AT or ON

Hi,

1) He drilled a hole ON a lenght of approximately 5 inches.

2) He drilled a hole AT a lenght of approximately 5 inches.

Neither is natural.

He drilled a hole approximately 5 inches deep. (Best).

He drilled a hole with a depth of approximately 5 inches.



It's much more natural to use 'deep/depth' here instead of 'long/length'.

"At" is correct, but I'd be inclined to use "at a distance of approximately five inches (from the end.)"

"Length" is commonly used to describe a dimension of some thing (a line, or a board, for example.) In this case, you're trying to describe the location of a point.


Edit. Aha! Clive and I read your meaning differently. I assumed y

Thanks for the answer guys.

Here is anothere one. Please correct it.

"The machine drilled a horizontal hole ON/IN the ground AT a LENGTH/DISTANCE of 200 mts."

TIA!

The machine drilled a horizontal hole in the ground at/for a distance of 200 m.-- If it is a 200-meter hole, use 'for'; if the hole is 200 meters away from here, use 'at'.

A hole is a round opening. There is no such thing as a "horizontal hole"

I supposed you meant "The machine drilled a row of holes on the ground measuring 200 meters", is that right?

What I meant was, instead of a hole drilled downward or upward, the hole was drilled horizontally.

No, I didn't. Of course there can be horizontal holes– all the nails in my walls have made them.

Have we crossed posts? We seem to be in agreement now.

Hi,

I'd usually just say 'I drilled a 5-inch hole in the wall'.

Saying 'the wall' tells the listener it was horizontal.

If it went right though the wall, I'd say 'through' rather than 'in'.

In theory, it's still unclear if the hole was 5 inches deep or 5 inches wide. That's why I used the word 'deep' in my earlier post. But really, a typical home-owner

Mister MicawberNo, I didn't. Of course there can be horizontal holes– all the nails in my walls have made them.

I am baffled! If I drill a single hole on the wall, how can one determine it is a "horizontal hole" or vertical? Imagine this is a hole:

o

and this is a row of holes: o o o o o o o o which is