#english-grammar — Public Fediverse posts

in an English-language novel, should I pluralize "tableau" as "tableaus" or "tableaux?" Both of them look wrong.

#amWriting #English #grammar #EnglishGrammar #LoanWordsAreSuchFun

Grammar dilemmas: ‘in the beginning’ or ‘at the beginning’?

A mistake I often hear in conversation classes has to do with the choice of preposition before the nouns ‘beginning’ and ‘end’. Did something happen ‘in the beginning’ or ‘at the beginning’? And what happened ‘in the end’? Or is it ‘at the end’?

Likely due to influence of Serbian / Croatian – most of my students’ mother tongue – I also often hear ‘on the beginning’ and ‘on the end’ (na početku, na kraju). 

So, which one is it?

To eliminate one for starters, ‘on’ the beginning / end is NOT an option, as it’s grammatically incorrect. It’s also a good lesson: never translate prepositions literally!

The good news is that you can use both ‘in’ and ‘at’ with these nouns; the bad news is that they don’t mean exactly the same thing. Let’s check out the difference.

IN THE BEGINNING

This has a more general meaning, implying the beginning of a longer process, historical event or development. One usually has in mind a whole period of time, not any single moment. A great example of this is the opening verse of the Bible, which starts like this:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1)

Later verses describe these events in greater detail; all of which were “in the beginning.”

You can also use it to introduce contrast:

In the beginning, I didn’t like my neighbourhood, but now I’m very happy there. 

In this sense, it means the same as AT FIRST. 

AT THE BEGINNING

This refers to a specific time or place; a single point that was the start of something:

I introduced myself at the beginning of the meeting.

There was a horrifying scene at the beginning of the film.

IN THE END

Similar to ‘in the beginning’, IN here refers to the end of a longer process, development, situation etc. The phrase means the same as EVENTUALLY, FINALLY:

I was trying to learn Japanese; in the end, I gave up.

The war was very long and difficult, but we won in the end.

AT THE END

Same as with ‘at the beginning’, this too refers to a specific location or a point in time:

You’ll find my house at the end of the road.

The film was so sad, everyone cried at the end.

I hope this was not too difficult. You can practise this a bit by doing my short grammar quiz on this topic!

I’m a freelance language tutor (English, Latin, Classical Greek), researcher, and a literary scholar currently based in Belgrade, Serbia.  

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I am once again begging all y'all to learn and apply the difference between the three words below. Not because I'm a grammar hammer, but because clear communication is important.

I. regime = a heavy-handed government or administration

II. regimen = a highly structured practice

III. regiment =
1. (noun:) a military unit
2. (verb:) to systematize

#grammar
#language
#EnglishGrammar
#linguistics
#vocabulary

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Since the subjunctive sounds formal, English speakers often use alternatives in everyday speech. #English #EnglishGrammar #Subjunctive. #esl #efl #inglés #영어 #anglais #英语 #英語. #Learn with us: https://thelanguagegarage.com/the-english-subjunctive/

Active vs. Passive Voice: The Art of Structuring Ideas Before Drafting (Free Cheat Sheet Inside!)

Let’s face it: grammar rules can feel stuffy. But here’s the deal active and passive voice aren’t about “right” or “wrong.” They’re tools. And like any good tool, their power lies in knowing when to use them.

https://medium.com/@leedwriting/active-vs-passive-voice-the-art-of-structuring-ideas-before-drafting-free-cheat-sheet-inside-3a008aadd727

#WritingTips #GrammarHacks #ActiveVoice #PassiveVoice #ContentWriting #Copywriting #WritingCommunity #ContentCreation #WritingSkills #EnglishGrammar

I still think "aren't I" is a stupid expression.

#EnglishGrammar

TIL that "went" is the past tense of "wend".

#Linguistics #Grammar #TodayILearned #EnglishGrammar #HistoryOfLanguage

#WordOfTheDay #learnenglish #vocabulary #ielts #englishteacher #english #grammar #toefl #englishgrammar

When should you hyphenate two-word adjectives (in English)?

#English #ESOL #ESL #EnglishGrammar #Grammar
#PetPeeves

I often complain about people writing sentences using dangling modifiers. So the moment I wrote this without thinking...

"Living near Northgate, the Lynnwood Link has a lot more impact on my life than the [RapidRide] G."

#EnglishGrammar #DanglingModifier

Why does “reached” sound wrong? Like it shouldn’t be the past tense of “reach”?
#EnglishLanguage #EnglishGrammar #English #conlang #conlanging #conlangs #linguistics

Sometimes semantic drift catches me unawares, like how “custom” means both “a tradition/practice among a group of people” and “patronage at a shop” (i.e. a customer).
#conlang #conlanging #conlangs #worldbuilding #linguistics #EnglishLanguage #EnglishGrammar

Our Linguistics Quiz has just been posted on our website!
https://youknowwhatblog.com/quizzes/linguistics-quiz/

#grammar #englishlanguage #writing #languagelearning #grammarnazi #englishgrammar #learnenglish #grammartips #englishvocabulary #englishlessons #englishwriting #englishlanguagelearning #englishgrammarrules #englishlanguagearts #englishlanguagelearner #englishlanguageacademy #englishlanguagestudy #englishlanguageclass #englishlanguageproficiency #englishlanguageusage #TriviaTime #FunFacts

#englishgrammar #englishlanguage #EFL #histodon #linguistodon
Good morning (ou presque) Mastodon, tu travailles sur les manuels de langue ? L'anglais enseigné en France ? L'édition scolaire au XXe siècle ?
Tous ces livres/manuels sont à récupérer gratuitement à #montpellier !

(je lis volontiers vos conseils pour savoir quoi faire de ces #livres, je ne veux pas les jeter et ils ont des petits copains allemands, latins et grec)

I'd love to know if there's any #linguistics research about the colloquially expanded usage of 'where'

so it floats free of its material, locative meaning and starts to mean 'regarding which' or even 'when'

so rather than a physical space, it denotes a conceptual space, i.e. a situation or scenario

as seen in the 'Friends' episode naming format "The One Where…"

it is impossible to google this, but basically in everyday speech I'm noticing people using 'where' as a catchall adverb

I do it too, e.g. "I had a good day where I managed to get my work done"

As an editor I still strongly feel that you express yourself more clearly and precisely if you allow words to have distinct meanings, or at least distinct contextual appropriateness…

"I had a good day when I managed to get my work done"

but this has a more refined meaning focusing on time:

"the day _on which_ I got work done was a good day"

rather than the productivity itself:

"getting my work done that day was a good situation"

I'm wondering if I need to be less prescriptivist about 'where' and recognise the semantic nuances of its descriptive usage

I don't want to pedantically force all usages of 'where' into spatial/locative senses and so crush its range of figurative senses

god, why can't I just edit stuff rather than breaking my brain obsessing over language like this

At times like these I feel neurodivergent in a disability sense, like other people's brains can just intuitively propel them through their work while I feel dragged down by my compulsion to understand the history, rationale and mechanisms of every tiny aspect of my work before I can even begin it

#grammar #EnglishGrammar #editing #copyediting

Confused about when to use 'other', 'others', and 'another'? This post is for you!

Read a few basic explanations and do the 10-question online grammar quiz. Suitable for students at A2/B1 levels.

https://grammaticus.blog/2023/11/08/other-others-another/

#englishteacher #englishgrammar #learningenglish