Tag: on

X On Emergency

Tim says:

Prepositions are difficult. It can often be very hard to guess which one is correct in a certain situation. And if you get it wrong, it can sound very strange to a native speaker, or even have a different meaning.

In this case, it just sounds a little strange: it’s still understandable. To sound natural, use “in”, and also use “emergency” as a countable noun:

O In an Emergency

Ayumi says:

前置詞は本当に難しい。前置詞自身の意味を理解してイメージで覚えることは大切です。

でも、それだけでは対応できないことも・・・

「非常時には」「緊急事態発生時には」という場合には、In an Emergency

ちょうど、in this case「この場合には」のときの “in” と同じで、「～のような状況の中では」というイメージ。in this event / in this situation なども同様に。

でも、同じような意味でも on this occasion というのも・・・

Why “on” here, not “in”?

Help us please, Tim-sensei.

Tim says:

Why?! When I studied German in high school, my teacher said “Don’t ask why. It just is.” Haha.

I’m not sure of the “reason”, if there is one. But perhaps it would help to think of it this way: “situation” and words of a similar meaning are preceded by “in”. So we would say “in an emergency situation” (with “emergency” as an adjective). Perhaps “in an emergency” is an abbreviation for “in an emergency situation”?

In an emergency or other situation, you are surrounded by that situation. You aren’t sitting on top of it. Perhaps that’s why we use “in” for situations.

As for “On this occasion”, I guess we think of “occasion” as a point in time, rather than a situation. So we say “on this occasion” just as we say “on this day.”

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