Sunday Sun Thursday Thur(s)
Monday Mon Friday Fri
Tuesday Tue(s) Saturday Sat
Wednesday Wed
24.2 Months and seasons [> App 47 4 2]
months seasons
January Jan (the) Spring or spring
February Feb (the) Summer or summer
March Mar (the) Autumn or autumn
April Apr (or AmE (the) fall)
May - (the) Winter or winter
June
July
August Aug
September Sept
October Oct
November Nov
December Dec
Appendix 25
Appendix 25 [> 8.10, 8.15] Particular prepositions, particles and
contrasts [see also > App 32]
25.1 'about', 'on' and 'over'
About and on can be used to mean
'concerning' or 'relating to' a subject On tends
to be used in more formal, academic contexts
than about
Have you seen this article on the Antarctic7 I've read lots of books about animals About (Not 'on") is used after verbs such as know, read, tell, think and adiectives such as anxious, concerned, worried About or on are used after nouns such as idea(s), opinion(s) Over is often used in the sense of 'about' particularly in news reports on radio/TV after e g argue, argument, concern, dispute, often where some sort of confrontation is involved
25.2 'according to' and 'by'
According to can mean 'as shown by'
According to the forecast, it'll be wet and 'as stated by'
According to Dr Pirn, the sea is rising According to is used to refer to information coming from other people or sources (according to him, according to the timetable, etc), but not to information coming from oneself (Not 'according to me") According to cannot be used with opinion, in must be used
In my opinion, none of this is true By can only replace according to when the reference is highly specific e g to a clock or timetable, etc, but never to people
It's now ten past by/according to my watch According to can also mean 'depending on
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/ get to work at nine or just after according
to the amount of traffic on the road
25.3 'across' and 'over'
Both these prepositions can be used to mean 'from one side to the other if we are referring to a line (e g a road, a river, a frontier etc) When combining with verbs like run walk (run across/over, walk across/over) they can express the same idea as the verb cross
Children are taught not to run over/across
the road without looking (i e not to cross)
There s a newsagent's over/across the road However, over cannot be used when we are referring to the surface of a wide area
They're laying a pipeline across Siberia With verbs which can suggest 'aimless movement1 (stroll wander, etc) over can be used to describe movement inside an area (not necessarily from one side to another) suggesting 'here and there
We wandered over the fields
We skated over the frozen lake Across must also be used when we are referring to movement through water
Erna Hart swam across the Channel Across cannot be used when we wish to express 'go up and come down again' (from one side of something high to the other)
They escaped by climbing over the wall
25.4 'across' and 'through'
Across, meaning 'from one side to the other
can refer to a surface
We skated across the frozen lake
Through, meaning 'from one side to the other'
or 'from one end to the other' can suggest
more effort than across Through refers to
- a hollow
Water flows through this pipe
- something three-dimensional which
'encloses' (e g a country, a crowd, a forest
long grass, mud)
It was difficult to cut through the forest
- a 'barrier' (e g the Customs, a door, a net
a roadblock a window)
Look through the window The use of across and through depends on the sort of thing you are talking about In
Let's walk across/through the park they are interchangeable because in the speaker s mind across refers to a surface and through to a three-dimensional area
25.5 'after' and 'afterwards'
Both these words mean 'later, but after can
be a preposition (followed by an object) and a
conjunction (followed by a clause) When this
is the case afterwards cannot replace after
Come and see me after work Come and see me after you've finished Afterwards can only be used as an adverb (that is, with no noun or pronoun object) We made the house tidy and our guests arrived soon afterwards We can also use after as an adverb in the above sentence (our guests arrived soon after) Or we may use and then or and soon after that (and then/and soon after that our guests arrived) After as an adverb is often modified by soon or shortly and occurs in expressions like happily ever after It cannot be used in an initial position to refer to the second of two distinct events We had a swim in the sea Afterwards we lay on the beach
25.6 '(a)round' and 'about'
(A)round/about are interchangeable when
they
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- refer to lack of purpose or lack of definite
movement or position
We stood about/(a)round waiting
- refer to mindless activity / wish you'd stop fooling about/around
- are used to mean 'approximately' The telex was received (at) around/about 8
- are used to mean 'somewhere near / lost my purse about/(a)round here
About cannot replace around to refer to
- circular movement Millie's having a cruise (a)round the world
- distribution Would you hand these papers (a)round?
