- When you make a mistake with prepositions,
English speakers react like this.
Today I got in the bus.
(laughing) In the bus?
Dave, this guy just said in the bus.
What an idiot.
I'm lying.
This is what really happens.
Today I got in the bus.
Okay.
No one cares if you make a mistake with prepositions.
Unless it's like a phrasal verb
when the meaning completely changes,
then it could be confusing.
But in general, if I understand what you mean,
you understand what I mean,
that's the most important thing.
Communication is key.
But yeah, if you take a test
like IELTS, TOEFL TOEIC,
any of the Cambridge exams,
then yeah, we need to know all
the specific details about prepositions.
So let's do this.
(upbeat music)
This topic was chosen by my super Patreon V from Ecuador.
She's awesome.
And thank you for choosing this topic
because everyone hates prepositions.
So I'll divide this video into three parts.
prepositions with the media, transports,
and then finally clothes.
First, the media.
Is it in Instagram, on Instagram.
Heh?
With media content, we use in.
For example,
you're walking somewhere,
and you see this girl and you're like,
"I know her.
"Where do I know her from?"
Maybe she is famous because of YouTube.
So you saw her YouTube video.
Which preposition?
Oh yeah, I already told you.
With media content, so videos, posts,
articles, anything like that,
in.
"She's so cool, I saw her in a YouTube video."
We use on for media platforms.
So on YouTube, on Instagram, on Tik Tok.
"She's really popular on YouTube."
So that's the difference.
With media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok: on.
Hey, by the way, if you're watching from the year 2025,
remember when Tik Tok existed?
That was fun.
Anywho.
On platform.
In content.
And yes, of course for other things too.
I saw her in a TV show.
She is on TV.
So let's practice together.
If we take a selfie together,
hey, (shutter clicking)
you want to post that selfie where?
Instagram.
Are you going to post it in Instagram, or on Instagram?
On because Instagram is a platform,
you're going to post it on Instagram.
But you can post it in your Instagram stories, for example.
Specifically because you say stories,
now you're talking content.
That's why in.
Second practice um, are you watching any TV shows right now?
Oh, you are where?
Netflix?
Where are you watching them?
In Netflix or on Netflix?
Netflix is a platform.
On Netflix.
But of course there are exceptions like,
think I saw that guy on a TV show.
This is a perfect example of how
really prepositions don't matter much.
TV show, that's content.
TV is the platform.
But, we honestly we could say both.
I saw him in a TV show, I saw him on a TV show.
No one cares.
Also, with things that you read.
Oh, you love penguins?
I love penguins.
I read something about penguins in an article in a magazine.
Yeah, we use in for both things here.
Content, platform.
I know English is weird.
In fact, all of print media,
magazines, newspapers or more,
you know, this century websites,
then we use in for pretty much everything,
except for,
yeah, it's on page two.
It's on the front page.
So pages, individual pages: on.
Next is transport.
Is it in the bus, on the bus?
When do I use by?
Does anyone care?
First of all we use by to talk about the method of transport
in a slightly more formal way.
Like, how are you going to get there?
by car, obviously, or,
mm, this food, it was delivered to me by helicopter.
I'm rich.
So think of it this way.
When someone asks, how did you go somewhere,
how did you get here?
Just use by with the method of transport.
Mm, if you're walking, yes, you can say on foot.
But to be honest, if you're walking somewhere,
it's way more common to just say, how did you get here?
I walked here.
You get really sweaty and gross.
I know.
It only took 10 minutes walking but I'm very unhealthy.
Okay, when you enter a vehicle,
we use on and in, but when do we use which one?
I can't draw buses but,
this guy is entering a vehicle, what can he say?
I'm getting on the bus.
But when you talk about your location,
for example, someone calls you,
hey, where are you?
Right now, I'm in the bus,
or I'm on the bus.
You can say both.
No one cares.
They mean the same thing.
And again, if you said here and getting in the bus,
no one's gonna be confused and think
that you're inside the engine.
(fake laughing)
No one is that stupid.
No, some people are that stupid.
But in general, again, no one cares.
People understand where you are, and what you're doing.
There is a logic to this.
Large vehicles you get on.
On the train, on the plane, on the tube.
For example, I fell asleep on a train,
and I woke up in Paris.
For small, personal vehicles, use in.
For example.
Again, I can't draw vehicles.
This guy is getting where?
In the car.
Small personal vehicles: in.
In the car, in the taxi,
and things that you ride,
things between your legs,
those are on.
On a horse, on a bike, on a jet-ski.
Again, practice with me so you never forget it.
For example,
this is a scooter, where is he?
I'm sorry, I can't talk right now, I'm
(rhythmic beats)
on my scooter, it's very important.
Scooter, Vespa, things that you ride,
or other things that go between your legs.
Okay, another example,
you came to this party, how?
Helicopter.
Oh, how did you arrive to this very fancy party?
I arrived to the party, helicopter.
(rhythmic beats)
By helicopter.
By because they asked the method of transport.
They asked how did you get here?
And finally, let's get rid of this
but keep helicopter.
Question for you,
have you ever flown a helicopter?
(rhythmic beats)
Have you ever flown in a helicopter?
I don't know why, because it's small probably,
but smaller than a plane.
You know one thing that textbooks don't show you
is which preposition to use when you exit a vehicle.
Like why?
Why isn't it in here?
Luckily, it's very easy.
We use the opposite preposition.
So to enter a bus, you get on.
To exit, you get off.
Same here.
You get in the car.
But to exit, you get out the car,
or out of the car.
Both are fine.
Sorry, I can't talk right now, I'm driving.
I'll call you when I get out of the car.
This would be a very dangerous way to drive,
who drives like this?
Sir, please get out of the car.
Also, if you've watched my videos for like a year-ish,
then you may have noticed that last year,
I got this scar on my hand.
How did that happen?
Well, I was in Bali, in Indonesia,
I was riding a bike, and I fell.
So if someone asks, how did you get that scar,
I can say this:
I fell off a bike.
So again, to exit a vehicle
just use the opposite preposition to enter.
And finally clothes.
Luckily, this one is the easiest thing ever.
Basically basically, for clothes everything is on,
like everything.
Where are your shoes?
On my feet.
Dude, where are your glasses?
On my face.
You wear makeup on your face.
So basically everything is just on, right?
No, because English is weird and annoying.
There are exceptions,
not many, but there are some.
The only real exceptions are contact lenses.
I'm putting my lenses in.
I don't have my lenses in, I can't see.
And for piercings, we also use in.
I have two piercings in my ears,
one in my nose, one in each--
Oh, also quickly for time.
This one's really easy too, actually,
we can do time really quickly.
For long periods of time,
seasons, months, years use in.
In January, in summer, in 2021,
and individual days we use on.
I'll see you on Saturday.
Let's meet on Wednesday.
We can practice that too.
Which date do you think we will
not have any more COVID in the world?
Write your answer in the comments
and then come back in the future to see if you're right.
If you want a more detailed explanation
of prepositions with time, watch this video.
If you want a more detailed prepositions video
with at, in, and on, watch this video.
Big thank you again to my super Patreon V from Ecuador
for requesting this lesson.
If you want to request your own lesson,
you can join my Patreon, the links in the description,
and I'll see you in the next class.