texts: Meaning of "finance is more concerned in the matter than industry"?

texts:
The following extract is from one of the works of Bertrand Russell:

  Exploiting what are called "inferior races" has become one of the main objects of European statecraft. It is not only, or primarily, trade that is desired, but opportunities for investment; finance is more concerned in the matter than industry. Rival diplomatists are very often the servants, conscious or unconscious, of rival groups of financiers.

Now, my question is: which one is the meaning of "finance is more concerned in the matter than industry"?

Finance is more concerned in the matter than industry is concerned in the matter.
Finance is more concerned in the matter than is concerned in industry.

I guess the first one is meant by the author. Just want to be sure.

I have another question too, related to the emboldened sentence: Does it mean that opportunities for investment are more desired than trade?


texts:
I came across a blog and the title reads :

  Dadri lynching too minor a incident for PM to speak: Modi minister

I know that at times, media use 'Headlinese' for writing titles in which they tend to omit articles. But then, here, to my mind, article should be 'an' instead of 'a'.

P.S. Original blog has changed the title now and it reads 'an' instead of 'a'.


texts: News on BBC today - What is “refuses to deny”?

texts:
I read a headline today on BBC that states:

  North Korea refuses to deny Sony Pictures cyber-attackSource: BBC News Asia, 2 December 2014

What is the exact meaning of "refuses to deny" and what type of usage is this?

I wish to know about the underlying tone of this phrase. Is it serious? Light? In-between? Is it a formal or informal expression for accepting something indirectly?

I get the point that we can't write “denies to refuse” as it is ungrammatical, but I still don't see the underlying tone of this phase.


texts: How to use 'Give it a look/Give a look (to)'?

texts:
I was talking to my colleague today and said him something along these lines:

  Do you want me to send you the file so you could give it a look before we attach it to the release plan?

Then, instantly, I realized "to give a look" might sound either too informal to be used with a business person at work whom you don't speak too informal with, or could not even be used by native speakers that much (if ever). So it can sound awkward or maybe just not good.

Do English speakers use "give a look" and in which cases?
I did a quick research, there are a lot of articles on the Internet with "give it a look" but it's not in any dictionary I could check.

EDIT:

More details (as per FumbleFinger's suggestion):

1) the level of informality required - I'd say more formal than informal. The person being asked to review the file is a business person (and older, so more respect) and you are a technical person, yet you are colleagues and there's no junior/senior aspect to the relationship.

2) any "junior/senior" aspect to the relationship - N/A :)

3) the reason you're offering the other person a "preview" - to quickly go through the file and see whether it looks OK or not.

Here's a SO link for "take/have a look" though:
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/22827/have-a-look-vs-take-a-look


texts: Do I have to pronounce the letter "l" as light or dark when there is a double "l" followed by a vowel in a word?

texts:
It is known that when the letter l is followed by a vowel then it is pronounced as light, and when it is at the end of a word or is followed by a consonant  then it is pronounced as dark. But it is unclear to me whether it is a dark l* or a light l* when there is a double l followed by a vowel, as in words like killer, bellicose or pullup. The Cambridge Dictionary gives this transcription the word killer: /ˈkɪl.ɚ/. As you can see there is a dot after the l in the transcription. Because of it I suppose that I should pronounce it as dark since I think it serves kind of as a consonant or indicates kind of the end of the word. Tell me please if I am right.

For those unfamiliar with Light and Dark L’s, a website says:

  The L consonant sound.  This sound is especially difficult for people who don’t have it in their native language.  This might be because there’s actually two parts to it.  It can be either a light L or a dark L.  However, in the International Phonetic Alphabet, there is only one symbol that represents this sound, either a light L or a dark L.  The L is light if it comes before the vowel or diphthong in the syllable.  If it comes after the vowel or diphthong in a syllable, it is a dark L.  First, the light L.  To make this sound, the tip of the tongue reaches up, ll, ll, and touches the roof of the mouth just behind the front teeth, ll, ll, as the vocal cords are making sound.  I’ve also noticed, as I’ve studied my own speech in slow motion, that sometimes I make this sound by bringing the tip of the tongue through the teeth, ll, ll, similar to the position for th, th, the TH sounds.  Either position is fine, ll, like, touching the roof of the  mouth,  Ll, like, coming through the teeth, like the TH.  Both make the same sound.   That is the light L.

  And now the dark L.  As I said, an L is a dark L if it comes after the vowel or diphthong in a syllable, like in the word real.  Dark L’s have two parts,  The first is a vowel-like sound that is not written in IPA, but is certainly there.  And the second is simply the same position as the light L.  Lets go back to the example word, real, to talk about this.  In IPA it is written with three symbols:  the R, the ee vowel, and the L.  But as I say it slowly, notice that there are actually four sounds.  There is a sound between the ee and the ll.  Rrrreeeaaalllll.  It’s this third sound, this vowel-like sound that comes before the L but is not represented by a symbol in IPA.  So the dark L is made up of two parts:  this vowel-like sound and then the L.  What is the vowel-like sound?  It’s very similar to the ‘uh’ as in ‘pull’ sound.

while another website notes:

  Some accents have only Dark L : Scottish, American
  Some accents have only Light L : Welsh


texts: How to know the implication of a verb, a preposition and an adjective the conjunction "and"?

texts:
I have a small room and house.
  I have a small room and a small house.
  I have a small room and, I have a small house.

  I tried to bring the groceries and help her.
  I tried to bring the groceries and to help her.
  I tried to bring the groceries and, I tried to help her.

  I did this to make him and his friend to shoo away from here.
  I did this to make him and make his friend to shoo away from here.
  I did this to make him and to make his friend to shoo away from here.
  I did this to make him and, I did this to make his friend to shoo away from here.

  I don't want to make him angry and fight with him.
  I don't want to make him angry and don't want to fight with him.
  I don't want to make him angry and, I don't want to fight with him.

  I want to eat apples and oranges.
  I want to eat apples and eat oranges.
  I want to eat apples and to eat oranges.
  I want to eat apples and want to eat oranges.
  I want to eat apples and, I want to eat oranges.

  I eat healthy vegetables and fruits.
  I eat healthy vegetables and healthy fruits.
  I eat healthy vegetables and eat healthy fruits.
  I eat healthy vegetables and, I eat healthy fruits.

To put forward my question, I have put up a lot of examples. I just want to know what necessitates the need of repeating the parts of speech after conjunction and. Is the reason grammatical, clarification, emphasis or something else?

Do these sentences differ from one another in any way?


texts:
Is "in" needed here?

  We simplify it by putting a coordinated effort.

  We simplify it by putting in a coordinated effort.


texts: How can this prepositional phrase be parsed?

texts:
Amaranta would sigh, laugh, and dream of a second homeland of handsome men and beautiful women who spoke a childlike language, with ancient cities of whose past grandeur only the cats among the rubble remained. (One Hundred Years of Solitude, tr. by Gregory Rabassa)

The preposition phrase seems like having a small clause [or a verbless clause]. But it’s not easy to identify which is the subject and which is the predicate. And I wonder why ‘of’ is there –– when there isn’t ‘of’, can’t the phrase make sense?
([(1) with ancient cities][(2) of whose past grandeur][(3) only the cats among the rubble remained]: The first bracket seems to be modified by relative clause (2+3). (2) is the subject and (4) the predicate.)


texts: Today my madam asked me inform to sir that she will come late l told to sir ....sir madam comes one hour late is this sentence correct which I used


texts:
for example,

  to go over something that had learned.

  I review my script for performance at the school.

I mean the field of the study.


texts: Informal way of saying the computer mouse is not functioning well

texts:
My son wants to watch the children's TV show, Peg + Cat on his computer. He scrolled the mouse down to the show's folder, but when he double clicks on the folder, it does not open; a pop up menu displays instead.
I wanted to tell him that the mouse is not functioning well because the right button was stuck.

Do you informally say the mouse is busted/broken? If not, what do you say? Bear in mind the mouse still scrolls and sometimes with a few clicks 'it gets on'.
By the way, is using 'it gets on' to mean 'it works' correct? If not what phrasal verb would you use instead?


texts: What's the difference between "any + [singular noun]" vs. "any + [plural noun]"?

texts:
You can ask any student.
   You can ask any students.

  You can ask each student.
   You can ask every student.

Would anyone possibly elaborate on their differences?


texts: She's got hair of a raven VS She's got raven hair

texts:
She's got hair of a raven

Can we just omit "of" when we cannot add a suffix to a noun to turn it into an adjective? For example,

She's got raven hair

I mean situations where if a suffix were added, it would create a non-existing  word. In other words, I want to use a noun as an adjective, but that noun hasn't got an adjective form.
Here's another example - "adjective form". I didn't say "form of an adjective". I don't understand it. Could someone explain it to me?


texts: Do I need the second "as" in the following text?

texts:
I stopped her with a kiss. I thought she would push me away, tell me she just saw me as a friend, or worse, just as another member of the club.

Do I need that second as? Why or why not?


texts: What’s that supposed to mean vs what does that suppose to mean vs what’s that suppose to mean

texts:
I, for some reason, can’t figure out the grammar of the following phrase - “What’s that supposed to mean?”...
Why isn’t it “What does that suppose to mean?” or “What’s that suppose to mean?” I know it’s a set phrase, but I still can’t fathom how is it grammatically correct, am I missing something? Please help!


texts:
It's from "The Running Man" movie (1987)

In the begining there are opening credits which contain the back story of the movie.

  By 2017 the world economy has collapsed. Food, natural resources and
  oil are in short supply. A police state, divided into paramilitary
  zones, rules with an iron hand. Television is controlled by the state
  and a sadistic game show called "The Running Man" has become the most
  popular program in history. All art, music and communications are
  censored. No dissent is tolerated and yet a small resistance movement
  has managed to survive underground. When high-tech gladiators are not
  enough to suppress the people's yearning for freedom......more direct
  methods become necessary

.What exactly does "direct" mean in this context?


texts:
Is the phrase an idiom? What does it mean in the following sentence?

