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The use of 'below'



 
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chance of doing v.s. chance to do | "I've played football every day"
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The use of 'below' #1 (permalink) Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:57 am   The use of 'below'
 

Hi

Could you please tell me if the use of below is OK and natural in the following sentences?

Quote:
1- He sleeps on the bed but I sleep below it. (The speaker means the mattress below the bed)
2- I was on the stage but she was below it.
3- He was on the wall but I was below it.
Tom
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 2061

The use of 'below' #2 (permalink) Fri Jul 27, 2007 6:19 am   The use of 'below'
 

.
Generally, 'below' means 'at a lower altitude', while 'under' means 'located vertically beneath'. Death Valley is 'below' sea level, not 'under' sea level, and it is not 'under' the sea. Objects 'below' can often be 'under' as well, but may also be many miles away. That said, I suppose there are a number of special cases in the corpora.

In your sentences #1 and #2, 'under' is expected but 'below' is OK; in #3, 'below' is OK, but 'under' would suggest beneath the surface of the ground in which the fence is planted.

That's how I read them.
.
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The use of 'below' #3 (permalink) Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:32 am   The use of 'below'
 

Many thanks, MM

Could you please tell me if I can remove it from the following sentences without changing the meanings? And what about beneath in the following sentence?

I was on the wall but he was beneath/ below it.

Quote:
1- He sleeps on the bed but I sleep below it. (The speaker means the mattress below the bed)
2- I was on the stage but she was below it.
3- He was on the wall but I was below it.
Tom
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 2061

The use of 'below' #4 (permalink) Fri Jul 27, 2007 13:47 pm   The use of 'below'
 

Hi Tom

I'd say that the omission of 'it' would produce a sentence that might be interpretted as either 'below it' or 'below me'.

When you say 'on the wall', do you mean to say that "I" was climbing up the wall?

OT:
By the way, I couldn't help but chuckle at your third sentence because it brought this to my mind:
I was on the wall, but he was off it. Laughing
.
Yankee
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Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA

The use of 'below' #5 (permalink) Sat Jul 28, 2007 5:36 am   The use of 'below'
 

Many thanks Amy and MM

By the way what is OT? Which one among these?

OT
Tom
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 2061

The use of 'below' #6 (permalink) Sat Jul 28, 2007 6:15 am   The use of 'below'
 

Hi Tom

I meant "off topic" -- because of the "off the wall" comment. Cool
.
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA

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