texts: He wasn't who I confided in daily to vs He wasn't who I ranted daily to

texts: I would like to know the differences in meaning between the two phrases, in particular the former. Please note which phrase is more optimistic. Any alternatives to these phrases are also welcome (if they offer an optimistic perspective).


texts: I would like to ask if the words "Grain Honey Nut" in "Grain Honey Nut Cheerios" are adjectives or not. If not please can someone tell me what word class it is?


texts: Can you tell me about the correct usage of "over here" and "right here"?

texts:
I have already read an article at Source.

I wondered if I'm playing a board game, let it be Ludo.A storm comes and blows out the dices. I want to say that my dice was at this specific location(a box) on the board.Then I would say my dice was over here. But what would it mean if I say that my dice was right here?


texts: Do English speakers accept the word "ostarthritis"?

texts: I find the word ostarthritis here, but when I check the word on www.dictionary.com and some other online dictionary, it seems that this word is not correct and can not be found? Do you guys know this word?


texts: What's the order of the two events with "until"?

texts:
I don't quite understand an answer from the other site:

  But if the time expires until the process releases the spinlock, the process is moved to the waiting state, allowing ...

So is that the time expiration happen after the process releases something? Or is that the time expiration happen at the time the process releases something? (Or the others)

OK, I just watch a video on YouTube says A until B means A will stop when B happen, which make me more confused. That the if the time expires is not a period of time, it's an instant, right? how can this "instant event" keep happening until something happen? LoL

So how should I interpret the sentence?


texts: What is the best verb for "undertaking an IPO"?

texts:
There are many verbs to use here that I thought of as follows:

A company

has an IPO
conducts an IPO
undertakes an IPO
offers an IPO (redundant?)
does an IPO
initiates an IPO (sounds like it might not carry through)
carries out an IPO

etc.

So far I thought that "undertakes an IPO" was best, but I am currently writing (translating) an article and it would be good to have more verbs for this than just "undertakes," and some of these verbs sound weird. Can anyone say what they think the best verb would be for this? Thanks.


texts: I won the (a) lottery, but it is not the (a) lottery in which you get money

texts:
Let's take a sample passage:

  Two days ago I learned that I had won the lottery. This is not the lottery in which you get a money prize. This lottery is for participation in a particular sporting event.

Why is the used in sentence 1? This is the first mention of "lottery". Is this an "I went to the movie" type of phrase?

Can we use a in sentence 2, resulting in the meaning "this lottery is not a lottery in which..."?

In short, would this a/a combination look natural:

  Two days ago I learned that I had won a lottery. This is not a lottery in which you get a money prize. This lottery is for participation in a particular sporting event.

The first excerpt is an adopted quotation from a text written by a native speaker. I found myself unable to explain (to myself) why exactly the is used in sentence 1, and to a lesser degree why the is used in sentence 2.


texts: What does "who" refer to in this logic puzzle clue?

texts:
Two seats are there between O and N, who sits third right of the one who likes Tulip

The word "who" represents what? it denotes O or N?

The full problem is shown below:

  Ten friends are sitting in two parallel rows of six seats each. One seat is vacant in each row. M, N, O, P and Q are sitting in row-1 facing South. D, E, F, G and H are facing North. Each likes a different flowers i.e. Lily, Lotus, Jasmine, Sunflower, Orchid, Hibiscus, Tulip, Marigold, Rose and Lavender.

  G sits third to the right of F and likes Sunflower. Only two people sit between E and the vacant seat. E does not like Orchid or Jasmine flower. Q is not an immediate neighbour of O. N likes Lavender. The one who likes Jasmine flower faces the one who likes Marigold. The one who likes Jasmine sits opposite to the one who sits third right of the person who sits opposite to G. O is not an immediate neighbour of P. H, who likes neither orchid nor Hibiscus, does not face the vacant seat. Neither G nor F sits at any of the extreme ends of the row. P faces F. Vacant seats are not opposite to each other. Two seats are there between O and N, who sits third right of the one who likes Tulip. The one who likes Rose flower faces the one who likes Sunflower. The persons who like the Lily and Marigold are adjacent to each other. Vacant seat of row – 1 is not an immediate neighbour of P. E sits at one of the extreme ends of the row. F does not like Lily and Marigold. Vacant seat of row-1 does not face G who doesn’t sit at any of the extreme ends of the row.


texts:
Tom often ____ newspaper in the library when he was at college.

a. Reads

b. Read

Both of them seem correct, but either one is wrong.


texts: Is it grammatical to write the conditionals in two separate sentences?

texts:
I was writing an essay when a question sparked in my mind: can we write conditional sentences in two separate sentences? Especially since the conditional clause is verbose and wordy.

Consider:

  if parents teach the children how they should face with difficulties, how they can obviate the problems through hard work. Then they will be more successful persons in the future.

Are the highlighted sentences grammatically correct?


texts: Is "I mostly agree with what you said" correct?

texts: How can I say that I mostly agree with somebody's statement.


texts: Why do we need "as" in "as listed in the following table"?

texts:
Some strings that have a special meaning, as listed in the following table: (and then here goes that table the presence of which is irrelevant to my question)

I can't understand why we need that as before listed in this sentence. I could rewire the sentence in the following way: "Some strings that have a special meaning listed in the following table" - makes perfect sense to me. Meaning, some strings that have a special meaning are listed or can be found in the following table down below. But that as completely throws me off so I don't know how to understand that sentence properly.


texts:
Katie: Alexa, I saw a lot of your hair in my ski hat. A lot.

  Alexa: So why are you so mad! I'm the one who is losing my hair.

  Katie: I'm your best friend. You should have told me what was going
  on. Like I would care if you have hair or not!

TV Series: Alexa and Katie
P.S.: Alexa is losing her hair because of the chemo.

Shouldn't the bold part be "Like I would care if you had hair or not!"?
I couldn't understand why Katie used "would".


texts: Schema direction "perpendicular to paper"

texts:
I have a schema that represents the sectional view of a translation system. I want to express the idea that an object is moving in the direction perpendicular the the schema that I drawn.

