Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

sleeper · Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 67

Hi, there.

Look at the following dialogue.

A: Hello. I haven't see you for a long time. Where have you been?
B: Oh, ( ). I visited my friend in Manchester, my grandfather in Liverpool, and then my parents in Yorkshire.
1. here and there 2. near and far 3. in and out 4. back to back

This is a fill-in-the-blank quiz.

My teacher said that the right answer is #1.
I know that #1 is correct, but how about #2?

It seems that #2 can be also put in the blank, though I cannot explain it.

What do you think about it?

What is the difference in meaning between 'here and there' and 'near and far'?

I'm waiting for your answer.

Thanks. Smile

LucentShade · Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Posts: 542 Location: Nebraska, USA

"here and there" is an idiomatic expression meaning "various places" -- it doesn't make reference to distance, only to number of places.

CP · Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 2875 Location: California

With the placement at the beginning of the sentence, I would say that "back to back" is the correct answer. "Back to back" means "in succession" or "one after the other," and here the speaker is telling about making several visits in a rwo. For "here and there" to be right, it would have to be something like, "Oh, I've been here and there, visiting friends and seeing the sights." "Here and there" is really more a way to indicate gadding about without being too specific about it, whereas in your sentence, the speaker is very specific.

Just my thoughts, anyway.

Yours truly, CP

Lorikeet · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco

CP · Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 2875 Location: California

I correct myself:

I read the punctuation as a comma, not a period. As written, it actually should be "here and there," because the first part of the answer is the general, while the second sentence gives the details.

As penance, I shall diagram five compound-complex sentences.

Yours truly, CP

CP · Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 2875 Location: California

To answer your question about no. 2, "near and far":

That would be the second-best answer, but not always appropriate. "Here and there" conveys the idea that the speaker has gone several places, and he follows up with a list of places he visited.

"Near and far" would be all right if the speaker lives somewhere in the U.K., but we have no information about where he started from.

If the speaker lives in Australia or Canada and visited people in the U.K., "near and far" would not be right, as all the destinations are far.

Yours truly, CP