Are there any english grammar rules for 'in' and 'on' .?

Question

I am on the bus, I am in the car. I am on the train , I am in the mall.

Someone told me that when you can stand up straight, like on an bus. it should be 'on' when you can not it should be 'in' ..

Can anybody confirm this. or give a better explanation.. or tell me why this is true or not ..

THANKS

Answer 1

Prepositions can, indeed, be tricky. But that's true of prepositions in ANY language, not just English. The relationships we try to use prepostions to indicate are complex and each preposition has a "range of meaning" not just one simple one. (Look up "on", "in", "up", and so forth, in a dictionary, and you'll find MANY meanings listed, even though there are many connections between those meanings.)

So it is true that you need to pay attention and learn how prepositions are used with specific nouns. Sometimes it is better simply to think of the "preposition + noun" as a separate vocabulary item to memorize.

BUT there is still some logic to the different expressions, so it is useful to consider WHY a specific preposition is being used.

In this case, perhaps the most useful thing to notice is that "in", when used of a location, emphasizes "enclosure".

Thus, you are "in" a car or truck, and you can be "in" a rowboat or canoe. But you would be ON a sailboat. For that matter, there are cases where you can say "in a bus" or "in a plane" or "in the ship" if you need to emphasize someone's position within the vehicle. Similarly, if you are specifying the location of somoene who is "on a train", you would say "he is IN the caboose" [or engine, or dining car, etc].

These examples show that "standing up", though it may sometimes come into play, is not the key in the choice of prepositions.

Note that if you are referring to some sort of BUILDING -- which is by it's very nature an enclosure-- you will ordinarily say "in", unless you need to point out that they are on top of it, or hanging on the side!

On the other hand, there are some vehicles that do NOT involved 'enclosure', so the only "logical" term is "on" -- such as bicycyle, tricycle, motorcycle. (As far as "standing", I don't think there's any particular thought of the possibility of someone standing while riding one of these, esp. a small child on a tricycle!)

Answer 2

No, it's not true. I am on the ship, for example. Prepositions of location must be learned as you go along. There are no hard and fast rules. Sorry. They are one of the most difficult parts of English to get right.

Answer 3

there are no set rules, but mostly when you 'board' something (bus, plane, train, ship) you are on....or if you are atop something you are on
if not, you are in....

Answer 4

your question got me 2 points sucker