Learn English – When should I use the word “skies”

differenceword-usage

What's the difference between "sky" and "skies"?

I'm really confused since I watched a news saying "People cheered and clapped as the moon blocked the sun for about 2.5 minutes under clear skies on the icy Norwegian islands of Svalbard"

Why does it use the word "Skies"? rather than "Sky"?

Thank you!

Best Answer

It's analogous to "water" versus "waters", "land" versus "lands".

The boat floats in water.
They sailed to warmer waters.
They were happy to reach land.
Once ashore, they set off on horseback to visit many lands.

The plural indicates a particularity or difference. The singular indicates the general, undifferentiated idea.

In Oklahoma the sky seems vast.
The angry skies above the moor foretold a storm.

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Learn English – When should I use “the way” and when should I use “in the way”

To stay clear, I'd prefer not to use in the way because it also means an impediment i.e. something coming in between. Using this phrase would imply its use more as an idiom.

"I cannot dance because the table is in the way."

Hence, to avoid its idiomatic use, in those sentences, I'd prefer using the way.

Use in the way if you want to convey that something comes in between and prefer ...the way... that would convey the message without any ambiguity.

Grammar and Word Usage – Which Word Should Be Used?

"Was" and "were" are the past tense forms of the irregular verb to be:

Person	Singular	Plural
First	I was	we were
Second	you were	you (all) were
Third	he/she/it was	they were

In your first example the subject is "They" or "Chris and his friends." Look at the table: were is correct and was is incorrect.

In your second example the relevant subject is "sacrifice." Look at the table: were is incorrect and was is correct.

Note however that there are multiple errors in your second example sentence, and if they were corrected than the verb would actually be "were."

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Learn English – When should I use “the way” and when should I use “in the way”

Grammar and Word Usage – Which Word Should Be Used?

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