Question
23 Nov 2020
- Italian
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English (US)
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French (France)
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German
Question about English (US)
If I say “there is a message in the voice recorder“ instead of “on the voice recorder“ is this an inportant mistake?
If I say “there is a message in the voice recorder“ instead of “on the voice recorder“ is this an inportant mistake?
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- English (US)
You'll still be understood, but "on" is the expected preposition.
Highly-rated answerer
- Italian
@COASTBC Is it a bad mistake? Does it give a hint on my language level?
- English (US)
"In the voice recorder" sounds like you placed a piece of paper inside the recorder itself, and someone needs to open the recorder to read it.
Since this is an unusual thing to do, people would generally understand that you meant "on" instead. It could cause a minor misunderstanding, but it's not a fatal error.
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Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
@Lejac96 No it's not a bad mistake, but not one typically made by native speakers. I don't know about Italian, but Portuguese has one word for, in, at, on.
In theory a preposition tells you the position of something. Example. "The sandwich is "in" the bag. According to the basic definition of "in" this a logical usage.
In the case, of your voice recorder, "in" is also logical. The voice itself is not resting physically on the device like a cup "on" a table. It's contained inside the device "in" the electronic memory.
Ultimately the reason Portuguese can have one word is simple. You understand how the world works, I don't to need explain it in every sentence.
Highly-rated answerer
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