HELP w/ prepositions in and on.

[anasiants]

Hello - help!?!

Prepositions: in and on


1. She is in the picture or She is on the picture? which is the right one?

2. The lady on the picture or The lady in the picture? which is the right one?

3. She looks good on a black and white photo or
She looks good in a black and white photo? which is the right one?


Kindly - Ana

[scottr]

'IN'. Inside the photo, she looks good. Inside the picture she looks good. 'IN' usually has that idea, but there are exceptions. She looks good 'on' the TV is the best example.

[anasiants]

'IN'. Inside the photo, she looks good. Inside the picture she looks good. 'IN' usually has that idea, but there are exceptions. She looks good 'on' the TV is the best example.

Hello Scott,
Thank you so very much for your time.
It was really killing me.

I thought i could use "on the picture".

What about:
The letters on each page. - is this correct? should it be "The letters in each page."
as to "The girl in the picture".

ANYONE PLEASE HELP!


Please advise.
Regards, Ana

[M56]

Hello Scott,
Thank you so very much for your time.
It was really killing me.

I thought i could use "on the picture".

What about:
The letters on each page. - is this correct? should it be "The letters in each page."
as to "The girl in the picture".

ANYONE PLEASE HELP!


Please advise.
Regards, Ana

The letters/words on the page.

The girl is contained by the frame of the photo; she is in the frame.

We see a sheet of paper as a surface on which words can lie.

"He is on TV." Probably based on "projected on a screen", from the early days of projecting an image on/onto something, or "on stage", from the theatre. Or even form the expression "on air", which is a TV term.

[anasiants]

The letters/words on the page.

The girl is contained by the frame of the photo; she is in the frame.

We see a sheet of paper as a surface on which words can lie.

"He is on TV." Probably based on "projected on a screen", from the early days of projecting an image on/onto something, or "on stage", from the theatre. Or even form the expression "on air", which is a TV term.

I don't mean to sound so stupid.

letters are prints - and the letters are on the page.

isn't the girl considered as a print of the picture - so should it be "the girl on the picture"?

Pictures, photos and pages - are they considered surface? which prints can lie.

[Nordic Bill]

Exactly! Use in if you are referring to the contents of the image itself:

"Who's in the picture"?

But on if you are referring to the physical surface of the photograph:

"Who spilled juice on the picture"?

Bill

[anasiants]

Exactly! Use in if you are referring to the contents of the image itself:

"Who's in the picture"?

But on if you are referring to the physical surface of the photograph:

"Who spilled juice on the picture"?

Bill

Thank you all.
My apology for my stupidity.

I love this site, there's a lot of things to learn from pros like yourselves.
Bless of all you and hope all is well with you and your loved ones.

[M56]

I don't mean to sound so stupid.

letters are prints - and the letters are on the page.

isn't the girl considered as a print of the picture - so should it be "the girl on the picture"?

Pictures, photos and pages - are they considered surface? which prints can lie.

Mainly, prepositions tell us a lot about the way we native speakers perceive things. "In" is used when we perceive things to be contained or in a container of sorts.

So, we have "in the photo" meaning included in or contained in.

The words are on the page, but in/included the text.

Sorry, but that's English.

[M56]

I love this site, there's a lot of things to learn from pros like yourselves.
Bless of all you and hope all is well with you and your loved ones.

And to you.

[Nordic Bill]

Then again, we travel in cars but on airplanes.