sit on/in the bus

[ademoglu]

Hi.

I know that there are a lot of posts regarding the question of whether I should say 'in a bus' or 'on a bus' and I know that a sentence like 'I am on the bus' is OK. However, when watching the show 'The Office (S03E22)', I've come across the sentence:

'OK. I am going to sit in the bus'. Is it because of the verb 'sit'?

Can you help me with that?

 

[emsr2d2]

I think we need more context to work out why that preposition was used. Was the bus stationary? Was it at a bus stop? Did it move after the person boarded it?

 

[ademoglu]

I think we need more context to work out why that preposition was used. Was the bus stationary? Was it at a bus stop? Did it move after the person boarded it?

Sorry for not giving you the context.

The guy saying that sentence and his workmates were at the beach. And suddenly he felt bored and did not want to do anything with them. So he uttered it. The bus was just there. It was, as you said, stationary.

Is the corect usage 'in the bus' because the bus was stationary? I mean, if I see a train, bus or some big vehicle, should I always use 'in' instead of 'on'?

 

[emsr2d2]

No, you definitely should not use "in" as your first choice with large vehicles. The standard correct preposition is "on". However, that is when we are talking about using that vehicle as a form of transport. If the bus was a permanent fixture (it was not actually being used to transport people around), then he was simply going to sit inside it. I'm not sure why he thought that would be less boring than sitting with his friends on the beach.

"in the bus" refers to location.
"on the bus" refers to using it to get from A to B.

 

[probus]

I'm not sure why he thought that would be less boring than sitting with his friends on the beach.

Perhaps he wanted to check his email or browse the web and did not want to insult his friends.

 

[GoesStation]

'OK. I am going to sit in the bus'. Is it because of the verb 'sit'?

Can you help me with that?

Only "in" is possible there unless the speaker has climbed to the top of the bus and intends to sit there. In that situation, "in" would be wrong.