Today I Heard My First . . . . .
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On / At My Arrival
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Some of you know I give private English lessons here in France. One of my pupils was corrected on writing 'On my arrival' rather than 'at my arrival' which I know is wrong but I can't find where I can prove this. Any ideas???
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I would actually say, "Upon my arrival", but that doesn't help.
If you put "at my arrival" into Google it takes you here as the first result: http://
If you put "at my arrival" into Google it takes you here as the first result: http://
Perhaps a few quotes might help?
e.g:
"When I was discussing the matter with Aunt Dahlia on my arrival, she said in a sniffy sort of way that she supposed I was going to shove my Cousin Angela into the lake . . . "
P G Wodehouse, Right Ho Jeeves.
"I would have written to you before this but my surprise was so great on my arrival to hear of Maggie's exposure of Spiritualism that I had no heart to write to anyone"
Arthur Conan Doyle, The History of Spiritualism.
"I found a dismal letter from him on my arrival here, full of complaints of his wife and sister . . . "
Jane Austen, Lady Susan
"I had gone direct to Mr. Jaggers at his private house, on my arrival over night, to retain his assistance . . ."
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.
Of course, the only problem with citing Dickens might be that someone could point out that he misused the English language in the title of one of his novels, "Our Mutual Friend" ;-)
e.g:
"When I was discussing the matter with Aunt Dahlia on my arrival, she said in a sniffy sort of way that she supposed I was going to shove my Cousin Angela into the lake . . . "
P G Wodehouse, Right Ho Jeeves.
"I would have written to you before this but my surprise was so great on my arrival to hear of Maggie's exposure of Spiritualism that I had no heart to write to anyone"
Arthur Conan Doyle, The History of Spiritualism.
"I found a dismal letter from him on my arrival here, full of complaints of his wife and sister . . . "
Jane Austen, Lady Susan
"I had gone direct to Mr. Jaggers at his private house, on my arrival over night, to retain his assistance . . ."
Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.
Of course, the only problem with citing Dickens might be that someone could point out that he misused the English language in the title of one of his novels, "Our Mutual Friend" ;-)
Our Mutual Friend is just an example of artistic license.
http://
http://
No mercy: usually I teach that: when I arrived at .... but this was an exercise where you had to use arrival so my pupil wrote, as I've taught her, on my arrival and she got points knocked off and it was corrected as 'at my arrival'. I'm looking for examples that this pupil can show to her teacher that she's wrong! Chris's examples are great and it would be nice to have others.
>>>and it would be nice to have others
Oh, go on then ;-)
" I was much cheered on my arrival by the warder at the gate, who had to take particulars about me"
Bertrand Russell, The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell.
"On my arrival here I purposely allowed a few days to elapse before coming to see you, in order that I might be fully assured that you were in full possession of the tidings"
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (trans. Constance Garnett ), Crime and Punishment
"It was a repetition of the ovation I met with on my arrival in Paris"
Victor Hugo, The Memoirs of Victor Hugo
"After the tumultuous emotions of the day, I was glad to find on my arrival at the inn that my companions had retired to rest"
Mary Shelley. The Last Man
"On my arrival we agreed to walk over from the village"
Henry James, A Light Man
"On my arrival at New York the question was at its height"
Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
"I found, on my arrival at the shop in Brown’s Square, that the old gentleman had returned that very evening . . . "
Sir Walter Scott, Redgauntlet.
Oh, go on then ;-)
" I was much cheered on my arrival by the warder at the gate, who had to take particulars about me"
Bertrand Russell, The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell.
"On my arrival here I purposely allowed a few days to elapse before coming to see you, in order that I might be fully assured that you were in full possession of the tidings"
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (trans. Constance Garnett ), Crime and Punishment
"It was a repetition of the ovation I met with on my arrival in Paris"
Victor Hugo, The Memoirs of Victor Hugo
"After the tumultuous emotions of the day, I was glad to find on my arrival at the inn that my companions had retired to rest"
Mary Shelley. The Last Man
"On my arrival we agreed to walk over from the village"
Henry James, A Light Man
"On my arrival at New York the question was at its height"
Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
"I found, on my arrival at the shop in Brown’s Square, that the old gentleman had returned that very evening . . . "
Sir Walter Scott, Redgauntlet.
"On" tells us of a point in time. "On my arrival", "On waking", "On being promoted, he...."
"At" tells us that the phrase serves like a kind of object. "He was surprised at my arrival" means he reacted to my arriving. "He was surprised on my arrival" means he was in a state of surprise when I arrived; my arrival was not the cause of his surprise and had nothing to do with his surprise.
"At" tells us that the phrase serves like a kind of object. "He was surprised at my arrival" means he reacted to my arriving. "He was surprised on my arrival" means he was in a state of surprise when I arrived; my arrival was not the cause of his surprise and had nothing to do with his surprise.
What's wrong with "Our Mutual Friend" ? Oxford online gives "Mutual: Held in common by two or more parties [e.g] "We were introduced by a mutual friend"
I've never read the book, but if Dickens was describing a friend held in common by 'us', one we both ,or all, have as a friend, what's wrong with the title ?
I've never read the book, but if Dickens was describing a friend held in common by 'us', one we both ,or all, have as a friend, what's wrong with the title ?
Fred:
See Fowler!
Scroll down to the paragraph commencing with "The word mutual requires caution":
http://
'Mutuality' requires a common bond across all parties concerned. If A is a friend of C, then there is mutual feeling between them. Similarly if B is a friend of C there is again mutual feeling. However A and B may not have even met each other, so there is no mutuality across all three people.
See Fowler!
Scroll down to the paragraph commencing with "The word mutual requires caution":
http://
'Mutuality' requires a common bond across all parties concerned. If A is a friend of C, then there is mutual feeling between them. Similarly if B is a friend of C there is again mutual feeling. However A and B may not have even met each other, so there is no mutuality across all three people.
Answering your question coccinelle, my link to wikipedia gives a page which commences "Artistic license ... is a colloquial term... used to denote ... alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of art."
Dickens presumably misused "mutual" to give a more suitable title to the book - "Our Friend" would sound a bit bare artistically.
Dickens presumably misused "mutual" to give a more suitable title to the book - "Our Friend" would sound a bit bare artistically.
Get it Chris,and times change. Dear old Fowler, and we are here dealing with the first publication, might now be seen as pedantic as Dr Johnson objecting to 'idea' in ' have an idea that'. Perhaps he was when he was writing, and Dickens was more attuned to current usage of his day. The Oxford definition fits 'mutual friend'. Fowler says that 'mutual' of an insurance company 'may' be correct. When? It's a company where every member shares the risk equally, is it not?They have no relationship beyond the common purpose
.
Yeah its bad luck when someone goes out on a limb and gets it wrong and the people who stick to 'the cat sat on the mat' get 10/10
amassing ten examples of 'on my arrival' is very classical - Nisbet somewhere in his commentaries on Horace that Latin crit involves giving multiple examples of a use of a word
however it boils down to :
the English say it like this and not like that..... but that is why she is getting lessons from vous-meme isnt it ?
[Nisbet may be a 'her']
Yeah its bad luck when someone goes out on a limb and gets it wrong and the people who stick to 'the cat sat on the mat' get 10/10
amassing ten examples of 'on my arrival' is very classical - Nisbet somewhere in his commentaries on Horace that Latin crit involves giving multiple examples of a use of a word
however it boils down to :
the English say it like this and not like that..... but that is why she is getting lessons from vous-meme isnt it ?
[Nisbet may be a 'her']
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