by the underground/on the underground

[Teddy BeEr]

and again from a test

1. He goes to his guitar lessons....

 
A.  by underground   
B.  on underground     
C.  with underground   
D.  in underground   

cambridge dictionary online the underground (also the tube) UK
a railway system in which electric trains travel along passages below ground
the London Underground
They went on the underground.

abby lingvo
1) (the underground) метрополитен
to go by the underground — ездить на метро, пользоваться метрополитеном

googled for it)) by- (usually with go) 116mln,  on -128mln (reports, regulations, etc.)

cambridge dictionary

[ANNA83]

by ,конечно)))

[Erica Blair]

By.
No article.

[asil]

British English предпочитает 'on the underground'.

Что предпочитает Ваш преподаватесь и зачем Вам дали тест, в котором надо знать разницу между американским и британским английским и разбираться в британских реалиях - сие есть тайна великая!

[WS aka CE]

British English предпочитает 'on the underground'.

Что предпочитает Ваш преподаватесь и зачем Вам дали тест, в котором надо знать разницу между американским и британским английским и разбираться в британских реалиях - сие есть тайна великая!

Преподаватель, похоже, хочет проверить, знает ли слушатель разницу между "underground", "U-Bahn", и "subway"

>>
7-Day MetroCard: $ 27.00 - unlimited travel on subway and local buses.
How to get to the show by subway, train, or car.
What may take an hour by taxi is a 20-30 minute ride by subway and/or sky-train.
JFK Airport is served by subways and trains.
<<

Кстати, может быть имеет смысл создать ветку форума специально для вопросов по учебным текстам и тестам? На мой взгляд здесь накапливается слишком много Runglish-style мусора и текстов с преднамеренно (и, по большей части, бездарно) внесенными ошибками.

По поводу "реалий". Во времена второй мировой войны в немецкой разведшколе был инструктор, готовивший агентов для работы на островах. Он преподавал не столько язык (агенты и так знали его в достаточной степени), сколько профилировал и знакомил с современными реалиями: как теперь принято себя вести, что нужно знать и уметь, как реагировать, что демонстрировать. Иногда он давал советы типа: "Для того, чтобы быстро расширить круг знакомств, имеет смысл продемонстрировать свою финансовую состоятельность. Один из способов сделать это - дать объявление в газете, о том, что потерян портфель с ценными бумагами и т.п., и пообещать вознаграждение за возврат документов." Некотороые агенты следовали подобным советам, что привлекало к ним внимание британских контрразведчиков. У англичан были свои Штирлицы...

[Teddy BeEr]

let me explain - i'm doing all those tests on the Internet for myself. here is the link http://www.englishjet.com/

the tests are supposed to be British, but they give BY as the correct answer. I would've also put in BY, but then decided to look it up in my favourite Cambridge Dictionary. The sentence with SINCE is also from that resource.

[WS aka CE]

let me explain - i'm doing all those tests on the Internet for myself. here is the link http://www.englishjet.com/

the tests are supposed to be British, but they give BY as the correct answer. I would've also put in BY, but then decided to look it up in my favourite Cambridge Dictionary. The sentence with SINCE is also from that resource.

The tests supposed to be British, but these are proposed by Spanish agency, as far as I can see... I would not say you are wasting your time, however... I don't like these test-your-English-for-free exercises. You see, they aren't native speakers, and there is a joke in Russian regarding that: "Дети, сегодня мы научимся прозносить слово "a table" по правилам, утвержденным Министерством просвещения в 1954 году."

За последние десять-двенадцать лет я ни разу не слышал слова "underground" в разговоре о метро. Обычно говорят "subway" или "tube"...

[Update] Но в учебных курсах можно встретить и "go by Underground" (обратите внимание - слово начинается прописной буквой):
>>
To catch a train to Bath: go by Underground on the Circle Line or by taxi to Paddington Station, London.
<<
http://www.bath-school.co.uk/bath/travelling/

[Teddy BeEr]

thanx! what about the article? in dictionaries underground (as well as tube) always go with "the".

[WS aka CE]

thanx! what about the article? in dictionaries underground (as well as tube) always go with "the".

I guess your keyboard has Shift keys. That isn't a bad idea to use these.

The Underground and the Tube are names. You would find some examples of articles usage down there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground

[asil]

thanx! what about the article? in dictionaries underground (as well as tube) always go with "the".

Because http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ is British!

Now, change the setting to American English and you will see that 'underground' in the meaning of The Tube or Subway is not even listed!

This is because people tend to generalise and so they use of by underground, mostly outside of Britain, which is normal and accepted. After all, you arrive by train, come by taxi, and - surprise surprise! - more and more people are using by foot, which is technically not correct of course but I'm absolutely sure will be in the near future.

But here are traditional British prepositions from a preposition song:
Did you come here in a taxi? - Or by bus, or on the train?

You see? - On the train.  On the Underground.

[TessTS]

 ‘By the underground’ and ‘on the underground’ - оба выражения употребляются в речи. ‘By the underground’- более распространенное (может употребляться как с артиклем, так и без артикля, хотя я лично употребила бы с артиклем). Underground – British English, subway – American English.

[Teddy BeEr]

thank uuuu! it seems to me that now I know more about by-on-underground stuff then anyone else)))

[Teddy BeEr]

           But here are traditional British prepositions from a preposition song:
Did you come here in a taxi? - Or by bus, or on the train?

interesting...where can i find it?

[ibelk]

interesting...where can i find it?

(sung to tune of “Clementine”): http://teacherweb.com/TX/RainsJuniorHigh/MsHudgins/list5.aspx

[nas2000]

By air, by bicycle, by bike, by boat, by bus, by car, by coach, by land, by plane, by sea, by ship, by train, by tube, on foot.

BY+NOUN is used in fixed expressions of this kind, but not where the means of transport is specified.
I came here on the local bus.
You won't go far on that old bike.
Longman English Grammar by L G Alexander