|
 |
In or On the street | ||
Tags: Syntax | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| hribecek Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5351 days ago 1243 posts - 1458 votes  Speaks: English*, Czech, Spanish Studies: Italian, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Toki Pona, Russian | Message 1 of 14 05 December 2012 at 7:54pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I've been trying to explain the difference between these two, but I've realised that it's a complicated one and seems to depend on what dialect of English you speak and is not just based on a grammatical explanation (I've read many online). So I was wondering which one other native speakers from different areas use in which situations?
I'm from Kent in England and I use 'on the street' more, otherwise I would use different words like pavement, road etc. Having discussed this with an American and another Brit, it seems we all say it slightly differently. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4638 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 2 of 14 05 December 2012 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Depends. Usually for people or animals I always say "So and so is in the street"
For everything else, I just say whatever sounds better. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Spinchäeb Ape Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4472 days ago 146 posts - 180 votes Speaks: English*, German | Message 3 of 14 05 December 2012 at 9:48pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I'm from the US and I usually say "on the street" for humans. "The woman is walking on the street." However, if you omit "on" and just say, "The woman is walking the street" it means she's a prostitute. If kids are playing and a ball gets away from them and winds up there, it's "The ball is in the street." In this case, the ball is definitely in the street itself and not on the sidewalk. If you say, "The man is on the street," it could mean he's driving a car on it or it could mean he's walking on the sidewalk or walking in the actual street.
At least that's my take on it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4670 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 4 of 14 06 December 2012 at 10:57am | IP Logged | ||
|
So, in the street means on the road ;)
And on the street can mean either 1. on the sidewalk (for non motorized people and objects); or 2. on the road (for motorized passengers). Edited by Medulin on 06 December 2012 at 11:00am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4709 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 5 of 14 06 December 2012 at 11:04am | IP Logged | ||
|
I would definitely say "on the street". Sounds a lot better to mine ears.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7207 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 6 of 14 06 December 2012 at 11:13am | IP Logged | ||
|
I'm from the U.S. Saying something is "in the street" may suggest it is in the way of motorists. "I don't know why they jog in the street; the sidewalk is only ten feet away". Edited by luke on 06 December 2012 at 11:14am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4624 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 7 of 14 06 December 2012 at 12:49pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Another one that intrigues me is whether you fill a form out or fill it in.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6381 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 14 06 December 2012 at 1:30pm | IP Logged | ||
This sounds off to me. I would actually say the woman is walking in the street. Using walking on the street sounds like you are really emphasizing her physical presence on the street in lieu of somewhere else. I can't think of an example where you would want to do that though. 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
