"By foot" vs "On foot"

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi

Could you please tell me which one of the following is more natural?

1- His house is only five minutes on foot.
2- His house is only five minutes by foot.

Tom

2

Hi Tom,

On foot is the usual expression but in your sentence both on foot and by foot don’t really fit. I would say something like: His house is only a five minute walk away.

A

3

Then, if you wanted to be informal, you could also say:

His house is withing spitting distance.

4

Or a hop and a skip away!

5

withing?? Did you mean with in, Conchita?

Tom

6

Oops, sorry, typo! I meant ‘within’.

7

Many, many thanks, Alan and Conchita! Here is my last question regarding this topic!

Why has “by foot” been used here?

Tom

8

.
It seems natural to me.

1,160,000 English pages for “by foot”
1,570,000 English pages for “on foot”
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