So far I came to: "the object’s movement direction is through the paper"

What would be a more correct way to express this ?


texts: How do I parse “none privileged over the others as truer or more nearly in accord with things as they are, although not for that reason all equal.”?

texts:
[...] instead of facts we have perspectives, none privileged over the others as truer or more nearly in accord with things as they are, although not for that reason all equal.Source: Leggett, B.J. Early Stevens: The Nietzschean Intertext. Quoted on Wikipedia.

What is this construction?

It doesn't make sense to me. I would like a syntactical analysis of this sentence, especially after “none”.


texts: What is the meaning of "barren" in the context below?

texts:
The boy wanted to say something else other than, "Thank you, ma'am" to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but although his lips moved, he couldn't even say that as he turned at the foot of the barren stoop and looked back at the large woman in the door. Then she shut the door.

It is from the story named "Thank you, ma'am" by Langston Hughes.

Can "barren stoop" mean "the edge of the step"? but I did not find the "barren" means as a "step".


texts: What is difference among few/a few and the few?

texts:
Question:

  How many apples do you have in that box ?

Answer:

  I have few apples in this box.
  I have a few apple in this box.
  I have the few apples in this box.

What is the difference and which is appropriate answer to the question ?


texts: We've played/we've been playing/we played

texts:
When I want to say that we've been continuously playing Battlefield for the past 2 days, I will use present perfect continuous tense, right?
But what if i want to say that the only game we played in the past 2 days was Battlefield, will I use past simple tense(as it is finished;we are no longer playing battlefield)

  We played battlefield only for the past 2 days

or will I say

  We've played Battlefield only for the past 2 days

(as it connects to present).

I don't really know and would appreciate if someone explained it to me.


texts: “I wake up lucidly - I think I’m awake -“?

texts:
I was reading an interview today and came across this sentence that I don’t fully understand.
”I wake up lucidly – I think that I’m awake – and I go to the mirror and I scream and it’s a woman’s scream,” he says. “And then I wake up.”
what I don’t really understand is the “I wake up lucidly – I think that I’m awake –“ part.
is he saying it’s a lucid dream ? Like he becomes aware that he’s dreaming ??
or he thought he was awake but actually he wasn’t and still sleeping ?
Thanks


texts: Questions regarding the text I'm presently reviewing

texts:
I have two questions about the same text. My first question is about the following sentence:

  The most substantial planned change is a proposal to alter what is
  currently a temporary exhibition space and develop it into a permanent
  exhibiting area.

Doesn't the word "proposal" here feel redundant? It seems like a too quick succession of synonyms to me.

My second question is in what sense does "would" add to the following sentence? Couldn't the author replace "would" with "will" here?

  The suggested alteration would create one complete open space for
  permanent exhibitions. Further to this, there are plans to upgrade the lobby
  so that the gallery would include an education facility with an adjacent
  storage and plant room.

The text is about the existing and proposed layout of an art gallery.


texts: What do the pronouns “that” and “its” refer to within the enclosed text?

texts:
I have been trying to understand this sentence, but it is a little too
complicated for me to understand:

Individuals appear to have a knee-jerk reflexive reaction to being
excluded and ignored that seems to bypass information that should
logically diminish its importance or relevance.

I don’t know what that and its are supposed to
refer to. Does it mean the same thing as this:

bypass information that (information) should logically diminish
its (information) importance or relevance"

Based on the way it is written, I assume both that and its refer to
information. However, I still don’t understand the message behind the
sentence:

information should logically diminish its importance or relevance.

Here’s the whole paragraph, which is a summary of a scientific article:

Almost two decades of empirical social psychological research on
ostracism, exclusion, and rejection have been very fruitful and
enlightening. Beyond the obvious point that these are aversive
interpersonal behaviors that cause distress, we now know that (i)
individuals appear to have a knee-jerk reflexive reaction to being
excluded and ignored that seems to bypass information that should
logically diminish its importance or relevance, (ii) there is a close
link between physical pain and social pain, and (iii) subsequent
responses to ostracism may vary depending on which need or needs the
individual is trying to fortify. Thus, some ostracized individuals
seek approval whereas others seek revenge.


texts:
I am developing a piece of software which shows a verification message when the user does something. For example he wants to do something and the message says (the pattern is decided as in Title, Message, Buttons, can't change it)

Check

The system will do this. Agree?

[yes][no]

Somehow I am not comfortable with the word "Check". As native speakers do you think I should go for say "Confirmation" or "Verification"... or should I just let "Check" there... what do you feel?


texts: Can I use "if" in a structure that doesn't correspond to the four rules?

texts:
I have a problem with how to use "IF" , Although I know the Rules and so on but when I use it I figure out that I use another IF rule, not from the four rules of IF and can I use it negative in the past ? and it will still be in the four rules ?

I have tried to read the rules again and stick with the rules but somehow I use the only half rule like " I will make it . IF you do that " is that even correct ?


texts: What would be the past tense of bear into mind?

texts: How would I use this idiom in this sentence- The memory of the incident has forever ........ into my mind?


texts: Correct way to use "most written in" and "most written by" in one sentence?

texts:
I am trying to make a sentence like this:

  As of now, this library has 20 books, most written in English, most books are written by James.

It should state that most books are written in English, but it must not mean that James only wrote most of the books in English, since he wrote most of the books in library. How can I accomplish this in a correct way, but still in one sentence?


texts: what does the "a cap of" mean in following paragraph?

texts:
I recently received a letter from a journal, the following words are confusing with me, I　do not know exact meaning of a cap of.

  Please also be aware of TCYB page length policy with a cap of 12 pages plus two additional pages with a charge of $175/page, for a regular paper, provided that you promise to pay the bill after the publication.


texts: What's the difference between "Which {buses / are the buses / buses are} go near my office"?

texts:
Which is the correct sentence construction? And why?

1) Which are the buses go near my office?

2) Which buses go near my office?

3) which buses are go near my office?

as per my knowledge, the first sentence gives an idea about someone asking about regularly plying buses. Asking about truth or routinely plying buses

And the second sentence means just asking about bus routes


texts: I received this message [to/in] my inbox?

texts:
I received this message to my inbox?

or

  I received this message in my inbox?

