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Tuongvan Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Earlier this month
Dear teachers,
In the following paragraph,does" EARLIER THIS MONTH" mean" AT/BY THE BEGINNING OF THIS MONTH"?:
VOA - Officials in Colombia say a gold mine accident in the northwest trapped at least 5 people underground. The head of Disasters Prevention and Assistance in the northwestern province of Antioquia says rescue workers are clearing the mine following a rockslide. Officials also say they believed the miners are still alive. Earlier this month, 7 miners were killed in a coal mine explosion in Boyaca province, north of the capital Bogotá. Officials blamed that accident on buildup of methane gas.
Thank you in advance
In the following paragraph,does" EARLIER THIS MONTH" mean" AT/BY THE BEGINNING OF THIS MONTH"?:
VOA - Officials in Colombia say a gold mine accident in the northwest trapped at least 5 people underground. The head of Disasters Prevention and Assistance in the northwestern province of Antioquia says rescue workers are clearing the mine following a rockslide. Officials also say they believed the miners are still alive. Earlier this month, 7 miners were killed in a coal mine explosion in Boyaca province, north of the capital Bogotá. Officials blamed that accident on buildup of methane gas.
Thank you in advance
Top answer
Tuongva; There is no exact time reference implied. "Earlier this month" could be any time between the first of the month and the date of the article. I would interpret it as more than a few days prior to the article's date.
- Tuongva; There is no exact time reference implied.
- "Earlier this month" could be any time between the first of the month and the date of the article.
- I would interpret it as more than a few days prior to the article's date.
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4 Answers
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Tuongva;
There is no exact time reference implied. "Earlier this month" could be any time between the first of the month and the date of the article.
I would interpret it as more than a few days prior to the article's date.
There is no exact time reference implied. "Earlier this month" could be any time between the first of the month and the date of the article.
I would interpret it as more than a few days prior to the article's date.
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Thank you AlpheccaStars.So it is different from " at / by the beginning of this month", isn't it? And only "Early this month" means " at / by the beginning of this month".
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The different phrases are:
1) early in this month, at the beginning of this month within the first few days of the first of this month
1) early in this month, at the beginning of this month
within the first few days of the first of this month
2) earlier this month the same month before the current date (earlier is a comparative adjective)
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