Why do you get in a car and on a bus?

Question

In Spanish , you just get in both...

Answer 1

First, note that prepositions are tricky and idiomatic in ANY language. To some extent you simply have to learn which is correct on a case-by-case basis.

BUT the choices are not haphazard. There is logic to them. Just don't count on boiling it all down to ONE simple rule.

1) the answer is not, as some suggest, the size of the vehicle. A child gets ON a tricycle, hardly something very large. You get IN a rowboat or canoe, but ON a sailboat, though the sizes may not be that different.

2) It is not a simple matter of whether you sit or stand to ride the vehicle (nor whether you might be able to stand). When you get ON a bicycle or tricycle standing is hardly the preferred position. And you probably CAN stand while aboard a rowboat (though hardly recommended for a canoe!)

Related to this is how you BOARD the vehicle. Note also that you get on a train, but you are IN the caboose, etc; you get on a ship, but you are IN a ship cabin. And for that matter, you can refer to someone being "in the plane" or "in the bus".

3) An often overlooked aspect -- "IN" emphasizes ENCLOSURE. If you are not significantly enclosed the expression will be "on". Thus, you are ON a bicycle/motorcycle/tricycle. This also explains why you are IN a rowboat or canoe, but ON a sailboat.


The answer then, is a combination of things. In the cases listed here the two main factors seem to be:

a) enclosure (you cannot get "in" something that does not enclose)

b) ability to board or enter by walking ON to it (as when boarding a bus, ship, train). . .
note that whether you sit or stand once you've boarded is not relevant

Answer 2

I guess it's because buses have a high step to maneuver when you climb in; whereas in a car, you just slide into the seat, and some cars are so low to the ground that you have to stoop a little to get in. Some foreign languages definitely have an economy of words, and therefore one word will fit both descriptions. English is difficult to compare to other languages, and tends to be more specific as to prepositions. So you climb *on* a bus and get *in* a car, in English. Hope this helps to clarify.

Answer 3

The bus is about 3 steps up then you're on. A car, the seat is at your same level so you just slide in.

Answer 4

it has to do with the purpose of the transportation, you get on a plane, on a train, in a car in a truck. Smaller vehicles you get into normally with a normal driver, and the mass transportaion vehicles you get on. It is just the way that are dialect differs from the others we have more ways of saying things to get the point across. The only exception is obvious, you get on a bike cause it is an open vehicle and you are literally on it.

Answer 5

My guess is we climb into a car while for bus, we need to get on it because generally buses are higer than bus. Other than this I can't think of any logical explanation.

Answer 6

The origin of the word car is in carriage which was an enclosed vehicle
the origin of bus is omnibus which was origonally open therefore you climbed up on to it.

Answer 7

Maybe the fact that you climb up to get on a bus?
Don't know.

Answer 8

may be because a bus is much bigger and when you go in you can stand ON it , you get on it ,i mean, there is more space. you can move but in a car you can just sit.

Answer 9

Ah, the strangeness of the English language. What do you expect from a language that borrows words from any language it meets.

Answer 10

omg thats so weird. we were talking about that in english today.

i guess with the bus thing it would be like the double decker bus, cuz u know how u can get on it. and sit in it. i dunno.