She slapped him on his face

buriburiI have long been wondered what underlies English speaker's mind/cognition when they construct a phrase such as,

She slapped him on his face.

I'm curious to know why you guys don't say "she slapped on his face".

In English we need an object for slapped.

If we hear "She slapped on his face" we th

I'm not a native speaker but in my language the verb slap , just like in English, is transitive , which means that it requires an object. (slap someone/something). If your mother tongue has an intransitive "slap" then I can surely relate to why you find this usage strange.

In English , it's certainly possible to say something like

Her hand slapped against his face. ("slap" is in

The normal collocation is " she slapped him in the face".
The perception of "slap" is to smack someone with the impact of an open hand across his face.

It can be also used in a passive context: He was caught and slapped with a $500 speeding ticket by CHP for doing 100 miles per hour on I-5.

Thanks for replying my question CJ and Ivanhr.

I took "slap" as a transitive verb as well. The action denoted by the verb marks a physical force/contact on somebody, so I assume it must has transitive use. However, the problem is, I think, in my first language we never phrase it as you do.
We say, like, using CJ's example sentence(thanks for bringing that up), "she slapped his fac

She slapped his face.
"Him" is understood, as is "on" in this transitive use of the verb "slap."
What do you all think?

JohnParisShe slapped his face."Him" is understood

I agree with you John. That was my original thinking. But the prep. "on" (his face) as written originally took me off my thought.

buriburithe problem is, I think, in my first language we never phrase it as you do.
... she slapped his face with a fish
... she slapped a fish on his face

That's quite believable.

Two different alternations have been discussed in this thread, and that complicates the discussion. We'll have to separate the two. An "alter

It is very possible that your first language has neither of these, so you will have to learn them and try to become comfortable with hearing them and using them this way.

Sure I will !!

That's quite believable.

CJ, your explanation is unbelievably lucid, enlightening. The way you pinpoint the problem and analyse it, and then give s

I'm glad that you found the examples helpful!

CJ