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among or upon?
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Yurui Liu
Aug 26, 2014, 10:44:39 AM8/26/14
to
Hi,
Can anyone please tell me whether 'upon' or 'among' is correct in the following sentence?
We were ___ friends in that strange but beautiful country.
If 'among' is used, it seems preferable to have a possessive or definite article preceding it, such as "among his friends'. But there's none.
I'd appreciate your help.
Can anyone please tell me whether 'upon' or 'among' is correct in the following sentence?
We were ___ friends in that strange but beautiful country.
If 'among' is used, it seems preferable to have a possessive or definite article preceding it, such as "among his friends'. But there's none.
I'd appreciate your help.
Guy Barry
Aug 26, 2014, 10:52:55 AM8/26/14
to
"Yurui Liu" wrote in message
news:f7309e09-4047-4511...@googlegroups.com...
"Among friends" is perfectly idiomatic English in that context, but I don't
understand what "upon friends" would mean.
--
Guy Barry
news:f7309e09-4047-4511...@googlegroups.com...
understand what "upon friends" would mean.
--
Guy Barry
Yurui Liu
Aug 26, 2014, 10:54:47 AM8/26/14
to
Guy Barry於 2014年8月26日星期二UTC+8下午10時52分55秒寫道：
what's the dfference between 'they were friends' and 'they were among friends'?
>
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> --
>
> Guy Barry
>
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> --
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> Guy Barry
Mike Barnes
Aug 26, 2014, 11:02:49 AM8/26/14
to
subtly different. "Among our friends" means among people we know, and
doesn't fit the context well. "Among friends" can mean people we don't
know but we regard as friendly.
"Upon friends" doesn't work.
--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England
Guy Barry
Aug 26, 2014, 11:03:57 AM8/26/14
to
"Yurui Liu" wrote in message
news:226f406c-f9fa-4c73...@googlegroups.com...
>what's the dfference between 'they were friends' and 'they were among
>friends'?
were among friends" meant that they had joined a group of people who were
friends of theirs.
--
Guy Barry
Marius Hancu
Aug 26, 2014, 12:22:16 PM8/26/14
to
Yurui Liu wrote:
> Can anyone please tell me whether 'upon' or 'among' is correct in the following sentence?
>
> We were ___ friends in that strange but beautiful country.
>
> If 'among' is used, it seems preferable to have a possessive or definite article preceding it
No,"among" is natural by itself here. Get used to the sound of it.
> Can anyone please tell me whether 'upon' or 'among' is correct in the following sentence?
>
> We were ___ friends in that strange but beautiful country.
>
> If 'among' is used, it seems preferable to have a possessive or definite article preceding it
"Upon friends" could be seen in contexts such as:
~~~
A Burning Hunger
Lynda Schuster - 2011
He and Tiger wandered aimlessly about until, hungry and exhausted, they
happened upon friends from Soweto who had escaped a few months earlier
and were living at the PAC house.
~~~
"happened upon friends": they found by chance friends
--
Marius Hancu
Guy Barry
Aug 26, 2014, 12:33:19 PM8/26/14
to
"Marius Hancu" wrote in message news:ltic7o$sji$1...@speranza.aioe.org...
>"Upon friends" could be seen in contexts such as:
>
>~~~
>A Burning Hunger
>Lynda Schuster - 2011
>
>He and Tiger wandered aimlessly about until, hungry and exhausted, they
>happened upon friends from Soweto who had escaped a few months earlier and
>were living at the PAC house.
>~~~
>
>"happened upon friends": they found by chance friends
To "happen upon" is a prepositional verb meaning "to find unexpectedly",
e.g. "she happened upon a goldmine". You can't take "upon friends" as a
unit in this context.
--
Guy Barry
>"Upon friends" could be seen in contexts such as:
>
>~~~
>A Burning Hunger
>Lynda Schuster - 2011
>
>He and Tiger wandered aimlessly about until, hungry and exhausted, they
>happened upon friends from Soweto who had escaped a few months earlier and
>were living at the PAC house.
>~~~
>
>"happened upon friends": they found by chance friends
e.g. "she happened upon a goldmine". You can't take "upon friends" as a
unit in this context.
