Above and below, over and under
Here we continue with prepositions and look at Above and Below, and Over and Under. When do we use these prepositions, and what is the difference between them?
Well, if we want to say that something is higher or lower than something else, we can use the prepositions above and below.
Look at Tara. She is at the park. There is a bird above Tara. Usually when something is above or below something else, it is not touching it. If it is above and touching, it is on, not above. So Tara is below the bird, but she is standing on the ground.
Now, let's look at this fountain. Because the water is thrown high, Tara is below the height of the water but she does not get wet. She only gets wet when she is standing under the water, as she is doing now. To be under something it must be right above you. Let's see that again.
Here the water is above Tara's head, but it is not over her head until … now. Before, Tara was below the water. Now she is under it.
Here is another example. Take a look at what we have here. Going from the bottom to the top, we can see a wooden floor, a cat, a glass table, and a bonsai tree. Hello kitty!
Now, we know from before that when something is over something else and touching it, we say that it is 'on' that thing. So the cat is on the floor, and the bonsai is on the table. Did you notice that the table is also on the floor, because the legs are touching the floor?
But the bonsai is not touching the cat, so we can say that the bonsai is above the cat. The cat is looking at the bonsai. Maybe kitty is a bit worried, because if the bonsai fell through the table, it would land on the cat. Because the bonsai is right above the cat, we can say that the bonsai is over the cat.
The cat is not touching the table, so the table is also over the cat. In fact the table is both above the cat and over the cat, so we can say either 'the table is above the cat' or 'the table is over the cat'. Or we can say the same thing from the point of view of the cat and say 'the cat is under the table, and also under the bonsai'. Or we can say 'the cat is below the table and below the bonsai' too.
So remember. If it is above and touching, it is 'on'. If something is higher, we can say it is above. If it would touch if it went straight down, it is over. If something is lower, we can say it is 'below'. If it would touch if it went straight up, it is 'under'.
