on

on
prep.

1) to have smt. on smb. ('to have evidence against smb.')

2) the fire went out on me ('the fire went out through no fault of mine')

3) we were on to what was happening ('we were aware of what was happening')

4) well on in years ('rather old')

We use 'on' with dates and days:

- on 12 March

- on Friday(s) - on Christmas Day (but 'at Christmas') - on Friday morning(s) - on Sunday afternoons - on Monday evening(s) - on Saturday night(s) etc.

We use 'on' in the following situations: on the ceiling/on the wall/on the floor/on smb. nose/on a page

- Don't sit on the floor/on the ground/on the grass!

- Have you seen the notice on the notice-board? - There's a report of the football match on page 7 of the newspaper. - Don't sit on that chair. It's broken, (but 'sit in an armchair')

Note that we say: on the left/on the right (or on the left-/right-hand side)/ on the ground floor/on the first floor/on the second floor etc.

- In Britain we drive on the left. (or... on the left-

hand side)

We use 'on' with small islands:

- Tom spent his holidays on a small island off the coast of Scotland.

We also say that a place is 'on the coast/on a river/on a road':

- London is on the river Thames.

We say that a place is 'on the way to another place':

- We stopped at a pretty village on the way to London.

We say 'on/at the corner of a street' (but 'in the corner of a room'):

-There is a telephone box on/at the corner of the street.

We say 'on the front/on the back of a letter/piece of paper' etc.:

- Write your name on the back of this piece of paper.

We say 'on a farm':

- Have you ever worked on a farm?

We say 'to travel on foot':

- Did you come here by car or on foot?

We use 'on' for bicycles and public transport (buses, trains etc.): on my bicycle/on the bus/on the train/on a big ship.
We say 'get on/get off a bicycle, bus or train':

- Quick! Get on the train. It's ready to leave.

We say 'on time' = punctual, not late. If something happens on time, it happens at the time which was planned:

- The 11.45 train left on time. (= it left at 11.45)

-The conference was very well organised. Everything began and finished on time.

We say

'to be/to go on holiday/ on business/ on a trip/on a tour/ on an excursion/ on a cruise/ on an expedition'.

We say 'to be keen on something':

- We stayed at home because Ann wasn't very keen on going out in the rain.

We say 'to concentrate on something':

- Don't look out of the window. Concentrate on your work!

We say 'to depend on someone/something':

- What time will you arrive? I don't know. It depends on the traffic.

You can leave out 'on' before question words (when/where/how etc.):

- 'Are you going to buy it?' 'It depends (on) how much it is.'

We say 'to live on money/food':

- George's salary is very low. It isn't enough to live on.

We say 'to rely on someone/something':

- You can rely on Jack. He always keeps his promises.

We say 'to blame something on someone/something':

- Everybody blamed the accident on me.

We say 'to congratulate someone on (doing) something':

- When I heard that he had passed his examination, I phoned him to congratulate him on his success.

We say 'to spend (money) on something':

- How much money do you spend on food each week?

Note that we usually say 'spend (time) doing something':

- I spend a lot of time reading.

* * *
[ɒn]
well on in years ('rather old')
the fire went out on me ('the fire went out through no fault of mine')
to have smt. on smb. ('to have evidence against smb. ')
we were on to what was happening ('we were aware of what was happening')

Combinatory dictionary. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР
Synonyms:

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”