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raewon
Joined: 16 Jun 2009
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:06 pm Post subject: grammar question about "of + year" |
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I've got a question with "of" and years. Please compare the following sentences:
1) I came to Korea in July of 2009.
2) I came to Korea in July in 2009.
I'd use the first sentence, but a student wants to know if the second one is correct or not. It sounds unnatural to me, but I'm not sure how to explain it. Then again, I could be wrong and the second sentence could be fine. I've got a few of Swans' books, but I can't find any comments about this.
Thank you in advance. |
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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Location: korreia
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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1 is good, 2 is not.
It would be fine to say I came to Korea in July 2009, in my opinion
It's just like this one:
It's the 5th of May...not the 5th in May.
Just a basic preposition rule. No real reason for it I'd say. It just is. |
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The Cosmic Hum

Joined: 09 May 2003 Location: Sonic Space
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 11:16 pm Post subject: Re: grammar question about "of + year" |
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raewon wrote: |
I've got a question with "of" and years. Please compare the following sentences:
1) I came to Korea in July of 2009.
2) I came to Korea in July in 2009.
I'd use the first sentence, but a student wants to know if the second one is correct or not. It sounds unnatural to me, but I'm not sure how to explain it. Then again, I could be wrong and the second sentence could be fine. I've got a few of Swans' books, but I can't find any comments about this.
Thank you in advance. |
Both answers are correct.
This is both regional and stylistic...formal vs informal.
...of 2009 in more formal and prescriptive in written form.
...in 2009 is less formal and descriptive of spoken (regional) form
It would depend on the stress of the sentence.
Because the month was indicated first...of 2009 is the prescriptive choice.
However, if this were a comparative of years....
a) When did you come to Korea?
b) I came to Korea in July in 2009.
It just puts the emphasis on the year...again...informally...it treats the prepositional phrase...in July...as inconsequential.
a)When did you come to Korea?
b) I came in 2009. |
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Easter Clark

Joined: 18 Nov 2007 Location: Hiding from Yie Eun-woong
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:23 am Post subject: |
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The Cosmic Hum--
Excellent answer. To put it more into layman's terms:
1) I came to Korea in July of 2009.
Emphasizes "July"
2) I came to Korea in July in 2009.
Emphasizes "2009" |
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frankly speaking
Joined: 23 Oct 2005
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:59 am Post subject: |
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Stylistically it is pretty bad form to use the same preposition in a row like that.
You can omit the second in and it would still be accurate. |
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