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Guest Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Prepositions - Some questions

0 I have some questions on prepositions. I'd appreciate much if you can answer them for me. Thanks in advance! 02br
02br
00'on', 'in' and other prepositions: 02br
00Please refer to the values in the spreadsheet. 02br
00Please refer to the values on the spreadsheet. 02br
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00What's mentioned in the document cannot be true. 02br
00What's mentioned on the document cannot be true. 02br
02br
00Which one of the above is correct? 02br
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00This value is missing from the spreadsheet. 02br
00This value is missing on the spreadsheet. 02br
00This value is missing in the spreadsheet. 02br
02br
00Which of these is correct? 02br
02br
00Put the book on the table. 02br
00Put the book over the table. (?) 02br
00Put the book on top of the table. (Doesn't sound right, but still checking) 02br
02br
00I'll complete this in the next few weeks. 02br
00I'll complete this over the next few weeks. 02br
02br
00I cleaned up my apartment in the weekend. 02br
00I cleaned up my apartment over the weekend. 02br
00I cleaned up my apartment at the weekend. (?) 02br
02br
00Don't throw it on me. 02br
00Don't throw it at me. 02br
02br
00I watched it on the TV. 02br
00I watched it in the TV. 02br
00(Is 'the' really needed in the above sentences or can it be omitted?) 02br
02br
00The table is in the room. 02br
00The table is on the room. (?) 02br
02br
00Please help me on these. Thanks again! 0-
  

Top answer

0 Hello, guest! I'll try to help you with these pesky prepositions. I'll try to tell you which of your examples are correct, and, for the choices that are not correct, if the preposition might be correct in a different situation.

— Khoff

  • 0 Hello, guest!
  • I'll try to help you with these pesky prepositions.
  • I'll try to tell you which of your examples are correct, and, for the choices that are not correct, if the preposition might be correct in a different situation.
  • 02br 02br 00Please refer to the values in the spreadsheet.
  • ("in" the contents) 02br 00Look, someone spilled coffee on the spreadsheet.
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6 Answers
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0 Hello, guest! I'll try to help you with these pesky prepositions. I'll try to tell you which of your examples are correct, and, for the choices that are not correct, if the preposition might be correct in a different situation. 02br
02br
00Please refer to the values in the spreadsheet. ("in" the contents) 02br
00Look, someone spilled coffee on the spreadsheet
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0Whaaah. I spent a long time on this answer, and apparently the questioner has not even looked at it. 05000 Am I allowed to boost it back up to the top of the list?010id9
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0 Hello Khoff, 02br
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00Please accept my apologies first. I couldn't check back yesterday. I went through your post and I think you've answered all my questions. That's so nice of you, thank you so much again!! 0-
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0 Note: With documents, spreadsheets, books, and other carriers of information, the preposition is "on" when we refer to the physicality of the entity, "in" when we refer to the information it contains. 02br
02br
00"spill something on the book, magazine, etc." 02br
00"read something in a book, magazine, etc." 02br
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00Exception: when we pla
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0 Thanks, guest. I'm sorry I got so impatient waiting for a response - it was childish of me to post a complaint, and I apologize to all. Thanks for responding so nicely - and next time, I'll try to be more patient. 02br
02br
00Jim - 01blockquote
00In some sense, the "book" you drop on the floor is not the same "book" that you read! 12blockquote
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The thing about prepositions is that many of them, though different, can be (and frequently are) used to say the same thing. The question is not which one is correct, but rather which one will best communicate what I am trying to communicate. Each word in the English language has a different tone and obviously, in a technical sense, some prepositions are going to be closer to the reality you are
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