before & after

Status
Not open for further replies.

Polyester

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
[STRIKE]I try to write two sentences below,[/STRIKE] Are the following sentences correct and natural?

[First sentence deleted by moderator]

I walk to office by foot before buying a cup of coffee near the office.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Look at "I walk to office by foot" and think about it. Do you think all those words are necessary?
 
Polyester, you are still expected to write only one sentence per thread.

The reason is that every sentence you write requires several corrections or improvements.
 
Look at "I walk to office by foot" and think about it. Do you think all those words are necessary?


I still don't understand what you mean.
I tried to do the corrections as below,

I walk to office before buying a cup of coffee at convenience store.
 
I walk to office before buying a cup of coffee at convenience store.

How did you go from the office to the convenience store?
Did you go to your office first or convenience store first?
 
I walk to office before buying a cup of coffee at convenience store first.

Is it correct now?
 
No. Using both "before" and "first" make it nonsensical. You need one of these:

1. I walked to work but I bought a coffee at the convenience store first.
2. I bought a coffee at the convenience store before I walked to work.
3. I bought a coffee at the convenience store on my walk to work.

I think 3 is the most likely. With 1 and 2, it's possible that the convenience store wasn't a stop you made during your walk to work.
 
Last edited:
It may be that Polyester is confusing the words before/after.
 
No. Using both "before" and "first" make it nonsensical. You need one of these:

1. I walked to work but I bought a coffee at the convenience store first.
2. I bought a coffee at the convenience store before I walked to work.
3. I bought a coffee at the convenience store on my walk to work.



I think 3 is the most likely. With 1 and 2, it's possible that the convenience store wasn't a stop you made during your walk to work.

I think No.2 is intended what I said and what I meant.
 
Polyester!

Say:

No. 2 is what I meant.

Or:

No. 2 is what was intended.

Choose!
 
You bought the coffee before and after your walking to work, didn't you? Say "I bought the coffee at the convenience store on the way walking to work."
 
Last edited:
You bought the coffee before work and after you bought it you walked to work, didn't you? Say "I bought the coffee at the convenience store on the way [STRIKE]walking[/STRIKE] to work.

:)
 
I bought the coffee at the convenience store on the way while walking to work.

Is this better? Without "walking", it is not clear how the writer went to work.
 
Well, you don't have to put everything in one sentence. If it's important to mention how the person got to work you can use a separate sentence for that.
 
"on the way while walking to work" doesn't work.

... on my walk to work.
... during my walk to work.

"on the way to" needs to stay together, so "on the way to work" is fine but you can't add the method of travel between "on the way" and "to work".
 
Is walking that important? Why not just on the way to work?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top