What are the differences in meaning when using to, in, or on after sail in the examples below? Is it possible to use all the collocations with the three prepositions in all the examples?
There's a ship sailing to/in/on the sea.
There's a ship sailing to/in/on the ocean.
There's a boat sailing to/in/on the river.
He is sailing to/in/on the sea/ocean/river.
Best Answer
What are the differences in meaning when using to, in, or on after sail in the examples below?
When you refer to the ship sailing to a thing, you're describing the sailing object's goal.
When you refer to the ship sailing on a thing, you're referencing it's current location on top of said object. For boats, this is a good thing; a ship that's sailing in a river or ocean has sunk below the surface.
When you use the word in you're talking about being contained by or enclosed within something. You can sail in a ship on the Adriatic, but sailing on a ship in the Adriatic is only possible in submarines (at least if you wish to survive the experience).
The only way you can use in with respect to sailing and still make sense is when you're speaking geographically. This is because the in now refers to being within the borders of said geographical area.
Is it possible to use these ... in all the examples?
Using to or on for the examples would work just fine (though your second and third example sentences are missing an article). As stated above, however, using in wouldn't make sense unless you were referring to a geographical location (or going down with the ship).