texts:
Which sentence is correct?

1- I worked on, and helped my friend with, many projects.

2- I worked on -and helped my friend with- many projects.

I used to use commas like the first example, but now I'm leaning towards the second one.


texts: Question about the meaning of "apply" and "confined" in this sentence

texts:
Azulfidine is classified as an anti-inflammatory agent and applies confined anti-inflammatory effects.

my concerns firstly has to do with what the definition of apply here is and secondly if the word confined is an adjective here or it is passive form of the verb confine.


texts:
In the following sentence, can I remove "them"? I am looking for a way to parallel the second part of the sentence: "... which as...".

By the appearance of universities' faculties on television, universities win popularity which as a result, more students apply to them and more donors get encouraged to support them.


texts:
I have read some examples in different dictionaries with the word "since". They all give the examples in either the present perfect or the present perfect continuous. I am going to make up an example in the past perfect continuous.

  Since he became a physicist twenty years ago, he had been doing research on the molecular theories for fifteen years. However, he decided to abandon his physics career for personal reasons.

Is it grammatically correct to use the past perfect continuous in my example?


texts: Can we "do up" or "button up" a single button?

texts:
I know we can "do up" or "button up" multiple buttons, but can we use these phrases when we talk about one single button as well? For example, is it correct to say,

"One of the buttons on your shirt is undone. Do it up."

or

"One of the buttons on your shirt is undone. Button it up."

I think those phrases are probably only used when referring to multiple buttons. What do you think?


texts:
I often hear the word "bake" used when speaking about textures and visualisation in films, video games and 3D modeling. I don't want to sound silly but I can't quite understand this particular word in this context, not it's origins, nor it's definition.

Does it mean compile or render? Why the word bake and not sone other word?


texts: Difference between "Thanks God" and "Thank God"

texts:
What is the difference between Thanks God and Thank God, and can we use them in the same situation? For example:

  God gives us relatives; thank God, we can choose our friends.

Can we use "Thanks God" instead of "Thank God"? If not, why?


texts: Should the last letter 'd' pronounced in word 'independent'?

texts:
I've got to know that the 'T' sound in American English has various pronunciation rules.

For example, flap T. And also one of the rule is when T sound followed by an 'n' sound or 'ən' sound, the 'T' SOUND WILL NOT ASPIRATE and people will directly pronounce the 'n' or 'ən' sound through nose, like 'imporTant', 'senTence'.

But, for the second 'd' sound in word 'indepenDent', should the second d sound be pronounced or not in American English in the actual conversation?

I know that all the voice or voiceless consonants are not aspirated while they are followed by other consonants. But I'm not sure whether it's OK for this word as d is followed by 'ən' sound. OR it can be both ways, cause I have heard one native speaker pronounced the 'D' sound. I want to know which one is most common way to pronounce this word or this type of words?


texts:
I've found the following passage a few days ago when I happened to read a report in DAWN, a Pakistani newspaper.

  The queries sought information about title to and acreage of the land being sold as Bahria Town Karachi, development of BTK infrastructure being financed by MDA and allegations of inexpensive land from distant dehs being consolidated on prime areas off Super Highway for Bahria.

Here's the link to the article.

Bahria Town Karachi: Greed unlimited

Now my question is, what is meant by the phrase "areas off Super Highway"?

Super Highway is the main road that connects Karachi to the rest of the Sindh province to the north.

I've always struggled with the usage of the word "off" as in the above passage. So I would appreciate a number of examples.


texts: "We took turns in pushing the bike along." meaning?

texts:
I cannot understand the following sentence:

  We took turns in pushing the bike along.

About "take turns" in the dictionary has brought:

  take turns also take it in turns (British English) if two or more people take turns doing work, using something etc, they do it one
  after the other, for example in order to share the work or play
  fairly.


texts:
The sentence is:

  There is a mountain and a lake.

I thought this sentence was wrong. But I was told it is correct. I just, I don't know. Shouldn't it be "are"? Why is "is" correct? Thanks in advance. :)


texts:
He will also see, when the time comes, your enemies, and will carry them away like withered leaves before the autumn wind

What does before mean here?


texts:
Example 1:
Context: Michael hides behind a couch when a man and a woman enter the room. He can hear them fighting but can't see them. The man hits the woman to the floor and leaves the room. Then -
The sentence:
As the man has left, Michael looks up from behind the couch to see the woman lying unconscious on the floor.
Example 2:
Context: Two police officers chase a suspect in a Volvo. The suspect suddenly pulls his car over. The police officers pull over as well and get out of their car when suddenly the suspect's car explodes. The two police officers take cover behind their car. Then -
The sentence:
Shocked, the police officers look up from behind their car to see the Volvo in flames.
Question: Is "look(s) up from behind the(ir) couch/car" a natural way to write it in the two examples? Is the meaning clear? Is "up" correct?
Thank you in advance.


texts:
In this sentence, why need to use "towards" and not "toward"? As "responsibilities" is a plural noun already.

  A girl with big dreams but with even bigger responsibilities towards her family.


texts:
You can not "be" angry while listening to "someone whom you are disagree with".

You can not "get" angry while listening to "someone you disagree with".

People "be" angry or "get" angry? And "someone whom you are disagree with" here using "whom" is preferable? or "someone you disagree with" is proper choice?


texts:
I was making preps for a coming exam and this suddenly came to me:

Can I say "I am that kind of person who always follows through once I make a promise"?

Thanks


texts: Perfect tense replacement for "supposed to"

texts: So I heard that one cant or perhaps shouldnt,not entirely sure, use this in perfect and past perfect tense so I am looking for something that exprsses similar meaning.


texts: words that describe an advertisement (works effectively to attract/lure people to buy the product)

texts:
What words can be used to describe an advertisement which works very effectively to attract people to buy the product?

I don't think I can say attractive advertisement or luring advertisement as there isn't any google results for those phrases.


texts: "Flyers" vs. "Passengers of a flight" What's the difference?

texts:
"The ___ were served two meals during the flight."
a. flyers  b.clients  c.passengers d.travelers
Correct Answer: c.passengers
My question is why isn't option a. flyers correct, since a flyer is somebody who travels by plane ? When is it usually used ?


texts: "I open the cage." vs. "I am opening the cage."

texts:
When there is no event sequence, the event present generally sounds
  inappropriately ‘stagey’ or theatrical. We can compare the
  following as two ways of describing the same action:

  I open the cage. | I am opening the cage.

  The second sentence, which contains a Progressive verb form, is a
  natural description in answer to the question What are you doing?
  But the first sentence is rather dramatic, because it implies
  the total enactment of the event just at the moment of speaking. If
  spoken, one would expect it to be accompanied by a gesture or
  flourish; in writing, it seems incomplete without an exclamation
  mark. The event use of the Present is generally the ‘marked’ or
  abnormal alternative to the Progressive Present, because there are few
  circumstances in which it is reasonable to regard an action as begun
  and completed at the very moment of speech.

  a.  However, the event present does occur exceptionally in ordinary
  speech in exclamations such as Here COMES my bus! and Up we GO!

  b.  The stagey quality of the event present is evident in its
  employment in old-fashioned theatrical language (not used in
  present-day English except in fun): The bell tolls! He yields! The
  spectre vanishes! etc.

  Chapter 1 - Leech, Geoffrey N. 2004. Meaning and the English Verb.
  Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman.

When I was reading this part I felt confused about the stagey or dramatic effect of the present tense. I cannot envisage how it's used in old-day English or in fun. Perhaps I'm short of some imagination (a few GIF pictures could make for a better understanding). Those bolded parts are not specific enough for me. Please help to clarify them.


texts: "would have been cause" or "would have been caused"

texts:
Can I change "would have been cause" to "would have been caused"? If not, please explain. Does the word cause refer to noun?

  This would have been cause to doubt that divine favour has been bestowed on Romans.


texts: There weren't any (instead of "get/recieve any")

texts:
There weren't any email attachments with the email you sent. Can you possibly resend it?

  I didn't get/recieve any email attachments with the email you sent. Can you possibly resend it?

Do both of them work and are both of them equally likely?

Thank you:)


texts:
I often see "is gone" used in past and future constructions. Could such usage be considered grammatical?

For example:

  Bring the money or else the hostage is gone. (the hostage will be killed)
  I went out and the marker is gone. (the marker disappeared)

Are these sentences correct?


texts: To disturb, disturbing and to bother - the usage

texts:
I am trying to understand the way 'to disturb', 'disturbing' and 'to bother' could be used when the subject is not a living being. In my cases, they are used in the meaning that 'it spoils something or causes trouble'.

Do these sentences make sense, can be used and sound natural?

The noise from road traffic disturbed my sleep.
My sleep was disturbed by the air conditioner.
The city buzz disturbs my sleep.
At 7 am, someone turned on the washing machine next to my room. It was disturbing. (with the meaning--> it spoiled my sleep; i couldn't sleep because there was noise.)
The smell of cigarette smoke bothered me. (with the meaning - I didn't like it; I couldn't stand it)


texts: Is pessimistic and dark common and proper antonym for optimistic?

texts: I googled antonym of optimistic and the results are gloomy, negative, defeatist, downbeat, gloom-ridden, cynical, bleak, fatalistic, dark, black,despairing, despondent, depressed, dejected,demoralized, hopeless, melancholy, glum,lugubrious, suspicious, distrustful, doubting, and alarmist. I am looking for a common and proper antonym of optimistic, which describes human. Is pessimistic a big word or a comman in colloqiial conversatuon? Also, dark seems refering to evil such as dark side and dark force in Star Wars the movie. Is it really a proper antonym of optimistic?


texts:
What does "drop of an opinion" mean in this context:

  They were almost as much into talking as they were into protesting.
  They were ready to take part in an all-night bull-session on the space
  programme or a teach-in on the ERA or a seminar on possible
  alternatives to fossil fuels at the drop of an opinion.

Is it kind of idiom? I've tried to look at several dictionaries for entire phrase and for words separately, but didn't find anything relevant. Or maybe, just missed it.


texts: Is the following sentence considered as a zero conditional?

texts:
I recently worked on the zero conditional again:

  "When water reaches 100 degrees, it boils".

