texts:
Recently I was watching a movie with someone which had a good amount of grandiloquence, as is common in any historical love story where things always tend to be regal, which are really good to hear but takes some effort to understand fully on the part of listener. After the movie ends, the other person said that it's because the actors are 'getting paid' that they are able to romance in such a way on screen, nobody does that in real life. This irked me a bit and I wanted to tell him to not ruin the entire mood by maligning these passionate entities with materialistic motivations. He holds a pretty cynical (or just too practical?) world view that people do things for money. I want to precisely tell him to stop being such a "romance-less grouch" (I hope this combination of words makes sense).

What would be a natural way to say that? I want a phrase/sentence which would fit particularly capturing this incident. I could say that "You need to be a romantic to understand this thing" but this would be a belittling reply. A few other examples that I have thought of are :

  1. Money is not everything.

  2. There are some things money can't buy.

All these don't really capture that I am specifically pointing towards the blissfulness of tender moments in such movies beside being too cliched.


texts: A Noun with a positive connotation for a person that is thrifty?

texts:
Related:
Word to describe a person who spends extremely little money

This is different from that question, in that it is requesting

1.) a noun.

2.) a positive connotation on the noun.


texts:
Is there a general rule how to create feminine words?

For example feminine from waiter is waitress, from actor – actress, etc.

So, generally the ending -ess means the feminine form. But I’ve never heard feminine forms for writer, programmer, designer etc. Is there a rule by which a native speaker would create feminine forms? Or is creating feminine forms simply not so important for native speakers?


texts:
A twice folded card.

Does this mean that when you open it, it has 4 compartments?


texts: Should I use the past simple "I learned", or the present perfect "I've learned"?

texts:
Please explain which is correct:

I've learned to ride a bicycle when I was five
I learned to ride a bicycle when I was five

For me both of them are correct.


texts:
I am a learner of English and I have been learning it for the last few months. I wrote a definition of the present perfect tense. Please check the definition and let me know that I have been using it perfectly or not. I am a little bit confused about it.

The Present Perfect Tense:

  1->An action started in the past but it has just finished or maybe not
  (as per me both options are possible).

  2->An action started in the past and it has just finished but its
  result matters in the present.


texts:
A person's who just woken up is still really sleepy and walks into a wall. So the other person says:

You're still in sleep.

You're still in sleep mode.

To mean: You're still sleepy.
Does the first sentence work?


texts: ''source of people's income" VS "source of people's incomes"

texts:
Employment is a major source of people's income.
  Employment is a major source of people's incomes.

If I want to say working is a major way for people to make pay, which one to choose?


texts: Difference between "don't" and "can't" in “I don't/can't drive”

texts:
On a TV program, a person, doesn't have a driver license, said:

  How can I get to the shop? I don't drive.

but in my opinion, he may say:

  How can I get to the shop? I can't drive.

Is it correct? and what is the difference between "don't" and "can't"?

I would very appreciate if anyone could tell me.


texts: Why 'anything' used instead of 'something' in this sentence?

texts:
In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become most people's favorite class. Only Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins had anything bad to say about Professor Lupin.

  "Look at the state of his robes," Malfoy would say in a loud whisper ...

I think 'something' should be used in this sentence, because 'anything' usually is used in a negative sentence. How should we understand the use of 'anything' in this sentence? Is there any difference in this case if we use 'something'?


texts:
He promised he would come to the party. And I said I would be
  disappointed if he didn't / wouldn't.

It seems like it's the second conditional, which means the right option is didn't. However, I took the phrase from an American sitcom where it was said with wouldn't. So I wonder whether the only correct option in this phrase is didn't, or maybe it's also acceptable to use wouldn't here.


texts: How do I write people doing something at the same time?

texts: While Lorrainne got in the driver's seat mom got into the passenger seat.(they are switching places)


texts: What is the difference between "during the night," "through the night", and "throughout the night"?

texts:
Tell me please the difference between the following sentences.

  I didn't sleep during the night.

  I didn't sleep through the night.

  I didn't sleep throughout the night.


texts:
If I had a day off from work next week, I would go to the beach.

What does this mean ?
1). I know that there is little possibility for day off next week and imagining  if I have a day off next week
2). I am sure that I won’t have a day off next week and just imagining what if I have a day off
If both are correct, what comes first to a native speaker?


texts: Can "all" be combined with a singular pronoun?

texts:
Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot.
(Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

It seems that all is a distributive determinative (Angela Downing) for plural noun or mass one. And so I'm confused about what it refers to. Does it refer to anything? If yes, isn't there grammatical problem?


texts:
Could you explain to me why this one is correct:

He is a person of great worth.

However, this one is not correct.

This is cheese of fifty dollars worth.

Their structures are identical

a person/cheese + 2 of + 3 great/fifty dollars + 4 worth


texts: I have seen it in quite a few chats on Facebook and Twitter.


texts: Is "I do not want you to go nowhere" a case of "DOUBLE-NEGATIVES" as claimed by Grammarly?

texts:
I do not want you to go nowhere.

According to Grammarly, the above sentence contains a DOUBLE-NEGATIVE and should be modified as either of the following;

I do not want you to go anywhere.
I want you to go nowhere.

However, I think that the sentence is fine and that it doesn't contain any DOUBLE-NEGATIVE. Here is how I get the meaning of the sentence;

I do not want SOMETHING.
What do I not want?
I do not want that you do XYZ?
What is the XYZ that I do not want you to do?
It is that you are going nowhere, ie being in one place (all the time).

What do you think about the sentence? Did Grammarly get it right? Please, explain!


texts:
Can I use "after that' and "then" Interchangeably in the following sentences?

1- Hey John, first clean your room, then/after that complete your homework.

2- He was first trained as a secretary and then/after that he got a job.

3- Yesterday I went to the market, then/after that I returned home and started cooking for my parents.


texts: Do I need to add "one" at the end of the sentence in the following case?

texts: As the river with the greatest amount of factories, it was to be the most polluted (one).


texts: Meaning of "He rounded her up, sidling and dancing with his arms out in their big curve"

texts:
Dexter made the presentations.
‘We can’t stay, I’m afraid,’ said Elizabeth in her grand manner. The
closed door next to the stove must lead to the bathroom: she could hear the
dull splatter of a leaking shower tap.
‘Yes you can,’ said Dexter. He took the lid off the saucepan.
‘Soup!
Soup, Billy. Soup means lots. Sit up, everyone. Where’s Arthur?’
‘At the Papantuanos’,’ said Athena.
‘I hope he’s not watching TV.’
‘They’re making suits of armour in the shed.’
‘I’ll go and get him,’ said Dexter. ‘Athena – Vicki must be sat near the
warmth. She’s from sunnier climes, aren’t you, Vicki.’
He rounded her up,
sidling and dancing with his arms out in their big curve. Vicki scowled with
embarrassment, but obeyed. Elizabeth abandoned her plan to watch ‘Sale of
the Century’, and allowed herself to be shuffled to a chair. She drew off her
gloves.

Does it mean: Vicki was seized by him while he was
sidling and dancing with his arms out toward his waist?
Does "with his arms out in their big curve" mean: with his arms out toward his waist?
Source: The children's Bach by Helen Garner


texts: “What a relief?” – Why do we need an article?

texts: “Oxford learners Dictionary” states that “relief” (at least when it means removal of anxiety/pain) is an uncountable noun. Then why do we use the indefinite article in this phrase? Are there any other phrases where “relief” requires an article?


texts:
When is "z" pronounced "zee" and when "zed"?

From what I found out "zee" is AmE and "zed" is BrE. And in abbreviations the letter is always pronounced "zee" like in LZ (landing zone).


texts: If someone says 'Use flipflops in abundance.' What does it imply? What message does this sentence convey? Does this convey the number of flipflops or the frequency of using flipflops? Does it mean that you are being asked to wear flipflops 'too often' or to wear 'many flipflops' at a time?


texts:
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary

"jump in" means: to say something about a subject that another person is already talking about , to join a conversation

I understand the meaning of it.
From a tutorial

in the next chapters we
will go deeper into both syntaxes with
many more examples. Jumping right in, a
simple XPath string we could write in
Python is given here ...

I guess "Jumping in" is the gerund of "jump in". I don't understand the meaning of it.  Do they pretty much mean the same thing?


texts:
It is a subtopic of article about AI

WHY THE RECENT INTEREST IN AI SAFETY

It seems to me there is no verbs here.
I would be grateful if you explain what structure is used here
link to the website


texts: Meaning of the phrase 'in three months' time'

texts:
What does the bold phrase below mean? Why do they use the possessive? Why do they use the noun time?

  Yes, but he's getting married in three months' time.

I have understood this sentence

  Yes, but he's getting married in three months.


texts: Is "public image" a common phrase to refer to something like public "ego"?

texts:
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary

  Definition of public image = the opinion that many people have of a person

  The scandal ruined his public image.

I guess I understand the meaning and the usage of it.

As per Cambridge Dictionary, "ego" means

  your idea or opinion of yourself, especially your feeling of your own importance and ability

That's how someone think themselves are. For example, Tom thinks he is a good husband, so his ego is a good husband; Harrison thinks he is a successful businessman, his ego is a successful businessman.

Is there a phrase to refer to public idea of someone?

Suppose Tom and Harrison are famous movie stars, so almost all movies fans in the world know them.

Almost all movies fans think Tom cares about his family, for them, Tom's public ego / outside appearance / public image is a good husband and a good father.

In contrast, for those movies fans, Harrison is not a good husband or a good father, no matter wether Harrison really cares about his family in real life.

The way people consider Tom is because Tom has been working on it. He posted lots of family photos, he attends to public activities with his family.

Is "public image" a common phrase to refer to something like "public ego", "outside appearance" or some other phrases that indicate the way public view the celebrity as.


texts: "Remaining to wear" : odd choice of expression by the Daily Mail Online

texts:
From the Daily Mail Online

  The presenter, 45, was in high spirits as she took charge of Strictly Come Dancing spin-off It Takes Two - and baffled viewers by remaining to wear her wedding ring.

