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Sun 15 Jun, 2003 07:05 am
Add a preposition to a word, and you get a whole new meaning. Add a different preposition, and you get a different meaning. Sometimes deciding which preposition to use can be tricky. Dem preps can be sneaky little suckers. Here are a few examples:
agree on (or upon)--reach an understanding.
After much arguing, we finally agreed on a date for the party.
agree to --accept someone else's plan.
I didn't agree to the terms of the contract until all my questions had been answered.
agree with--concur with someone or with an idea.
I agree with your premise that there should be a better health-care system.
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angry at (or about) something.
She was angry about all the hyperbole--and no action.
angry with someone.
She had every right to be angry with them.
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compare to--suggest or assert a likeness.
They compared his work to Klee's.
compare with--analyze for similarities and differences.
When I compared my wardrobe with hers, I saw that we had about the same amount of clothes but that mine were more formal than hers.
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Please feel free to add other expressions in which those tricky prepositions tend to trip us up.
I was surpised to learn that sometimes, when using a preposition, a word like "awhile" should actually be open:
"I'll see you in a while."
And when a preposition is used as an adverb after a noun . . . well . . .
"Hang on to that letter." "On" and "to" are open because "on" is being used as an adverb to "hang."
I also discovered that when a preposition is being used as an adverb in a title, it's capped and not lowercased.
How's that for bizzare?
Dupre, Words like a/while, any/way, asnd any/time can be one word or two, depending on the part of speech and whether they follow a preposition.
As for capitalized prepositions in heads, not bizarre at all. If a preposition directly affects the definition of a word, it may be capitalized. From my point of view, this is a judgment call.
Looking Up the Answers
Looking up at the Sky
To look up means something quite different from to look above you, and, in the former case, the up is serving as an adverb.
I'm not a grammarian. And I've had no formal training in English. What I've learned, I've learned on the job. I go by instinct, experience, and common sense. Never thought about up as an adverb until a minute ago. But I would always make it cap if the expression called for it.
I think a lot of folks don't realize it's different from rather than different than.
Hey Jes, Different from is correct. Different than is generally unacceptable. However, sometimes different than may work its way into a sentence when different from causes a very awkward construction. For example:
I see the problem in a different way than you do.
To avoid saying:
I see the problem in a different way from the way in which you do.
However, I like to avoid different than no matter what. Awkward schmawkward.
Plus, you can change the sentence to
I see the problem differently from how you do.
Yup, rewording is often the best way to avoid awkwardness.
I love the prep with. It can mean its own direct opposite, depending on usage. 'I fought with the Russians against the Germans' means the opposite of 'I fought with the Russians at the battle for Stalingrad.'
(In fact, now that I re-read that second sentence, it is quite ambiguous.)
[Edited twice for typos. Sheesh!]
Try teaching prepositions to Aussies. They think "good ON you" is correct!!
GRRR
Don't be too quick to criticize, Crave. We 'Murricans think nothing of uttering an absurdity such as 'I could of danced all night.'
That is "Good on ya!"
Often now shortened to "On ya!"
Merry Andrew wrote: 'I could of danced all night.'
Amricans have their share of daftitude but that was a portrayal of a Brit.
"I could of spreaaaaaad my wings and done a thooooouuusand things...."
I prefer a more American construction:
I coulda danced all night.
I coulda danced all night.
. . .
I coulda spread my wings
etc.
Oh for smeg's sake - the lyrics are: "I could have danced all night"
There was possibly a hint of "I could've" - contraction of "I could have......"
Sheeeeeesh.
Sheeeesh right back atcha, bunny. Like if you hadn'ta told me, I never woulda known.
I know a number of Murr'cans that truly believe "could of" is correct. To them, grammar makes no sense anyhow, so why wouldn't it be right?
These are the same people who think alot is one word...
Right, Wy. And these are the same people who tend to say that they're going to be 'to home.'
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