ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: English prepositions strike back... again

Yankee — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:52:20 GMT

Kooyeen
I really know nothing about baseball! (or cricket)

Do you know anything about basketball?

Re: English prepositions strike back... again

Goodman — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:38:41 GMT

Goodman

Yeah!! You've got to give yourself a pad on the back. I think you got them all right!

Ooops, I guess I haven't patted myself for a long time and forgot how to do it.....!
I still have mental lapses like this every now and then. Thanks,

Re: English prepositions strike back... again

Kooyeen — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:00:25 GMT

Hmm, sorry, I really know nothing about baseball! (or cricket) You know, there's virtually no baseball at all here (but I've seen it in American movies on TV )

As for the pad on my back, I thought it was ok as well, since I thought "pad on" was pronounced the same as "pat on". Then I started to have doubts, and I suspect the "a" in "pad on" is actually a little bit longer than the "a" in "pat on". Should I post in the pronunciation section? I'm sure we already discussed something similar, and it was hard to draw a conclusion (I think it was the difference between "pedal" and "petal").

Re: English prepositions strike back... again

CalifJim — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:43:13 GMT

Kooyeen
(BrE => baseball match)

The mistake here is cultural, not grammatical!

cricket match!

I would say that on both sides of the pond, it's baseball game (The Brits would conform to American usage for an American sport) and cricket match (The Americans would conform to British usage for a British sport).

Re: English prepositions strike back... again

Philip — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:15:25 GMT

Goodman
Yeah!! You've got to give yourself a pad on the back. I think you got them all right!

Or a pat on the back, whichever feels better .

Re: English prepositions strike back... again

Goodman — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:13:25 GMT

Yeah!! You've got to give yourself a pad on the back. I think you got them all right!

Re: English prepositions strike back... again

Kooyeen — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:02:40 GMT

I hate prepositions! I can never seem to choose the right one! Well, here's what I would say:

I'm sorry. I left them at home again.
I was in class at school. (or "I was in the classroom")
Where you at the baseball game yesterday? (BrE => baseball match)
The train is on track 7 (BrE => The train is at platform 7)
My school is on Peace Street in Washington DC (BrE => in Peace Street)

Warning! I am probably wrong, so wait for a native speaker. That's just what I would do... and the differences between AmE and BrE come in part from my dictionary.

English prepositions strike back... again

anglista2008 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:46:43 GMT

Hey there,

I've got couple of questions about the following sentences... Would you say:

1) I'm sorry. I left (btw. have left???) my English books in/at home again.
2) I was in classroom in/at school.
3) Were you at/on the basketball match yesterday, or didn't you go?
4) The train is standing on/at (the???) platform 7.
5) My school is on Peace Street in Washington DC (ok or not?)

best wishes,