Page 256 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford
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here and there
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We use here for the place where the speaker/writer is, and there for other places.
(on the telephone) Hello, is Tom there?~No, I'm sorry, he's not here. (NOT ••• he's Ilet then.)
Don't stay there in the comer by yourself. Come over here and talk to us. Note that here and there cannot normally be used as nouns.
This place is terrible. It is terrible here. (BUT NOT Het'e is tel'l'ihle.) Did you like that place? (BUT NOT Ditl Jl61;t like theFe?)
There are similar differences between this and that (see 589), come and go (see 134) and bring and take (see 112).
For here's and there's followed by plural nouns, see 532.4. For inverted word order after here and there, see 303.1. For Here you are, see 545.18.
high and tall
What kind of things are fain
We use tall mostly for people, trees, buildings with many floors, and a few other things which are higher than they are wide (e.g. factory chimneys or electricity pylons).
How taU are you? (NOT Haw high a n Jl61;t?)
There are some beautiful tall trees at the end ofour garden. In other cases we usually prefer high.
Mount Elbrus is the highest mountain in Europe. The garden's got very high walls.
measurements
In measurements, we use tall for people, but we prefer high for things. Compare:
I'm 1m 93 taU. Tltat tree is about 30m high. distance above the ground
We use high to talk about distance above the ground. A child standing on a chair may be higher than her mother, although she is probably not taller.
That shelf is too high for me to reach. The clouds are very high today.
parts of the body
Parts of the body can be long, but not tall.
Alex has got beautiful long legs. (NOT .•• taU legs.)
hire, rent and let hire and rent
Hire and rent can mean: 'pay for the use of something'. In British English, rent is used for arrangements involving a long period of time (one rents a house, a
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