texts: I'm good at it - pseudo passive voice request

texts:
This question is derived from another one that has recently appeared in the Spanish Stack Site.

There, OP has translated a Spanish sentence into English and it's a good translation but it's not an accurate one.

The sentence in Spanish is: Se me da bien
It can be translated as: I'm good at it.

But in the original Spanish version "it" is the omitted subject, this has been "reversed" in the English version where the first person is the subject.
How can I express that in English, forcing the thing that I'm good at as the subject?

I can only come with that's my thing, a sentence that has already been discussed here but notice that this expression lacks an adjective or adverb, it doesn't explicitly states if I'm good nor if I always do something well or wrong [modus operandi, a behavioural pattern].

I'm looking for something like: [subject - it] [verb] [adjective - good] [first person pronoun - me?]


texts:
Is there any way that I can use in adjective + noun for the following meaning?
I want to talk about "the teacher that was a substitute" but this way seems to me long, unnatural and wordy.

Can I say for example "substitutable teacher" and the the meaning will still remain?

Context: Jack, a substitutable teacher, went on the street and then he noticed to strong voice behind him..."

Another example: "I saw the substitutable teacher last week"


texts:
I'm reading The Fermented Man by Derek Dillinger. The author has this one-year plan of eating only fermented food, such as yogurt and bread. As a result, his options become extremely limited. Then he says:

  ...this year, this diet, was not easy. I definitely hadn’t started it
  to prove any scientifically valid points about nutrition or health,
  and yet the deeper into the year I got, the more tangential health
  issues it raised. I fell down rabbit holes I could have never seen
  coming. I got stuck, often, on nutritional tangents. I hoped the
  way I was eating wouldn’t kill me, as this particular project would be
  a pretty stupid way to do myself in.

I'm confused about his use of "tangential" and "tangent" here. The dictionary says "tangent" is "a straight line or plane that touches a curve or curved surface at a point, but if extended does not cross it at that point". And "tangential" means "of or along a tangent".

The definitions just confuse me more. In this case, what is a nutritional tangent? Does "tangential" simply mean that the issues he's faced with are related to health? When he says he "got stuck on nutritional tangents", does this mean he doesn't have enough nutritions? Or that he worries about his nutritions? Those are just my wild guess. Can anybody explain what he means for me?


texts: Do we use the article "The" before a war?

texts:
I'm wondering if I have to use "the" before the name of a war or not.

Example:

"in the World War I" or "in World War I"

"in the World War II" or "in World War II"

"in the Civil War" or "in Civil War"


texts: What are the differences between the pronunciation of "bidet" in American and British English?

texts:
What are the differences between the pronunciation of bidet in American English, and British English?

The last part of the word sounds like the pronunciation of day, in both the cases. I don't understand the differences for the first part of the word.

Are there other words that have the same differences in the pronunciation?


texts:
I have heard people say: "I booked a room" when coming to the place they stay or "I have booked a room". "Have booked" seems to be more common though.

I don´t understand why. It should both work, shouldn´t it?

Also, when you say "I made a reservation." it seems that it is always used with the simple past.

The same is true of some verbs like "forgot" or "remember".

I forgot to buy some milk.
I have forgotten...

I remembered to call my friend up.
I have remembered...

It´s kind of confusing and again the problem is where to use the present perfect or not!?


texts:
(1) Andrew's words were persuasive.
  (2) Fats' words were fairly persuasive.

Sentence (1) is a preposition; in (2) adverb, fairly, is added. Whose words were more persuasive to the speaker, if the speaker the same one?
In this contrast, '(3) he is a liar,' and '(4) he must be a liar,' the former must be stronger, Applied to this, (1) could be more persuasive. But is that really so?


texts:
What's the correct way of expressing the action of opening a bridge?

  Do you think we can make it by the time of the opening of the bridge?

  Do you think we can make it by the time of bridge opening?

  Do you think we can make it by the time of the opening the bridge?

  Do you think we can make it by the time of the bridge opening?

or anything else?


texts:
This site says:

  4: We can also use the present simple for short actions that are
  happening now. The actions are so short that they are finished almost
  as soon as you've said the sentence. This is often used with sports
  commentary, or in demonstrations.

  He takes the ball, he runs down the wing, and he scores!

  First I put some butter in the pan and turn on the cooker.

Here is a scene in a movie.

A: We should end our relationship here

B: Fine

C-a friend of both A & B, has just passed by & says: Do you guys break up?

A, B & C are Americans

So, does the sentence Do you guys break up? fall into the above use of simple present tense (The actions are so short that they are finished almost
as soon as you've said the sentence)?

But I would say it is better if C says: Have you guys just broken up? to mention something that has just happened.

So, "Do you guys break up?" or "Have you guys just broken up?" Which one is better?


texts:
I want to know which question is correct and polite with an interviewer:

Would you please call me after sometimes?

Or

Can you please call me after somtime?


texts: Definite article "the" with comparative degree

texts:
I came across a sentence using definite article 'the' with comparative degree and an other sentence with out "the".

Can anyone explain when to use 'the' with comparative degree?

Here are the sentences:

Which one of the twins is the smarter?
Which of these two books did you enjoy more?


texts: Is it right to use "size-one" as an adjective?

texts:
When talking about an options menu (composed of menu items) of only one option, can I say "one size menu" or "one-sized menu"?

Otherwise, how can I precede the noun menu with an adjective that denotes this quality?


texts: Is 'Some I understood, some not.' an OK spoken response?

texts:
'How much did you understand the content of the new play?'
  'Some I understood, some not.'

In the short dialog above, Is this reply acceptable in talk?


texts: Is abated" or "has abated" or "has been abated

texts:
I read below line in News paper

"While the firing "has abated", tension remains high along a 200-km stretch of the border dividing the nuclear-armed rivals."

Question:
Is use of "Has abated" in above sentence is correct.?

Firing is Transitive verb. Firing can not stop sponteneously some one has to stop firing. Firing can not stop by its own.

As per my knowledge it should be

While the firing "is abated",.......
Means Status of firing is stoped now but still there is tension.

or

While the firing "has been abated",.......
Means Firing has been abated by police but still there is tension.


texts:
Cpl. Barrett Taylor, a village public safety officer in Nelson Lagoon,
  saw ash falling early Monday.

  "It was raining ash for a little bit," Taylor said. "It turned
  everything black, the rooftops, the fuel tanks, homes."

  The ash was worse Tuesday, he said, because wind coming in off the
  ocean was whipping it around.

Ash coats village areas near erupting Alaska volcano

Does this mean from the ocean?


texts:
Following are the two quotes which I received from Hike daily services.

  "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."  - Theodore
  Roosevelt

  "Each time I free a child, I feel it is something closer to God."
  - Kailash Satyarthi

What do they mean?


texts: A day before memorial day I overheard 2 girls talking. One girl was saying goodbye and said, "Happy holiday". Is this correct? Is it okay to say "happy holiday" because we're just speaking of one day?


texts: I have purchased a domain named with 'letallgo', because 'LETITGO' was not available. Now I want to know how does it different from 'letitgo'. Is it mean the same as 'letitgo'. I know it and all has lot difference. Is it worthy?


texts:
What is the difference between the following two sentences ?

  I wouldn't do it if I were in his position.
  I wouldn't do it if I were at his position.

Is the 2nd sentence correct? I'm confused with these uses. Does the first one mean "his situation" and the second one, "his status"?


texts: Divisible by a prime number 2, or by the prime number 2

texts:
I want to state that "the integer 4 is divisible by a/the prime number 2."

Which is correct a or the?

Since 2 is a specific number, so "the" may be ok. But if I want to use "a prime number" as adjective, maybe "a" is ok.

Also I would like to know whether "by prime 2" is correct or not.

Please give me some advice.


texts:
I found the following sentence:

  There is too much heating.

According to my dictionary, heating is an uncountable noun, so you cannot say heatings.

However, it is possible that you have more than one heating in your house. For example you have one in your room, and the other in your living room.

In this case, how can you express it? I think when you express two furniture, it should be two pieces of furniture, but how about the case of heating?


texts: Can "stile" mean another thing than steps over a fence?

texts:
Reading a story called Ancient Lights, and I am not sure if the meaning is the one mentioned in the title:

He had that instinct, and as a rule it served him well. “A mile or so
due west along the sandy road till you come to a stile on the right;
then across the fields. You’ll see the red house straight before you.”

As there is no mention of any fence or so, I am not sure if this cannot mean something else.


texts: Why the adjectives are always placed after the pronoun "something"?

texts:
Why are the adjectives always placed after the pronoun "something"? For example: "Something black", "Something else", "Something funny" ...
Also are there any other pronouns like this one?


texts: Is it correct to use the word "sideways" to mean "towards both sides"?

texts:
All dictionaries I checked say that “sideways” means “towards or from one side”, but I have the feeling that it can also refer to  “both sides”, for example.

  When I pressed the orange against the table it squirted juice sideways (both to the right and to the left)

or

  At my age I can only grow sideways (meaning that I grow fat towards both sides)

Is it correct to say so? If not, is there a better (single) word that can be used in the examples?


texts:
I know that this question sounds really bizarre.  This is a situation I once witnessed.

There's just one restroom. There are three girls there. Two girls are waiting their turn. One of them leaves and comes back after a little bit. She is informed by the third person who was present there:

  The girl who was waiting here has gone (to the restroom) now, so you'll have to wait.

Can "to the restroom" part be dropped, and just "she's gone now" be used?


texts: What is difference past simple and past perfect in this sentence?

texts:
I (non-native English speaker) have sometimes been confused about when to use past simple and when to use past perfect.

  President Donald Trump has vetoed a measure from Congress that revoked his declaration of a national emergency at the US-Mexico border.

  Lawmakers, including 12 Republicans, had passed the rejection resolution on Thursday in a surprising rebuke of Mr Trump’s signature issue.

Why does this news article use 'had passed(past perfect)' instead of 'passed(past simple)'?