It´s a general truth. Funnily, I was very much intrigued when I listened to a favorite song of mine: "Learn to fly" by the Foo Fighters.

The chorus goes as follow:

  "I'm looking for a complication
  Looking 'cause I'm tired of trying

  Make my way back home
  When I learn to fly (high)"

"When I learn to fly (high), I make my way back home" or vice versa.

It should be the zero conditional, but it states something more like a plan or hope rather than a general truth, doesn´t it?


texts: "Let's go go-karting" or "let's do go-karting"?

texts:
Tell me please which sentence sounds more natural?

  Let's go go-karting this weekend.

  Let's do go-karting this weekend.

If neither is natural, what would a natural way to say that?


texts: is it correct to say "When it started to rain, I was in the open air."

texts:
Is it correct to say "When it started to rain, I was in the open air"? Or should I say "I was not inside a building"?

In Chinese there is a phrase that can be literally translated as "in the streets", meaning "being out doing something outdoors". Just wondering if there is an equivalent in English.


texts: What is the linguistic term for "to" in front of an infinitive?

texts: I know that "to" can be a preposition and an adverb but what is the term for it in front of an infinitive?


texts: Is it true that "During/Over" can be used with present/past perfect continuous, but not "In"?

texts:
I have heard that "During/Over/In" can be used interchangeably. However, both "During and Over" can be used with both the present perfect continuous and the past perfect continuous, but "In" is only works with the present perfect continuous. I am going to make up two examples below.

(1) During/Over/In the last three weeks, I have been looking for a cheap sports car. Finally, I have found a great deal.

(2) During/Over the last three weeks, I had been looking for a cheap sports car. Yesterday, I found a great deal.

Some people told me that "during, over, and in" refer to a period from a time three weeks ago until a recent time. That means you started looking for a cheap sports car three weeks ago and continued looking for one until recently. However, "in" extends the time period up to now. So, it cannot be used to relate to an event that may or may not end right at this moment.

My question is: Is it grammatically wrong to use "In" in my second sentence?


texts: Is it correct and natural to say "the video says" meaning that the presenter or people give some information?

texts:
Is it correct and natural to say the video says meaning that the presenter or people give some information? For example:

  The video says that it takes one a few years to learn how to play the piano.

If it doen't sound right, would be more natural to say the following?

  In the video they say that it takes a few years to learn how to play the piano.


texts: How to describe a person by his/her job?

texts:
If I want to avoid embarrassing myself by wearing any clothes in front of a stylist who I happened to know personally, so can I say:

  I don't want to embarrass myself in front of the stylist Sally.

?

Suppose Sally was the name of the stylist.

Or should I rather say:

  I don't want to embarrass myself in front of Sally, the stylist.

?

I find that too formal as in representing a person for former purposes.

Ignore the fact that I didn't mention the clothes issue in the sentence since I have mentioned that before (not here).


texts: What would be the best way of conveying "not even once" (which tense would you use in the sentence)?

texts:
I was confused with the past perfect tense, so I did a bit of research and things got much more clear now.

But, what if you want to convey the idea of "not being there -- not even once -- during the period of time starting from Jan 1, 2018 until Dec 31, 2018"?

"I had never been there last year" would be a bad sentence, I suppose.

Would "I was not there last year -- not even once" be the best alternative? How about "I was never there last year"? (This is AE, as far as I know.)

If the period of time were from Jan 1, 2019 until now, I would have said
"I have never been there this year".

In the question, however, the period has ended in the past (which means you can't use the present perfect),

and you are also not contrasting the two different points in time of past events (which means you can't use the past perfect).

What would be the best way to say this?


texts:
"Get in" has the meaning of "arrive". But I think it can have other meanings.
Please see the following sentence:

  Please get in the spirit of Valentine's day here in Costa coffee shop.

Here what does "get in" mean?


texts:
I read an article recently online that is about the effect of coronavirus pandemic. One of men said in an interview that "As restaurants come back online, we're anxious to see what that ramp is," "You know, we don't know if that ramp is going to be back to 100 percent in one month, or is it six months?"

I looked up in the dictionary for the word "ramp", and all the meanings seem not applicable in the sentence above. Does ramp have an another meaning except sloping surface or slip road?

Here's the link https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/us-news/pandemic-puts-restaurants-staff-in-limbo.html

Thank you


texts:
I interpolated a surface of x y and z. so for each x and y there is z.
I called it a proxy model but my supervisor said i am far from that and I need to find a different word to describe my surface model of interpolation.

Any suggestions please?


texts: Past participle phrase and passive voice

texts:
Are they both correct and have the same meaning?

The cake eaten by Joe is delicious.
The cake was eaten by Joe is delicious.

I found this sentence in learning past participle phrase.

The boy taken to hospital has recovered.

Taken to hospital is a past participle phrase. Why we don't add "was" before taken, I think the boy was taken to hospital. In a passive voice, it should add "was"  to it.


texts:
I have always problem with finding a suitable sentence to avoid a gender dependent pronoun. I know I can use "they" or "their", but if there were other options to totally omit them, I would prefer them.

For example I wrote:

  The user can utilize this information to create appropriate rules to identify his items of interest.

Can I here say "the items of interest"?

Are they other options? In general?


texts:
Klara's child, born after they married, died in infancy. So did the next two. Klara's fourth child, Adolf, was her first to survive and he, too, seemed sickly. Alois vented his frustration on Klara, "So you have failed me once more! Is it impossible for you to bear me a healthy child?" The words typify the hostile, blaming attitude members of the family saw.

Source: Hitler: The Pathology of Evil by George Victor, p. 20. http://books.google.cz/books?id=JnB7cM1zUG4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

I am a little bit puzzled over the emphasized part of the text above. Do I understand it properly and can I rewrite the part in this way: The words typify the hostile, blaming attitude in which Hitler's father saw the members of his family. If so, why is there such an odd word order?


texts:
"Ordinarily we believe that other human beings are conscious, and
  almost everyone believes that other mammals and birds are conscious
  too. But people differ over whether fish are conscious, or insects,
  worms, and jellyfish. They are still more doubtful about whether
  onecelled animals like amoebae and paramecia have conscious
  experiences, even though such creatures react conspicuously to stimuli
  of various kinds. Most people believe that plants aren't conscious;
  and almost no one believes that rocks are conscious, or kleenex, or
  automobiles, or mountain lakes, or cigarettes. And to take another
  biological example, most of us would say, if we thought about it, that
  the individual cells of which our bodies are composed do not have any
  conscious experiences."

[Thomas Nagel , What does it all mean? p. 24]

I've got a questions to ask:

What does "if we thought about it" mean? Does it mean "In case of we thought about it"

Thanks


texts: Since when {could/can} he move so quick?

texts:
SOURCE   Attack on Titan, 2013 Anime Season 2, Ep. 7

What is the difference between "Since when could he move so quick?" and "Since when can he move so quick?"

The original sentence is the version with could, but I'm wondering if it has the same meaning with can.


texts: What's another way to say that a person is not without means or is not destitute?

texts: I need a word that means a person is financially stable and isn't poor I.E.  ( I see you are not destitute, or without means..  ) how could I word this or what is a more sophisticated way to say this?


texts:
In an application form I saw this question. The applicant needs to check one box yes or no.

  I have not been employed in any illegal entities.

  Choose Yes or No

It confuses me, If the applicant wants to agree with the statement that he has not been employed in any illegal gaming entities. What should he choose?


texts: " Give somebody something". Is , "Give to somebody something", possible?

texts:
After listening to the song "Summer Wine", I noticed that it says:
Strawberries, cherries and an angel's kiss in spring
My summer wine is really made from all these things
Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time
And I will give to you summer wine
Ohh, summer wine

I know that songs are full of these kinds of mistakes, and that the correct structure is "give somebody something", but just to be on the safe side, does this structure exist?


texts: 'with people of diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise'

texts:
In the sentence fragment

  with people of diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise

is the usage of prepositions okay? Since I wouldn't say 'People OF diverse areas of expertise' but 'People WITH diverse areas of expertise', I feel like the fragment might have to be

  with people of diverse backgrounds and with diverse areas of expertise

but that would be rather inelegant since both 'with' and 'diverse' would be duplicated.


texts:
I learnt in Merriam-Webster and other reliable sources that advice differs from advise. Advice is a noun while advise is a verb. Same goes with the words device and devise.

However, the word practice does not differ from practise as stated by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Is it true? Or the rule is still the same like on the words advice and advise? Here are some examples the Webster Dict. used:

  You need to practice what you preach.- It is a verb because it entails that
  you need to apply or carry out what you have been preached.

  Being a good musician takes a lot of practice- It is used as a noun
  because it entails a systematic exercise for proficiency in music.


texts: Meanin of "catch up to" in the given context

texts:
Here is the sentence:

  ‘Isn’t it his duty to write fancy stuff?’ asked the prince, still
  trying to catch up to the plans.

The prince is discussing plans to catch a thief with his brothers. However, he is struggling to suggest a good idea because he is not as intelligent as his brothers. He is asking a question regarding a poet who is one of the suspects.

How would you rephrase the phrase "catch up to"?


texts:
How can I transform the following sentence into reported speech?
Let's say my colleague said to me:

  I will practice until I reach my goal

If I want to say it in reported speech, should it be

  He said he would practice until he reached his goal

or

  He said he would practice until he reaches his goal

Should I shift tenses completely, or should I leave the "reaches his goal" part in present tense?


texts:
What is the difference between
 - respected
 - respectable
 - respectful

my school book tells the difference but i can't understand it from the book because it is embarrassing.


texts: Can a name be used as an adjective, as in "this Smithers issue?"

texts:
Example:

  Because of this Mrs. Johnson matter, I hadn’t had much time to think
  about De-Shi and me.

The part I'm concerned about is "because of this Mrs. Johnson matter..." Can a name be used as an adjective?

Is this grammatical? If not, what's the correct alternative?


texts: What is the American English equivalent for the saying "beaten road is the safest"?

texts:
There is an British proverb which says: "The beaten road is the safest" which is used to indicate the fact that testing somebody / something that has been once tested in the past is not required.

