Lisa Scott  teaches the difference between the prepositions of time: in, on and at.

Hi, It's Lisa Scott with losemyaccent.com. In the last couple of videos, we talked about the correct pronunciation of the Months of the Year and the Days of the Week. Today, I want to talk with you about prepositions of time - in, on, and at - and how to choose the correct one depending on the situation. Now that you know the correct pronunciation of the months and days, I want to be sure you use these prepositions correctly, too.

The easiest way to remember them is to keep this general rule in mind: The prepositions In-on-at go in order from general to specific time. For example, “We have an appointment in January on the 13th at 8:00.” Now let's talk about each one a little more specifically:

The preposition In should be used to reference a specific year, month, or season, as in “ He graduated in 1984. We usually go skiing in February. Flowers bloom in spring.

Now, please note that I am stressing the prepositions so that you will hear how they are used.  In regular conversation, you would stress the nouns or other important words, like this: Flowers bloom in spring. I'll continue to stress the prepositions in the next examples, and you can do it for practice; just remember that the preposition will usually not get the stress in everyday conversations.

Okay, let' talk about the preposition ON. The preposition ON refers to specific days or dates. His birthday is ON Tuesday. or We have a holiday on the 11th of March.

The preposition AT refers to specific times in hours or minutes : I'll meet you at 12:00. Your interview is at 2:30. Do you see how we progressed from the more general time of a month to the very specific time of day?

Let's try a few practice examples. I'll show a sentence on the screen, give you a few seconds to come up with the preposition, and then tell you the answer.

They were married ______ 1995.
I'm getting my hair cut ____ 3:00.
You need to visit your mother ____ Wednesday.
This year, Easter is ___ March.
We will celebrate _____ the 30th.
Lunch will be served ____ 12:30.

I hope that cleared up any confusion you may have had about the prepositions of time. Check back next week to learn about the prepositions of place, and until then, I'll see you on my Facebook page. Bye!