If I use 'passed', what is the difference between two sentences? (expecially relating to 'on Thursday')

  Lawmakers passed the rejection resolution on Thursday.

  Lawmakers had passed the rejection resolution on Thursday.


texts: “Three eggs is plenty” Vs. “a number of boys were absent”?

texts:
I found these two sentences and I want an explanation for them to illustrate why they go like:

  A number of boys were absent.

Although the subject is singular, but the sentence is considered as plural?

  three eggs is plenty

And in this example, the writer used is instead of are.


texts: present perfect in place of past perfect

texts:
This is from a novel "Confess" by  Colleen Hoover:

I was too embarrassed to tell Owen I’ve never been to a bar before, but I’m pretty sure he could tell by my hesitation at the door.

What is the situation with "I’ve never been" here? Is present perfect  used because direct speech is sort of implied (I was too embarrassed to tell Owen "I’ve never been to a bar before") or is such usage just normal?


texts: Confused about omitting the relative pronoun and preposition

texts:
I sat there, lost and cold because I was betrayed by the person I didn’t expect to hurt me.

I think the actual sentence is:

  I sat there, lost and cold because I was betrayed by the person whom I didn’t expect to hurt me from.

So we see that the relative pronoun whom and the preposition from are ommited here.

How can we recognize this type of sentences? Is there any rule to omit the relative pronoun and the preposition in such a way?
I know about ommiting the relative pronouns. When the relative pronoun refers to the object of the verb then it can be done.
But above that one has confused me.


texts: Article usage in "Sally has a good knowledge of English Grammar"

texts:
Thank you for your assistance. Which of these is correct?

  Sally has good knowledge of English Grammar in business.
  Sally has a good knowledge of English Grammar in business.

  Sally has good knowledge of English.
  Sally has a good knowledge of English.

  Sally has good knowledge of English Grammar.
  Sally has a good knowledge of English Grammar.

Grammarly tells me all are correct.

Thank you so very much
Ken


texts:
Que1-When a subordinate clause employs the perfect participle (having+past participle) can we use present tenses in the main clause(know,  has been worrying)?

  1) Having lived there, he KNOWS its climate very well.
  2) Having broken his leg, he HAS BEEN WORRYING all night.

And Que2-
Can we write present perfect in place of perfect participle?

  1) Having broken his leg, he went home. = He HAS BROKEN his leg and he went home.

I've read through some websites about perfect participle but got further confused.Please could you clarify my doubt?


texts: Difference between "extendable" and "extensible"

texts:
Can anyone please help me to understand the difference between the 2 words?
I for one understand that the words have a similar meaning but when is it correct to use them? I use "extendable" for when it's about physical objects such as couch, a spyglass or the pipe that I have at my vacuum cleaner, things like that, that can be folded and unfolded.
What about "extensible" though? I rarely use the latter in conversation and writing and I want to clarify for some friends because to my understanding, does it refer to add parts to an object, in a way, expanding it? Is it a good synonym with expansion?
Thank you and I apologize if this was discussed before but I would like some good examples to know in what cases these words should be used.


texts: How do I understand a sentence without subject and verb in novels?

texts:
She was meant to stay indoors but everything looked varnished and bright after the rain, so she put her coat on and went outside, then came back in and slung the camera over her shoulder.
  Through the sopping grass and down towards the river. It was wide and brown today, and it rippled and churned. There were deep creases when it went round rocks and a hollow, clunking noise. It looked strong, like a muscle. When she threw in a stick, the stick didn't float on the surface – it got dragged under, as if something had reached up to grab it. She walked along the bank and there was the bridge she'd seen in some of the photos – it had rusty railings and a broken plank in the middle.

It's an excerpt from a novel 'Weathering'. And I've never really read any English novels so these kind of sentences are hard for me to understand..

Does this 'Through the sopping grass and down towards the river.' sentence just describe the background image? There aren't any verb or subject so I'm confused.

Also there are so many 'it's and I don't understand at all what it means.


texts: Is there a mistake in “Last month, I went to Singapore, where my sister is working.”?

texts:
I wrote:

  Last month, I went to Singapore, where my sister is working.

Person A said that that I made a mistake in using «is working»

but person B said that that I made a mistake in using «where» and I should have written:

  Last month, I went to Singapore, which my sister is working.


texts:
I have searched on the internet but I can't figure out if there is a specific term for a kind of door.
It's about doors that open downwards much like an oven, but I've seen this kind of door on a sideboard (like the one showed in the image). Likewise, I have seen pictures of cabinets with doors that open upwards.I looked up a bit and these kinds of doors have some special mechanism (or hinges) called lid stay?

I'm not too good when it comes to hardware stuff so I hope I explained well...I heard someone said "folding doors" but I'm not sure that is the correct them as well because folding doors are another kind. I know of swing doors, sliding doors, but the ones that I tried to explain I do not know what term they might have.


texts:
(1) The children were excited about opening their presents.
  (2) I'm really excited at the prospect of working abroad.
  (Both are from OALD)

The adjective, excited, has different complements, about and at complements. Can these be interchangeable, without nuance change?
Interestingly, OALD’s Korean version has slightly different interpretations because of the two propositions: (about -> 느라; at -> 에)
(1) The children were excited by going through the activity of opening their presents.(느라)
(2) I’m very excited is caused by the prospect of working abroad.(에)
What’s the difference between the two complemtns?


texts:
I'm developing a UI where college students can post their requests regarding some tips about clearing a game or an overdue assignment etc. Now, these requests are handled by their peers and can be filled by someone else.

Recently, some trolls tried to spam the database and I assigned users with special privileges to mark the requests as closed in case they are useless or a repetition of older one. But the word closed (or closure) is misleading as the newer students (AKA users) can think of it being the same as filling of the request.

I've written a detailed guide on the difference between closing and filling of a request but I was wondering if there might be some better word for the same?

P.S.: I'd prefer if the suggestion is a single word but a small phrase would work too as long as it will not leave any confusion for a new user.

EDIT

Following StoneyB's comment, I'm now using blocked instead of closed, but I'm a little sceptic. I still think that blocked is not the correct word to be used with respect to a request. I think something like voided or nullified would be more appropriate.


texts: "trick-of-the-loop man" = juggler/legerdemainist?

texts:
OneLook Dictionary search doesn't list a single dictionary that has an entry for trick of the loop, so I am still not sure if trick-of-the-loop man is a juggler/legerdemainist. Can it also mean imposter? Is this a Hiberno-English term? I had found it first in a collection of Irish short stories. Google gives me mainly Irish results, but only a handful.

This is the sentence where I had seen the term first:

  Father had begun taunting him of being nothing more than a
  trick-of-the-loop man and scarcely better than a tramp.

The story is The Illusionists by Brian Friel and was released in 1962. The person the father is talking about is actually some kind of illusionist.


texts:
Exemplary applications when using functional sliders that can be used in many ways

Is it correct? I've got problems mainly with the connection "application" and "when using".


texts: "The technologies related to the project"

texts:
Let's suppose we're talking about some project.

Do you have experience with the technologies related to the project?

Do we need "the" before "technologies"? The project has a limited set of concrete technologies that are used in this project, so it looks like we should use "the".


texts:
Can you explain to me how "being watched" in this case becomes a passive?

a lady spent four days being watched by a girl.


texts: What's the meaning of "into frame" in this context?

texts:
The following are comments made on this video link]:

Person A:

  Anyone know if the dude actually lost any digits? A fish that big looks like it could take off with your arm if it wanted to.

Person B:

  I don't see any spurting blood when his hand flashes back into frame so he's probably fine.

What does Person B meant when he says when his hand flashes back into frame?
I understand that flash here means to move very quickly according to OALD, but what about into frame? Does frame here talking about the body?


texts: What does the word 'dispropriate' mean in the following sentence?

texts:
The RSHT lawsuit highlights the dispropriate impact of abusive for-profit school practices on poor and minority students.
source:https://www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/reverse-redlining-discrimination-and-for-profit-education/#:~:text=Redlining%20is%20the%20practice%20of,protected%20classes%20for%20predatory%20lending.


texts:
Is the word "also" used correctly in the sentence "I also like to live dangerously"? I know it can be replaced by "too" at the end, but is it OK to use "also"?

The context is that I asked someone if he doesn't sleep at 3 AM, he replayed shortly with "yep" and then I said: "I also like to live dangerously".


texts:
There are two sentences with "thought of",

Oh, Paul, even the thought of you in all that danger, it was just too
much.

She’s the single most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and the thought
of touching her like this and not being able to see her ... — is
torture.

The first one doesn't contain "being" but the second does. Why?

... even the thought of you being in all that danger, ...

Does this sentence sound natural?


texts: "Going to + Present Simple" vs "Going to + Present Continuous"

texts:
I am interested in distinguishing the difference between two patterns (to speak about a future plans, intentions, predictions, or intent to do something):

Going to + Present Simple
Going to + Present Continuous

I know both patterns and use them, however, I am not anymore sure what the exact distinction is between them. However, I am aware that Going to + Present Continuous cannot be used to Issue Commands unlike Going to + Present Simple:

You are going to collect your right now! (Correct)
You are going to be collecting your toys right now! (Incorrect)

Other examples where I cannot distinguish the difference:

I am going to have a party next week.
I am going to be having a party next week.

We are going to carry out an experiment today.
We are going to be carrying out an experiment today.


texts: Is there a word or a phrasal verb that describes the action of covering your head for protection? I am not sure if this is warranted but "covering your head with both of your hands" is a mouthful, so I was wondering if it was possible to shorten it.


texts: Why objective case not use in the sentence?

texts:
Preposition usually follows objective case but here in the following sentence, it is not observed. Why? Is there any other reason behind it?

  I had just finished walking a half mile uphill from my home to his.


texts: Why is there not an article before the word "disease" in this context?

texts:
I read a book which states:

  "Inheritence, age, gender, infectious agents, or behaviours, can all cause disease."