I am having a difficult time deciding between these two. Which one is correct?


texts: Concrete examples to supplement(s) when talk about some operation or explanation

texts:
I am confused with the usage of the word supplement.

A similar usage might be

  a 16-page advertising supplement

where it means

  an additional part of a book, newspaper, report etc

Following is the example to illustrate the question.

Here are some steps to copy/paste some content from web browser to a text editor.

1. select the content on the web browser
2. ctrl + C
3. click the text editor
4. ctrl + V

In this context, is following expressions appropriate?

Here are 2 supplements
1. for Mac user, ...
2. for Linux user,...

Another example

I asked a question

  What does "⇒" mean?

  ...

then I add a supplement

  according to @Joe's answer, ⇒ is called the “always
  positive” classifier in the book

  ...

Could this be A supplement?


texts: What is the difference between "there is no" and "there is not"?

texts:
What is the difference between "there is no" and "there is not" (the same question for "there are no" and "there are not"?

For example:

  There is no an apple on the table.

versus

  There is not an apple on the table.


texts: What is the meaning of "North Americans go out to be alone"?

texts:
North Americans go out to be alone.

Source: Marshall McLuhan: The Medium and the Messenger : a Biography by Philip Marchand

I can't understand the meaning of this sentence. What does this sentence mean?

Context -

McLuhan had a notion that North Americans go out to be alone. And he once shared this feeling to Henry Ford II, but Henry seemed apparently incurious about it. But later McLuhan discovered that his idea was used by Ford Motor Company without giving him any credit whatsoever. Based on his idea that company made an advertisement and started running it on television. That advertisement showed a man leaving a house which was full of people screaming at one another. The man got into his car, rolled up the windows, and putting on an ineffable contentment on his face drove off.

What I think this sentence means -

North Americans seek to be alone while going out.

Am I right? Please let me know the meaning of this sentence.


texts:
There is a sentence lengthiness of which has made me suspicious about whether which play or which plays should be incorporated in the sentence.

  Special design of park’s designer has been so that in furniture design and selection of trees, different ages have been considered, which plays a significant role in understanding the park environment and citizens’ communication.

I mean that design of the park plays a significant role. That's why I used plays instead of play but is this correct given the fact that other words have come between first part (design) and the relative clause?


texts: 'mighty's meaning in 'the mighty Mississippi River' is necessarily related to the large size?

texts:
I am a non-native English speaker. I thought the word might is associated with strength, power, or capability, rather than great size in its essence.
However, the second definition and the example phrases for mighty in Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary are as follows.

the definition: large and impressive

the mighty Mississippi River
mighty mountain peaks

The part I don't get in the definition is large. For the case, the mighty Mississippi River, is it really necessarily associated with its great size? I think it could be interpreted in whatever way associated with strength and the interpretation of it as being large is just one possible way as per the intention of the writer.


texts: Difference in meaning: "He looked back at her." and "He looked back out at her."

texts:
I haven't understand, what difference in meaning:

  "He looked back at her."

and

  "He looked back out at her."

Thank for your meaning!

This phrase from the book (no ads!), some wider context:

  Mickey carried the gems to the small bathroom and flicked the switch. “I’ll be damned.” He looked back out at her. “This isn’t natural?”


texts:
Does she have a car ? Or does she has a car ?

What is the difference between these two questions ?

What do they mean ?


texts:
Just stumble upon the headline of this article : "Mathematicians Measure Infinities, and Find They're Equal" ( Source ), and it's messing with my head.

Is the usage correct?

If it's up to me, I would write it as "... and find them equal", or "... and find that they're equal".

Help me out here.


texts:
I have some feelings (through the ways they answered my question) that some native speakers always think the following:

If we say "I was happy yesterday", that implies "I am not happy today"?

Maybe my feeling was wrong.

The USE 1: Simple past is used to show a completed action in the past & we know the time that the action completed.Source

I saw a movie yesterday.

The USE 2: But the Simple Past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. Source

So, when we say "He didn't like tomatoes before.", we imply that "Now he likes tomatoes"

Now, come back to the sentence "I was happy yesterday". It could mean:

The USE 1: that feeling completed in the past (Maybe, my girlfriend kissed me yesterday & therefore I felt happy at that time). But, today "I am still happy" (Maybe because I won a lottery, for example).

The USE 2: when you say  "I was happy yesterday" you may contrast with the current situation. It could mean "I was happy yesterday but today I am not happy".

So, If I say "I was happy yesterday", does that always imply "I am not happy today"?

Also, What about "I was married 2 years ago."?

Let say 2 years ago I got a wedding with a lady & now that lady & I still live happily together. We can say "I am married" = "I have a wife now".

But can we say "I was married 2 years ago." but Now "I am still married". Does "I was married 2 years ago." imply "I divorced"?


texts:
Source

  eMarketer estimates 16 million Americans will book travel via mobile this year, up from just over 12 million in 2011.

Source

  1,170 Likes! Up from just over 600 at the beginning of March, we are smokin' hot.

The above quotes have describe the remotely different rise in percentage in a certain figure - (12 to 16 and 600 to 1170). Though, the "just over" phrase is still being used in the second quote - almost a 100% increase in the amount of likes, definitely not "just over". So is "just over" more of a decorative term rather than a term with real meaning?


texts:
You'd  better not stay  here more.

vs.

  You'd  better  not  stay  more  here.

Between these  two  sentences,  which  one  is  correct?  Or  are  they  both correct?


texts:
Given the general inauthenticity of the names in the Atcs, ir is not
  surprising that scholars should suggest that the one authentic one
  gets it right not because of actual historical knowledge deriving
  from thomas, but more likely by drawing on a pool of general knowledge
  about india available in Syria, the most probable place of
  composition. (Huxley, George L. 1983. Geography in the Acts of Thomas,
  In “Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies”, Duke University Press,
  Durham.)

I understand the meaning of the sentence generally, but I do not understand meaning of the bolded section. Could somebody explain the compound to me?


texts: Can you explain the composition of this sentence?

texts:
Source

  We eat a few more raspberry scones and switch over to discussing the great poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz and when I say that back home, we often refer to him as Shams Tabrizi, she retorts, ‘You Indians are obsessed with the British, want to rhyme everything with Angrezi — affected lot!’

