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Latest post 4 yr 173 days ago by Anonymous. 13 replies.
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marlowe1999
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Hi,
Can someone tell me the difference between:
Under, Underneath and Beneath.
TIA
Phillip
Joined on
Sat, May 24 2003
New Member
03
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hitchhiker (Away)
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Hi Phillip, welcome to the forums!
Ok, not a dictionary definition, this from my "English speaking" head!:
Underneath is less used than under (simply a shorter version)
Basically they're all the same word, under is just a shorter version of underneath (through years of the language changing with use) Under is probably a little more flexible, so safest to use. While beneath is still a great word, it can sound out-of-place is CERTAIN sentences:
I'm beneath the bed. (odd, like you're using old words deliberately?) I'm under/underneath the bed. (ok)
“Beneath the supermarket” would sound a little strange too.
It’s now the caviar of the three, slightly more up-market, so use it with care and it’ll be great; don’t just spread it around!
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Richmond, UK
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Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea - massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement...
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moijelesuis
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beneath can also mean unworthy, undignified... two examples: 1) a king cannot marry a commoner, that would be beneath him 2) i will NOT wash dishes for it is a task that is beneath me
Joined on
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usa/canada
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This is what I say to my students:
Beneath: It's safer to keep it for abstract meanings. like in she married beneath him.
bellow is used to indicate a space between the two surfaces. They live bellow us
under is used to indicate contact ; He put the letter under his pillow; it's used in a general way, and it has got some other meanings.
Underneath- indicates a contiguous relation, it's a perfect synonym for under. It can be an adverb and a noun in addition to a preposition. when it's an adverb is more common than under. She's is still underneath.
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Eimai_Anglos
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QUOTE: bellow is used to indicate a space between the two surfaces. They live bellow us
Allow me to correct you. "Bellow" means to shout very loudly.
The word you miscopied is "below".
It's a common mistake, but I still can't understand why people confuse the two.
Joined on
Thu, Jun 23 2005
Regular Member
508
Martin - native English speaker and technical author.
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khoff
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Thanks for posting those links, Paco - I knew we had discussed this before, but was not sure how to find the earlier posts and put in links.
Joined on
Sun, Mar 6 2005
Senior Member
3,664
Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert)
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Dehbaash
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It's a common mistake, but I still can't understand why people confuse the two.
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I also can't understand why Americans confuse "choose" with "chose" and why Britishers refer to Australia as "down under".
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Eimai_Anglos
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But Australia IS down under!
It's on the opposite side of the Earth from the UK (give or take a few thousand miles). Everyone walks upside down. Well known fact. And they call us "pommies" because we go red as a pomegranate in the sun.
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