The train will have arrived at the station by/on time.
"By" or "On" which is more appropriate?
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2"on time" = punctually.TimR-gone from here– TimR-gone from here2025-03-17 10:38:42 +00:00Commented Mar 17 at 10:38
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Can you give a specific example of the full sentence?Stuart– Stuart2025-03-17 12:46:23 +00:00Commented Mar 17 at 12:46
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You would use "by" if you specified the time - "...by midday".Ronald Sole– Ronald Sole2025-03-17 13:22:55 +00:00Commented Mar 17 at 13:22
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Please edit to make the question clearer. When you say "time phrase," do you mean to replace the word "time" in your sentence with a time of day, like "11 am"? "On time" is its own phrase together. You wouldn't say "by time," and you wouldn't say "on 11 am." Voting to close as unclear; please edit so I can retract the close vote.Andy Bonner– Andy Bonner2025-03-17 14:22:57 +00:00Commented Mar 17 at 14:22
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1 Answer
"on time" is an idiom that means "at the scheduled time", so it's most appropriate here. It's usually used in reference to arrivals and departures.
You can use "by" to mean that something will happen before something else, or before a specific time, e.g.
The train will arrive by 6pm.
or
We'll get to the station by the time the train arrives.
The phrase "by time" is not idiomatic at all.