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to write on

to write on

34 3.6
To produce texts like articles or books about a subject
  • phrasal verb
  • /raɪt ɑn/
translation icon : escribir sobre
  • Brian McHale, among others, has written on the shift from modern to postmodern poetics, saying,
  • write on the subject
  • write on the topic
  • Much has been written on

Made me feel at peace in my life because of what you wrote on a page.

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Examples

  • He was asked to write on various historical events for the school project.

  • The journalist has decided to write on the impact of climate change on coastal cities.

  • Nearly everyone who has written on the subject has proposed a definition of critical thinking.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Everything that I could not publish in my newspaper, I wrote on my blog.

    Academic text (2008)
  • But Dreze, as well as most others writing on the topic, does exactly this.

    Academic text (1992)
  • "Nice for you," Martha said sharply and continued to write on a pad at the table.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Beforehand, students should have written on index cards the questions that they want to ask.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Content analysis was used to examine the open-ended comments written on the surveys.

    Academic text (2013)
  • For example, my friend Aaron Kotmar wrote on paraconsistent merriology.

  • In her upcoming essay, she will write on the importance of mental health awareness.

Synonyms

to write about
vsto write on
620 2.1

Give details in words about a topic, for example in a book or article

focuses on creating developed text rather than merely giving information

How Detailed

to write on
34 3.6
to mention
1.0

Surface Forms

write on infinitive
writing on present participle
writes on third person singular
wrote on past
written on past participle

Morphology

write + on

The meaning 'compose written work about a particular subject' is directly derivable from 'write' (to produce text) plus the preposition 'on' marking topic or subject; this parallels the common English pattern 'write on/about'. Because this composition is cross-linguistically common and follows standard preposition+verb logic, a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Write on comes from a simple picture: to write words on a page about a topic, like jotting notes on a book. So, to write on something means to make a text 'about' that subject.