Knowing when to use words
in,
on, and
at as
preposition is essential for better writing technique or skill in Wikipedia. These words was mostly used for indicating
dates,
location, or past
event. The preposition hierarchy, or "in-on-at formula" for these is shown below:
“
in = general > on = specific > at = most specific/to be exact
”
Examples
Here is the more comprehensive examples:
As preposition of time (Temporal)
Word
Example sentence
Note
in
In 2023, ... or ... in 2023.
In most case referred to indicate when there is only year presented.
Could be used with "month year" (i.e. March 2023), or using "
adj. year" (early 2023, or late 2023, etc.). But, less recommended.
on
On 14 March 2023, ... or .... on 14 March 2023.
Could used "month day, year" style (i.e. March 14, 2023).
Do not ever used "-" style (i.e. 14-03-2023, or 03-14-2023, etc.) on paragraph.
Could be used with "month year" (i.e. March 2023) only, or using "adj. month (or year)" (i.e. early March, or late 2023, etc.) only.
Could be used with "adj. month (or year)" (i.e. previous month, next year, etc.). But, usually this would trigger[ambiguous] warning if not careful.
Could be used for part of the time (i.e. weekday, mid year, holidays, etc.). Majority be used in
Personal life (or similar to it) section on
person article.
Could be used for celebration day (i.e.
New Year's Eve, etc.). If included "year" adj. also (i.e. 2023 New Year's Eve), preferred to use at instead.
Do not ever used "day month", "month day", or "adj. month" only on paragraph.
at
... at noon. or ... at 21:00. or ... at 9pm.
Usually paired with on sentence either direct (i.e. ... on 14 March 2013 at 9pm.) or indirect (i.e. On 14 March 2023, ... at 9pm.).
Majority be used in articles with
Chronology section.
Could be used with other hour (or minutes, and seconds) temporal style (i.e. 95th-minute (usually related to
sport), 21:00 UTC+8 (or
local naming time zone), nine o'clock at night, etc.).
Could be used for every
daytime naming (i.e. dawn, midday, afternoon, sunset, midnight, etc.), except 'morning' used "in the morning" instead.
Example in single sentence (with example references):
"Jackson diagnosed with
pneumoniain 2022,[1] then eventually died on 14 March 2023,[2] after
jogging all year round everyday at his nighttime.[3]"
As preposition of location (Spatial)
Other preposition uses (i.e. past event, part of thing, subject or object details, etc.)
These examples used mix of temporal and spatial example.