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Chan-Seung Lee
Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 1032
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 Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:39 pm Post subject: in which |
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1.I cannot find words in which to thank you.
2.I cannot find words to thank you in.
3.There were ten minutes in which to make up his mind.
4.There were ten minutes to make up his mind in. |
First, I'd like to know sentence 1 and 3 are correct grammatically.
Secondly, if they are correct, between 1 and 2, which one is more common among native speakers? And also, I want to know which one is more common between 3 and 4.
Thanks. |
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CP
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California
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| Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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1. "I cannot find words in which to thank you." This is not a natural way to say it. The shortest way to fix it: "I cannot find words with which to thank you."
2. "I cannot find words to thank you in." Also not natural. You could say, "I cannot find the words to thank you."
3. "There were ten minutes in which to make up his mind." Grammatically correct but a little stiff. More natural: "He had ten minutes to make up his mind."
4. "There were ten minutes to make up his mind in." Grammatically correct except for people who say you can't end a sentence in a preposition. But a little awkward. More natural: "There were only ten minutes for him to make up his mind."
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb |
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Chan-Seung Lee
Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 1032
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| Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:37 am Post subject: once more |
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1.He has no house in which to live.
2.He has no house to live in.
3.He has no house to live.
4.He has no pen with which to write.
5.He has no pen to write with.
6.He has no pen to write.
7.Give me a basket in which to carry the apples.
8.Give me a basket to carry the apples in.
9.Give me a basket to carry the apples. |
Thanks for your kind reply, CP.
I still wonder if the above examples are correct. According to your answer, I can guess that 3,6,and 9 are correct and the others are correct, too. But someone said that 3,6, and 9 are not correct.
Can you let me know whether the above examples are correct or not?
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CP
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California
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| Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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Nos. 3 and 6 are not correct, but you could say 9 without getting a demerit. This is because we can use baskets to carry apples. No need to say "in" if we say it that way.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb |
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