" on which" vs. "in which"

Question

Hi,there,I have a question about the following sentence."You should work on areas where you feel you had the greatest memory problems in the past and focus on these."Can the word "where" in the above sentence be replaced by "on which" or "in which"? Thanks for your reply.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hi,there, I have a question about the following sentence. "You should work on areas where you feel you had the ... Can the word "where" in the above sentence be replaced by "on which" or "in which"? Thanks for your reply.[/nq]
"On which" doesn't seem right with "areas", but "in which" is okay.
"On which" would work all right with other antecedents. Like
You should discuss only subjects on which you feel competent to comment.
But "in which" wouldn't work in that case.
It helps to turn the phrasing around. You can comment on* a subject, but you wouldn't comment *in* a subject. You can teach *in* an area, but you wouldn't teach *on an area.

You can speak in English, and you can speak on English, but the two have quite different meanings. "Speak in English" means to use the English language in your speech. "Speak on English" means to make a speech whose subject is English.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"You should work on areas where you feel you had the greatest memory problems in the past and focus on these." Can the word "where" in the above sentence be replaced by "on which" or "in which"? Thanks for your reply.[/nq]
1. This substitution is OK i.e. would be grammatically correct.
2. The sentence is irreparably bad because wordy and scantof meaning. It seems to recommend action to amend defective memory but is tainted by words and phrases that are fashionable but offer no precision, e.g. "work on areas," "feel," "problems," "focus on these."

3. "Omit needless words" offers a solution, i.e. rephrasingin as few words as possible.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi,there, I have a question about the following sentence. "You should work on areas where you feel you had the ... Can the word "where" in the above sentence be replaced by "on which" or "in which"? Thanks for your reply.[/nq]
The meaning of the word "area" is based on the idea of place, although often, as here, it is extended beyond that meaning; so there is nothing wrong with using either "where", or "in which". "Where" seems to me more idiomatic, "in which" more formally correct.

The word "in", if you choose to say "in which", is connected with the following subordinate clause, which modifies the word "areas"; it has no connection with the "on" in the phrasal verb "work on", and "on" should not be used here.
As previous posters have noted, some other parts of the sentence might be objected to by sticklers, but I do not think an ordinary native speaker would consider it incorrect as it stands. CDB

" on which" vs. "in which"

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