5 exercises — practising at, on, in, by, for, and during with sprint planning, standups, and deployment schedules.
0 / 22 completed
1 / 22
The deployment is scheduled _____ midnight to minimise user impact. Which preposition is correct?
Use "at" with specific clock times and precise points in time: at midnight, at 3:00 AM, at noon, at the end of the sprint. "In" is used with longer periods (in the morning, in Q3, in the sprint). "On" is used with days and dates (on Monday, on 15 June). "By midnight" would mean "no later than midnight" — a deadline, not a scheduled moment. Always use "at" when referring to a clock time or a precise time marker.
2 / 22
We will review the pull requests _____ Monday's standup. Which preposition is correct?
"During" means "within the time span of" an event or period, making it correct for activities that happen inside a named event like a meeting. "During Monday's standup" = within the standup meeting on Monday. "At Monday's standup" is also common in spoken English and technically acceptable, but "during" more precisely conveys that the review happens as part of the meeting. "On" is used with days alone ("on Monday"), not with named events. "In" is used for longer time periods.
3 / 22
The bug fix must be merged _____ Friday or we miss the release window. Which preposition expresses a deadline?
"By" expresses a deadline — the action must be completed no later than the stated time. "By Friday" means "at some point before Friday ends". This is essential vocabulary for sprint planning and release management. "On Friday" means the action happens on that specific day (no urgency implied). "At Friday" is incorrect. "In Friday" is incorrect — "in" is used with months, years, or periods (in June, in 2024, in the sprint), not with days.
4 / 22
The senior engineer has been working _____ this refactor _____ three weeks. Which preposition pair is correct?
"Working on" is the correct collocation — you work on a task, project, or refactor. "For" expresses a duration of time (for three weeks, for two hours, for six months). "Since" is used with a starting point in time ("since January", "since Monday"), not with a duration. "In" and "at" do not collocate with "working" in this context. The phrase "has been working on X for Y" is a standard present-perfect progressive pattern for ongoing work.
5 / 22
The team completed 34 story points _____ the last sprint. Which preposition is correct?
Use "in" with defined periods of time such as sprints, quarters, months, and years: in the last sprint, in Q2, in 2024, in the last release cycle. "During" is also possible ("during the last sprint") and equally correct — both "in" and "during" work with named time periods. However, "in" is slightly more idiomatic in Agile and project-management English when referring to sprints and iterations. "At" and "on" are incorrect here because they are used for points in time, not periods.
6 / 22
During the sprint retrospective, Sarah mentioned that the issue was identified before the deadline. Which preposition best describes the timing of this identification in relation to the sprint's end?
The question focuses on a point *before* something else. 'After' indicates a time *following* the deadline, which doesn't fit the context of identifying an issue beforehand. 'Within' and 'during' are too general; 'by' specifically refers to completing something by a set date/time, and isn't appropriate here.
7 / 22
Reviewer: 'The documentation states the API endpoint is available from January 15th. This feels a bit vague.' What preposition would you suggest to make this comment more precise and actionable?
The phrase 'from January 15th' requires the preposition 'on' to indicate a specific date. Using 'at' or 'for' would imply a duration of time, which is not what the reviewer intends. 'In' is also incorrect as it doesn't define a precise starting point for availability.
8 / 22
Pull Request Description: 'This change addresses the performance bottleneck identified over the last week. We've implemented caching strategies to improve response times.' Which preposition best describes the timeframe of this investigation?
The phrase 'over the last week' indicates a duration of time. 'Since' implies a starting point in time, and doesn't accurately represent the period of investigation. 'During' is too general, and 'throughout' suggests continuous action which isn't necessarily implied.
9 / 22
Maria (Junior Developer): 'I've been working towards completing the user authentication module. I anticipate having a first draft ready by tomorrow afternoon.' Which preposition pair is correct in this context?
Maria expresses her progress and deadline. 'On' is the standard preposition to specify a date and time for completion. 'At' is generally used for specific points in time (e.g., 'at 3 pm'). Using 'to' or 'with' would be grammatically incorrect and semantically inappropriate when indicating a target completion timeframe.
10 / 22
During the sprint retrospective, Sarah mentioned that the issue was identified before the deadline. Which preposition best describes the timing of this identification in relation to the sprint's end?
The question focuses on a point *before* something else. 'After' indicates a time *following* the deadline, which doesn't fit the context of identifying an issue beforehand. 'Within' and 'during' are too general; 'by' specifically refers to completing something by a set date/time, and isn't appropriate here.
11 / 22
Reviewer: 'The documentation states the API endpoint is available from January 15th. This feels a bit vague.' What preposition would you suggest to make this comment more precise and actionable?
The phrase 'from January 15th' requires the preposition 'on' to indicate a specific date. Using 'at' or 'for' would imply a duration of time, which is not what the reviewer intends. 'In' is also incorrect as it doesn't define a precise starting point for availability.
12 / 22
Pull Request Description: 'This change addresses the performance bottleneck identified over the last week. We've implemented caching strategies to improve response times.' Which preposition best describes the timeframe of this investigation?
The phrase 'over the last week' indicates a duration of time. 'Since' implies a starting point in time, and doesn't accurately represent the period of investigation. 'During' is too general, and 'throughout' suggests continuous action which isn't necessarily implied.
13 / 22
Maria (Junior Developer): 'I've been working towards completing the user authentication module. I anticipate having a first draft ready by tomorrow afternoon.' Which preposition pair is correct in this context?