  Example 1) Suppose you as the directing manager of a company are going to employ a marketing manager for your most important agency's marketing team in one of the country's biggest provinces. You have someone in your mind and bring it up to your deputy. He/she says: "I guess we have to test him o see if he has what it takes for this job or not! What do the Americans say here as a proverb to avoid saying: "I have tested him in the past and I'm sure he can manage to do his tasks properly?

  Is it possible to say: "the beaten road is the safest"

  Example 2) Suppose you have tested a camera which you have purchased recently. You are going to take a travel and take it with you for taking pictures in the trip. Your wife doesn't know that you have tested it yet. She tries to know if it works properly or not. You say I have tested it once and that's enough...(The beaten road is the safest)

I need to know if there is an American English equivalent for this saying or not.


texts: Word order of "made a helicopter tour yesterday of the devastated areas"

texts:
President Nixon, accompanied by newsmen, made a helicopter tour
  yesterday of the devastated areas. He declared five states to be
  disaster areas—Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia.

  New York Times The Times of the Seventies

I would've expected "made a helicopter tour of the devastated areas yesterday".

What makes the change of the word order grammatical?


texts: Should I use "either way" or "in any case" in the following case?

texts:
The only thing we had to worry about was whether she would receive us
or slam the door in our faces. In any case, we had to go; we had to
find out who killed Richard.
The only thing we had to worry about was whether she would receive us
or slam the door in our faces. Either way, we had to go; we had to
find out who killed Richard.

What's the correct option here, and why?


texts:
I've been trying to use the idiom "it's about time" followed by a situation that might occur in the future.

For example, "It's about time my parents find out about my felonies and throw me out of the house"

Online, it says that It's about time is used to indicate an event that should've happened sooner.
The sentence I've written is a bit different when seen from the meaning the definition conveys.

In simpler terms, is my sentence correct and does the reader get the right message or is there a better way one could've written it?


texts:
Is the sentence "till a certain extent correct"? If not why?
"To a certain extent" ís very common. Also please tell why prefer "to" to "till"


texts: Computer Science vs Computer engineering

texts:
This two terms have always confused me. When writing my CV in English I never know how to refer to my academic title. I studied Computer Science or Computer Engineering? As per Wikipedia:

  Computer Science is the study of the theory, experimentation, and engineering that form the basis for the design and use of computers

  Computer engineering is a discipline that integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer science required to develop computer hardware and software.

In my degree I have seen areas of both computer science and computer engineering, like AI (Computer Science) and Cryptography (Computer Engineering).

The only related question I could find was: Informatics vs. Computer Science.

What would be the correct title to use?


texts: ”Couldn't hurt to do something" vs "doesn't hurt to do something"

texts:
Watching this skit, I came across a line, one of the standing men waiting for the crossroads sign on, per below, (from 0:14～）

Couldn't hurt to press it again

but it won't help I mean.

I surfed thorough internet and found in a bit expression but the meaning would be same,

it doesn’t hurt to do something

used for saying that something helps or cannot harm a situation
It never hurts to ask.

The definition of the dictionary is completely understandable, because it doesn't harm the current situation.
Now why does the guy in the skit use the past tense of "can" ( couldn't hurt to... )
P.S I'm afraid this video is unfortunately not available in some countries including even English speaking countries.


texts:
face down/downwards

  with the face or front towards the ground

  Keith was lying face down on the bed.

But what if the face of the baby facing towards the mom's chest & we don't see the baby's face, as the following picture

Is it correct to say "the baby is lying face down in her arms" in this situation?

Or should we say "the baby is lying with the face facing the mommy's front"?


texts:
In a conversation like:

  Person 1: You can read a map, can’t you?

  Person 2: Yes, I can. But I left my glasses in England.

Does the verb "leave" mean that Person 2 forgot to bring his glasses, or that he left them intentionally because he thought he wouldn't be in need for them?

Thank you.


texts: What are the differences between "should live in Japan" & "should be living in Japan"?

texts:
Ok, see this youtube video, here is this tense matrix

                  Past - Present - Future
Simple
Continuous
Perfect
Perfect Continuous

We also have the same tense structures for Modals

                  Can - May         - Might - Must - Could - Would - Ought to
Simple                 may do
Continuous             may be doing
Perfect                may have done
Perfect Continuous     may have been doing

I would think the differences between "must live in Japan" & "must be living in Japan" are:

Must here refers to a very high possibility. Things that you think is very likely to happen.

Ex: She must live in Japan (we also have "She lives in Japan" which means she lives there more or less permanently)

And when you want to emphasize a continuous process, say "She must be living in Japan" (we also have "She is living in Japan" which means she lives there more or less temporarily)

Ok, "must, might" are easy, but what about "should"?

My question is that:
What are the differences between "I should live in Japan" & "I should be living in Japan"?

Does "I should live in Japan" mean "I should live there more or less permanently"

& "I should be living in Japan" mean "I should live there more or less temporarily"?

Note: "must" here refers to possibility not obligation. She must live in Japan (=it is likely that she lives there at this moment), not (She have to live there) as if it is obligation

"should" here refers to advice.


texts: Usage Whomsoever vs Whomever vs whom in Reference Letter title

texts:
Common reference letters begin with the heading.

"To whomsoever it concerns"

Some of my references edit it as follows
"To whomever it concerns"

Some further shorten it to

"To whom it concerns"

The last one sounds nice and concise, while the first one is grossly official looking.

But what is the most preferred?


texts:
How to use "Having" in English.
I have come across below statement.

  The customer having left, the criminal takes out a pin from his purse and scrapes off hardened glue from the edges of the keys.

Here if I say:

  Once customer left ATM......

or

  After Customer leaving ATM......

is it correct?

Please explain to me about proper use of Having

  I am having food (consumption)
  I am having a baby (pregnancy)
  I am having fun (desired experience)
  I am having sex (desired experience)
  Having said that....
  I am having a headache
  She was having a dream


texts:
I found it in a Grammar quiz online which I forget where it is:

  Mr Jones ____ at the meeting, but he had to cancel because of his illness.

  a) was speaking

  b) was to speak

  c) was to have spoken

The answer is c, and I am Ok with it, but I don't know why b isn't. Can't I say someone was to do something, but he could't somehow?


texts: Is " Are there the person who have a doller?" grammatically incorrect?

texts: A person said " Are there the person who have a doller?" would be grammatically incorrect. Is this true?


texts:
How do I know whether to start the object of the preposition 'of' with an article or not? Can you illustrate these examples for me?

  by the effects of the civil war

  by the effects of an economic activity

  by the effects of climate change

  by the effects of food insecurity

  by the effects of globalization

If I wrote by the effect of electric field, would that be correct?


texts:
is it formal and correct to say (person name) or (license number)
or it is wrong and should I say person's name and license's name?


texts: When couldn't we use "in doing so" instead of "so that" or "in a way that", interchangeably?

texts:
When couldn't we use "in doing so" instead of "so that" or "in a way that"?

And, are the following explanations correct?

In doing so can be replaced by when we do this or in the process.
By doing so can be replaced by as a result of doing this.
On doing so can be replaced by when/after it did this (I find this an odd sentence).
...

Battison suggests that even when writers
want to produce a document that is easily understood by readers, they may have
difficulty in doing so.

Battison suggests that even when writers
want to produce a document that is easily understood by readers, in a way that they may have
difficulty.

Would you please elaborate the difference between these?


texts: Pejorative vs negative: what's the difference in meaning and usage?

texts:
How is one different from the other in the sense of "criticism, bad opinion, disapproval"? Is one more formal, maybe?
I found the following collocations:
pejorative term
pejorative sense
pejorative connotation
pejorative word

Can I always say the following without any change in the meaning, or as a native speaker you do see the difference?
negative term
negative sense
negative connotation
negative word


texts: "I have gained a lot of experience" or "I gained"?

texts: I am preparing for an interview, and I want to say that "I have gained a lot of experience."  Is that right, or should I say "I gained"?


texts:
From NPR, Transcript Here:

The town for years, ever since Bowe was captured, has just been
covered in these yellow ribbons and signs saying, bring Bowe home. And
we miss you Bowe. And those signs are now being taken down and they're
being changed out for signs that say, welcome home Bowe.

I have doubts with the stressed expression "changed out for". I thought she just wanted to say: Thoses signs are being changed to signs that say, welcome home Bowe.
Is the "out" here unnecessary? "Change something to/for something" without "out" seems to be more natural to me.


texts: my family go/goes together in American and British English

texts:
I'm wondering if the addition of "together" can affect the choice of number in the following sentences in American and British English:

My family always go/goes to church on Sunday.

My family always go/goes to church together on Sunday.


texts:
Friend: "I want to go to the jungle."

Which answer is should I choose?

  1) I: "Be careful. It may be dangerous."

  2) I: "Be careful. It might be dangerous."

  3) I: "Be careful. It could be dangerous."

Is there a difference between these modals in this context? (especially between may and might)


texts: Which would be better? 'Last two weeks' or 'Take two weeks'

texts:
Sorry I will not able to check the attached reports because I have an important task to fulfill and that task might last two weeks.

What it is better to say, 'last two weeks' or 'take two weeks'?


texts:
I do not have a camera, so I cannot take pictures.

How would the above sentence be converted to if-clause? Specifically the 'cannot' part.
Would it be -

  If I had a camera, I could take pictures.

or

  If I had a camera, I could have taken pictures.

or

  If I have had a camera, I could take/have taken pictures.

Which of the above is correct? All of them look senseful to me.


texts: Which of the two words sounds more natural and common to native speakers? “Though merging/merged...”

texts:
You know that the word 'merge' is both transitive and intransitive. Then in the following sentence, which of the two sounds more natural and common to native speakers? And why?

  Though (merging/merged), the two companies did not have any advantages over their competitors.


texts: Is there a summarizing term for scientific workshops, conferences, journals?

texts:
I am looking for a term that stands for all kinds of academic venues, such as workshops or conferences, or other institutions or opportunities to which you can submit papers for review.

An exemplary sentence is:

  These contributions have been submitted to different scientific
  [workshops, conferences, journals, ...].

