I cook dinner after work.

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Prepositions of Time (During, For, Before/After, Until)

Intermediate

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about the duration of events and when these events occur compared to other events.

Exercise 1

Sentence Practice

During

He fell asleep during the meeting.
I was very nervous during my job interview.

Before/After

I sleep before 10 P.M.
Before the hurricane, we bought lots of food and water.
I go to work after breakfast.
After lunch, she felt sleepy.

Until

He waited for her until 11 P.M.
I don't want to buy a new computer until this one breaks.
They did not pick up the phone until it rang 10 times.

Grammar Focus

During + some event

Use 'during' before nouns to describe some point in time in an event.

She was born during a snowstorm.
He fell asleep during the meeting.
We did not talk during the movie.

For + length of time

Use 'for' to talk about how long/how much time something lasted.

The baby cried for ten minutes. (= the baby cried during the entire period of ten minutes)

Until

Use 'until' to talk about something that happens up to a certain point in time:

The baby cried until morning. (= It cried all night and stopped in the morning)

'Until' is often used with a negative verb to emphasize the length of an action:

The baby did not stop crying until morning. (= It finally stopped crying!)

Before and After

Use the preposition 'before' to talk about something that happens earlier than something else.

She was born before sunrise. (= First, she was born. Then, the sun rose)

Use the preposition 'after' to talk about something that happens later than something else.

She cried after she was born. (= First, she was born. Then, she cried)

Before/After + [Action]

Remember: The gerund form (-ing) of a verb allows it to act like a noun.

We can use 'before' and 'after' with an action. Put the verb in the gerund form:

After taking a shower, I go to work. (= After my shower, I go to work)
Before going to work, I take a shower. (= Before work, I take a shower)

Exercise 2

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogues aloud with your tutor.

Scheduling a Meeting

	Akio Adachi What time shall we meet tomorrow?
	Lisa Sato I have an appointment at 5 p.m., so let's meet before or after that.
	Akio Adachi How is 3 p.m. then?
	Lisa Sato Sounds good! But I can only stay until 4 p.m. I have to leave for my next appointment then.
	Akio Adachi Sure. Let's just meet for an hour.

A Date

	Nina How was your date yesterday?
	Mio Terrible. We planned to meet at 6 p.m. and he didn't arrive until 7!
	Nina You waited for an hour?
	Mio Yeah, I can't believe it. Then he checked his phone a hundred times during the date.

Exercise 3

Fill in the Blanks

Below is Sarah's schedule. Look at the schedule and fill in the blanks with the appropriate preposition: 'before', 'after', 'until', or 'for'.

Sarah's Schedule

[7:00] wake up
[7:10] drink coffee
[7:30] take the bus to work
[9:00] start work
[17:00] finish work, take the bus home
[18:30] cook dinner
[19:00] eat dinner
[20:00] watch TV
[0:00] go to bed

Sarah drinks coffee waking up.

She works from 9:00 to 17:00. She works eight hours.

She cooks dinner taking the bus home.

She eats dinner watching TV.

She does not sleep midnight.

She is awake midnight.

She sleeps from midnight to 7:00. She sleeps seven hours.

Exercise 4

Sentence Building

Answer the following questions about your daily life using prepositions of time: 'before', 'after', 'until', or 'for'.

Example

How much time do you sleep? → "I sleep for 8 hours."

What do you do before sleeping?
What time do you sleep until?
How much time do you work everyday?
How much time do you brush your teeth?
How much time do you shower?
What time are you awake until?
What do you do after work?