Why is there not an article before "disease" in this case even though it's a countable noun?


texts: to be + to be / to have been + past participle

texts:
1.Sofia Coppola is only the third woman who is nominated for the best director.

  2.Sofia Coppola is only the third woman who was nominated for best director.

  3.Sofia Coppola is only the third woman to be nominated for best director.

  4.Sofia Coppola is only the third woman to have been nominated for best director.

  5.Sofia Coppola was only the third woman to have been nominated for best director.

Could you check what I get from the sentences please?

1.This sentence doesn't much make sense because as if she is always nominated every year for the best director.

2.This sentence sounds good and implies she was already nominated but it is not clear if she won and it seems like the award ceremony finished.

3.This sentence implies her name has not been announced yet.She will be nominated and as if the person who can say this sentence already know that and share this information with somebody else.

4.I think this sentence has the same meaning with sentence 2.

5.I am not sure.there are two intimation.the first one could be she was nominated but because of she is DEAD now the sentence begins with "she was the third woman..."  and all things happened in the past. AND the second meaning is that everybody was expected that she was going to be nominated but she was not and all things happened in the past.I am not sure which meaning connotes more.


texts: Writing formal letter (email) to big companies

texts:
I am from a non-English video game site (press) and I want to write a formal email to some of big video gaming companies (developers and publishers) and ask them for cooperation in press coverage.

How should I write them a formal email? How should I start my email? Which Phrases are good to show my purpose? Should I speak from myself (with I Pronoun) or from the entire team (with We Pronoun)? Is there any good Articles about writing formal letters to companies?

Thanks


texts:
I'm struggling to understand the following sentence:

  You may not collect user or device data without prior user consent, and then only to provide a service or function that is directly relevant to the use of the Application.

What exactly does it mean?
Does it mean:

  You may not collect data without user consent. If the user agrees to allow you to collect data, you can only collect data to provide a service or function that is directly relevant to the use of the Application.

Why can the phrase “and then only” be used in such a way?


texts: Can "launch" be used in the middle voice?

texts:
Usually it is used in the passive voice.

The project was launched yesterday.

But I remember coming across something like

The project launched yesterday.

Do you think that 2 is also correct?


texts:
"Few could have taken advantage of this one-day 'sale' price."
 What does 'could have' mean in this sentence?


texts: Euphemistic expression: required vs. requested

texts:
There are four candidates to complete the following sentence.

  While the questionnaire was voluntary, we were ______ to fill it out
  before leaving the plane.

  (1) required (2) ordered (3) requested (4) forced

I'm not sure which one makes sense.

The following is my reasoning:

  Even though the questionnaire was voluntary, someone begged us to fill
  the form out. In other words, we were not rigidly asked to do that,
  instead, somebody politely invited us to do that. So, I think the
  euphemistic expression is the better choice.

I think that (2) and (4) are the rude tones. Maybe (1) or (3) is acceptable.
What do you think and why?


texts:
Astronomers all over the world will be observing the eclipse.

This sentence is from "the Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary''. The fact I want to know is ''whether I can use ''all over the world'' with singular countable noun'', for example, ''There is no place all over the world where football is not played''.


texts: How do you pronounce Betelgeuse? (I'm afraid I don't get the joke)

texts:
Betelgeuse is a red giant (some say supergiant) star in the constellation Orion. You can easily spot it on a clear night: it's at a straight angle to Orion's Belt, and it's reddish (more so than Mars). It's pretty impressive. I recommend you find it and point it out to your friends. People really should look up at the sky now and then.

That said, I thought you were supposed to pronounce it as Beatle Jews.

Now it turns out there's this kitsch-y comedy from the Year of Our Lord's Grace 1988, titled "Beetlejuice," in which there's a character (a ghost, I think, I didn't see the whole movie) from Betelgeuse whose name is Beetle Juice. Either it's a tacky joke of some sort, or I'm missing something here. I'm not a movie buff.

What am I missing? What's the joke?


texts: Is the usage of discretion correct in following sentence?

texts:
The players can use their discretion in finishing the tasks.

Is this correct usage? Is the sentence correct grammatically?

Following is the definition, which I based my sentence

  Discretion - The freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation.


texts: Is this sentence a contradiction in terms?

texts:
The sentence is "The amendment has the effect of disqualifying the unqualified"
Is it accurate to call the amendment a contradiction in terms?


texts:
I did a test and it had a sentence

We make tours of haunted house. (we visit a haunted house - as i understood)

Is it correct? Other answer is "We make parts of haunted house" (We decorate our house as a haunted house)

EDIT
This is the passage:

  In many Western countries, people (19)_______ Halloween on October 31st. The word Halloween (20)________ from “All Hallows’ Eve”. It is the night before All Saints’ Day, a religious holiday in some parts of the world. On this night, children dress up in special costumes, put (21)________ masks, and go door to door saying “trick-or-treat” to get candy. Many people decorate their homes with paper ghosts, black cats or witches to give their houses a (22) _______ look. People also decorate their homes with jack-o-lanterns. They carve scary faces on pumpkins, and (23)_____ candles inside the pumpkins. In some places, both children and adults can make (24)______ of haunted houses. They all seem very excited about the festival.

  24.  A. parts     B. tours     C. turns     D. prizes


texts:
If someone is giving a cup of tea to me, can I rephrase it these ways:

I am being given a cup of tea by someone.
A cup of tea is being given to me by someone.

And if I owe someone some money, can I rephrase these ways:

Some money is owed to someone by me.
Someone is owed some money by me.

Thank you!


texts: How to say there's something wrong with someone's nature?

texts:
Please imagine a bad doer or ill-natured person who oftentimes commits bad actions toward the people around him. E.g. backbites, gossips, lies about others, etc.
He says something bad to you and you decide to bring it up to your close friend. You say:

  I think there is something wrong with his nature.

But there are barely any results on the internet for this phrase. In this link, one comment has the following:

  I think McGrath admitted that ultimately one believes in Christ for existential reasons. IOW, as he said, man realizes there is something wrong with his nature, he is not as good as he ought to be, and he yearns for something better and something more fulfilling...

Since there is only one example on the internet, I think it is not common in English to say it this way. What's a more natural way of saying this?


texts: Does the verb "unvelcro" exist or what can we use instead?

texts:
I know that the following word pairs exist:

button – unbutton
tie – untie

Can we use an analogous process with the verb "velcro"?


texts: How to ask some one about their view about a place

texts:
I am trying to ask someone about the place they visit.
The way I used to ask him is

  How he found the Paris?

Is this the right way to ask someone about their view about that place?


texts: "I think black and white matches/fits/fits in/suits better."

texts:
If I want to say that I think that a photography looks better in black and white colours, can also use these words?

I think black and white suits better.
I think black and white matches better.
I think black and white fits better.
I think black and white fits in better.

I know theoretically how to use these kind of words in terms of clothes(because in my English lessons we were talking about these words describing clothes only), but I'm not sure how to use them talking for example about photographs.


texts: Shouldn't it be "what is you doing" if the rule is to use "is" for singular things

texts:
I have always used "What are you doing", but a basic grammar rule is that for plural things you use "are" and for singular you use "is".

But when you say something like "What are you doing?", you are talking to a singular person. So what's the explanation of using "are" when talking to a singular person?


texts: When the train start to go / move / something else?

texts:
While talking about a bus or a train, what's the correct way to refer to his leaving the main train station? Is there a specific term like departure for airplane.

I thought about "When the train goes / moves to Cardiff" something else? But I'm not sure if it's natural.


texts: What does "started westward" mean in this sentence?

texts:
Jim Ralston could always bring a friend home to dine without notice. The Ralston and Lovell wines rounded off the effect, and even Joe's drawn face had mellowed by the time the Lovell Madeira started westward.

My understanding so far is that "the Madeira started westward" means "the bottle was almost empty." Is that the meaning of "the Madeira started westward"?


texts: should + continous infinitive OR should + perfect continous infinitive

texts:
I have been practicing grammar structures of various modal verbs (from the Thomson/Martinet structure drills exercise book) and I have come across this one exercise that left me pretty  confused.

The exercise is aimed at practicing two structures:

should + continuous infinitive (i.e. I should be doing)

and

should + continuous perfect infinitive (i.e. I should have been doing).

In the exercise, you are given 20 sentences and you have to transform them, using both structures—continuous inf. and perfect continuous inf. The example given made it pretty unclear for me when should I use which structure. It goes like this:

(ONE)

  A: It's 7.20 and Ann is sleeping.
  B: She shouldn't be sleeping. She should have been getting dressed.

(TWO)

  A: At 7.20 yesterday Ann was sleeping.
  B: She shouldn't have been sleeping. She should have been getting dressed.

So, my question is: Why is should + perfect continuous used in (ONE)?

In my understanding "should + continuous infinitive" would be the correct structure, as in:

"She shouldn`t be sleeping. She should be getting dressed (now)" ?

Is it an error / a typo or am I missing something here?


texts: Things that were miracles for us - or "to us"?

texts:
Let's take two sentences:

  Things that were miracles for us yesterday seem to be common today.

and

  Things that were miracles to us yesterday seem to be common today.

Are they equal in meaning? Or does the first imply "miracles prepared for us" and the second, "things that we contemplated as miracles (regardless of the possible recipient or user of these things)"?


texts: What's the correct pronunciation of the indefinite article "a"?

texts:
I have noticed watching series, that some characters, or even the voice of my translator speaks the letter "a" with two different sounds when it's in a sentence.

For example:

It's correct to say "ae bus" or "ah" bus? (a bus)?

I'm struggling to get the pattern, but I couldn't figure it out.


texts:
I’d rather you stayed at home tonight.

What should we call the clause after "would rather"? Are they "object clause"?


texts:
I have just watched "Kevin Hart: What Now?".

Kevin is standing on the stage & he is talking a story about himself. He said:

"One day, I go to a store....", he used a lot of simple present tenses while he was talking about his story. But sometimes he used simple past too. EX:

"And I came back...."