Is there a suitable term for that? I have the annoying feeling that one is sitting on the tip of my tongue.

I assume the term "scientific venues" excludes journals and is limited to workshops or conferences or other occasions where people meet in person.


texts: What does "that's that" mean in this context

texts:
I've looked it up and know that "that's that" has several meanings in different contexts. such as "a piece of cake" or "it's done(reach a conclusion)". I can't decide which meaning it is in this context, I think both are OK.
//Transcript:

We decided the fairest way to settle this argument(whether 1 is a prime number)was to do a survey of 100 million Murderous Maths readers. Here are the results:
is 1 a prime Number?
Votes
yes   7
no    8
don't know  211
don't care  99999774
The Murderous Maths Organization can now proudly declare that the number 1 is NOT prime by 8 votes to 7.
So that's that.
//


texts:
Like some others, at the checkout of a local store the cashier asked me:

  Do you need a bag?

As I already had my own, I answered "No, thanks." However, I would like to be a bit more talkative next time, but I don't know with which word to fill in the blank in following sentence:

  No, I don't need    bag, thank you!

I don't know if it's a bag, no bag, any bag ...


texts: What are these called: to purse your lips?

texts:
purse your lips: to form your lips into a small tight round shape, for example to show that you do not approve of something

Look at these 3 pictures:

Are they all "purse your lips"?


texts: The usage of "exploding" in "their batteries exploding"

texts:
The following is an excerpt from WSJ:

  The world’s largest smartphone maker by shipments said it halted sales of its Galaxy Note 7 phone after customers reported their batteries exploding during charging.

Source

I wonders how "their batteries exploding" is constructed. Would it be the same to say "their batteries explosion"? In English, sometimes it seems to use a "Verb -ing" form instead of a noun form.

Can anyone please explain?


texts:
I have doubt regarding the adverb.. can anyone explain it.

  The UGC and universities must work imaginatively to ensure that the quality of education in the social sciences and humanities is raised appreciably.

Question:
I remember that I read somewhere like "if the sentence is simple tense then adverb must be between subject and verb" ...then it must be imaginatively work now?
and also
"adverb must follow 'be' form"
It must be appreciably raised now?

I may be doing wrong somewhere. Please correct it.


texts:
My question is regarding the usage of the word sore
dictionary.cambridge.org describes it as:
Sore

painful and uncomfortable because of injury, infection, or too much use.

It then lists some examples where the usage of the word in that way I am aware of.
But, can we use the very same word with the preposition "of"? So as it would end up looking like this: "sore of" [something]?
For example, could I say:

I am sore of my lack of money.

Or:

They are sore of pain because of the injuries.

Or:

That indigenous tribe is sore of food because of the drought.

Or:

That guy is in sore need because of the circumstances.

The reason I ask this is because recently I came across a very intelligent person who is known for his great command of the English language. If he said it, he must be right. He wouldn't make such a mistake. Not him.


texts:
The following passage is from the Call of the Wild. What do "drew" and "clip" mean?

  And Buck was truly a red-eyed devil, as he drew himself together for the spring, hair bristling, mouth foaming, a mad glitter in his bloodshot eyes. Straight at the man he launched his one hundred and forty pounds of fury, surcharged with the pent passion of two days and nights. In mid air, just as his jaws were about to close on the man, he received a shock that checked his body and brought his teeth together with an agonizing clip. He whirled over, fetching the ground on his back and side. He had never been struck by a club in his life, and did not understand.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
Can "It would be fortunate if ..." be used to make a request?

Is it correct to say the following?

  It would be fortunate if you would answer my question.


texts: Difference between "Writing English" and "English writing"

texts:
Generally, what is difference between noun + gerund and gerund + noun?
For example, writing English and English writing.


texts: "The first and last is" or "The first and last are"

texts:
The first and the last chapter are tough.

i guess last chapter is correct but is should be used in place of are
and chapters should be used in place of chapter


texts: all that comes under thy observation in life?

texts:
“Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to
  investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy
  observation in life.”

Marcus Aurelius

I don't understand the use of "all that comes under thy observation in life."

What does "comes under" mean?


texts: Can we say the doctor looks at ill people or helps ill people

texts:
I can get the write answer the right answer for this following question. Read carefully.
The doctor_______ ill people.
A.looks at
B.speaks to
C.helps
D.serves drink


texts: "turned out beautifully" vs. "turned out to be beautiful"

texts:
An ELU post gives this example to illustrate the usage of "turn out"

  His painting turned out beautifully.

which makes me think about this one

  His painting turned out to be beautiful.

I guess there might be a tiny difference between 2 of them though I really don't know what it is.


texts: What does this infinitive sentence mean?

texts:
Her story is hard to know the true motive of. (A Little Rose by Charlotte Brown)

I don't understand the strucutre of this.
Is this grammatical?


texts:
save on more good times

It's from an ad.

Why did we use save on rather than save at, as I usually collocate at with time.

Does it mean I can get savings at the next times?


texts:
If we suppose one reference (anchor, fixed point), we have the following sides:

following
preceding

Now if we suppose two references (points), what is called the part between them which is homogeneous with the words above?

Is it just "between"?

some examples, however my purpose is general

A---------------B-------------C---------------D-----------E

D and E are following items of C, A and B are preceding items of C.

B, C are .... items of A and D

Another example:

please select following items of C
please select preceding items of C
please select ..... of B and D


texts: How to know the relative frequency of equal or almost equal phrases in casual speech?

texts:
For example:

  Once in a while

  Now and then

Dictionaries don't provide labeling for every phrase in terms of whether it's formal, informal, slang, etc.


texts: Double past tense in a sentence. Allowed or not allowed?

texts:
May I know what is the rule on using two past tenses in a sentence? Why are some allowed and others not?
Examples:

I did not tell him...
I knew he was going to...

Some people told me that double past tense is not allowed, but I keep seeing them. What are the rules?


texts: This phrasal verb "Make out" led to confusion

texts:
This phrasal verb "make out" has a lot of different meanings, from seeing/hearing to writing a cheque, bill etc, from understanding someone/something to kissing and touching someone in a sexual way & actually I'm having trouble understanding this word.

For example:

  He's just making the booking form out.

I wonder if it means "He's able to see the booking form" or "He's understanding the booking form" or "He's writing a booking form" or "He's just pretending that" or He's getting on booking the form" or ... .

Are we able to specifiy the exact meaning when there's no further context or to appreciate what these changes will mean, is it necessary to look at them in a wider & larger context?

What about this:

  But, somehow, they had made out, until Jackie got a job teaching in an elementary school.

They had made out? What?


texts: Is it correct to say "kindly acknowledge my leave."?

texts:
Is it correct to say "kindly acknowledge my leave", if I want the recipient to know that I'll be on leave?

Here's the whole email:

  Hi Recipient,

  I am not feeling well today. Therefore I will not be able to come to
  the office.

  Kindly acknowledge my leave.

  Regards,
  myname


texts:
I have a sentence:

  Which tasks should I perform?

How do I add exactly to this question?

  Which exactly tasks should I perform?
  Which tasks should I perform exactly?

Neither of the above sentences seems right to me. Is exactly the right word? How to ask the question to find out what exactly I'm supposed to do?

It's really hard to find any information about the usage of exactly, so I hope I you can help me out.


texts:
Is the following sentence correct?

  This text has altered significantly compared to original version.


texts:
What is the correct form?

  1) It can contain

  2) It can contains


texts:
Is it right to say: "Lazy students aren't worth of free education"
                 or "Lazy students aren't worth free education"?


texts: "to the north of London", "north of London", or "in the north of London"

texts:
Consider these sentences:

  The company's office is to the north of London.
  The company's office is in the north of London.
  The company's office is north of London.

As far as Grammar is concerned, I think all of them are valid. To show this, I just quote from the dictionaries:

"The Yorkshire Dales are twenty miles to the north of the city."
"there will be heavy wintry showers, particularly in the north."
"the town is twenty-five miles north of Newport."

Would you please tell me what is the difference between these sentences?


texts:
Per Cambridge Dictionary, "proceed to" means

  to do something after you have done something else

Consider these

  Alice sat down and proceeded to tell bob about her skiing holiday.

  Alice sat down and told bob about her skiing holiday.

  Alice sat down and began to tell bob about her skiing holiday.

Is there any difference between them in meaning?

Does the subject of "have done something else" have to be Alice?


texts: Can I use idioms in the IELTS written test?

texts:
I am preparing for the IELTS writing test. Can I use idioms in this test?

For example, "it's not all its cracked up to be" or something like "I bend over backwards to help them, but they try to put me down more often then not".


texts: Simple present (scheduled near future) vs present continous (Near Future) vs simple future

texts:
I'm confused about them all, especially the time differents are very close each other.

One of uses of present tense is :

  Scheduled Events in the Near Future

And one of uses of present continous is :

  Near Future

What's definition of "near" here? Whether in minutes, days, weeks or months ?
And When to use simple future ?
How do I distinguish them ?


texts:
I read that someone was advised to do the following regarding that person’s ex:

  Get her to take you back.

What does that mean?


texts: "in the best sense of the term" phrase meaning and usage

texts:
Can anybody explain in what context the phrase "in the best sense of the term" is used and what is its intended meaning?

Thanks


texts: Meaning of "ethane is valued at fuel value with gas at 75 cents per million BTU"

texts:
From "When Gas Gets Tight":

  Middle East ethane is valued at fuel value with gas at 75 cents per million British thermal units; discounts on naphtha are assumed at 25 % for the curve.

I can't wrap my mind around this.

Is the ethane value calculated based on how many BTU its burning produces? What is the role of the word gas here? Why not simply:

  Middle East ethane is valued at fuel value: at 75 cents per million British thermal units; discounts on naphtha are assumed at 25 % for the curve.

Or do they imply "we assume the price of gas(oline) to equal 75 cents per million BTU, and calculate the value of ethane from that"?

Here is the image containing the sentence I quoted:


texts:
I'm searching for word suggestions. Something that you could use in a line of prose, for example; "the auburn-haired person who forgets things often", with the "person who forgets things often" replaced by a single-word alternative. I've thought of simply shortening it to "the auburn-haired forgetful", but though having some initial charm, it simply comes across as very offputting.

