Prepositions – Good Job ‘on’ or ‘in’ Something

prepositions

I have seen both being used. But I don't know when to use which one.

1- You have done a good job on this (Context: Your teacher
saying this after he examines your homework)

1a- You have done a good job in this

2- He did a good job on stealing the ball. (Context: Commentor
saying this during a basketball game.)

2a- He did a good job in stealing the ball.

3- I think I did a good job on it (Context: You are saying this
after have finished writing a code.)

3a- I think I did a good job in it

Best Answer

SHORT ANSWER

Use “on” 90% of the time.

“On” tells us what you did a good job on. “In” can tell us where or when you did a good job.

LONG ANSWER

(In this answer, I’ll treat “good job,” “good work,” “great job,” and “great work,” as the same word. They all mean pretty much the same exact thing.)

”On” is the most natural word almost all of the time. It connects the “Good job” to what you did a good job on.

  1. “I did a good job on the test” = I scored well on the test
  2. “They were doing a good job on the drawing” = Their drawing was good
  3. “Great job on the field!” = You built/tilled a field and it is well-done
  4. “Good work on choir class!” = You designed a choir class syllabus and it is well-done

“In” might be useful as in the following examples:

  1. “I did a good job in the position” = While in the position, I did a good job
  2. “They did a good job in their time here.” = While they were here, they did a good job
  3. “Great work in the field!” = While in the field, you did a good job (saving lives/building houses/planting wheat)
  4. “Good job in choir class!” = While in choir class, you did a good job (singing/teaching/doodling)

In these examples, you’re using “in” to describe where (or when) you did a good job, not to introduce what you did a good job on. You can use other words to describe this where or when as well:

  1. “Great job at the tournament last week!” = While at the tournament, you did well
  2. “Great work at school today!” = While at school, you did well

Hope this helped! Comment any questions and I’ll get back to you.

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