In or On

[Heidi L]

I want you to imagine that you are an old man who's on his deathbed. There are nurses around you, doctors around you, your family is around you, and everyone is looking right at you. Your son walks up to you with tears in his face and says: "Dad, do you have any regrets in your life?"
(from Voice Tube, 'This one word will motivate you to do anything')

Do we say 'with tears in his face' or 'with tears on his face'?

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

... with tears on his cheeks.
... with tears in his eyes.
... with tears running down his face.

 

[Heidi L]

'He punched me in the face/nose.' Does it mean that he punched me aiming at my face/nose?

 

[GoesStation]

'He punched me in the face/nose.' Does [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] this mean that he punched me, aiming at my face/nose?

Yes.

 

[emsr2d2]

It doesn't just mean that that was where he was aiming. It means he successfully hit your face/nose.

 

[Heidi L]

It doesn't just mean that that was where he was aiming. It means he successfully hit your face/nose.

What about 'he punched me on my face'? Does this mean that the punch is on the surface of my face and he did the punch succeedfully?

 

[emsr2d2]

We don't use "on" with "face" in this context. This has been covered in another thread but I can't find it at the moment. The prepositions we use might not appear to make sense or be consistent so you'll probably just have to memorise them.

He punched me in the face.
He punched me on the nose.
She slapped me round the face.
She kicked him up the arse. (Mildly vulgar)

 

[Yankee]

We don't use "on" with "face" in this context. This has been covered in another thread but I can't find it at the moment. The prepositions we use might not appear to make sense or be consistent so you'll probably just have to memorise them.

He punched me in the face.
He punched me on the nose. Usually "in" for a general statement.
She slapped me round the face. Not common unless context would suggest otherwise as repeated slaps in different parts of the face.
She kicked him up the arse. (Mildly vulgar) "in the a**/butt/can/tusch/rear etc., etc."

Not corrections rather, common AmE.