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I've always thought that to use the month in a sentence you must use it with a preposition, such as "... at January"． But I saw a sentence in a press release today:

＂Nearly two-thirds of New York restaurants could be out of business as soon as January without some sort of additional government aid, according to a new study＂.

In this sentence "January" is not used with a preposition (e.g., "at January"), but instead with the phrase" as soon as ".

Why is this?

Can I use "as soon as at January" or "at January" instead of "as soon as January" in this sentence?

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  • We never say at January - it's in January.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 9:13
  • @KateBunting，I see , thank you for reminding me !
    – Shaun
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 13:26

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The phrase "as soon as January" is correct as it is. "As soon as at January" isn't idiomatic.

Here is a dictionary that shows "as soon as" as a conjunction when it is followed by a clause, and as a preposition when it is followed by a noun.
Wiktionary "as soon as"

conjunction
I came as soon as I could.
preposition
He might arrive as soon as three o'clock.

Some other words about time, such as before and after are also categorized as conjunctions in some uses, and prepositions in other uses.

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  • Jack, this phrasing sounds quite odd - "as soon as January". Not sure why anyone would choose "as soon as" there instead of "by".
    – AIQ
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 6:20
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    This phrasing is commonly used, and it is done to emphasise what lies between the first 'as' and the second. If we say that something might happen as soon as January, we are emphasising how soon that is. If we say that some pine trees can be as tall as 80 metres, we are emphasising how tall they can be.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 6:36
  • @Jack，You gave a very clear answer，thank you ！
    – Shaun
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 13:52

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