To do well/badly/all right in (on)

I can't answer for BrE, but as an American I say and hear "...(did very well) on the test", "on the math test", "on the history test", etc., while I say and hear "(did very well) in math", "in history", etc.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, Americans live on a street, the British live in a street.

CJ

Guilty as charged: BrE says 'in the history test', 'in history', 'in a street'.

MrP

If it's of any interest, as a young-ish BrE speaker, both variants are available to me: "I did well on the test/ I did well in the test" -- and interestingly "on a street" sound more natural to me, too.

I'd suggest thatt the distinction here is really quite blurred, and you'd be ok to use either.

RR

Guilty as charged: old-ish BrE speaker...

Though this is an forum about English, I just realize how my native language German affects my perception of the meaning of English sentences:

Both variants "I did well on/in the test" seem to be OK for me, but "on" would emphasize on how I felt during the test, while "in" would emphasize on the actual result achieved in the test.

Also, "auf der Strasse leben" = "live on the s

I can relate to the "homeless" aspects. I omitted any discussion of that to avoid more confusion on the subject. However, now that you've brought it up, the American expression is "to live on the streets" or, less often, "to live in the streets". The "the" and the plural "streets" serve to distinguish this from the expression related to addresses: "On which street do you live?" "I live on Nor

Thanks a lot for your explanations! As far as I understood I can use both variants but if I tend to learn and use British English I should say 'in the test'.

("if I intend to learn ...")

Yes, you understood it all.

CJ

(British English) a good mark in the test (North American English) a good grade on the test.

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