med  +  19980 Thu, 22 Jan 04 12:31 PM Is the preposición "at" correct in the following sentence? It would have been nice meeting you at ATIA 2004 Conference. Please, tell me if there is any mistake in the sentence . Thanks in advanced med Joined on Thu, Jan 22 2004 New Member 01

	Raul  +  19984 Thu, 22 Jan 04 02:15 PM It's correct. The preposition "at" implies "temporarily", that's why we say "at school", "at the theater" or "at the movies". You eat "at a restaurant", but a waiter works "in a restaurant". Hope this helps! Raul Joined on Mon, Sep 1 2003 Lima - Peru Full Member 221 "I touch the future: I teach" Prepositions

	Philip  +  635026 Thu, 08 Jan 09 04:40 PM dinosm “Also, I think it should be 'at the ATIA 2004 Conference'. ” Correct! Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,733 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen

	Goodman  +  635117 Thu, 08 Jan 09 05:58 PM After being away over a month, I am happy to be back in the US. This sentence caught my attention and so I am going to toss my two cents into the mix. ”It would have been nice meeting you at ATIA 2004 Conference”  This is not a complete thought in my opinion. The blue part immediately offers a conditional scenario which is to be followed by an “if” clause.   It was nice meeting you at the ATIA 2004 Conference- This is fine The vacation would have been perfect if we could stay for a few more days. - ok My thought: "AT" is the right prep. but not for the reason of being temporary although phrases like "at the moment", "at the movie" and "at the bank" etc do offer this suggestion. I am living at home now to spend more time with my parents. -  This offers a rather ong and  lengthy duration.     Goodman Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005 Senior Member 3,816 The name says it all! Clauses, Conditionals, Writing, Sentences, Countries, France, Colours

	Yankee  +  635218 Thu, 08 Jan 09 07:56 PM Hi Goodman There are lots of perfectly acceptable sentences that imply an IF-clause, but don't actually need to have one. The sentence "It would have been nice meeting you at the ATIA 2004 Conference" tells me that "meeting you at the conference" is counter-factual, and I would simply expect the broader context to provide further information (for example, the reason why we did not meet at the conference in 2004). Without any broader context, the implied IF-clause is this: "if it had been possible".  Goodman “The vacation would have been perfect if we could stay for a few more days.” That's not one of the "standard" IF-sentence formations.  It's a so-called mixed conditional.  The first half of the sentence basically refers to a complete vacation (it begins like a Type 3), and the IF-clause refers to the future (like a Type 2).  Here again you would have to rely on the broader context to understand and explain why the verb forms are mixed the way they are. (Or was the mix unintentional?) Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,494 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain Clauses, Conditionals, Mixed Conditionals, Writing, Sentences, Countries, Context, France

	Goodman  +  635356 Fri, 09 Jan 09 12:35 AM Hi Amy, I understand what you said. I am sure your input is valid. Whether it has an If-clause or not, with this sentence standing alone without addtional context, I just had that incomplete and strangely unclear feeling, You are correct, there was impied context but not everyone can appreciate the simplicity.  I have no further comments.  Thank you for your reply! Goodman Clauses, Writing, Sentences, Context

	Goodman  +  635367 Fri, 09 Jan 09 12:45 AM Oh yes, it was my carelessness. It should have been: The vacation would have been perfect if we could have stayed for a few more days. Goodman