English has been the most famous language in the entire world. It is considered the global language on which nations agree to communicate with others. But not all of the nations agreed, Japan being the most proficient in technology, never accepted the revolution of the English language.
From the beginning, the English language dispute between the American accent and the British accent has been in full swing; if any of the tourists are spotted in fellow countries, they are humiliated, and their accent is treated as the subject of laughing or mockery.
There are different phrases in the English language that are differently pronounced or spelled based on what accent you are using. There are many new words that are being added to the English language vocabulary every day.
When they say “at that time”, they mean that if you can’t make it at their proposed time, you will need to reschedule your arrival. As long as you can get there within a given length of time, no specific arrival time is required and is regarded as “in that time”.
Among these many new words, the old ones are not being forgotten in fact. There are many controversies that are yet to be solved regarding the phrases or uses of proper grammar and inappropriate sentences.
Continue reading this blog post to learn more about the differences between these two phrases.
“In that time”
The phrase, “in that time” refers to the continuous period or length of a sentence in which a particular thing occurred.
There are many examples of this but for instance, let’s consider: “in that time“, all the men started pulling out their funds.
The main confusion that people usually have is that they don’t know or the listener doesn’t pay attention to this minor detail. If the listener or speaker is a native speaker, then he would notice the error right away.
The basic meaning of “in that time” is that an event took place at a certain length of time, and it didn’t last for many periods of time.
Another example would be that my friend was busy playing cricket. During that time, I completed my math homework.
In these sentences, it is clearly seen that the tasks last for long periods of time, and the sentence itself is an ongoing sentence. The degree explains the continuous period of time or tasks which is being done or will be done in the near future.
“At the time”
The phrase “at the time” refers to a certain point in time in which a particular task started and ended right away.
There are many examples of this but for instance, let us consider: “at that time”, John woke up realizing that he had been late for school.
In this sentence, the task or the conversation is simple and is ended as the sentence ends, which is the proper definition of being “at that time“.
The phrase “in that time” refers to something that has recently happened, like a month or days ago. At the same time, the other phrase “at that time” refers to something that has already happened in recent centuries.
Back then, there was no automatic automobile.
“At that time” he had no idea that he was standing next to his future wife.
This sport of sentences where the time reference is not too old lies in the territory of “at that time”.
“At that time” vs. “In that time”
| Characteristics | In that time | At that time |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | “In that time” is a part or phrase very common in the everyday casual English language. The phrase is a combination of different words which refer to a different time frame. There are many new words being invented to replace this phrase, but there are some exceptions. | The phrase “at that time” refers to a specific point in time; in these sentences, or especially this phrase is used to denote the past activity which started and finished at a specific point in time. This phrase is used to indicate that short periods of tasks last long, and the reference is just some years or months ago. |
| Time reference | The phrase “in that time” refers to the past of many centuries, but this phrase especially refers to the past centuries as if something or some tasks have been done in the past, which is long gone. These types of time references are discussed in these sentences. | The phrase “at that time” refers to a specific point in time; in these sentences, or especially this phrase is used to denote the past activity which started and finished at a specific point in time. This phrase is used to indicate that short periods of tasks last long, and the reference is just some years or months ago. |
| Length of past activities. | In any sentence, the word “in that time” denotes how long-lasting something or a task has been. If it is mentioned that the etc. task was made at that time, then the reader should understand immediately that the task lasted for a brief period of time. | The phrase “at that time” refers to the shortness and conciseness of something or some task that did not happen more than a century ago. If it is mentioned that john did his homework at that time of evening it becomes pretty clear that the task was completed at that moment of time when it was described. |
| Use in sentence | “In that time” is used in a sentence where the speaker wants to elaborate that the task or objective he is talking about lasted for a long time and it happened at least a century ago, like the war of independence 1853. The sentence would be: Many Muslims and Hindus were killed in the war of 1853. | “At that time” is applicable in sentences where the narrator wants to bring under consideration that the object he is mentioning is no longer and the task was finished at the exact same point in time. Remember that the incident was not very long ago. For instance, consider an example: In the 1990s, people had to use wired telephones because, at that time, smartphones were not yet invented. |
Prepositions and Their Importance in Language
A language is evolving day by day, and the fastest one to evolve is the English language because it is a worldwide language and is spoken by many people in this world. If a guy mispronounces a word and continues on with it, it is replaced by the original one in this society.
There are many new trends and hashtags that don’t make sense at all to a native speaker. But they are now considered part of the English language.
To speak and understand English, there are many parts of speech related to time and the correct use of words related to time.
But there are many phrases that people are confused about using like say going on the bed, in the bed, in the shopping mall, at the shopping mall, and lots more.
Many people think that there are no differences at all and that it is just the mood and vibe that people feel while talking, but a native speaker does not think that way, nor does he ever ignore the difference between them.
The parts of speech teach us the difference between these confusing sentences. Every word in the English language is considered as the definition of the next word, and if any of the words are wrong, then it might be possible that the final sentence would be a little bit grammatically wrong or it would just sound weird as the sound of sentences plays a vital role in the addition of today’s modern English vocabulary.
The trendy teenagers are inventing new words and forgetting the old ones on the basis of their pronunciation and the final sound of the sentence.
Conclusion
- To sum it up, the difference is not a major one, but it is a considerable one. It might look or be heard as the minor one, but the words represent the different timelines.
- “In that time” refers to a period of time that was or is ongoing. “At that time” refers to a specific point in time.
- Some people think that it is okay to use both alternatively, but they don’t realize that they might clear their point of explaining but the listener if he is a native speaker, would not let it slide.
- The difference is not common, as many people still are unaware of the difference. Hence, they are at ease using both of them alternatively, which is also accepted in today’s modern society.
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