Correct the sentences

[Untaught1988]

Hi teachers,

1) She mourns over the losses of her economy. Correct?
2) She mourns for her husband. Correct?
3) He is still mourning his brother's death. Correct?

Is the first one correct or we should use "for" instead of "over"?
Why is "for" omitted in the third sentence?

4) It rains cats and dogs. Correct?
5) It rains like cats and dogs. Incorrect?

6) Do they follow the foot-prints of their forefather? means?

Many thanks
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Naeem PTC

[Dozy]

#1, #2 and #3 all look OK to me. The subject of #1 would most likely have to be a president or similar, or the personification of a country.

I think you "mourn for" something you miss, so you cannot "mourn for losses".

The simple answer is that "for" is omitted in #3 because "mourn" is being used transitively.

The usual idiom is "rain cats and dogs" (no "like").

#6 sounds a bit odd to me. "forefathers", plural, would be natural, and the usual idiom is "follow in someone's footsteps". Anyway, I understand the sentence to mean something like "Do they conduct themselves in the same way as their predecessors/ancestors?"

[Untaught1988]

Thank you - Dozy :)
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Naeem PTC