ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: Behind/in back of/at the back of

CalifJim — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:04:47 GMT

sitifan
"We drove in back of the bus."

Is the above sentence acceptable?

Not to me. But you may hear it anyway. Some people are comfortable with it.

CJ

Re: Behind/in back of/at the back of

sitifan — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:40:42 GMT

CalifJim

"We drove behind the bus"

"We drove in back of the bus."

Is the above sentence acceptable?

Re: (in) back of

Clive — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:43:13 GMT

Hi,

The cop stood at the back of the bus and looked at the rear licence plate.

All I can say is that in my experience, it's commonly said. And the context makes the meaning clear, that he's obviously not inside the bus.

I think at the back of the bus just refers to the 'back of the bus'. What I mean is, eg there's a tail pipe (exhaust pipe) at the back of the bus. This pipe is clearly not inside the bus. If you stand 'at the back of the bus', you are at (ie near) the back of the bus. You may be inside or outside, depending on the context.

Best wishes again, Clive

Re: (in) back of

Teo — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 18:49:42 GMT

Clive wrote:

The cop stood at the back of the bus and looked at the rear licence plate. This clearly means he was not inside the bus.

According to Longman Dictionary of contemporary English, 2001, the blue sentence is semantically odd..

The correct version should be

The cop stood behind the bus and looked at the rear licence plate.

Behind is used when one thing is separate from the other.

At/in the back of is used when one thing is inside or part of the other.

Yes, (in) back of is American English.

Re: (in) back of

Clive — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 15:26:53 GMT

Hi,

back of = behind

in back of = behind or in/at the back of

I don't say either of these things. I see them as part of AmE. I think that in very general terms, this is correct.

However, much depends on the context in which you use these kinds of expressions.

eg I sat at the back of the bus. The verb 'sit' clearly suggest you were in the bus.

The cop stood at the back of the bus and looked at the rear licence plate. This clearly means he was not inside the bus.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: (in) back of

Teo — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 10:28:16 GMT

back of = behind

in back of = behind or in/at the back of

Am I right?

Re: (in) back of

Clive — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 02:15:21 GMT

Hi,

We sat back of the bus.

Is the above sentence acceptable?

Not if you mean you were in the bus. Say We sat at the back of the bus. Some people will say 'in' instead of 'at'.

Best wishes, Clive

(in) back of

Teo — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:45:29 GMT

We sat back of the bus.

Is the above sentence acceptable?

Re: in back of

paco2004 — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:12:31 GMT

Clive wrote:
I see in back of as a feature of AmE rather than BrE.

You are right. OED says "in back (noun) of X" in AmE is the same as "back (adverb) of X" in BrE.

paco

Re: in back of

Clive — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 06:22:12 GMT

Hi,

I see in back of as a feature of AmE rather than BrE.

Clive

Re: in back of

davkett — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 03:58:09 GMT

Teo,

Of the nearly 20,000 google hits for 'in back of the house', most should mean 'somewhere outside, behind the house'.

'In the back of the house' will most likely mean 'somewhere inside the house at its rear'.

Re: in back of

CalifJim — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 03:54:09 GMT

Without context, I would take it as "behind the house". A house has several rooms; which one constitutes the back one is a difficult decision. "in back of the room" or "in back of the closet" are more easily understood as "in the back part of the ..."
CJ

in back of

Teo — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 03:32:13 GMT

We caught them hiding in back of the house.

The sentence is taken from a dictionaqry, so there is no context.

Which does in back of mean here, behind or in the back of?

Re: Behind/in back of/at the back of

CalifJim — Sun, 28 Nov 2004 07:21:06 GMT

They are nearly synonymous in many situations, and yet they are not truly synonyms.

"in back of" is a sort of intermediate form which can be forced to serve as either "behind" or "at the back of".

Katherine stood at the back of the room.
?Katherine stood in back of the room.
*Katherine stood behind the room.
She stood behind the wall.
*She stood in back of the wall.
*She stood at the back of the wall.

"We sat behind the bus" has us outside of the bus.
"We sat at the back of the bus" has us inside the bus.
"We sat in back of the bus" can be interpreted in either way.

"We drove behind the bus" is quite different from "We sat at the back of the bus".
"We drove at the back of the bus" is a bit nonsensical.

"Secret plans were being made behind his back."
*"Secret plans were being made in back of him."
*"Secret plans were being made at the back of his back."
*"Secret plans were being made at the back of him."

Who's that behind me?
?Who's that in back of me?
*Who's that at the back of me?

"Suddenly, there was a loud crash at the back of the stage" is not the same as "Suddenly, there was a loud crash behind the stage." The first crash came from somewhere on the stage; the second from a position even farther from the audience and beyond the stage.

CJ

Re: Behind/in back of/at the back of

paco2004 — Sun, 28 Nov 2004 02:57:10 GMT

I don't feel any difference among the following three.
1) the parking lot behind the church
2) the parking lot at the back of the church
3) the parking lot in back of the church
But it's my personal opinion. Let's wait for teachers' answers.

paco