The writing on the Mail Online can be pretty baffling at the best of times, and I think this short excerpt is proof of that. It is common for English speaking journalists to take shortcuts by omitting prepositions, articles, pronouns etc., and preferring punchier words to convey a sense of urgency, and lend their articles a more dramatic tone.

However, the  last line written in the passive voice, especially bothers me. I understand what it means: the female presenter who recently split (separated) from her husband, wore her wedding ring on the show, but how does someone "remain to wear a wedding ring"?

Is this an error? Is it slang? Does it sound OK to native speakers?
What should the author have written? I would have said:

  ... by keeping her wedding ring on.

Although keeping to wear her wedding ring, sounds even worse than the original phrase.

What rule of grammar is this sentence construction breaking? If any?
Is this an example of contemporary English?


texts: Applying restrictive clause to compound nouns

texts:
A renown foreign bakery and a locally owned bakery, which HAS won awards for its croissants, HAVE seen a significant decrease in the revenue since the biggest employer in the area shut down.

How do I rewrite the sentence so that the phrase "which has won awards...." applies to both the foreign and local bakery?


texts: Attitudes and concerns over Indian-English accent

texts:
What are common attitudes and concerns over the Indian-English accent (see video) among those who are teaching or learning in ESL? How do these attitudes make the Indian accent compare with others, such as  American, Welsh, Scottish, Australian, Caribbean?
My question is related to teaching and learning. Most people seem to prefer an American or British (RP) accent while learning English. I am asking because I want to select an accent for further practice.


texts:
Verbs in the active voice show the subject acting.

Verbs in the passive voice show something else acting on the subject.

1st acting is a gerund?
2nd acting is a participle(present)?


texts:
I'm wondering whether "cash award" or "money award" is correct in the following. If both are ok, what's the difference? Suppose this is about a prize-giving event.

They gave me a cash / money award.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts: Why is it "get" in "I wish he'd get a haircut"? What tense is "get"?

texts:
I don't feel comfortable with the sentence "I wish he'd get a haircut."

I'd like to know the difference in the sentences below and whether or not they are correct:

  I wish he got a haircut
  I wish he'd a haircut
  I wish he'd got a haircut

I don't get why after "had" we are using "get" and not "got"


texts: Is "The earrings of which I lost at the theatre yesterday were not my favourite ones" sound?

texts:
Neither of the options below seems suitable for the sentence.

The earrings _______ I lost at the theatre yesterday were not my favourite ones.
a) which isb) wherec) —d) of which

(Yes, C is supposed to be empty.)
I have the same doubts about this one.

We as teachers usually take a short vacation in February ____ there is no work for us to do.
a) on whichb) in whichc) of whichd) —

I can't tell if relative-clauses apply in these sentences.


texts: Is 'shake' as verb correct in this context?

texts:
Let's say there is a lot of dirt on my shirt or on my bed sheet and I need to clean it, or say my shirt is very wet and I need to get rid of excess water.

What is the appropriate verb to describe this action? It is similar to shaking: you will hold the two ends and then shake it kind of hardly to get rid of water or dirt, but does shake really describe what I want to say?

I also looked up snap but I'm not sure if that is applicable here.


texts:
If a TV show that one feels to be worth preserving would be canceled unless one took certain actions, then one ought to take those
  actions.

What does ought to means? I thought it means "should", but when I replace it with "should", it sounds weird:

  If a TV show that one feels to be worth preserving would be canceled unless one took certain actions, then one should take those actions.


texts:
I am learning this machine learning course.

This lecturer is saying

  you can go on menti.com

When I want to express accessing a website, should I say “go on this website”?

It seems to be a little bit strange using "go on".


texts: Of and from, are they interchangeable in some cases?

texts:
i was reading this letter for IELTS and i was not sure if this was the proper usage because i thought of an alternative:

  My name is Mathew Abraham and I am writing this letter regarding an important document I forgot in a taxi from your company last week

is it the same if i change the part of "from your company" with an "of your company"?

It would be like this in the end:

  My name is Mathew Abraham and I am writing this letter regarding an important document I forgot in a taxi of your company last week

I get confused in these cases where it sounds to me as if either of those two options would be ok, but I'm not 100% sure if that's the case in this particular example.


texts:
As I was watching The Affair, I came across a dialogue which seems poor English to me. The dialogue is spoken by a person who is a native American in the series. The dialogue is as follows:

  If you paid attention in class, and done the work, you’ll do well.

First, why is done used here and not did even though there is no had in the conditional sentence?

And secondly, why the result/outcome of the conditional sentence is in future tense (you’ll)?


texts: What does "apples to apples" phrase mean?

texts:
I came along this phrase in a sentence like so

  ... can be compared apples to apples

I guess it has something to do with apples to apples game, but I couldn't figure it out. What does this idiomatic phrase mean.


texts:
You can say "go camping", meaning light trip outdoors, more like a picnic. By what about serious trips across tundra or some uninhabited land, with a heavy backpack?

In short, is there a word for "hard trip outdoors"?


texts:
In a book I'm reading a character says "One day I will have you, de Vienne.", refering to her master, who she doesn't like.
What does it mean, exactly? I guess it's something like "I will kill you someday", which is possible because they fight with swords.
Thank you!


texts: linking verbs followed by noun or noun phrase?

texts:
At my school I have learned - linking verbs are followed by adjectives but the following sentences confuse me.

  He is a good teacher.

  He became headmaster.

  She is a nurse.

In the above sentences Linking verbs are followed by noun and noun phrase.


texts: Should I choose "I already belong to a museum" or "I belong to a museum already"?

texts:
Is this sentence grammatical and semantic correct?

  I feel like I already belong to a museum!

or

  I feel like I belong to a museum already!

or it should be something completely different?


texts:
From the post the meaning of "A tv series follows a main character"

In the course of telling a story, it can be said that one is "observing" the subject of the story. The writer is making observations, and communicating them through the story, so the reader or watcher shares in the observation: both "follow" the main character.

The phrase "it can be said" has a few occurrences on this site and more in Ngram Viewer.
I guess I understand the meaning of it, something like

... it is reasonable/understandable to think of the writer(s) and readers or watchers of the story "observing" the subject of the story

The question is when would I use the expression? I Googled it but didn't get anything helpful.
One situation I can imagine is when using metaphor to describe something. Is my understanding correct?


texts: What is the difference between these three terms?


texts: Should I use "the tag (tag-name)" or "the (tag-name) tag"?

texts:
Here in Stack Exchange network (probably mostly in meta discussions and in chat) we often discuss about tags.

I wonder which of these two forms is the correct one: "the tag (tag-name)" or "the (tag-name) tag". What I mean is which of these two sentences is correct? (Or are they both correct?)

This question should have the tag word-order.
This question should have the word-order tag.

Just by comparing what other people commonly use, it seems that that latter is more frequent. If I search in the posts on meta.SE, I get for these two possibilities:

2 results for status-completed, 2 results for status-declined, 6 results for feature-request;
32 results for status-completed, 11 results for status-declined, 47 results for feature-request.

(I wanted to try at least some tags which I guessed appear quite frequently in posts.)


texts:
Replace the bold part with correct one:

The bell was ringing and ringing but no one picked up the phone.

(a) rang and rang                      (b) rang repeatedly (answer sheet)

(c) was ringing repeatedly (my answer) (d) No improvement

Why option C is incorrect here? B could also be a possible answer, but i don't see why C is wrong here.


texts: What do you call the act of submitting to someone?

texts:
I am wondering if there's a word you can use for animals like dogs and wolves. Is there some kind of gestures or action that imply submitting oneself to a stronger individual?

Here's an example sentence:

  The other wolves * before the alpha wolf after he showed how much more
  powerful it was.


texts: What does "sticking (sticky) cover" mean in the context of a video game?

texts:
About the Black Mesa mod:

  "Not For Those Who Want: An all-new experience. It looks new, but it's the same old Half-Life. There's no sticking cover or regenerating health here, kids."

(Kotaku: The 12 Best Mods For PC Games)

I've already asked this question on Learn English Online, but they don't seem to know the answer.


texts: "Available 24 hrs a day" vs "Available for 24 hrs a day"

texts:
Food services are available 24 hrs a day.

vs.

  Food services are available for 24 hrs a day.

Which one is correct?


texts: Difference between "body lotion" and "body cream"

texts:
Both "body lotion" and "body cream" get millions of google hits.

What's the difference between the two terms? Do they have different meanings, or are they from difference dialects of English?


texts:
If someone is  "rocking" his or her chair, will it be natural to use:

  Hey! Stop swinging on your chair!

Is the use of "swing" natural in this context? It is a normal chair.

The person leans back and moves it (chair) sideways on two legs..


texts: What tense should I use for a completed action before another action expressed in present perfect?

texts:
I know I can use Past Perfect talks about a completed action before another action, for example:
I had eaten before she arrived at 10:00am.

But I am not sure what tense I should used for a completed action before another action expressed in present perfect.
I [eat ? tense] before she has arrived.

Any suggestion on what tense I should use to express this kind of chronology?


texts:
Sister: Josh, are you okay?
  Josh: I want to text Laura, but I don't know what to say.
  Sister: You said it was an emergency.
  Josh: Well, it is. I pretty like this girl, I don't want to blow it.
  Sister: Oh, my God. I got it. Okay. "Laura." Period. "It's your stranger from the train."
  Josh: (Gasps) Film reference.

Part of the transcript from Season 1 Episode 2 of Man Seeking Woman

The guy (Josh) is asking his sister to make a sentence for a girl he likes. She made a sentence and he was impressed by it saying Film reference. It seems like awesome. What's this meaning?


texts: Just Wondering if I Should Use Him or Them?

texts:
Is it:

  Nobody was ever there for me when I needed him.

or

  Nobody was ever there for me when I needed them.


texts:
in first part of the Poirot movie, there is a sentence:"Husband put head in gas oven. Home life happy?"

What does "Home life happy?" mean?


texts:
See this site:

  2: We can't use this kind of participle clause if we're talking about one finished action which is not repeated:

  Not: Who was the girl dropping the coffee?

  Instead, we use a normal relative clause:

  Who was the girl who dropped the coffee?

Could you explain "We can't use this kind of participle clause if we're talking about one finished action which is not repeated"?

What does "one finished action which is not repeated" mean?