What is 'that'?

Should the sentence be separated as

When I say that back home,

1 we often refer to him as Shams Tabrizi as well as
2 she retorts, ‘You Indians are obsessed with the British, want to rhyme everything with Angrezi — affected lot!’

The bold part is confusing me a lot.In the end, that affected a lot seems weird.


texts: What part of speech is "passes" in this context

texts:
Harry and Ron had so far managed to scrape passes in this subject only by copying Hermione's notes before exams; she alone seemed able to resist the soporific power of Binns's voice.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I feel "scrape passes" is more like a compound word here, so it could be written as 'scrape-passes'. What the part of speech is "passes" if we don't take it as a compound word?


texts:
I'd like to know whether expressions in an appositive relation can
be switched around. Please consider the following examples:

a. John bought a Northern Inuit dog, (which is) a breed with a wolf-like appearance.

b. John bought a dog with a wolf-like appearance, (which is) a Northern Inuit dog.

c. John bought a Northern Inuit dog, (which is) a wolf-like breed.

d. John bought a wolf-like dog, (which is) a Northern Inuit (dog).

For present purposes, please assume that all Northern Inuit dogs resemble wolves, and not all wolf-like dogs are Northern Inuit dogs.
Presumably, a and c are fine. b and d don't work (for semantic reasons or otherwise). But someone told me sentence d is fine without "which is." Do you think so? If that's true, do you know why "which is" makes it sound bad?


texts:
A and B people meet each other. A was at a bar a while ago. Then, B asks from A like this;
Are you at the bar?

I want to know, is it wrong when we say;
Aren't you at the bar?


texts: Why is there an "or" here instead of an "and"?

texts:
In an interview last year he recalled that he had been asked to
  identify the owner of everything found at the scene, but had failed to
  find a match for a piece of cloth that seemed to be of military
  origin, or for a pair of glasses, a pair of skis and a piece of a
  ski, leading him to suspect that the military had found the tent
  before the volunteer rescuers. (telegraph.co.uk)

It seems there needs to be ‘and’ instead of ‘or’ in semantic respect. Why is there an ‘or’?


texts: How to use the phrase "number one" in a sentence

texts:
English is my second language and I have been practicing translating my first language to English. There was a sentence I was not sure how to translate correctly so if you could correct this sentence if there are any grammatical error, that'll be really helpful. I'd really appreciate if you'd correct me if there were any grammatical error or something that doesn't sound natural in these paragraphs also.

A sentence that I want to translate is talking about how some organization or something took votes on which actress moms wish their sons would marry. (So that the actress who was chosen as the number one was pretty and well-mannered and many moms voted that they wish their sons would marry her).

The media described the actress chosen as something like "number one son's wife"
Is this sentence understandable? I feel like there are some better ways to say. Sometimes I struggle with using the phrase "number one".

For example, how do you say she's the fastest runner using the phrase number one? She's the number one runner? She's the number one at running?

I apologize for the lengthy question. As you may all have noticed my English is very informal, childish, and there is no variety of English uses. So it'll be really helpful if you could make these sentences more formal.


texts: Why is the correct spelling "eating" and not "eatting"?

texts:
I am learning -ing spell rules from Woodward English. Can't figure out why is it correct to say 'eating'. Is the second rule not applicable here ?

  2). If the verb ends in a consonant + vowel + consonant, we double the final consonant and add ING.

Infinitive  ING form
to stop     stopping
to sit      sitting
to plan     planning
to get      getting
to swim     swimming

  The policeman is stopping the traffic.
  We are planning a surprise party for our teacher.
  I think I am getting a cold.


texts: Can you omit do when the topic has been raised in a previous sentence?

texts:
For example in the following sentence it seems like do could be omitted:

"Is it OK if we don't talk today? Or do you need to chat about something?"

So that this would seem appropriate, maybe:

"Is it OK if we don't talk today? Or you need to chat about something?"

1 - Is it ok to omit it? If not, why?

Furthermore, regarding the same sentence, what is more appropriate? Anything or something?

"Is it OK if we don't talk today? Or do you need to chat about anything?"

would be better?

2 - Any change of meaning? Or tone? Or grammatical problem?


texts: What's the difference between "Reaching For The Goal" and "Reaching To The Goal"?

texts: I'm asked to make a title for an article that's basically boiled down into either "Reaching For The Goal" or "Reaching To The Goal". I don't know what's the difference of them. I tried to google it, and "Reaching For The Goal" gets 5 million hits while "Reaching To The Goal" only gets 50 hits. So I guess "Reaching For The Goal" is more commonly used? But I still feel these two phrase interchangeably and both sounds right to me. Which one I should actually use?


texts:
She's had a number of roles in small American movies.

To my surprise "In small American movies" only had 2 hits on Google. The same with "In smaller American movies". So my question is, is "small" not a natural choice of adjective here? Is another one prefered? Thank you in advance.


texts:
There are three sentences cited from the website http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/object.htm:

You saw whom?
You gave whom the book?
You wrote about whom?

I am wondering whether they are grammatical. Shouldn't we say "Whom did you see? Whom did you give the book?  Whom did you write about?"


texts: What could two sections in my thesis be named instead of "current functionality" and "proposed functionaliy"?

texts:
My supervisor does not like names of two chapters in my thesis (for whatever reason). My thesis is focused on output data management from web processing services (just to add some context). These names are:

1) Current Functionality

In this chapter I talk about two options that clients can choose from currently.

2) Proposed Functionality

Here, I talk about a third, new option. Development of this new option was the main objective of my thesis.

I have been thinking about it for several days now but I can't think of anything better. And since I am not a native speaker, my vocabulary is limited. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome.


texts: "I couldn't find XXX" and "I didn't find XXX" which is better?

texts:
We communicate via email. He told me to get something under an address. But I can't find it under that location.

How would I say?

  I didn't find it.