My question is:

Why do we use simple tense to say a story in the past?


texts:
The poem is called Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

  I met a traveller from an antique land,

  Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

  Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

  Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

  And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

  Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

  Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

  The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

  And on the pedestal, these words appear:

  My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

  Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

  Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

  Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

  The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

I think the passage says "The frown, lip and sneer tell us that the sculptor read well the passions of the king which outlived the hand of the sculptor and the heart that fed the passions."

It should have been "the heart that fed them", but the word "them" is omitted, is this the case?


texts:
My nose is running. I am hard to breath through nose.

  My nose is running. I have a difficulty breathing through nose.

Which is the correct adjective to describe that you have a runny nose.


texts:
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29793696

  The airport has become a symbol of Ukraine's fight against separatists, and the "cyborgs" are Ukrainians who have held on to it despite persistent rebel attack.
  The nickname was first used online and has since become a media staple in Ukraine. It stuck, because to some the Donetsk airport defenders' exploits have appeared superhuman.

What does that actually mean?


texts: as if in a superhero movie/as in a superhero movie

texts:
a. Those kids were talking as in gangster movies.

b. Those kids were talking as if in a gangster movie.

(Meaning: They were talking the way they do in gangster movies.)

=============================

c. The workers in the toy shop were wearing masks and capes, as in superhero movies.

d. The workers in the toy shop were wearing masks and capes, as if in a superhero movie.

(Meaning: They were wearing masks and capes, and in that respect they were similar to people in superhero movies.)

Are the above sentences grammatically correct?

Do they correspond to the given meanings?

In (a) and (b) we're talking about the manner in which something is done. In (c) and (d), the similarity is not really in the manner, but in the simple fact that they were wearing masks and capes. The fact that they were wearing masks and capes is what creates the similarity, but the manner in which the masks and capes are worn is not important.

I want to see if a comma before 'as in' and 'as if in' would change the meaning and turn the phrase from defining (the manner) to non-defining (the very fact is similar and the manner is not even an issue).

Many thanks.


texts:
I once stole some apples at the market, but It was for my children starving, not for me.

What is "it" indicating in this sentence?
I think "it" indicates "I once stole some apples at the market".
But is it possible "it" can refer to a sentence this way?


texts:
Would you still call a ribbon-hung badge a badge if it were to be worn to show you have permission to leave a place, enter one or use a facility? Would the place make any difference if it was a factory, company/organization or school?

I think a badge is generic enough to use it in various situations, other than as an ID or to show you are a visitor, and whether hung around the neck, pinned or sewn to clothes.

Someone suggested I call it a pass or a permit. What do you think?


texts: whether to use 'was' or 'were' in the sentence

texts:
Should i Use 'was' or 'were' in this below sentence?

About three tonnes of the chemical was exported to Israel at Rs17,431 per kg

About three tonne of the chemical was exported to Israel at Rs17,431 per kg  (tonne)


texts:
I will take you myself.

I don't quite understand these sentence. I've read it somewhere. But there was not a word about taking someone somewhere. And I couldn't find another meaning.

What does "to take someone oneself" mean?


texts: "I was bought potatoes" is it possible to say so?

texts:
Is it possible in any way, maybe colloquial style, to say:

  "I was bought potatoes"

with the sense that someone bought me potatoes.

Or is it completely incorrect with grammar and thus a blatant mistake?


texts: Is there a word/slang for 'keyboarder' - irresponsible internet critics

texts:
In Mandarin Chinese there is an internet slang, literally keyboarder, which refers to people (especially internet users) who express a lot of groundless and irresponsible opinions but disguised as reasonable critiques. Those speeches are usually much more logical and lengthy than common trolls, but at the end they are based on wrong assumptions and trickery reasoning and are not constructive at all. Sometimes media uses this word to comment bad but real-life (as opposed to internet) criticisms.

Is there a similar word/phrase/internet slang in English?


texts:
In the following sentence, does that refer to plural approaches?

The consequence is that non-scientific approaches to reality — and
that can include all the arts, religion, and personal, emotional and value-laden ways of encountering the world — may become labelled
as merely subjective, and therefore of little account in terms of
describing the way the world is.


texts:
What does each mean when used as the first word in a statement/sentence?  Is the emphasis the same or does one indicate more forcefulness/certainty than the other?  Is surely suitable below or does it imply a question?  Are both equal to an exclamation mark(!) ?

  e.g.  Indeed/Surely, to those who disbelieve, a nod is as good as a
  wink to a blind horse.


texts:
Which one is correct?

1) How many students, in our University, does 10 percent comprise?

2) How many students, in our University, do 10 percent comprise?

Is this one correct or not? I am not sure.

3) How many students, in our University, comprise 10 percent?


texts:
What do you call bread that looks like a brick?

A loaf of bread?
A brick of bread?

Or some other way?


texts:
Ran into this:

  He came to a desk. On it lay a metal paper knife with an ornate handle. Would it be sharp enough? He reached for it and knocked over a small brass jar. Stamps spilled out of it and it fell to the Boor with a clatter. "Hey," Mrs. Barrows yelled from the kitchen, "are you tearing up the pea patch?" Mr. Martin gave a strange laugh. Picking up the knife, he tried its point against his left wrist. It was blunt. It wouldn't do. Source

It is obvious the man has knocked over the jar so made it fall off the desk, the stamps spilled out and the contact between the metal jar and the floor made a clatter, noise. However, What does it fell to the Boor with a clatter mean exactly? I checked the meaning of Boor but apparently here it has another sense other than the normal ones. Is it an idiom or something?


texts: "What's up with him?" vs. "What's with him?"

texts:
I'd like to know if there is any difference between these two phrases when they are used for expressing the feeling that you think something is wrong with somebody.

  He's acting very weird. What's up with him?

and

  He's acting very weird. What's with him?


texts: "don't get me wrong" - if it wasn't an idiom, would it be grammatically correct?

texts:
The idiom "don't get me wrong", seems to mean "please don't misunderstand me".

But if one was to replace "get" with "understand" or "interpret" to make the meaning more clear, then shouldn't it be "wrongly" instead of "wrong"?

  "Don't understand me wrongly"...

One wouldn't say "if I understand correct", one would say "if I understand correctly", so shouldn't the same apply to "wrong" here?


texts: What does "He felt the bed for his glasses..." mean?

texts:
He felt the bed for his glasses...

This is from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I'm interested to know whether I have understood it right. I feel that it means: "He used his hands to find his glasses on the bed by placing them at different parts of it." Am I right?


texts:
There was a gap in the hedge with some barbed wire strung across it.

Is the phrase strung across it a participle acting as an adjective to describe barbed wire?

Also, can which was be understood to between wire and strung?


texts: What is the meaning of "to die to self"?

texts:
To explain the ten principles of ACT, the authors draw on the lives of Gandhi, Jesus, and Martin Luther King, Jr. as examples of leaders who embodied these principles in their lives and teachings. These principles are based on two underlying assumptions: (a) change requires making painful adjustments to one's behavior; and (b) change requires placing oneself in jeopardy - taking risks that put the common good above self-preservation. So, to paraphrase Gandhi and Jesus, the practitioner of ACT (Advanced Change Theory) seeks to "be the change you want to see in the world" by "dying to self".

What is the meaning of die to self in the above paragraph?


texts:
I often hear the expression, "Rip-off restaurant or company".
But I wonder if we can say "customers rip off a restarant
by trying to eat more than they paid for."

I think people woulbe able to understand what I mean if I said,
"let's rip them(the restaurant) off" at the restarant by its context
but not sure it is a common way to use the expression.

Thank you!


texts: "How important is education to children's future?"

texts:
How important is education to children's future?

Does this sentence sound natural to you?


texts:
Many who suffer with lasting illness from Covid-19 struggle with fatigue, breathlessness, body aches and cognitive problems which some describe as “brain fog”.

Here how to read the "with"?
"Suffer from a disease" is commonly seen for me. I can't tell the difference between "suffer with" and "suffer from".
I've also seen "suffer great pain and discomfort". Could you tell me its difference and "suffer with"?


texts:
German prosecutors are re-examining the 1919 murder of the communist leader Rosa Luxemburg, amid claims investigators at the time
  replaced her corpse with that of another woman.

Could you explain to me the meaning of "amid claims". I would take it to mean "it is reported that  investigators at the time replaced her corpse with that of another woman". But "claims" is probably the noun and not the verb so I am not able to parse the second part of the sentence


texts: What does the phrase "surge of a boost" mean here?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a drift race game's description:

  If you want to feel the surge of a boost as you enter a corner, think
  of investing in a turbo.

I am not sure about the meaning of the phrase "surge of a boost" here. I know the lexical meaning of both "surge" and "boost", but they don't seem to fit here.


texts: I have always said “Wasn’t it you who _______”; it feels the most natural. However, you use “were” or “are” with “you. Shouldn’t it then be “Weren’t it you”?


texts:
What does "any later than" mean in the following examples?

Do not be any later than 11.30am.

I don't go there any later than 10 because the lines are too long.


texts:
"Women are available in all shapes and sizes and many are willing to sell their souls, not to mention their bodies, for the slightest bit of financial stability"
in the sentence mentioned above, it means "moreover".
then i looked up for its synonyms, which is "let alone". its example is given below:
 "she can't boil potatoes, let alone cook a meal".
What's the drill? i'm getting confused now


texts: In this sentence, how can 'where' be interpreted?

texts:
You can have a virus where people feel well enough while they’re infectious that they get on a plane or they go to a market.

I can't understand a structure of this sentence. What do 'where' and 'that' do and how should I understand them?
It's from a TED video, 'The next outbreak? We’re not ready' in 4:20.
https://youtu.be/6Af6b_wyiwI?t=260


texts:
The company chalked a 52.8% and 47.3% growth in revenue and pre-tax profit respectively.

