05 Above / over / below / under

Question 1

There was a clock above/over the entrance.

Answer 1

Above and over have similar meanings.

Question 2

The plane flew low over the houses

Answer 2

We normally use “over” to mean horizontal movement.

Question 3

Thick black smoke hangs over the town.

Someone had spread a sheet over the body.

Answer 3

And we use “over” for an area or surface.

Question 4

There are well over fifty thousand people in the stadium.

Answer 4

We prefer over before a number

Question 5

Temperatures will rise above freezing.

Answer 5

But we use above with a measurement that we think of as vertical, such as temperature.

Question 6

The two leaders discussed world affairs over lunch.

Answer 6

(= while having lunch)

Question 7

The horse jumped over the wall.
Was the ball over the goal-line?
Somehow we had to get over/across the river.

Answer 7

We also use over for movement to the other side, or position on the other side of aline.

Question 8

We met at the entrance, below/under the clock.

Answer 8

Below is the opposite of above; under is the opposite of over.

Question 9

Mike crawled under the bed in an attempt to hide.

The town lies under a thick black cloud of smoke.

Answer 9

We do not normally use below for a horizontal movement or for an area or surface.