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Silak12 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

To spare.

Hi! everyone.Could you tell me,are the synonyms I wrote for "to spare" in the below sentence right?
-We still had some time to spare= available,de trop,extra.
Does"to spare" at the last of the sentence like this always mean these synonyms? I mean can I always replace ,to spare, with these?
Thanks!
  

Top answer

) I would NOT use "de trop" simply because it's not commonly used and has two definitions that could confuse your readers. "De trop" can mean either 1. too much; too many OR 2.

— Anonymous

  • ) I would NOT use "de trop" simply because it's not commonly used and has two definitions that could confuse your readers.
  • "De trop" can mean either 1.
  • too much; too many OR 2.
  • in the way; not wanted.
  • Hope this helps!
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3 Answers
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In this case, using "extra" at the end of the sentence doesn't sound correct; put "extra" before "time." (We still had some extra time.) You could use "available" either at the end of the sentence or put it before "time." (We still had some time available; We still had some available time.) I would NOT use "de trop" simply because it's not commonly used and has two definitions that could confuse
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silak12can I always replace ,to spare, with these?
No. "de trop" is a borrowing from French. You'll almost never need that.

"available" goes after "time"; "extra" goes before "time".

We still had some time to spare. ~ We still had some time available. ~ We still had some extra time.

CJ
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Hi! Thanks! Calif and Anon for great answers.
Actually I forgot to place the synonyms at the correct places.
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