Maria expresses her progress and deadline. 'On' is the standard preposition to specify a date and time for completion. 'At' is generally used for specific points in time (e.g., 'at 3 pm'). Using 'to' or 'with' would be grammatically incorrect and semantically inappropriate when indicating a target completion timeframe.
14 / 22
During the sprint retrospective, Sarah mentioned that the issue was identified before the deadline. Which preposition best describes the timing of this identification in relation to the sprint's end?
The question focuses on a point *before* something else. 'After' indicates a time *following* the deadline, which doesn't fit the context of identifying an issue beforehand. 'Within' and 'during' are too general; 'by' specifically refers to completing something by a set date/time, and isn't appropriate here.
15 / 22
Reviewer: 'The documentation states the API endpoint is available from January 15th. This feels a bit vague.' What preposition would you suggest to make this comment more precise and actionable?
The phrase 'from January 15th' requires the preposition 'on' to indicate a specific date. Using 'at' or 'for' would imply a duration of time, which is not what the reviewer intends. 'In' is also incorrect as it doesn't define a precise starting point for availability.
16 / 22
Pull Request Description: 'This change addresses the performance bottleneck identified over the last week. We've implemented caching strategies to improve response times.' Which preposition best describes the timeframe of this investigation?
The phrase 'over the last week' indicates a duration of time. 'Since' implies a starting point in time, and doesn't accurately represent the period of investigation. 'During' is too general, and 'throughout' suggests continuous action which isn't necessarily implied.
17 / 22
Maria (Junior Developer): 'I've been working towards completing the user authentication module. I anticipate having a first draft ready by tomorrow afternoon.' Which preposition pair is correct in this context?
Maria expresses her progress and deadline. 'On' is the standard preposition to specify a date and time for completion. 'At' is generally used for specific points in time (e.g., 'at 3 pm'). Using 'to' or 'with' would be grammatically incorrect and semantically inappropriate when indicating a target completion timeframe.
18 / 22
Reviewer: 'The new feature will be deployed on 2024-03-15. We're aiming to have it fully tested before then.' Which preposition best describes the relationship between these two dates in this context?
The question focuses on specifying a target date for deployment and another for testing. 'After' indicates the test completion occurs *following* the deployment date, which is the intended meaning here. 'During' implies simultaneous activity, while 'until' suggests a deadline for the deployment, and 'within' refers to a duration of time. Choosing 'after' accurately reflects the timeline described.
19 / 22
Slack Message: 'We're investigating the issue reported on 2024-01-26. The initial analysis suggests it was introduced during the recent database migration.' Which preposition is most appropriate to use in this message?
The phrase 'introduced during' denotes that the problem originated *while* the database migration was taking place. 'Since' implies a cause and effect relationship with a specific starting point, while 'between' requires two distinct points in time. 'On' is incorrect as it relates to the reporting date, and 'throughout' has too broad of a meaning here.
20 / 22
Pull Request Description: 'The bug fix was implemented last week and will be rolled out by the end of the sprint. We've been tracking its progress closely over that period.' Which preposition best completes this sentence?
Using 'throughout' correctly describes the monitoring of the bug fix's progress *during* the timeframe of last week. 'Around' suggests a general area or vicinity, 'despite' introduces a contrast, and 'under' implies being controlled by something – neither fits the context of tracking progress. The phrase emphasizes ongoing observation.
21 / 22
Standup Update: 'I spent the last two days debugging this feature. I'm aiming to have a stable build ready by tomorrow morning.' What preposition pair is most suitable for describing the timeframe of these activities?
'For a while' accurately conveys that the debugging work spanned two days. 'In advance' suggests preparation before an event, 'over time' implies a gradual process, and 'at once' indicates simultaneous actions – none of these align with the developer's statement about the duration of their work.
22 / 22
Code Review Comment: 'The API response shows a timeout error. This occurred as soon as the user attempted to access the endpoint.' Which preposition best captures the immediate timing of this error?
'From the start' correctly describes that the timeout happened immediately upon initiating access to the endpoint. 'At any point' is too general, 'afterwards' implies a delayed occurrence, and 'in advance' suggests preparation before the action.
What will I practise in "Prepositions of Time in Technical English | CoderSlingo"?
Practise at, on, in, by, for, and during with sprint planning, standups, and deployment schedules. 5 interactive exercises.
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 22 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
Is this exercise free to use?
Yes. Every exercise on CoderSlingo, including this one, is free to use with no account, sign-up, or paywall.
Do I need to create an account to do these exercises?
No account is required. Just click an option to answer — your score for this session is tracked automatically in the progress bar above.
What happens if I choose the wrong answer?
You'll immediately see which answer was correct, plus a full explanation covering the grammar rule and reasoning behind it — mistakes are where most of the learning happens.
Can I retry the exercises if I want a higher score?
Yes — use the "Try again" button on the results screen to reset and go through all the questions again.
Is my progress saved if I close the page?
No. Progress is tracked only for your current visit; reloading or leaving the page resets the counter. This keeps the exercise simple and account-free.
Where can I find more Grammar exercises?
Browse the full Grammar hub for related drills, or check the "Next up" link below to continue with a connected topic.
How is this different from reading an article on the same topic?
Articles explain grammar rules in prose; this exercise tests and reinforces those rules through active recall with immediate feedback — the two work best together.
Who writes these exercises?
Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.