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Tdol

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MikeNewYork

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Firelord said:
i heard of "be good at"
that's only what i get

"At" is correct, but "in" is also a proper choice. :wink:
 

Tdol

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In British English, we don't use 'in' here much at all.;-)
 

MikeNewYork

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tdol said:
In British English, we don't use 'in' here much at all.;-)

One more difference. :roll:
 

Tdol

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Yet another! :lol:
 

vikulika

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The rule that for example "Vocabulary in Use" gives us is "to be good at", but it sound weird if we say "to be good at arts", doesn't it?
So I guess it is good at, but sometimes in appears.. like exceptions.. or like AmE..
 

Tdol

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I'd use 'at' here, but many American speakers would use 'in', which would be uncommon in the UK.
 

SunnyDay

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I've actually rarely heard anyone use "good in math" unless they mean the class (as opposed to the subject), whether they say the "class" part or not.

He's good in math [class].

At the same time, though, saying "He's good at math class" as opposed to math as a subject sounds a little funny to me.
 

1364

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Hi there,
Is there any special rule for such questions,"to use a correct preposition".
Thanks;-)
 

Tdol

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Sadly, no. It's a very complex area where exceptions are as common as rules.
 

Fazzu

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tdol said:
In British English, we don't use 'in' here much at all.;-)

I voted for 'in' but I'm following British rules in English.I'm not sure why we should not use 'in'.I want a clear explanation at this area.

Thanks.
 

sandhya.sha

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In British English, we don't use 'in' here much at all.;-)

Is this correct?
  1. He is good in English. - refers to the subject English, meaning 'He scores good marks'
  2. He is good at English. - refers to the language, meaning 'He uses English well'
 

SunnyDay

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He's good in English [class] to me says that he behaves well in English class, not that he makes good grades/marks. (As opposed to, "He does good in English", which to me means that he gets good grades/marks.)

He's good at English says to me that he understands the language, OR that he's good at the class (and in English we don't always study English . . . a lot of times we're analyzing poetry or books), so it could also be that he's good at analyzing.

Of course, these meanings are probably going to change on a person-to-peron basis, especially if you compare American and British English.
 

joséantonio

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Is this correct?
  1. He is good in English. - refers to the subject English, meaning 'He scores good marks'
  2. He is good at English. - refers to the language, meaning 'He uses English well'

I think we use:

He's good in english (informal)

He's good at english (formal)

I'm interested in your comments.;-)
 
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