--
Guy Barry
Marius Hancu
Aug 26, 2014, 12:44:35 PM8/26/14
to
Guy Barry wrote:
>> "Upon friends" could be seen in contexts such as:
>>
>> ~~~
>> A Burning Hunger
>> Lynda Schuster - 2011
>>
>> He and Tiger wandered aimlessly about until, hungry and exhausted,
>> they happened upon friends from Soweto who had escaped a few months
>> earlier and were living at the PAC house.
>> ~~~
>>
>> "happened upon friends": they found by chance friends
>
> To "happen upon" is a prepositional verb meaning "to find unexpectedly",
> e.g. "she happened upon a goldmine". You can't take "upon friends" as a
> unit in this context.
Well, yes, I know all that, but I wanted to find a sequence where "upon
>> "Upon friends" could be seen in contexts such as:
>>
>> ~~~
>> A Burning Hunger
>> Lynda Schuster - 2011
>>
>> He and Tiger wandered aimlessly about until, hungry and exhausted,
>> they happened upon friends from Soweto who had escaped a few months
>> earlier and were living at the PAC house.
>> ~~~
>>
>> "happened upon friends": they found by chance friends
>
> To "happen upon" is a prepositional verb meaning "to find unexpectedly",
> e.g. "she happened upon a goldmine". You can't take "upon friends" as a
> unit in this context.
friends" happens, and this is one of them, whether or not the prep is
coming from the phrasal verb or not.
--
Marius Hancu
Robert Bannister
Aug 26, 2014, 7:24:47 PM8/26/14
to
happen upon, chance upon mean "meet" by chance.
--
Robert Bannister - 1940-71 SE England
1972-now W Australia
CDB
Aug 27, 2014, 8:02:20 AM8/27/14
to
On 26/08/2014 10:54 AM, Yurui Liu wrote:
> Guy Barry：
that the people around them were friendly, but probably not old
acquaintances; the phrase can be used if they are, in fact, among
(friendly) strangers. Its a kind of idiom, I think.
"They were friends" is more literal: they had an established personal
relationship.
*The use relating to events (say) is to be taken more literally. I walk
a neighbour's dog, a sadly under-exercised beagle, as often as I can,
and she is always frantically glad to see me. Once she jumped up to
greet me and her untrimmmed claws scratched my arm so that it bled. Her
mistress began to apologise, but I laughed it off: "these things go
unnoticed among friends". (If I had said "between", the implication
might have been that only the dog and I were friends.)
> Guy Barry：
>> "Yurui Liu" wrote:
>>> Can anyone please tell me whether 'upon' or 'among' is correct in
>>> the following sentence?
>>> We were ___ friends in that strange but beautiful country.
>>> If 'among' is used, it seems preferable to have a possessive or
>>> definite
>>> article preceding it, such as "among his friends'. But there's
>>> none.
>>> I'd appreciate your help.
>> "Among friends" is perfectly idiomatic English in that context, but
>> I don't understand what "upon friends" would mean.
> what's the dfference between 'they were friends' and 'they were among
> friends'?
When it's used of people*, as in "they were among friends", it means
>>> Can anyone please tell me whether 'upon' or 'among' is correct in
>>> the following sentence?
>>> We were ___ friends in that strange but beautiful country.
>>> If 'among' is used, it seems preferable to have a possessive or
>>> definite
>>> article preceding it, such as "among his friends'. But there's
>>> none.
>>> I'd appreciate your help.
>> "Among friends" is perfectly idiomatic English in that context, but
>> I don't understand what "upon friends" would mean.
> what's the dfference between 'they were friends' and 'they were among
> friends'?
that the people around them were friendly, but probably not old
acquaintances; the phrase can be used if they are, in fact, among
(friendly) strangers. Its a kind of idiom, I think.
"They were friends" is more literal: they had an established personal
relationship.
*The use relating to events (say) is to be taken more literally. I walk
a neighbour's dog, a sadly under-exercised beagle, as often as I can,
and she is always frantically glad to see me. Once she jumped up to
greet me and her untrimmmed claws scratched my arm so that it bled. Her
mistress began to apologise, but I laughed it off: "these things go
unnoticed among friends". (If I had said "between", the implication
might have been that only the dog and I were friends.)
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