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Discussion Groups / British English / January 2006every vs. each
Hi, My mother toungue is Polish and I can't grasp the difference between both words since in Polish we have only one word that translates to both aforementioned. I've looked up some explanations in dictionaries and handbooks but they seem not enough clear to me. Perhaps someone could provide a simple explanation with an example that would explain the difference between both those words. Thanks in advance. Irek > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Irek I would understand "Each" being used when a number of specific items are included in a group and "Every" when an overall collection of different items are grouped. Smolley Welcome to the world of cognitive linguistics. As far as I remember my course in semantics: The native speakers of English perceive the word "each" as emphasising a process in which something is done by or happens to all objects concerned in succession. The word "every" denotes a set of objects by means of putting them separately (hence the singular number), which makes it different from "all", which in turn adopts a holistic viewpoint, i.e. puts emphasis on the set of objects as a whole. Thus, "Each child was given a present", but "Every child was smiling", which is equivalent to "All children were smiling". If you are a student of English or linguistics you can consult handbooks of cognitive linguistics or visit a specialised website, such as LinguistList. As far as I remember, Ronald W. Langacker discussed the matter in detail around 1985 (correct me if I'm wrong). Nice nick, by the way, reminds me of the headbangerish students of Norwegian at my faculty. > Thus, "Each child was given a present", but "Every child was smiling", > which is equivalent to "All children were smiling". Yes, but what's the difference between "Each child was given a present" and "Every child was given a present" ? Paul Burke > > Thus, "Each child was given a present", but "Every child was smiling", > > which is equivalent to "All children were smiling". > > Yes, but what's the difference between "Each child was given a present" > and "Every child was given a present" ? Yeah, each and every one got one. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Perhaps someone could provide a simple explanation with an example that > would explain the difference between both those words. There was a short thread about it in March of last year. You can find that thread at: http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.culture.language.english/browse_thread/threa d/863b19536d4e262a/056fa0b53fc3e58a Hope this helps! Cheers Tony  SignatureTony Mountifield Work: tony@softins.co.uk - http://www.softins.co.uk Play: tony@mountifield.org - http://tony.mountifield.org > There was a short thread about it in March of last year. You can find > that thread at: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Cheers > Tony That's perhaps the best explanation regarding the usage of "each" and "every" I've ever got. A very good example. Thanks for all input. Regards Irek Sometimes "every" forms part of a word and sometimes it doesn't, just as with "any". Everybody can ask questions here and anybody can answer. But when the police investigate a series of murders, they are interested in every body they find and in any body still to be found. Increasingly (it seems) people do not understand the difference between "every day" (adjective plus noun) and "everyday" (adjective). "This box must be emptied every day" would often be seen with "everyday" as one word. But this goes back at least as far as Buddy Holly's "Everyday" (1958 ?). M. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Irek alt.usage.english unless you want to be called "a pest" Pawel > > Hi, > > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > alt.usage.english > unless you want to be called "a pest" But we wouldn't call him a pest unless he became one.... Cheers Tony SignatureTony Mountifield Work: tony@softins.co.uk - http://www.softins.co.uk Play: tony@mountifield.org - http://tony.mountifield.org A quotation from the BBC's "Podge and Rodge's TV Bodges." - Call me an ambulance! - All right. You're an ambulance. >A quotation from the BBC's "Podge and Rodge's TV Bodges." >- Call me an ambulance! >- All right. You're an ambulance. Reminds me of an exchange from "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again" of blessed memory: "Call me a hansom cab, Watson." "All right. You're a fine figure of a cab, Holmes." SignatureJohn Hall "Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own." Nelson Algren >> A quotation from the BBC's "Podge and Rodge's TV Bodges." >> - Call me an ambulance! [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > "Call me a hansom cab, Watson." > "All right. You're a fine figure of a cab, Holmes." The original was probably the exchange in an episode of the Marx Brothers radio series "Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel", recreated by the BBC a few years ago from the original scripts. Groucho plays Waldorf T. Flywheel, an attorney: "That's outrageous! Call me a lawyer!" Ravelli (Chico): "You're a lawyer!" (This was apparently originally called Beagle, Shyster and Beagle, but a real lawyer called Beagle threatened to sue...) SignatureJohn Briggs > A quotation from the BBC's "Podge and Rodge's TV Bodges." > - Call me an ambulance! > - All right. You're an ambulance. Older version from "Punch", probably some time in the 1890s: "Call me a cab." "Very well, you're a four-wheeler." "What do you mean?" "Well, I'm certainly not calling you handsom." (Explanatory note for those not familiar with 19th Century London - there were two kinds of horse-drawn cabs in London in the late 19th & early 20th Centuries, Hansom cabs and 4-wheelers, the latter also being knoiwn as "growlers" if amyon's interested".) -- Mike Stevens narrowboat Felis Catus III web site www.mike-stevens.co.uk No man is an island. So is Man. >> > Hi, >> > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > Cheers > Tony Last modified 10 August, 2002 a long time ago...and you wrote ..it is under construction.. Well, you really ponder what you want to do. Pawel |
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