Grammar fix
a fine line
narrow boundary (between two similar things)
used to say that two things are very similar or close together, so it is difficult to see the difference between them, especially when one is positive and the other is negative
Hear it in context
Notice where the phrase sounds natural.
There’s a fine line between being confident and coming across as arrogant.
In my opinion, there’s a fine line between encouraging children to work hard and overwhelming them with unrealistic expectations.
Fix the pattern
One small grammar move makes it sound right.
Not: There's a fine line of being honest and being rude.
Say: There's a fine line between being honest and being rude.
'A fine line BETWEEN X and Y', not 'of'.
Which sounds natural?
Tap the one a native speaker would say.
'A fine line between X and Y' is the idiom; the paraphrase loses the 'easy to cross' nuance.
Build natural chunks
Words that usually travel with it.
a fine line between X and Y
- between
- tread
- walk
- cross