When to use on and in

Question

Which phrase is correct on Canaries or in Canaries when it's about group of islands.

@FF Certainly the broader question is dealt with there, and handled well. There is also the pointer to using Google Ngrams to test particular cases (which really makes this general reference). It disturbs me that someone should still post an answer here. — Edwin Ashworth, Nov 01 '16 at 19:55
@EdwinAshworth I didn't want to base my choice on google results, since more people know English as their second language than as their native one. My fault I didn't know about Google ngrams, which certainly I will be using from now on. Sorry if you found it disturbing — Rafał Rawski, Nov 02 '16 at 08:57
...Rafał Rawski ... What I found disturbing was not your asking the question, but someone with a high 'reputation' giving an 'answer' to a question using the (on ELU) obvious standard source. As @As Reg Dwight has said, '[W]e write stuff in comments that is too obvious to qualify for an answer.' — Edwin Ashworth, Nov 02 '16 at 11:07

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 01 '16 at 17:51

0

Google ngrams shows that "in the Canaries" has always been many times more common than "on the Canaries". For a brief time around 1840 it was only about three times as common, but snce 1940 it has always been more than ten times as common.

answered Nov 01 '16 at 17:51

Colin Fine

77,173

When to use on and in

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