AND instead of infinitive with Try, Wait, Go, Come...

1. In informal English, we often used 'try and' instead of 'try to'. 

Try and get some unsalted butter (Try to... is also possible). 

I really must try and see Paul this week (Or: ...try to...). 

This structure is possible with the simple form 'try', but not with tries, tried or trying. You cannot say 'I tried and got...' or 'He always tries and get...'

'Wait' and 'See' is similar. 

Let's wait and see (Not: 'We waited and saw' or 'Let's wait to see'). 

2. After 'come', 'go', 'run', 'hurry', 'stay', 'stop' and some other verbs, 'and' can be used instead of an infinitive of purpose. 

Come and have a drink. 

Hurry up and get dressed. 

Say and have dinner. 

We ought to stop and think. 

Would you go and tell the children to shut up? 

In these cases, however; third person forms and past tenses are possible. 

He usually stays and has dinner with us after the game. 

I went and had a drink with John yesterday. 

The 'to' infinitive is unusual in expressions like these and cannot be used after 'hurry up'. 

Informal American, 'and' is often left out after 'go'. 

Go jump in the river. 

AND

'And' is used to connect expressions that are grammatically similar, for example: 

Nouns: bread and butter

Verbs: They and danced all night. 

Clauses: I went home, and Mary stayed at the station. 

When there are more than two expressions, we usually put 'and' only before the last one. 

Bread, butter and cheese

They drank, sang and danced all night. 

I went home, Linsay went with me, and Mary stayed at the station. 

When expressions are joined by 'and', we often put the shortest first. 

big and ugly    cup and saucer

Some common expressions with 'and' come in a fixed order which cannot be changed. 

hands and knees (Not: knees and hands)    Knife and fork 

bread and butter    men, women and children    fish and chips 

When adjectives are used before a noun, they are sometimes joined by 'and' and sometimes not, depending on the type of adjective. For instance, we say 'a big black insect', but 'a black and yellow insect'. 

When two expressions are joined by 'and', words which come in both expressions (e.g. articles) can often be left out in the second expression. For instance, the bread and (the) butter, in UK and (in) USA. 

 

Among Vs Between

1. Compare the following: 

        a. S/he was sitting between Bunna and Vitou. 

            I saw something lying between the wheels of the train.

            Cambodia lies between Thailand, Vietnam and Lao. 

        b. We found a little house hidden among the trees. 

            S/he was standing laughing among a crowd of journalists. 

    We say that something is 'between' two or more objects, people, countries and so on when we see the surrounding objects and so on separately, there are not very many of them, and each one is clearly distinct from the others. 

    We say that something is 'among' a mass, a crowd, or a group: a collection of things when we do not see separately. 

    We prefer 'between' when we want to say that there are things, or groups of things, on two sides: 

        A little valley between high mountains. 

2. Words like 'divide' and 'share' are followed by 'between' when we use several singular nouns. 

        He shared his property between his wife, his daughter and his sister. 

        I divide my time between teaching, writing and lecturing. 

    With plural nouns, 'between' and 'among' are both possible. 

        S/he divided his money between/among his five sons. 

    We always talk about the difference 'between' things. 

        What's the difference between a crow and a rook? 

3. 'Among' can be used to mean 'one of', 'some of' or ' included in'. 

        Among the first to arrive was the Fantasian ambassador. 

        S/he has a number of criminals among his friends. 

Alternately Vs Alternatively

'Alternately' means 'first one and then the other', 'in turn'. 

I'm alternately happy and depressed. 

'Alternatively' is similar to 'instead', 'on the other hand'. 

It may have been because of the weather, or alternately it may have been the result of indigestion. 

Almost Vs Nearly

1. 'Nearly' and 'Almost' have similar meanings, and in many cases the can both be used without much difference. Usually, 'almost' is used to mean that something is a little 'nearer' than 'nearly'. E.g. So at 12:15 we might say 'It is nearly lunchtime', and at 12:27 'It's almost lunchtime'. 

We are nearly there.             We're almost there. 

S/he is nearly six feet tall.     She's almost six feet tall. 

I nearly as clever as you.         I am almost as clever as you. 

I nearly fell off my bike.          I almost fell off my bike. 

2. Typical mistakes: 

My aunt's got a strange way of talking. She nearly sounds foreign. 

It is nearly incredible. 

I nearly think you're right. 

Our cat understands everything - he's nearly human. 

In these sentences, we are not talking about progress towards an end (people do not get more foreign; cats do not get more human), or about thinks that are easy to measure. In cases like these 'almost', not 'nearly', is used. 

Our cat understands everything - he's almost human. 

I almost think you're right. 

It's almost incredible. 

My aunt almost sounds foreign. 

In that long dress she looks almost graceful (Not: ...nearly graceful). 

Note that 'nearly' is not often used with 'never', 'nobody', 'no-one', 'nothing', 'nowhere', 'no' and 'none'. Instead, we used 'almost', or we used 'hardly' with a non-negative form. 

Almost no money     hardly any money 

Almost nobody         hardly anybody 

Almost never             hardly never 

Admission Vs Admittance

Admission is used particularly to express the idea of being allowed into a public building or place. 

Admission 70 pence. 

Admissions Department (in a hospital) 

Admittance (especially in negative expression is most often used to talk about permission to enter private buildings and places. 

No admittance except on business. 

 

Adjectives with And

When 2 or 3 adjectives come together, we sometimes put 'And' with them and sometimes not. It depends partly on their position in the sentence. 

When the adjectives come in 'predicative' position (after 'Be, Seem, and similar verbs'), we usually put 'And' before the last one. 

He was tall, dark and handsome. 

 You're like a winter's day: Short, dark and dirty. 

In a very literary style, 'And' is sometimes left out. 

My soul is exotic, mysterious, incomprehensible. 

        When the adjectives come in 'attributive' position (before a noun), 'And' is not so often used. 

                    A tall, dark, handsome cowboy 

                    A small, shiny, black leather handbag 

            However, 'And' is possible when the adjectives say the same kind of thing (e.g. when 2 adjectives both describe character, color or material): 

                    A cruel (and) vicious tyrant         A yellow and black sports car 

                    A tall (and) elegant lady             A concrete and glass factory