如何用英文介系詞「in、at、by、since、during、ago...」表達時間？

編輯/蕭譯婷

即使我們已經學會如何表達時間，但你是不是也時常在時間前面加上錯誤的介係詞(preposition)呢？

Learn British English Free的講師Chris便提出了該如何正確使用介係詞來表達時間，並輔以實用例句來增強記憶喔！

文章目錄

1. By

Use “by” to describe a time that something has to be done by, is usually done by, or a point by which something was done:
用by來表示某件事情應該、通常或已經被完成的時刻。
e.g. You must clean your room by tea time.
你在下午茶時間時一定要整理完你的房間。

2. at

Use “at” to specify what time an action is done / will be done / was done at:
用at表示某件事情完成的特定時間。
e.g. He will catch the train at 1000.
他會在早上十點搭上火車。
e.g. I usually hit the gym at seven in the evening.
我通常晚上七點去健身房。
e.g. They left at nine this morning.
他們今天早上九點離開。

3. in、during、throughout、over

Use “in”, “during”, “through”, “throughout” and “over” to discuss periods of times for actions:
用in、during、through、throughout、over來表示一段時間。
e.g. She worked in / during / throughout the summer.
她在夏天工作。
e.g. The football player performed very well over a number of weeks.
這位足球選手在這幾週表現得非常好。

4. in

Use “in” to specify how long until something happens in the future:
用in來表示某件事情將會在多少時間之內發生。
e.g. She’ll be back in a few minutes.
她會在幾分鐘之內回來。
e.g. My current contract will end in four months’ time.
我現在的契約將會在四個月之內到期。

5. ago

Use “ago” to explain how long it is since something happened in the past:
用ago表示某件事情發生的時間距離現在有多久。
e.g. My grandfather died more than 20 years ago.
我祖父過世超過二十年了。
e.g. He only left about ten minutes ago.
他十分鐘前才離開。

6. since

Use “since” to describe a period of time in the past up until the present or another specified point of time (use with present perfect or past perfect tense):
用since來表示過去的某個時點。(通常用於現在或過去完成式)
e.g. I’ve been in my present job since 2005.
我從2005年開始就做這份工作了。
e.g. At the time of his death, he’d been suffering from the illness since he was diagnosed three years before.
他過世時，已經受疾病所苦長達三年了(自從他被診斷出疾病之後)。
e.g. We haven’t seen each other since we broke up four months ago.
我們四個月前分手之後就沒有再見過對方。