In Expressions^x, American English^x, Grammar^x

I was just interested to know if it is possible to use common fixed expressions like by bus in a different way by saying something more like by local bus . But as I have understood it is not possible to break these fixed expressions and you can only say, for example, by bus , but not by local...

Hi Fandorin You seem to be mixing things up. Angliholic's sentence is not an example of the idiomatic " to have got ", which means basically the same thing as "to have" or "to possess". In that idiom, it is not possible to change the word 'got' to...

Yankee wrote: Since you claim to be learning American English, I would suggest that it is more your "Italian-ness" than the fact that you are not female that would cause you not to say "I have to go to the bathroom" in the middle of a forest or desert. Actually, we have an expression ( Devo...

Grammar Geek wrote: It makes perfect sense in that context. First you dropped my order, then you gave me the wrong thing, and now? Now you have given me the wrong change! Yes but in the example Yankee said " Now you gave me the wrong change ". Is that really normal in American English? It's...

Angliholic wrote: Grammar Geek wrote: And Kooyeen is learning American English, so he was spot on. Hi, GG. Would you shed some light on "so he was spot on?" That's Greek to me. Spot on - exactly on the mark, hit the target just right, completely right. (It's actually a UK...

Hi, I too have been looking for someting like that! I don't know how many books of this kind there are, but I guess there aren't really a lot, compared to the number grammar books available. Plus, I guess if a student is interested in American English, they'll probaly find less material. "English...

Hi Kooyeen There is nothing to forgive! I am certainly not in the least offended by your post. In fact, I enjoyed reading it tremendously! I even agree with you to some extent on some of the points you made. I am the first person to admit that my knowledge of English isn't as good as that of a...

sorry to revive this discussion if it has already been past expiration, but i think not nearly enough has been discussed about this subject. I must warn anyone i usually have an indirect and evasive way of writing or speaking, so please forgive me if i lack coherence. Also my grammar is not very...

Hi Peter, if you know English well, you should easily understand when they talk. If you don't understand, that means there's something wrong with your English. I have trouble understanding too, but I realized that's because my English is not as good as it should be in order to understand...

Hi Jhumjhum, You wrote: I don't know whether American English is flexible or not but I think John Baker probably translated this sentence from French or spanish or some other Europian Languages because I think they say their age in this manner You cannot know this for sure, though....