How do you differentiate in and on in Spanish?
1
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In English we can say "the ball is on the box" or "the ball is in the box". Since en in Spanish can be in or on, how do you make clear exactly where the ball is?
1886 views
updated Jan 25, 2010
posted by Ekim
Welcome to the Forum, Ekim. Come back often. (The context of the sentence will make the meaning clear, as seen in Mokay's response.) - 0057ed01, Jan 25, 2010
1 Answer
1
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the ball is on the box = la pelota está sobre la caja or la pelota está encima de la caja
the ball is in the box = la pelota está dentro de la caja or la pelota está en la caja
In Spanish, "en" means normally "dentro" (inside) if the object allows it, otherwise it means "sobre" or "encima" (over).
the ball is on the table = la pelota está en la mesa (encima/sobre)
the ball is in the table = impossible, unless the table has drawers or something similar. = la pelota está en la mesa. (dentro de un cajón o compartimento and the people talking about the table already know that.)
updated Jan 25, 2010
posted by Mokay