-

  I couldn't find it.


texts: Is this right to say ' it feels like so cozy?'

texts: Actually once my friend was trying on some dresses and for one dress she used this sentence. Is this correct grammatically?


texts: Meaning of "She wheedled her mother into buying John a mink coat"?

texts:
What does "She wheedled her mother into buying John a mink coat" mean?

Does it mean "She wheedled her mother and her mother bought a mink coat and her mother gave John a mink coat" or "She wheedled her mother and her mother bought a mink coat from John"?


texts:
Is the usage of transfer/transport oxygen in the following sentence correct?

Exercise is good for your mind as well, since it allows your body to transfer oxygen to you brain more efficiently.
Exercise is good for your mind as well, since it allows your body to transport oxygen to you brain more efficiently.


texts: Is "to" the right preposition in "Deregulation facilitated the process of prospective immigrants to move to China."?

texts:
Deregulation facilitated the process of prospective immigrants to move
to China.

I am thinking "of moving" is correct, but I am not sure if it can be worded this way to be honest.
Another way of putting it would be:

Deregulation facilitated the process of prospective immigrants moving
to China.


texts: The meaning difference between "on course" and "on track"

texts: I imagine the noun "course" implies a smooth and well-maintained road but the noun "track" implies a rough road and not really maintained. But some dictionary says "on course" and "on track" both are used as "likely to achieve something". Is there any difference between "on course" and "on track" in the condition of the path they take.


texts: Difference between all the "that" in this sentence?

texts:
I want to know the meaning all the "that" in this sentence. Are they all the same?

"He says he told the truth that the company misled consumers about the highly addictive nature of nicotine, that it ignored research indicating that some of the additives used to improve flavor caused cancer and that it had hid documents that could be used against the company in lawsuits brought by sick or dying smokers."

Source: Salter, C. (2009 April) Jeffery Wigand: The Whistle Blower.


texts: Is there any word for describing something that is about time?

texts:
Is there any word for describing something that is about time ?

For example," ... you can not do that either for financial reasons or [something about time] reasons"


texts:
This passage is from The Ferryman (jez Butterworth) What "Herberts" means?

MAGENNIS. When I was a kid we used to go out to my grandfather’s place
down in Fermanagh there, and help with the harvest. It was good craic.
Got us out the smoke. Out in the fresh air. Harvest time’s a fine time of
the year, so it is.
Pause.
Well, I’ll get straight to it. (Beat.) Three days ago, there’s two turf-cutters
cutting turf in County Louth, just across the border there, when they come
across a body in the bog. (Beat.) Now they’ve read the stories in the press
about prehistoric finds, your Stoneyisland Man, your Tollund Man there,
two thousand years old, and how the people that find them become
famous. They’re hatching all these dreams, TV interviews, prize from the
National Museum and whatnot, when one of ’em spots that your man’s
wearing a pair of Gola trainers. A Timex wristwatch. Brown corduroys.
(Beat.) So they rummage through his pockets and they find his car keys.
His last pay packet from December 1971. Some Polos. A betting slip
signed on the back by Georgie Best. A picture of his wee’un. (Beat.) So
your two Herberts there call the Garda, and they run a quick check of
your man’s dental records, and they come up with a name.


texts:
Someone returned home from a travel and said:

  "They sure worked me!"

What does "work somebody" mean? Or what can this sentence possibly convey?


texts:
A list of companies  are displayed.
A list of companies is displayed.

Please let me know whether first or second sentence is correct.


texts:
She shifted in her chair, making it creak

Why it is wrong to use past tense after making (i.e., making it creaked)?

Because 'shifted' is past tense, I wonder why I can't use past tense after 'making'.


texts: Is 'some other time's' expression correct?

texts:
Let's say my friend is reading a book or an article and wants to know how old it is,  assuming there is no date printed on it.

Say he asks

  Is this last year's?

I reply

  No it is some other time's, it is definitely not last year's.

Is some other time's correct here in this expression? It sounds a bit odd to me. If it is not, can you please suggest an alternate expression.


texts: What *one too many* means in "you've read one too many stories"

texts:
I think you've read one too many Billy Mumphrey stories.

The way I see it making sense is if one means alone, single-handedly.


texts: Difference between two Why...? questions

texts:
What is the difference between these two questions:

  Why Sweden makes the best music?
  Why does Sweden make the best music?

I suppose there is no difference and one of these is just incorrect. Am I right?


texts:
Source: 20 detained in plot to assassinate Chechen leader Kadyrov

Example:

  “Even though the detained considered themselves supporters of the Islamic State, they did not have even remote understanding about the person of the extremist leader Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi. They had their brains polluted by some undereducated so-called imam and they were taught to hate the head of the Chechen Republic as the main enemy of the Wahhabi ideology,” Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram account, which he uses as his main tool for communication with the public.

How exactly do you understand that? Give examples, please.


texts: What does "of continuing scientifc utility" mean exactly?

texts:
Tragically, the specimens still missing as a result of the theft are vanishingly unlikely to be in a physical state, or attached to data, that would make them of continuing scientific utility. (source)

My understanding of the sentence is the author is saying that the specimens would not be of continuing scientific use. Google shows no authoritative sources for "of utility." Is this an idiomatic expression?


texts:
What is "Wrong question" short for? "A wrong question" or "The wrong question" or not short at all?

The next is "The right question".

"House of Cards" S01E01 00:47:06


texts: "To get + adjective" vs "to become + adjective"

texts:
Do the following sentences mean the same?

I was becoming fat.
I was starting to get fat.
I was getting fat.


texts:
Is the sentence below correct? Any ambiguity?

  I conclude that whether the internet supports everyone to get together and keep company or not, depends on why and how each one of us uses it.

Should a comma needed before 'or not' ? Any other punctuation mistakes?
Also is it a good sentence? (I mean does the sentence seem long or difficult to understand?


texts: when to use "will" and "may" in a sentence.

texts:
Should I use "will" or "may" in the following sentence:

  I'm not planning on leaving the country any time soon, but you just don't know when a passport may/will come in handy"?

One issue raised about the sentence was the usage of "may". Some people suggest I replace it with "will". I was wondering if the present construction is acceptable.


texts: What is the definition of "in and of..."

texts:
What does "in and of..." mean in the sentence below?

