on the team/in the team

Question

Hello,WHy is itDo you want to be ON the team.Not IN the team?It seems like "IN" is more appropriate?Thanks.

Vsuresh · Accepted Answer

I think it is '....on the team'.

Prajwalkr · Answer

englishnewbie Hello,WHy is itDo you want to be ON the team.Not IN the team?It seems like "IN" is more appropriate?Thanks.

Both in and on are alright. American English - on a team. British English - in a team.

Prajwal

Englishnewbie · Answer

Thanks for the reply. i know that it is ON.

But I am asking WHY...

CalifJim · Answer

englishnewbieBut I am asking WHY...

A lot of times it's like asking why the hands of a clock go in a certain direction around the clock, and not the other way. Or asking why people drive on one side of the road in some countries and on the other side in other countries. Or asking why Antarctica is considered to be at the south pole instead of at the north pole, or why maps are shown with north at the top instead of at the bottom.

It seems that if we had some answer to these questions we would understand things better, but usually, even after studying the history of why things came to be as they are, we are still left with the fact that some things in the world just turned out in completely arbitrary ways. Nobody planned it that way. It's just how everybody started doing things, and nobody has ever changed it since then. In the end, we don't really understand things any better by knowing this because we still have to accept such arbitrary things as they are, without any adequate explanation.

CJ

Englishnewbie · Answer

I think I know why.

It's to confuse nonnative speakers like me...

CalifJim · Answer

englishnewbieIt's to confuse nonnative speakers like me.

Yes. The Spanish have the Academy to watch over the usage of the Spanish language.

We have the Committee for the Confusion of Foreigners.

CJ

on the team/in the team

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