should/would

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New2grammar

#536043 Wed, 02 Jul 08 10:45 PM

Yoong Liat
it's advisable to know the differences in usage between American and British English.

It sounds like you can justify Optilang's what seems like inconsistent choices to me. I really can't. If you do, could you share with me?

New2grammar

Joined on Tue, Nov 21 2006

Veteran Member (7,670)

Who wants to go sailing around the world with me?

British English

Yoong Liat

#536053 Wed, 02 Jul 08 10:54 PM

I'll try my best tomorrow because it is about 6am NOW, and I should have been asleep. I believe you live in Malaysia and, like me, you go to bed late. Just for your information, we cannot say "We sleep late" if we mean we go to bed late.

Best wishes.

Yoong Liat

Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006

Singapore

Veteran Member (6,024)

Yoong Liat

New2grammar

#536056 Wed, 02 Jul 08 10:58 PM

I wouldn't say that but doesn't sound wrong to me. Thanks, Yoong Liat. I'll create a thread for it. :)
Good night...Oh..good morning Stick out tongue

New2grammar

Yoong Liat

#536306 Thu, 03 Jul 08 04:21 PM

Hi New2grammar

I have the following information for you.

1. A car is parked at a metered parking space on/in a street.

There are metered car parking spaces in St. Giles and in the surrounding streets and car parks, but the centre of Oxford is often congested. ...
www.green.ox.ac.uk/about-the-college/how-to-find-us.html - 11k - Cached - Similar pages

In surveys carried out in Madrid it has been calculated that by eliminating one parking space in a street, travelling time equivalent to between 20 and 35 ...Snippet view - About this book - Add to my library - More editions

2. A man is standing on a sidewalk waving to his friend across the street. He's in/on the street. - Really neither as he is on the pavement, however you could say he is in the street, meaning in a particular street, not actually in the road. I was in Oxford Street doing some shopping.

3. A car is waiting for the light to turn green. It's in/on the street.

There were no cars around, and if there was a car in the street, they'd take the
bocci ball and break it right through the windshield. ...No preview available - About this book - Add to my library - More editions

4. A car is parked next to the sidewalk on a lawn of a house facing the street. It's on/in the street. The car is parked off the road/street

Yoong Liat

Grammar

New2grammar

#536324 Thu, 03 Jul 08 05:19 PM

Hi Yoong Liat, Actually, I was looking for an explanation instead of examples.

New2grammar

Yoong Liat

#536378 Thu, 03 Jul 08 07:16 PM

Hi New2grammar

There are metered car parking spaces in St. Giles and in the surrounding streets. (This means that you should use ‘in … the streets’, not ‘on’.)

There were no cars around, and if there was a car in the street… (Here again ‘in’ is used.)

What I’ve found points to the fact that in BrE, ‘in the street/s’ is usually used, whereas the Americans would say ‘on the streets’. In my opinion, you shouldn’t be so analytical. Just remember which preposition to use in BrE and which should be used in AmE.

English is often not logical. It’s like spelling. Why should ‘receive’ be spelled this way? Why should it not be spelled ‘recieve’? I don’t think anyone can tell you the reason/s.

Best wishes.

Yoong Liat

Grammar, Prepositions, Spelling

New2grammar

#536380 Thu, 03 Jul 08 07:22 PM

OK. Thanks Yoong Liat. By the way, I think Americans tend to think of a street as a surface (area) while British think of it as a 3 dimensional object (volume), including the air above the street, which is why 'in' is more common in British English. Just a thought.

New2grammar

British English

Yoong Liat

#536383 Thu, 03 Jul 08 07:28 PM

New2grammar
OK. Thanks Yoong Liat. By the way, I think Americans tend to think of a street as a surface (area) while British think of it as a 3 dimensional object (volume), including the air above the street, which is why 'in' is more common in British English. Just a thought.

I don't think there is any reason why 'in' is usually used in BrE, while 'on' is used in AmE.

I think the more you analyse, the more you become confused. Just remember that it is collocation.