ride and ride on

[phoebemia]

What's the difference between:
1. "I'm driving my car." and "I'm driving in my car."
2. "I'm riding a bike." and "I'm riding on a bike."
3. "I'm flying a plane." and "I'm flying in a plane."
4. About "flying a plane", does it mean playing with a toy paper plane and flying it or a pilot's operating a plane?

 

[emsr2d2]

1. No difference but native speakers are unlikely to include "in".
2. No difference but native speakers are unlikely to include "on".
3. Big difference. In the first, you're the pilot. In the second, you're a passenger.
4. Without further context, it would be taken to mean you're the pilot. More context would be needed to make it clear you were operating some kind of toy plane.

 

[jutfrank]

They're all different in meaning. The preposition phrases in my car, on a bike and in a plane all say where the action is happening.

Without the prepositions, my car, a bike and a plane are all functioning as the direct objects of their respective verbs. That means that the action is being done to them.

 

[phoebemia]

Then, if I want to describe the following, how should I say? Or what would you say normally?
1. I'm flying in a plane as a passenger.
2. I'm playing with a paper plane and throwing it into the air.
3. I'm a pilot operating the plane.

 

[5jj]

None of those is particularly natural. We'd be more likely to say:

1. I'm flying in a plane as a passenger.

I'm flying to New York.
I'm on a plane to New York.

2. I'm playing with a paper plane and throwing it into the air.

I'm flying paper planes.

3. I'm a pilot operating the plane.

I'm flying a Boeing 777 to New York.