Skip to main content

Above Vs Over


Both above and over can be used to mean 'higher than'. 

Examples: 

Can you see the helicopter above the Angkor Wat temple?

The water came up above or over our knees.


When the meaning is 'covering' or 'crossing', over is usually used. 

Examples: 

The plane was flying over Thailand.

Electricity cables stretch over the rice fields...

There is thick cloud over the Tonle Sap lake...


With numbers and expressions of quantity or measurement, using 'over (= more than)' is more common. 

Examples: 

There were 30,000 people at the Sangkran Angkor...

You must be 18 to see this movie...

However, above is used when we think about measurement on a vertical (up & down) scale. 

Examples: 

The temperature is 5 degrees above 0. 

S/he is well above average (= the middle of the scale) in intelligence...

Hights of land are given above sea-level. Compare the use of above and over in the following example: The Kirirom National Park is 700 meters above sea level (= more than 700 metres higher than sea level). 


Note in a book or a paper, 'see over' means 'look on the next page', 'see above' means 'look at something written before'...


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Across Vs Over

 The prepositions 'Across' and 'Over' are used with similar meaning, but there are differences.  Both Across and Over can be used to mean 'on or to the other side' of a line, river, road, and so on (position or movement related to things that are 'long and thin'.  Examples:  They walked across or over the road... See if you can jump over or across the corridor... Her room's just over or across the corridor... They will be over/across the frontier by midnight... Over is used for movements on or above water, but not in water. For example: How long would it take to swim across the river? (Not: ...over the river?) Both Across and Over can mean 'on the other side of' a high barrier (like a hedge, a fence, a wall, a mountain range...), but only Over is used for a movement to the other side of something high. Compare the following:  If we can be over/across the fence before sunrise, we have got a chance.  When I last saw them, they were climbing ver...
Post a Comment
Read more

Adjective Vs Adverbs: Confusing cases

  Adjectives in -ly ----------------------------------------------------------------- Typical mistakes: He spoke to me very friendly. She sang lovely.  ----------------------------------------------------------------- Many adjectives can be made into adverbs by adding -ly. Compare the following sentences:  The engine is very quiet. > It runs very quietly.  He is a wonderful guitarist. > He plays wonderfully.  But some words that end in -ly are adjectives, not adverbs. For example: friendly, lovely, lonely, likely, ugly, deadly, cowardly, silly. These words cannot be used as adverbs.  Examples:  He spoke to me in a very friendly way.  Her singing was lovely (or she sang beautifully).  Other words that end in -ly can be both adjectives and adverbs. Examples are daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, early. A daily paper is published daily, we get up early to catch an early train.  Adjectives and adverbs with the same form, adverbs with two ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Adjectives Vs Adverbs in general

There are a large number of problems connected with the use of adjectives and adverbs. Most of them are explained in the following section, a few are dealt with in other parts of this blog. The problems include:  The difference between adjectives and adverbs, confusing cases like friendly (adjective) or cheap (adjective and adverb).  The use of adjectives with verbs like look, feel, taste... The use of adjectives without nouns (e.g. the blind)... The position of adjectives... The use of nouns as adjectives (e.g. a roof garden)... The order of adjective before nouns (e.g. a great big fat old tabby cat)... The use of and between adjectives... Comparison of adjectives and adverbs... The use of participles as adjectives... The position of adverbs in sentences...
Post a Comment
Read more