Wednesday, September 7, 2016

prepositions - 'On the computer' vs 'At the computer'


Are they all grammatically correct and do they all have the same meaning ?





  1. She was on the computer writing an email a minute or two ago.




  2. She was at the computer writing an email a minute or two ago.





  3. She was writing an email on the computer a minute or two ago.




  4. She was writing an email at the computer a minute or two ago.






Answer



Literally speaking:



Cat on the computer:
cat lying on a keyboard


Cat at the computer:
cat with its paws on the keyboard of a laptop


However, someone might be said to be "at the computer" just meaning that they are physically at the computer station without necessarily using it:


cat sleeping in front of a computer with its head on a mouse


And they might be said to be "on the computer" meaning that their attention/activity is on using the computer:


Cat looking at something on a computer monitor


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