In three previous posts, we looked at 23 important prepositions of time.
Below are four activities to help you practice using these prepositions. A PDF of this activity with an answer key is downloadable at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!
Exercise 1: at, on, in
Fill in the blanks below with “at,” “on,” or “in.”
(1)___________ 2015, there will be a change in policy. We will now have our lunch break (2)___________ 12pm (3)___________ Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but (4)___________ 1pm on Tuesday and Thursday. We will have lunch later (5)___________ the afternoon Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in response to the scheduling needs of our clients. We will stick with the old lunch rules (6)___________ the first two weeks of January, but (7)___________ the second two weeks of January, and (8)___________ February and every month after, this change will be in effect. We will have a meeting to discuss other changes (9)___________ February 1.
Exercise 2: until, since, during, from, to
Fill in the blanks with “until,” “since,” “during,” “from,” or “to.”
Our labor union’s strike starts (1)___________ tomorrow morning, and will continue at least (2)___________ the emergency negotiation meeting in a few days. (3)___________ the strike, we will not be showing up for work. We’ve had poor working conditions (4)___________ the new management took over last year. Unfair conditions include making us work (5)___________ 6am (6)___________ 8pm.
Exercise 3: before, after, through, within, inside, outside
Fill in the blanks with “before,” “after,” “through,” “inside,” or “outside.”
We’ve discovered the enemy’s plans. They will attack us (1)_________ the hour. We must be fully prepared (2)__________ the next thirty minutes. Unfortunately, it usually takes us (3)___________ of an hour to fully prepare for battle. To prepare in time, we may have to have insufficient armor and weapons all (4)___________ the fighting. (5)___________ the battle, we have to do the best we can to prepare. (6)___________ the battle, we can hopefully recover and be ready for the next fight.
Exercise 4: into, ago, up to, upwards of, over, under, past, than
Fill in the blanks with “into,” “ago,” “up to,” “upwards of”, “over,” “under,” “past,” or “than.”
Three hours (1)___________ when it was still morning, the two women began to play a chess game. These women are both highly skilled and equally skilled in chess. A chess game between them can take (2)___________ several hours. They are so devoted to playing chess, that they have been known to play (3)___________ five hours at a time without taking a break. A game between them has never lasted (4)___________ two hours, and so far, they’ve never had a competition last (5)___________ seven hours; their longest game in the past was longer (6)___________ six hours, running six hours and fifty minutes. As this game continues (7)___________ the afternoon, it will be interesting to see if today’s tournament becomes the first one that’s (8)___________ seven hours long. Even if their game today lasts exactly seven hours, that will be an impressive ten minutes (9)___________ their previous record.
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