50 Prepositional Phrases Related to Time

Hello English learners. Welcome to a new lesson. Today, we will look at 50 prepositional phrases related to time with their meanings and example sentences. These expressions help convey timing, sequence, duration, or relationship between events.

Beginning or before

Prepositional phrase	Meaning	Example sentence
Ahead of	before (a point in time)	We arrived ahead of schedule.
In advance of	before something happens	The tickets were sold out in advance of the concert.
Prior to	before (formal)	You must read the contract prior to signing.
Before the advent of	before the arrival or start of	Life was different before the advent of the internet.
In anticipation of	expecting something to happen	The police were deployed in anticipation of unrest.
Leading up to	in the period before	The weeks leading up to the exam were stressful.
Preceding	coming before in time	The preceding day had been particularly quiet. Prepositional phrases related to time
On the eve of	just before a significant event	The speech was delivered on the eve of the election.
Ahead of time	earlier than planned or expected	He finished the project ahead of time.
In the run-up to	during the lead-up period	There were daily rehearsals in the run-up to the performance.

During or at the same time

Prepositional phrase	Meaning	Example sentence
In the course of	during	Several changes occurred in the course of the year.
At the time of	when something happened	I was abroad at the time of the announcement.
At the height of	during the most intense period	At the height of summer, temperatures soared.
At the outset of	at the beginning of	Expectations were high at the outset of the project.
In the midst of	during the middle of	He made the decision in the midst of chaos.
At the point of	at a particular time	She was at the point of giving up. Prepositional phrases related to time
During the course of	while something is happening	During the course of the lecture, several questions were asked.
Simultaneously with	at the same time as	The fire alarm rang simultaneously with the power cut.
At the time when	during the moment	At the time when I called, she was unavailable.
In the middle of	halfway through	He interrupted us in the middle of dinner.

After or ending

Prepositional phrase	Meaning	Example sentence
In the aftermath of	after a significant event	In the aftermath of the war, rebuilding began.
Following on from	happening as a consequence	The changes followed on from the new regulations.
As of	starting from a specific date or time	As of Monday, the office will be closed.
From that point onwards	starting at that time and continuing	From that point onwards, everything changed.
Subsequent to	after (formal)	Subsequent to the meeting, several staff resigned.
After the fact	after something has happened	They only told us after the fact. Prepositional phrases related to time
Since the beginning of	from the start until now	She has been involved since the beginning of the project.
Since the dawn of	from the very beginning	People have told stories since the dawn of time.
Thereafter	after that	He retired in 2001 and lived quietly thereafter.
In retrospect of (Note: uncommon, often “in retrospect”)	looking back after the fact	In retrospect, we should have taken more precautions.

Frequency and repetition

Prepositional phrase	Meaning	Example sentence
From time to time	occasionally	We meet for lunch from time to time.
Every now and then	occasionally	She visits us every now and then.
At regular intervals	repeatedly at set times	The bells rang at regular intervals.
Over the years	during a long period	Their friendship has grown over the years.
On a daily basis	every day	The report is updated on a daily basis. Prepositional phrases related to time
At intervals	repeatedly with breaks in between	He called her at intervals throughout the day.
At hourly intervals	every hour	The machine is inspected at hourly intervals.
Over the course of	during a specified period	He learned a lot over the course of the semester.
At one time	once in the past	At one time, she considered becoming a chef.
Time after time	repeatedly	Time after time, he proved his loyalty.

General time reference

Prepositional phrase	Meaning	Example sentence
As early as	sooner than expected	The flowers bloom as early as February.
As late as	surprisingly late	He arrived as late as midnight.
As long as	for the duration	You can stay as long as you like.
At all times	always	Staff must wear badges at all times. Prepositional phrases related to time
For the duration of	throughout the entire time	He remained silent for the duration of the meeting.
Up to the point of	until	He worked up to the point of exhaustion.
In due course	at the appropriate time	You’ll receive your results in due course.
Over time	gradually	Her confidence grew over time.
In no time	very quickly	We’ll be finished in no time.
At the last minute	very late	They changed the venue at the last minute.

Prepositional phrases related to time

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