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I saw there was already some discussion on here about "in this year" vs. "this year." I have a similar question, but this time regarding the use of the word "of," and the answers to the previous question don't seem to address this case.

The sentence I'm grappling with to a stupid degree is: "In August this year, the Belarusian poet published an op-ed..."

I believe we need the preposition "of" before "this year" to indicate possession, no? "In August of this year" reads more naturally to me. But now I'm going crazy trying to find a rule that says using the preposition is really necessary in this kind of construction. Is there such a rule that would provide guidance for this example?

I'm also wondering if the construction sans "of" is more idiomatic in British English...

Many thanks for any help anyone can provide!

Ranita
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    Prepositions are often dropped in temporal expressions ('We'll see you there Wednesday' and it is best to check for idiomaticity by, for instance, looking at examples in especially reputable publications. 'In August of this year' sounds old-fashioned and formal, and 'In August this year' more conversationally normal. But 'This August ...' sounds most idiomatic.... – Edwin Ashworth Nov 17 '20 at 19:17
  • Evidence in support of the latter claim is provided by these Google ngrams (another reasonable way to check for idiomaticity). Preposition deletion is addressed here. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 17 '20 at 19:17
  • If it's in the Guardian that's good enough for me. The review was first announced in January 2019 and it was written into the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act along with a statutory requirement for it to report back to parliament by August this year. – Michael Harvey Nov 17 '20 at 21:31
  • Comparing data of two years might be a good place to say "August of this year...August of last year" for the added emphasis. – Yosef Baskin Nov 17 '20 at 22:25

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