preposition investigation

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My sentence:

-There's a hole made by a gun on/in/at the window at/in/on his room.

Are they all correct and there's no difference in meaning?

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Are they all correct?

-The culprit went back to his room and opened a hole in/on/at the backside of the bullet.

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Holes are 'in' things. Windows are 'in' or 'of' rooms.

There's a hole in the glass of the window in (or of) his room.

Is the hole made by a gun or a bullet?

A hole in the rear (or back) of the bullet

"backside" is the human buttocks, or 'ass'.

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@contrex,

Thank you~
===================
-He was hung in/on/at the front part of the pagoda.

Are they just the same?

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@WBYeats,

Offhand I'd say "in" if the front part were somehow enclosed, "on" if it were a platform of some sort and "at" if it didn't take place quite in the middle or even happened just close by

Con, help

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Thank you~

Which one is correct/wrong?:

-In the process, you can learn many skills/much skill about/of/in/at/on or? shooting a movie.

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You can learn many skills by shooting a movie

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@contrex,

um...but the meaning is skills related to movie shooting; wouldn't BY change the meaning?

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@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

um...but the meaning is skills related to movie shooting; wouldn't BY change the meaning?

No.

1 Reply

@contrex,

um...so do you think the following can have two meanings?:

-You can learn many skills by shooting a movie.

1. In the process of shooting a movie, you can learn many skills; as to what skills, no one knows.

2. You can acquire many skills related to movie-shooting.

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@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

um...so do you think the following can have two meanings?
-You can learn many skills by shooting a movie.

It has one meaning: in the process of shooting a movie, a person can learn many (unspecified) skills.

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@contrex,

um...then when I asked, the meaning is 'but the meaning is skills related to movie shooting', why did you say using BY wouldn't change this meaning?

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In/by/while/from shooting a movie, you can learn many skills. Some will probably be directly related to movie shooting; some will not, e.g. project management, creative judgment, working with people, etc.

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@WBYeats,

Quote:

He was hung in/on/at the front part of the pagoda.

He was hanged at the front of the pagoda.

Or, he was hanged in front of the pagoda.

1 Reply

@McTag,

Thanks to Contrex above.

For the pagoda, the problem lies in the word PART, which doesn't sound right with ON/AT, but usually used with IN.

A pagoda has something like eaves curling up pointing to the sky; so can we use all three?:

-A body was hung on/at/in the front part.

Without PART, the location is inaccurately definite regarding the situation.

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@WBYeats,

In front of the pagoda... somewhere fairly near the front of the pagoda

At the front of the pagoda, somewhere immediately adjacent to, or on, the front of the pagoda

On the front of the pagoda, on the pagoda building itself, at the front.

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@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

the word PART, which doesn't sound right with ON/AT, but usually used with IN.

You can use part with on; there is yellow paint on the front (part) of my house.

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@contrex,

Thank you~

For the SHOOTING-SKILL sentence:

-You may interview Peter. In the process (of interviewing him), you may learn many skills about/of/in/at/on shooting movies.

I think BY is not admissible here.

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

I think BY is not admissible here.

'By' is admissible.

http://www.talkenglish.com/Grammar/prepositions-with-over-by.aspx

Quote:

By

Used to indicate proximity:

Can I sit by you?
He was standing by me.
The post office is by the bank.

Used to indicate the person that does something in a passive voice sentence:

The microwave was fixed by the mechanic.
The flowers were delivered by a postman.
The branch office was closed by the head office.

Used to indicate an action with a particular purpose:

You can pass the exam by preparing for it.
I expressed my feeling toward her by writing a letter.
She finally broke the record by pure effort.

Used to indicate a means or method:

Please send this package to Russia by airmail.
I came here by subway.

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@WBYeats,

In all of this discussion, WB, there seems to be a lot of spatial info missing. That is crucial to preposition choice.

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