This is why I'm turning to this site. I need some input and advice on giving an easier name for this phenomenon.


texts: What do 'snapped forward' 'bounded off' mean in context?

texts:
I don't understand what do 'snapped forward' 'bounded off' mean in context?

  The breath whistled out of Jock Danby's throat, and he stopped in mid-charge as though hit in the chest with a double charge of buck-shot. His head and arms snapped forward, nerveless as a straw-man, and he flew backwards, crashing into the unbaked brick wall of the hut and beginning to slide down onto his knees. Zouga bounded off the tabletop. His left arm was numb to the fingertips from the unexpected blow, but he was light on his feet as a dancer, and the quick rush of cold anger armed and strengthened him.

I can not understand exactly what it means. I feel difficulty with these verbs with propositions like 'bind off' and 'snap forward'. Could you explain they meanings in context and other examples?


texts: I have been very confused with when and whenever .Both terms seem  interchangeable.DO HELP TO ANSWER PLEASE(although I am a native speaker of English)


texts: which one is more common: mister or sir?

texts:
I was wondering which one of these two sentences is more common:

  1)Can I help you, sir?

  2)Can I help you, mister?

I always thought that mister, actually the abbreviation form (Mr) is only used before family names like Mr. Smith, and it's not common to use mister in occasions like example (2) and we use sir alternatively; however, I came across an example in Longman Dictionary:

  Thanks, mister.

Which sounds a little bit odd to me.


texts: Confused by the "be" verb used with 'today'

texts: I encountered this sentence and I am kind of confused by the tense that is used. It says 'my niece was born today'. Can anyone enlighten me about this?


texts: “Have you met her before” OR “are/were you met her before”

texts:
Have you met her before
  Are/were you met her before

Which one is correct?
If both are correct then in which situations should they be used?


texts: What does "the better versions of the sort of school we both went to" mean here?

texts:
I am wondering what "the better versions of the sort of school we both went to" means in the following sentences:

‘Well,’ I say. ‘Funny you should say that, but I did actually do a
try-out for the show.’
‘You did?’ Hannah asks. ‘For Survive the Night?’
‘Yeah.’ Ah, Christ. Why did I say anything? Stupid Johnno, always
shooting my mouth off. Jesus, it’s humiliating.
‘Yeah, well, they did a screen test, with the two of us, and—’
‘And Johnno decided he wasn’t up for any of that crap, didn’t you?’
Will says. It’s good of him to try to save my blushes. But there’s no
point in lying now, I might as well say it. ‘He’s being a good mate,’
I say. ‘Truth is I was shit at it. They basically told me I didn’t
work on screen. Not like our boy here—’ I lean over and muss up Will’s
hair, and he ducks away, laughing. ‘I mean, he’s right. It wasn’t for
me anyway. Couldn’t stand any of that make-up they slap on you, the
clothes they make you wear. Not that that’s any shade on what you
do, mate.’
‘No offence taken,’ Will says, putting up his hands. He’s a natural on
screen. He has this ability to be whoever people want him to be. When
he’s on the programme I notice he drops his ‘h’s’, sounds a bit more
like ‘one of the people’. But when he’s with posh, public
school-educated blokes, blokes who came from the better versions of
the sort of school we both went to, he’s one of them – 100 per cent.

Lucy Foley, The Guest List, Chapter 15

The speakers are at the rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding between Jules and Will who is the celebrity appearing in a TV show program called Survive the Night. Johnno is the best man and high school friends with Will. They both went to a prestigious public school (in British English) named Trevellyan. (The narrator here is Johnno.)
In this part, I wonder whether it would be right to understand that "better versions" means "public schools of a higher level" and that "the sort of school" means "public schools."
Or, is Johnno perhaps saying that the school that he and Will both went to was not that very good, and meaning just "better schools in general" by "better versions"...?


texts:
Can the phrase "later today" refer to the past as follows?

  A: When did you give John the document?

  B: Later today.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts: Why I can't use “enough” in this sentence?

texts:
In this sentence: "There isn't much information yet for us to make a final decision.", could I use "enough" instead of "much"?

I think that if I use the word "enough", it is not going to change the meaning of the sentence, is it?

Could somebody please explain the difference between two here?


texts:
I came across this sentence:

>She's just like a straight baller, she's amazing and doesn't take any crap from anybody.

What's the meaning of "straight baller" in this sentence? Is "baller" a solid word in English?


texts: "He leaned into the window to kiss her" and "to climb out of / into the window to get “out of" or “into" the house?

texts:
There is a man inside a room on the 2nd floor. Is it idiomatic to say the following?

"Don't lean out of the window. You may fall out."

Now, there is a man standing outside a house at the window. His girlfriend is inside the house. Can we say

"He leaned into the window to kiss her."

because the opposite of "out of" is "into"?
Also, can we say

"We climbed out of the window to get out of the house." and
"We climbed into the window to get into the house"?

or do we have to say

"We climbed through the window to get out of the house" and
"We climbed through the window to get into the house"?


texts: Can the preposition "toward" follow the verb "ask"?

texts:
I searched for the phrase "ask toward" but found nothing. The thing is it is a translated term, and I want to know if it is used or at least accepted in English.

  And ask stars and winds, also ask toward clouds.

I'm telling the reader to ask the clouds while looking to their direction. So the person would do both actions at once. It isn't the same with stars and winds, for example, since the person would direct the question to them but not necessarily look at them.

It's a sentence in a poem.


texts: What's the meaning of "I’m done falling off sh*t"?

texts:
I checked the "fall off" in Longman Dictionary, it means:

if part of something falls off, it becomes separated from the main part
if the amount, rate, or quality of something falls off, it decreases
somebody nearly/almost fell off their chair

But no one fits with the phrase.

  So, could you please tell me what the meaning of "I’m done falling off shit" is?

The text is:

  Construction began on the milking barn in Oneida. Shawn designed and
  welded the main frame—the massive beams that formed the skeleton of
  the building. They were too heavy for the loader; only a crane could lift
  them. It was a delicate procedure, requiring the welders to balance on
  opposite ends of a beam while it was lowered onto columns, then welded in
  place. Shawn surprised everyone when he announced that he wanted me to
  operate the crane.

  “Tara can’t drive the crane,” Dad said. “It’ll take half the morning to teach
  her the controls, and she still won’t know what the hell she’s doing.”
  “But she’ll be careful,” Shawn said, “and I’m done falling off shit.”


texts: Can We change phrasal verbs into all other tenses?

texts:
Can I use other verb forms of any phrasal verbs?

For an instance, Can the phrasal verb give in be use used as gave in, giving in, will give in and so?


texts: Can someone help with this Past Perfect sentence, please?

texts:
On FCE we have the following exercise:

  Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word given.

  d. She had to finish her homework before she went out. (until)
  She had to stay in ________________ her homework.

I'm having a hard time to grasp the two events rule on this one!
"She had to stay in until she finished her homework." Sounds perfectly fine to me! Why do I end up with "She had to stay in until she HAD finished her homework."


texts:
In (American) movies I have often heard people say

  You OK?
  You ready?

instead of

  Are you OK?
  Are you ready?

I doubt this is proper English. Or is it? Is it colloquial only? Is it only American "slang"?


texts: Correct position of negative and positive verb forms

texts:
Read this sentence:

  There are two sides of a story, so we just can't believe one and not believe another.

Now let's just interchange the position of those "bolded verbs". We get:

  There are two sides of a story, so we just can't not believe one and believe another.

Now this sentence seems awkward to me because of two not's together after interchanging the position of the verbs. Is this interchanged sentence a good sentence of English or is there a grammar rule that a positive verb form comes before a negative one?


texts:
I have a sentence:

"I will be dead by soon"

And there is my question. Can I use some action adding an adverb with "by" like that. I know that "I will be dead by noon" will do, but what about this one?

And I'm sorry if there are any grammar mistakes in question.


texts: "The ruling sections would have accepted a compromise..."

texts:
These sentences are at the beginning of a paragraph. I am not sure whether they are a conditional or a guessing or a historical fact.
I have read this discussion, but the answers are implying that the meaning is context-dependant.
Here is the whole sentence:

The ruling sections of the bourgeoisie would have accepted a
compromise which, in the image of the English revolutions of the 17th
century, would have set up over the subdued lower classes the
domination of the notables and the moneyed class. The aristocracy
would have none of it, thus rendering inevitable recourse to the
popular masses in order to break its resistance. Only a minority,
symbolized by the name of La Fayette, understood that it stood to lose
nothing in this compromise; the example of England proved that.
Compromise was possible in the spring of 1789; but the monarchy would
have had to take the initiative boldly.

If the first sentence is just a guess or expectation about the possible fact, then What does "The aristocracy would have none of it" mean? And why the author doesn't use the "would have + PP" form in the next sentence and says: "Only a minority ... understood that..."
The previous and succeeding paragraphs:

The revolution was marked by stages, as the struggle of classes became sharper and more complicated. We shall not go over them here, but merely raise some problems, which are organically bound together: the problem of the failure of the compromise policy, the problem of the Girondins' "failure of nerve" when confronted with the necessities of the war, and the problem of the Jacobin dictatorship.

...

Was compromise still possible after July 14 and the October days? There were those who thought so among the bourgeoisie as well as among the aristocracy, and had plans for bringing it about.15 But the majority of the nobility, and the aristocratic upper clergy, both refused to accept the initial reforms of the Revolution.

Here is the link of the article:
Classes and Class Struggles during the French Revolution


texts: Could you explan grammar in this sentence?

texts:
Multihour pauses in flights to the other side of the world are common, especially at HKG. Close to 60 per cent of all Canadians flying into Asia pass through here, many on layovers that average between four and 12 hours.

Where's a verb? I leanred there should be a verb in a sentence.

What's the grammar of the "that"?

