In British English^x, Constructions^x

Mylakh wrote: Is it correct to use "had have" in a sentence? In British English, you sometimes hear this construction: 1. If I had have known, I would have done XYZ. This is used as an emphatic form of: 2. If I had known, I would have done XYZ. However, as has been said, "If I had...

hanuman, If you want to learn British English you should follow the advice in British dictionaries. I'm sorry if my American English confused you! My American dictionary, which shows onto as a single word, has this note: To indicate motion to a position the prepositions on and...

Hello Anon I'm a mere English learner from Japan and my role here is rather an asker than an answerer. But if you don't mind, I'd like you to read my ideas about your question. I take "school" in "go to school" or "church" in "go to church" as an uncountable noun. As you suggested, "school"...

Speakers of British English have a very strong preference for 'already' with the perfect tenses to the exclusion of the simple past. (But check with a speaker of BrE to be sure.) Americans use 'already' quite freely with the perfect tenses and the simple past. "I already saw that movie"....

Yes; they both seem acceptable to me, too. The construction is still current in British English; though it does have an air of stage Cockney. MrP

"I met with an accident" is still used is South Asia (India, Sri Lanka) as an everyday phrase and presumably was used in British English in colonial times. However, it is not used by by anyone under the age of 40 in speech. Do a Google search for "met with an accident" (include the quotation...

Hello Brooke This thread has become a little confusing. So just to summarise what others have said: 1. The doctor suggested that she not smoke. As Katsu and Yulysses have suggested, this is a subjunctive construction. We can make it clearer by omitting the 'not': 1. The...

Well, well! We learn something new every day! In American English "I met with" would typically be followed only by expressions such as "my boss", "the students", "the committee investigating the peculiarities of British English", and similar structures.

"I met with an accident" is typical British English and it means, "I was INVOLVED in an accident."

All my life I've hearing " sounds like " . Obviousl , I was a bit surprised to see that type of sentence construction in the Economist magazine . I thought it was typical British English then . Should I presume that both sounds like and sound like are acceptable in the sentence given...