  While resource scarcity in and of itself is not considered a major factor in igniting conflict...

How is it different if I just change it to "of" only?

  While resource scarcity of itself is not considered a major factor in igniting conflict.

What should I call this grouping of words ("in and of")? Are there anymore words that are used similarly?


texts:
Sator: You make your way there. I want Volkov on your team.
Protagonist: No. I spring the material. You pay me off. Your wife does
the exchange.

What does "spring" mean here?
Source: Christopher Nolan's movie Tenet (2020)


texts:
I have a question about counting numbers and sizes. Examples I've thought of are when you are ordering food at a fast food restaurant.

If I want to order #6 on the menu, which should I say?

  Can I have three number sixes?
  I'll have three of number six?
  I'll have three of number sixes?

When they ask how many drinks I want, how should I answer?

  I'll have three larges-
  I'll have three large-

"Larges" sound so awkward, but it feels like I should be using plural here.

Can you count colors? Do you say "I bought two reds" or "I bought two of the reds"?


texts: What does nuance of "should" in this situation

texts:
I learn english and have difficult time to understand "should" nuance in english.
In my language there is many ways to describe give suggestions and advice and nuance is all different,nice way or pushy way.

I would like to know nuance "You should eat now"
also "you should buy milk" when im just thinking buying milk but not sure yet.

In my language we will say How about eat now? this nuance is completely doesn't care what I feel. just asking hearer wants to do or not.
other one is "as my opinion it would be better if you eat now because if you won't,you will be late to eat"
This is more focusing on speakers thought."i think this way so isn't better to do that?"
so sounds pushy in my culture.but in western culture seems more direct to tell thoughts.

so i wanted to know which nuance is correct.
Is it depends on context and tone? i heard english sometimes change nuance depends on tone and context.

maybe "you should eat now" is like "i think it would be better if you eat now because getting late and so on"
and "you should buy the milk" can be "how about buying the milk?(just your decision) also "I think it would be better to buy that!if you won't,you'll regret!"???


texts:
Source: Doctrine of graduated escalation - (The Hindu)
What is meant by the bold part here

Every time a Pakistani leader wishes to build better ties with New Delhi, his effort is undermined by the military masterminding a serious cross-border attack or terror strike. Indeed, it was during Mr. Sharif’s previous stint in office that a major Indian peace initiative — as symbolised by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s bus diplomacy — collapsed spectacularly, with the bus itself getting hijacked allegorically to Kargil, triggering a war.
(Kargil is a place where India-Pakistan war of 1999 was fought)

I looked up a dictionary but I can't understand its meaning here. Please explain to me.
Thank you.


texts:
The original sentence is from website

A current-carrying wire in a magnetic field must therefore experience a force due to the field

In this case, I think "due to" emphasises the noun "a force"
However It can also modify the verb "experience" if we replace "due to" with "because of"
Can I use these prepositional phrases interchangeably because they have almost the same meaning?


texts:
I need someone to answer this question to me. For a non-native English speaker to understand this structure is so confusing:

  Prices are down [Los precios han bajado]

  Prices are up [Los precios han subido]

Why if we are writing a statement down using a continuous tense structure (to be) this one acquires a perfect tense meaning (to have done) on translating into Spanish?


texts: Can I use many relative pronouns in one sentence?

texts:
I learned how to use one relative pronoun in a sentence.

Ex: The zoo where you can find animals is amazing.

Can I use two or more relative pronouns?

Ex: The zoo which is not expensive and where you can find animals is amazing.

If the previous sentence is correct and I need to add more relative pronounce. Do I have to repeat the word "And" ?

I'm not asking about the grammar point of view. I'm asking about how to sound like a native English speaker.


texts: "The matter may be kindly taken up" and "The matter may kindly be taken up". Which is correct?

texts:
"The matter may be kindly taken up"

vs.

  "The matter may kindly be taken up".

Which is correct?


texts:
I've seen the phrase "A curiosity about the incident."

I do understand the curisosity has to do with the incident, but how can curiosity be countable in the first place?

Can I also say

  a hatred against his rival

which I think gives a way to

  hatreds against his rival

If so, is emotion and feeling countable?

When I say "I have emotion", is it different from "I have an emotion"?


texts: I want to know whether the use of 'shut up' (ex. Okay. I'll shut up) is appropriate when you have to make an apology statement officially.


texts: We can say really big, and it makes the thing we're talking about bigger than the usual big. Is there a way of saying not so big?

texts:
But I don't want to be saying "It is not that big" -> it is bigger, but smaller than the usual

I want to know if there is a work of the same type as "really" that decreses the ammount of "bigness" (that's probably not a word).

For example:
That is a really big midget - almost normal sized.

That is a ____ big person - a big person that is almost normal, but still bigger than the usual.

Keep in mind that I just want to know if there is a word that we can put before the adjective "big" in order to make it more or less "intensive". I'm not looking for an alternative to what I'm trying to say.


texts: Is "trees of green" same as "green trees"?

texts:
For example in the song "What A Wonderful World", Louis Armstrong says:

  I see trees of green, red roses, too, I see them bloom, for me and
  you. And I think to myself, What a wonderful world.

That was always a question for me.


texts: What is the meaning of "you can always tell a Harvard man"

texts: It seems that there is a story behind the sentence "you can always tell a Harvard man" and since I do not know the story, I do not understand why and where people use it.


texts: “doing something" vs "by doing something"

texts:
Which is the correct form?

I displayed financial skills by creating the firm's budget.
I displayed financial skills creating the firm's budget.

Maybe "while" can work too?


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

texts:
Though absolute justice being/be unattainable, as much justice as we need for all practical use is attainable by all those who make it their aim. (Ruskin, Unto this Last (1862))

which one?

why?

also,what does this sentence mean?

source:http://marker.to/oNVg4m

A quote from the text of the book hyperlinked in the Wikipedia article:

  Absolute justice is indeed no more attainable than absolute truth; but the righteous man is distinguished from the unrighteous by his desire and hope of justice, as the true man from the false by his desire and hope of truth. And 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.


texts:
I'm trying to understand the exact meaning of this sentences, would you help me out please?

