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up vote 2 down vote favorite

Which one is correct?

  1. I go to school by foot.
  2. I go to school on foot.
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and kindly add a little bit description that why is it used – aliya Mar 25 '11 at 18:51

2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

"By" in this context normally refers to a mode of transportation whereas "in" or "on" would refer to your position whilst travelling.

We travel by car

This suggests we are using a car to travel.

We travel in a car

This implies we are inside of a car while traveling.

When it comes to using "on foot" or "by foot," either would be correct; however, a quick google search demonstrated that "by foot" is more commonly used (150M hits vs. 85.4M hits)

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Thanks this would really help me – aliya Mar 25 '11 at 19:06
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@aliya please accept answer if this is what you needed – snumpy Mar 25 '11 at 20:11
actually i am a new user i don't know many things so i don't know how to accept – aliya Mar 26 '11 at 18:09
@aliya No hard feelings. I'm new, too. Thanks for accepting. – snumpy Mar 26 '11 at 18:12
up vote 1 down vote

On foot is the usual way to say it.

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However, by is usually used with regards to a means of travel. For example, you would say "I went to school by car". – Yozomiri Mar 25 '11 at 18:55
but why is by foot commonly used? – aliya Mar 25 '11 at 19:07
1  
@aliya: Because you are literally travelling on your feet. The same thing is used for saying, "I traveled on horseback" but not for "I traveled on car." – MrHen Mar 25 '11 at 19:11

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