Anonymous  +  420715 Tue, 18 Sep 07 07:27 PM Hello Look at this, please: I began to smell a rat when I phoned him at work where he was supposed to be working late and he was not there. --------- Is there not a word that is missing from the sentence? I began to smell a rat when I phoned him at work where he was supposed to be working until late and he was not there. I need your help. Thanks Anonymous

	Grammar Geek  +  420768 Tue, 18 Sep 07 10:05 PM No, it's fine the way it is. You work until a certain time, as in: He was supposed to be working until 10. However, the word "late" (or "early" for that matter) does not take the word "until." She worked late that night, and I was suposed to work late too , but I got to leave early when the building lost power. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,508 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Clive  +  420770 Tue, 18 Sep 07 10:09 PM Hi, Look at this, please: I began to smell a rat when I phoned him at work where he was supposed to be working late and he was not there. --------- Is there not a word that is missing from the sentence? I began to smell a rat when I phoned him at work where he was supposed to be working until late and he was not there. No, 'working late' is a phrase that is widely used and accepted. This sentence reads as if the speaker began to say it before he had organized his thoughts well. This is certainly how we often speak, but a better-organized and punctuated sentence would be something like this. When I phoned him at work, where he was supposed to be working late, and he was not there, I began to smell a rat. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,301 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

	Clive  +  421044 Wed, 19 Sep 07 02:20 PM Hi, In N. America, yes. Clive Clive