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Latest post Mon, Sep 1 2008 11:59 PM by Mister Micawber. 8 replies.
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Vincent Teo  +  561019 Mon, 01 Sep 08 12:53 PM
Can I say,

The butterfly rested on / at / in the flower.

The butterfly is on / at / in the flower.

The butterfly is sucking the flower.

The butterfly is staying on the flower.
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Mister Micawber  +  561024 Mon, 01 Sep 08 12:57 PM
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The butterfly rested on  the flower.

The butterfly is on the flower.

The butterfly is sipping  the flower's nectar.

The butterfly is resting on the flower.
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'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'
Vincent Teo  +  561039 Mon, 01 Sep 08 01:41 PM
Thanks. Can I say,

The butterfly is standing on the flower.

P/s: "butterfly", we use "is sipping"
       "bee", we use "is sucking"?

Mister Micawber  +  561051 Mon, 01 Sep 08 01:58 PM
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You continue to look for rules.  I like sipping better for butterflies because it is daintier.

Butterflies have developed a long proboscis that can probe the flower for nectar. It is like a flexible straw that is kept coiled next to the body in flight but is extended to sip the sweet fluid when the butterfly finds a suitable flower head.

In different contexts you could use sip, suck, probe, nectar (v), retrieve, etc.
Vincent Teo  +  561066 Mon, 01 Sep 08 02:27 PM
That means it is also correct if I say "The butterfly is sucking the nectar." Right? Just depends on the text.
Mister Micawber  +  561245 Mon, 01 Sep 08 10:42 PM
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Yes.
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Vincent Teo, 1 yr 82 days ago
How about this?


The butterfly is standing on the flower.
A Cornish Pasty  +  561265 Mon, 01 Sep 08 11:17 PM
Vincent Teo
“How about this?


The butterfly is standing on the flower.


Yes that's fine, although we don't really think of butterflies standing. I would be more likely to say "the butterfly is lying on the flower", or even better would be just "the butterfly is on the flower". It's location on the flower is implied as the petals, because it can't really be anywhere else.
Joined on Tue, Dec 18 2007
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British English
Mister Micawber  +  561279 Mon, 01 Sep 08 11:59 PM
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Butterflies do not 'lie' where I come from, unless they are dead; it may be otherwise in Cornwall. Again, Vincent, there are many choices-- your job inacquiring English is to learn the natural ones.  If we are speaking of a butterfly immobile upon a flower head, then I myself would perhaps choose 'The butterfly is perched on the flower'.

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