  People sometimes ask what it takes for someone to remain the same person from one time to another.


texts:
I've posted this question along with other questions in one post already, someone told me to split it and ask each question in a separate post. Hopefully it's not spam.
From wikipedia:

Apart from the special cases referred to in the sections above, many
other dependent clauses use a tense that might not logically be
expected – in particular the present tense is used when the reference
is to future time, and the past tense is used when the reference is to
a hypothetical situation (in other words, the form with will is
replaced by the present tense, and the form with would by the past
tense). This occurs in condition clauses (as mentioned above), in
clauses of time and place and in many relative clauses:

then they gave this example:

If we were that hungry, we would go into the first restaurant that we
saw. (simple past instead of simple conditional)

I'll try to phrase my question the best I can.
If that rule didn't exist (the one about changing the tense of a hypothetical situation to the past tense), would it be correct to say

If we were that hungry, we would go into the first restaurant that we would see

?, even though see isn't the consequence or the result of the condition clause?,  and would all the verbs in the main clause of a second conditional sentence use the simple conditional tense (would + root form of a verb)?.
wikipedia page.
It might seem like a stupid question, because that rule does exist, I'm just asking for whether there can be verbs in the main clause that aren't the consequence/result but still use the modal verb would.
What about this example:
If A happened, then B would be (present) the case, so I say:

If A happened, I would know that B was/is the case.

which one to use from the above choices?, knowing that B has not been the case before and is not the case at the moment of speaking. If the answer is "was", is that because of what wikipedia said at the start of the question?.


texts: When a noun is used second time it is preceded by the definite article the.As - I saw a dog. The dog was black. But when an uncountable noun is used in general should it be preceded by' the' in second time as- Maxican food is very spicy. The food tastes very hard.Or food tastes very hard.


texts:
I have a question about the expression "How much is right to do something?".

Is it correct at all? I mean, when someone proposes me to do something, but I have a doubt about that action I ask "How much is right to do it?". Or should we ask "How much is it right to do it?" or in any other way?


texts: Using the definite article with a collective noun

texts:
In the following sentence (emphasis is mine, source)

  The government manipulates the television with the emphasis on their major voters, who are dependent upon television--instead of reading the paper and social media.

why does the author write the paper and not papers? This statement doesn't refer to any paper in particular.

Can I say papers here? If yes, how is the paper different from papers?


texts:
We want to use the terms ill and illness in our software instead of sick (see also Is there any difference between being ill and sick?), but I'm having difficulty finding a proper replacement for the term sick leave.

What can we use?
(which, to confuse things, is often defined as leave of absence granted because of illness)

Note: we have several kinds of official/authorized leave, so I can't use a generic 'leave' term.


texts: Function of Past Perfect in this excerpt

texts:
The following text is an excerpt from Roald Dahl's "The Minpins". I highlighted bold all occurrences of Past Perfect in it.

I find it confusing to find "the next moment" directly in front of a Past Perfect instance.
Also, the alternate usage of Past Perfect and Past in consecutive sentences denoting consecutive actions.

Is there a point I am missing?
Or is this whole Use Past Perfect for actions ended before the action in Past story not to be taken very seriously?
And in the end, it's more a question of style and taste?

  Just then a funny thing happened. Little Billy began to hear somebody whispering in his ear. ... It was the Devil.

  "It would be easy," the Devil was whispering, "to climb out through that window. No one would see you. ... "

  "What is in there?" Little Billy whispered.

  "Wild strawberries," the Devil whispered back. ...

  These were the words the Devil whispered softly into Little Billy's ear on that sunny summer afternoon.

  The next moment, Little Billy had opened the window and was climbing out. In a jiffy he had dropped silently onto the flowerbed below. In another jiffy he was out through the garden gate. And in yet another jiffy he was standing on the very edge of the great big dark Forest of Sin!

  He had made it! He had got there! And now the forest was all his to explore!


texts: 'Putting on / Wearing' and 'Taking off' a hat / cap... - Tie &... - Glasses - Jewels and so on

texts:
To me, one can ("put on" or "wear") and "take off"all the mentioned items in the subject of this thread; I have made some examples. Please consider them and let me know if my sentences sound incorrect to you. Meanwhile, I think using either 'put on' or 'wear' in these senses do not make any semantic nuance in the sentences bellow; I would appreciate it if you specify the examples where using one of these two mentioned verbs convey a different connotation:
1) Hat / Cap and etc.

I thought its cold outside and (put on / wore) my Knit cap; but the weather was good and I (took it off / took off it).

2) Tie and so on

Do you know that man who has (put a tie on / put on a tie / worn a tie)?

Because of an old habit I (take my tie off / take off my tie) at the time of dance.

3) Glasses

It’s too sunny; I need to (put on / wear) my sunglasses.

Take of your glasses.

4) Jewels

Most of the women love to put on / wear expensive jewels  in ceremonies

Please take off your jewels.


texts:
Is it correct to say similar with or similar to or similar like? Consider the following sentences

He has similar behavior with his friends (He has a behavior similar with his friend)
He has similar behavior to his friends   (He has a behavior similar to his friend)
He has similar behavior like his friend


texts: What's the meaning of 'lips of' in this sentence?

texts:
I encountered the following sentence while reading a book:

We soon discovered that many slips are possible between the cup of a
promising idea and the lips of real-life applications, and that only a
thorough understanding of these intermediate steps can turn a
promising idea into something really useful and practical.

I can figure out the meaning from the context:
There might be many dangers between ideas and applications of the ideas. So the idea alone is not enough.
But I cannot figure out what the 'lips of' means there.


texts: Which two clauses should be compounded in this sentence?

texts:
He asked a lot of questions  which were none of his business and
  generally managed to annoy everybody.

Which one is right, and why ?

I'm an English learner and it's refer from a book. It's just confuse me.


texts:
Excerpted from http://thesmartset.com

  It’s a pity that Frye isn’t around to classify A Song of Ice and Fire. He might have termed it a quest-romance where subtlety and complexity are sacrificed in favor of stark dialectical contrasts suggestive of folklore and allegory. Nor would it have bothered him that George R. R. Martin writes like a hippopotamus and that millions of readers love his books for precisely that reason.

What is it like to write like a hippopotamus?


texts:
I have a couple of questions related to the meaning of "commute".

  Cambridge dictionary: It's at least an hour's commute to work.

  The Telegraph: My daily 20-minute commute to work remains unpredictable.

Is this means that the total time required for travelling to work and get back home is 20 minutes, or it means that I need 20 minutes to reach my office?

Also can I use commute with gym? I don't go to gym on a daily basis, and I got impression that "commute" can be only used with places we go routinely like work.


texts: "to engage in the discussion" vs. "to engage the discussion"

texts:
According to the English dictionaries,
to engage in, as an intransitive verb, means to begin an activity (Merriam-Webster), which is sensible for "to engage in the discussion with someone on some topic".

However, a search in books.google.com suggests many authors use the following expression engage the discussion.

For example,
"To engage the discussion about the impact of such a pervasive epidemic as HIV/AIDS from a perspective ..."
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1134656556

I cannot find an appropriate definition of this usage (maybe except definition 7? see below), as most examples suggest the object should be a person, not a thing

So what is "to engage the discussion" ? Or is it a misuse of the verb to engage

(Merriam-Webster)

  engage, transitive verb

  1 : to offer (something, such as one's life or word) as backing to a cause or aim : to expose to risk for the attainment or support of some end

  2 : to attract and hold by influence or power
    : to interlock with : mesh; also : to cause (mechanical parts) to mesh

  3 : to bind (someone, such as oneself) to do something; especially : to bind by a pledge to marry

  4 a : to provide occupation for : involve
    b : to arrange to obtain the use or services of : hire

  5 a : to hold the attention of : engross
    b : to induce to participate

  6 a : to enter into contest or battle with
    b : to bring together or interlock (weapons)

  7 : to deal with especially at length


texts:
I suppose that the sentence:

  I've won the lottery. This is the second time this happened.

isn't correct - it must be:

  I've won the lottery. This is the second time this has happened.

But what is the reason for that?

Is it because the present tense in the beginning "This is the second time" determines the present perfect tense in the ending "this has happened"?

Or is it because we just have to use the present perfect in this context?


texts: Is it OK to use short and simple sentences consecutively?

texts:
I've been frequently recommended to use simple and short sentences, especially in the technical writings where clearness is important. It seems English readers are also comfortable with this style of writing?

For example, this is a part of an article I am working on (the sentences may be familiar to you ;) )

I tried to keep them short and simple, but I am afraid that they don't sound good or professional to the reader? And maybe some sentence combination or conjunctive adverb are required?

I highlighted the beginning of each sentence to ease the reading.

  In this section we describe the algorithm for extracting data from a webpage. The algorithm utilizes the wrapper created in the previous section. The input of the algorithm is the DOM tree of the webpage, the list of anchors and the contexts created by the user. Then, the nodes of the DOM tree are traversed recursively in depth-first manner. By visiting each node, it is matched against the list of anchors. If it matches any of the anchors, the anchor is marked as “active”. If this anchor belongs to a context, we check whether the anchor marks the beginning or ending of the context. ...

Is it the style you recommend?


texts: In a very long sentence, is the latter always referring to the nearest one right before it?

texts:
chapter 6 of Bertsekas et. al's book "Introduction to Probability, 2nd Edition" says

  Generalizing from the case of a finite number of random variables, the independence of an infinite sequence of random variables Xi is defined by the requirement that the random variables $X_1, ..., X_{n}$ be independent for any finite n. Intuitively, knowing the values of any finite subset of the random variables does not provide any new probabilistic information on the remaining random variables, and the conditional distribution of the latter is the same as the unconditional one.

What the latter is referring to? Is that "the remaining random variables"?


texts: Can I use not only... but also... with two different subjects?

texts:
As in this sentence:

  Not only should you cook your meals, but also they should be healthy.

