Guest  +  71660 Wed, 02 Feb 05 07:42 AM Teachers, could you help me with this: When would you say "on the top of...." ? When would you say "on top of...."? What is the difference? Thank you? Guest

	Mister Micawber  +  71675 Wed, 02 Feb 05 10:55 AM 'On (the) top of the mountain/building/bookcase/Christmas tree' -- both seem to apply to equally well to vertical physical objects. 'On top of everything else/the rest of my problems/all his other idiosyncrasies'-- only this form seems to work with metaphorical tops. 'On the top of the paper/ the label' -- these seem to take only 'the top', when we mean the upper edge ('on top of' the paper would be anywhere on the upper face). Which leads me to the secret (maybe): 'the top' is a physical part of the structure, while 'top' is a location, either literal or figurative, perhaps idiomatic. They are often in the same place, so that either phrase works; but occasionally they are not. But this is just off the top of my head; there may be exceptions. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,507 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	Mister Micawber  +  71843 Thu, 03 Feb 05 10:03 AM For a homework assignment, I write my name on the top of of the paper. (At the head of the paper, where we also write the title of an essay) When I take a break, I set my eyeglasses on top of the paper. (On the upper surface-- this is not 'the top' as in 'the top of' a building or 'the top of' a bottle-- it is rather a location: not 'under', but 'on top'.) Does that help? As I said, I am not confident about this idea making the difference between the two phrases 'on top of' and 'on the top of', but it seems possibly part of the explanation. Mister Micawber Difference Between, Essays