ESLSongs

Practice the prepositions ON, AT & IN with expressions of time with this fun song, Gimme some Love by Alan Smith Robertson.

This song’s lyrics include 12 examples of the prepositions on, at & in with different time expressions: ON a Friday, IN April, AT noon, AT the weekend, ON Sunday, IN June, AT 5 o’clock, IN the afternoon, AT christmas, IN mid-December, ON a cold Monday morning & IN winter.

This song can also be used to practice the past simple, as it contains five regular verbs (happened, looked, smiled, stayed & asked), four irregular verbs (began, went, saw & met) and five different conjugations of the past tense of the verb “to be” (I was, you were, it was, she was & we were) as well as three examples of the past perfect (it had been going on, you’d packed your bags & you had gone)

This song comes with a worksheet and is available for download in mp3. To see other suggestions on how to use this song in class, click here.

Lyrics

It happened on a Friday,
I think it was in April
I looked at you and smiled,
It was all so very playful
We began to talk at noon,
And by midnight we were friends
At the weekend we went dancing,
And on Sunday we stayed in bed

Gimme some love

It happened one day late in June,
At 5 o’clock in the afternoon
I was in bed with someone else,
You saw us and began to fume
You asked her name, where she was from,
How long it had been going on
And by half past one
You’d packed your bags and you had gone

Gimme some love

Come back to me… come back some day…

We met again at christmas,
Some time in mid-December
On a cold Monday morning,
Five months later
You were happily married
With a kid on the way
In winter it gets so cold
It’s nice to have someone who’ll say…

Gimme some love

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Download this exercise (PDF)

Look at the lyrics below, and put the correct preposition- ON, AT or IN- into each gap. Why did you use each preposition in each case?

VERSE 1
It happened _____________ a Friday,
I think it was _____________ April
I looked at you and smiled,
It was all so very playful
We began to talk _____________ noon,
And by midnight we were friends
_____________ the weekend we went dancing,
And _____________ Sunday we stayed in bed

CHORUS
Gimme some love

VERSE 2
It happened one day late _____________ June,
_____________ 5 o’clock _____________ the afternoon
I was in bed with someone else,
You saw us and began to fume
You asked her name, where she was from,
How long it had been going on
And by half past one
You’d packed your bags and you had gone

CHORUS
Gimme some love

BRIDGE
Come back to me… come back some day…

VERSE 3
We met again _____________ christmas,
Some time _____________ mid-December
_____________ a cold Monday morning,
Five months later
You were happily married
With a kid on the way
_____________ winter it gets so cold
It’s nice to have someone who’ll say…

CHORUS
Gimme some love

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If you enjoyed the song or if you think it will be useful for your students at least, remember this song comes with a worksheet and is available for download in mp3.