Talk:on

Adjective too?
"The television is on." Isn't that an adj rather than an adv? 86.131.89.40 16:40, 11 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I think you're right. I think the first sense of the adverb definition is really an adjective definition. What do other Wiktionarians have to say? Internoob 23:24, 11 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I think it’s an adverb. It answers how or where the TV is turned (turned on, in the on position, in the on state). It is not an on TV. —Stephen 20:37, 12 March 2009 (UTC)


 * In the sense of "The TV is on", the verb 'is' is a copular verb, making 'on' an adjective that describes the TV, rather than an adverb that describes 'is'. You could likewise say, "the TV is annoying" (adj), but not *"the TV is annoyingly" (adv). Internoob 18:54, 14 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Another possibly adjectival example: "Are we still on for tonight?" Equinox ◑ 17:19, 26 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Unless someone objects pretty soon, I'm going to go ahead and make this. —Internoob (Talk|Cont.) 17:25, 19 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Done. —Internoob (Talk|Cont.) 22:47, 30 April 2009 (UTC)


 * But if you can't use the word in an attributive way, how is it a real adjective? "The TV is on", but not "This is an on TV", unlike "The TV is black", "This is a black TV". --94.217.98.216 16:54, 19 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Well, you can say "the twins are alike", but not "the alike twins"; that doesn't mean "alike" can't be an adj. Equinox ◑ 16:56, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Requests for verification discussion
From on at Requests for verification:

Per my talk page. Is this used in Dutch Low Saxon, or only in German Low German? I've seen it, but Low Saxon spelling is so variable, and this word is so short (and homographic to other common words), that it's rather difficult to search for. - -sche (discuss) 01:34, 31 August 2013 (UTC)
 * It may be a short word, but e.g. the "Twents woordenboek" by G.J.H. Dijkhuis has no words between and  on page 754. For what it's worth: I natively spoke "Sallaands"; I've heard and tried to speak "Tweants" and "Veenkoloniaals"; I don't know "on". --80.114.178.7 21:55, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
 * I'd like to see quotations for un too. I would write "en" in any Dutch dialect. --80.114.178.7 22:06, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
 * OTOH, he's rather short on "en" too.
 * en gen ean, translated to Dutch as en geen einde ("and no end")
 * two times èn, translated to Dutch as einde ("end")
 * en nó vedan, translated to Dutch as nu ("now. from now on")
 * On the third paw, Dijkhuis compiled the book mainly ten gerieve van allen, die beginnen met Twents dialect te lezen ("for all who start to read Tweants dialect"); mentioning that Tweants en is Dutch en doesn't help to read Tweants, if the compilation only translates to Dutch. --80.114.178.7 20:38, 18 November 2013 (UTC)


 * RFV-failed, removed in [//en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=on&diff=25022855&oldid=25004213 diff]. - -sche (discuss) 10:03, 16 January 2014 (UTC)

Serbocroatian
Is the word njezin for a good reason not in the Declination table? Maybe someone could add it (and delete my See also commentary) if this is right Rasmusklump (talk) 11:34, 6 August 2016 (UTC)

Same: njegov Rasmusklump (talk) 10:11, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Rhymes
The AmE pronunciation is shown as BrE /ɒn/, AmE /ɑn/ or Southern AmE /ɔn/. Yet the rhymes page takes us to /æn/, which corresponds to none of the pronunciations.

[verb] on [sth]
I feel like it's missing the meaning of something like against the wishes of [sth] like in the sentences "The world changed on them" and "He left on me" - Mocha2007 (talk) 13:25, 5 March 2019 (UTC)


 * ✅ We have it now. Sense 36: "To the account or detriment of; etc."; see the examples there. Equinox ◑ 19:45, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

A Year On
What meaning is used in the headline A Year On, No Answers To Amphipolis Tomb Mystery --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:40, 29 November 2019 (UTC)

broadside on
What meaning of on is used in adverbials such as broadside on? When on is the second element in a phrasal verb, eg have on, get on, go on, look up the verb. When it is part of a set combination, such as broadside on, further on, look up the other word. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/es/diccionario/ingles-espanol/on --Backinstadiums (talk) 21:23, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

will somebody on
Her parents were watching her run, willing her on. What meaning is used here? --Backinstadiums (talk) 11:42, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

on the town
What prepositional meaning is used in on the town? --Backinstadiums (talk) 11:48, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

We talked for nigh on to two hours
What meaning is used here? --Backinstadiums (talk) 20:58, 2 November 2020 (UTC)

RFV discussion: September–October 2020
RFV adverb sense:


 * In, or towards the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman; leg.

I have just added the corresponding adjective sense, but I cannot at the moment think of an adverbial use. It may be that this definition was just accidentally put in the wrong section. Mihia (talk) 19:53, 15 September 2020 (UTC)

RFV-failed Kiwima (talk) 23:22, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

RFV discussion: September–December 2020
Preposition definition:


 * In the service of; connected with; of the number of.

