YES, You Can Use the Preposition 'ON' Correctly! | English Fluency Tips

Hi there, this is Harry, welcome back to  advanced English lessons with Harry, where  

I try to help you to get a better understanding  of the English language. You might be preparing  

for some proficiency exam. Or indeed, you might  be looking forward to a job interview with an  

international company and you need to brush  up on your English. We're here to help you.  

And we'll help you with your grammar, those  interview questions, whatever it is you need,  

you've come to the right place. And in this  advanced English lesson, today, we're looking  

at prepositional phrases, prepositional phrases  with on. So it's an advanced leve, prepositional  

phrases using on. I've got 14 of them in the list.  So I'm going to go through them one by one, I'll  

explain them and give you some working examples.  And hopefully, you'll be able to understand those.  

And as I always say the best way to understand  them is to practice them. And if you can practice  

those and learn not all of them, learn some of  them, then you'll be in a much better place.  

And if you need any more help any examples  and all you have to do is right to contact  

me at www.englishlessonviaskype.com. And I'll  certainly help you with any thing further I can.

Okay, let's get back to the lesson  today. As I said, it's an advanced  

English lesson using prepositional  phrases with on. So let's get started.

On occasion. Yeah, they're on occasion is the same  meaning as occasionally or from time to time. So  

on occasion, we get a really nice summer here  in Ireland, but usually it's a little bit colder  

than the continent and a little bit wetter.  So on occasion means from time to time do you  

meet up with your friends are on occasion,  but I don't usually have a lot of time with  

family with work and travelling. So it's not so  easy on occasion, from time to time, or indeed,  

occasionally I meet up with my friends, from time  to time I meet up with my friends, from time to  

time I go walking in the hills on occasion.  Okay, so that's the first one on occasion.

Number two, on the increase. Well,  when something is on the increase,  

it usually means it's going up. So it  could be inflation is on the increase.  

The level of crime in certain cities is on  the increase strikes by workers looking for  

more money is on the increase. So anything  that is moving up, or moving up steadily,  

or is increasing day to day, week, by week,  whenever it is, we can say on the increase.

Number three on board. Okay, now we can say it's  good to have people on board means to be on the  

same page, to be on the same wavelength, to be  in agreement with whatever you've made. So or if  

somebody joins a company for the first time. And  when he comes in on the Monday when he's starting  

work or she's starting work, they may be met by  a senior member of the management and the words  

they're more likely to say is good to have you  on board. I'm glad to have you onboard. Okay,  

so it's a way of greeting people. It's a way of  welcoming them to a new company to start the new  

chapter the next chapter in their career, Welcome  on board. Now, you can use it literally when you  

climb up those steps or walk along that arm of  the in the airport to get to the plane and the the  

steward or stewardess or the member the cabin crew  will say, Good to have you on board sir or madam.  

Welcome on board. So that's a little greeting. But  on board, it's good to have you on board in the  

company, good to have everybody on board, whether  you agree with the next plan, the marketing plan,  

the budgets, whatever that might be to  be on board together. Part of the team.

On behalf of. This is a well-known expression.  It's quite formal, and we would use it in a few  

different ways. Let me give you something  specific. If you're inviting somebody to  

let's say the wedding of your son or daughter,  on behalf of my wife and I are I would like to  

invite you to the wedding of our daughter or  son that is due to take place on certain dates  

in April or whenever that might be okay. So on  behalf of or if you want to thank somebody so you  

might get a letter from the management of your  company. On behalf of the board of directors,  

on behalf of the management, we would like  to thank all staff for their contribution  

and their efforts during the year. Without them it  wouldn't have been possible. So a way of thanking  

people for what work they've done in a year and it  might be accompanied by details of a bonus payment  

or salary increases. So on behalf of. So it's  quite formal, but it's a nice way to be thanked,  

it's a nice way to invite people, it's a nice  way to welcome people. So the father of the  

bride might stand up at the head of the table  when they are having the ceremony or the dinner  

after the main wedding ceremony. And he would say,  on behalf of my family, I would like to welcome  

you all here to enjoy the wedding of my daughter  to her husband, blah, blah, blah. Okay, so then  

crack a few jokes, tell a few funny stories. And  hopefully everybody will laugh. So on behalf of.

On your mind, well, when you have something  on your mind, it's usually a good idea to try  

and share it with people, it's usually a good  idea to get it off your mind so that it doesn't  

trouble you. I've had something on my mind all  day. And I've been meaning to say it to you,  

or I've had something on my mind all week, and I  would really late to discuss it with you. So if  

you've got a problem with one of your colleagues,  or one of your classmates or a friend, and there's  

something irritating you something bugging you,  and it's on your mind, and you really can't sleep.  

So you'd really like to discuss. You'd like to get  it off your mind, put it out there so that you can  

explain to your friend what the problem happens to  be. You just want to discuss what is on your mind,  

okay? Or if you sit down with the boss, you've  told him that you'd like to meet him for 10 or  

15 minutes? And he might say to you, Well, yeah,  what's on your mind? So he asks the question,  

quite an open question. What's on your mind?  What can I help you with? What's your problem?  

