In Idioms^x, Grammar^x

"Have you ever been to/in PLACE before?" I can only give you the American usage that I am familiar with as a life-long speaker of American English. Both "to" and "in" are acceptable, no matter who is where. I'm not sure you can find a grammar book that is quite so detailed, but if you do,...

I checked in a new book, "The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language", which is intended as a rival to Quirk. Following is an excerpt concerning "had better". I don't understand most of it, but presumably Pemmican & Miriam will. I was surprised to see that dropping the "had", as in, "You...

Confusion in this topic is understandable. I remember having had a hard time when I had to study the classification of such verbs according to different authors/grammarians. Quirk et al., for example, consider the following verbs modals: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must,...

Hi Miriam, Actually "had better" is NOT a modal verb. Some authors call it a "modal idiom" (The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield), or a idiomatic modal. There are many English Grammar websites that talk about "had better" as a Modal Verb. For...

I think that’s a matter of usage isn’t it? I’m hardly ever at home. I’m barely there. I guess they are different aren’t they. But how would you define the difference? It seems to be a matter of idiom more than an issue of grammar.

I'm afraid there is no grammatical explanation to cover the difference between formal and informal English. It mostly to do with quite subtle matters of style and idiomatic use. You need to read and listen widely to pick up the differneces. I think you have to be a very experienced student to...

In English, relative formality is less a question of grammar than of vocabulary and syntax, whereas other languages -- Spanish, for example -- use a different set of verb conjugations. In an informal situation, I might say, "Gimme that." But the formal expression would be "Would you please...

I came to Japan two years ago. I was asked by an acquaintance to come and manage his English school, but between having been asked to come and actually coming, my acquaintance and his partner had a terrible row and closed their school! I had already made all the necessary preparations to come - I...

Hey don't you think that there is no better way in the world to deal with a difficult student than by grilling them with grammar! (Oh and a few idioms too!)