The first subject is "you", and the second subject is "meals". Can I use not only... but also... this way? Otherwise what's the best way to connect the two parts?


texts: "written assignment" vs "writing assignment"

texts:
What's the difference between "written assignment" and "writing assignment"?

I was told just now this:

  "...written assignment (is) versus oral assignment, and writing assignment
  (is) versus reading assignment..."

Does that mean that the difference is not in the definition (both are acts of writing something), but rather in the usage (that is, if the context is oral communication, then it's better to say "written assignment"; and if the context is reading, then it's better to say "writing assignment")?


texts: What is the parts of speech of these words?

texts:
On 20 July 1969, Apollo 11 was  first manned mission to land on the Moon.There were also   landings.

I want to know the parts of speech of these bold words.


texts:
Four men were lying on the grass under the bridge.

What is the part of speech of 'under the bridge'?

Is it an adjective phrase which modify 'the grass'?

Or is it an adverb phrase modifying 'were lying'?

  A: On which grass were four men lying?

  B: They were lying on the grass under the bridge.

In this dialogue, 'under the bridge' is used as an adjective phrase modifying 'the grass'.

  A: Where were four men lying on the grass?

  B: They were lying on the grass under the bridge.

In this dialogue, could 'under the bridge' modify 'were lying'?
Then it could be an adverb phrase.

Is my explanation plausible?


texts:
In our neck of the woods, most Indians tend to include two or three chapattis as part of the main course.

source: "New Beginnings", by LimeyLady.

"In our neck of the woods"-what does it mean?


texts: What is the grammar of ~they end up being broken’

texts:
that a person must handle the unbroken (drinking) glasses on display
  with care because otherwise they may end up being broken.

In the above sentence, I don’t know why it has used they may end up being broken I have difficulty with end up being broken? Why being or being broken?


texts:
From Cambridge Dictionary

This movie is good family entertainment.

According to the dictionary, "entertainment" can be both an uncountable noun and a countable noun.
Is this sentence grammatically correct and natural?

This movie is good a family entertainment.

In other words, when "entertainment" serves as a countable noun, does the whole sentence mean the same thing as the quotation?
Ngram Viewer shows "a family entertainment" is in use.


texts: Which is better for listening: intensive or extensive listening?

texts:
For improving listening capability, which method is better? First, intensive listening: to listen to a sentence or two with dictations. Second, extensive listening: to listen to long range of audios.: I want to know if there are studies about this.

(* My case: I’ve adopted first one for around over two years with BBC’s children’s news, BBC’s Learning English stuffs, and recently with Aussie ABC’s short news, which are consisted of two or three sentences for an event. But the sounds and structures of English are far different from my mother tongue, Korean, it’s not content at all. But I do not want to change my way yet. For without good partial tactics, I think, a soccer team could not get a good result. Likewise without being good at catching partial fragment, how can I get the long range of things? Would you let me know consulting my experience?)


texts: What's "worn size 'large' gloves" referring to in this context?

texts:
Well now I know I've done at least two things Trump hasn't... worn size 'large' gloves and been in a grocery store.

This is a tweet comment quoted by this article. As I understand, he is saying that there are two things Trump hasn't done yet, number 1 is "worn size 'large' gloves", and number 2 is "been in a grocery store". But I don't understand why the guy put worn size 'large' gloves? Any underlying meaning for it?


texts:
This is an exerpt from an online article. I have difficulty understanding the bold-fonted phrase. Could anyone explain what it means and underlying grammar?
If you want a promotion or recognition, that falls on you and you alone. Shift negative feelings by creating a game plan that keeps you focused and driven toward goals.


texts: Trouble with changing a sentence to active voice

texts:
I need help with this exercise about active voice. Says Change each sentence to the active voice. Use the by phrase as the subject For example:

Drivers were warned (by the sign) not to exceed 30 mph.
The sign warned drivers not to exceed 30 mph.

  Passengers are allowed (by the airline) to check one bag for free.
  __________________________________ one bag for free.

My answer was

  The airline allowed passengers to check one bag for free.

However system told me was wrong. Can you please tell me why?


texts: Is it grammatically correct "Retry the failing activity, as the clock has past the remaining time"?

texts:
Someone suggested that the phrase "Retry the failing activity, as the clock has past the remaining time" is not grammatically correct because it is missing a verb after "has".

I understand that "past" isn't a verb but I think "has" can act as a verb. I would like to know if we really need a verb after "has" or the above statement is correct?


texts:
Is either of these sentences correct?

  He made his clothes washed

or

  He made his clothes wash


texts: Is 'compromisation' actually used, or is there a better word?

texts:
I'm writing an IT security related text and instinctively wrote the word "compromisation".

When I thought about it, I wasn't too sure anymore, so I check and the only actual reference to the word I found was on wiktionary.

Spell checks in my browser or MS Word don't know it either.

How I wanted to use it:

Attacker X used method Y to compromise system Z. (this seems fine to me)

Method Y lead to a compromisation of system Z. (this is what I attempted to use, but doesn't seem to be right)

Q: Is compromisation actually used in the English language or is there a better word for this?

edit: I've also come across this post in a forum, where the same question was asked, without conclusion.


texts: When expressing a class of things, should I use a singular or a plural form?

texts:
When referring to a class of things, especially countable things, I am always confused about singular noun and plural nouns. For example:

  Dogs are the most lovely animal in the world.

and

  The most lovely animal in the world is dogs.

I know both sentences are grammatical correct because verbs only need to agree with the subject. However, those sentences sound awkward because of mixing singular noun and plural nouns.

So what is the best way to refer a class of countable things?

Update:

I have been suggested that I can use "the dog" to refer all dogs. So can the + a singular countable always represent a class of things?


texts: The relation between direct and indirect speech

texts:
‘Mary, I want to take you out to dinner,’ he had lied, to break the
  frost.

I would like to know what is the syntactic relation between the direct and indirect speech - whether there is any kind of dependency and what we call the reporting clause.


texts: What does 'scape mean in this quote by Shakespeare?

texts:
I found this line in Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

  And 'scape detecting, I will pay the theft.

What does "'scape" mean? Google says this.

  A long, leafless flower stalk coming directly from a root.
  The basal segment of an insect's antenna, esp. when it is enlarged and lengthened (as in a weevil).

Should I read this as "And flower stalk detecting, I will pay the theft."?


texts:
I was reading this news article. And this paragraph is a part of the article:

Hi, just saw your news report. What concerned me is the lump on your
neck. Please have your thyroid checked. Reminds me of my neck. Mine
turned out to be cancer. Take care of yourself."
Price got the lump
checked out, and sure enough, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Had I never received that email, I never would have called my doctor.
The cancer would have continued to spread. It's a scary and humbling
thought," Price wrote. "I will forever be grateful to the woman who
went out of her way to email me, a total stranger. She had zero
obligation to, but she did anyway. Talk about being on your side, huh?

I know the meaning of 'humble' as showing an attitude of not being proud. But the meaning doesn't seem fit with the sentence.
The word is used with 'scary' so I guess it might have a similar meaning as scary. But does the humble have the meaning of 'scary'?


texts:
A real palace of a house
That idiot of a doctor

Would you show me the phrases above in some other ways that mean the same thing?
Any comment would be appreciated


texts:
I thought Ela to have beaten Ron.

(The sentence may sound ridiculous and unconventional, but I made it solely to understand the Infinitive and their functions better and will never choose these kind of sentences in daily speaking.)
Ela is the object of the verb 'thought' and the agent of Infinitive verb. The Infinitive clause is the complement of the main verb 'thought'
My first question is  Can I change the voice of Infinitive clause and make the sentence like
I thought Ron to have been beaten by Ela.
Here Ron is now the object of the verb thought, but this time 'Ron' is the patient of Infinitive verb not the agent....and Infinitive clause is again the verb complement.

He told me he had locked the door.

My second question, 'that he had locked the door' is a noun clause' but I am confused how it's working...is it working as an object or a complement of the verb 'told'?

My third question is connected to the first And second... that's why I'm having to ask it in the same question to give u(reader) a complete understanding of what I know and What I don't know.

He told me the door to have been locked by him.
(I have already been told that this sentence is not grammatical...and gives no sense. But as a non- native speaker I have no way of knowing...it is giving or not...unless I know what grammar rules it not follows.....)
From my understanding,
'told' is the verb...'me' is the object.....'the door' is the 'patient' and the whole Infinitive
Clause is perhaps the complement of the verb 'told' or simply a verb complement.
(The verb 'told' is catenative as someone told me....and it has to catenative complement here)
Sorry, for making the question too long.... but I simply did to increase the chance of getting the spot on answer of my question.


texts: "the fourth liar in line" / "the fourth most important liar" or something else?

texts:
I have to find a title for a story about two inventors, the Short brothers, who ended up writing hundreds of letters, containing lies, to various entrepreneurs, trying to get them to invest money in their projects. Finally they teamed up with one of their physics' teachers who reluctantly started to send fraudulent letters to investors claiming he had witnessed their experiments. At one point, the eccentric William Carbide, got involved in this scam, writing a few articles in a little known magazine with few readers. The story is mainly about this William Carbide who in the end did nothing.

The original title is something like (1) or (2). However, I am not sure if they sound good in English. I am looking for a suitable title that keeps the main idea in (1) or (2).

  (1) William Carbide, the fourth liar in line after the Short brothers and their mentor, Dr. Thompson

or

  (2) William Carbide, the fourth most important liar after the Short brothers and their mentor, Dr. Thompson


texts:
Can I use this line in a song, addressing the fires and the winds:

  You fires and winds, please, let the forests be

for them not to get angry anymore and let the forests exist and not destroy them anymore?

Thanks.


texts: You are writing a fiction / fictional book?

texts:
You are writing a fiction book?
  You are writing a fictional book?
  I am reading a fiction book.
  I am reading a fictional book.