  One of the villagers gave bananas to two of the natives, wary of approaching him, as they quickly grabbed the fruit and retreated out of arm’s reach.

Source


texts:
1- The living room, the biggest room in the house, looks out on to a
  beautiful garden.

  2-  We will be rebaptizing you, my most loyal followers.

Can I rewrite them as in:

  1a- The living room, which is the biggest room in the house,
  looks out on to a beautiful garden.

  2a- We will be rebaptizing you, who are my most loyal followers

If I can write these versions above, why I can not use this sentence:

  3a- It is such a weird feeling, which is to wear her jacket.

( 3- This versions is okay I suppose: "It is such a weird feeling, wearing her jacket" )


texts: in spite of everyone playing or in spite of playing

texts:
1.In spite of everyone playing well, we lost the game.

  2.In spite of playing well, we lost the game.

Which is better? I prefer 2#. I think "everyone" and "we" are the same in this sentence.


texts: Both physical and mental strength(s) is/ are

texts:
I know strength is an uncountable noun. But if I want to say:

Both physical and mental strength(s) is/are important.

As I use both here, I’m not sure whether it is is or are that can be used in this case.


texts:
In this case the threat of the Zoological Gardens authorities that if
  the men "came out" the animals should come out also had intensified
  and precipitated the crisis. The imminent prospect of the larger
  carnivores, to say nothing of rhinoceroses and bull bison, roaming at
  large and unfed in the heart of London, was not one which permitted of
  prolonged conferences. The Government of the day, which from its
  tendency to be a few hours behind the course of events had been
  nicknamed the Government of the afternoon, was obliged to intervene
  with promptitude and decision.

  from The Unkindest Blow, a short story by Saki

Are "conferences" the Zoological Gardens authorities' or the Government's?


texts: 'In' the past few years Vs 'Over' the past few years

texts:
Which preposition goes better with the below statement?

1: In the past few years I have learnt a lot about super cars.

2: Over the past few years I have learnt a lot about super cars.


texts:
I came across this sentence somewhere:

This dictionary took three years to complete.

Clearly, it means '[...] took three years to be completed'.
Is this sentence correct? And if so, how can the use of non-passive voice be explained? I looked in several dictionaries but I couldn't find an intransitive form for 'complete'. Is 'complete' an ergative verb?
Which form is more common?


texts: Do both these sentences mean the same thing, are they grammatically correct?

texts:
He's been looking for Jenny longer than it took me to build this empire.

  He's been looking for Jenny longer than how long it took me to build this empire.

Are both these sentences grammatically correct?
Do they mean the same thing?


texts: Does "changes" in this context mean changes to the license or to product?

texts:
In the CC-BY-ND human readable summary, there is the sentence

  Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license , and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

(Emphasis mine)

I assume they want to express that it has to be indicated that changes to the license must be indicated. For me, when first reading the license, it seemed that I have to indicate whether or not I made changes to the product, which is a bit confusing, because ND means that you're not allowed to make changes.

Does the comma make the difference in this case?


texts: What is the meaning of "Won't I/we" in questions?

texts:
I understand that won't in negative declarative sentences expresses unwillingness or a refusal.

e.g. I won't leave until I've seen the manager.

So, what does won't express in negative interrogative sentences with first person subjects? For example:

Won't I leave?

Won't we go?

QUESTION: What is the meaning of "won't" in the above two examples, and how do the above two examples differ in meaning from their positive counterparts "Will/Shall I leave?" and "Will/Shall we go?" ?


texts: "On the other hand" vs. "On the other side"

texts:
Consider this scenario:

There are two phases A and B (e.g water on one side and oil on the other side).

I wrote:

  Compared with the neat IL/water, the amount of water increased from 0.2 to about 0.24 ml in the IL phase.  On the other side/hand, the amount of IL increased, from x to y in the water phase.

Can I use "on the other hand" here? I guess "No"

Can I use "on the other side"? Are there other alternatives for such cases? or maybe "from the other side"?


texts:
Coach tells to kids, who tried to attack him:

  Coach: Now, wake up, lads. Life's quick, you're slow. Life's hard on a
  bone top.

What does it mean , "on a bone top"?

I find these line in The Gentlemen 2019


texts: Introductory phrase describing the fact that the speaker and some others were surprised

texts:
To my biggest surprise and that of the others, he suddenly started
  speaking fluently in Japanese.

or

  To my and others' biggest surprise, he suddenly started
  speaking fluently in Japanese.

or

  To the biggest surprise of mine and of others', he suddenly started
  speaking fluently in Japanese.

or what?


texts: "Is it proved that ...?" vs. "Has it been proven that ...?"

texts:
Searching The New York Times, I found 22,100 results for "is it proved" and, therefore, I argue that that phrase is likely correct English.

But on History Stack Exchange a user edited the following sentence, written by me, "Is it proved that the United States didn't have a third atomic bomb to drop over Japan?" transforming it into this other sentence, "Has it been proven that the United States didn't have a third atomic bomb to drop over Japan?"

The user has left this comment "... corrected minor errors with spelling and grammar."

In reference to the context where those sentences had been written, can anybody explain why the sentence I wrote is wrong and, particularly, why the proofread version is correct or more appropriate in comparison with mine?


texts:
Is this correct?
I would buy it if it actually does what it is supposed to do?
Should we replace this sentence with this? If so, please explain.
I would buy it if it actually did what it was supposed to do?
The second sounds a bit strange to me because it's conditional and didn't actually happen but I also heard we need to use past tense in conditional sentences.
We typically would politely make suggests using "would."
Examples: I would go ahead and try it this way.


texts: interact (with/on) each other difference

texts:
Then, when we decide something and act, how do rationale and emotion interact with/on each other?

Which is better and why?


texts: Can I use "since" at the beginning of a sentence when I want to refer to a particular time?

texts:
I know that I can use "since" at the beginning when I want to mean "because". Can I do the same when I want to refer to a time-moment? I feel like if I use "since" at the beginning of a sentence, people can think that I mean "because" despite the fact that I don't mean "because". For example if I say "Since I came back home, I feel happy", I think that people can think that I meant "I feel happy because I came back home" despite the fact that I meant "Since the time I came back home...". I know that I can use the emphasized version "ever since" at the beginning of a sentence by the way. Can I do the same with "since"? Or if I use it at the beginning, do I have to use the phrase "the time" after it like "Since the time I did.." instead of "Since I did..."?

