Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Chan-Seung Lee]

[Christine123]

1. I am not sure what No. 1 means. I would have to have more context. Diaries are private journals, so to understand the context of the sentence I would have to understand why, it seems, that someone else has read his diary, and what the mix-up specifically is. It works grammatically, though.

2. Arguing can be a synonym for pleading.

3. No. 2 is not grammatically correct. The word "late" is an adverb describing the verbal phrase "rushed in," but you also have another verb, "pleading," following "rushed in." By putting the adverb "late" after both verbs, it is difficult to tell which verb the adverb is modifying. You want adverbs to either precede or follow the verb it modifies, without any other verbs in between.

4. Example 3 does not make sense.

[CP]

1.Geoffrey rushed in late pleading a mix-up in his diary.

I would punctuate it with a comma: Geoffrey rushed in late, pleading a mix-up in his diary. Pleading here means giving an excuse.

Paraphrased: Geoffrey rushed into the room. He was late. He gave the excuse that there was a mix-up in his calendar.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Bluegum]

1. Again, Christine123, in British English this use of "diary" is fine. It means an appointments diary. You even hear business people telling you to "diarise that immediately' which I had always assumed was an American expression.

2. Chan-Seung Lee, perhaps you are confused between "late" and "later". Your sentence 3 would be understandable if "later" were used, though it is still awkward.