Applied ...on / onto his mother's bruises

Question

Can I say,(a) He applied some ointment on / onto his mother's bruises. (b) He applied the ointment to his mother's bruises.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

They're all okay, except "onto" doesn't seem natural. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Vincent Teo · Answer

Thanks, by the way,

(a) do we accept "applied ....on the wound"? Not "applied ..to"?

Can I say,

He applied some ointment on the bruises and bandaged it.

Avangi · Answer

Yes.  This was your original example (a).

Applied ...on / onto his mother's bruises

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