Are fiction and fictional interchangeable in the above context?


texts:
What is the difference between 'case in point' and 'for example'

Is case in point or for example more appropriate in the sentence below:

Ability has never been related to a person’s gender, a good case in point is that I got a part-time job in which I completed more questionnaires per day than male colleagues.
Ability has never been related to a person’s gender, for example, I got a part-time job in which I completed more questionnaires per day than male colleagues.


texts: "by the six month mark" vs "by the six month"

texts:
https://www.lingq.com/lesson/lesson-18-analyzing-cost-benefits-431411/

By the six month mark, the company should be making a profit.

in the above context, the word "mark" seems redundant. If it is not, then, what is the difference between "by the six month" and "by the six month mark"?


texts:
I'm trying to say that trouble consists of several pieces. I'm trying to look for the best word to use instead piece of trouble. So far I was thinking of these: share, fraction, part, portion, dose, segment, quantum, chunk, lump, bit, and snip

Maybe piece is the best choice?


texts: What is a formal synonym phrase for "What the hell are you talking about"?

texts:
What I want to write is
formal, or polite version of

  what the hell are you talking about?

A reason why I can't use this is beacuse a person who's saying this is a middle-aged man, and he's not likely to say something like "what the hell.."

And I know  I can just remove "the hell" and go for "what are you talking about?", but it's too simple compared to what I initially wanted to say. I don't know what exactly "hell" means here, but I know it does have some impolite, negative connotations. But here, he isn't being that offensive. He's kind of emphasizing what he had just heard is a total nonsense.

Is there any expression which is a formal version of "what the hell are you talking about" in English?

Or is there any good word that can replace "the hell"?


texts:
What are these animals called?

  1) They are called a cat.

  2) They are called cat.

  3) They are called cats.

  4) They are called the cat.

The first one doesn't look correct as I am not referring to one cat.

The second one seems problematic as a countable noun should either exist as a plural or be preceded by a determiner.

The third one seems promising as cats are in a generic sense.

The fourth seems wrong as I am not referring to any specific cat.

Which of the above is correct?


texts:
I think these are the exact same meaning ,but I suppose #1 and #2 are common, but #3 is not as common as the other ones are. Is there any reason?

The other day, I played computer game too much to finish the homework

The other day, I played computer game so much that I couldn't finish the homework.

The other day, I played computer game too much that I could finish the homework.


texts: More than one baggage is allowed or more than one baggages are allowed?

texts:
which is correct?

More than one  baggage is allowed

or

More than one baggages are allowed


texts: Is there any word or expression to describe feeling something really deep (you don't know what that feeling is)?

texts:
Sometimes you feel kind of like you're lost in time or something—you forget about your issues and everything for a few seconds.
This happens especially when you see a beautiful photograph or listen to a pleasing song, or maybe when you witness the melancholic sunset view and it makes you sit there and do nothing.

You can't describe that feeling, it's not like a particular emotion but it can be anything. It can be nostalgia, melancholy or euphoria or mixed emotions but you don't understand what you're feeling and you feel it to such a degree that you feel like you've felt something from the other side, that's how I usually word it.

So, do you know any word or expression to describe such a feeling?

Thank you.


texts:
If I do a master degree in Germany, I can learn how to research in the automobile industry, which is, of course, very competitive. As for whether it was the right decision, I’m pretty confident and I can’t change my mind now anyway because I borrowed money from my parents to pay for my tuition. I’m going to do my best to complete my course and I will go back to my country with new ideas that will help expand my opportunites.

What is the "as for whether"? I think it's one of phrases.


texts:
In my other post ("that" vs. "if" in the context of indirect question) I said

  Actually I am not sure if I dealt with that problem in the right way.

where I put an extra "in".

Another expression is without the extra "in", and seems more common.

  Actually I am not sure if I dealt with that problem the right way.

The question is whether both are idiomatic. Any ideas?

The following part should be treated as archived, corresponding the existing discussion.

In my other post I said

  I am not sure if I did it in the right way.

where I put an extra "in".

I found lots of people also use the expression.

Another expression is without the extra "in", and seems more common.

  I am not sure if I did it the right way.


texts: Position of adverb related to nominalized verb

texts:
I know that there is a lot of content out there which discusses adverb placement, but I'm having still trouble finding an answer.
It's regarding adverb placement together with nominalized verbs.
I built the following sentence in a letter I'm writing.

Learning rapidly many new skills and mastering older ones is fulfilling.

A proofreader suggested the correction as

Rapidly learning many new skills and mastering older ones is fulfilling.

But I couldn't come up with a grammatical explanation why one or the other is wrong.
Is there a difference in meaning between both sentences?
Is one of them blatantly wrong?


texts:
Note: I am aware that the two negative elements cancel each other out. for example, "He is not unhappy" means "He is happy". I just want to know "I don’t know nothing" means "I know nothing" or "I know something".

A tutorial on VOA says

  ... if you told an English teacher, “I don’t know nothing,” the teacher would probably correct you with, “I don’t know anything.” This kind of double negative is taboo in professional and academic situations. Some people see it as a sign of being poorly educated.

I suppose that means the English teachers consider "I don’t know nothing" as "I don’t know anything", the former is a bad version of the latter, though both of them have the same meaning.

An ELU post says

  There is no semantic difference between these two:

    I know nothing about that.

    I don’t know nothin’ about that.

By far, "I don't know nothing" = "I don't anything" = "I know nothing"

An ELL post says (meaning_2)

  "I don't know nothing" means "I know something."

Meaning_2 sounds more reasonable though, different sources are conflict with each other.

Could someone please explain this particular sentence?


texts:
I found the following usage of quite in the Cambridge dictionary:

  Quite + nouns
  We can use quite + a/an before a noun to give it more emphasis or importance:
  There was quite a crowd at the party.
  It makes quite a difference when the wind isn’t blowing.

I don't understand what emphasis or importance quite has in above two sentences: does quite mean very or something else in those two  sentences?

Again, what's the meanings of the following  sentences with quite:

1.It's quite a big town.
 2.It's quite an old castle.
3.The film was quite a success.


texts:
I'd like to ask how a native speaker expresses the fact that someone is not able to fulfill the obligations due to illness.

Sorry, I cannot take part in the conference. I am on the sickness layoff.

Is the second sentence OK?


texts: "no country uses and works in every country"?

texts:
I'm reading this online material about Python, a programming language, and I can't understand a paragraph in it. Please don't worry if you don't know what Python is, because I believe this very quotation has nothing to do with coding:

  Q: Are you sure # is called the pound character?

  A: I call it the octothorpe because that is the only name that no country uses and that works in every country. Every country thinks its
  name for this one character is both the most important way to do it
  and the only way it's done. To me this is simply arrogance and,
  really, y'all should just chill out and focus on more important things
  like learning to code.

My question is: What does the author mean by saying "that is the only name that no country uses and that works in every country"?


texts: The difference between 'callback' and 'respond'

texts:
When you receive a request, you can callback to it or respond to it?

What's the difference?


texts: Word/Phrase request: Describing the action of "writing down something you remembered"

texts:
Say you've read a poem by William Shakespeare. You liked it very much so you remembered it by heart. Now you can recite it, i.e., read it aloud from your memory, or, you can write it down accurately without checking up the source.

Is there an English word or phrase to describe the latter action? In Chinese we have a word called 默写 that does the job. It functions both as a verb and a noun. If I were to translate it into English, what is the colloquial way to express it?


texts: Actions Which Terminate at Present Moment

texts:
Which tense should I use for actions which terminate exactly at the present time and the final point of the action is the present moment ? Can present perfect be used for this type of situation because I was told that simple past expresses an action which started in the past,lasted for some time and ended in the past.What about an action started in the past,lasted for some time,but ends exactly at the present time ?

Let's imagine a boy who left his house to take his grandmother some cookies.I consider the time when the boy was at the door of their home is the start point of this action and the first moment when the boy is at his grandmothers house (this is exactly the present moment for this situation) is the end point of the action because the action cannot be complete before this point.Can this boy say "I have brought you some cookies,grandma." when he enters the house at the present moment(the first time he be at his grandmothers house.)

I think using past tense is not appropriate here because the action includes the present moment and using past form requires the action to locate in some past section at the timeline.There must be a time point where the boy is at his grandmothers house in order to say bringing action is complete and this is the present time in our situation (before this time the boy wasn't at his grandmas house),but a past form cannot include the present moment.


texts: Past simple without would for an action done many times

texts:
I saw in the Pogues' song "a pair of brown eyes" this sentence:

  I left the place sometimes crawling sometimes walking,

it seems that the guy from the song left many times the place where he was so why not would leave as it is not a single event?


texts: What is the meaning of the phrase with and without the 's

texts:
I have two phrases and I want to know the meaning of each one.

  Phrase 1: "Moroccan top speaker"

  Phrase 2: "Moroccan's top speaker"


texts:
Judge asks defendant Bobby Seale, who was gagged for misbehavoir in court:

Judge: Let the record show that I tried, fairly and impartially. I
tried to get the defendant to sit on his own. I ask you again, Mr.
Seale, and you may indicate by raising your head up and down, or
moving it from side to side, if I have your assurance that you will
not do anything to disrupt this trial, if I allow you to resume proper
order.

What does "resume proper order" mean?
Source: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)


texts: Meaning of "Put me down" and "course" in one sentence?

texts:
Hey, Mr. Peanutbutter. You wanna go fly a kite?
  Put me down for a supersized "sounds great" but with an even larger main course of "sadly, I cannot." I'm swamped here at work.

Well, I think Mr. Peanutbutter is trying to say that it's a great idea but he can't do it due to work but he said this in a very complicated way that made me think of it for a long time to be able to know what he's trying to say.

What's the meaning of "put me down for"? Why doesn't he simply say "sounds great"?
Also I don't understand the second bolded part. I know course means tutorial or a series of lessons. So what's the meaning in the context here?


texts: How do you see the difference between these two sentences?

texts:
Could someone explain the difference between these two? Why does the first one take the definite article and the second one takes the indefinite article?

  1) Thousands of years ago, it was only kings, pharaohs, and emperors who had the ability to solve large-scale problems.