Is the above usage of "respectively" correct? I mean to say:

  The company chalked a 52.8% growth in revenue and 47.3% growth in pre-tax profit


texts: "I hope we get to know each other well, Brittney--through study dates, dinners, or events."

texts:
Would this sentence be correct:

I hope we get to know each other well, Brittney--through study dates, dinners, or events.

Basically, could I mix and match the comma and the emdash placements?


texts: What's the meaning of "the form of the question" here?

texts:
A: You're, um your husband's death?

  B: Yes.

  A: Dating again?

  C: Objection. This certainly has no relevance.

  A: All objections have been waived till the trial, except for the form
  of the question, sport. This your first deposition?

  C: This is not my first deposition.

  A: Well, then play by the rules. Don't make me move for costs, which
  she'll end up paying.

From Boston Legal Season 1 Episode 2

What does "the form of the question" mean in this dialogue or context?


texts: Don't make this hard that it needs to be

texts: Is this sentence correct ? & would you give me different sentences with the same meaning.


texts:
Is it correct to say:

  He is more interested in video games than his girlfriend.

Or should it be:

  He is more interested in video games than his girlfriend is.

If we omit the is, is the first sentence ambiguous? Could it mean:

  He is more interested in video games than in his girlfriend.

And if we want to say

  He is more interested in video games than in his girlfriend.

where should we put the word more? Before interested or after interested?


texts: Meaning of "She framed the love, and yet she foiled the framing"

texts:
From Shakespeare:

  Fair is my love, but not so fair as fickle;
  Mild as a dove, but neither true nor trusty;
  Brighter than glass, and yet, as glass is, brittle;
  Softer than wax, and yet, as iron, rusty:
    A lily pale, with damask die to grace her,
    None fairer, nor none falser to deface her.

  Her lips to mine how often hath she join'd,
  Between each kiss her oaths of true love swearing!
  How many tales to please me hath she coin'd,
  Dreading my love, the loss thereof still fearing!
    Yet in the midst of all her pure protestings,
    Her faith, her oaths, her tears, and all were jestings.

  She burn'd with love, as straw with fire flameth;
  She burn'd out love, as soon as straw outburneth;
  She fram'd the love, and yet she foil'd the framing;
  She bade love last, and yet she fell a-turning.
    Was this a lover, or a lecher whether?
    Bad in the best, though excellent in neither.

What could be the meaning of the bolded sentence?

I looked up all the meanings of "framed" and "foiled", and I already knew them. There must be something I'm failing to grasp. What is this "framing"?


texts: Is "when I was nine-month pregnant" correct?

texts:
I heard someone said on the radio:

  "... when I was nine-month pregnant."

I might've misheard anyway, given my non-native weak ear. As I understand, the hyphened word combination usually works like an adjective. For example, an 8-year-old boy. Can it also be like an adverb to modify an adjective?


texts:
Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took
  off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so
  relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly
  noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect
  got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled,
  "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the ghost
  in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving
  Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket
  of ice-cold water.  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

I don’t get where the ghost is, because not knowing what ‘opposite’ means. The word gives me the impression that the ghost is across the table, so it seems not possible for him to pat Harry. What does the word, opposite, mean in the example?


texts: "She is exhausted. She was/is/had been/has been running." -- Which should I use?

texts:
She is exhausted. She _____.
  1. was running
  2. is running
  3. had been running
  4. has been running

I wanted to complete the sentence, so which form should I use?


texts: What does "get your account of events out there" mean?

texts:
Reputation building involves telling and retelling your story to get
  your account of events out there and to explain your downfall. Be
  consistent.

Could you tell me please what's the meaning of "get your account of events out there"?

It would be so grateful if you could explain the sentence meaning too.

The fuller text:

  One of the most important steps on the route to recovery is to
  confront and acknowledge failure. This can be as simple as
  understanding the Machiavellian politics of others. So as you set
  about rebuilding your career, make sure you:

  • Remember that failure
  is a beginning, not an end. Comeback is always possible.

  • Look to the future.

  Preemptive actions are often more eff ective than reactive
  ones—even if they only take the form of standing back and refl ecting
  on what to do next.

  • Help people deal with your failure. Even close

  friends may avoid you because they don’t know what to say or do. Let
  them know that you are ready for assistance and what kind of aid would
  be most useful.

  • Know your narrative. Reputation building involves
  telling and retelling your story to   get your account of events out
  there and to explain your downfall. Be consistent.

http://daviddarmawan.blogspot.com/2008/


texts:
I have some question about this:

  Numbers dwindled considerably at one protest site amid heavy rain and as Hong Kong people returned to work after a two-day holiday.

The word "numbers" by itself seems ambiguous and indefinite.  Would making it definite by replacing it with "the numbers of protesters" be better?


texts: Is "one" the correct word choice in the following situation?

texts:
The doll would be completely bare if not for her hair---copper red as
  Tsukiko's dyed one---draping her nippleless breasts.

Is one the correct choice here? For some reason, it feels strange to me. But maybe it's just me.


texts: Can we only use "I couldn't but" for unintentional actions?

texts:
I want to ask you about the usage of this phrase "can't but". The matter is that some native speakers have told me that this construction can be used only with such actions which are not fraught with volition. In other words, the following sentence is not felicitous.

- Why did you sign the contract?

- In that situation I couldn't but sign the contract.

They say that as this action (i.e. signing the contract) was intentional, hence, "can't but + verb" shouldn't be used here. "Can't but + verb" is reserved for other actions which happen unintentionally, such as: I couldn't but hear what you said: you were yelling.

My question is whether you agree with this approach. Is it really not acceptable to use "couldn't but sign" in the first example? Should it be replaced with something like "I was obliged to sign?


texts: "To solution, ..." and also "To this problem, ... " are these even proper phrases?

texts:
Consider this phrase:

  "To solution, an equation is derived to describe the particle motion."

And also this phrase:

  "To this problem, the new proposed method can reduce the weight of the payload significantly."

The questions are: do the phrases in bold texts are valid and common ?

I have tried to check in Google Scholar, but could not find the result of text with such phrases -- let alone starting in the beginning.


texts:
A tour bus stopped and a lot of passengers started getting off the bus.
And one of them said to the others,

  "I fell asleep. How far did we drive?"

I think that sounds a little weird becuase it's not them who have driven the bus.

I mean, the bus driver would be able to say "How far did I drive?"

and the passengers would be able to say "How far did we come?"

But the passenger said "How far did we drive?"
Does that sound natural and fine to you?


texts: When do "empty" and "full" require another adjective to remove the possible ambiguity?

texts:
Does "full" and "empty" always mean "completely" full and empty?

Isn't it ambiguous to say:

  The variable X represent the weight of the container when it is full.

when we are talking about the weight of the container that is full to the brim.

I think it has to be like

  The variable X represent the weight of the container when it is completely full.

Do the two adjectives on their own mean "completely full" and "completely empty" and we should use a modifier only when we want to talk about the state of not being completely full or empty:

  The variable X represent the weight of the container when it is not completely full.

Or maybe it's always better to use a descriptive or an intensifier adjective?


texts:
Permanent resident card is the official proof of your status in Canada.

Does the word refer to condition and circumstances?


texts:
What does the word 'nature' mean in "the nature of science"?
I am looking for the literal  meaning of the word "nature" here. Does this mean 'what is science'? I have seen it used as a noun phrase as in  "characteristics of the Nature of Science" and it confused me further.


texts:
I wanted to use something different than "Let's go to the party",
so I tried "Let's head to the party", but then, I found other examples with "Let's head for the party."
I wonder which one is more correct.


texts:
Each student has a dedicated tutor.
Students have a dedicated tutor.
Do the two sentences have the same meaning? Does the second sentence mean all students have only one tutor?


texts: is expression "spend money stupidly" common in everyday conversation?

texts:
Ex: he spends his money stupidly (ie waste lots of money for non-sense things)

If the above expression is not common then what is the alternative?


texts: What are "the high ends of castles" called?

texts:
What are the high ends of castles when they take the shape of tapered ends above the towers in them called?

I have drawn orange circles around some of them here in the picture:

Are they, by any chance, known as "domes" despite their unrounded figures? If they don't have a particular term, would by using "domes" be understood to indicate those parts of them?


texts: Some current alternatives to the old-fashioned "Mark My Words"

texts:
I thought of using this expression but (un)fortunately I did a quick check to find out that it is old-fashioned. I would like to know some current expressions that convey the same meaning. Below is the definition of the idiom under consideration.

(You) mark my words.  (old-fashioned)

something that you say when you tell someone about something that you are certain will happen in the future That girl's going to cause trouble, you mark my words.


texts:
I'm writing an academic article and using a phrase "sensor fusion". Whenever I Google this phrase it is without "the", what I personally intend to use. The only explanation I found is that some common types of nouns don't take an article; such as the names of academic subjects: mathematics, biology, history, computer science. But "sensor fusion" is rather a method in an engineering instead of an academic subject.

What is the explanation for omitting "the"?

My original sentence as a reply to the reviewer:
"A better implication of the sensor fusion was indicated through the paper"

(In my original language I don't use articles and it is my biggest problem in English.)


texts: What does "available" modify in the sentence below?

texts:
There are 500 kg of this material available in our stocks.

In this sentence does the ''available'' modify '' 500 kg. of this material '' or only ''material''? I thought it modifies ''500 kg. of this material ''but I couldn't be sure. I mean should it be thought as;

  There are (500 kg of this material) + (available) in our stocks.

Or

  There are 500 kg of this (material )+(available) in our stocks.


texts: strong enough to cause damage vs so strong that

texts:
The earthquake is strong enough to cause damage only near its epicentre.

If I change this sentence into so  adjective that,

  The earthquake is so strong that it can cause damage only near its epicentre.

I think it is grammatically correct but it is a bit strange due to the word "so" and "only". Advise me how to correct it.


texts:
If the first clause is "John has a Birmingham accent[,]"in order to mention that "harry has a Birmingham accent too"  which one is a wiser choice to be mentioned as the second clause?

just as Harry has.
just as Harry does.

