on
part of speech
preposition, adverb; adjective (the light is on; the game is on)
meaning for a pupil
1) On means touching the top or side of something: on the table, on the wall. tree →
2) On shows a day or date: on Monday. tree →
3) On means working or switched on: the light is on. tree →
4) On shows what something is about: a book on sharks. tree →
5) On means going ahead, carrying on: read on. tree →
6) On means happening as planned: the party is still on. tree →
7) (casual) «You're on!» accepts a dare or a bet; «what are you on about?» means what do you mean; «not on» (UK, Australia) means not acceptable; «on me» means I'll pay. tree →
8) (rough) «Get on with it!» means hurry up; «come on!» can be an angry push or a cheer; «having me on» means fooling me. tree →
9) (formal) The exam voice says «upon», «situated upon», «concerning», «on the occasion of», «in the event of», «on each occasion». tree →
10) On can also mean against someone or aimed at someone, as in "a vengeance on her." tree →
sense in the lessons
on the table, on the board, on Monday; «on each» marks equal groups («4 birds on each branch»); in everyday life «turn on», «get on the bus», «put on your coat», «go on», «on time», «on foot», «on and on»; in safety «put your seat belt on»; in casual talk «you're on», «it's on me», «you having me on?»; in rough talk «get on with it», «come on»; in the exam voice «situated upon», «upon each shelf», «on the occasion of»
examples
- I put three spoons on the table. tree →
- Ben bought 6 cards on Monday … tree →
- There are 4 birds on each branch. tree →
- The cat is sleeping on my bed. tree →
- Turn the light on, please. tree →
- Put your coat on; it's cold. tree →
- We went to school on foot. tree →
- Read on to find out what happens. tree →
- race ya to the gate? «you're on» tree →
- Ice creams are on me, how many we need? tree →
- Oh, get on with it, just count them! tree →
- There are 3 shelves; upon each shelf are situated 6 volumes. Determine the total. tree →
- "A vengeance on her!" said they. tree →
note
No clue by itself; «on the table» marks where things are counted. Trap: «on each» or «upon each» marks equal groups: multiply. «it's on me» means I'll pay, not a place. «You having me on?» means are you joking. Use «on» for days (on Monday), «in» for months (in May), «at» for clock times (at 3). «upon» is a stiff form of «on».
In the corpora
- Knowing this helps you understand why a family's week is planned round a piece of paper on the fridge.
- Retiring means stopping paid work for good, usually in your sixties, and living on a pension and savings.
- Banks pay interest on savings, and they charge interest when you borrow.
- Interest that grows on interest is called compound interest.
- Example: in a café in Toronto, Mum taps her phone on the reader and the coffee is paid in a second.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «on» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.