Calling English Teachers & Grammar Gurus

[sugarplum]

"breakfast to begin at 9am" or "breakfast begins at 9am"? which is more proper? "to begin" sounds more formal.

 

[strmrdr]

i dunno I would say chow at 9

Breakfast will begin at 9:00am. is likely the most proper.
or if you want to get fancy,,
Breakfast will be served at 9am.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 5/14/2008 12:48:24 AM
Author:sugar
''breakfast to begin at 9am'' or ''breakfast begins at 9am''? which is more proper? ''to begin'' sounds more formal.

breakfast will be serve at 9am

LOL...i knew i should of gone to college.

 

[Circe]

Is there any additional context to the structure of the sentence? If this is for a programme-book or something of that nature, I''d suggest "Breakfast is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m." - informative, but not imperative.

 

[krispi]

Breakfast begins - active voice is always preferred over passive voice.

Trust me, my English professors used to beat that one into me in college!

 

[erica k]

ahh, but the passive voice sounds much more posh in this case!

 

[isaku5]

It depends a lot on the context. More info?

 

[krispi]

Erica K, I totally agree! Unfortunately, it''s not considered "proper" though...

In the end, use whatever you like best, whether or not it''s approved by the powers that be.

 

[sugarplum]

it''ll be the last sentence in an invitation so what do you guys think?

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

I am another vote for begins. I also believe in active voice which is technically more correct.

 

[Elmorton]

I'm going to go against the grain... I absolutely adore passive voice. It shouldn't be used in newspapers, in meeting minutes, in research, and a whole host of other places when it's essential that your audience knows WHO is doing an action, but I think on invites, passive can be used to sound formal and avoid sounding aggressive. To me, "breakfast begins at 9am" sounds more commanding, but I'm not really a fan of "breakfast to begin at 9am" because it's just not very concrete. I like "Breakfast will be served at 9am" or "Breakfast will begin at 9am"

ETA: Also - if you're looking for formality, definitely spell out nine o'clock or nine o'clock in the morning.

 

[Erin]

I like ''Breakfast will be served at 9am''

Whether you show up and eat it or not.

 

[pennquaker09]

I''m assuming this is for some form of invitation, so I would word it as . . ."Breakfast to be served at nine o''clock in the morning."

 

[monarch64]

This peasant votes for "begins"!

 

[Haven]

Ditto to Elmorton's suggestions. Passive voice is preferred in some situations, and this is one of them.

 

[Haven]

Date: 5/14/2008 2:00:06 AM
Author: Dancing Fire

LOL...i knew i should of gone to college.

Punny! DF--mind if I make that a sign for my classroom? It would go so well with our "words most often confused" unit!

 

[CNOS128]

i''d skip it and say "breakfast at 9am." maybe. depending on where it''s written.

 

[Delster]

To me, ''breakfast to begin at nine'' / ''breakfast begins at nine'' sounds like it starts at nine and goes on for a while. So you don''t need to be there at nine, it''s fine if you''re a bit late.

Now ''breakfast will be served at nine'' - that tells me I better show up on time or no grub!

 

[sugarplum]

thanks all! going to use "will begin".