In American English^x, Prepositions^x

Goodman wrote:um....... well, I guess it would work! But I'd personally prefer during/ while. Thanks. I believe "in your absence" is a common usage in American English. Am I wrong?

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 onto...

Is the preposition 'on' used with angry in American English? Do Americans also say "angry with somebody"? Thanks in advance.

MrPedantic wrote: Well, I suppose you could refer to the Columbia Guide to Standard American English, which explains that "anytime" is an adverb, and therefore (as Pieanne has mentioned) can't be used in every context where "any time" functions as adjective + noun: anytime (adv.) is an...

I would say "I'm taking French this semester." I might possibly say "doing," but "taking" would be much more common, at least in American English. Definitely not "in this semester." I might use "during this semester" to describe something that will be happening for part, but not all of the...

the person who welcomes the guests: maitre d' British English, host/hostess American English _________________________ In a fancy restaurant, people pay the bill after the meal. That is not what I want to discuss. In the States, some chain stores such as Sizzler, you pay at the front of the...

1) I haven't *a* or *the* slightest idea? (yes I know it's superlative, but in some cases we may use an indefinite article with superlative degree) 2) *a" nice weather or without any article? (yes I know it's uncountable, but there is a descriptive attribute "nice") 3) "It's *in* a five minutes'...

Let's say that you want to speak everyday American English, not write a formal paper. In that case you would not go far wrong to use "whom" immediately after a preposition, "who" otherwise. Since the sentence initial position is never after a preposition (by definition of "initial position"),...

The BBI is my Favourite (capital F). It doesn't list all the prepositions but it is extremely useful for ESL speakers because it tells you how to combine nouns with adjectives and how verbs are used (it gives 19 valency categories of verbs). It also gives the most common word combinations, as...

1. Use of present perfect tense and simple past tense Speakers of American English generally use the present perfect tense (have/has + past participle) far less than speakers of British English. In spoken American English it is very common to use the simple past tense as an alternative in...