14-Nov-2007, 16:26
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| Senior Member | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: Canada
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Current Location: Alberta First Language: English Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
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 Re: encircle, give out and end
Quote:
Originally Posted by jiang  
Dear Naamplao,
I am sorry I made a serious mistake. It should be 'gas'. Gas
#7 The stagnant water gave off bubbles of marsh gas.
#8 The stagnant water gave out bubbles of marsh gas.(this doesn't sound right to me)
According to my dictionary and your reply:
give out: to produce light, heat, or a gas or a sound (he gave out a yell when he discovered gold.)
give off: to produce heat, light, a smell, or a gas
So both phrases can be used with 'gas'. In your examples: Could you please explain why #8 doesn't sound right?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.
Jiang | hmmm....Sorry Jiang, there are many instances where a sentence doesn't "sound right" to a native English speaker's ear but we cannot explain why. This is one of those times. |