A at,on用at来表示在某一时刻:at dawn在黎明at six在6点钟at midnight在午夜at 4∶30在4点30分用at来表示在……岁时:at sixteen/at the age of sixteen 16岁的时候She got married at seventeen.她17岁结婚。用on来表示在星期几/某日:on Monday在星期一on 4 June在 6月 4日on Christmas Day在圣诞节那一天但以下的情况例外:at night在晚上at Christmas在圣诞节期间(不仅当天)at Easter在复活节期间(不仅当天)on the morning/afternoon/evening/night of a certain date在某一具体日期的早上/下午/傍晚/夜里We arrived on the morning of the sixth.我们在6号早上到达。当然也可以说:this/next Monday在这个/下个星期一any Monday在任何一个星期一one Monday在某个星期一B by,beforeby a time/date/period=at that time or before/not later than that date在那一时刻或在那一日期或不迟于那一日期这种表示方法常暗指在那一时刻或日期之前:The train starts at 6∶10,so you had better be at the station by 6∶10.火车6点10分发车,所以你最好在6点10分之前到达火车站。by+a time常常和完成时态连用,尤其与将来完成时态连用(参见第216节):By the end of July I’ll have read all those books.到7月底我将已把那些书全读完了。before可作介词、连词或副词:Before signing this…在签署这个之前……(介词)Before you sign this…在你签署这个之前……(连词)I’ve seen him somewhere before.我以前在什么地方见到过他。(副词)(参见第195节B与第342节。)C on time,in time,in good timeon time(按时,准时,既不在此时以前也不迟于此时):The 8∶15 train started on time.8点15分的火车按时发车。相当于:It started at 8∶15.火车在点15分正点发车。in time/in time for(+名词)(及时,不迟于……);in good time (for)(留有充足的时间):Passengers should be in time for their train.旅客们要乘坐火车时应当早点到。I arrived at the concert hall in good time(for the concert).我及时到达了音乐厅。(也许音乐会7点半开始,而我在7点15分就到了)。D on arrival,on arriving,on reaching,on getting toOn arrival/on arriving,he…相当于:When he arrives/arrived,he…在他到达时,他……同理,on也可以与其他某些动词(主要是表示沟通思想的动词)连用:On checking,she found that some of the party didn’t know the way.经核查,她发现这一组人中有些不认得路。On hearing/Hearing that the plane had been diverted,they left the air- port.一听到飞机已经改飞别的机场,他们就离开了机场。后面一句中的on可以省略。(参见第277节。)E at the beginning/end,in the beginning/end,at first/at lastat the beginning(of…)(在……的开头)/at the end(of…)(在……的最后,照其字面的含义表示在开头/最后):At the beginning of a book there is often a table of contents.在一本书的开头常常有个目录。At the end there may be an index.结尾处可能有索引。in the beginning/at first(=in the early stages在当初/最初)暗示着以后有所变化。In the beginning/At first we used hand tools.Later we had machines.当初/最初我们用手工工具,后来我们有了机器。in the end/at last(=eventually/after some time最后/终于/后来):At first he opposed the marriage,but in the end he gave his consent.最初他反对这桩婚事,但最终还是同意了
准确的日期用on。例如:星期一,八月五日,情人节,元旦日,这些前面都要用on。只有月份,或者年份,则用in,例如:1985年12月,2008年,7月份,这些前面用in。
月份用in星期几的用on