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Please tell me whether right or wrong

English Language & Usage Asked on October 5, 2021

I have noticed it is mentioned as a common error, but all authors of the there books are not native mostly are Indian or Chinese.
As I see or think most of those use different English than the the usual we have learned either American English or British English.

For example one sentence :

Incorrect There is no place in the hall.

Correct There is no room in the hall.

So, why is it incorrect ?

Sources :

  1. Elixir Semester 6 – Guide – Page 92 Prof Naik and Thakkar
  2. Common English Errors Rewa Bhasin · 2014
  3. Essential English Grammar – Page 119 Anchal Dhingra

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2 Answers

Whether this is correct depends on what kind of hall this is.

If it's a lecture hall, with a specified number of chairs for people to sit in, then place is fine (although room works, too). If it's a hall in somebody's house, where there aren't predefined spots for things (i.e. places) then room is the correct word.

I'm an American English speaker, but I suspect this answer is the same in British English.

Answered by Peter Shor on October 5, 2021

Number 2 is not wrong. 'Place' can mean 'a particular portion of space normally occupied by a person or thing' (cf Collins dictionary). We can also think of a place in a hall (any hall, not just a lecture hall or the like, contra Peter Shor) as an available or unoccupied spot to put an object or person.

Also, numbers 1, 5, and 7 are not so much as wrong ('entirely ungrammatical' as some of the others) as outdated or rare these days. A certain portion of the native speaking population still talks about 'a Xerox' as 'a copy made on a xerographic copying machine' (cf Random House dictionary et al).

Number 10 is not entirely ungrammatical.

Answered by shumble on October 5, 2021

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