In my own opinion the second one is better because in the first sentence "has" is a main verb not an auxiliary one.

I would be glad to know your idea (please consider the difference between u.s and u.k accents in your answers)


texts:
The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary gives the following example sentence, along with its interpretation in brackets:

  He never does more work than he can help (= he does as little as possible) .

Actually, the problem lies not so much with the meaning of "help" as with the structure.

Consider a structurally identical sentence:

  He never does more work than he is given.

That means, for example, that if he is given 10 pieces of work, he will not do an eleventh. He only does what he is asked to do.

Back to the OP sentence. Suppose "help" means "avoid." Then the original sentence can be rephrased as below:

  He never does more work than he can avoid (doing).

Bearing in mind that it means "he does as little as possible," we can see the puzzle is that the intended interpretation is actually the reverse of the above sentence:

  He never does more work than he cannot avoid (doing).

I.e., he never does more work than he has to do; he only does as much as he has to do.


texts: Does the pronunciation of "is" change when we do the contraction?

texts:
Ok, see these 2 sentences:
It is over /ɪdɪzoʊ.vɚ/ but
It's over /ɪtsoʊ.vɚ/. 's will be pronounced as /s/ because it stands after a voiceless consonant
He's over sixty  /hizoʊ.vɚsɪk.sti/. 's will be pronounced as /z/ because it stands after a vowel which is voiced.
However, I feel that some people just say /ɪtzoʊ.vɚ/ It's over?? Maybe I am wrong??? but most of the time I hear people say like that??


texts: Verb "render" and the following sentence

texts:
I am currently reading the Wiki about the War Of 1812, just purely out of curiosity, and I encountered a passage. It says,

  At home, British faced mounting opposition to wartime taxation and demands to reopen trade with America. With the abdication of Napoleon, the blockade of France ended and Britain ceased impressment, rendering the issue of the impressment of American sailors moot. The British were then able to increase the strength of the blockade on the United States coast,

About the bold part, would that mean "The abdication of Napoleon (and consequent cease of British pressure) put the issue of impressment American  sailors in a less significant position?


texts:
Will you please tell me what the sentence below means?

  They are almost out of energy.


texts:
In US, when people work together, they may look for a colleague or any person to tell something or for any other reason, asking other collegues/people such a question:

  Have you seen Michael?

or

  Did you see Michael?

Which is considered right if the question refers to an activity (in our case "see") during a day and not the past in general?


texts: Proper use of "lay" and "lie" in figurative present tense

texts:
I know there are multiple threads regarding proper use of "lay" and "lie", but I'm hoping to get some additional insight to distinguish their usage when used in figurative form. Which of the following examples would be correct?

1) ...as the water lay silent and reflects on her face.

2) ...as the water lie silent and reflects on her face.

3) ...as the water lays silent and reflects on her face.

4) ...as the water lies silent and reflects on her face.


texts: How to paraphrase "reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also"?

texts:
The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as
  machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the
  militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases
  there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral
  sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and
  stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the
  purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a
  lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and
  dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens.
  Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and
  office-holders, serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they
  rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the
  devil, without intending it, as God.
  A very few, as heroes, patriots,
  martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with
  their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most
  part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.

How to paraphrase this sentence?

What does "in the great sense" mean?
"so necessarily resist it for the most part", does "so" modify "necessarily" or the whole sentence?


texts: Asking people if they'd like to try a question.

texts:
Would it be correct to say, "Any take on this question?", when I ask any maths question in a group of people?

Also, any alternatives to it?

The reason I am unsure of this usage is that according to Cambridge Dicitionary, take on something means:

  to fight or compete against someone or something


texts: I am writing this letter or I write this letter

texts:
I am writing this letter to invite you to my town.
  I write this letter to invite you to my town.

What is the difference between these two sentences?


texts:
Sheeran was there following orders for what the Combat Report calls the “sickness and exhaustion that had developed among the troops” in the “ fatiguing and heart-breaking fighting over rough terrain" in the drive from Salerno north to Venafro.

Does that mean he was following orders concerning sinckness and exhaustion among them?


texts:
I wasn't able to find the similar idioms in the dictionaries. What is omitted before 'Similarly with animals'?

Of cultivated crops, cereals were of the greatest economic importance
in the Mediterranean region in ancient times, just as rice was the
basic type of food in East Asia, and Indian maize and quinoa in the
Americas. Since wild plants were necessarily self-seeding for their
survival, the early Neolithic farmers favored individual plants that
had developed suicidal mutations that prevented the pod from opening
naturally and scattering the seed. Thus they were able to harvest
their crops without losing grains, and could later separate the seeds
from the pods. Similarly with animals: those that exhibited
juvenile characteristics were favored over the strong, and bred to
eliminate their wild characteristics. This ━ the earliest form of
genetic manipulation by humans ━ was eventually to make a significant
portion of Mediterranean flora and fauna dependent on human assistance
in reproduction and survival: at least as sobering an innovation as
the genetic modification of foods that is being debated at the
beginning of the twenty-first century.

Ancient Technology By John William Humphrey


texts: What does this sentence mean? And what does "by the day" mean here?

texts:
a worker who has learned a handicraft or trade and is qualified to
  work at it usually for another by the day. (Webster)

Does the bold part of sentence means: "...to work at the profession (what he has learned) usually for another person day by day."

Am I correct? Or does it mean something different?


texts: Name of small company gifts (as marketing tool)

texts:
What's the name of those small things that companies give away to visitors as gifts when participating at some exposition. Like hats, pens, dvds, usb drives, mouse pads, and so on ?

We say "gadgets", but perhaps in English they use another word (I see in the dictionary that gadget seems to refer to electronic stuff, while here they can be hat with a logo, mouse pads or whatever) ?


texts:
I wrote these myself:

  a. I'm feeling grumpier today than my husband was yesterday.

  b. I'm feeling grumpier today than was my husband yesterday.

  c. Today I'm feeling grumpier than yesterday my husband was.

  d. Today I'm feeling grumpier than yesterday was my husband.

I think both a. and b. work, how about c. and d.?


texts:
Hello can anybody explain what do THE LAST TWO DAYS represent?

When a person asks me for example: What have you been doing in the last two days?

Does he mean today + yesterday OR two previous days before today?

or Show me the movies that were released in the last two years. Should I show him current year + last year or two previous years?

Does somebody understand what I am asking? Thanks for help! Please explain.


texts: Can 'news' be plural at least occasionally?

texts:
All bad news spread(s) fast.

Textbooks teach that you should use singular forms with 'news'. In the sentence above, though, the plural form sounds more natural to me, somehow.

So, is it 'spread' or 'spreads'?


texts: Is there any word for discount on next bought item(s)?

texts: How to say in English (is there single word) for selling program: you buy an item and then you can have some discount on next one (the same or of another kind)?


texts: Is it necessary to use commas in the given sentence?

texts:
How many people, would you say you've hurt, playing a prank on them that way?

How many people would you say you've hurt playing a prank on them that way?

Are both the sentences grammatically correct?
Are the commas necessary where they've been put?


texts: Why do they don't have OR Why do they not have?

texts:
Between these two,

  Why do young people don't have good manners?

  Why do young people not have good manners?

Which is correct? or both are correct?


texts: Alternative for Criminal Defense Lawyer?

texts: I used to think Devil's Advocate meant the defense lawyer, though it actually means someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position they do not necessarily agree with, for the sake of debate. My question is, does an idiomatic phrase, or euphemism exist, meaning 'Defense Lawyer'?


texts: Putting on weight, gaining weight, getting fat

texts:
Which is the correct sentence or what is difference among the following sentences?

My friend is putting on weight.

My friend is gaining weight.

My friend is getting fat.


texts:
I'd like to know which preposition should be used in the following sentences:

The program runs compatibly on/with many portable devices.

The program runs compatibly on/with this version of Windows.

The program runs compatibly on/with the antivirus software.


texts: Where should hyphens go in "five thousand dollar(s)"?

texts:
Which of the following sentences is correct?

She won a five-thousand-dollar prize!

She won a five thousand-dollar prize!

She won a five thousand dollar prize!

She won a five thousand dollars prize!


texts:
Is your goal to win the contest?

  Is the purpose of a pencil to draw?

Does this form of questions (Is something to do) sound natural to native English speakers?


texts:
crouches and bends down

I see in dictionary that crouches means "To stoop, especially with the knees bent", and stoop means "bend forward". Now my question is crouches already means bend down with knees bent, so why there the sentence also has "and bends downs" following crouches? Isn't it an unnecessary duplicate?

I think crouches means changing from standing position to the below image. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Is there any different word to mean same what crouches means but it also mean how fast or how aggressively one crouches. I looking for a word which mean "crouches down very fast"


texts: Is it possible to have two adverbs on both side of verbs, and simultaneously modify or describe the same verb?

texts:
The President's speeches are regularly reproduced verbatim in the state-run newspapers.

We have two adverbs in this sentence, regularly and verbatim .
Is it grammatically acceptable to put two adverbs to modify the same verb?

One adverb before a verb and the second after it.


texts: Excluding 'that' and 'have' in "We are confident (that) this will be the best treatment you (have) ever experienced"

texts:
When you are promoting a product that the consumer has not used yet, would you include or exclude the words between parentheses in the phrase below? I’m not a native English speaker, and the more I think it over, the more I start to doubt it. Google's results made me doubt even more. :) Would love to hear it from one of you experts to be 100% sure.

The sentence:

  We are confident (that) this will be the best treatment you (have) ever experienced.

Thanks for your help!


texts: What's the English word for something that given attention too much to

texts:
What's the word to describe something like this :

  Adam : Tony's car is awesome, everybody is talking about it.

Now say, I'm jealous to his car (presumably).

  I : Nah, his car is just ...?