  2) I believe gays have an ability to see beauty in places other people might find repellent or unattractive.

Both examples are taken from the internet. In both cases, the abilities are definite enough to take THE.

Does it work if I change the sentences?

  1) Thousands of years ago, kings, pharaohs, and emperors had an ability to solve large-scale problems.

I state that it wasn't just one ability that they had. But to change the central point of the sentence, I choose the first form with THE. My main focus now is one specific ability and kings, emperors and pharaohs are the only people who had it and this allows us to take the definite article.

  2) The ability to see beauty in odd places is so rare that only gays can have it.


texts: Cannot + verb without subject in the front

texts:
I was reading a sentence in which there is no doer or we can add a doer in the end, which makes it a passive sentence. But it was written similar to an active sentence.

The pain of cultural loss cannot compare.

Isn't it wrong? I was thinking of this sentence like :

The pain of cultural loss cannot be compared(by anyone).

What is the difference between two?


texts:
I think I am still struggle with the article "the".

Is it "in text format" or "in the text format"?

My sentence:

  For example, to teach the distinction between short and long vowels like /ԑ/ and /iː/ (as set and seat) or /a/ and /a:/ (as got and dart), an appropriate list in text format can be prepared.

I guess my usage is correct, but for assurance I searched it in Google

"in text format" : 490,000
"in the text format" : 949,000 !which is much more

Then I thought maybe I missed something about "the"


texts:
I was reading Desire by Haruki Murakami and I wonder what grammar is

  To reach the source of the aroma, however, he would have to go down a steep flight of stairs, seventeen of them.

What type of conditional is it? 3rd one?


texts: A question regarding gerund and its actor

texts:
My company wants to promote me but needs me to work in Brazil. This is like your teacher telling you you’ve done well and allowing you to skip a grade.

In the above sentence, the gerund "telling" is the object of the preposition "like", and "your teacher" functions as the actor of the action "telling". Am I right?


texts:
That is the guy whose car is broken.
  That is the guy whose car I rented.

What is the function of "whose" in both of above sentences. Is it subject or object, or something else of the relative clause? Kindly elaborate function of each part of speech those plays in above both sentences.


texts:
Recently I watched video about some English (US) vocabulary(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOOSIPzi3Ls&t=16m54s) where the guy says that adding 'myself' to the end of the sentence with structure 'I've never' makes it more natural and doesn't change the meaning of the sentence.(E.g 'I've never been to Spain' and 'I've never been to Spain myself').

Is it really natural and are there any rules when I can use it?

  I've never thought about it myself.
  I've never had this feeling myself.
  I've never read 'Heart of Darkness' myself.
  I have never traveled by airplane myself.


texts:
Anyone have an extra apartment there?

This quote is from an English native speaker. Why "anyone have"?

This could be an elliptical question, but I'd expect native speakers to ask a question using an affirmative sentence as in:

  Anyone knows what happened?

Here is the full quote:

  Friends. Hi! Sitting here on a Friday night brainstorming honeymoon
  options with David. Who has ideas?!? Where is a great place to visit
  at the end of March? We have ideas all over the place. One option we
  are thinking about Paris ... anyone have an extra apartment there?

If it is an elliptical question, what do you think is more common in everyday spoken English? Elliptical or questions in affirmative forms?

Edit:

Thanks to everyone for answering. I was looking for the full meaning and etymology of an idiom when I came across this quote which serves as a real world example:

  In Reply to: (Correcting omission) posted by R. Berg on February 25,
  2003

  : : : Anyone know the origin of the idiom or phrase "Throw the book at
  em." I realize it means prosecute someone to the fullest extent of the
  law, a law enforcement term, but does anyone really know where it came
  from and when it first began being used?


texts: What is the small room in the entrance of the flat called?

texts:
Where I live, many apartments are build in a way that after you open the door of an apartment, then you have a small room "entrance room" in which people can put their shoes or other things, and from there there are another rooms (such as kitchen and bedroom or living room etc.).

This room is variable in its size, but I'm asking about 6*2M room. Now we call it corridor, and when I translate this word to English it is called also corridor... Now the issue is that the definition in Cambridge dictionary for the word corridor is:

  Corridor: a long passage in a building or train, especially with rooms on either side.

It seems that corridor in my language and corridor in English is not the same, and in English people call this place in a different name. What is this name for our corridor?

The following illustration demonstrates this area by the number 4.


texts: Preposition: its peak is (at) by the end of a/the day

texts:
What is the correct preposition and phrase here:

  Overall, the highest number in terms of consumption of energy is in winter and its peak is by the end of THE day in England

Vs.

  Overall, the highest number in terms of consumption of energy is in winter and its peak is AT by the end of A day in England.

Please help, I am flummoxed here as you can see.


texts: what's the difference between "of" and "being" modifier?

texts:
I found a sentence as the following:

we have the prerequisites being algorithms for NLP that's not absolutely required but they will be expecting that you have at least some background here.

does the "being algorithms" mean that all prerequisites are algorithms for NLP?
can being be replaced with of? is there any difference between prerequisites being algorithms and prerequisites of algorithms?


texts:
Below are two variants of a conversation about e.g. some rule:

Initial statement:

  His understanding of the rule is wrong.

Reply 1:

  Not just his understanding, but the rule itself is wrong.

Reply 2:

  Not just his understanding, but the very rule is wrong.

Are both phrases rule itself and very rule idiomatic? Do they mean the same?


texts:
Can you tell and explain, which one is grammatically correct?

  My excuse is that I am a kid, what's her?

or

  My excuse is that I am a kid, what's hers?


texts: What's the meaning of "The Queen’s Croquet-Ground?" It's a chapter title , from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.


texts: What does "go on an acquisition tear" mean?

texts:
Does it mean the company will be torn apart after the acquisition?

Johnston says the SodaStream deal should not be seen as a sign that the company is about to go on an acquisition tear.

Source:http://fortune.com/2018/08/20/pepsico-sodastream-acquisition/


texts: Does the adjective "mute" apply to "Light"?

texts:
I learned the meaning of mute is "characterized by an absence of sound; quiet" from Oxford Dictionaries Online. From the above meaning I understand mute is an adjective or attribute which is applicable and related to sound. However I have come across the phrase muted light from the below excerpt which is from "The Grave Yard Book" by Neil Gaiman.

  There was moon light, and there were streetlights, but the fog is stifled every thing, muted light and muffled sound and made the night shadowy and treacherous.

By that meaning I don't understand how mute is applicable to "light". I can not imagine what muted light would be. Can mute be applicable to the things which are related to light?


texts:
They will have to hone their already developed skills in advertising, communication, and marketing migrated to a multimedia, multichannel world increasingly linked together by the Internet.

I bolded the past-participle clause and I understand that it is adjectival.

but one thing that confuses me is that whether it modifies the noun preceding it or the entire noun phrase preceding it in this context.

Does "mirgrated to a multimedia , multichannel world" modify marketing or the entire noun phrase adveristing,communication, and marketing?


texts:
Suppose I have been given a sentence to rewrite it without changing its meaning. Then I tried my best to write another form of given sentence. And after writing my sentence I went to the person, who has given the sentence, to ask him- Whether my sentence is right or wrong and whether it conveys the same meaning or not. Can I use the following sentence to ask him? i.e, does the following sentence make any sense?

If I write the above sentence in the following way, do you think that the following sentence can be considered as a correct with having similar meaning of your given sentence/ with having as like as meaning that your sentence has. (I want to say this sentence to this person).


texts:
In the following sentence, what is the meaning of 'be it'?

  "Your "ideal self" is the representation of attributes you would like to have ideally, be it related to your future goals, wishes, etc."

Why is it like this?


texts: During writing an article, I tried to choose more appropriate variant between "subject area" and "subject field". Online dictionaries haven't provided enough information, than I decided just to count results of Google search for each variant: 135 millions for "area" and 1,48 billions for "field", but "subject area" is used on some university website. Thus, I'm really confused with this question. Are both variants suitable, is it depends on UK/US kind of English?


texts:
I have written the following statement which a friend says is wrong for including the word do. Would anyone explain?

  Environmental issues do matter.

I wanted to say that people have to consider the environmental impacts seriously during plant's operations and do their best to protect the environment.

Just to convince them to not underestimate the potential of harming the environment and to tell them this is big deal to us.


texts: What are the differences between relationship and connection?

texts:
What are the differences between the words 'relationship' and 'connection?'

This is what I found in a dictionary: "A connection is a relationship between two things, people, or groups." Then, are they just the same? Is there any difference between a relationship and a connection that is used to indicate something between two people?


texts: First and third person in second conditional exception

texts:
I know in the second conditional there is an exception about the first person.

For example: if I were (not was) you, I'd buy a new computer.

What about the third person? Should I use: If he were you... or If he was you?

thanks


texts:
Is the following sentence incorrect?

  Churchil was a great orator and a great politician of his time.

Some say that when article refers to a single person it must be used just once

As

  Churchil was a great orator and politician of his time.

But to me both the sentences sound correct.

The example is from a study guide written in an Indian language for English language learners.  The study guide misspells "Churchill" as "Churchil".


texts:
A part of the sentence is underlined. Below are given alternatives to the underlined part at (A), (B), (C) and (D) which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative.

Question 1: Riding across the battle field, the famous Bhishm saw a large number of dead warriors.

(A) riding around the battle field

(B) when riding the battle field

(C) while riding across the battle field (Answer given in Book)

(D) No improvement

I don't see if option C will improve the question. So I think option D should be the answer here. But answer C is given in question paper. Why so?

For example

Walking along the road, He was knocked down by a scooter. OR we say "While walking along the road, He was knocked down by a scooter. Former seems more grammatica in exam point of view.

Question 2: While walking in the park on a quiet summer afternoon a mad dog suddenly attacked him from behind.

I think its also a case of misrelated participle. I rephrase it as: While walking in the park on a quiet summer afternoon, he was attacked by a mad dog from behind.
Is this correct?

