Preposition

Posted by Modrijan on March 27, 2004

In Reply to: Preposition posted by R. Berg on March 26, 2004

: : : : : : Which preposition would you use when saying:
: : : : : : He writes __the blackboard (or __the wall) all the day.

: : : : : I would use "on", but since I'm basically a frenchie, wait for additional advice...

: : : : I'd use on too!

: : : I agree with "on", is it possible to use over or after?

: : You could write all over the blackboard ie the writing would cover it all. I don't think you could use after.

: This is an interesting question because (my linguist friend said recently) in some languages, the word that translates to "on" in English is used only when something is resting on a horizontal surface. It means "on top of." In English, however, we say "He writes on the blackboard," "I put a coat of paint on the wall," "There's a spot on the bathroom mirror."

I will ask another way. It sounds good to me if "a climber is IN the wall AT THE MOMENT", but what if "the climber is climbing __the wall ALL DAY"? Can we put there OVER (but NOT with meaning ALL OVER the wall). My question is actually: Is there any difference between STAYING there or writing ONCE (ON the blackboard) and MOVING or writing CONTINIOUSLY (OVER the wall, OVER the blackboard)? Does OVER sounds right?