I know that the options for the word may depend on some situations, but for the specific situation for given example above how should I express it? The world itself would be formal.


texts: Is it grammatically correct to use "be" in this context

texts:
I want to say "happy new year" to my old professor.
I wrote this:

Dear Ms. XXX
I hope next year be full of success and happiness with great health for you.

Is "be" correct here?


texts:
Sentences:

John and I aren't friends anymore. He was my friend, but then he stole my wallet. I wonder how it is possible that he did that to me.

John and I aren't friends anymore. He was my friend, but then he stole my wallet. I wonder how it was possible that he did that to me.

Question:
Do the bolded tenses work in the above two sentences? Thanks.


texts:
Why is there a proposition and why is it "in" in THIS sentence? Why is "be" used other than "should be"? What's the structure of the that-clause?

"Moulton’s letter cited the concerns of others in asking that the centers be shut down."

I met the sentence when reading "Moulton wants local colleges to cut ties with Chinese institute"(https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/03/09/moulton-wants-local-colleges-cut-ties-with-chinese-institute/2l5Y9Oa1WgG3SuapqGCaNP/story.html?event=event25?event=event25)


texts: Why isn’t there any article before this countable noun?

texts:
There was chaise longue at the end of the dressing room, and Clea crept to it now and lay down, pulling her knees up to her chin.
  (Clea & Zeus Divorce by Emily Prager,p.54)

I don’t find out why there isn’t any article before a countable noun, chaise longue. I suspect a definite or indefinite article could be not required when there should be one referent and it’s not worth to establish particular identity or reference between speaker and addressee. But I bet it’s only a groundless imagination. Why isn’t there any article?
(Can this between speaker and addressee be used without articles? I guess it could be for it's a matched nouns.)


texts: "Not so much + something as + something"

texts:
From https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/not-so-much-sth-as-sth

I don't feel angry so much as sad. (1)

Question 1: Alluding to the sentence above and given that the structure of the afore mententioned phrase is "not so much" followed by "something", is the following correct:

I don't feel so much angry as sad. (2)

Edit:
Question 2: Referring to @chasly - supports Monica's answer, it seems that they differ by word order. Is one order preferred over the other?


texts: Difference between "run everyday" and "running everyday" after "One thing you can do is."

texts:
"One thing you can do is running every day" and "One thing you can do is run everyday"
Any difference? Both correct or one is wrong?


texts: By 2030, new well-paid jobs "will be"/"will have been" available

texts:
Here is the question:

By 2030, new well-paid jobs (will be - will have been - had been - were being) available in London.

This was a question in my exam. I chose "will have been", but my instructor told me that both answers are correct ("will be", "will have been"), so I'm confused now. Which one is really the most correct? Please include an explanation


texts: What is the meaning of "directed at bearing on" in this context?

texts:
This is the context:

  What Jim is saying is we may have all sorts of scientific accounts that involve something preceding
  the Big Bang, or that the Big Bang occurred, as Jim was saying, in some larger arena, or something like that.
  What none of this seems directed at eventually bearing on, and what I don’t see how it could eventually
  be directed at bearing on, are questions like the one Jim was alluding to a minute ago, e.g., why there’s
  something rather than nothing, or how it is that something that’s in some genuinely, philosophically
  interesting sense nothing produces something?

What is the meaning of the bold parts? I searched the dictionary but couldn't find a meaningful meaning? Can anyone help?


texts: Fill in the blank with a suitable form of other

texts:
He has almost finished. He only needs ________ ten minutes.

I think "other" for the blank. But the answer key says: It will be "another". And I think another should be used before a singular noun.

What is the right answer?


texts:
"She came and sat by/beside/close to/next to/near me." To me, the bold lettered prepositions seem to have almost the same meaning.
Is there any difference between them? If so, would you arrange them in order of the degree of closeness? From the closest to the least closest.


texts: "As is the case for" vs. "As is the case with"

texts:
A little search in Google Books indicates both are commonly used, but I cannot see any semantic difference:

  Scholarly research can show how government subsidies benefit mostly
  the rich, not the poor, as is the case for gasoline subsidies in the
  Islamic Republic of Iran.

  As is the case for most newly introduced high-tech services,
  crowdsourcing raises both hopes and doubts, and certainties and
  questions.

  The important point to stress is that a radar imager, like a bat,
  principally obtains information as a function of distance from the
  instrument, rather than look direction, as is the case for optical
  systems.

  Keeping confidentiality may result in future harm to some identifiable
  person other than the patient, as is the case with the prostitute and
  her boyfriend and the drug-treatment patient and his girlfriend.

  Of the others, uncombined carbon burns with little or no flame, just
  as is the case with pure charcoal and coke.

My best guess is: with "for", it introduces the direct object for comparison; with "with", it introduces the scenario for comparison. So in practical terms, there's no salient difference between them. Do I get it right?


texts:
Though absolute justice be unattainable, as much justice as we need for all practical use is attainable by all those who make it their aim.

why is "as much justice as we need for all practical use is attainable by all those who make it their aim." an independent clause?

As per my knowledge, the clause before the comma is a dependent clause which can not be on its own for a meaningful sentence. it needs an independent clause to which it attaches itself.

source: "be" or "being"? "And though absolute justice be unattainable, as much justice as we need for all practical use is attainable"


texts: What do you call the pose of a dog that has its front paws near it's head and standing on its two hind legs?

texts: I am not sure if there's a word/expression/phrase that describes that cute pose some dogs get into to get favors. I am not even sure if dogs do get into those kind of poses, correct me if I am wrong. The only word or expression that comes to mind is cutie pose, but I doubt it means what I think it means. It's a general expression and certainly it doesn't refer to that exact pose, but I couldn't think of anything else.


texts: Grammar construction "subject + to + infinitive" question

texts:
The sentence:
The youngest sailor to complete the voyage unassisted is another Australian, Jesse Martin, who was 18 when he completed it in 1999.
The question:
How should I understand the construction " The youngest sailor to complete "?
If here "to complete..." expresses "finished action" and it means smth like "who completed..." explain, pls, that grammar construction.


texts: What is the difference between "obviously it works” and “it works, obviously"?

texts:
What is the difference between these two phrasings? I came across them in Effective Scala. I'm adding the whole paragraph to provide some context:

  Document APIs but do not add unnecessary comments. If you find
  yourself adding comments to explain the behavior of your code, ask
  first if it can be restructured so that it becomes obvious what it
  does. Prefer “obviously it works” to “it works, obviously” (with
  apologies to Hoare).


texts:
The first grunt of what in both quotes below, or why first grunt?

  We all love to be told a story; it is the oldest form of communication. People have loved to be told a story since the first grunt.

Source: On Writing Well

  Good grief, its only an idiom. Don't waste another precious moment of
  worry on such nonsense. All language, from the very first grunt and
  groan, has been bastardized to suit the user. You Uprights, superior
  you say.

Source: A user comment on TheFreeDictionary


texts:
On many CVs I see sentences like:

  • Achieved this.

  • Managed that.

I am assuming this isn't a case of Conversational Deletion and these tenses are past participles.
So if I were to use an irregular verb I would write:

  • Done this.

  • Taken part in that.

Is that correct?


texts:
So I told him to get the .... out of my car. At first he thought I was joking, but then he got out.
Could you please provide me with some alternatives to got out here? Does left sound odd? The one saying the line is a young cool dude, what would he say?


texts: Making clear I am doing just the first tasks

texts:
In a message I sent, I wrote:

  I am preparing my room to be painted, which means I am moving furniture out of the room, and cleaning the walls from the mold. There isn't nothing much I need to do.

Leaving out the last sentence, which I would have thought could suggest I was not the person painting my room, would not to be painted suggest painting my room was not a task for me?

I think that I am preparing my room to paint it would imply that painting my room was my task.

Is there another sentence I could have used to make clear I was doing the preparatory tasks to allow another person to paint my room without explicitly saying another person will paint my room?


texts:
I read a following sentence in the book Data structure and algorithm in Python:

  A tour instance is created by sending a reference to a specific tree to the constructor, and then by calling the public 'executed' method, which beings the tour and returns a final result of the computation.

I am confused about the use of being. As I known, being can use in a present or past continuous tense as following:

He is being nice.
She was being bad.

But I don't know whether being can be used as a main verb like that. If can, does its meaning is same as it used in the present  continuous tense?


texts:
I thought of another question led by a question in an exam.

  The paper is due next month, and I am working seven days ______ week,
  often long into______night.

A． a; the

B．the; /

C．a; a

D．/; the

I agree with the correct answer A, but it brings me to a new question whether it is appropriate to write the sentence as "The paper is due next month, and I am working seven days a week, often long into /(the zero article) night." Or maybe it is good to put the question in this way, which is what the difference is between "into night" and "into the night".


texts: Present simple and continuous (which use?)

texts:
In my grammar book I've encountered sentences where(according to the answers) there is possible both- present simple and present continuous, but I can understand only the use of pr. simple.

Wheather I GO(or AM GOING) swimming or not, always depends on the weather.
We always smell cooking when we PASS(or ARE PASSING) your house.

Could you explain, which use of continuous are these examples ?


texts:
In an editorial I found a sentence.

  The government may be more successful if it identifies the incentives it can offer China in the next few months to review its position.

To review its position must be replaced by to make it review its position, because the government(Indian government) is not going to review its position, instead china has to review. Is my point correct?
 Thanks in advance.


texts: Saying "It was " after putting down phone

texts: Let's say I'm in a room with Person A, and I'm on the phone with Person B. After I stop talking with Person B on the phone, is it correct to say "It was Person B" to Person A, or should I say "He/she was Person B". Basically is it correct to use "it" in this scenario, or would Person B's gender specific pronoun be used.


texts:
While writing an essay, I discovered that my MacBook Ru-En dictionary suggests using amount speaking about books:

So, that is what I have in my text:

  I state again that reading a lot has big advantages: while reading we develop our imagination and vocabulary and it is strongly connected with the amount of books.

