Days of the w eek

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

/ 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

- 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