So then you have the opportunity to present your  particular position to your boss so that you can  

discuss it, hopefully, openly. So on your mind,  something that you want to discuss something  

literally I want, you want to get off your  mind, and you want to share it with him.

On strike. Well, on strike is quite a popular  expression, particularly in modern times when  

inflation is rising. And salaries are not rising  at the same level to meet the cost of living in  

the custom inflation. So workers often go  on strike, the might be the train drivers,  

the bus drivers, the nurses, the doctors, whoever  it is that really feel that they play a very,  

very important part in the development of  the economy feel that they're not getting  

paid enough for the job they do. So they  approach the union representatives who  

tried to discuss it with management,  tried to get some reasonable pay deal  

that will go some way to covering the costs of  inflation. And if they don't get what they want,  

then they have a vote among the members,  the nurses, the doctors, the bus drivers,  

the train drivers, and then they vote to  go on strike. And on strike means to stop  

working for a period of time until management  make an offer or a better offer that they can  

consider. So to be on strike means to stop  working for days, weeks, whatever it might be.

Next expression, and this one  is number seven, on end. Now,  

we use this in quite an unusual way. So I'll give  it to you. And then I'll explain what it means.  

It has it well, it really what  it really means, first of all,  

is that something happens continuously over a long  period of time. It has been raining here for days  

on end. So what it means is it has been raining  continuously for two three or more days without  

any stop and it's there's no sign of it letting  up. So when something happens for days on end,  

then it's continuous snowing, for days on end,  the temperature has been low. Now for days on end,  

the wind has been howling or blowing for days on  end, meaning one day after another after another  

after another. Okay. So usually when we're talking  about weather, we can refer to it as something  

happening for days on end. And usually it's not  good, it's not the sun was shining for days on  

end, it was either raining or snowing or the wind  was blowing. Okay. When other things are on end,  

your they could be turned upside down.  So as a result of the very strong wind,  

the cars or bicycle sheds or something was on  end meaning turned upside down. So we're always  

again talking about weather situations.  Okay, so then we're on to number eight.

Number eight is on your own. So we can use this  in a couple of ways you can be left on your own  

so your wife, partner, whoever it happens to be he  or she goes off for a day or two days with their  

friends and you're left on your own. So you have  to look after yourself. You have to get your own  

meals you have to occupy yourself. Some people  like that because it's a bit of free time for  

themselves a bit of me time, nobody to interrupt.  You can sleep late, go to bed late, whatever you  

have to do. So you're left on your own, or you can  also be on your own in relation to a particular  

problem. So let's say there's a issue in the  office and you're talking to your colleagues over  

the coffee machine or in the canteen, and you say,  you know, we really should approach management  

about this issue, we should sit down and tell them  how unhappy we are. And when we all come together,  

I think, you know, we'll probably make some  progress. And they'll probably listen to us. And  

a couple of your colleagues say, Ha, I'm not going  to do that you're on your own meaning, you have to  

do it by yourself. I'm not prepared to risk my  career by going up to manage and perhaps they  

don't trust management, perhaps they don't have  a good feeling about management. So in relation  

to the problem, yeah, I'm sorry, you're on your  own, you'll have to fight your own corner, you'll  

have to fight for yourself and by yourself, so  you're on your own. Bit like the movie Home Alone.  

Yeah, so home alone, so you're on  your own, you're all by yourself.

Now, the next one we have next expression  is on time. And I've already done a lesson  

about expressions about time where I set  out the difference between on time and in  

time. So it is a reference of it's here. So you  should check it out. Just if you're a little bit  

confused between the difference about on time  and in time, when we're talking about on time,  

we're talking about being on time for a meeting,  okay, so it's all to do with sheduled. Okay,  

so scheduling or scheduling depending on which  way you wish to pronounce that. So, you know,  

if you're on time to have the meeting with  your boss, you don't want to be late. If  

you're on time for the hair appointment that  you've made, or indeed, the train is going to  

leave on time according to the announcement in  the railway station. So on time, but as I said,  

there's a particular lesson that I've already done  about expressions of time and they set out in very  

clear detail the difference between on time and  in time because they can be quite confusing.

Okay, number 10 is on foot. Okay, now this  is about walking, how did you get to the  

appointment because the trains were on strike. Ah,  I went on foot, it's not such a long walk, maybe  

25-30 minutes if you've got a comfortable pair  of shoes, and good socks then you'll get there  

in no time and I like walking so I went on foot.  I like to go on foot because I can look around and  

see what's happening in the town in the city. If  you're travelling by metro you see nothing because  

you're underground or the train is travelling very  fast but when you're on foot you notice a lot of  

different things. Now we also use expressions like  to go by bicycle or by car so you know if there's  

a train strike or if the trains are not working  because of snow or bad weather. Then we can go on  

foot to the office, we can go by bicycle to the  office, we can go by car. But always on foot.

