At / On / In - Prepositions in English that refer to place and time

As a learner of English, it is sometimes tough to distinguish which preposition to use in a given situation. Well hopefully today I can enlighten you with some information that will help your learning. If you have ever been confused with at/on/in, keep reading because you may find this information useful. I am not giving full sentences because I feel like if you are learning this kind of thing you can formulate your own sentences. If you are a learner of English though and would like some help, feel free to comment or email me for assistance. :) Anyways here we go....

Prepositions of PLACE 

(smaller) Most Specific : at

at the mall                   at night*  
at the store                 at home
at a soccer game        at school 
at the market              at work
at the hospital             at Easton
at the library               at Walmart
 at the airport             at the office
at the gym                  at the park

*Idiomatic phrase

Sometimes "at" is used with a single noun, but sometimes "at" is used with a determiner (a, an, the) and a noun. Make sure to practice when you use a determiner and when you do not. 

Somewhat Specific : on

on Maple Street         

on the way

on the highway

on the road

on Willams Ave.

(bigger) Least Specific : in

in Columbus

in Ohio

in the United States

in North America

in the Eastern Hemisphere

Hopefully these examples can give you some knowledge on how to use prepositions of place. 

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Prepositions of TIME

(smaller) Most specific : at

at 5:00pm

at midnight

at noon

at midday 

at 12:36am

Somewhat Specific : on

on Monday
on the weekend
on Saturday
on time

(bigger) Least Specific : in

in October

in summer

in winter

in 1989

in the 21st century

in the morning*

in the afternoon*

in the evening*

*Idiomatic phrase

Hopefully these examples can give you some knowledge on how to use prepositions of time. 

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*What is an idiomatic phrase?

An idiomatic phrase is a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements.

Basic English: Idiomatic phrase = a group of words that is understood in one language because of previous language knowledge of the phrase. (The idiomatic phrase will not translate directly into another language.)

*I do not own any pictures in this post.