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 #2 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 14:10 pm In back of, in between. Incorrect? |
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Hi Cisco
| Quote: |
| "In the back of the library is Allen Hall". |
The way your sentence is worded, it means that Allen Hall is located inside the library. If you mean that a building called "Allen Hall" is located behind the library building, then you should word your sentence this way:
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"In back of the library is Allen Hall".
| Quote: |
| "Mary was standing in between two chairs". |
The word "in" is optional. I'd say that using "in" would add a little bit of a sense of "surrounded by".
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Yankee
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| #3 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 16:30 pm In back of, in between. Incorrect? |
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| Quote: |
If you mean that a building called "Allen Hall" is located behind the library building, then you should word your sentence this way:
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"In back of the library is Allen Hall". |
Is that American English or do other varieties use it? |
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Molly
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| #4 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 22:58 pm In back of, in between. Incorrect? |
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| Molly wrote: |
| Quote: |
If you mean that a building called "Allen Hall" is located behind the library building, then you should word your sentence this way:
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"In back of the library is Allen Hall". |
Is that American English or do other varieties use it? |
I haven't seen this used in American English much (that doesn't mean it's not being used). To me it's unnecessarily unclear. If I heard it, I would have to ask again to clarify. |
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 Diverhank
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| #5 (permalink) Sun Sep 21, 2008 23:17 pm In back of, in between. Incorrect? |
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Cisco's question was about whether "in" is necessary or not. However, in the "Allen Hall" example, I was not sure whether Cisco was referring to a person or the name of a building (on a university campus, for example). For me, the meaning of the phrase changes depending on whether the word "the" is included or not. I mentioned it seemed unlikely that a building called "Allen Hall" would be located inside the library, at the rear (which in my mind would be "in the back of").
The title of Cisco's thread did not include the word "the", however the question in his post did. So, we'll have to wait for Cisco to clarify his question, I suppose.
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Yankee
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| #6 (permalink) Mon Sep 22, 2008 0:07 am In back of, in between. Incorrect? |
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| Yankee wrote: |
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Cisco's question was about whether "in" is necessary or not. However, in the "Allen Hall" example, I was not sure whether Cisco was referring to a person or the name of a building (on a university campus, for example). For me, the meaning of the phrase changes depending on whether the word "the" is included or not. I mentioned it seemed unlikely that a building called "Allen Hall" would be located inside the library, at the rear (which in my mind would be "in the back of").
The title of Cisco's thread did not include the word "the", however the question in his post did. So, we'll have to wait for Cisco to clarify his question, I suppose.
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Sorry for the mess, I read this sentence online on which the author specified that the way this sentence should have been used was as follows: "the back of the building is Allen Hall" rather than writing the same sentence initiating it with the word "in" in front, therefore, I could not say much about the specifics of the actual idea to be conveyed by this sentence.
Thank you all for your valuable inputs.
God Bless you.
Cisco.
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Cisco795
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| #7 (permalink) Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:21 am In back of, in between. Incorrect? |
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Hi Cisco
You posted two different phrases:
- in the back of
- in back of
The phrase "in the back of" suggests "inside, near/at the back"
The phrase "in back of" means "behind" (i.e. not inside).
Look at definition 54 here:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=in+back+of&r=66
You can also find "in back of" in Webster's Dictionary as well as here:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=back*3+1&dict=A
I would use the word "in" for both expressions.
I presume that Molly was attempting to tell us that "in back of" is never used in British English.
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Yankee
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| #8 (permalink) Mon Sep 22, 2008 9:37 am In back of, in between. Incorrect? |
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| Quote: |
| I presume that Molly was attempting to tell us that "in back of" is never used in British English. |
Molly was asking if it is indeed used in other varieties, including BrEng.
| Quote: |
| The phrase "in back of" means "behind" (i.e. not inside). |
So if I go into a store in the US and ask to speak to the manager, the assistant would reply "he's in the back" and not "he's in back", right? |
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Molly
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| A question on "I'm parked in the lot." | "confident of" vs. "confident in" |