Thank you


texts: What does the phrase “If there were more busses” mean?

texts:
If there were more buses, we would leave the car at home

What does this “If there were more buses” indicate? Does this mean a) we are imagining just about more buses  or b)It also suggests that it is unlikely that there will be more buses


texts: Can "help me do something" mean "do something for me"?

texts:
Several people I know use sentences of the form:

Can you help me [do something]?

to mean what I would phrase as "can you [do something] for me?", i.e. they request that I do the entirety of the work on their behalf, while in my understanding "to help" means that they would do the work while I'd provide some assistance or advice.

For instance they'd say

Can you help me open this bottle?
Can you help me buy him a gift?

when I would say

Can you open this bottle for me?
Can you buy him a gift on my behalf?

Is theirs an accepted usage of the verb "to help"?

I found no such indication on online dictionaries. I used to correct them but I've discussed with several people to notice they all use "to help" in that sense. Most of them lived in Vietnam so it may be a regional peculiarity.


texts: The use of the definite article in "The two men appeared out of nowhere"

texts:
The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane.
  -Chapter 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Dark Lord

According to this web site, English native speakers use the definite article in front of a noun when they believe the hearer/reader knows exactly what they are referring to. But the sentence above is the very first sentence in Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows. We don't know anything about the two men and the narrow, moonlit lane.

I looked up the use of the definite article on books and the Internet. But I couldn't find out why the definite article is used in front of that nouns.

Could you explain why the definite article is used?


texts: Starting a sentence with “May have contributed to this result”

texts:
After reporting a result in a sentence, is it grammatically correct to start a subsequent sentence with “May have contributed to this result”?

Bellow I provide two examples, in the first “May have contributed to this result” is at the beginning of the subsequent sentence, and in second is at the end.

  Significant associations were found only in the north region. May have contributed to this result the fact that the population in the
  north region was more inclined to participate in the study.
  Significant associations were found only in the north region. The fact that the population in the north region was more inclined to
  participate in the study may have contributed to this result.

It seemed to me that the result sentence is better linked to the subsequent explanatory sentence in the first example, but I'm not sure.


texts: Does the phrase "fit in" make sense to non-native English speakers?

texts:
I was planning to use the expression "fit in" in a presentation -- as in "how do you fit in [to the group]?"

The audience will include people who speak English as a second language. There will be a wide range of first languages.

Someone has suggested that the phrase "fit in" might not be universally understood. Do you think it works? Thanks for your help.


texts: The verb 'held down' and its meaning in a context

texts:
This is from M. Puzo's The godfather.

  On the night before the shooting of Don Corleone, his strongest and
  most loyal and most fearest retainer prepared to meet with the enemy.
  Luca Brasi had made contact with the forces of Sollozzo several months
  before. He had done so on the orders of Don Corleone himself. He had
  done so by frequinting the nightclubs controlled by the Tattaglia
  Family and by taking up with one of their top call girls. In bed with
  this call girl he grumbled about how he was held down in the
  Corleone Family, how his worth was not recognized.

I didn't get the point of the last sentence, especially the part that I emphasized. Hold sth  down means to keep something at low level. Was Luca Brasi one of the most important person in the Corleone's bussiness? I think so.


texts:
I am wondering if the following examples below are correct:

(1) Me and the world
(2) Me and the outdoors
(3) Me and the future

Are these example grammatically correct?


texts: The vs the zero article in "(the) Egyptian-Sudanese water reserves"

texts:
The dam, as currently designed, would affect the quality of Egypt’s
  drinking water and potable water stations, as well as the
  Egyptian-Sudanese water reserves in Lake Nasser.

(Source: Al Monitor)

If the writer did not write in lake Nasser, Would he to also omit "the"  in the Egyptian-Sudanese water reserves?

As I know, the writer did not use "the" before potable water stations because he was speaking in general about stations in Egypt.
So if he omits  in Lake Nasser will that mean that he is speaking about a general reserves?


texts:
What does the bold part refer to? Is it an example for the "bottom-up" fake news?

  as philosophers trained in the art of dialectics are wont to remind
  us, sometimes quantitative changes really can lead to qualitative
  transformations: dial up the degree of mendacity and the amount of
  misinformation in circulation, and the public sphere may undergo an
  irreversible change for the worse. Is that what motivates worries
  about "fake news", whether state-sanctioned or "bottom-up" -- as in
  the many conspiracy theories that have bubbled up in recent years?


texts: Can I say two "concepts are contradiction"?

texts:
I want to tell a person that you can't accept two different concepts at one time because one suggests you to be A and the other suggests you to be B.

Can I simply say "The two concepts are contradiction(s)" or "The two concepts are a pair of contradiction(s)"?

Thanks


texts: Simple past or present perfect when talking about a general event?

texts:
When we want to convey a general event that happens earlier, which tense should I use: simple past or present perfect?
Here are some examples I came up with (I am not sure the examples are correct):

(1) If your kid swallowed / has swallowed the toy, you have to call the ambulance immediately.

(2) If you find your kid swallowed / has swallowed the toy, you have to call the ambulance immediately.

(3) If a person did / has done something nice to you, you have to say thank you.

(4) When a person didn't sleep / hasn't slept enough, she can be mad easily during the day.

(5) When you finished / have finished a meal, you have to wash your hands.


texts:
What is the primary meaning of "standard deviation"?

Context:
There was an episode from "Everybody Loves Raymond", which was named "Standard Deviation". In short, Raymond's brother Robert was administering an IQ test for Raymond and his wife Debra. Raymond got 100 points, which according to Robert was average, and Debra scored 115 points. Roberts called that a case of standard deviation and added that that meant that Debra was in a "whole class of higher brains" as compared to Raymond.

Does it mean a deviation from a norm (which is something abnormal) or, rather, a normal deviation (which is a deviation within a normal range)?

While these two meanings seem quite possible to me in this term, they, in fact, are like direct opposites of each other!

Or is it like the actual meaning of this term can only be deduced from context?


texts: "...encompassed as I am by frost and snow" -- what does the "as" mean?

texts:
Here is a sentence from Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (the beginning of Letter 2):

  How slowly the time passes here, encompassed as I am by frost and snow!

Here is the full text: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/84/84-h/84-h.htm

At the time the character writes the sentence, he is in the northern part of Russia, in the city of Archangel (Arkhangelsk), from which he plans to go on an expedition to the North Pole.

OALD says that as used in such a way (with an adjective in front of it) is synonymous with though. But looking at the context, I don't think though is really what the author meant.

In a Russian translation of the book, this sentence sounds like:

  How slowly the time passes for those who are encompassed by frost and snow!

What does encompassed as I am actually mean? Is it equal to though I am encompassed, or is it just a kind of inversion, with the "direct" version being as I am encompassed and the as meaning while (i.e. during the time) or something like that?

  How slowly the time passes here, though I am encompassed by frost and snow!
  How slowly the time passes here, while I am encompassed by frost and snow!


texts: What does "High time you forget things and move on" mean?

texts:
I received a message from someone that says:

  High time you forget things and move on.

What message does she want to pass on to me?


texts:
I have searched a lot of dictionaries but still I can't understand the exact meaning of roguish in the text below.

"Ah, that's so, that's so!" Louisa said. "And what was it in my case
but vanity, which deserves to get slapped down!" Her eyes were glassy
and her expression roguish. "You don't think he'd had a good look at
me any one time and thought the original was even worse than that poor
picture, so he backed off?"
"casting away" by Alice Munro

Please tell me, What kind of a look is the writer trying to depict with "...and her expression roguish"?


texts: Word for "someone with a sufficiently loaded mind"?

texts: Contrary to people with blank minds, people with sufficiently loaded minds are able to get ideas from their thought repository whenever required. Is there an adjective or a noun for someone with a sufficiently loaded mind?


texts: Is it "lock a deal" or "lock up a deal" or "lock in a deal"?

texts:
Let's lock (up/in) that deal.

I can't find any lexical support for any of these usages. I especially looked at the Free Dictionary's phrases, but nothing under lock up or lock in is relevant.

There's a website called "Lock The Deal", but I wonder if "Let's lock the deal soon" would be something commonly said.

I also came across this:
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/lock-up-deals.1319685/

This is a sentence from Time magazine:

  These governments are desperate to get capital into agriculture," says von Braun, who believes the drive by giant companies to lock up land deals could benefit poor African countries whose governments negotiate wisely.


texts:
I saw a girl in the garden.
I placed the camera on the tripod.

My intuition is that in the first sentence, the prepositional phrase is an object complement, and the sentence pattern is SVOC.

In the second sentence, the prepositional phrase is an adverbial, and the sentence pattern is SVOA.

But, if someone asks where did you see the girl and where did you place the camera, the answers are in the garden and on the tripod respectively.

Then, can't they both be adverbials too? Or, are they already adverbials?


texts:
I aspire to help organizations achieve their goals by solving the
  issues in the areas of customer focus, employee engagement, adapting
  for change, managing in complex environment and work-life balance

Question :- Are last 3 points "adapting for change", "managing in complex environment" and "work-life balance" fitting well with rest of the sentence?


texts: Is it common to use "work environment" and "work circumstance" to refer to relationship?

texts: When I say something "My colleagues and I have a harmonious relationship. We are willing to help each other all the time", I am describing my "work environment", "work circumstance" or something else?


texts:
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-how-the-russian-orthodox-church-answers-putins-prayers-in-ukraine-2014-10

  But what looked like a solo venture by Kirill was the culmination of a flurry of diplomatic contacts that, behind closed doors, involved the OSCE, Russian and church officials, separatist leaders and a rebel Cossack unit, according to interviews with parties to the talks.

"parties to the talks" means parties that were present during the negotiations?


texts: How To Correct: "My father likes playing gold best of all."

texts:
This is from an ESL study book, and I'm supposed to correct its grammar.

  "My father likes playing gold best of all."

The answer in the back suggests:

  "My father likes playing gold best."

