Differences!
I've been looking for some differences among some English words. They're: Beneath, Underneath, Under and Below. In Spanish we only use "bajo o debajo" but in English there are many words to express it. Can someone explain it to me?
4 Answers
Well, all four are prepositions, and they're usually interchangeable, but there are slight differences in how they are used:
"Beneath" is more formal than the others. One could say "He is below contempt", but it doesn't impute the same sense of superiority of the speaker as "He is beneath contempt". You would not, however, say "He is under or underneath contempt"
"Underneath" tends to be restricted to literal physical position, though under could also be used. "My car is underneath/under 6 feet of snow" ("My car is below 6 feet of snow" would sound odd, though I'm not sure why), or "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" I think, though I'm really not sure, that in cases of physical posith the neath is just omitted colloquially, through long-standing corruption of language
'Under" & "below" can both be used in the literal sense, but "under" (& "underneath") tends to be used when there is some other object on top of that which is under. "Where are my keys". "They're under/underneath that magazine". ("They're beneath that magazine" would sound stilted, and immediately identify you to the CIA as a spy.)
"Under" & "below" can also be used in the figurative sense meaning "less than" such as "under 20 years old" or "below/under" average".
I'm realizing as I type that there are many common phrases which use a particular one for no apparant reason other than custom, such as "under sentence", "under construction", "below sea level" "under the sea" etc.
As a native English-speaker I've never given this much thought, though I obsess over similar questions in Spanish. I had to do some research on English grammer sites to put these thoughts into words. I hope I haven't added to your confusion.
Very interesting question! The distinctions are not really clear-cut. As a very general rule, I would suggest that "beneath" is most likely to be used with abstract concepts - beneath contempt, beneath one´s dignity, beneath expectations, etc. "Underneath" usually refers to a pretty specific physical location - underneath one´s jacket, underneath the sofa - but it can be metaphorical as well (Underneath it all, he was really a nice guy). "Under" can mean lower than, but also less than - under $100, under two minutes. It´s used in a wide variety of idiomatic phrases such as under consideration or under review, to suggest that some process is being applied to a subject.
Here are three websites with interesting examples of usage and attempts to formulate rules - none, in my view, completely satisfactory:
http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic8129.html
http://www.phrasemix.com/answers/whats-the-difference-between-under-below-beneath-and-underneath http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page35.shtml
I hope they help!
The words are all synonyms. i.e., they mean the same thing in at least one of their uses. They mean under or lower than something. However, beneath, under and below can also be used to mean of a lower status as in at a lower position in the company organization or at a lower military rank or a lower level in the study of a language. I would use not underneath in this context. I think underneath is mostly used to indicate directly or nearly directly below something.
Thanks to all of you. Now, I have clearer the differences among those words.
