in /on

Hello H2K, how are you?

In context, I would accept all of them:

1. The baby was sitting on her lap.

2. She held the baby in her lap.

3. The bus is stationary in the road.

4. The bus is on the road to nowhere.

MrP

Hello Mr. P,

I am fine. Thanks for wonderful explanation.

1. She held the baby on her lap.

2. She held the baby in her lap.

Is held on more common or held in ? What are thedifferences between two?

Hello Hanuman

To my mind, "in her lap" in your example suggests "enclosing": the baby was held in a protective way by its mother. Perhaps the mother had put her arms round the baby, for instance. The baby was "in" her lap as if it was "in" a cradle.

"On her lap", on the other hand, suggests that the baby had more freedom of movement: perhaps it was in a sitting position, only lig

in his lap

MrPedanticHello H2K, how are you?

In context, I would accept all of them:

2. She held the baby in her lap.

MrP

How would one hold a baby in one's lap?

Hello Anon

I explained how to hold a baby in your lap a little earlier in the thread.

MrP

Paco2004

That's not his lap.

How do you know?

Anonymous

Paco2004

That's not his lap.

Your reply is so funny. ^_^

Anonymous

MrPedantic
Hello H2K, how are you?

In context, I would accept all of them:

2. She held the baby in her lap.

MrP

How would one hold a baby in one's lap?

Hello Anon

I read "lap" in this sense as "the front part from waist to knees of a person seated, as, wit