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After reading this: in/on the bed, I wonder whether "I'm on bed" is ungrammatical or not. The answerer of the question said

"On" never appears alone with "bed."

If we can say "I'm in bed", why can't we say "I'm on bed"? (Or can we?) I'm not sure, because I'm also familiar with on+noun. For example "on Y*uTube".

Community
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user516076
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    What is unclear about that article? As it says, "in bed" is fine but with "on" you must use "on the bed", "on my bed" etc. – Daniel Roseman Sep 01 '21 at 14:07
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    Because bed and bed are essentially two different words. "in bed" refers to bed as a concept - occasionally it may mean a figurative bed rather than a physical one. "on the bed" strictly refers to an actual physical bed. – MikeB Sep 01 '21 at 14:18
  • Related : [Home vs at home](https://ell.stackexchange.com/q/197229/9161) and [I left them (at) home](https://ell.stackexchange.com/q/40277/9161) and [Why is there no article "the" before "bed" in "in bed"?](https://ell.stackexchange.com/q/59205/9161) – ColleenV Sep 01 '21 at 16:39
  • "YouTube" is the name of a website. There's no "the" – gotube Sep 02 '21 at 03:42

1 Answers1

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“In bed” is an idiom that refers to a person who is resting or sleeping in a bed. It frequently implies being under bed clothes. Like other idioms, it can be odd.

“On the bed” is not an idiom and so follows the normal rules of English with respect to articles.

Jeff Morrow
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