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 Fri Jun 20, 2008 22:00 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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"The cost of flying" is fine, and "the cost of air travel" is also good.
Don't ask me what the difference is, because there isn't any.  |
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Jamie (K)
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:52 am Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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| "I don't often travel by air because/as flights are expensive" might be useful. |
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Molly
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nessie
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 19:56 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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Yes, "because flights are expensive" is perfectly natural English. "As flights are expensive" sounds a little archaic and literary, but "for flights are expensive" would sound VERY old!
Please don't ask me the difference in meaning between them, because there isn't any. |
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Jamie (K)
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 21:09 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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Thanks a lot, Jamie.
And first of all, terribly sorry for my "what's the difference between/among..." all the time 
Now I have another question: Here in my country, we are taught that all these words have the same meaning (of "because"): because, for, as, since, now that.
However we are not taught which is better to use and which is old or archaic, so I often use them quite freely to avoid using one word for so many times. Therefore, this is the first time I've known "for" and "as" sound old for this meaning. Could you please tell me more about them?
Many thanks
Nessie |
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nessie
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 23:27 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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"Because" is the most often used and the most neutral.
"Since" is also used for this meaning sometimes, and it's also relatively neutral.
"As" is common, but sounds more literary and therefore a little archaic. Americans and Canadians, at least, don't use it in speech, but we may use it in writing, usually in something formal, like a legal document.
"For" is VERY archaic, and you'd find it in Shakespeare or an old fairy tale.
"Now that" means something quite different. It announces a new situation, not the reason.
"Now that I have my debts paid, I can save some money."
(The new situation is that I have no debts, so now I can save money.)
"Now that I've discovered the truth, I feel foolish about my old opinion."
(I used to believed something, but it has just been shown to me that I was wrong. In this new situation, I feel foolish about what I used to think.) |
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Jamie (K)
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 23:32 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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| Quote: | | "As flights are expensive" sounds a little archaic and literary, |
So "as" is not a common conjunction in the US, right?
Do these sound "archaic and literary"?
As it was getting late, I decided to book into a hotel.
You can go first as you're the oldest. |
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Molly
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 23:41 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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Therefore, this is the first time I've known "for" and "as" sound old for this meaning.
"For" does have an old feel to it, but not "as", IMO. Maybe Jamie means that "as" sounds formal in the above use. |
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Molly
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 23:43 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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| Molly wrote: | Do these sound "archaic and literary"?
As it was getting late, I decided to book into a hotel.
You can go first as you're the oldest. |
Yes, they sound quite archaic and literary. Most native English speakers in the world do not use "as" in that way, except in very formal writing. |
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Jamie (K)
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 23:50 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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| Quote: | | "For" is VERY archaic, and you'd find it in Shakespeare or an old fairy tale. |
A little bit later than the Bard (unless he was still writing in the year 2000) and wider than that genre, Jamie. In Time magazine, for example:
"They are equally delighted when Bette Midler's title character is murdered in the film's first scene, for she was, as flashbacks reveal, crazy mean. Almost everyone -- including Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell and Casey Affleck -- has a motive for offing her, but mostly what police chief Danny DeVito's investigation reveals is a city-wide pattern of irredeemable obtuseness."
Date (2000/03/06)
Title Can Irony Kill Comedy?
Author BY RICHARD SCHICKEL
Source http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,996273,00.html
.............
"Besim Kadriu still keeps that photo in his wallet as a lucky charm, for while some people would opt for death rather than disfigurement, he considers himself a fortunate man. For one thing, a couple of centimeters farther back and that Serb bullet would have hit his brain. For another, he was reunited with Valbona and survived for three months in the care of..."
Date (2000/03/13)
Title The Face Of War
Author JONATHAN MARGOLIS
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"George W. Bush and Trent Lott have said they wouldn't fill out the long form because it invades their privacy. Well, I long for the long form. For I and most Americans I know feel cheated of our inalienable right to talk about ourselves."
Date (2000/04/17)
Title Take My Privacy, Please
Author JOEL STEIN
..............
A few hundred more examples here:
http://corpus.byu.edu/time/ |
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Molly
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| Sat Jun 21, 2008 23:56 pm Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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| Quote: | | Most native English speakers in the world do not use "as" in that way, except in very formal writing. |
Most Americans, you mean? |
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Molly
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| Sun Jun 22, 2008 0:06 am Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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| Jamie (K) wrote: | | Yes, they sound quite archaic and literary. Most native English speakers in the world do not use "as" in that way, except in very formal writing. |
Then useful to students who may wish to write in a "very formal" way ,right?
Would you see this as an example of very formal English, Jamie?
| Quote: | The hierarchical structure that can handle such problems is becoming complex and cumbersome, as many checks must be performed in order to maintain consistency of the data and the form of its accessibility. The addition and removal of sub-assemblies and components from the tree may also create difficulties as jumps between " branches " may be inadvertently created or breaks produced making the data inaccessible through the tree structure.
From: The computer-based design process. Medland, A J. London: Kogan Page Ltd, 1986. |
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Molly
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| Thu Jun 26, 2008 0:21 am Phrase "the cost of flying"? |
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As a footnote on the BrE use of "for" (conj.):
1. The only way I'll get to visit is if I can get a week or more off work to drive up there for a few days (because flights are expensive!).
— slightly modified, from Google.
There, while "because" sounds natural, "for" would sound humorous, or at least mock-formal (or mock-Biblical):
2. The only way I'll get to visit is if I can get a week or more off work to drive up there for a few days (for flights are expensive!).
In a heightened or academic context, "for" is possible. I would be quite surprised to hear it in non-ironic ordinary speech.
MrP |
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MrPedantic
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| Construction "ain't history" | by vs. beside |
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..