There is no way to understand what the author was talking about.


texts:
I spotted an ache*(not sure if acne is singular or plural)* on my face after I removed my face mask (coronaviruse). I want to know if the following are correct given the context:

It happened because of wearing the mask.- I'm saying that a particular mask is responsible for the acne. (sorry not sure how to use acne)
It happened because of wearing a mask.- this is a general statement, I'm saying that masks cause acne.
It happened because of wearing masks.- This should be incorrect here since I only have one mask. It would be correct if I were a doctor and had to wear different masks everyday.

Note- I'm not sure if it should be 'an acne' or 'acnes' or just 'acne.'


texts:
"for the purpose" refer to what? does "exposure" mean "the action of exposing a photographic film to light or other radiation?

My library was used as a dark cabinet. It has folding doors opening into
the laboratory; one of these doors was taken off its hinges, and a curtain
suspended in its place to enable Katie to pass in and out easily. Those of
our friends who were present were seated in the laboratory facing the
curtain, and the cameras were placed a little behind them, ready to
photograph Katie when she came outside, and to photograph anything
also inside the cabinet, whenever the curtain was withdrawn for the
purpose. Each evening there were three or four exposures of plates in the
five cameras, giving at least fifteen separate pictures at each séance;
some of these were spoilt in the developing, and some in regulating the
amount of light. Altogether I have forty-four negatives, some inferior,
some indifferent, and some excellent.


texts: Causative verbs have + object + bare infinitive

texts:
We use have+ object + infinitive to talk about asking or causing someone to do something. Please consider my these two sentences in that sense.

a. Mr. Smith has me fix the issue of poor networking.

b. Engineers have the workers repair the roads on site.

and, in continuous form

a1. Mr. Smith has me fixing the issue of poor networking.

b1. Engineers have the workers repairing the roads on site.

They seem grammatically correct but very odd to ears, especially a and b. Why is this the case and how can I use causative verbs more naturally?
Any tips will be appreciated.


texts: Is this usage of "or rather" correct? If so, what does it mean here?

texts:
Here is the sentence.

  There is one striking similarity about the two cases: in both, the legal personality of
  the EU (respectively as ECSC and EC) is invoked. The individual institutions lack
  legal personality and this, it seems, has a serious implication. Lacking personality,
  the Commission cannot enter into treaties under international law, so France v
  Commission case suggests, or rather, it cannot be held responsible in its own right and thus
  its behavior will inevitably be attributed to the EU.


texts:
What do you call the bolded part of the movie's title?
For example:

Predator: The Last Stand

What do you call the bolded part.


texts:
I went hiking to enjoy autumn leaves last Saturday, Saturday before last and also Saturday three weeks ago.

If I add "in a row" to this sentence, what sentence can I make?

  I went hiking on three Saturdays in a row.

This is the only sentence I can make, but it doesn't sound right to me. This sentence also doesn't say which Saturday I went. If I put all the information in one or two sentences, how should I say it? This is for conversation.


texts: Articles with the names of films - which sentences are correct?

texts:
A. I was at a Shrek film last week.

  B. I was at Shrek's film last week.

  C. I was at Shrek film last week.

Which versions are correct? What about the name with article "the"

  D. I was at a The Shark film last week.

or
simply

  E. I was at The Shark film last week.

Edit: I would like to ask about the last two examples because they contain the article "the" in the title.


texts: What is the importance of "however" in this specific sentence?

texts:
Kindly read the last sentence of this paragraph:

"In the 1920s, a German named Adi Dassler created a new sneaker brand that he named after himself: Adidas. His brother, Rudi, later started his own shoe company: Puma. As new athletic shoes were developed, people around the world began to use them for many different sports. It wasn't until the 1950s, however, that tennis shoes became popular as a fashion statement outside of any connection with athletics."

Now I can understand the meaning of this sentence:

"It wasn't until the 1950s that tennis shoes became popular as a fashion statement outside of any connection with athletics."

It basically means from 1950s onwards tennis shoes were not only atheletic shoes, but they were worn as casual shoes also for any non sport occasion like hanging out with friends or a casual meeting.
Now, if you use 'however' like in the original paragraph, what does 'however' mean here? Does it make the meaning of sentence opposite (i.e.,  from 1950s they became ONLY atheletic shoes, no more used as casual shoes for non-sport events) to what I understood above?


texts: Words describing purchasing of several items together

texts:
If somebody purchases several products with one payment, does the word "purchase" refer to the entire bundle or to each separate product?

Which word or collocation to use to denote the entire operation and which to the acquisition of individual items?


texts: A better way to say "encompass beyond" to go beyond the frontier of technology

texts:
I am trying to rewrite the following sentence that I wrote

  Meet the newest pattern-recognition technology, with predefined sets
  assorted to encompass outliers.

in this way :

  Meet the newest technology, with predefined sets
  assorted to encompass beyond.

I am rewriting the sentence because I cannot use the phrase "the newest pattern-recognition technology" for a reason. But as soon as I replace it with "the newest technology", I find the sentence to be a little ambiguous without the reason to "encompass outliers." So I decided to make the sentence more general and encompass not "outliers" but "beyond the newest technology".

First, I would like to know if the constructions of two sentences are acceptable in the first place.

Second, I would like to know if the second sentence does convey the meaning that the "predefined sets" are available to accomodate what is not possible with current technology.

Third, I would like to know if there is a better way to say "encompass beyond" to go beyond the frontier of technology.


texts:
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary

  quote as saying
  : to report or say (the exact words) of (someone) —usually used in the form be quoted as

  He was quoted as saying there would be further delays.

From the Cambridge Dictionary

  "If they're flexible, we're flexible," the official was quoted as saying.

I guess there are three situations where the idiom would be used.

the speaker that is quoted is famous
the speaker that is quoted is an expert in some field
the saying is famous

Is my understanding correct?


texts:
Usually when I want to deny something I will say I didn't do anything

However, lately I watched some movies in which the people sometimes said  I didn't do nothing

They use no instead of any, like I don't have no problem. I think this sounds cool.

Can I use it in my daily chatting?


texts: Does the tense match?"Even though + present tense, past tense"?

texts:
Can I say "Even though my friend does not like traveling, she introduced me a very useful travel App when I had a headache to find one."? Or should I say "Even though my friend did not like traveling, she introduced me a very useful travel App when I had a headache to find one."
Background：my friend always does not like traveling, but last time she introduced a travel App to me.
How to express this meaning as a native English speaker?


texts:
I am familiar with the British as well as American pronunciation of the word or.
British people pronounce the r sound very lightly, whereas Americans tend to roll their tongue.
But interacting with fellow Indian people, when I try to pronounce it either way I sound utterly weird.
How should I pronounce it in Indian English?


texts:
I was wondering if it would be possible to say: "I have been wanting to go to iceland now for more than 10 years!". given the fact that 'want' is a stative verb it is not common to use a progressive tense, but in this context I figured it might be plausible to put emphasis on the duration. Is this correct?

thanks!


texts:
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say
  that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. (Harry
  Potter)

Why is ‘thank you very much’? jotted down? Is it a kind of greetings when you start speaking or writing? Or does it just have the causality with the previous mention?


texts: How to correct: The new dress is becoming with you

texts:
I'm supposed to correct the following sentence:
 "The new dress is becoming with you."

The answer suggests: "The new dress is becoming to you."

I'm not sure if this is the correct usage. I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster dictionary and found that "becoming on" could be used.

Is that answer in the book correct?


texts:
So, if we want to say that something is capable of being unwrapped, we could say, that it's unwrappable.

How do we say with one word that something is not capable of being unwrapped? Ununwrappable doesn't yield many search results.


texts:
"Do you happen to know is if she has a boyfriend?"

What does the above sentence means . I heard those line in the movie 'the social network' and I would like to know when do we use this phrase "happen to know" .


texts: "High up in the trees" vs "high up the trees"

texts:
"There was an eagle high up in the trees."

"There was an eagle high up the trees."

I am wondering if both means the same thing and we can omit "in". In my opinion, we can, but I am not so sure you can do that. Also, I am not sure both have the same meaning. I am thinking I might be wrong.


texts:
What does ''formal" mean in "formal park" phrase? Here is an excerpt:

  Now to the Bicentennial Park itself. It has two areas, a nature reserve and a formal park with man-made features and gardens.


texts:
“...to destroy the windmill, the building of which had aroused furious
  jealousy in him”

Regarding the above quote from Animal Farm, I'm confused about the use of the preposition "of" and relative pronoun "which". Please explain the above sentence in the grammatical context. Following are the structure which make sense to me.

  "...to destroy the windmill, the building which had aroused furious
  jealousy in him"

or

  "...to destroy the windmill, the building of which he had been
  furiously jealous."

or

  ".. to destroy the windmill, the building which he had been furiously
  jealous of."


texts: What do you call someone who is a member of the Orthodox Church?

texts:
The people who are connected to the Catholic Church are called Catholics. The ones who are connected to the Protestant Church are called Protestants.
What about the people who are connected to the Orthodox Church? What do you call them in English?


texts:
Which of these sentences are correct:

  We need to write this data to a file.
  We need to write this data in a file.
  We need to write this data into a file.

Are there any other options?


texts:
Consider:

  If only it could snow in the town, my city would look amazing!

First, I would like to know is it "If only" or "only if"? which is more idiomatic? What about:

  only it could snow in the town, my city ...

As another example:

  only if I had that car, I would be in Hawaii now

  if only I had that car, ....

Second I would like to know do I need "the" before "town"? because I've seen there is no "the" in phrases like "in town", is it a universal rule for any case?


texts:
I've come across it in the first episode of the fifth season of the Walking Dead. The cotext is Rick and his friends try to get to his other friends locked in a car train in place overrun by zombies.

Rick: If we run, we can get by them. They are distrated.


texts: Does "somebody of my caliber" mean the speaker themselves?

texts:
I was watching a game video on Youtube, and I was not sure the meaning "somebody of my caliber" when Loretta blamed Jonathan for his rudeness.
Here are the quotes.

  (a mysterious vampire woman appears in front of them)

  Charlotte: I knew I smelled something. Seems like some maggots got
  inside.

