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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Help is needed
Help is needed
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omfp
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Help is needed
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Hello!
I �m a little bit confused about the preposition to use in the following sentence: "They study in / on a boat."
Thanks in advance.
Dina |
10 May 2011
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Pelletrine
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In latin languages you are mostly in a means of transport, but in English, yes, you are in a car; but, you are on a boat and on a plane.
So I think you should say �They study on a boat.
Hope it helps.
... Let �s see what a native speaker would say ;o)) |
10 May 2011
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sirhaj
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I think it is "on" because car is a small closed space so we are "in" a car but boat is wide open while plane, although it is a closed space but it is way up in the air.
Sirhajwan
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11 May 2011
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cgaiato
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it �s "on" in the sense that a boat is a public transportation..if it �s a private boat, I believe you could say "in"..like we say "in the car".. |
11 May 2011
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mariec
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We say; they study on a boat. |
11 May 2011
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Apodo
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The sentence �They study on a boat � is correct, but �in a boat � can also be used, especially for small boats.
There is a book called �Three Men in a Boat �.
They went out on the lake in a boat.
They travelled down the Amazon in a boat to study rare fish. |
11 May 2011
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chrissmolder
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LOL--What a coincidence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I live on a boat and was trying to help my kids with a very similar phrase in French this very morning!!! We came up with this:
J �habite sur un bateau.
I realize this is an English site--but maybe one of our French speaking colleagues can let me know if this is right???
As for the English version, I would prefer to say:
I study on a boat.
I would use �in the boat � for if I wanted to point out where on the boat someone was at a given moment. For example, we are all on the boat we might have this:
question: Where �s Tristan?
answer: Oh--he �s inside (the boat).
Or, maybe this:
question: Where �s the life jacket?
answer: It �s in the boat.
However, I still think �on the boat � is much more common.
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11 May 2011
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