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Over

Over is a preposition, adverb, adjective or prefix.

Over as a preposition​

Over for movement and position​

We use over to talk about movement or position at a higher level than something else:

  • A beautiful white bird flew over the lake.
  • With an umbrella over my head, I was able to protect myself from the midday sun.

We can also use over when talking about movement across a surface:

  • A small boat came over the lake and approached our cottage.
  • Shall we go over the road and see if there’s a bank on the other side?

Over and all over​

We can use over, and the stronger form all over, when something is covering something:

  • You can buy a plastic cover to put over your computer if you’re worried about dust.
  • He had mud all over his face.

Over for periods of time​

We can use over to refer to extended periods of time:

  • Over a period of three centuries, very little changed in the pattern of life for the poorest people.
  • What are you doing over the summer holidays? Are you going away?

Over with numbers​

Over means ‘more than’ a particular number, or limit:

  • There were over 100 people at the lecture.
  • If your hand baggage weighs over 10 kilos, you must check it in.
  • She couldn’t enter the competition. She was over the age limit.

Over as an adverb​

We can use over as an adverb to talk about movement above something or someone:

  • We were sitting in the garden and a huge flock of geese flew over. It was beautiful.

Over as an adverb can mean ‘to someone’s house’:

  • Would you like to come over and have dinner one evening? (to the speaker’s house)

Over and over (adverb phrase)​

Over and over means ‘repeatedly’, ‘many times’. It often refers to things which people do not want to happen:

  • [adult to a little child]
  • Stop it! I’ve told you over and over not to play with the radio!

Over as an adjective: be over​

We can use be over to mean ‘finished’, ‘at an end’:

  • We were so late that, when we got to the cinema, the film was over.

Over as a prefix​

We can use over as a prefix to mean ‘too much’. We connect over to the word which comes after it, sometimes with a hyphen after over:

  • That new restaurant is overpriced if you ask me. (the meals are too expensive)
  • I didn’t enjoy the play. It was a student production, and everyone seemed to be overacting.

These are the main meanings of over but you will find other meanings and phrasal verbs with over in a good learner’s dictionary.

See also
  • Above
  • Under

Over: typical errors​

Over, when used with periods of time, refers to the period from start to finish, not to any one moment during that time:

  • I arrived during the afternoon.
  • Not: I arrived over the afternoon.

Over as a prefix meaning ‘too much’ is connected to the word that comes after it, sometimes with a hyphen; we don’t write two separate words:

  • The nightclub was overcrowded.
  • Not: The nightclub was over crowded.