I just guess the meaning is "Canadians on layovers pass the time between 4 to 12"


texts: Case that is philosophically right or wrong, but semantically wrong

texts: If we see that there is a red apple, but someone says 'we see that there is a red apple, but it's green.' Then, is it semantically wrong?


texts: What does "it should be for everyone" mean?

texts:
we firmly believe security matters most and it should be for everyone. (https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/reolink-argus-2/)

Does "it should be for everyone" means "Security should be for everyone"?


texts:
Currently reading this article, there is a line, says,

Artiles declined to comment to a scrum of reporters who chased him out of jail on Thursday once he posted a $5,000 bond. “This will be decided in the courts, thank you,” he said.

Is Artiles bailing out?
Thank you for your time.


texts: Word choice between ''discouraged'' and '' downhearted''; '' insecure'' and '' scared''

texts:
I'm writing my statement of purpose, and could someone possibly help me out here? (It may seem a little bit long in length, and I really appreciate your help.)

When I first tried to communicate with him in English, he was insecure, uninterested in learning and even discouraged.

Relevant Info: The picture I want to describe here is the first time that I met this student, who was a fifth-grader and had learned English as a foreign language for almost 3 years. He is not very interested in English, or say afraid of learning English (maybe because he thought English was boring and those grammar and phrases are hard to internalize.). But he performed well in other subjects like Maths.

At the end of this part, I'd like to describe the change of him in English learning after my tutoring. For example, he becomes more confident and is willing to learn more about English.

So, anyway, about the word choice,'insecure'and 'scared', which one is better here?

About the word choice, 'discourage' and 'downhearted', which one is better here?


texts: Does "good to see you" end a conversation?

texts: I talked to a native English speaker today, and after a while, she abruptly said "good to see you" or something like this and went away. Does "good to see you" mean, instead of "good to see me", that she did not want to continue the conversation?


texts: Do we say "he sneezed at/in/on/over my face/leg/back/hair..."?

texts:
Some native speakers say that "he sneezed at my face" means he did it on purpose. Usually, people say "he sneezed in my face".
But say, he is 4 meters far away from me & he sneezed in the direction of my face but he didn't do it on purpose but by chance. In that case, do we still say "he sneezed in my face" or "he sneezed at my face"?
What about other parts of body like “leg, arm, back…”
For example, “he sneezed at/on/in/over my leg/arm/back…”
I think “in my face” refers to something insulting
but I don’t think we say “he sneezed in my leg/ arm/ back…”. We can only say “he sneezed at/on my leg/ arm/ back…”
Also, if we say "me" instead of "my face/leg/arm/back..."
Then “sneezed at me, sneezed on me, coughed on me, coughed at me” are all possible right?
“Google Book Ngram Viewer” proved that.


texts: Would for typical behaviour or one time thing?

texts:
Consider:

Let's see if he would give us money.

In the example 1, the speaker is saying whether he would give money to the speaker if he asked now. Not his typical behaviour. He might give the speaker money depending on the situation.

Now consider:

I will fake drown to see if my dog would save me.
He is going to disguise as a famous actor to see how his sister would react.

Examples 2 or 3 are confusing me.

In the Example 2, I don't know whether I should interpret as the owner testing if his dog would save him if he drowned or if his dog would save if he drowned  at that specific time.

Same for the Example 3.

If the dog saved his owner, that wouldn't necessarily mean that the dog would save if its owner drowned. Right? The speaker is just imagining that specific hypothetical situation. Right?

So I would appreciate any answer that would relieve my confusion.


texts: I have seen lately many questions related to the pronunciation of the schwa (ə) sound. Today, I again found this question, What exactly is the "schwa" sound?, at EL&U, so I wanted to ask how the 'schwa' sound is pronounced.


texts:
In the sentence

  the DRDO-developed anti-satellite system A-SAT successfully destroyed a live satellite in the Low Earth Orbit. With this test, dubbed as Mission Shakti, India is only the fourth country after the U.S., Russia and China to have the technology.

Dub in this context is generally used as Dub somebody something
 He has been dubbed pig.
 But in the sentence above they are using dub as. Isn't it wrong?


texts: "The Land That Time Forgot" - is it grammatical to omit "that"?

texts:
As I know, the relative pronoun can only be omitted when it is the object of the clause; when the relative pronoun is the subject of the clause, it cannot be omitted.
I try to understand whether the above statement is the sufficient or only a necessary condition for a relative pronoun to be omitted.
Example 1, both versions seem to be fine to me.

Things That We Know About Xyz
Things We Know About Xyz

Example 2, omitting "Who" would be ungrammatical.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (A book by Oliver Sacks)
Example 3, the version without "That" seems to be grammatical, but it looks weird to me for some reason.

The Land That Time Forgot (A movie by Kevin Connor)
The Land Time Forgot

Is the second version of the third example grammatical? And is it "OK enough" or "horrifically ugly" from the style perspective?


texts: "This is something I am looking at removing."

texts:
I heard this sentence and I dont understand why it is correct:

  "This is something I am looking at"

...sounds fine to me as does:

  "This is something I am looking to remove."

Why is it correct?


texts:
see title; mostly: what does h/t mean?
(Google is awful at finding text with slashes and recommended to replace it for "hot", and ignores the slash when explicitly told to search for h/t)

  Note that sending the bitset variable to std::cout prints the value of all the bits in the bitset.

  Remember that the initialization value for a bitset is treated as binary, whereas the bitset functions use bit positions!

  std::bitset also supports the standard bit operators (operator|, operator&, and operator^), so you can still use those if you wish (they can be useful when setting or querying multiple bits at once).

  We recommend using std::bitset instead of doing all the bit operations manually, as bitset is more convenient and less error prone.

  (h/t to reader “Mr. D”)

Source: 3.8a — Bit flags and bit masks
Just below the linked code, just above "bit masks". Use ctrl-f if you don't see it.


texts: Does this sentence even have a past perfect?

texts:
"I am told to attend the meeting"
Does this sentence even have a past perfect form? Is the past perfect form like this : They had asked me to attend the meeting?


texts: You will come to my party tomorrow, will you ? Options: 1) isn't it ? 2) will not you ? 3) won't you ? 4) No improvement

texts:
You will come to my party tomorrow, will you?
  Options:
  1) isn't it?
  2) will not you?
  3) won't you?
  4) No improvement

If it's "won't you", can someone please set examples?


texts: What does “in experimental challenges” mean?

texts:
Would you tell me what "in experimental challenges" means in this sentence?

  In experimental challenges, immunity is serotype specific.Source: Oxford Textbook of Medicine: Infection


texts: "While I was on holiday", "when I was on holiday" , "while on holiay", "when on holiday", "on holiday" or "during holiday"?

texts:
Tell me please which one of the following sentences sounds the most natural?

  I visited a lot of new places while I was on holiday.

  2.
  I visited a lot of new places when I was on holiday.

  I visited a lot of new places while on holiday.
  I visited a lot of new places when on holiday.
  I visited a lot of new places on holiday.
  I visited a lot of new places during holiday.

I feel that grammatically all the sentences are correct, but I would like to know ones native English speakers would say.


texts:
In "Conviction: The untold story of putting Jodi Arias behind bars" by Juan Martinez, he writes the following lines

  "This third gas can, you actually bought it in Salinas, didn't you?" "Yes," Arias answered. And for that one instance, I saw a a cornered look in her eyes.

What does this phrase mean?

Out of the corner of one's eye means to look at something indirectly. But the phrase above doesn't seem to be meaning that someone is looking at something in a certain way. It seems to carry a type of emotion with it right? I am curious to know what the facial expression looks like when someone is engaging in the above behavior.


texts:
What does 'snapping away' mean here?

  Alan, through his website artbusiness.com, attends almost every art
  opening that goes down in San Francisco. Like 10 in one night, he's
  zipping across town to cover everything that's opening. From the
  greatest shows to the shittest, he's there snapping away. He's not
  human. We have no idea he does it. How does he stomach it all? We
  asked.

  Alan Bamberger Interview in Vimeo


texts: Are these uses of "cut (hair)" right? What are the differences in their meanings?

texts:
I told the stylist I wanted my hair cut short.

I told the stylist I wanted my hair to be cut short.

I told the stylist I wanted that my hair be cut short.


texts:
While reading about the simple present I came across a sentence describing the subject.
It read as followed:

“In sum, the simple present is used for events and situations that exist always, usually, or habitually in the past, present, and future.”

My first question of two is; in the case of the phrase, “exist always”, does the meaning or tense change if you switch the order of the two words?
Second, was the phrase “exist always” placed first in the tense groups to sum up the entire meaning for the rest of the group and for simple present? I’m curious because it all seems to be the same thing in that instant..


texts: Is it correct and natural to say "learn with a textbook" meaning to learn something using a textbook?

texts:
Is it correct and natural to say learn with a textbook meaning to learn something using a textbook? For example:

It's as useful to learn a foreign language with a textbook as to learn it commuicating with people.

If it sounds off, how would you say it?


texts: The second verb "BE" can be omitted after "AND"?

texts:
Can a second "BE" verb be omitted after "AND"?

For example:

  This book IS good and IS composed of three chapters.

Can the second "IS" be omitted?


texts:
In many disciplines we can find some confusing concepts and most of the time they are actually of the same definition and they are just talking about the same thing. For instance relative entropy is equivalent(equivalent or equivalence seems inappropriate because they relaxes the restriction to some extent, and most likely two equivalent stuff are of different nature. For example we can say EverNote is equivalent to OneNote but they are different apps but are equivalence in serving the same function) to Kullback–Leibler divergence and Most Probable Explanation is also named(kind of informal) Maximum a Posteriori and etc. Do we have a formal name for such naming or cases?

For example:

  MPE and MAP are ***(a noun)
  MPE is ***(an ajdactive and a prenoun) MAP


texts: "I had barber cut my hair." "I got the barber to have my hair cut."

texts:
Which one's correct? If there's anything wrong with either of these two sentences, please correct it.

I had barber cut my hair.
I got the barber to have my hair cut.


texts: Subject + (to be) + adjective + to + verb

texts:
Which is correct?

I am easy to deceive.
I am easy to be deceive.


texts:
I'm unexplainably confused about this topic.

What does the following verb-ing clause modify? (noun) researchers
or (action) have sent?
How do we decide that? --> very important for me
Is there any source by which we can study over the topic?