- 'every part' Let me show you (a)round the house
- 'in the area of He lives somewhere (a)round Manchester
Appendix 25
25.7 'at' [for time phrases > App 47 5]
At commonly follows
- adjectives associated with skill good/bad/clever/better/worse at I'm not very good at figures
- a few nouns associated with skill a dunce at, a genius at I'm a dunce at arithmetic
- verbs used to suggest action directed
towards a target or destination (often
suggesting aggression), such as aim, laugh,
shout, stare, strike, talk, throw At often
suggests taking aim Compare
Throw the ball to me (for me to catch)
That boy is always throwing stones at
birds (aiming at them to harm them)
She shouted to us across the valley
(to communicate with us)
The children got very dirty and she shouted
at them (to scold them)
Against (but not at) can be used after verbs
like fight throw, where there is no idea of
taking aim
He threw the ball against the wall We fought against the enemy
- adjectives which indicate a reaction to
circumstances, events, etc amazed, annoyed,
astonished, surprised etc + at [> App 10]
I'm surprised at all the calls we ve had At can often be replaced by by (surprised by) after words like surprised when these are used as past participles in the passive [> 12 7] At is also used with reference to price/speed
We have some combs at $2 each (This use of at is sometimes symbolically represented by '<@>' in price lists, etc)
Ron is driving at 100 miles an hour'
25.8 'away' [> 8.4.3]
Away is an adverb particle and is never
followed by an object It commonly combines
with the adverb far {far away) and the
preposition from (away from) and verbs which
convey the idea of 'distance
/ see storm clouds far away in the distance
I live twenty miles away from here
Note uses with verbs (e g fire away = begin
and don't stop, put away = put something in
its place work away, i e without interruption)
25.9 'because' and 'because of
Because (conjunction) introduces a clause
/ couldn t do the work because I was ill Because of (preposition) takes an object
/ can t do the work because of my illness On account of + object can be used in place of because of in formal contexts
Farms are going bankrupt on account of
the crisis in agriculture
25.10 'before' and 'in front of
Before is normally used to refer to time
Make sure you're there before 7. Before can refer to space when used with verbs like come go lie, stand, and in fixed expressions such as appear before the magistrate before (or in front of) your very eyes come before the court (before = 'in the
presence of in some of these expressions) In front of (and its opposite, behind) refers to position or place Before is not possible in most ordinary contexts to refer to position
/'// wait in front of the shop (Not "before") Before (like after) combines with e g come/ go and is interchangeable with In front of
You come before (after) me in the queue
Why don't you go before (after) me? Before and in front of are interchangeable when we refer to big geographical areas
There, before/in front of us, lay the desert or when they are used metaphorically to refer to big stretches of time etc
Your whole life lies before/in front of you
25.11 'behind', 'at the back (of)', 'back'
Behind can be used as a preposition
There s a big garden behind this house or as an adverb
There's a garden in front and one behind Behind can be replaced by at the back (of)
There s a garden at the back of the house
There s a garden at the back Back is an adverb and often combines with verbs like keep put, stand and stay
I wish you'd put things back in their places
Keep this book I don't want it back Back must not be confused with again in, e g
Our neighbours invited us to dinner a month
ago and we must invite them back (return
their hospitality)
We enjoyed having our neighbours to dinner
and we must invite them again (on another
occasion) When the idea of back is contained in the verb, the adverb back must not be used
We had to go back early
We had to return early (Not "return back") Back can also be used in the sense of 'ago'
/ saw him four years back/ago.
25.12 'beside' and 'besides'
Beside is a preposition meaning 'next to1
Come and sit beside me Besides is a preposition or an adverb meaning 'in addition to1 or 'as well as
There were many people there besides us
This vehicle is very fast Besides, it s got
four-wheel drive Besides should not be confused with except
All of us went besides Bill
(= Bill went and we went too)
All of us went except Bill
(= Bill didn t go but we did)
25.13 'between' and 'among'
Between is most commonly used to show a
division or connexion between two people,
things or times
Divide it equally between the two of you
There s a good service between here and