Learn how to use the preposition "on," from a conversation between two airline workers
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natalie: Good afternoon! |
| Braden: Braden here. On Your Way to Meet an American Hurricane. |
| Natalie: Hi, my name is Natalie. And I’m joined here by Braden. |
| Braden: Hello everyone, and welcome back to EnglishClass101.com! |
| Natalie: What are we learning today? |
| Braden: In this lesson, you'll will learn about using the preposition “on.” |
| Natalie: This conversation takes place in the evening on the plane. |
| Braden: And it’s between Michael and Amanda. |
| Natalie: This is Michael’s and Amanda’s first flight together so they are speaking professionally. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Michael: We'd like to thank all of you for flying with us and hope you have a safe stay in the Tampa Bay area. |
| (sound of intercom switch turning off) |
| Michael: This landing is going to be very difficult. |
| Amanda: Yes it will. I never thought I'd be on a plane heading 'toward' a hurricane. |
| Michael: I was once but we weren't this close. You could see the eye of the storm from flight altitude. |
| Braden: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Michael: We'd like to thank all of you for flying with us and hope you have a safe stay in the Tampa Bay area. |
| (sound of intercom switch turning off) |
| Michael: This landing is going to be very difficult. |
| Amanda: Yes it will. I never thought I'd be on a plane heading 'toward' a hurricane. |
| Michael: I was once but we weren't this close. You could see the eye of the storm from flight altitude. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: Okay so, in this lesson, we wanted to talk a little bit about Tampa Bay. |
| Natalie: Tampa is a large city in the west of Florida. Tampa is a part of the metropolitan area, referred to as the Tampa Bay area. To be completely accurate, there is no city in Florida called “Tampa Bay.” However, the metropolitan area around Tampa and the Bay where Tampa is locate is called "Tampa Bay." The greater Tampa Bay area has just over 4 million residents. |
| Braden: Tampa is home to several large Fortune 1000 companies however the most notable employer is the US Department of Defense. |
| Natalie: The MacDill Air Force Base, located in Tampa, is home to the United States Central command, the United States Marine forces Central command, and the United States special operations command. |
| Braden: Tampa is also a major port city and is currently the largest port in Florida and 7th largest in the United States. |
| Natalie: The Tampa Bay area is also home to the University of South Florida. In 2010 the campus enrollment was over 46,000 students. |
| Braden: The University of South Florida hosts one of the most complete audio libraries of classic literature available. It can be downloaded in podcast format from the iTunes Store. |
| Natalie: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is... |
| Natalie: flying [natural native speed] |
| Braden: moving or able to move through the air with wings |
| Natalie: flying [slowly - broken down by syllable] flying [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: safe [natural native speed] |
| Braden: metal container where valuables (money) are kept |
| Natalie: safe [slowly - broken down by syllable] safe [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: stay [natural native speed] |
| Braden: time spent in a place |
| Natalie: stay [slowly - broken down by syllable] stay [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: pilot [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a person who flies a plane |
| Natalie: pilot [slowly - broken down by syllable] pilot [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: plane [natural native speed] |
| Braden: an airplane |
| Natalie: plane [slowly - broken down by syllable] plane [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: hurricane [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a storm of a violent wind; a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean |
| Natalie: hurricane [slowly - broken down by syllable] hurricane [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: altitude [natural native speed] |
| Braden: the height of an object or point in relation to sea level or ground level |
| Natalie: altitude [slowly - broken down by syllable] altitude [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: toward [natural native speed] |
| Braden: in the direction of |
| Natalie: toward [slowly - broken down by syllable] toward [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Natalie: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase "eye of the storm." |
| Braden: This phrase as a reference to hurricanes as well as other types of storms. |
| Natalie: There is a natural phenomenon with hurricanes where the center of the storm is calm. |
| Braden: It’s as if there were some kind of invisible pillar going through the center of the hurricane. |
| Natalie: When viewed from above, the hurricane looks kind of like an eye, which is where this phrase comes from. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) eye of the storm |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) eye of the storm |
| Braden: Perfect! What’s next? |
| Natalie: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase "flight altitude." |
| Braden: This phrase refers to the distance from the ground the plane needs to reach in order to fly naturally. |
| Natalie: Now, technically, as soon as the plane leaves the ground is already in flight. |
| Braden: However, when a pilot or airline crew member says “flight altitude” they are referring to the altitude necessary for them to fly horizontally. |
| Natalie: Because of this, most commercial airplanes fly best between 25,000 and 40,000 feet. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) flight altitude |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) flight altitude |
| Braden: Excellent! Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Natalie: The focus of this lesson is the preposition "on". |
| Braden: In the dialogue we heard the phrase |
| Natalie: I’ve been on a plane that did once. |
| Braden: Okay so, the word "on" is a preposition and has many different meanings and uses. My dictionary lists sixteen ways that "on" is used and then a long list of phrases that use "on." |
| Natalie: That sounds about right. The basic idea is that "on" is used when something is physically in contact with the outside of something else, usually with the top. |
| Braden: However, there are uses where "on" is actually used when referring to the inside of something, like when dealing with transportation. |
| Natalie: "On" is frequently used in phrases and idioms like "on-air" which means something is being broadcast. |
| Braden: In this lesson, we'll look at using "on" with transportation, time, and communication. |
| Natalie: Okay so, Let’s take a look at Transportation."On" is used frequently is phrases dealing with transportation. For example, |
| Braden: "I went to the store on a bus." |
| Natalie: Here, "on" is actually referring to the inside of the bus. This might seem confusing but just remember that you're "on" the platform where the passengers are. |
| Braden: You're not on the top of the bus. (haha) |
| Natalie: Another example would be - "We traveled to Paris on a train." |
| Braden: Here, again, think of yourself on the part of the train for passengers, not the top of the train. |
| Natalie: Now let's look at using "on" with time. For example, |
| Braden: "My birthday party will be on Friday." |
| Natalie: Here, the birthday party will take place on Friday. Remember that when you use specific days of the week or dates of the month, then you always use "on." Another example would be – |
| Braden: "The meeting will be held on the 18th." |
| Natalie: Okay so last, we'll look at using "on" with communication. You use "on" with phrases that talk about communication. For example, |
| Braden: "She called me on my cell phone." or "I heard it on the radio." |
| Natalie: In these examples, "on" is used to specify the means of communication, such as "my cell phone" and "the radio." |
| Braden: That's right. I don't really know why we do this in English, but we do. |
| Natalie: Yeah, that one doesn't have an easy answer. But anyway, let's move on to the lesson review. |
| Braden: The preposition "on" means that something is in contact with the surface of something else. |
| Natalie: However, there are many exceptions. |
| Braden: "On" is used when talking about certain types of transportation, |
| Natalie: when talking about specific days of the week, |
| Braden: and when talking about means of communication. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening. |
| Natalie: Have a great day! |
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