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I come across a Wikipedia article where it is written:

Bush left office in 1993.

Is 'In' correct there? Or, maybe, 'On' would be better, 'Bush left office on 1993 ...'? Or both are legal English usage?

WendiKidd
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    In a word, no. "On" is possible only with a specific day. With a year, you must use "in". – Martha Oct 08 '13 at 23:12

2 Answers2

17

Any time you are being less specific than the day itself, use “in” to indicate that the event happened at a time within the boundaries of that century, decade, year, or month.

In the 20th century...

In the late '80s...

In 1989...

In June, 1989

When the day is known, you can say “On June 20, 1989...” or “On that day in June...”.

When the hour is known, you can say “At 3:05 pm on June 20, 1989...”.

For any of these levels, estimates or approximations would be preceded by “around” or some similar term. (“Around 1990...”, “At approximately 3 pm...”, “At 3 pm or so...”, etc.)

Community
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Tyler James Young
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0

Another easier way to remember is: in a period, on a day, at a time.

while year is a long period, so it is always "in" a year; a time like 7 o'clock is very specific, thus we use "at" all the time.

hope this help.

yts61
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