A post uses "a ground of a park" to refer to the thing shown below.
I guess another expression could be "a ground in a park".
Ngram Viewer shows both use are common, what's the difference?
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"Cobblestone brick paved ground of a park" is a strange title to give it. I would call it brick paving. Bricks are not cobblestones.– Weather VaneCommented Jul 18, 2020 at 13:48
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@WeatherVane Your version is much clearer. Thank you. How do I say it in a complete sentence? How about "The image shows a brick paving ground of a park"?– JQQCommented Jul 18, 2020 at 14:57
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I would say "An image of brick paving." I'm not sure it is even relevent where it is, as the page is focused on textures, and this image shows nothing else.– Weather VaneCommented Jul 18, 2020 at 15:13
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Ground is an odd word to use - I guess the person providing the caption isn't a native speaker. I would say "An area of brick paving in a park" though, as Weather Vane says, the location of the paving is irrelevant.– Kate BuntingCommented Jul 18, 2020 at 15:24
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@WeatherVane and Kate "Cobblestone brick" appears to be a phrase used in U.S. landscaping to refer to bricks that are not rectangular prisms and are intended to be pleasing to the eye. Marketing jargon. I agree with both of you about the oddity of the language and have substantially modified my answer to distinguish between grammatical and idiomatic.– Jeff MorrowCommented Jul 18, 2020 at 16:53
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2 Answers
- Article: usually we say "the ground" to refer to the outdoor surface that can be walked on.
- Preposition: "In" emphasizes where the ground is. "Of" emphasizes that the ground is a part or attribute of the park.
That said, it is a bit unusual to talk about the ground as belonging to a place (because it is present everywhere we go). More natural, I think, would be to mention the place first, and then mention "the ground": "I went to the park, and the ground was covered with bricks / there were bricks on the ground".
If I were to write a caption for the image, I might say "brickwork paving the ground in a park".
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Yes, if you look at how Merriam-Webster defines "ground", then it's either the surface of the Earth or the natural stuff the surface is made of (soil). So the picture shows paving over the ground.– Stuart FCommented Feb 3, 2023 at 16:30
Consider as a matter of grammar
ground in a park
and
ground of a park
Both are grammatically proper, but they do not mean exactly the same thing. Consequently, ngram can tell you nothing other than that both are very rare. When phrases have different meanings, frequency of use does not indicate anything about which is more idiomatic.
"Ground of a park" would usually refer to all the ground in the park; "ground in a park" would usually refer to ground in some specific part or parts of the park. So which is better to use depends on what you want to say. But neither phrase is particularly idiomatic as the comments to your question point out.
So you would say
Cobblestone bricks pave all the ground in the park
or
Cobblestone bricks pave part of the ground in the park
to be clear and idiomatic
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You explanation is clear. Thank you so much. The description in the link, "A cobblestone brick paved ground of a park", has an indefinite article and "cobblestone brick paved" is to describe "ground". Is my understanding correct?– JQQCommented Jul 18, 2020 at 14:56
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What exactly is meant by what is merely a caption is not clear. Whether it is in a park and whether it refers to all or part of the park is irrelevant to the picture, which portrays decorative bricks. Commented Jul 18, 2020 at 16:56