  Searching for signs of life on Mars, researchers have sent many probe
  rovers to the planet.


texts:
What is the passive form of 'Never tell a lie'.

  a. Let a lie never be told.
  b. Let not a lie ever be told.


texts:
In Portuguese there is a way of saying "luck" or "good luck" by using the expression "good winds" (poetical and metaphorical). Now there is a context wherein I am supposed to say "good winds" meaning that something good indicate that another thing is going to happen. Would the metaphor be as effective as intended in this case?

Here is an example:
"Good winds point to the best way to handle it."


texts: Which is correct vs which one is correct?

texts:
When using the word "which" is it necessary to still use "one" after asking a question or do "which" and "which one" have the same meaning? Where do you draw the line on the difference between "which" and "which one" when asking a question that involves more than one answer?

Example:

How much is 1 + 1?

  Which (one) is the right answer?:

  A. 2

  B. 11


texts:
The title of this article is:

  High-ranking House Democrat dealt surprise defeat at polls

According to this dictionary,I figure the verb deal means this sense:

  (transitive)

  to give (a blow) to (someone); inflict

As it's just a heading of that article, I can't figure how exactly I should use the verb deal for this sense. Which one(s) following are correct?

High-ranking House Democrat is dealt surprise defeat at polls.
They dealt surprise defeat on High-ranking House Democrat at polls
They dealt a humiliating defeat on the home team.


texts:
Cambridge Dictionary defines "primer" as "a small book containing basic facts about a subject, used especially when you are beginning to learn about that subject." But this book,
The Untold History of the United States by Stone and Kuznick, with its as many as up to 750 pages, can hardly be called a small book.
So I go to check out the word primer in Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English, which has two definitions for it: (1) an elementary book for teaching children to read.
(2) any book of elementary principles. Clearly, The Untold History is for adults to study rather than for kids; it is not elementary either, for its seriousness tapping into big political troubles.
Thus, I wonder the meaning of the word "primer" - Has the author used it correctly?

"A brave revisionist study which shatters many foreign policy myths... the Stone-Kuznik team grapples with the unsavory legacy of American militarism.... Make room on your bookshelf for this compelling leftist primer."
-Douglas Brinkley, New York Time bestselling author of The Great Deluge

Source: The Untold History of the United States


texts:
Merriam-Webster defines edit as

  an instance or result of editing

Google the term "edit meaning" gives the following definition of edit

  a change or correction made as a result of editing

Oxford Learner's & Cambridge dictionary define edit as

  an act of making changes to text or data

Merriam-Webster's definition and google search seem to suggest an edit is a change. Thus there can be 5 edits in a paragraph. In contrast, Oxford's and Cambridge's definitions seem to suggest an edit is a process so an edit can involve one change or multiple changes in a paragraph.

Is this a difference between British English and American English ? Or could edit be used for both definitions, although perhaps not "interchangeably"?


texts: What's the most common way to say a nurse/doctor is giving you medical attention?

texts: In Spanish (or at least in Argentina), when we are receiving medical attention we say the doctor is "treating" us (tratando) . "Estoy recibiendo tratamiento" (I'm receiving medical attention). This doesn't sound very natural in English (saying a doctor is treating me for receiving medical attention). How do you express the same idea in the most natural way in English?


texts: The ambiguous meaning of "He is better."

texts:
In A Comprehensive Grammar of The English Language, 7.77 comparison of good, well and ill, it says:

He is better. is ambiguous between:

(a) He is well again.

(b) He is less ill.

I can only understand the (b) meaning. When a person is ill, and now his health state is improved, we say He is better., which means He is less ill.

What about the (a) meaning?


texts: How does 'the better to ——' equate with 'So as to —— better'?

texts:
7. the better to ——   =
        So as to —— better:

This comment revealed this grammatical confusion of mine.

1. On the left-hand side (abbreviated as LHS) above, 'the better' is a noun.

2. Yet on the right-hand side, 'better' is an adverb, modifying the infinitive 'to ——' ? This contradicts 1?
3. Also, 'so as to' just seems to have adventitiously appeared, since it's absent on the LHS?

So how can these two phrases be equal?


texts: What's the meaning of "In knowing the ground was not ground at all"?

texts:
The meaning of the "ground" is clear but I have problem with the phrase below:

  In knowing the ground was not ground at all.

So, could you please what the meaning of the phrase is?

The full text is hear:

  “I am Professor Steinberg,” he said. “What would you like to read?”
  I mumbled something about historiography. I had decided to study not
  history, but historians. I suppose my interest came from the sense of
  groundlessness I’d felt since learning about the Holocaust and the civil
  rights movement—since realizing that what a person knows about the past
  is limited, and will always be limited, to what they are told by others. I
  knew what it was to have a misconception corrected—a misconception of
  such magnitude that shifting it shifted the world. Now I needed to
  understand how the great gatekeepers of history had come to terms with
  their own ignorance and partiality. I thought if I could accept that what
  they had written was not absolute but was the result of a biased process of
  conversation and revision, maybe I could reconcile myself with the fact
  that the history most people agreed upon was not the history I had been
  taught. Dad could be wrong, and the great historians Carlyle and Macaulay
  and Trevelyan could be wrong, but from the ashes of their dispute I could
  construct a world to live in. In knowing the ground was not ground at all, I
  hoped I could stand on it.

Educated by Tara Westover


texts:
I'm not sure if "sensory experience" is a term. I googled it a bit and got some hits.

  Sticking a knife into a toaster will give you a sensory experience, but so will smelling a rose. Stick with the rose.

source

I am aware of the concept of senses: taste, sight, smell, touch/felt, hearing.

I guess I understand the meaning of sensory experience as per that quotation.

I'd just like to know whether the happiness of successful solving a math question is a sensory experience.


texts: Do I use "is" or "are" when writing "(an energy) source is/are the ocean waves"?

texts:
I'm writing about renewable energy sources and I'm having a bit of trouble with this sentence:

  A relatively immature, yet promising source are the ocean waves, which are a ceaseless discharge of energy directly on the shoreline.

Some grammar check services say that I should write:

  A relatively immature, yet promising source is the ocean waves, which are a ceaseless discharge of energy directly on the shoreline.

I think can understand why this is correct, since "the source" is singular, i should use "is". But it seems a bit weird to use "is" when writing about "the waves". What is the correct form?


texts: Does this sentence follow the rule subject verb agreement?

texts:
"Let the rain come down."

This sentence is part of the song.


texts: why no auxiliary in "you haven't a hope"

texts:
Why no auxiliary is used in the phrase "you haven't a hope"?

I've heard "don't have" and "haven't got" patterns only. Have never come across this one.


texts:
I saw a sentence written as:

  Recently an ISRO satellite failed to place into specified orbit.

I was wondering if this usage is correct and a medio passive voice. Would it better if we write something like:

  Recently an ISRO satellite failed to be/get placed into specified orbit.


texts: How to combine two phrases in one sentences

texts:
I have a type of dependency between variables. I would like to express that the type of dependency can be set to one or a set of different patterns.

  The types of dependency patterns are almost limited to a set of various dependencies or fixed to one single type.

I feel that my sentence is not correct and not understandable.


texts:
Most of the employees prefer to eat their lunch/lunches at their desk or desks.

My question is: is it lunch/lunches and desk or desks?
Is the word "their" here referring to individual or employees as a group?


texts: What’s the meaning of ‘ever’ accompanying with perfect tense?

texts:
We move our chairs forward. This was the nearest I had ever been to her, and the thing I wanted most to do was move my chairs back again.
   (Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird)

What’s the meaning of ‘ever’ in the example - accompanying perfect tense?


texts: Which is correct: If you have any questions in advance of the meeting, please don't hesitate to contact Mark Ingrao or me.


texts: Is it necessary to emphasize a long history of an old saying?

texts:
I understand the sentence "Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth" is what Archimedes said about the Law of the Lever, which means the old saying has more than 2,000 years history.

Is it necessary to emphasize it is a proverb which has been recognized by so many people for so many years and say something like this?

  It is a quote that has been recognized for more than 2,000 years.

In other words, is it natural to say something like this?

  Archimedes said a famous proverb 2,000 years ago, that is, give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth.


texts: “It would have been best written in a more concise way as it does tend to ramble.” meaning

texts:
It would have been best written in a more concise way as it does tend to ramble.

I came across this sentence in Collins dictionary. I'm not sure what the sentence is trying to convey. The author uses the conjunction word as to connect the two clauses "It would have been best written in a more concise way" and "it does tend to ramble". But the two seem to be irrelevant. I am kind of lost here. Any thought?


texts: Usage of Comma before the variable in math journal

texts:
When writing some journal paper in scientific or mathematical areas, the usage of comma is very confused. For example,

  The objective function f is differentiable when the value of the node x is given.

In the above, f is called the objective function, and x represents the value of the node.

In many papers, the above sentence are written as the below.

  The objective function, f, is differentiable when the value of the node, x, is given.

Actually, I have seen both of them in papers. However, I want to know whether there is a specific rule or not.


texts: Is "X is out" a correct way to say that X has been used up?

texts:
I was wondering if it is correct to say "X is out" (for example, "milk is out"). I remember reading it somewhere, but I can't seem to find any examples now.

One example that comes to mind is "time is out", which seems like a valid expression.


texts: Does stickler have a negative connotation?

texts:
Does "stickler" in the following sentence have a negative connotation?

My wife is stickler for detail.

If it is negative could you please give me an alternative which has a positive meaning?


texts:
I have found it in this video. The sentence is at about the 2th minute.  Here is the sentence:

  One thing is true: the way we feed 7 billion people today won't scale to feed 10 billion tomorrow.

I have checked a few dictionaries, but I cannot understand what definitions of them fit.


texts: In Longman Dictionary I have found the word 'mother-in-law'. Can I write the word 'mother-in-law' as 'mother in law' or 'mother in-law'?


texts: I don't understand the role of 'that I was' here

texts:
SOURCE   (Michelle Phan)

  From an early age my ambitions were driven by the expectations of others and being the people pleaser that I was, I'd spent the rest of my youth chasing after my mother's dream - becoming successful.

