difference between on my mind and in my mind?

[Torsten]

Hi,

Could you please tell me if there is any difference between these two phrases:

You are always in my mind.
You are always on my mind.

Thanks a lot,
Torsten
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Yankee]

Hi Torsten

Your second sentence would be the typical one. It means that you are spending a lot of time thinking about the person.

You can also have something such as a problem 'on your mind', and again, it suggests that it is something you are thinking about often or regularly.

I would say that people might use 'in my mind' to refer to a sort of location or storage area for an idea, a mental image, etc, but not to indicate that they are spending spending a lot of time thinking about the thing that is 'in their mind'.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, and native speaker of American English

[Torsten]

Hi Amy,

To me the sentence "you are always in my mind" also sounds pretty odd but I heard it in a movie called "Unfaithful". Conny (Diane Lane) says it when she is talking to her lover Paul (Olivier Martinez). I listened to the dialog several times and even the subtitle reads "in my mind". Quite strange, isn't?
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Alan]

Hi Torsten,

The refrain I know is: You were always on my mind as warbled by the inimitable Elvis - hinting at treasuring and nurturing the memory of the loved one but not necessarily remaining faithful to the individual concerned. On the misery, sort of unromantic side, we say: He's a lot on his mind at the moment to explain the eccentricity of someone or their eccentric behaviour because they're worrying about something. The other expression with 'mind' is using it without the article as in: What I have in mind is to sell up and move to the country, hinting at what you intend to do or are thinking about doing.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Phrasal Verbs/go

[Yankee]