always stands out as the exception.  For "night," we have to use a different phrase. 

Let’s practice this. Remember, you can learn  by listening, writing, and repeating out loud.  

Ready? Repeat after me: "in the morning", "in  the afternoon", "in the evening", "at night";  

"this morning", "this afternoon", "this  evening", "tonight"; "yesterday morning",  

"yesterday afternoon", "yesterday  evening", "last night." Is it clear? Great! 

Now Let's talk about some exceptions. Take a look at these phrases: "I’ll  

call you tomorrow morning," " I’ll call  you tomorrow afternoon," " I’ll call you  

tomorrow evening," " I’ll call you tomorrow  night." Do any of these sound wrong to you? 

Do you see any mistakes here? Think about it  for a moment. Actually, all these phrases are  

correct. Even though we've discussed that "night"  typically has different rules, in this case,  

using "tomorrow night" is perfectly fine. We  cannot use "yesterday" or "this with night,"  

but it’s correct to use "tomorrow" with  "night". So, these are all acceptable. 

Now, let's address a point about  prepositions. We’ve learned to use  

"in the morning," "in the afternoon," "in  the evening," and "at night," right? But  

what if we add a day of the week? How do the  prepositions change? Consider these options:  

"in Tuesday morning," "at Tuesday morning,"  or "on Tuesday morning"? And the same goes for  

"afternoon," "evening," or "night." The correct  choice here is "on." We don’t say "in Tuesday"  

or "at Tuesday"; it’s always "on Tuesday." When you talk about a specific day, always use the  

word "on" before saying "morning," "afternoon,"  "evening," or "night." For example, you would  

say "on Monday morning" or "on Friday night." So, it’s "on Tuesday morning," "on Tuesday  

afternoon," "on Saturday evening," "on Friday  night." Remember, the preposition "on" is key  

when we’re talking about days. Keep this  in mind as we continue to refine our use  

of time expressions in English. Here’s the sentence: I'm going  

to start a new book________ In the moment, In an hour,  

In winter. Do all of these sound right to  you? There’s one option which is not correct. 

We say "in winter," "in summer," and "in an hour."  However, we don’t say "in the moment"; instead,  

we say "at the moment." So the correct expression  is "I’m going to start a new book at the moment" 

Now, let’s look at a common set of phrases:  "Good morning," "Good afternoon," "Good  

evening," and "Good night." These are  all standard greetings. So, what makes  

them interesting? They’re a bit different from  each other in how we use them. Let me explain. 

The first three greetings—"Good morning," "Good  afternoon," "Good evening"—are similar to saying  

"Hello" during those specific times of the day.  For example, when you get to work in the morning,  

you might greet your colleagues with "Good  morning," which is just a friendly way to say  

hello at the start of the day. If you're meeting  someone for a lunch appointment, you might say  

"Good afternoon" as a polite greeting. Similarly,  when you enter a restaurant in the evening,  

someone would say to you "Good evening," which is  another polite way of being greeted at that time. 

Each of these is a way to say "Hi" at the  certain time of day, often in a more formal  

context. These greetings help set the tone  for respectful and polite communication.

Let's imagine a situation where it's late at night  and you walk into your friend’s house at night and  

say "Good night" as a greeting. Is that appropriate? Actually,  

no. "Good night" isn't used as a way  to say hello, even during nighttime.  

Instead, "Good night" is usually used  when someone is leaving or going to bed. 

Also, when you're leaving someone in the evening,  you might say, "Take care, good night." Or it's  

commonly used when someone is heading to sleep,  like parents often say to their children, "Good  

night, sweetheart," as they turn off the lights. However, remember that we say "Good morning,"  

"Good afternoon," and "Good evening" when we  arrive somewhere and say hello, while "Good night"  

is for saying goodbye or goodnight. Now, let’s review what  

we've covered in this lesson. Now let’s have a little quiz. I will show  

you a sentence and You need to decide which ones  are correct and which are not. Ready? Let's begin.  

Number 1: "I'll go to the beach this afternoon"  Is this correct? Take a moment to think,  

and you can pause the video if you need more time. Yes, this sentence is correct. No mistakes there. 

Next sentence, let’s review: "The city looks  beautiful in the night." Is this correct? No,  

that's incorrect. The correct phrase  is "at night." Remember, you can say  

"in the morning," "in the afternoon," "in  the evening," but it should be "at night." 

Next, we have: "Are we meeting at Tuesday night?"  Right or wrong? This sentence is wrong. It should  

be "on Tuesday night." And this applies whether  you're saying "on Tuesday morning," "on Tuesday  

afternoon," "on Tuesday evening," or just "on  Tuesday." You always use the preposition "on"  

when referring to a day. Let’s move on to the next one. 

Number four: "Good night. How are you?" Is  that correct? No, it's not correct to use  

"Good night" as a greeting like "Hello." You can  say "Good morning. How are you?", "Good afternoon,  

how are you?", or "Good evening. How are you?"  But "Good night" should not be followed by  

a question like "How are you?" because it's  not used to greet someone when you meet them. 

We use "Good night" typically when  someone is going to bed. Also,  

you might say "Good night" when you're leaving  someone’s house after an evening together. So,  

that's how "Good night" should be used. Finally, number six: " I had a dream yesterday  

night." Is that right? Again, this is wrong.  The correct phrase to use is "last night," not  

"yesterday night." We say "yesterday morning,"  "yesterday afternoon," "yesterday evening," but  

for night, we use "last night." So the correct  phrase would be: " I had a dream last night."

Alright, so it might seem a bit tricky  at first, but you'll notice there are  

certain patterns to learn. You can  rewatch this video during the week,  

write some sentences down, and repeat  them out loud. Try to use them throughout  

the week to remember what you've learned. Thank you so much for watching this video!  

Please don’t forget to hit a thumbs  up and subscribe. See you next time!