  Jonathan: !! A vampire!

  Loretta: My, My, such attitude... You dare disrespect somebody of
  my caliber?

  Loretta: I am a LADY. Lady Loretta. As you said, your battle just
  now may have weakened us a bit... However, I do have some
  tragic news for you. This wasn't the only one of my father's
  paintings.

I have looked it up into some online dictionary webs but there are no example sentences for "somebody of my caliber".

Since Loretta said that to Jonathan, I guess that "You dare disrespect somebody of
my caliber" is an insinuation, which means "You dare disrespect me"
Please correct me if I am wrong.


texts:
Q1 :
Nothing would prevent him speaking out against injustice.

I guess that "speaking out against injustice" is a gerund phrase as an object complement. Am right?

Q2:
Last night I saw him riding his bike on the street, when I was walking to home.

I guess that "riding his bike on the street" is a participle phrase as an adjective. Am I right?


texts:
Example.

How has she most effectively pressed her concerns about the rules of the institution?


texts: What is the meaning of "you weren't going for it"?

texts:
Devil took Elliot to hell and suddenly brought him back
to Earth.

  Elliot: you know, fire and the big, horny guy with...

  Devil: Oh, just a few special effects. Sort of the Universal Studios
  tour of evil. It normally works pretty well, but evidently you weren't
  going for it.

Is Devil saying Elliot didn't believed hell very well?


texts:
I did a search for there is no any on Google (books, Ngrams). So I think the wording there is no any is grammatical. But I can't see a difference, if any, between two phrases indicated in the title. Are they interchangeable? Is the any redundant here?

There is no any case study based on this.
There is no case study based on this


texts: Canadian English "one beer, two beer, three beer ..."

texts:
Is it true Canadian people say: "One beer, two beer, three beer..."?

(As opposed to "one beer, two beers, three beers...")


texts:
In general, unless you’re going for a formal tone, to wit bears replacement with one of the many alternatives, such as namely, specifically, in other words, more precisely, or to clarify. (source)

I am assuming the phrase "bear replacement with" is used here to mean "can be used interchangeably with", but it seems to be a non-idiomatic phrase. Does this phrase really exist? Google seems to suggest it doesn't.


texts: Using the pronoun 'we' when I'm not a part of it!

texts:
This has actually happened with me. I was confused and could not answer to my friend. The context was the traffic sense in India, which is worst! :)

In that context, I was describing to my friend that in India, there is only one rule that there is no rule. There is no need to obey traffic rules, signals and the list goes on. But, here is how I got confused. I'm an Indian but I do follow traffic rules. Now what should be the sentence?

  *Indians are the worst drivers..........blah blah blah..... and you know what, we can take turn from anywhere. Let it be from the middle of the road or highway."*

Or

  *Indians are the worst drivers..........blah blah blah..... and you know what, they can take turn from anywhere. Let it be from the middle of the road or highway."*

I used we because I'm talking about Indians that includes me and I used they because I'm talking about Indians but here, I'm not included! :)

The second sentence with they seems proper if two non-Indians are talking about Indians. Being an Indian, if I speak that, it looks somewhat off to me.

How does a native speaker say this?


texts: What's the meaning of "lay out" in this context?

texts:
I came across the phrase in this passage of an article on The Hollywood Walk of Fame:

  Having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is a huge honor. Specific requirements are laid out for those actors, musicians, directors, producers and others who earn a spot on the walk.

This is the definition of lay out from OALD :

  3 to present a plan, an argument, etc. clearly and carefully

But what does present mean in this definition? Does it mean: to show or offer something for other people to look at or consider? or to show or describe something/somebody in a particular way?


texts: What words or expression can I use instead of this when talking to a cashier

texts: Yesterday I had 2 dollars less. Now here it is. Here you are, take these two dollars.


texts: So, what does "cancel culture" exactly mean?

texts:
Thank you guys/ladies for the always support.
Reading this article, I camed to wonder, what does the "cancel culture" eactly mean?
Could anyone summarize simply? Does it mean the one's habitual "forgetting what the one said in the past"?
Thank you.


texts: There is an increase or There is an increased

texts:
I'm confused with rather using increased or increase

Example: There is an increase in population during the summer time.

or There is an increased in population during the summer time.

I know is + past particle forms passive voice but since an is between it, i am not sure if the rule still applies.

If both sentences are correct, what is the difference?


texts:
I am adding a label in my app, and it contains the text "Add puzzle" or "Solve puzzle". I was thinking also about "exercise", "challenge".

This game / puzzle / exercise is an easy game, like tic-tac-toe, you can play with different users, but before it starts, need to set up. I need a title for this setup phase.

Would you use the word "puzzle" in an online game or a different one?


texts:
I had to write a letter and I wrote the sentence:

  For not been able to come to your birthday

Is this sentence wrong?

Is this version right/better:

  For not being able to come to your birthday

English is not my native language. Thank you in advance


texts:
Look at the picture. There is a round blue seat that belongs to a sofa set. People can sit on the sofa while putting their legs on it for relaxation.

Sometimes, we can see them in the lounge of a bank or a cinema or in waiting rooms in general like in this picture

Note: It may or may not have legs, it it does, then the legs should be very short.

What is the round seat that often belongs to a sofa set called?


texts: How to pronounce "ask yourself" /æsk jɔːrˈself/?

texts:
ok, now the phrase "ask yourself" is pronounced as /æsk jɔːrˈself/.

My question is that, do we link k & j together.

1st option, we could link k & j since j is a semivowel. So we could say /æs kj ɔːrˈself/.

2nd option, we could hold the k like a glottal stop since j is a consonant. So we could say /æs? jɔːrˈself/.

So, which one is the right way of saying  "ask yourself"?


texts: sorry if my English is not very good but I really need to know if this following sentence is correct : "He will be allowed to go to the cinema when he would have finished his homework". Or should I use "He will be allowed [...] when he will finish his homework"?


texts: Should I use "my workplace" or other words when I'm talking about commuting?

texts:
The sentence is: My workplace is not far away from my home.

should I use :

"workplace?"

work?

office? (actually, I don't have an office or a desk. I'm a worker(an electrician), my job is to repair something in a building, so I think "office" is not proper)

other words?


texts: The difference between "had better not/hadn't better" in questions?

texts:
Is there a difference between these two:

1 Hadn't you better marry him?
2 Had you better not marry him?

It seems to me that 1 means "I recommend marrying him" and 2 means "I advise against marrying him".
Do you see this difference or am I seeing it?


texts: What is the difference between "boasting" and "bragging" and how do you use them in everyday conversation?

texts: In our everyday conversation how we can use these two words "boast" and "brag" and which one of them is taken in a negative sense?.Need some examples to differentiate between these two.


texts:
Consider the following examples:

  And yet, for a word spoken with kindness, I would have resigned
  the peacock's feather in my cap as the merest of baubles.

-- Thomas De Quincey, Confessions Of An English Opium Eater And Suspiria De Profundis

  This is not right nor just: for surely a woman's affection

  Is not a thing to be asked for, and had for only the asking.

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Miles Standish

  Such is the order of things, and shady groves and cooling grots are
  abandoned for drawing rooms at ninety-six, and half-a-score sickly
  orange-trees tubbed on the top of a staircase.

-- Theodore Edward Hook, Humorous Works, Fashionable Parties

I'm not quite sure of what to make of the for in these sentences. Can I replace them with "instead of" without much change in meaning?

Please walk me through them one by one.


texts: Is “I’m not going to be able to.” a complete sentence?

texts: Can I say "I'm not going to be able to."? Is that a complete sentence? Or does it always have to follow with a verb?


texts:
You look like Mr Johnson himself.

Why is "oneself" used in this case?
What usage is this?
I would like a grammatical source.


texts: Understanding how to "prevent the mistaking of neutrinos for other phenomena"

texts:
Neutrinos, perhaps the most abundant subatomic particles (particles smaller than an atom), may be useful in foretelling the universe’s future. Physicists believe that colliding nuclei of hydrogen atoms in the Sun and other stars release neutrinos that emerge from the stars and stream into space. Although unsure about neutrinos’ specific proper ties, physicists reason that if neutrinos possess mass and are therefore susceptible to gravity, millions of years from now the countless neutrinos that have been streaming outward through space would over time cause the expanding universe to slow, stop, and begin collapsing inward.

  Neutrinos, however, are extremely difficult to detect and study. Their visible traces—infinitesimal flashes of light appearing when neutrinos collide with atomic nuclei—are virtually indistinguishable from those of other atmospheric phenomena such as the interaction of cosmic rays with atomic nuclei in Earth’s atmosphere. Physicists are therefore building underground neutrino detectors assuming that the screening capacity of Earth will prevent the mistaking of neutrinos for other phenomena.

I don't understand the last sentence.  I've got the problem of the neutrinos and I guess the physicists propose a solution to the problem at the last sentence, however what is the solution?  What do the detectors prevent? What "mistaking" do they talk about?


texts:
Consider this sentence:

  X is more similar to Y compared to Z

Which of these does this sentence mean?

X is more similar to Y and less similar to Z
The similarity of X to Y is more than the similarity of Z to Y

If it means the first interpretation, how can I say the sentence to mean the second interpretation?


texts: What does "didn't trust himself to speak" mean?

texts:
As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

What does "trust himself to speak" mean?


texts:
All jokes aside, Shirene Sadia from the series The Kuchursingh Family
  is an excellent comedic actress.

  Sadia, who plays old woman Janjhatia on the series, orhni and all,
  aired on Gayelle The Channel, is actually an energetic 22-year-old.

  The San Francique resident writes the script for the series and, for
  the last six years, she has even found the time to act in other
  productions.

  And talk about versatility: Sadia has acted as a prostitute, a vagrant
  and other characters, saying, “there are many moods to me.”

  Shirene Sadia in the character as Janjhatia stands between her two
  cast members at a family day.

  Sadia, who was amusing for the entire interview, described herself as
  effervescent.

  Currently pursuing a practitioner’s certificate in drama and theatre
  arts in education, Sadia said drama came naturally to her.

  “I don’t have to put out too much to be dramatic,” she said.

  “I always liked it (drama).”

