Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

1. Is *inquiry* more American and whereas *enquiry* is more British?

2. ....clubs realted to computers and technology, online gaming or baseketball, as these are areas of particular interest to me.

....clubs realted to computers and technology, online gaming or baseketball, as these are areas of particular interest*s* to me.

3.
Could you send me some information *about* how to join the clubs?
or
Could you send me some information *on* how to join the clubs?

4.
What are other *ways* of joing the programs?
What are other *means* of joing the programs?

Does the second one sounds *formal*?

5.
There *was* a belly dance show and a drama performance.

or
There were a belly dance show and a drama performance.

Which one of above is correct?

6.
I want to make contact before I get there.
or
I want to make contact*s* before I get there.

Which is correct?

Thanks

[redset]

1. I've never understood the difference myself, and as far as I'm aware neither of them is specifically American or English. They're used interchangeably, so use whichever you like.

2. The phrase is 'of interest' so you don't make it plural. (It's 'related' not 'realted' though, and 'BASEketball' is a movie - the real word is 'basketball' )

3. 'On' in this case means 'on the subject of', and you can use either 'on' or 'about'.

4. The second does sound a little more formal, yeah. (It's 'joining' by the way.)

5. The first noun phrase ('a belly dance show') is singular, so the verb is singular - 'was' not 'were'.

6. 'Make contact' means to start communicating in some way. 'Make contacts' means to establish relationships with people who might be useful in some way - friends, people in related businesses, someone who could sell you something you need etc. These people who you might want to get in contact with are called 'contacts'.

So the first sentence means that you have a specific person (or persons) you intend to get in touch with, and you want to do so before you arrive. The second sentence means that you want to have more contacts than you already do, and want to have them before you arrive.