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Anonymous Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Why Do Native Speakers Say At Peace, Not In Peace?

She is in trouble.

She is at peace.


It occures to me that those usage of prepositions is inconsistent. Why do native speakers say in trouble, not at trouble? Why do they use at peace, not in peace?

  

Top answer

For an adult learner, these details just have to be learned by experience. The reason for these is apparently euphony. "At trouble" is difficult to pronounce (the two "t's" in succession twist your tongue when you try to say them) compared to "in trouble," and so over hundreds of years of everyday usage, "in trouble" became the standard phrase.

— Anonymous

  • For an adult learner, these details just have to be learned by experience.
  • The reason for these is apparently euphony.
  • "At trouble" is difficult to pronounce (the two "t's" in succession twist your tongue when you try to say them) compared to "in trouble," and so over hundreds of years of everyday usage, "in trouble" became the standard phrase.
  • "At peace" and "in peace" are both heard (this means the person is deceased).
  • But "at peace" is easier to pronounce than "in peace," and so "at" is what you hear most of the time.
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3 Answers
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For an adult learner, these details just have to be learned by experience. The reason for these is apparently euphony. "At trouble" is difficult to pronounce (the two "t's" in succession twist your tongue when you try to say them) compared to "in trouble," and so over hundreds of years of everyday usage, "in trouble" became the standard phrase.


"At peace" and "in peace" are both

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anonymousIt occures occurs to me that those this usage of prepositions is inconsistent.

If you list every inconsistency in the English language, your list will go several times to the moon and back.

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Prepositions in English have to be learnt with their use; there are few rules, and those rules each have a large group under them. It's a good idea to buy a grammar book that lists them and gradually memorise them. There are a whole variety of reasons why different ones are used, based on long history, change in dialects, the influence of different languages (mostly French and Germanic dialect

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