  Sadia enjoys comedy, saying, “you have to make people laugh in these
  serious times.”

  Getting involved in varying aspects of the arts, Sadia entered and won
  Miss India T&T in 2005.

  “Yeah, yeah! Big thing,” she said with a laugh.

  In 2006, she was a finalist in the Best Village competition, copping
  the Best Talent award for a monologue titled Cultural Changes.

  She is also the lead actress for the Princess Town Theatre Workshop.

  As busy as she is, Sadia is convinced she will be involved in drama
  for a long time.Follow

  your

  dreams

  Sadia believes young people should follow their dreams and their
  passion. She said many young people follow a career their parents want
  them to,

  which may make them

  unhappy.

  — Source

This seems a quite formal interview but can the expression yeah, big thing be used ironically in some other situations to indicate the opposite?


texts: Past Simple and Past Perfect in "I would rather"

texts:
I'd rather he didn't hire this man.
I'd rather he had not hired this man.

A native speaker said both are correct. But the second one sounds like I have to put a verb in Simple Past in the end. Like in this situation:

I'd rather he had called me before he paid me a visit.


texts: "The cow" OR "a cow" OR "cows" in this context

texts:
Article before a common noun:

  The cow--- a particular cow.

  A cow--- any cow.

  Cows.---all of them.

But while reading an essay on cow, we usually get to see:

  The cow is a very useful domestic animal.

In my opinion I should be:

  Cows are very useful domestic animals.

And the title should be Cows instead of The cow.

Please help.

Thank you.


texts: Past Perfect vs Past Simple are they interchangeable in this sentence?

texts:
Well, I have a sentence that confuses me a little bit because I don't know which tense would be the best in this case.

Here's the sentence:

  When I woke up I realized that I had overslept. As it turned out my alarm didn't go off.

Or the same sentence but with the Past Perfect.

  When I woke up I realized that I had overslept. As it turned out my alarm hadn't gone off.

I know that we use the Past Perfect when we want to indicate that an event took place before another event in the past. But wouldn't that be correct to use Past Simple in this case? At least in conversation?


texts: Is there a noun/verb for the process of growing new leaves on a tree?

texts:
Deciduous trees shed their leaves (or defoliate) in the fall. What happens in the spring?

I'm looking for words like bloom/blossom, but these refer to flowers, right? Are there similar verb/noun referring to leaves?


texts: What does the "but" mean in this sentence?

texts:
What does this but mean in this sentence? I doesn't quite seem like it's contrasting anything here.

  The news was shocking, but most people realized that they knew little about what a tsunami was, and what caused one of nature's deadliest disaster.

Source: This is from an article that I've been using in class
What Causes a Tsunami; SEED (2007) The Earth - a living planet


texts:
Searching for "housing prices" on Google always gets "house prices" recommendation

Does it indicate I should use "house prices" when talking about that topic?

Ngram Viewer shows both are common.

Do they mean same thing?


texts: Learning the usage of present participle

texts:
I'd appreciate it if anybody helped me to learn the following topic.

In this case, will speaks to actually getting some writing done, whereas would implies thinking about it without actually starting.

This sentence has been recited from this link

I easily understand the meaning of this sentence. But I want to learn the usage of present participles indicated in bold words. Please instruct me the rules how they have been used in this sentence, so that I will be able to use present participles in the same way they have been used in the above stated sentence.


texts: Future perfect usage. Is the sentence correct?

texts:
When will you have collected enough money?

I am talking about the time in future when you have collected enough money...

I guess future perfect should be used here.


texts:
Let's consider this situation: There was a test last Monday and I cheated on that test, so I tell a friend:

If the teacher found out, they would fail me.

and I also wanna tell my friend that the teacher might imply that they've found out about it and given me a fail grade already by winking, so I say:

If the teacher winked at me, that would mean they had failed me
already.

does the last sentence express what I want to express?, if not, how do I express that in english?
Another example:

If the teacher winked at me, I would know that they had failed me already

would the sentence above be correct even if at the moment of speaking the teacher hasn't failed me yet?, or does the action (failed) have to be done by the moment of speaking in order for the sentence to be correct?.
I'm assuming that the sentences above describe things that could happen, even if not probable.


texts:
Can you please help me better explain the structure below to my student?

"Does beauty has standards?"

Isn't the rule that the second verb (have) goes in the infinitive form in questions with do/does?

She understands the agreement in the structure "Beauty has standards" and is trying to apply it in the question form.


texts: Meaning of the adjective "clear" in the context of "blips of energy"

texts:
It was in Crash Course Big History. It is at 3 minute and 16 second. Here is the context:

  When the universe was still very, very small at the quantum scale, tiny fluctuations were popping in and out of existence. These tiny blips of energy usually don't affect the physics of the larger world. But, during inflation, they suddenly were clear, when the universe became big, causing slight inequalities in matter and energy.

I cannot get how tiny blips can become clear, and what it means there. Could you please rephrase the  sentence for me?


texts: Look down upon can mean "considering someone or something lesser or inferior in some way", but can it also mean look down from a more elevated position? If not is there a phrasal verb for it?


texts: While some types of coral reefs are living/alive others are dead

texts:
In this quiz, I came across this sentence.

  While some types of coral reefs off the Hawaiian coastline are living others are dead.

But if it were me, I would use the word alive instead of living.

  While some types of coral reefs off the Hawaiian coastline are alive others are dead.

I would say the cat is alive!(after I saw a cat which seemed apparently dead but was not dead yet) rather than the cat is living!.

Is my usage correct? And what is the difference in meaning between those two sentence?


texts: How to use like when using 2 persons in a sentence?

texts:
Which of these is it:

  Robert and Mike like their presents.
  Robert and Mike likes their presents.


texts:
What's the difference between:

  I'm amazed that he could paint such a piece.

  I'm amazed that he can paint such a piece.

Context: A guy painted a painting and some people liked it and said the first sentence but I want to know what's the difference between could and can in these sentences.


texts:
I have a question for using two verbs "Provide" and "Deliver" to this sentence:

  Company provides electricity

or:

  Company delivers electricity

Which one is correct?


texts: Comparing "atom bomb" & "atomic bomb" with "atom explosion" & "atomic explosion"

texts:
Merriam Webster says that "atom" is a noun, not an adjective, albeit there is the entry "atom bomb" in which, I think, "atom" is used as an adjective.

Google Books has a lot of hits for "atom explosion". For example, in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists it is written:

  Then the aerial bomb, to strike by the thousands, followed by the atom explosion to reach the hundreds of thousands.

So, while in the name of that bulletin the scientists are "atomic", in an its quote the "explosion" is "atom".

When can we use "atom" in adjectival form? Are there differences in meaning between "atom explosion" and "atomic explosion"?
If "atom explosion" means "explosion of the atom", why aren't "fusion" or "fission" used, rather than "explosion"?


texts:
Could you make it this sentence sound more natural?

If I want to get more hot sauce at the chicken shop but it's free.

Do I just say

"Can I get a lot of hot sauce, please?"

or any better sentence?

Thank you for helping in advance.


texts: Difference between Indiscipline and Undiscipline?

texts:
What is the difference between the two words: Indiscipline and Undiscipline?

Is seems both are having the same meaning. Can you explain the difference between the two by using them in sentences.


texts: What do we call to the person who can write many words in a day?

texts:
While writing a blog, a question struck my mind:

  What do we call to the person who can write many words, say 3000-5000 words, in a day?

I tried to google the answer but failed. Is there any word in English for such a strong writer?


texts:
I found a sentence on an English grammar book. I am confused why an article is used before a plural.

  Each of the following sentences is preceded by a bare infinitive.


texts:
I want to compare the point of the following three sentences:

You will never finish this book.
You are never finishing this book.
You aren't going to finish this book.

My understanding:

Denote only opinion (assumption) of the speaker.
Denote serious intention of the speaker (speaker is preventing to finish the book).
The same as 2.

Am I right?


texts: The meaning of "Nuclear scientists are not themselves aware"

texts:
I am an ESL and preparing GRE exam. In one choice of a question of a reading comprehension passage, there is a sentence like

(A) Nuclear scientists are not themselves aware of all the facts surrounding the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction

I have difficulty understanding the meaning of nuclear scientist are not themselves


texts: Should I use "this" or "he" in the following sentence?

texts:
"Hey," he said pointing to my friend, "who is—hey, isn't this Scott 'Sheep' McJones?"
"Hey," he said pointing to my friend, "who is—hey, isn't he Scott 'Sheep' McJones?"

Not sure why I'm confused. Seems like very grammar, ha.


texts:
why is 'late' adjective in the below sentence ?
I didn't understand why. It is like a verb or adverb.

  I was late.or
  I was shocked.or
  Children get bored very quickly

I found those sentences from end of this website and in this site late mentioned as an adjective.


texts:
Just wondering what's more appropriate, after reading this conversation

It's "Hope it helps" correct? or better "Hope this helps"? Practically, is better to use it or this?

Or it may depend if we are in USA, UK or Australia?


texts:
Please explain me the meaning of red dissipated faces in

  The people of Bergamo have flocked together and watch them with amazement—and uneasiness. Red dissipated faces stand contrasted with these pale white ones; dull glances exhausted by debauchery are lowered before these piercing, flaming eyes; mocking blasphemers stand open-mouthed before these hymns.


texts:
Native worker or local worker, which one is correct? and if both are correct what do they mean each?
Thank you


texts: Word for someone who always thinks about his girlfriend

texts:
Is there a word for someone who always thinks about his girlfriend?

He does not let her go on Facebook, he only lets her do things that he wants, he always dotes on her, he does not like when she talks to other people.


texts: What is the difference between 'use' and 'apply'?

texts:
• Farmers_________chemical fertilizers and insecticides in their fields.

In the above sentence two words that comes to my mind one is 'Use' and the other is 'Apply' . Now my question is if I use anyone from these  two words  will be correct ?

And second question is what is the difference between 'use' and 'apply' if one of them is correct?
(Depends on first question)


texts: It is only that last year that I've... vs It has only been that last year that I've

texts:
Which is correct, and if both are correct, which one is better and what would be the difference in meaning?

  It is only that last year that I've been taking it seriously.

  It has only been that last year that I've been taking it seriously.

