Comments on: Where and Whence

By: John Boisa

John Boisa — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:02:17 +0000

The issue of adding an “at” at the end of the sentence prompted an interesting comment from a former Russian teacher. In Russian, he taught, there are two different words to ask where something is. There is a generic word asking “where”, but a completely different word for asking for a specific location; “Where is it located?”. He suggested that we English speakers instinctively add the “at” because we want to emphasize exact location rather than the general whereabouts of something or someone.

Example:

“Where is the White House?” – Washington D.C.
“Where is the White House at?” – 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

By: p

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:32:51 +0000

Hi nice post but you are misusing inverted commas as you are not literally speaking these words. “where’s” should be ‘where’s’.

By: A Jones

A Jones — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:51:03 +0000

Hi Maeve, just to point out that although it may just be poetic licence, his use of ‘sprung’ in the simple past is perfectly correct Scottish English.

In the traditional Scots language, one has the choice between the simple past tenses ‘sprang, sprung, sprank’ and for the past participle one can choose either ‘sprang or sprung’, so this usage has over time gradually crept into Standard Scottish English too.

By: July 2007 « M. J. Maddox

July 2007 « M. J. Maddox — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:06:14 +0000

[...] the Lockjam and Buttoning Down the Hatches * 16: Less/Fewer; Number/Amount: Still Salvageable * 14: Where and Whence * 12: Dealing with “he said” and “she said” * 11: Five Frequently Misused Verbs: Go, Come, [...]

By: susanne kimball

susanne kimball — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:05:53 +0000

Roshawn writes: ” Like Shankar said…” It should be “As Shankar said…” “Like” is a preposition, “as” is a conjunction to be used in phrases containing a verb.