1. RFV the sense "connected with". Yes, you can be on a jury, committee, panel, etc., but this hardly means that you are merely connected with those things. Seeking a relevant example (i.e. that fits broadly with the use in "on a committee") where "on" reasonably means "connected with".

2. Is "He is on a newspaper" normal understandable English to everyone? To me it does not seem natural. I'm not sure I would even really know what it meant.

Mihia (talk) 16:49, 23 September 2020 (UTC)
 * The newspaper example seems bad. I would say it of a student in an unpaid position on a school newspaper or law review, etc, but not of an employed newspaperperson. Otherwise I would think the person was trying to keep clothing from being stained, eg, by grass, or using the paper for insulation. DCDuring (talk) 21:59, 23 September 2020 (UTC)


 * One can also be on the Board/Council/Court/team. In all these cases, it means “to serve as a member of [said body]”. Without context I would not understand on to mean “in the service of”; He is on Her Majesty ? --Lambiam 22:03, 23 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Not having access to the OED, I use Century 1911 as a source for archaic, dated, and obsolete senses. I didn't find there either "in the service of" or "connect with" or anything similar. Not did I find "of the number of"/"being a member of". But it's easy to miss such things in the small type. DCDuring (talk) 22:14, 23 September 2020 (UTC)
 * "in the service of" and "of the number of" are, I'm pretty sure, intended to define the ordinary modern sense as in e.g. "on the committee", "on the jury", "on the panel", "on the team", etc. I think that these definitions are valid, albeit they could possibly be made slightly more user-friendly. "connected with" is the one I don't really get. Mihia (talk) 09:47, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

RFV-resolved. Definition reworded to indicate membership. Kiwima (talk) 01:32, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

RFV discussion: September–December 2020

 * with confidence in.

1. RFV the part "with confidence in". I would like to see a clearer usex where "with confidence in" can clearly be substituted without changing the meaning.

2. Does anyone have a view as to whether "Do you ever bet on horses?" is the same sense of "on" as e.g. "I depended on them for assistance", or indeed fits the definition as it stands? I would say that e.g. "I was betting on getting the contract, otherwise the business would be finished" would probably be the same sense, but I have some doubts about "bet on horses" in its normal interpretation. Mihia (talk) 19:58, 24 September 2020 (UTC)


 * Combinations of verb+proposition are often so highly idiomatic that it is not really possible to assign an independent meaning to the proposition. I think this is the case both for bet on and depend on. The middle usex above is different; it is not tied to the verb but to the following noun phrase: you can also say I’ll do it on the condition that..., but it is under the stipulation that... and with the reservation that, so on the condition/these conditions appears to be an idiomatic marriage as well. For what it is worth, the “on” in to bet on feels to me the same as to place a bet on, which I think is a metaphorical use of the locative sense. In French one says parier sur (although parier pour is also possible) and in German wetten auf, all using the same preposition as is used for to put (something) on (the table). But French for depend on is dépendre de, and German has abhängen von; both literally “to hang down from”. --Lambiam 20:10, 25 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Generally speaking, I support attempts in preposition and "small adverb" articles to broadly cover the senses that are most commonly used within what might be termed phrasal verbs or prepositional verbs, but I would agree that at a certain point these become too idiomatic to extract. I agree that the second usex has a different flavour from the first. I also agree that "bet on horses" is more like "place a bet on", a metaphorical use of the locative sense, as you say. I must try to get back to these points in due course. The RFV for "with confidence in" still stands though. Mihia (talk) 16:58, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

RFV-failed. Removed the "with confidence in". Kiwima (talk) 00:06, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Fond of, keen on? "I'm not usually on African food"
Perhaps in slang or MLE (or simply an erroneous missing word):


 * 2017, Joseph Barnes Phillips, Big Foot ...and Tiny Little Heartstrings
 * I'm not usually on African food, but the smell of that jollof is peng right now my dawg!

Equinox ◑ 02:23, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

"on his ass"
As in e.g. "go medieval on his ass". Is this prepositional sense 36? ("To the account or detriment of; denoting imprecation or invocation, or coming to, falling, or resting upon.") 98.170.164.88 22:59, 23 July 2022 (UTC)

‘later than’ or ‘after’
In Breaking Bad S2E11 around 20 mins in, Walter White’s doctor says to him:- “I’ll see you in a week from Friday” which sounds a bit odd to me. The British phrase would be “Ill see you a week on Friday” or even the more colloquial “I’ll see you Friday week”. Perhaps ‘later than; after’ could be added to the sense of ‘later’, which is apparently obsolete in the U.S? Overlordnat1 (talk) 09:42, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
 * I've added it to an existing sense, though I considered creating a new one. Maybe this sense or senses of 'on' is used less often in America though? --Overlordnat1 (talk) 14:37, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

snooker
How about saying ‘the pot’s on’ or ‘he’s on the black’ in snooker? Have we got a sense or senses that cover this? Overlordnat1 (talk) 14:35, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

not on has its own entry
not on has its own entry, maybe redundant with one sense Justin the Just (talk) 23:35, 2 May 2024 (UTC)