Are you onboard or on on board or aboard when you’re safely on a vessel like a cruise ship?
How about when you support someone’s vision to save the planet? Are you onboard, or aboard?
Both of these questions are actually answered the same. Onboard and Onboard have distinct usage cases. Both of these examples are situations in which onboard is correct.
Are you still confused? Do not worry, I’ll help you understand it all.
What’s the difference between Onboard and On Board?
This post will discuss onboard vs. on board. Each term will be used in at least one example sentence so that you can understand their context.
A memory tool will also be shown that will help you choose onboard or onboard more easily.
When to use on board
What does the meaning of on board? It can be used as a prepositional phrase or an adverb in sentences. On board means present or in agreement. Or, in its literal form, safe on a ship.
These are two examples of sentences.
- Please do not smoke while on board the aircraft.
- John is often seasick when he travels on board seafaring vessels.
On board has a synonym aboard. This can be a more flexible choice in certain instances. It is the same but it is shorter and more simple.
When to Use onboard
What does the term onboard mean? Onboard can be used as an adjective or verb.
Onboard is an adjective that refers to vehicle equipment. An onboard computer is, for example, a computer built into the vessel’s design.
Take, for example:
- Andrew purchased a new car and was careful to select one with an onboard GPS.
- Pilots could choose the fastest route by using the onboard navigation system.
Onboard is an adjective that always precedes the noun it modifies. In the above sentences, these are GPS, system. Choose onboard instead after a verb.
Onboard can also be used as a verb. This is where HR-speak refers to hiring new employees and training them. It is conjugated in phrases such as onboarding.
Take, for example:
- The transition of the entire company to an online application tool will greatly simplify the onboarding process.
- Onboarding replaces one-on-one mentoring with experienced coworkers. Instead, the new process uses a large library of old, poorly produced training videos.
Is it called Onboarding or On-boarding? Onboarding is the term that you should use if you’re part of a team that helps new employees get to know their roles within the company. Onboard can be used as a noun and a verb.
Does onboard need to be hyphenated Sometimes, the single-word “onboard” might be spelled as a compound with hyphenated letters: on-board. Some spellchecks actually flag onboard as an error and favor onboard.
You may need to choose onboard over onboard depending on your company’s style guidelines. However, the general trend seems to favor the closed compound.
How to Remember the Difference
Now let’s look at a trick to remember vs. at board.
- is an adjective that precedes the noun it modifies.
- The phrase is an adverb or a prepositional phrase. It usually follows a verb.
onboard is a single, two-syllable term, similar to before. I predict that you will have little difficulty remembering onboard (one word) before nouns.
Summary
Is it onboard? These usages may contain the same letters but should be kept apart.
- Onboard is an adjective that refers to attached and a verb that refers to acclimating employees to a new company.
- On board is an adverb/prepositional phrase that refers to being safely aboard a vessel or in agreement.