I don't understand the grammatical role of 'that I was' here. Why aren't there any words after that I was? I mean, that I was 'what'? Is this a grammatically right sentence?

Does it mean from an early age she was becoming a people pleaser, which she ALREADY was, and had to spent the rest of her youth chasing her mom's dream?


texts: What is the meaning of “literal” in the combination “literal philology”?

texts:
Here is an example from Italy: Rome and Naples (1889):

  No three days pass that I do not read in the newspapers some terrific declamation against two celebrated authors of our day, one so brilliant, amiable, and lively, so French and so spiritael, that you forget to note his good sense, which is equal to his wit ; and the other, so broad and delicate, so rich in general ideas, so refined and so practical in the art of feeling and distinguishing delicate shades, so happily endowed, and so well instructed, that philosophy and erudition, the highest generalised conceptions, and the minutest literal philology are as Hebrew to him.


texts: Is there a term for river with its bed risen above the surrounding ground level?

texts:
What I'm looking for is a word which translates Japanese "tenjougawa". It indicates a (part of a) river whose bed has eventually risen above the surrounding ground level, mostly because of successive diking over a long time that prevents sediment from spreading outside its watercourse. According to Japanese WP, there are at least 240 tenjougawas in Japan.

(image from here)


texts:
In the lyrics of the song by Big Bang. The great k pop boy band.
"loser, lonely me, faking tough, and cowardly."
I wanna know the meaning of lonely me and faking tough.
please tell me. I wanna sing this song in English.
Is there any verb form of fake?


texts: Something between "satisfactory" and "good"

texts:
I'm looking for an adjective meaning something between "satisfactory" and "good".

For example, let's say we can rate something (restaurant, homework, etc.) and give it 1 to 5 stars, but we can also rate is as 3.5 stars. Which adjective can be used to describe 3.5 stars, i.e. better than satisfactory/average but not good enough to be just good?


texts: what is the meaning of "have" in the phrase "have had"?

texts: I see this sentence online. "A video game reviewer has had it with threats of sexual violence contained in online messages from young boys, so she's decided to do something about it." And I cannot figure out the meaning of the first clause.


texts: Is the sentence “Could I smoke here?" ungrammatical?

texts: The correct sentence is "Can I smoke here?", but I wonder why I can't use "could" in this question.


texts:
The project also had had a tangible demonstration impact.

Is the above sentence grammatically correct? The event occurred a few years ago.


texts:
I read a sentence in The Hindu which was:

This, in turn, continues to dog demand in the hinterland for manufactured goods.

I know "dog" hasn't been used here in the literal sense. But even its figurative sense (to hound by or as if by dogs, thus causing continual trouble) does not make much sense to me. So, is there something that I'm missing?


texts: Sentence choices and what difference they make

texts:
It's way past the time I usually go for a jog at.

It's way past the time I usually go for a jog.

It's way past the time when I usually go for a jog.

Are all the above sentences grammatically correct?
What's the difference in their meaning, if there's any.


texts:
Do I need a determiner before uncountable nouns modified by adjectives and mentioned for the first time?

Insulin causes fat storage / a fat storage.
Cells burn sugar and create energy storage / an energy storage.

(I know that I can use "the" if I mentioned the concept before and I want to refer to it but I am not sure about the "a/an").
Thanks =)


texts:
Here is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

What is the subject of the sentence marked in bold?

  "We need to find her," said Dumbledore. "Professor Mcgonagall, please go to Mr.Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

  "You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice. It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.

  "What do you mean, Peeves?" said Dumbledore calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle.

  "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily.

Here, the Fat Lady who was in the painting had run away, and we can guess from the phrase "Crying something dreadful" that she'd had a great fear.

So I thought she can't be the subject of "ashamed", cause it does not match with "fear". I mean she was just scared. We can't be "ashamed" to see something horrible, right?

But it's also weird to think Peeves as a subject in my opinion, since he doesn't have anything to be ashamed of.

What have I missed here? Who's the subject here?


texts: What does it mean to be "a crofter at an ironwork"?

texts:
I read a sentence in the short story "The Rattrap" by Selma Lagerlöf:

  The old man was just as generous with his confidences as with his porridge and tobacco. The guest was informed at once that in his days of prosperity his host had been a crofter at Ramsjo Ironwork and had worked on the land. Now, that he was no longer able to do day labor, it was his cow which supoprted him.

There is one more place in the chapter referencing to the crofter by saying "old crofter of the ironworks". I wanted to ask that "crofting" and "ironwork" are wholly different occupations. But why then is the author saying "crofter of/at the ironwork"?


texts:
I am having a hard time understanding the function and meaning of "of" in some examples. According to Cambdridge Dictionary, one of the meaning of "of" is "THAT IS/ARE". I am not quite sure what that means.

And I wonder if it is possible to reverse the word order in those situations? Do they mean the same thing when they are reversed?

  man of steel to steel man

  the pain of separation to the separation pain

  the skill of negotiating to the negotiating skill

  a bill of £42.50 to a £42.50 bill

  the meaning of obligation to the obligation meaning


texts: Why does "that would be me" make a speaker more certain than "that is me"?

texts:
I have been reading these two posts on would: Why "that would be me"? (part 1) & Why "that would be me"? (part 2)

If you want a domestic SUV, then the best choice would be the Ford Escape Hybrid.
If you want functional air filters, the best choice would have to be K&N Air Filter.
If you really want to use WMA, the best choice would be 2-pass encoding.
If you really need a fighter bay, the best choice by far would be a manta bay.

Very similar examples exist with present-tense forms of "to be":

If you want real wood, the best choice is engineered flooring.
If you want to stay in colonial Quito, the best choice is the Hotel Real Audiencia.
If you want HD programming, Dish Network is the best choice.

The post and its comments say that with respect to perceived speaker (un)certainty, perhaps the preterite makes the speaker seem more rather than less certain, by emphasizing that the logic of the hypothetical situation is being carefully evaluated.
But I don't fully understand what on earth the logic here is. The auther mentioned this usage of would is quite fashionable. If so, it will account for the majority of would usages. Is it true?


texts: What kind of grammatical structure is "all the time"?

texts:
You are meeting friends at the cinema all the time.

Is "all the time" a preposition structure or a noun structure?

"all the time" means always do something.

I think "all the time" is a preposition structure which omits the preposition "for". If "all the time" is a noun structure, how can it modify other parts of the sentence? Can a noun structure function as an adverb?


texts:
We brought in advanced technology from abroad.

Can I change the phrase "brought in" to "introduced" here?

Thank you.


texts: Alternative word for a 'stagnant' sea/lake/pond without the negative connotation?

texts:
When we say stagnant sea/lake/pond, does it connote that sea/lake/pond is dirty?

According definition, the word stagnant means "stagnant water or air is not moving and therefore smells unpleasant"

How can we call a lake which is not moving, but it is not dirty either.

I saw on the Internet that there is a place called the Dead Lakes in the US. But the word the dead could make a place sound scary.


texts: A word/phrase/idiom for a person who is very valuable

texts:
I was writing a sentence when I got stuck. Which would be a perfect word or idiom for this sentence?

These days he is working on a computer generated music simulation project and is already famous in the music industry and also every company wants to hire him.

The bold part is too lengthy and too wordy. I want to make it short and use a proper phrase or idiom at this place. I looked on the internet but found some incompetent idioms like : buzz of the town, a valueable asset.


texts: How to express this action in English? "Please, don't face up drinking like that" or "Please, don't drink with the bottle being upside down like that"

texts:
Ok, My little daughter always drinks by facing up & holding the water bottle upside down like this picture. This is not good because she may choke on the water.

I want her to drink like the man in this picture. The bottle should be held horizontally.

  face up/down    (of a person) with your face and stomach facing upwards/downwards

  She lay face down on the bed.

  upside down (adj) in a position in which the top of something is
  where the bottom is normally found and the bottom is where the top is
  normally found

  The painting looks like it's upside down to me.

  upside down adverb: in or into a position in which the top of something is where the bottom is normally found and the bottom is
  where the top is normally found

  The canoe floated upside down on the lake.

How to express this action in English? "Please, don't face up drinking like that" or "Please, don't drink with the bottle being held upside down like that"


texts: Meaning of "patients are normally enrolled commensurate with the level of evidence obtained from preceding steps which support comparability"

texts:
From this Guideline (Guideline on similar biological medicinal products
containing monoclonal antibodies – non-clinical and clinical issues):

  Comparative clinical studies between the biosimilar and reference medicinal product should always be conducted. The number and type of studies might vary according to the reference product and should be justified based on a sound scientific rationale. A stepwise approach is normally recommended throughout the development programme, and the extent and nature of the clinical programme
  depends on the level of evidence obtained in the previous step(s). During the clinical development programme, patients are normally enrolled commensurate with the level of evidence obtained from preceding steps which support comparability.

Does this mean "if the level of gathered evidence is high enough for the successful completion of step 1, then patients are enrolled for step 2"?


texts:
Today I've found this phrase:

  With great power comes the great chance to get bitten in the rump.

It sounds interesting but I couldn't understand the part to get bitten in the rump.

What does it mean ? Is there a typo ?


texts:
If the lorry could be inhibited, a lesser misfortune might have destined to its driver.
If the lorry had stopped, a lesser misfortune might have destined to its driver.

inhibit is a verb, and in first sentence passive construction has been used, using past participle form of inhibit. Is the first wrong grammatically? From above two sentences, which one is best and why? Do the meanings of these two sentences are same?


texts:
Look at this large bowl-shaped container which is very popular in Asia but not in Western countries. It can be used to contain water or you can wash your hands or face using it.

In the dictionary,

  basin: a large round bowl for holding liquids or (in British English) for preparing foods in; the amount of liquid, etc. in a basin

  a pudding basin

  vessel (old use or specialist) a container used for holding liquids, such as a bowl, cup, etc.

  a Bronze Age drinking vessel

What is it called? A basin or vessel?


texts: which word to be used "tirades" or "diatribe"

texts:
I am unable to figure out which word to be used to describe a situation of political accusations.

could some one explain how/under which circumstance tirade/diatribe to be used.