hey guys, I need your help. when do you guys/girls use the word IN or ON.?

Question

Here are some examples:

put the flowers on the table or put the flowers in the table.
which one is correct.

the keys are in the car, or the keys are on the car.

is there a specific rule to use in/on cause I am confused. please explain me.

thank you.

Answer 1

Use "on" when something is "on top" of an item.

The flowers are on the table.
The bee is on my arm.
Put those papers on her desk.

Use "in" when the item is "inside" of an item.

The flowers are in the vase.
The bee is in the hive.
The papers are in the drawer.

Answer 2

You put flowers on a table. "On" is used when the flowers are sitting on top of something but not enclosed or surrounded. If you were packing or mailing the flowers, you might put them IN a box and close the box. Since the box encloses or surrounds the flowers, you say "in".

Your keys are in the car if they're inside, where the people sit. The keys are on the car if they're on top of the car's roof, hood, etc.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

You say "on" when you are talking about something being on a surface. You use "in" when talking about something being inside of something. For instance, "I went in the store", you physically walk inside. If you were on the store, you would be clinging to the outside. Think about it like "in" as "inside" and "on" as on the outside. Make sense?

Therefore, put the flowers ON the table (as opposed to inside the table in a drawer)
and my keys are IN the car (as opposed to laying ON the hood).

Answer 4

In general, if you can use the word Inside than you can use the word in. 'The keys are inside the car'. If you use ON - 'the keys are on the car' - it implies the keys would be on the roof or something.

Answer 5

"In" is used to say something is inside another thing
"On" is used to say something is resting on top of another thing.

So in your examples, the flowers are ON the table, and the keys are IN the car.

Answer 6

what? uh well on the table is correct and in the car- unless you have something ON the car then that's when you use ON, Never use In the table, unless you have a coffee table with drawers you'd say inside the drawers of the coffee table.

Answer 7

In for inside
On for on top of

Prepositions are one of the most difficult things when you are learning English - some links to help you here:

owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslprep2.html
web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/200/grammar/prepo.htm
a4esl.org/q/h/9704/dg-in-at-on.html
www.eslgold.com/grammar/in_on_at.html

Good luck