On the other hand, there is an ambiguous information given on another site.

Could you please explain: is it correct to use the word amount in relation to books?


texts:
The fresh-faced good looks have been lined and drawn by the cares of office. His immaculate English is forsaken for the dignity of immaculate Mandarin.

who are "cares"?

http://marker.to/23XPic


texts: What do you call the crack between the seating mattresses in a couch?

texts: As you see in the picture, we have 3 mattresses and 2 cracks in the middle that extends from the upper area to the bottom area. What are these cracks called? Is there a specific word for it?


texts:
Potent means having great power, influence or effect. I want to know if my usage of potent is correct.

  The government needs to find a potent solution to this problem.

  His teaching method is potent and unique, that is the reason students like to attend his lecture.

Potent is something effective and powerful. Is potent a correct adjective in these sentences or some other suitable adjective can supplant this adjective?


texts: Do we need the definite article or the indefinite article before something (e.g., a gift) that someone gave us and we thank them for it?

texts:
Which article do I have to use in the following sentence?

  Thank you for a/the tip.

What if the noun were preceded by an adjective?

  Thank you for a/the great tip.


texts:
Robeson declared that black Americans would refuse to fight for the
  U.S. if war broke out with the Soviet Union. “It is certainly
  unthinkable for myself and the Negro people to go to war in the
  interests of those who have oppressed us for generations,” he said in
  a speech. The next morning, the headline “Negros Won’t Fight Russia,
  Robeson Says” appeared in the Los Angeles Times, and the story was
  picked up in papers worldwide.For several years, racists had been
  claiming that blacks were welcoming toward communism and lazy during
  World War II (even though during the war, half a million blacks had
  served in Europe alone). Many African American leaders objected to
  Robeson’s statement because it played into both slurs.

(The Red-Baiting of Lena Horne, The Atlantic, AUG 27, 2015)

What does the bold phrase mean? Does "slurs" here mean the two unfair remarks on black people by racists?


texts:
What is the correct preposition?

The mother grips her son's hand [in/of/on] crossing the road?


texts: "Manage to find time to do volunteer work among other things"

texts:
I am impressed by the fact that she has somehow managed to do volunteer work among holding down two jobs and raising three kids.

This is a line I am writing, but I feel uncertain about the preposition. Does the preposition "among" work here? I am trying to say that she has managed to volunteer despite doing all the other things.

Or this sentence:

  I am impressed by the fact that she has somehow managed to do volunteer work despite finishing her projects perfectly under high pressure.


texts: Is 'swear off' in 'He was sworn off as chiefminister of state yesterday' correct?

texts:
He was sworn off as chief minister of the state yesterday. (incorrect??)

He was sworn in as chief minister of the state yesterday. (correct for sure)

whats wrong in 'sworn off' sworn off means stop doing something. so he resigned yesterday..throw some light


texts:
Please identify and explain error in the following sentence

After knowing truth , (1)/they took the right decision (2) / in the matter (3)/No error (4).

Also ,
Is it correct to use 'ing' form of 'know' here?


texts: Please explain the phrase "brutal, callous efficiency" in this context

texts:
Across the fire, Riga was
binding a struggling deer with his usual brutal, callous efficiency.

Why does the author use the word efficiency here?
I use Cambridge Dictionary and it says "efficiency" means

the good use of time and energy in a way that does not waste any

Does it literally mean that Riga was binding the deer without wasting energy and time? What is "brutal, callous efficiency"? I feel that I missed something. Please analyse that context for me.


texts: IF clause: verb tenses to talk about future

texts:
Please explain the meaning of the following sentences if they are talking about the future:
Message as written on a card that is store in a wallet :

If you find this wallet, please return it to this address ...
If you found this wallet, please return it to this  address ...

Also the difference between the 2 sentences below:

I would not be surprised if it was found that sleep deprivation was the root cause to many of today's society's trending diseases.
I will not be surprised if it is found that sleep deprivation is the root cause to many of today's society's trending diseases.


texts:
Will you tell me what "go around it" in the sentence below means?

  “If you can't go around it, over it, or through it, you had better negotiate with it”


texts: Can 'as' be used instead of 'such as' or 'like'?

texts:
Examples:

I love big dogs, as German Shepherd and Labrador

I can play quite a few musical instruments, as the flute, the guitar, and the piano.

They sound wrong to me, but I don't know the grammatical reason why. Can you clarify this?

PS: if there's difference between BE and AE on this, please point it out.


texts: May I stack prepositions: "somewhere inside of me"?

texts:
Today I heard a song, where were the words:
'I feel eternity somewhere inside of me'

I've never heard it before and I'm interesting is it right construction?
By the way, in many songs I hear very strange sentence structure...


texts: Why "despite" and "yet" can't be used at the same time?

texts:
This problem came from a poster on F*cebook (credit to the owner).

Despite the fact that the roads are icy, I ___ staying home, yet I ___
going shopping.
a) am
b) am not

Maybe i could agree if the sentence is grammatically incorrect since there's a conflict between "Despite the fact that" and "yet".
I don't understand how it works, sometimes in some cases we're allowed to use double meaning or contrast (e.g. double negatives) in order to say the same in another way or just emphasize the sentence just like the same topic that I had asked yesterday.
So, in my case, is this sentence correct? If it isn't, please explain :

Despite the fact that the roads are icy, I'm not staying home, yet I'm going shopping.


texts:
Does a certain amount means small quantity? And what if you are asked to find a synonym of it. Do you say:

  Artists need a certain amount of freedom to express their creativity. (Small quantity)

Synonym:

  Artists need a particular amount of freedom to express their creativity. (Also, Small quantity)

Why is that this "certain amount" does not come up when I googled it...


texts: What is the exact meaning of "I dig it"?

texts: I have received feedback for a song I composed and some peers used the expression "I dig it". I know it should be interpreted as positive but, to what extent?


texts:
Vog (volcanic fog) is a form of air pollution. It`s made of carbon dioxide, water
  vapor and sulfur dioxide. That last one being most important.

Why did the author use "being" instead of "is"?

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1805/09/sn.01.html


texts: Is using 'What' in a short answer of 'Identifying' something correct?

texts:
When I was kid, I used to watch a lot of quiz shows. In some shows, I remember that the teams used to answer the asker using the word 'what'.

For example, the round is of identifying the term and the asker asks this question to the team A.

A process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy, normally from the sun, into chemical energy that can be later released to fuel the organisms' activities.

One of the girls in Team A starts thinking and answers...

  Hmmm.... what is photosynthesis (with no tone of questioning something).

And the quiz master says...

  "What...is....photosynthesis....(smiles and cheers)...Team A, you got it right and now have leading score in this round.

The question -

Is using 'what' while answering the question of 'what it is' correct?


texts: Sentence correction : ....was in considerable measure the life of the nation as well

texts:
The later part of Gandhi's life(a) / till he was assassinated (b) was in considerable measure the life of the nation as well.(c)

This is an error spotting question asked in my exam. Although I can judge that the error is in part C but I can't figure out what it is and how to correct it. Dont't know if it is error in printing or what but by reading the part C I can't make  head or tail what the speaker is actually trying to say. Can anyone tell what's the error and how to correct it or is the whole sentence sense less?


texts:
I saw a sentence in an email and thought it was a bit awkward. Please see below

  "I have served in the army for over 20 years until I retired."

The person is no longer in the army but wrote me such a sentence. If the person is no longer in the army, can the person use "have served"? Shouldn't it be "I served in the army for over 20 years until I retired"? Or is this person simply stating that he has the experience of serving in the army some time in the past?


texts: Help to understand: "as the gala performance of musical benefited Sentebale" in this sentence

texts:
The couple’s date night was for a good cause, as the gala performance of musical benefited Sentebale, Prince Harry’s charity with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.

I saw the sentence from this article. I don't understand the part in bold above. I know Sentebale is "Prince Harry’s charity with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho". The word 'as' here seems to be a preposition, indicating what someone or something is or is thought to be, or what function they have. But I get lost with "the gala performance of musical benefited". Can someone help to spell it out?


texts:
It seems that two adverbs that both modify one verb can't go one after the other without a conjuction in-between:

He was speaking slowly unusually.

Meaning to say that he was speaking both slowly and unusually this sounds odd to me whereas the following sentence sounds okay to me:

He was speaking really quickly.

Since here "really" is actually modifying "quickly". In this case there aren't two adverbs modifying one verb. So two adverbs in a row always follow a structure where the former one modifies the latter one. Based on this you can't have three adverbs in a row.

But if we place a conjuction between the words "slowly" and "unusually" in the first example, then the sentence reads well:

He was speaking slowly and unusually.

I think if we place a comma the sentence will also read well:

He was speaking slowly, unusually.

  What other ways are there to modify a verb with two or more adverbs other than by placing a comma or a conjuction in-between?

P.s. I've also noticed that some adverbs don't go well with others in this structure:

He was speaking slowly and unusually interestingly.

The adverb "interestingly" sounds out of place after "unusually", whereas some other adverbs like "well" for instance, sound okay. Or is this odd only to my non-native ear?

  Edit: I was thinking of a possibility to modify a verb with a pre-modifier and a post-modifier:

He was unusually speaking slowly.

But I doubt this is good English since I don't remember coming across such structure.


texts: Is there any difference between these two sentences?

texts:
In what form should I put nonstative verbs with "when"? E.g.,

(1) You have to be careful when you cut a cake.
(2) You have to be careful when you are cutting a cake.

Is there a difference between the two? Do they both mean the same thing?


texts: what's the meaning of "of" in "Whale of a squid"?

texts:
"Whale of a Squid" is the second episode of Season One of PBS Kids' Wild Kratts. It was written and directed by Martin Kratt. I looked up both in Longman and OALD dictionaries, but still confusing about "of" mean. All the translation sites let me down.

In that video, the topic is about whales; in some clips, whales beat a squid.
IMO, "of" means "duel", but is it true, any examples?