In Nouns^x, Idioms^x, Constructions^x

Yes, it's odd way not to use "a". Indeed, "any=some" implies itself plural noun to be used. So the difference in translation some of constructions in English seems to be slightly smoothed between two meanings you mentioned above. At least it's so in my language.

1. There is a boy and a girl in the playground. 2. There is a boy, a girl and an old man in the playground. 3. There is a boy and two girls in the playground. 4. There are two girls and a boy in the playground. Some language experts now regard there is as a fixed, unvarying idiom...

Kathy456 wrote: 1. There is a boy & a girl in the playground. 2. There is a boy, a girl & an old man in the playground. 3. There is a boy & two girls in the playground. 4. There are two girls & a boy in the playground. Kathy This topic has been discussed in...

Yankee wrote: Hi Goodman You can look at "to welcome someone with open arms" as an idiom. This idiom contains the verb 'welcome'. Simple past tense, active voice: They welcome d him with open arms. Simple past tense, passive voive: He was welcome d with open arms (by them). 'Welcome...

I guess you don't get out much, Anon. Here is a sampling of respectable online sources. Doing a bit of Google research yourself will turn up many, many more. The American Heritage Dictionary : Grammarians have sometimes objected to the so-called double genitive construction, as in a friend of...

Mr. P., Could you reconsider whether the "for" in "I was worth X-ing for" is a required element of the idiom? I've been reading this thread with interest, and it occurs to me that the "for" is an artifact of the verb choice for X, not part of the idiom itself. The "for" may go with the verb...

Thanks, Eagle, Paco, and MisterM for all your painstaking posts! Much to chew on. 1. It's odd that both your and K's dictionaries give this structure, which I seldom if ever hear. Maybe it's more common elsewhere. Sorry, all: I should have been clearer. I meant the ‘Child as he was…’...

MountainHiker, All the so-called "circumstantial" bits of a sentence are the adverbial parts. Circumstances of an event or action can be place, time, manner, reason, purpose, and so on. It doesn't matter whether a word is normally a noun or a verb or an adverb or whatever. It is its...