English Uses and Misuses

I don't want to pester you, but abusing of your generosity sharing your expertise and, after reading a couple of related posts, I'm daring to ask this.

All of us, who are writing in English, one way or another were taught spelling and grammar rules, but we can certainly forget about passive and active voice or how and where we should use that, who or which.

I understand the difference between IN and ON, but I'm often confused when I should use one or another, as I'm always conflicting with TOWARD and TOWARDS and if nearby or indeed goes before or after, as in example:

"That's for sure indeed, buy your tickets at the nearby stadium" or "Indeed, that's for sure, buy your tickets at the stadium nearby."

I know this is not exactly a teaching classroom, but I know I can count with your feedback, thank you

 

In the US, the proper word is "toward." People add an S for some unknown reason.

I think in the UK the "s" is added though. One thing you'll discover is that Americans are incredibly sloppy with their communication. It's very sad.

For instance, you'll find a lot of people saying "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less." Obviously the meaning changes drastically between the two. This is one of my pet peeves. Oh, you COULD care less? Well that's really saying something isn't it? Don't get me started.

As to "in" and "on," well that's simple. It's either in something or it's on it.

Let's look at these examples:

"The pen is in the book" -- This means the pen is inside of the book.

"The pen is on the book" -- The pen is now resting on top of the book.

"The boat is on the lake" -- The boat is floating on top of the lake.

"The fish are in the lake" -- The fish are inside of the lake. Reach down into the water and you'll find them.

Hope that helps. If not, I'm sorry.

Now, let's look at your stadium example.

You'd want to say "nearby stadium," because the stadium is indeed nearby and it's a better way to say the sentence than "stadium nearby." The latter somewhat implies there's more to the sentence---buy your tickets at the stadium that's near the grocery store.

LOL. OMG. I should have used different examples for in and on. I just noticed that if you remove the space for the "pen is" examples you have a much different conversation going on.

 

I wouldn't use "indeed" and "that's for sure" in the same sentence. They pretty much mean the same thing. I might use it in a fiction character's dialogue if would help the reader form a certain opinion about the character.

That didn't answer your question, did it? I don't specifically remember learning anything about the placement of "indeed," but the sentence reads better when it's at the beginning. "Indeed, that's for sure. Buy your tickets at the stadium that's near the grocery store." Even better, "Indeed. Buy your tickets at the nearby stadium."
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Check out these links on when to use "on" and "in:" This one explains using them with places like marketjunction explained above. This one explains using them with time and date, e.g. "The test will be on August 15, 2008" and "The test will be in a week." The second link points out that we say "in the morning," "in the evening," and "in the afternoon," but "at night." You'll see nuances like that all the time.

P.S. I went through and bolded my own use of "in" and "on" to give you a better idea of how they're used conversationally.

 

I just read Latoya feeling sorry for not being able to rep any of you again and now it's my turn facing this problem until spread reputation aroung before sending you more, but you are truly my English Language Angels

So true, while being in London everybody pointing me towards everything and everywhere, LOL

Thanks Latoya for the links and, indeed, bolding helps

With your examples now I understand the difference I pointed at, and related to the "pen is..." Sacre dieu (I should say again) because a few minutes ago someone posted an advertisement at the Underground that reads "I want rich but can do sometime as well," probably written by someone who was playing with examples such as that of the pen

hihihihihihihihihihi

 

"The pen is mightier than the sword."

Mark Twain, that sassy old geezer, wrote a poem with the double-meaning of that phrase over a hundred years ago.