Re: Natural Order of Events

----- Original Message ----
> From: caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...>
> > Christophe Grandsire-Koevoets wrote:
>
> > That's really interesting. I know about classifiers in the context
> > of counting, but didn't know that such things existed also in other
> > contexts. At the same time, English does ride or drive, depending
> > on the vehicle, while French uses a single word "conduire" (which
> > we actually don't use that much anyway).
>
> I believe it's a little more nuanced than that.  One 'rides (on)' a
> steed because that person is both on it and guiding it.  But only the
> driver of a vehicle 'drives' it. Others must 'ride in' the vehicle. 
> One can 'drive' a steed, but that has the nuance of being behind it
> and forcing it to go where you want, e.g., to drive cattle.
Then there's "in" vs "on":

The person who guides it: I ride (on) a horse, drive a car, pilot a plane, drive a
bus, conduct a train.
Other passengers: I ride on a horse, ride in a car, ride on a plane, ride on a bus,
ride on a train.

For me, if you drop the "on" to say "I ride a horse," that strongly implies that
you're guiding the horse; if you're the second person on a horse that someone
else is guiding, "I ride on a horse" sounds better.

-- Paul

Reply