The meaning I want to convey: In previous year 2019, I started to take learning French seriously and I'm still taking it seriously during this year too, 2020.  However before 2019, I wasn't taking it seriously at all.

Update : That in that last year in both of my sentences is meant as an adjective (eg. This year/that year) not as a pronoun that has to be followed by a clause with at least one verb and one subject. And I intented to use that because for me 2019 is like a far away object that I'm pointing at from far away.


texts: What does flying means metaphorically in this sentence?

texts:
Flying in the face of convention, the writer George Sand shocked her
  contemporaries by taking lovers and by wearing men's clothes.

Literally flying means move through the air but in this sentence I understand that this is used metaphorically. Could anyone help me to understand what does flying means in this sentence.


texts: How to say about any food availability in a hotel

texts:
Let's suppose I am working in a restaurant and someone asks me about the food, whether we have that food and I don't know about it. So how I can ask my manager about it? I mostly say:

  Do we do this food?

but most of the time it's confusing for me whether it's right or not.


texts:
From an article in The Hindu:

  An Integrated Textile Park (ITP) being developed at Edlapadu on Guntur-Chennai National Highway is expected to give the much-needed fillip to textile industry in Andhra Pradesh.

I do not understand the structure of this sentence, specifically the "being" part. To my knowledge "being" should be used only for Present and Past Continuous. I've googled around, but nothing came up.


texts: how to understand the quasi-cleft sentence "it is ...to which....who"?

texts:
From "Qualified Homage to Thoreau" by Wallace Stegner:

It is Thoreau the moralizing enemy of the tradition to which he owes all his own authority who puts me off.

At first glance, it looks like a cleft sentence. But then I feel like there is something different, shouldn't it be "It is Thoreau who is the moralizing enemy of the tradition"?
On top of that, the two relative clause following just bewilders me: semantically, I don't understand "he owns all his own authority to the tradition; syntactically, I don't think the antecedent of relative pronoun "who" is "his own authority," though normally for restrictive relative clause the noun preceding the relative pronoun is antecedent.


texts: Is the word "stage" used correctly in this meaning?

texts:
They are at the stage in which they are.

I mean they are where they are, with things which they got. For example they don’t have a big house, they have average house and this is okay to have this average house. They have 30 millions dollars, they want 40 millions, but this doesn’t change the fact that they have 30 millions now. They are where they are.
My dictionary doesn't explain it.


texts: Construction of better sentence in comparative statements

texts:
Consider the following statement from a textbook

the undirected models also offer a different and often simpler
perspective on directed models, interms of both the independence
structure and the inference task.

I am interpreting it as

the undirected models also offer a different and often simpler
perspective about directed models, interms of both the independence
structure and the inference task.

and it is equivocal to me as

the undirected models also offer a different and often simpler
perspective compared to directed models, interms of both the independence
structure and the inference task.

Which one is a correct interpretation?
is there any better way to present the fact? I am undergoing confusion because of the reason that the statement looks like praising one model over the other rather than its contribution to the other.
Context: I am providing the total paragraph in which the sentence is present

The second common class of probabilistic graphical models is called a
Markov network or a Markov random field. The models are based on
undirected graphical models. These models are useful in modeling a
variety of phenomena where one cannot naturally ascribe a
directionality to the interaction between variables. Furthermore, the
undirected models also offer a different and often simpler perspective
on directed models, both in terms of the independence structure and
the inference task. Source


texts: Understanding word in the college is 1987

texts:
The Passage is from Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem. what is this line: "Word in the college is 1987 is going to be worse." means? Also, who is Maureen Pringle?

PROFESSOR: A DJ, eh?

GINGER: That’s right, mate.

PROFESSOR: How does that work?

GINGER: Basically, I spin sick beats. Bring the ruckus. Drop
the bomb on the people at the back ’cause the people at the
back don’t take no slack.

PROFESSOR: Fascinating. It’s Maureen, isn’t it?

GINGER: That’s right, mate. Maureen.

PROFESSOR: Maureen Pringle.

GINGER: Doctor Maureen Pringle. How do you do?

PROFESSOR: How are you finding the funding cuts over
there?

GINGER: I think it’s disgraceful. I don’t see how we’re going
to meet our quotas. It’s like a sausage factory.

PROFESSOR: Word in the college is 1987 is going to be
worse.

JOHNNY: I suggest you bring the ruckus.

GINGER: Just you try and stop me…

PROFESSOR: That’s the spirit, Maureen.


texts: a matter of style or a necessity to use past simple in this text

texts:
South London called Broadway Sound. Early on the morning of August 12th 1982 the band, comprising of Colin Swan, Geno Buckmaster, Brian Grover and their trusty roadie ‘Robbo’ assembled at the tiny studio to begin recording as many of their songs as they could get down on tape for the tiny budget they had scraped together. As most of the songs were already well rehearsed thanks to the band’s busy live schedule, the recording of the first nine songs on this disc were finished by mid afternoon without any problems.

I just would like to know why the writer did not use past perfect .We can reasonably think that the action was completed and there is a link of causality.It is because the songs had been well rehearsed that the recording did not last long. It is obvious.
I think that is because both actions were too close. One happened  just after the other within a little time and as the causality is obvious: no need for past perfect.
Or may be it is the expression "most of the songs" which implies that some of them needed to be rehearsed a little more so the action was not completed (in fact after thinking of it I think this is the reason for past simple)
Source: THE BROADWAY RECORDING SESSIONS A PIECE OF MOD HISTORY


texts: Meaning in context of "to fold something together"

texts:
“Add the option -f to fold upper and lower case together, so that case
  distinctions are not made during sorting; for example, a and A compare
  equal.”

  Excerpt From: Brian W. Kernighan. “The C Programming Language, Second
  Edition.

I am not sure what this means exactly. I was thinking about two options:

convert all uppercase to lowercase letters or vice versa
keep the cases as they are and merely treat them as equal

Does the expression to fold something together  in this case have a specific meaning? Or am I free to choose an interpretation?


texts:
He could not bring himself to avoid answering the teacher's question.

Is this a S+V+O+C sentence pattern?

Subject: He
Verb: bring
object: himself
Complement: to avoid

what does "answering the teacher's question" represent?

I am not sure, but my guess is TWO Os or TWO Cs
the gerund "answering" is the object of the verb "avoid"
or is it the complement of the verb "avoid"?

and "the teacher's question" is the object of the gerund "answering"
or is it the complement of the gerund "answering"?

If either of the above is correct,
Then, does it make it " S+V+O+C+O+O", or " S+V+O+C+C+C"
or the Two Os and Two Cs simply belongs to the Complement "to avoid",
so the sentence still follows the S+V+O+C structure?


texts:
This is a quote from a book:

  Leibniz was both philosopher and mathematician.

To me it should be "both a philosopher and (a) mathematician." Is the article a optionall after both? Does both includes a?


texts:
"If truth be told, the Hand had not seemed quite himself for some
  times," Pycelle said.

I encountered this sentence from the Game of Throne. I have looked up the dictionaries and googled, but I cannot find the meaning of seem oneself. Does this whole sentence mean that what others said about the death of the Hand is not consistent with the characteristic of the Hand?

This whole  paragraph is

  "If truth be told, the Hand had not seemed quite himself for some
  times," Pycelle said. "We had sat together on council many a year, he
  and I, and the signs were there to read, but I put them down to the
  great burdens he had borne so faithfully for so long. Those broad
  shoulders were weighed down by all the cares of the realm, and more
  besides. His son was ever sickly, and his lady wife so anxious that
  she would scarcely let the boy out of here sight. It was enough to
  weary even a strong man, and the Lord Jon was not young. Small wonder
  if he seemed melancholy and tired. Or so I thought at the time. Yet
  now I am less certain." He gave a ponderous shake of his head.


texts: Any tool that can denote the place of stress on words?

texts:
Is there any tool that can add the location of words' stress to an English passage? So I can learn and practice word stress in sentences?

I mean for example you type (or paste) "New year firework was fabulous." and the app should return "The new year 'firework was 'fabulous.".


texts:
"Have I already seen you, or that was a dream?"

or

"Have I already seen you, or was that a dream?"  ?

Or does it depend on nuancnes  of meaning?


texts:
James Cameron was/is the director of Titanic? (Which should I use, was/is?)
  Leonardo plays/played the role of a Basketball player in that movie. (plays/played?)

For telling the story of a movie, always Present Tense is used. So for describing about the cast and crew, would Present be used or past?


texts: What do "be driven" & "be strong" mean in this text?

texts:
I absolutely love to travel whether it be domestic or international!  I have traveled all over the world for work and pleasure (Europe, UAE, Russia, Africa, Canada) but I still have quite a few places on my bucket list to visit!  I love wine almost as much as I love to travel :).  My friends and my mother mean the world to me! I would do anything for them and vice versa. I am a type A personality and can be high strung at times! I want someone who works hard and is driven but who knows how to balance their work and social/family life. I am not your typical girl. I do not date just to date and I do not go out on dates for a free meal. Pay attention to my preferences!

She says high strung at time and then she says she liked someone who is driven . Are all these idiom? Be driven and be strung?


texts: What does "as such" mean in this sentence?

texts:
These are used on medical devices to ensure secure leak-free
  connections and as such require rigorous testing.

I looked up a dictionary, and the meaning was:

  as being what is indicated or suggested (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/as-such)

Then does it mean "These are used on (...) connections, and that's why these require rigorous testing"?


texts:
Helen kicked Annie in the face.
  Helen kicked Annie's face.

Do these sentences have the same meaning?
If not, please explain it to me.
I think no. 1 is not as exact as no. 2.


texts: He said that he was not feeling well, so I suggested him {to see a doctor/that he should see a doctor}

texts:
How should the sentence end?

He said that he was not feeling well, so I suggested him to see a doctor.
He said that he was not feeling well, so I suggested him that he should see a doctor.

Are both correct usage? If so, then which one is better?


texts:
Do these two sentences mean the same?

  Knowing that I hurt you is breaking my heart.

And

  If I know I hurt you, it is breaking my heart.


texts: Up to what level the adverbs 'firstly', 'secondly', 'thirdly' and so on is acceptable?

texts:
This question is different from the one that's already asked here. I'm asking about the levels here.