Number 11 on a spree, on a spree usually means  that spending spree just before Christmas people  

like to buy presents for their friends and family  any excuse to go into the shop so they love the  

opportunity to to go out and spend money usually  the bank's money so it's okay. So they're on a  

spending spree off we went on a spending spree  last Saturday I don't know how many bags we came  

home with. I was embarrassed. I took out two  bags, three bags, I don't know how many bags  

we had in the boot of the car. But when we got  into the house, we were both exhausted. So we  

went on a spending spree. So if you have a new  outfit or two new outfits and two days in a row,  

you're going into the office with a new suit new  dress, whatever your friends, Look at you go wow,  

you must have been on a spending spree in the  last few days. So on a spree means to go a little  

bit crazy, a little bit mad but slightly out of  control. We're doing something that you're not  

you don't normally do. Okay. Now we can also use  the expression to describe a spree of breakings  

or robbery. So if the police have noticed  that in the last three months or four months,  

there's been an increase in crime in the area.  So some gang of criminals who have been on a  

spree of breaking or stealing cars so you can  also use it in that context. Something wide,  

something big, something continuous, something  that goes on for a long period of time.

Number 12 on the move, okay. So when we're on  the move, it means literally that we're going  

from one place to the other. We can use it when  we're talking about changing jobs. I see Michael  

is on the move again. He must be getting bored. I  heard he's handing in his resignation. And he's,  

he's moving to the opposition moving to another  company, one of the, the competitors. Yeah. Okay,  

so to be on the move in terms of your, your  job, or sometimes we just like to, to be on the  

move all the time so that we don't get bored.  Yeah, so some people are very restless, they  

don't like sitting still they get up, they walk  around, they go for a cycle, they go for a walk,  

they go for a run, they go to the gym. Ah.. he is,  David, he's always on the move always on the go,  

because he's always active. So there are people  like that, you know, if I have a good book,  

I like to sit down. I like to read it. But if I'm  not reading book, then I like to be on the move as  

well, because it stops you getting bored. So when  you're on the move, or on the move constantly,  

you're walking, you're running, you're doing  something not just sitting still on the move.

Number 13. On reflection, well, on reflection  means when you've had time to think about  

something, okay. So on reflection, I don't think  I should have said that. So I want to make an  

apology. So if you said something at a meeting or  in discussion with your friends and off the top  

of your head, you said something that might have  caused offence, you might come back the next day  

and said, you know, to be honest, on reflection,  I really shouldn't have said what I said I didn't  

really think about it clearly enough. And  if I upset you, or anyway insulted you,  

I really apologise because that's was not my  intention. So on reflection means looking back  

thinking about something you did, or something  you didn't do, then, and usually it's about words,  

then you may want to offer some form of an  apology. And you often hear it from politicians,  

you hear it from stars who have been caught  slightly off guard, when press no journalists  

have come to ask them questions, and they give  some off the top of the head comment and it  

didn't really go down too well, and have to come  back. And they have to clarify what they said.  

And they may well say, well, on reflection, I'm  not sure I should have said that. On reflection.  

What I meant to say was that so if they've  been misinterpreted in any way misunderstood,  

or indeed, if the words formed some type of  insult, then they really need to apologise.

And the last one, number 14 On second thoughts.  And when we use this expression and second  

thoughts, it literally means that we've thought  about it again. And really, we've changed our  

mind or change our opinion. Now, it could be as  simple as sitting in the restaurant and you're  

the waiter comes over. And he asks you what you  want to have. And your partner says that he or she  

will have a glass of wine. And you say, Oh, yeah,  I'd have a glass of wine as well. And then just as  

the waiters walking away said, No, no, this isn't  on second thoughts. Just bring me a soft drink,  

I might have a glass of wine with the meal.  So that's it. Very simple way to use it. Or  

it could be something a little bit more serious  when you received some job offer. And at first,  

you were very flattered to get the offer. And you  thought that yeah, this was the job for you. And  

it would be time to move. But then you think about  it. And the next day you ring them up and say,  

Look, I've been thinking over that offer. And  I know I said I would be interested. But on  

second thoughts. I don't think it's a really good  time for me to move. I don't think it's right,  

at this time for my career. So if you don't mind,  I'll turn down the offer. But thank you very much.  

Okay, so on second thoughts on second thoughts  means you have the opportunity, the chance to  

think over something you perhaps reacted to very  quickly. And when you have more chance to think  

about it more chance to look at the reasoning  why you made the decision, then you can say well,  

on second thoughts. I'm not so sure that's right.  And second thoughts. This is what I would do. And  

you can use it in any situation. As I said, when  you're at the restaurant, you're in a business  

meeting, you get a job offer, whatever it happens  to be if you think or you believe that you want to  

change your mind, then you can introduce that lock  on second thoughts. I think we should do that.

Okay, so that's the 14th preposition  prepositional phrases with on Okay, so yeah,  

they're not so difficult it is advanced English.  So as I always say, you should try and practice  

a few of them. And if you can get the hang of a  few of them, then introduce them into your own  

conversations and and see how you get on. If you  need any more help. I've given you my address,  

you can contact me and we'll be very, very  happy to help you further. And if you like  

this particular lesson, then please like the video  and if you can subscribe to the channel because  

it really, really helps. Okay, well, that's  all for this particular lesson. Thanks for  

listening and thanks for watching this Harrison.  Goodbye. And join me for the next lesson.