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over (prep): from one side of something to the other; across something

a bridge over the river

They ran over the grass.

They had a wonderful view over the park.

through: from one side or end to another side or end of (something)

He just walked through the door.

The security guards pushed their way through the crowd.

She could see a figure through the fog.

I looked through the window.

My question is that:

"To throw the ball though the fence" & "To throw the ball over the fence".

Are they the same or different?

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  • For a ball to go through a fence, the fence would have to have a hole in it. When a ball goes over a fence, it clears the top of the fence.
    – user105719
    Commented Dec 20, 2019 at 3:24
  • 1
    I'm reminded of going on a bear hunt by this question :D
    – Smock
    Commented Dec 20, 2019 at 9:50

2 Answers 2

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When you throw a ball over a fence, you throw it above the top of the fence. Generally we'd infer that someone was standing on the ground and threw the ball above the fence to the other side, though if you started out above the top of the fence (in a tree or on a ladder or something) and threw the ball above the top of the fence, that'd also be throwing it over the fence, technically.

To throw the ball through the fence means the ball traveled from one side of the fence to the other without going over or under it. So in most contexts that would leave three basic possibilities:

  1. There was a hole in the fence, and you threw the ball through that hole.
  2. The fence had sufficiently large gaps between its rails (or slats, beams, links, etc.) to allow you to throw something between those rails.
  3. You threw the ball so hard that you smashed a hole in the fence, and the ball continued on through the hole and out the other side.

In any general conversation, where the person you're speaking to doesn't know anything about the fence in question, if you told that person "I threw the ball through the fence," they wouldn't know which of those two you meant.

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  • so the dictionary is not clear enough & that made me confused. The dictionary just says generally "from one side to another side" (through)
    – Tom
    Commented Dec 20, 2019 at 7:10
  • Some fences just don't have 100% coverage. They're not holes as such, and you could even kick a football through those I reckon!
    – Smock
    Commented Dec 20, 2019 at 9:53
  • @Tom Yeah, I can see how you could be confused based on the two definitions in your question; they're not very specific. For purposes of this question I was counting an actual hole in a solid fence and gaps in, say, a chain link fence as the same thing, but Smock makes a good point that some fences have large enough gaps between the beams that you can't really call those holes, so I've edited the question just to be extra clear. Same would apply to, say, a wrought iron fence with vertical bars.
    – cjl750
    Commented Dec 21, 2019 at 23:34
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OK, they're two different things. But look more closely: to "throw the ball over the fence" means (a, literal) you're a prisoner, chained to a heavy iron ball. You're making a break for freedom! Throw the ball over the fence and follow it! (b) same thing but as a metaphor; it means to break with convention and blaze your own trail regardless of consequences. BTW, in true Texas parlance, the R isn't pronounced. "Th'ow the ball over the fence!"

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