Today on letThemTalkTV we're going to look at the prepositions BELOW, BENEATH,
BEYOND, UNDER, UNDERNEATH, OVER, ABOVE and ON. Do you get confused about which is
the right one to use and in which situation? Not anymore
because in this video all will become clear we will explain their meanings, the
differences and show you how they relate to each other and to help me in
this task I have; a bowler hat; a rather British pig and a banana so stay tuned
BELOW means at a lower level. So the
banana is below the pig
The pig is below the hat. You get the
idea She had a dragon tattoo below her elbow
I live on the fourth floor and I can hear the traffic below. The
traffic is at a lower level to me I'm up here traffic down there. And yes for all
you grammar freaks I know you're out there because I read the comments I know
that in this example "I can hear the traffic below " BELOW is not a preposition
it's an adverb particle because it follows a verb and doesn't precede a
noun but for the sake of this video it's keep things simple let's just say a
preposition. "The kids are making a noise below" I know adverb
particle preposition whatever. UNDER means directly below let me show you the
banana is below the hat it's not under the Hat now the banana is below the hat
and it's under the hat both are correct but to be more precise
the banana is under the hat. UNDER is also used to say that something
cover something for example "I always wear a vest under my shirt" BELOW is used
to talk about levels on a scale and measurements it's cold today about five
degrees below zero. The GDP per capita France is below that of Luxembourg
Guttenberg is a very rich place if there are any Luxembourgians out there
watching then tell us the secret. So here BELOW is a synonym of less than when
we're talking about numbers in a scale. Captain is a rank that is below that of
major. "Your score is bill average" that's what my teachers always
said to me at school "your marks are below average you'd better pull up your
socks young man." You can use UNDER to mean younger than "Oi you,
you can't come into the pub if you're under 18"
but I am 18 sorry but I am 18
you can use UNDER for height to mean less than "You won't get into the
basketball team if you're under 6 foot" You can use UNDER
for time "it will take under an hour to get there"
here UNDER is a synonym for less than under an hour less than an hour it's the same
BENEATH versus BELOW versus UNDERNEATH
So let's move on to BENEATH
and UNDERNEATH so BENEATH means at a lower position huh? I know what you're
thinking that's exactly the same definition as I gave for BELOW that's
because it means exactly the same thing it's the same "the banana is beneath the
pig", " the banana is below the pig" when we are talking about a preposition of physical
position they mean the same thing "Children were playing on the street
beneath [or below] my apartment" the same, exactly the same,. "The drawers are beneath
the mirror on the wall" or "below the mirror on the wall" so in these cases they are
the same but there are some differences I'll explain. So BENEATH is usually
followed by an object a noun whereas BELOW you don't need one - let me just
give you an example of that "I can hear some voices below" that's okay "I can hear
some voices beneath"? maybe it's grammatically correct
by doesn't sound very natural you'd probably say "I can hear some voices
beneath me" that sounds ok. Second difference BENEATH is more
literary and so less common so for example "the ship disappeared beneath the
horizon." "The ship disappeared below the horizon", both are correct BELOW is more
common but if you want to use BENEATH that's fine, go ahead and use it.
Third difference you cannot use BENEATH in a scale. "Your score is below average."
never beneath average next difference; When you can use BENEATH but you can't
use BELOW. BENEATH can have the meaning of inferior or unworthy for example "I
have a PhD and yet I'm a barista in a coffee chain making coffee this job is
beneath me." so means it's inferior to my status
"She was the Duchess of Kent and her husband a mere stable boy, her parents
said she married beneath her." So they believed she married someone with an
inferior social status. So you cannot say "married below her" that's not right or
rather. it would mean that she married the guy downstairs I suppose. BENEATH can
also mean hidden or concealed for example "Beneath the innocent face lay a
tough and determined man." So you cannot use BELOW in that context must
use BENEATH so now let's look at UNDERNEATH. UNDERNEATH is exactly the
same as UNDER except it can only be used for physical space the "banana is
underneath the hat", "the banana is under the hat." Both are correct. For measurements
you can only use UNDER you cannot use UNDERNEATH. "He
is under 25", never "he's underneath 25". So it's important to look at the
opposites of these words too. I'll help you clarify it so the opposite of
BENEATH and BELOW in terms of physical space is ABOBE which means at a higher
place. "My street is above a courtyard", "The drone flies above the trees",
"the banana is above the hat." "If I look up I can see the
ceiling above" very interesting. so the opposite of UNDER or UNDERNEATH is OVER
or ON if it's touching a surface .So for example, "The hat he is over the banana."
"The beer is on the table." For measurements the
opposite of UNDER is OVER "he's over 21" here OVER means more than or older than. "I've
been here over five years." "Over five million people live in Chennai" BEYOND
BEYOND means on the far side of something
"The lake is beyond those trees over there." which means after, on the other
side of the trees. "My house is just beyond the city limits." BEYOND can have a
figurative sense too to mean too far so for example, "teenagers are beyond the
control of their parents." "She's in debt because she lives beyond her means ." which
means her expenditure is greater than her income "I tried to read a brief history
of time by Stephen Hawkin but it was beyond me." That means that the ideas were
too difficult for me