Vocabulary 'Imminent'

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Dearest English teachers,
can I use imminent and coming interchangeably? Please correct the sentence below if it has errors. Thanks a lot in advance.
My English tests are imminent.

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Type: Question • Score: 8 • Views: 2,004 • Replies: 29
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[+3] - engineer - 04/29/2013"Imminent" implies a sense of immediacy. It's more like "at any second" while "coming" just means sometime in the future. "Imminent" is also somewhat...
[+3] - contrex - 04/29/2013[quote="JTT"] Dame Edwards is also a native speaker. [/quote] Who is "Dame Edwards"?
[+3] - contrex - 04/29/2013[quote="engineer"]I didn't mean a native speaker wouldn't use the word, only that the OP's suggested sentence was not something a native speaker would say.[/quote] I can imagine plenty...
[+3] - contrex - 04/29/2013I'll take that silence as a 'yes'. A little usage note: British and Commonwealth people who are made knights or dames are known as Dame (or Sir) Firstname Lastname or Dame (or Sir) Firstname but...

View best answer, chosen by Loh Jane

My English tests are coming up right away.

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@PUNKEY,

Hi PUNKEY,
is my sentence wrong?

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@Loh Jane,

"Imminent" implies a sense of immediacy. It's more like "at any second" while "coming" just means sometime in the future. "Imminent" is also somewhat undefined so you generally wouldn't use imminent if you meant "at 4:00".

You sentence wasn't wrong but I doubt you would hear a native speaker saying it. If your English test is in two days, you might say it was coming. If it is in a half hour or at 4:00 you would likely just say that ("My test is at 4:00). I'd save imminent for what something is about to happen but you aren't exactly sure of the time. "The train's arrival is imminent."

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@engineer,

Good reply, E. I might add that it tends towards the more formal, which you alluded to, - "but I doubt you would hear a native speaker saying it".

1 Reply

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Good reply, E. I might add that it tends towards the more formal, which you alluded to, - "but I doubt you would hear a native speaker saying it".

Well, I'm a native speaker, and I use "imminent" quite often. If anyone wanted to they could, in theory, hear me saying it.

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@contrex,

Quote:

Well, I'm a native speaker, and I use "imminent" quite often. If anyone wanted to they could, in theory, hear me saying it.

You've also described yourself a snob, C. Dame Edwards is also a native speaker.

Describe what you feel was inaccurate with Engineer's description and possibly, he will address your concerns.

1 Reply

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Dame Edwards is also a native speaker.

Who is "Dame Edwards"?

0 Replies

@contrex,

contrex wrote:

Well, I'm a native speaker, and I use "imminent" quite often. If anyone wanted to they could, in theory, hear me saying it.

I didn't mean a native speaker wouldn't use the word, only that the OP's suggested sentence was not something a native speaker would say.

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@engineer,

engineer wrote:

I didn't mean a native speaker wouldn't use the word, only that the OP's suggested sentence was not something a native speaker would say.

I can imagine plenty of native speakers might say "My English tests are imminent and I have done very little revision!"

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@engineer,

Quote:

I didn't mean a native speaker wouldn't use the word, only that the OP's suggested sentence was not something a native speaker would say.

I agree that the sentence did seem to be one that was less formal. But that also doesn't preclude that ENLs sometimes use more formal in informal situations.

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Are you going to tell me who Dame Edwards is, or not?

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@contrex,

You do not know how to google(qm)

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@JTT,

JTT wrote:

You do not know how to google(qm)

I do. I'll ask (as Google did) - did you mean Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries)?

1 Reply

I'll take that silence as a 'yes'. A little usage note: British and Commonwealth people who are made knights or dames are known as Dame (or Sir) Firstname Lastname or Dame (or Sir) Firstname but never Dame (or Sir) Lastname. This applies to real ones as well as drag comedy characters. I did once read about a US television interviewer who addressed one of our actors as "Sir Gielgud".

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@contrex,

Yes, I meant Edna.

1 Reply

Hi all,
I am at a loss. Is my sentence acceptable or not?

2 Replies

@Loh Jane,

I'd say that usage of imminent would confuse most native speakers because of the ambivalent and vague nature of the word unless they really gave it a thought therefore the sentence shouldn't be considered acceptable.

Vocabulary 'Imminent'

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