About research: Trust me...the Internet gave me up to nineteenthly and to be frank, I then stopped searching for it. Let experts here put a bee in bonnet!


texts:
Jacob's long absence intensified his certainty that he should marry Rose.

I think there is an ambiguity. For my opinion the expression "his certainty" spoiling the logic. If I'm wrong could you clarify the meaning.


texts:
I was watching a video on youtube about conditional sentences but I'm a bit confused when it says;

First conditional sentence;

If mother knows, we're in serious trouble.

How is it a first conditional sentence when there is no modal verb (will) in another part of it?

I think of it as a zero conditional.


texts:
The man (who is) angry is my father.

I was taught that I cannot reduce "who is" in the sentence.
But, I don't understand why it does not make sense without "who is".
To me, "The man angry is my father." looks fine enough to get it what the sentence means without any problems.
I want to know a cogent reason why it does not make sense.


texts: Using the verb "write" instead of "denote"

texts:
Mathematicians often use the phrase "Denote the object X by the symbol Y". For example, I usually denote the set of numbers 1,2,3,4... by the boldface letter N. However a friend of mine uses a different phrase I have never seen before: "Let us write N for the set of numbers 1,2,3,4...". Is this a correct usage of the verb "write"?

NOTE: The "let us" is also awkward, but it is standard mathspeak and hence I consider it allowed on the basis of common usage. This is not the case for "write X for Y", which I have never read elsewhere.


texts: "Oh, I am not a TV reporter" - why not "I am not the TV reporter" or "I am not TV reporter"?

texts:
Why here they said "a" TV reporter" not "the" or even zero " TV reporter",
Then she replied "a radio reporter"

Please help me understand these sentences.


texts:
Actress Meryl Streep tweeted the folloiwng:

"This was me on my way home from an audition for King Kong where I was told I was too “ugly” for the part. This was a pivotal moment for me. This one rogue opinion could derail my dreams of becoming an actress or force me to pull myself up by the boot straps and believe in myself."

I looked up the dictionary and find "rogue" is usually used as an adjective to describe a person, either as:

a man or boy who behaves badly, but who you like in spite of this - often used humorously; or
a man who is dishonest and has a bad character

How should I make sense of "rogue" when it is used to describe an opinion? It appears to me a very unusual usage here.


texts:
What is the difference between

There got to be something wrong with him.

There's got to be something wrong with him.

I don't understand the function of 's.


texts: Idiom for "this made me step into a new world"

texts:
Let's say someone sent me a link to an article that discussed a certain topic and I liked that topic so much I couldn't get enough of it and I just kept reading one article after another until I was hooked.
That link, for example, was also the reason I bumped into other interesting things that I might have never seen if it wasn't for it.
Is there an idiom for this, similar to:
"This made me step into a new world"?


texts:
It's actually a religious or cultural question but still I don't know what it is so I decided to post it here. I searched it online including on Wikipedia but I couldn't find a straight answer to it probably because I'm not really familiar with Christianity. In Family Guy, the grandpa as the answer to the question, "where's grandma?" says, "she's on her prayer mission in Las Vegas."

Is it something all people can do? And what do they do exactly on this mission?

Thanks


texts: Why is the word "develop" used in the sentence that describes the word "anemia"?

texts:
When she first developed anemia, she became tired often.

It is an example sentence for the word "anemia".
But I don't understand well why "develop" is used in the sentence that describes the word "anemia".
What's the difference between using "develop" and using "get / catch / be taken with[of]"?


texts: Can we use the expression "trash somebody" to mean "to ruin somebody"?

texts:
I know that we can use the expression "trash somebody" to mean "to criticize somebody severely" in American English. My question is, can we also use the same phrase to mean "to ruin somebody"? I am asking this because I know that "trash something" means "to ruin something" like in this example sentence in the Macmillan Dictionary: "The previous tenants completely trashed the flat." So I wonder if we can use "trash" with the same meaning when we talk about ruining a person too whether mentally or physically.
Some examples  just for you to understand what I mean better:

Let's say somebody thinks there are injustices against males in his country, can they say, "Men are trashed in my country", to mean "Men are ruined in my country"?
Let's say somebody had bad classmates and he was bullied in high school. Can he say, "I got trashed by my class/classmates in high school" to mean "I got ruined by class/classmates in high school"?
Let's say Mike Tyson physically ruined his opponent, can we say, "Mike Tyson trashed his opponent in his last match."


texts: I want to know which sentence is correct

texts:
The children were given these books by the city.

I want to change this sentence.

  To the children were given the books by the city.

OR

  To the children the books were given by the city.

Which is correct?


texts:
all. Is it natural to use past tense "asked" after "so we were talking…" or should I use "ask" instead?

I met with three of my best friends earlier today. We meet once a month to chat. As girls do. So we were talking and I asked one of my friends this question about her boyfriend...


texts: Which is the correct question ("Who has" vs "Who have")?

texts:
The situation is that:

We've already read three English novels.

Which is the correct question for that situation?

Who has already read three English novels?

Who have already read three English novels?

Or could both be correct?
Please also provide the grammatical reasons for your answers.


texts:
I saw some thinktanks use the word "analytica"  as one of the words of their name.

For example, Oxford Analytica. But I can not find the word "analytica" in my English dictionary. Is "analytica" a real word? what is the meaning?


texts: "IS" or " IS THAT" would be grammatically correct?

texts:
I came across a sentence when I read the summary of the book RICH DAD'S GUIDE TO BECOMING RICH written by a native speaker. There is a sentence in his summary, which goes like this:

  The problem with your grade is, you are the person who can fix it.

But in the book, the sentence structure is like this:

  The problem with your financial problems is that only one person can
  fix those problems, and that person is you.

I can understand the first sentence, but I'm not sure whether it's correct or not. From what I was taught in China, 'you are the person who can fix it' is a predicative clause, so there should be used a pronoun that , but  sometimes that could be omitted. What confused me is that the usage of the comma here, why it was here? Or this is a kind of informal usage?

PS: I've checked Corpus of Contemporary American English, and found that there are 40 records of "the problem is, ......." structure. It seems that this type of usage is acceptable, but what's the rule of it?


texts: Understanding of a particular type of 'if... will'

texts:
The following is taken from PEU1 260.2:

  'If it is true now that...'

  We use will with if when we are saying ‘if it is true now that.  .  or ‘if we know  now that..

    If Ann won’t be here on Thursday,  we'd better cancel the meeting.

    If prices will really come down in a few months, I'm not going to buy one now.

But I don't quite understand how these two examples are different from the following:

    If Ann isn't here on Thursday,  we'd better cancel the meeting.

    If prices really come down in a few months, I'm not going to buy one now.

Any semantic difference implied?

And I think the first example in PEU could also be interpreted as "if Ann refuses to come here on Thursday, we'd better cancel the meeting". I think it's ambiguous. What do you think of it?

1. PEU = Michael Swan's, Practical English Usage.


texts:
"Annoy:" means:

  To make someone slightly angry or upset:

I know you’re doing this only to annoy me.

"Irritate:" means:

  to make someone angry or annoyed:

After a while her behaviour really began to irritate me.

"Bother:" means:

  to annoy or cause problems for someone:

The noise was beginning to bother us, so we left.

To me, when someone gets: "annoyed" or "irritated" or "bothered", an unpleasant stimulant has distracted his/her tranquility, comfort or peace of mind.

The only distinguishing factor that comes to mind is that **"irritate" sounds a bit more formal than the other two for everyday speech and people tend to use it mostly in written English as an alternative for "annoy" and "bother".

All that said, I wonder if you could help me to know what word is more appropriate in each one of the sentences below.

Also please let me know why do you think that way, so that I could find out how do they sound to you.

  He is a very kind and considerate man, but I don't know why he treated us like that at the party! His behavior really ................ me.

a. annoyed
b. irritated
c. bothered

  Excuse me sir. Does my cigarette's smoke ............... you?

a. annoy
b. irritate
c. bother

  It's too hot in the train! I know that it's windy outside, but would it ............... you if I open the window for a couple of minutes? [Said a man to his roommate]

a. annoy
b. irritate
c. bother

Note: for me all three choices mean pretty much the same thing in all scenarios above and can be used interchangeably.


texts: How do breadth and width differ in this sentence?

texts:
The sun was just above the western sky-line, and the evening was a particularly bright and clear one, so that the whole extent of the plateau was visible beneath me. — It was, as seen from this height, of an oval contour, with a breadth of about thirty miles and a width of twenty. — Its general shape was that of a shallow funnel, all the sides sloping down to a considerable lake in the center.

Source:
The Lost World


texts:
When we look for somebody and cannot find him, what reply would be appropriate?

  He is not to be seen here
  I can't seen him here.

If anybody ask for this person, what should we say?


texts: The meaning of "as though we were boarding"

texts:
The wind was taking off in gusts, and the rain was putting down the
  swells. I made out a patch of beach that looked less like death than
  the rest of the arena, and I decided to drive in on a gust under the
  spitfire-sprit-- and, if she answered her helm before she died on us,
  to humour her a shade to starboard, where the water looked better. I
  stayed the foremast; set the spritsail fore and aft, as though we
  were boarding; told Sulinor to have the rudders down directly he cut
  the cables; waited till a gust came; squared away the sprit, and
  drove.'

This is from "The Manner of Men" by Kipling.
https://www.telelib.com/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/prose/LimitsRenewals/mannermen.html

I can't understand the meaning of this phrase:

  as though we were boarding


texts: Why is quayside pronounced as "keyside" or kēsīd?

texts:
I was listening to the song of Dire Straits, Down To The Waterline.
It says:

  Sweet surrender on the quayside.

Before I saw the lyrics I heard it even as "queenside", then I realized it said "keyside" (I know it isn't a word but it heard like that) and then when I found the lyrics I saw the word quayside.

Which rule is applied in the pronunciation of this word?


texts:
I am wondering what the difference between unlimited free admission and unlimited admission in the following. Suppose the pass allows a person to visit an amusement park.

The Happy Pass, which costs $120, offers unlimited (free) admission for 12 months.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
Let's say a girl bought a pair of new beautiful shoes.

