contemplation

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Could I use ON?

-Wandering in the gallery while listening the music, John could relate to Rowling's feelings and contemplation __ the complexity of elf souls.

In dictionaries I can only find sentences with OF following 'contemplation', but for the above, OF sounds wrong to me, though I don't know why. Feelings about language can't be explained.

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Type: Question • Score: 4 • Views: 422 • Replies: 6

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@WBYeats,

WB that's a good q. I have much the same feeling but I wonder if it isn't an alliteration thing

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This is not something for which there are rules--usage is judged by native speakers on a basis of what they've heard all of their lives. Using "on" would not be incorrect, but it would not be familiar either. I would advise using "of" but using "on" is not wrong.

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@WBYeats,

I feel that "of" is the right word to use before the object (the complexity...) of the action noted by the preceding noun (contemplation) .

John's understanding of the book
My expectations of happiness
Tolstoy's description of warfare
My sister's contemplation of the scene before her

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@dalehileman,

Quote:

...an alliteration thing

WB, that is to say, "...contemplation on..." just sounds funny

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@WBYeats,

Quote:

...an alliteration thing

WB, that is to say, "...contemplation on..." just sounds funny but then so does "...of the complexity of elf souls" also suffer from

...alliteration, is that the right word

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Excellent answers. Thank you.

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contemplation

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