My guess is that "gold" is a typo for "golf," but is "best" the right answer?
Shouldn't it be "most" instead?


texts:
In German it is quite common to say „Bitte gib mir einen Tag Zeit.“  Literally this is “* Please give me one day of time.”, but this is not correct in English! While “Please give me one bottle of/with/... milk.” seems to be correct (isn't it?) the hyper-linked question got me thinking about area/space/...:

Is “This box occupies seven square foot (0.65 square meter) of area/space/the floor/...”  correct?

“square foot/meter” is a measure for some area, therefore “of area” is as redundant as “of time” in combination with “one day”, but “meter of space” and “foot of space” seem to be quite common according to a popular search engine (which still would not make ungrammatical usage right).


texts:
There are 2 sentences that I'd like to prepare.

I have heard recommendations from doctors.

I heard recommendations from doctors.

I think sentence 2 is wrong because 'recommendations' is plural and that is compatible with present perfect tense used to talk about several different actions which have occurred in the past at different times. However, past tense is more compatible  with an action that occurred once before. So, I think it would be more suitable to put sentence 2 like a following.

I once heard a recommendation from a doctor a couple of days ago.

I'd just like to make sure that I use each tense properly.
So, could you let me know if I'm right to think this way?


texts: "X do not have an alternative" - whether X a thing/situation or a person who makes a descision?

texts:
Whether to use a plus sign or an open block for list continuations is up to you.
However, since open blocks cannot be nested, it is better to preserve them for those cases where they do not have an alternative.

I'm trying to understand whether X in "X do not have an alternative" can stand for a thing rather than a person who makes a decision. In other words, isn't it better to replace it with

However, since open blocks cannot be nested, it is better to preserve them for those cases where there is no alternative to them.

The sentence is assumed to be used in a technical document, so I want it to be precise.
I'm not sure that the 1st version is precise from the grammatical side. And it seems that the 2nd version is quite ambiguous because of its complicated construction.


texts: Which of these two is correct and what's the difference?

texts:
Not being informed about the flight cancellation, we turned up at the airport only to find that we had to return the same time the following day.

or

  Not having been informed about the flight cancellation, we turned up at the airport only to find that we had to return the same time the following day.


texts: Should I use very large/big/other motivation

texts:
I want to use this sentence on my cv, but I don`t know which adjective I should use.

  I have very a large/big/lot of motivation.


texts: Until sometime ago + present perfect or past perfect?

texts:
I always see this structure(1) in movies, tv series etc. but I think this structure is grammatically incorrect. I suppose I would use this structure in a daily conversation but not in a essay or a academic paper. I would use the past perfect version(2) instead. Am I right ?

  1-No one has ever seen anything like it until two days
  ago.

  2-No one had ever seen anything like it until two days
  ago.


texts:
I tried to check the meaning of thou and thee and all I could find is:

thou = he/she in the past
thee = they in the past

But that doesn't make any sense to me.
This is the context:

After Anu had created the heaven,
And the heaven had created the earth,
And the earth had created the rivers,
And the rivers had created the canals,
And the canals had created the morass,
And the morass had created the worm,
The worm went before Shamash, weeping,
His tears flowing before Ea:
‘What wilt thou give me for my food,
What wilt thou give me for my drink?’
‘I will give thee the dried fig
And the apricot.’
‘What are these to me? The dried fig
And the apricot!
Lift me up, and among the teeth
And the gums let me dwell! . .
Because thou hast said this, O worm,
May Ea smite thee with the might of
His hand!

What do these thous and thees mean?
I also read that Shamash is the god in an ancient civilization, so what does it mean when it states: The worm went before Shamash? How could the worm go before this god? Or does it have a hidden meaning?


texts:
In a dark room, you flash the spotlight. So if you flash it on a particular thing, is the use of this sentence natural:

  Hey! Flash the light on the table (and what about: Hey! Can you flash some light here?)

  I flashed the light on the table.

Is the use of "flash" natural in this context? If not then what can be used?


texts: What is the past and past participle of "lift off" when used as a verb?

texts:
Five, four, three, two, one, zero… We have lift-off.
Though "lift-off" here is being used as a hyphened noun, 'lift off' is used as a verb.
Just lifted off?


texts: Any difference between "as to" and "about"?

texts:
Are these two expressions interchangeable? Or is there an important difference?
example sentence:

Everyone was curious as to why Mark was leaving.

Everyone was curious about why Mark was leaving.


texts: Meaning of "were not taking any chances with something"

texts:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/nyregion/cnn-time-warner-bomb-nyc.html

  But people across the country were not taking any chances with
  suspicious packages after six pipe bombs were sent to prominent
  Democrats on the East Coast.

What does it mean?

people were not having the chance to get a suspicious packages.
people were anxious about every packages they received.


texts: Which then most sought where most might not be found,

texts:
What do the following "which" and "most" refer to?

  “I, measuring his affections by my own,
  which then most sought where most might not be found,
  being one too many by my weary self,
  pursued my humor not pursuing his,
  and gladly shunned who gladly fled from me.”

I'd appreciate your help.


texts: Is this phrase an adverbial phrase modifying the verb “competed”?

texts:
I competed in the marathon, not because I wanted to...

Is "not because  I wanted to" an adverbial phrase that modifies the verb "competed"?


texts: The word "attendance" and "at ten dance"?

texts:
When I was at college, my English teachers used to say that the word  attendance was derived from at   ten  dance. In schools the children used to dance at  Ten AM
in the British Rule and slowly it took the form attendance.

Is there any base for this tale that the word attendance really derived from at    ten   dance?

This story is prevalent in India.The English teachers who taught me this way were good scholars. I do not know How they believed and spread the story. I suspected the tale but it is very widespread. Some myths have spread into India very mysteriously which have to be debunked on sites like this; this question is intended to dispel widespread misinformation.


texts: A noun to refer to a "dispersal of a rally"

texts:
What's the usual noun in English to describe an act by the police to disperse an illegal rally?

I want to come up with a title for a video clip. A noun would fit there better - especially if the title goes like

  "A violent (noun) by the police in (the name of town)"

Could I say "dispersal of a rally"? Or would that sound weird?

EDIT:

I just want to come up with a title for a video clip. A noun would fit there better - especially if the title goes like "A violent (noun) by the police in (the name of town)"


texts: I always get confused of using "used to" in a sentence

texts:
I've searched about it in Google and it says that I've got to use the word used to in a sentence everytime I talk about past habits or anything I used to do in the past.

But I am wondering why this sentence seems incorrect for me. And this is the sentence what I'm talking about

  I remember when I was young I would always think that i had super
  powers because everytime used to expect it would definitely come true
  and if i didnt used to expect it it wouldn't come true

I suppose theres something wrong about this sentence that I made. I think the word used to doesn't fit the sentence, I think I've got to remove the word used to from the sentence, and replace it with this one

  because every time I expect it I would come and when I don't expect it
  it wouldn't come true


texts: Is there a difference between "can" and "could" when referring to the future?

texts:
I was wondering which of the following sentences is grammatically correct.

  He should study hard every day so that he could leave past his everyday life.

or:

  He should study hard every day so that he can leave past his everyday life.


texts:
Icelanders practice bracketed indulgence. Everything in moderation,
  they believe, including moderation. It’s perfectly acceptable to drink
  yourself comatose on the weekend, but so much as sip a glass of
  Chardonnay on a Tuesday night and you’re branded a lush.

  The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

What is the meaning of 'bracketed' here?


texts: What's a simple word for "it seems to me that it isn't going to happen"?

texts:
Let's say my friend is jobless and lazy. I know he should find a job, but I highly doubt he will even try to look. I could say:

  It seems to me that it isn't going to happen.

Which of these possibilities is better:

  It seems to me that he won't get a job.
  It seems to me that he isn't going to get a job.

I don't want to refer to any particular job interview, just to the fact that I doubt he will find a job.

Also, I'd like to know if there is a more sophisticated and colloquial expression (an idiom) that I could use, something like it's very improbable that [...].


texts:
Her dances are mathematical explorations of geometric shapes, and her dancers are expressionless, genderless instruments who etch intricate  patterns on the floor in precisely timed repetitive sequences of relatively simple steps.

Why is it written who? Why no other pronoun like which or that?
Which is the main part of the sentence, which is the secondary part of the sentence?


texts: How to properly mention that a line of business with a different name is licensed under a company?

texts:
Let's say B services is a line of business which is licensed under A company.

When promoting B services, how to properly mention that it is licensed under A Company (with very small font size)?


texts: I just found this weird expression while I was looking for the meaning of come along and it is as follows: "Come along, Osmond. No sense in your standing around". I think they are using "standing around" as an open noun derived directly from the phrasal verb. I found it at the COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary.


texts: What's the meaning of "impossibly complex"?

texts:
In this context, does "impossibly complex" mean "utterly simple" or "without any complexity"?

  Much like the current attitude toward the Balkans that brands it as impossibly complex and utterly simple at once, Macedonian discourse of pathology was also logically inconsistent.

(From Understanding Life in the Borderlands: Boundaries in Depth and in Motion, p 166.)


texts:
Why he has gone?
  Why has he gone?

Which is correct? Is there any difference or is it wrong? Many time I get confused which one to use.


texts:
I have a bullet list and each item has a description. Please, see the verb conjugation in the options below.
Option A:

Clone: Duplicate the post.
New Draft: Duplicate the post and open the new clone.

Option B:

Clone: DuplicateS the post.

New Draft: DuplicateS the post and openS the new clone.

Are both options grammatically correct? What is the preferred usage?


texts:
Police ride in cars, boats, on horses, bikes, or walk.
  Police ride cars, boats, horses, bikes, or walk.
  Police ride in cars, boats, horses, bikes, or walk.

Which ones are correct?

Also, is it always required to use "in" or "on" when the verb "to ride" is used, or is it completely possible without prepositions, albeit with a slightly different meaning?


texts:
There was a sentence and I had to detect the error in it.
The sentence read:

  Entrance exams for the posts of associate professors will begin from Tuesday.

