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Vincent Teo Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

crawling up

Can I say,
(a) The ants are crawling /crawling up the wall.
(b) The ants are crawling on /onto the wall.
(c) The ants are crawling the wall.
  

Top answer

Vincent Teo Can I say, (a) The ants are crawling / crawling up the wall. (b) The ants are crawling on /onto the wall. Both alternatives are OK, but the meanings are different.

— Yankee

  • Vincent Teo Can I say, (a) The ants are crawling / crawling up the wall.
  • (b) The ants are crawling on /onto the wall.
  • Both alternatives are OK, but the meanings are different.
  • (c) The ants are crawling the wall.
  • No, you need to add a word such as up, over, down, along, through , etc.
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5 Answers
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Vincent TeoCan I say,
(a) The ants are crawling /crawling up the wall.
(b) The ants are crawling on /onto the wall. Both alternatives are OK, but the meanings are different.
(c) The ants are crawling the wall. No, you need to add a word such as up, over, down, along, through, etc.
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(b) The ants are crawling on /onto the wall. Both alternatives are OK, but the meanings are different.

What are they different?
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Vincent Teo(b) The ants are crawling on /onto the wall. Both alternatives are OK, but the meanings are different.

What are they different?
Crawling on the wall = they are already there; crawling onto the wall = they are going from the ground to the wall.
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Can I say,
(a) The ants are crawling up to the wall.
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Vincent TeoCan I say,
(a) The ants are crawling up to the wall.
This indicates that they are on the floor or the ground going toward the wall. We don't know if they will stop there or continue on up.
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