By Idioms, Prepositions

Hi Zhuricki No, the rules haven't changed and there is no difference between British and American English here. 'In search of' is a special idiomatic phrase and means the same thing as 'looking for' or 'seeking'. As is normally the case with idioms, 'in search of' is a fixed grouping of...

User_gary wrote: He took pains over his work. Here the preposition `over' indicates what? Or, Can we replace that into (He took pains on his work)"Over" is the only preposition I've heard in this idiom.

Dear teachers, Would you please tell which sentences are wrong and why? 1 a) I feel better since I moved house.OK b) I am feeling much better since I have moved house.OK (if both are correct what would be the difference between them, please?) b) means you have recently moved...

Englishuser wrote:I couldn't agree more: English idioms and spellings tend to be difficult even for many a native speaker! I would also like to add that the size of the English lexion makes learning English relatively difficult. Just out of curiosity: What exactly do you try to sound like on...

The idiom is to have to (do something). It means that the action described by the final infinitive must be done within the amount of time allotted. The students had one hour to complete the exam. We have three months to install the kitchen cabinets. Martha and Sam have only...

Grammar Geek wrote: So "to lay by" is a phrasal verb meaning "to store away"? New vocabulary for me! But anyway, when you have a phrasal verb like that (or like "look up" (as a word in a dictionary) or "write down") - do the prepositions act like normal prepositions, or because they are...

This is actually a bone of some contention. An abstract of a journal article on the 'problem' concludes: both "'except' and 'except for' can be used to mean 'with the exception of', but when it is used to mean 'if it were not for' only 'except for' can be used. Also, it is not advisable to...

lol, That was a very good guess based on what you have learned so far about English. They say that the use of prepositions is the last thing mastered in a foreign language. I would have to guess that idioms or colloquial (everyday) speech are not far behind.

40-dollar job. Note the hyphen. Nouns as adjectives are singular: 10-minute break, ten-dollar bill, seven-year itch fall into the wrong hands-- this is the idiomatic phrasal verb, which cannot be manipulated. none that I know of = None (of the e.g. players) that I know of. Not that I know...

Takes time. IMO, you should buy Spears, McGraw Hill's Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs read a page of it a day and you'll make great progress.