Why on a swim incorrect, but for a swim correct?
Is 'on' used to express metaphorically "on a run" like "on a way" ?
and I wanna know why on earth "go on a swim" sounds jarring but "go for a swim" is natural to native speakers.
I guess this is because we cannot stand while swimming, but otherwise we can stand on a road while running, so it would be permitted to say 'on a run' metaphorically. But interestingly there's quite a few of such expressions which don't need subjects to stand on as 'on the mend'.
As far as I've been feeling its meaning of 'on', it surely contains a continuous meaning which seems to be applied to such an expression as 'on the mend'. Then, why in the world can't this continuous meaning applied to 'on a swim' as well?
Any technical reasonings or subjective ideas would be appreciated.
Top answer
fire1 I wanna want to know why on earth "go on a swim" sounds jarring but "go for a swim" is natural to native speakers. There may be some sense that a normal swim does not last long enough for "on" to be suitable, but I do not believe that there is any fully predictable reason why we say "for". In English, preposition use is very idiomatic, and many times we just have to learn case by case what people naturally say.
- fire1 I wanna want to know why on earth "go on a swim" sounds jarring but "go for a swim" is natural to native speakers.
- There may be some sense that a normal swim does not last long enough for "on" to be suitable, but I do not believe that there is any fully predictable reason why we say "for".
- In English, preposition use is very idiomatic, and many times we just have to learn case by case what people naturally say.
- fire1 Is 'on' used to express metaphorically "on a run" like "on a way" ?
- Sorry, I don't understand this question.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
fire1Iwannawant to know why on earth "go on a swim" sounds jarring but "go for a swim" is natural to native speakers.
There may be some sense that a normal swim does not last long enough for "on" to be suitable, but I do not believe that there is any fully predictable reason why we say "for". In English, prep
0fire1Is 'on' used to express metaphorically "on a run" like "on a way" ?
and I wanna know why on earth "go on a swim" sounds jarring but "go for a swim" is natural to native speakers.
I guess this is because we cannot stand while swimming, but otherwise we can stand on a road while running, so it would be permitted to say 'on a run' metaphorically. But inte
0
Related Questions