[General] on the street or in the street.

[arjitsharma]

1. don't ride a bicycle or a motorcycle on the street.2. don't ride a bicycle or a motorcycle in the street.should it be " in the street or on the street" when it comes to a bike or a bicycle. I have read both the above sentence written but which one is appropriate or can we use both on the street and in the street when we ride a bike or a bicycle.

 

[teechar]

Where else are you supposed to ride them?

 

[emsr2d2]

1. Don't ride a bicycle or a motorcycle on the street.
2. Don't ride a bicycle or a motorcycle in the street.

Should it be "in the street" or "on the street" when it comes to a bike or a bicycle? I have read both the above sentences [STRIKE]written[/STRIKE] but which one is appropriate (appropriate for what?) or can we use both "on the street" and "in the street" when we ride a bike or a bicycle?

The answer has nothing to do with the mode of transport. It depends on what you mean. Is the sentence supposed to tell cyclists/motorcyclists that they are not allowed to ride along a particular street? If so, it's a strange instruction. Motorcyclists have to ride in/on the street (or "road"). The alternative would be them riding on the pavement (sidewalk in AmE) which is obviously a very bad idea.

Note my corrections above. Please make sure you use line spaces to make your text easier to read. Start every sentence with a capital letter. Don't put a space after opening quotation marks.

 

[jutfrank]

If you mean to tell somebody to ride only on the pavement, then you can say Don't ride on the road.

road and street are different.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Road" and "street" aren't different in BrE when used in a general way to describe the tarmac between pavements which is designed for traffic.

 

[jutfrank]

"Road" and "street" aren't different in BrE when used in a general way to describe the tarmac between pavements which is designed for traffic.

I would say they are.

 

[TheParser]

Should it be " in the street or on the street" when it comes to a bike or a bicycle?

NOT A TEACHER


Hello,

I have found some information that may interest you.

In 2011, a member named "Mehrdad" at Azar Grammar Exchange checked Google Books and COCA. Here are his results.

ride a bike in the street. (26 hits)
ride a bike on the street. (4 hits)

ride a bicycle in the street. (22)
ride a bicycle on the street.(11)

*****

I am comfortable with these sentences that I have made up.

1. You may legally ride your bicycle on any road.

2 If you ride your bicycle in the street, you must obey all traffic laws.

3. Do not ride your bicycle on the sidewalk unless local law allows it.

 

[jutfrank]

A road is a surface on which vehicles can travel. It looks like this:



Vehicles drive on the road. Sometimes, people and animals can be in the road. This is not safe because a vehicle could hit them.



A street is an outdoor public space which leads from one part of a city to another. It may or may not have a road. It looks like this:



These people are in the street. Other more unfortunate people are forced to sleep in places like this. They sleep on the street.

 

[emsr2d2]

As learners will see, even native speakers from the same country don't always agree. I agree with Jutfrank that homeless people are said to be "on the street", not "on the road". However, I don't agree that "street" but not "road" is used for something leading from one part of a city to another. Where I'm from, they're used interchangeably.

I was driving down that road the other day when I nearly hit a fox.
He was driving down a street yesterday and nearly crashed into a lamppost.
Go down that road, turn left and you'll be at the library.
Head up that street, take the third on the right and my house is the third on the left.