These days means nowadays, at present or lately: people use it for what is true of the current period, often compared with the past. Prices are higher these days. It goes at the start or end of a sentence and needs no preposition.
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These days + present simple / continuous; …, these days; in those days (= back then)
- These days most people pay by phone, so I rarely carry cash.
- My grandmother used to write letters, but these days she texts me every morning.
- I'm so busy these days that I hardly see my friends.
What changed
First versionIn these days young people rarely write letters.
RevisionThese days young people rarely write letters.
Many time phrases start with in (in the past, in 2020), so in these days can seem right. But these days works like today or now and takes no preposition.
These days doesn't mean “on these particular days”. For dates, name them: The office is closed from 1 to 3 May, or say on those days. For the past, people say in those days, meaning “back then”, and here in is actually needed: In those days we didn't have mobile phones.
Your turn
When I was a child, we played outside all day, but ___ kids spend more time on screens.
Show the answer
these days — The sentence compares the present with childhood, which calls for these days, with no preposition before it. In these days is a mistake: the phrase works like now or today.
Compare how something used to be done with how it's done now. Name a habit and say what has changed about it.
I used to buy music on CDs, but these days I just stream everything on my phone.
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