The answer was:

  instead of posts, post is correct.

But I don't think it is correct. There may be many posts of many professors so one can easily say posts/post of professors. But is that correct what I think?


texts:
If I want to mention the condition in which something, for example the light, is exposed to something else like the wind and I am exposed to the first thing (the light), can I say:

  I am exposed to the light, exposed to the wind.

(The light is exposed to the wind and I am exposed to the light)

Is it correct? Should I use comma as I did in the top?


texts: Is OECD an acronym, an abbreviation, or something else?

texts: Is OECD,Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an acronym or we just call them as simply an abbreviation because every letter is pronounced one by one in the same way just like in the alphabet.


texts:
"Happily keeping a 4.0 GPA, more happily done with that class"
Is this sentence grammatically correct? It sounds wrong but might be right. Please help.


texts: "Might as well be" vs "might as well been."

texts:
Say, you're writing in the past tense. And you want to make a simile-like comparison.

Should you use "might as well be" or "might as well been"? And why?

Example:

  She squinted at the typed words, bewildered. She might as well
  be/might as well been reading an ineligible, ancient scripture.

I have the same kind of doubt with "could be" vs "could have been."

  She gawked at him until her jaw hurt. She could be/could've been
  looking at a spirit.

I think my confusion lies in the fact that might and could can be used in the past tense.


texts: Can we use "to be stripped" instead of "being stripped" in this sentence?

texts:
The warning from the European commission could lead to that country being stripped  of its European rights.

(As far as l know we must use infinitive after nouns )


texts: How to say that something is no longer in a bag

texts:
For instance, during walking I decided to take some rest for a while, sit down to a bench and here_probably_should_be_the appropriate_phrassal_verb a bottle of water out of the bag to drink.

Help me to choose the phrasal.


texts:
I've always thought that [happen to] is the phrasal verb indicating chance, which can be replaced as [by chance] such as...

I happen to have some money in my pocket.

= I have some money in my pocket by chance.
Do you happen to be a teacher?

= Are you a teacher by any chance?

But, sometimes I stumble across what I can't use the above rule. For example...

  A,B,C are at the table where B prepared a meal for C.

  A: (Went ahead and tasted some) It's so good!

  B: Hey! Don't just eat it without asking! This happens to be for C.

Here, the meal can't be something prepared by chance, more like it's fixed by B on purpose. Then what's the exact meaning of [happen to] in this sentence? And what would you recommend as the alternative words rather than [by chance]?


texts:
I recently read a sentence that has confused me:

  I watched the landscape splinter and barb, the rolling black summits of the Bear River Mountains giving way to the razor-edged Rockies.

In Oxford dictionary "splinter" means:

A small, thin, sharp piece of wood, glass, or similar material broken off from a larger piece.

And "barb" means:

A sharp projection near the end of an arrow, fish hook, or similar object, which is angled away from the main point so as to make extraction difficult.

  So, could you please tell me if it is a metaphor? And, does the writer want to say:

"the rolling black summits"  look like "splinter".
"the razor-edged Rockies" look like "barb".


texts:
I am presently trying to learn the difference between arias and arie. Both are listed as being the plural form of aria. I can provide the following as an example sentence:

"A gifted rendition of the ari[e/as]."
Which case is best to use in this sentence?

According to my research, arias is for common usage; this makes me wonder whether arie is formal. Can anyone confirm if it matters or not which case is used, in a formal or informal situation.


texts:
Throughout the years when I read texts written in English, I came across word groups that basically mean many, additionally to one words having similar meaning such as several or numerous. However, because their usage and the tone of connotation and formality can change, I would like to ask how interchangeably they can be used and the differences between them.

For example:

  Living abroad for years helped him have a host of experiences.

  Living abroad for years helped him have an array of experiences.

  Living abroad for years helped him have a myriad of experiences.

  Living abroad for years helped him have a multitude of experiences.

  Living abroad for years helped him have scores of experiences.


texts:
I'm studying English and I've read this sentence:

  I'm very happy to be joining this team

Why is it possible to use "to be joining"?

Thanks!


texts: Is it correct to say... I can't get anywhere finishing my assignments?

texts:
I have heard people say:

  "I can't get anywhere finishing my assignments"

But I have also heard others say:

  "I got nowhere finishing my assignments"

Are they the same meaning?
Are they correct?


texts: Are both these sentences grammarically correct?

texts:
How is self-isolating coming along?

How is self-isolation coming along?

Are both these sentences grammatically correct?
And if one isn't, why?


texts:
A group of friends went to the theater. The play was awful. Then, one of them says:

  Did anybody else feel like they just wanted to peel the skin off their
  body, to have something else to do?

I know the translation of this phase but I could not understand its meaning. By the way, it was extracted from the scripts of Friends, episode 6, first season. The episode starts with a part of the play. After that, we have the first talk of some of the friends: "God. I feel violated.". So, comes the phase I marked above.

If possible, I would like some help to understand this sentence. Thanks in advance!


texts:
The best way to eliminate all suffering in the world would be to
eliminate all sentient life. If there were no living things capable of
feeling pain, then there would be no pain. If it were possible to do
this in a painless way, perhaps by means of a huge atomic explosion,
then, by the principle of negative utilitarianism, this would be the
morally right action. Even if a certain amount of pain were involved
in the process, the long-term benefits in pain elimination would
probably outweigh it. Yet this conclusion is hardly acceptable. At the
very least negative utilitarianism needs to be reformulated so as to
avoid it.

Philosophy: The basics
What does the word "it" refer to? a certain amount of pain or this conclusion?
Many thanks


texts: Why are there so many verb+ing in this passage?

texts:
This is a letter in Toeic book, it uses many verb-ing, so make me confuse. Someone could help me clear this.

  The government has released its new plan to reform the education sector. Education minister, Adam Miller, explained that the government would make a number of radical changes such as introducing smaller class sizes and providing more funding for computers and books. The new policies were originally scheduled to be introduced last year. However, Mr.Miller put off bringing them in until now because of concerns with some of the details of the proposal. He said the new system should be operating by June at the latest


texts: a programmer's text editor (sing.), programmer's text editors (pl.) -- a noun in the possessive case as an adjective?

texts:
Example:

  You see just because you can work in a plain text editor and it is useful from time to time, doesn't mean you have to and you probably won't want to. Because with a basic text editor you're completely on your own writing the stuff and there are other applications that can actually help you write this code and make your life easier. First we have programmer's text editors. These are plain text editors with some extra features added on and there are many of them available on every platform. Some are free and some are commercial.

The singular forum, I presume, would be a programmer's text editor. And as far as I can see, even though the word programmer grammatically is in the possessive case, it doesn't really express possession. But rather it is used an an adjective to describe the compound noun text editor. And when we say a programmer's text editor, we don't mean that this is a text editor that belongs to somebody whose trade is computer programming, but rather when we say that we're really asking the following question: what kind of text editor is this? The answer is: programmer's or a programmer's one. Is my line of reasoning valid? Do you think I understand this type of grammar fine?


texts:
How would you name someone who feels that someone else did not / does not pay any attention to him in informal language? (not vulgar)

Please consider the following example:

How would you fill in the following blank:

  She always ignores me! As if I'm not important! I don't know what am I in her life?! ....................

In my language, there are two words that can be used here! "a horn" or "a carrot" in the sense of something worthless and not deserving care!

We say:

  What am I?! A carrot?!

or

  What am I?! A horn?!

How would you say that?


texts: ED endings: identifying Adjectives or Verb Past Participles

texts:
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this. In the passive voice, we could see sentences like these:

   "The car is heated."

    "His spirits are lifted."

   "The books are packed." vs "The concert hall is packed."

   "The wall is painted."

When such sentences are not in the past, I can't figure out how to identify if the final word is an adjective, a past participle or a verb.

In sentences using the perfect tenses, I understand that we use the past participle, but is this acting as an adjective or as a verb? Eg:

   "He had been broken by the news."

   "They've been bored since Friday." (This I'm pretty sure is the adjective, but I'm putting it in here for completeness)

I've read in some places that we should just call it a past participle and leave it at that, but this is more confusing to me. How can it be a past participle and not act as either an adjective or a verb? Surely it must be a participle acting as a verb or an adjective?

And in a sentence like: "The speaker wants to be transferred," am I right that this final word is an adjective because it is following "to be"?

I suppose this post is just illustrating my numerous questions about this. As you can see, I have many. If there are any resources out there that someone could refer me to, or if someone could offer a detailed explanation about this usage, I would be most grateful.

MA


texts: What kind of grammatical construction is "He looked up at me, his harsh face expressionless"?

texts:
What kind of grammatical construction is this? Is it a participle?

He looked up at me, his harsh face expressionless.


texts: Would you please help me with adjectives?

texts:
Could anybody possibly kindly explain me what is the difference between these?- in meaning.

They are all 10 years old

They are all ten-year-olds


texts: On the day when ~ / When ~ - Is there a difference in nuance?

texts:
I don't remember what I did on the day when I moved to my current house.

I don't remember what I did when I moved to my current house.

Is there any difference in meaning between the two sentences?  I feel they mean the same, but I'm not sure. Do you think they are the same meaning?


texts: "Would" confusion: "it would mean spending more time at home"

texts:
As per my understanding "would" is used in the situations below:

Conditional sentences
Past of will
Repetition in the past
Future in the past.

Could someone help me to understand in what category the sentence below falls?

  "For some people, it would mean spending more time at home"


texts: for / since grammar to answer the how long ago question

texts:
can we use

  for since

to answer how long ago?
*how long ago did they study?
they studied since last 2 weeks
they studied for  2 weeks*


texts:
a. It is incomprehensible for me to treat one's wife the way Tom does.
b. For me it is incomprehensible to treat one's wife the way Tom does.
c. For me, it is incomprehensible to treat one's wife the way Tom does.

Are the above sentences grammatically correct?
The idea is: I can't understand why Tom treats his wife in the way he does. His treatment of his wife is incomprehensible for me.