What usually would say friend or anyone who sees/informed about this new purchase?

I mean something similar with "Congratulations for buying a new house" or similar.

How teenagers would congrats their friend with a new purchase?

Thanks.


texts:
Has it got anything to do with this?
Has it got something to do with this?
Has it something to do with this?
Has it anything to do with this?

I am not sure which is correct and natural in English. The immediate context is:

  You look tired, has it got anything to do with air pollution?


texts: Meaning and grammatical structure of "We are having it looked into"

texts:
Recently I came across this sentence:

  We are having it looked into.

Is it equivalent to "We are looking it" or "We have looked into it"? Kindly help me understand the grammar structure of it.


texts: I'm trying to better understand the use of for

texts: What is the difference between 2 sentences. 1-)if it was not for the help of local people 2-) )if it was not the help of local people But whatever their grumble if it was not for the help of local people even more of the settlers would have died.


texts:
I am looking for a pair of antonymous words with meaning similar to poor-rich, but slightly different:

Word A (the synonym of poor) should mean "a person who has exactly enough for surviving, but not more".
Word B (the synonym of rich) should mean "a person who has more than enough for surviving".

Also, the words A and B should be a matching pair.

Looking at thethesaurus.com, I found the word "meager" which looks like a good candidate for word A. However, I am not sure what its counterpart should be for word B.


texts:
"I cannot explain how excruciating it feels to be riding 40km through the desert. You'd expect organizers and the UCI to have some knowledge about cycling."Dutch cyclist Roxane Knetemann said.

Please look at the sentence in bold.
Is there a reduced clause?
What is the original clause?
I don't understand why is there a be.

This is no time when you should be fooling around.
The sentence above also has a be, why is that?
I can't find an explanation anywhere in my grammar book.
Thank you!


texts:
port :  a place where ships may ride secure from storms - Definition of port by Merriam-Webster.

I have two questions.

What's the meaning of "ride" and "secure" in this sentence?
"secure" is used as verb or adjective. Then in this sentence, form of "ride secure" is [verb] + [adjective/verb]. Isn't it wrong in grammar?


texts: still with a continuous tense, is it possible

texts:
However the covid is spreading fast , I still receive parcels from all over the world
However the covid is spreading fast , I am still receiving  parcels from all over the world

I don't know which one to choose  may be the first one because nothing has changed for me the covid has not affected  the fact of receiving parcels .Am I right?


texts: "mix someone up for good" : Confirmation please

texts:
I happened to be a Glee addict and finally fell upon a girl's song.

0:48～　She is singing "You mix me up for good right from the very start".

And I googled the phrase mix someone up and I understood to some extent,
but when she sings "mix me up for good", I got a bit confused.

Would that mean, "a boy" get her confused and excited ( inferring "love" ) "right from the start"? Is my understanding correct?


texts: Present Perfect Continuous or Present Continuous

texts:
My teacher is going to tell me the results of my last exam. And I want to use a verb "wait."

Should I tell:

I am waiting for the results.

or

I have been waiting for the results.

What I want to emphasize is that I have passed already one test and (wait) for the last results.


texts:
I understand "by taking on fluid from the air" as "by absorbing fluid from the air." Am I on the right track?
"Take on" in dictionaries seem to mean "undertake" here. I am not sure.

SARS-CoV-2 may have a rough time when frozen food is transported. During air travel, temperatures drop to between -20°C and -30°C in cargo holds when planes are airborne, rising to a much higher temperature when they land. By ship, Tang says the virus could suffer from the “salty air issue”, where salt levels in the air can affect the number of viruses. Changes in humidity on frozen food’s journey may also negatively affect SARS-CoV-2, as the lipid membrane can be disrupted by taking on fluid from the air.

Source: New Scientist


texts: What does this "would have been" part imply?

texts:
"In the eyes of the North Koreans, he would have literally been a spy engaging in some kind of espionage activity ... I wouldn't go there (if I were him)," Kim Hyeon, 86, told Reuters. "Our members were working, fighting and engaging in espionage alongside Newman because he was an adviser."Source

What does the "would have been" part imply here?


texts:
I am looking for a word (or phrase), which is as short as possible (restriction is 12 letters) and has the meaning of

  oral presentation (well, including the use of a beamer and visual presentation), given at an academic conference

"oral presentation" is too long, "talk" is quite short (But is this appropriate?), and "lecture" feels too formal. Just "presentation" does not work because this could also mean "poster presentation".

What is the usual term/word/phrase for this?


texts:
I've checked different bread names: breadsticks, flatbread, oats, pita.. but none of them seems to fit.

These are usually very healthy - fat-free / lowfat, related to different diet recommendations.


texts:
example1:  “He is wiser that I”
 example2: “He is wiser than me”. I know example1 is correct and example2 is grammatically wrong. But please check the below conditions

  Sentence1:  “I found her smarter than him”

  Sentence2: “I found her smarter than he”

I found that sentence1 is correct, but not sentence2, unlike above examples which are of same model. which sentence is correct? What is the difference between the meaning of these two sentences?


texts:
I'd be left with the distinct impression

  would be left

is it past or present?


texts: Can "Due to" and "because of" appear in the same sentence as in this example?

texts:
See this sentence:

  sentence disambiguation is to clarify the sentence due to
  misunderstanding word or sentences because of English problem

It can be explained by a series of sentence:

The learner has English problem;
The learner could misunderstand the sentences because of his English problem;
Sentence disambiguation is to clarify the sentence so that the learner with English problem could understand it.

Can all 3 bellowed sentences combined into 1 single sentence.

I feel it a bit awkward.


texts:
What do you call a person who criticizes his own self? Is there a specific word for him?
take example of the following self-criticism:

  "There's no room for demons when you're self-possessed." (Source)


texts: Have you been riding your bike? Focus on activity?

texts:
What have you been doing during lock down?  Have you been riding your bike or going for walks?
Does this mean someone has ridden their bike multiple times or not necessarily? Or is the present perfect continuous used because the answer echoes the question and it just focusses on the activity of bike riding? I understand "going for walks" means multiple walks.


texts:
What is the best way to predict something? For example, yesterday I tried a new social network called NextDoor and I think it will be great. It is correct to say:

  I think that NextDoor will be great.

  I guess that NextDoor will be the next Facebook.

Is is correct or it is a better way to express a prediction?


texts: What does "eventually" mean in this sentence?

texts:
Looking at a Wikipedia article describing a telefilm, I noted the following sentence that describes an event happened in Season 1:

  They eventually find and reunite with their father, who reveals that the creature that killed their mother years earlier is the demon Azazel (aka "Yellow Eyes") and the only thing that can kill him is a legendary gun created by Samuel Colt.

I am used to sentences similar to the following one. (Suppose somebody asks me what my work plans are.)

  I want to get a job on the local newspaper and eventually work for "The Times."

I understand eventually as introducing an eventuality: It can happen that I will work for The Times, but it could also happen that I will not work for The Times. The previous sentence is different from "I want to work for The Times."

Probably I am influenced from how in Italian we use eventualmente, but I don't understand what eventually would mean in a sentence describing what happens in a telefilm season.


texts:
In the post "did a bit of googling" vs. "googled a few times", I gave two sentences first and then I asked

I guess both of them pretty much mean the same thing and the former sounds more colloquial.

Should I have asked it this way?

I guess they pretty much mean the same thing ...

Do they mean the same thing? Which one should I use?
Are there any other expressions more clear and natural could be used in this context?


texts:
Do you mind if I open the window? (OALD)

If I use do you mind my opening the window or do you mind me opening the window, are both plausible or not?


texts: can 'I have it uploaded' and I've uploaded it' be interchangeable?

texts:
Can I have it uploaded and I've uploaded it be interchangeable?

Is there any differences between them?

More question relating to I have it uploaded:

Is uploaded used as adjective?

When I'm writing on my own, this is so confusing.

Somebody can give me more examples to understand like I have it uploaded?


texts: Why don't we add an "s" on to these verbs?

texts:
Why we don't add an "s" on to the verb in these examples?

John, turn on the light.
Stig, eat your breakfast.
Maya, wait a minute, please.

I learned in school if the verb comes before "he", "she", or "it" we add an "s" on to the verb.
I am looking forward to the answer, and I appreciate your effort.


texts: Present perfect simple or past simple with "Over the last years"

texts: "I composed music over the last twelve years, but almost quit for many reasons. So now I just play songs on my guitar". Why doesn't the past tense sound correct with "over the last twelve years"? Is it correct ? I would use the present perfect without a second thought.


texts:
In the text I'm reading, a man is very nervous during a process because he's afraid that a witness might say something bad about him. But the witness doesn't say anything bad and he relaxes:

  "He hadn't even realized that his traps were in a vice until the witness got up to leave".

What does "his traps were in a vice" mean, exactly? I don't understand the meaning of traps here.


texts: What words best fit as substitution for “viable” and “sustain” in this context?

texts:
Hesse’s determination to distance himself from the world can be partly explained by his family background. He was born in 1877 in the Black Forest town of Calw into a Pietist family. A dissident current within Lutheranism, Pietists believed a righteous life must be lived independently of the world, including the established churches. A similar impulse of withdrawal shaped Hesse’s life and work. Suffering repeated episodes of acute depression, recurrently suicidal, scornful of world opinion and at the same time intensely protective of his reputation, Hesse struggled to renew a Pietistic life of the spirit at a time when the faith that had sustained his family was no longer viable. Diagnosed in his early years as being mentally ill, he entered a psychiatric institution for a time and struggled throughout his life to achieve some kind of inner equilibrium.

I checked Oxford thesaurus dictionary for writers to choose the best fit for translating the passage into another language. Still I have my doubts. I can possibly choose “undergo” or “experience.”. Then I would have to say the faith that was there in Hesse’s family was no longer viable. On the other hand I can choose “comfort” or “cheer up” , then I would have to say that the faith that had made their family happy and comfort was no longer viable.
I am not also sure what word best fit a substitution for “viable” . I can possibly say “impractical “ but if I want to translate and explain further the gist of that, then I think I need your help paraphrase the last part of passage please, since I do not know what a native speaker think when he or she reads this passage.