3

Like the title said, is the phrase “In the morning on Friday” correct? And if it is correct to say “In the XXX on XXX”, then when EXACTLY should we use “in” and “on” for sections of a day? If no, why?

I know that you have to use “on” when saying like “On the morning of Saturday”, but there don’t seem to be much references about “In the XXX on XXX”.

DialFrost
  • 8,001
  • 5
  • 14
  • 47
willywillycow
  • 33
  • 1
  • 5
  • 1
    Welcome to ELL! You're more likely to get a good answer if you show that you've already done some research on the issue--we generally expect that. For example, you could describe your understanding of prepositional phrases or mention what you found when you searched a source (such as Google Books) for the phrase that you're wondering about. The more background you can provide, the better the answers will probably be. – MarcInManhattan Aug 31 '22 at 16:39
  • 1
    There is no rule and even general guidelines for their usage fall short.. This question is answered in many places on ELL. Try this search link - https://ell.stackexchange.com/search?q=in+and+on. I like this answer even though it was never an accepted answer - https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/87785/usuage-of-in-on. – EllieK Aug 31 '22 at 16:51

2 Answers2

5

In the morning on Friday is grammatical and understandable, but not usual.

I think it would be used only if there were some reason to emphasise separately that it was in the morning and that is was on Friday; but in that case I think you're more likely to put the day first "I'll see you on Friday. In the morning".

Another problem with your formulation is that in the morning can mean "tomorrow morning". It doesn't have to, and it can get overridden by the following "on Friday"; but it may mislead the hearer until they get to the end of the sentence.

The normal expression is on Friday morning.

Colin Fine
  • 75,266
  • 4
  • 98
  • 158
  • 1
    To my ear, it sounds like someone walking through a multi-day event's itinerary or the hours of a resort's meal schedule. – minnmass Sep 01 '22 at 00:59
  • I don't think "on Friday morning" is idiomatic. "On" in my experience is used exclusively with days, but "Friday morning" is a time, not a day. So you can say "I'll see you on Friday" or "I'll see you Friday", but between "I'll see you on Friday morning" and "I'll see you Friday morning", only the latter sounds natural to me. – MooseBoys Sep 01 '22 at 08:10
  • To me, I'll see you Friday morning to me is a typically American elision. I've no doubt people say it here in rapid or casual speech, but on Friday morning is by far the more normal expression in my experience. – Colin Fine Sep 01 '22 at 14:56
2

The answer cited in the comment on “in/on” is great as a general answer, but it is not specific with regard to your question. But I would start there.

The usual prepositions are “on” for days and “in” or “during” for parts of the day. So,

in the morning on Friday

is certainly grammatical as is

on Friday in the morning.

In American English, the latter sounds more idiomatic to me.

Even more idiomatic would be

on Friday morning.

Reversing the prepositions would be wrong

in Friday on the morning

or

on the morning in Friday

are not idiomatic.

Jeff Morrow
  • 32,084
  • 25
  • 58