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Abbas Rajabpour Posted 8 years ago
Grammar

Afraid of afraid to

  • I was afraid of offending his feelings. (because I had no wish to do so)
  • I was afraid to offend him. (because he might hit me)

Hey there, as a non-native English learner I have no idea what this is talking about!
Could you please clarify the difference exists between these two?


Another question that I have is: can we say "between three of us" Which I heard in a British council (and also saw it in its script)If" yes" why!? shouldn't we use among in this case?

  

Top answer

", is understandable but awkward-sounding. You generally offend a person, not his feelings. " This means you like the person, and you maybe have something to say or do that could hurt his feelings and so you are uneasy.

— Anonymous

  • ", is understandable but awkward-sounding.
  • You generally offend a person, not his feelings.
  • " This means you like the person, and you maybe have something to say or do that could hurt his feelings and so you are uneasy.
  • ", is okay.
  • For example: C: "During the job interview, the interviewer was constantly checking his cell phone.
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1 Answers
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In US English, the sentence, "I was afraid of offending his feelings.", is understandable but awkward-sounding. You generally offend a person, not his feelings. In the US, this would be said as: "I was afraid of hurting his feelings." This means you like the person, and you maybe have something to say or do that could hurt his feelings and so you are uneasy. For example:


A: "W

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