"At the expense" - as it is written correctly: together or separately

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

The frequent use of combinations of an official word with a noun in colloquial speech does not exclude the possibility of using it in journalistic or business style, in fiction. Despite the simple rule, the writer is often visited by doubts, as it is written "at the expense" - together or separately. There are reasons for doubts, for their error-free resolution it is proposed to use several test methods.

Definition of the situation

The simple rule that in Russian a preposition and a noun are invariably written separately may seem irrelevant in some cases:

• the language has exactly the same prefix and even words with it;
• confuses the performance of the function of the circumstance indicating the reason, therefore it seems that it is written together, by analogy with the adverbs formed by the fusion of a preposition and a noun;
• there is a temptation to write in one piece, because “at the expense” is a derivative abusive preposition formed from a preposition and a noun.

Some native speakers invariably transfer similar words or spellings with inappropriate analogies. For example, they decide how to spell it correctly "at the expense", together or separately, recalling the spelling of the same root abort preposition "about". To find a logical explanation why one abbreviated preposition is fixed in the spelling norms as a whole word, and the second retained both parts in a separate, original version, only linguists can do, and even then not all.

In this case, only one rule works, fixed in the process of development and changes in linguistic norms: "at the expense" can be written both separately and together, and "at the expense" - only separately, in whatever position and role it is.

Interesting! Basically - how to spell it correctly

Pretext

Fulfilling the role of an abortive derivative preposition, the phrase "at the expense" should not initially raise doubts: how it is spelled correctly, together or separately, can be easily determined. It can be recognized by its characteristic features: non-fulfillment of a role in a sentence, the ability to replace with other prepositions and pose questions of the genitive case to the noun.

A sure-fire method of checking if this is really a preposition is to replace it with synonyms:

• We have reduced the cost of production due to the fact (due to the fact that we have found a normal supplier.
• All the exams I pulled out only due to (in view of) my unique memory.
• Sailed faster, due to (due to) the efforts of the team.
• These volleyball players broke through to the semifinals only due to (because of) the total confusion of the enemy.
• He managed to complete the creation of the project only due to (thanks to) night vigils and lack of sleep for several days.

Interesting! Impossible - as it is written, together or separately

The above examples clearly demonstrate the spelling of the aboriginal preposition, which has retained its original form. There is another role for the phrase, but, unlike the words “chameleons”, “for” is a preposition, and “account” - a noun is written in the same way as an abusive preposition. It's just that the noun already plays a role in the sentence:

• They drank at my expense.
• Drink at the house.
• All expenses for the repair of the stadium at the expense of the fans who defeated it.

In this case, it is possible to pose questions of the accusative case to the dependent word, but this does not change anything in the spelling: "at the expense" is always written separately, no matter what verification techniques are applied to the service word and name, no matter what synonyms are used to replace and what no analogies have been given with words of the same root. This is a kind of anomaly in the linguistic array, subject to simple memorization as an axiom.