in the bed / on the bed

Yes

In bed is more idiomatic. But is in the bed also acceptable?

Thanks a lot for your reply.

I'd say "I spent the whole morning in bed", but "we found the cat in the bed". I think "in bed" relates to persons, and to what they may do in bed, whereas "in the bed" refers to the location.

Don’t go out, John. Stay __ bed. You need some sleep. (A) in the (B) on the (C) in (D) on

For B to be correct, you'd need some previous context through which you would have learned that John had thrown himself on the bed. Without any context, as is the case here, the general picture that comes to mind is that John is in the bed.

Oops, sorry, I'm not a native!

I guess "stay in bed" implies "take a rest", while "stay on the bed" means "keep yourself on the bed, not to leave the bed".

"Stay in bed" is what I would say to someone, for example in the morning, before s/he's had the time to get up, so to stay under the covers, the quilt, whatever they're under.

Agree!

But if in summer, there are few covers, maybe it's ok to say on the bed, but I'm not sure at all!

Even in the summer, even with nothing on, I'd say "stay in bed", meaning "sleep/go on sleeping, don't get into the day activity"

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/student/viewtopic.php?p=52829#52829

C is usual, but "stay in the bed" is also possible. I wouild not use "stay in the bed" however, because this will cause confusion for