There is currently a debate on Duolingo about the proper translation of a sentence to English (the original language isn't the point of this question).
The sentence, literally translates to "She is under the shower". Now, in no English that I have heard is this correct. Possible appropriate interpretations would be:
However, I thought I would put it to a wider audience for analysis. So:
Is "She is under the shower" a proper English sentence?
The noun shower doesn't have the same meaning in the two sentences.
An act of washing oneself in a shower: 'she had a nice refreshing shower'
A cubicle or bath in which a person stands under a spray of water to wash: 'A woman stood in the shower washing herself off after her day of work'.
You don't say, "She is under the room/bathroom." when she is in the room/bathroom. That's why it is not idiomatic to say, "She is under the shower."
As commented above, if you say, "She is under the shower of criticism (praise).", shower would mean "a large number of things that fall or happen at the same time", but it is not idiomatic. You should use "She is under a shower of criticism (praise)."
If you say "She is under the shower," people would take it as "She is taking a shower." under normal circumstances, but it is neither idiomatic nor proper.
[Oxford Online Dictionary]
You are correct. Nobody says “she is under the shower” in English, even though she is technically under the shower head.
You take a shower, or you have a shower, or you may be showering, or you may be said to be in the shower, with the assumption being you are taking a shower.
It is an idiomatic saying in Italian, "stare sotto la doccia" (to be under the shower), and Italian speakers understand perfectly that the person is not being squashed by the shower cubicle, the person is "under" (below) the jet of running water.
There are 100s of English phrasal verbs and idioms which cannot and should not be understood literally, e.g. "The aeroplane took off" An Italian might protest: What did the plane ‘take off’? How can a plane ‘take something off’? Or, the extremely common English idiom: "under the weather", is someone literally outside standing under a thing called "weather"? No, but English speakers understand it to mean that someone is either hungover or not feeling well. It's an idiom.
Although the OP's sentence “She is under the shower” is idiomatic for Italian speakers, English native speakers will prefer using the preposition in. As can be seen in the first link. However, I did find a couple of instances on the net where "under a/the shower" was used. It doesn't mean the OP's phrase is idiomatic in English, but it confirms the phrase is indeed “proper English”.
Consider the question: Where is she?
If anyone (native speaker or not) said She is under the shower, I would probably ask What do you mean? The sentence is grammatically correct but not idiomatic. It does not mean She is taking a shower or She is in the shower, which are idiomatic and need no explanation.
(American English)
If I read "She's under the shower" I find it to be valid and start thinking about being on the next floor below it. So yes, it has a meaning, but not the meaning you expect.
Many answers have already covered the expected phrase is "in the shower".
On further reflection, maybe you want "She's under the showerhead."
As many comments suggest, it's certainly not a normal way to phrase it in English. However, it is both grammatically correct and gets the correct point across.
As Rathony points out, the term "shower" can refer to the act of showering, or the room/stall in which you shower. But it can also refer to a bunch of water droplets being sprayed in a direction. "A light shower" refers to rain showering down. "A shower of confetti" is slightly figurative, in that we've exchanged water droplets with bits of paper, but is basically literal in use. From this, we can conclude that a shower in this context is really a collection of small things flowing or falling in a general direction.
So saying "she's under the shower" means she's under the collection of water droplets that are spraying out of (and presumably down from) the shower head that's located inside the shower stall that's inside the shower/bath room.
It also passes basic grammar tests with a subject, a verb, and a perfectly acceptable prepositional phrase.
Imagine a nice swimming pool with all kinds of nice water related things. One of these is a shower: Just an opening in the wall with huge amounts of water coming out. You are not in the shower. It's all in the open. You are not under the showerhead. There is no showerhead. You are under the shower. And enjoy it.
While "under the shower" would generally not be used, there can be specific contexts where it would be appropriate.
For example, Joe answers the phone, and it's for Barry. Joe calls out to ask where Barry is. Barry calls back "I'm in the shower." [Location is clear, but activity is ambiguous].
Joe isn't sure whether this means Barry is merely in the bathroom or he's actually washing himself, and calls back "Can you take a phone call?" Barry calls back, somewhat annoyed, "No, I told you already, I'm taking a shower!" [Activity is now clear].
Joe talks further on the phone and discovers that the matter is both confidential and urgent. Joe takes the phone into the bathroom and says "I think you need to take this." Barry says crossly, "Joe, I'm actually under the shower at the moment. Tell them to wait a second!" [Specifying that Barry is located directly under the fall of water from the shower rose].
Yes it is, but it would need to be in the right context.
Here's what i came up with
My sister and I damaged the floor in the bathroom, and we spent the next two days fixing it. I was working under the toilet and basin. She was under the shower.