I actually just noticed that the meaning of "since" can be mistaken for "because" when it's in the middle of a sentence too. How can you native speakers differentiate the meanings?


texts: Hello, I'm so confused about this participial clause sentence

texts:
Many college students living on their own for the first time incur far too much debt.

i was thoughtfully thinking about this sentence to figure out if this sentence is restrictive or not, but i couldn't.
i thought the phrase after Many college students, living on their own for the first time, limits the meaning of Many college students because thought that if i delete that phrase from the sentence, the subject Many college students will be generalized like "Mostly, Many college students have too much debt," which is so uncertain. However, my English book says it is a nonrestrictive participial clause so you can convert it to

living on their own for the first time, many college students incur far too much debt.

so confused...any comments would be appreciated thank you :)


texts:
I guess there are some situations where "to" is the best choice, although I can't describe what kind of that situation is.

  There are three layers to the matplotlib API. src

  There are three layers to the mandala... src

In these situations, it does not sound natural to substitute "in" for "to". Is my understanding correct?

In contrast, in the following situations, "in" seems more natural than "to"

A post on basketball says

  There are 4 rounds to the playoffs: The divisional/first round, the Conference Semi-finals, the Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals.

I guess the word "to" there means

  Composing; constituting

source: American Heritage® Dictionary

Therefore, I guess the first part of that quotation could be written as

  the playoffs consist of 4 rounds

With that meaning of "to", does the following sound natural to native English speakers?

  There are nine regulation innings to a baseball game

adapted from wikipedia

more examples

  There are 3 parts to the IELTS Speaking section. src


texts:
I've seen the pattern A, if not B lots of times, though I don't really understand its usage. So, I googled it a bit just now.
Neither Cambridge Dictionary nor Merriam-Webster gives what I need while Lexico(Oxford) provides a close one.

hundreds if not thousands of germs

Where "if not" means "perhaps even".
Is the following sentence clear and natural? Am I using the pattern A, if not B correctly? Is there a term to refer to it?

Most, if not all, of the auxiliary verbs have two possible pronunciations, weak form and stressed/strong form.

In which, A = most and B = all.


texts: 'WiFi is not connecting' or 'WiFi is not getting connected'?

texts:
Suppose I want to use internet on my phone via WiFi. I turn on Wifi in my phone. But phone is not getting connected to WiFi. So, I just want to tell this to my friend. Which one of the are following are correct to say?

WiFi is not connecting.
WiFi is not getting connected.
WiFi is not being connected.

Thanks.


texts: What is the difference: "would" vs "will"

texts:
Would you please to explain the differences?

  For example, this would be the exception to throw if the caller
  attempted to use some object before it had been properly initialized.

  For example, this will be the exception to throw if the caller
  attempted to use some object before it had been properly initialized.


texts: Does the lip shape change when pronouncing schwa for some syllables?

texts:
For instance in the word literature /ˈlɪtərəʧər/, does the lip shape change for each syllable with schwa, so they become more as if we were pronouncing /e/, /æ/ and /u/ respectively, or some other vowel sound?

Or, on the contrary, is the lip shape always the same?

In the case of the latter being affirmative, I'd also like to know why some syllables with schwa seem to sound closer to other vowels?


texts: at the remove of nearly seventy years - should "even" be inserted at the front?

texts:
But, at the remove of nearly seventy years—in an age of image profusion and instantly visible atrocities—the first five reels of the so-called Hitchcock film are of historical significance, both in the struggle to confront the discovery of the Nazi atrocities, and, of course, in the politics of the postwar era.
  Source

Is it more accurate to add "even" before "at the remove of...?"


texts:
For similar words, the antonym is obtained by simply substitute the substring up with down like in the following:

upgrade - downgrade
upload - download

What about update? I searched for something like downdate but it has very few occurrences and I'm not sure if it is only a rare used word or a wrong one.

A bit of context

The use is related to computer specific context. If I think of update's meaning as up-to-the-current-date, then the word that I need to use should have the meaning of up-to-the-past-date. As suggested in an answer, good candidates can be rollback, reverting and restoring. However, all of them suggest the idea of modify something in order to make it equal to a past state. In my case it's a bit different. It's a chunk of code that works well with current version of some programming language API but since it needs to be run with an older version I modified it to be compatible with this older version. Maybe in this case I could just say 'updated to the previous API version' but I wonder if the use of downdate is correct.


texts: Which article to use before a noun that is being repeated in a sentence?

texts:
Should I use a definite or indefinite article before a noun that is being repeated in a sentence?
For example, should I use "the" or "a" in the following sentence before the second word "attempt"?

She is always attuned to the rigorous perception and memorization of
the information being taught, while not subjecting it to any attempt of
critical analysis, much less the attempt of discussing it.

Or should I just refrain from using any article there?


texts: what does "in extent" in this sentence mean?

texts:
What does the following sentence mean, especially "in extent"

  Two final reasons for a feature-based approach arise from its inherent discretization of the environment. First,
  Features are localized in extent, and feature size can be matched to
  sensor footprint.

I know the meaning of extent but I'm not able to comprehend its meaning in the aforementioned sentence. Features here mean landmarks or physical objects in the field of mapping and navigation (e.g. a tree).


texts: What tense should we use for this context?

texts:
The scenario:
We are outside of governmental office, and it's closed now. But it's understood that they're going to open it some-when soon but it's not understood exactly when. On the wall, near to the door, there's a small piece of metal in which the working hours are written on it. Now my friend looked at it already and I want to ask him about the times that remains, but I can use it at least in three types of tenses (and combinations of them as well):

  How much time remains (or is left) till they open the office"?  -
  present simple.

  How much time remains (or is left) till they will open the
  office"? - future simple.

  How much time remains (or is left) till they're opening the
  office"? - present progressive

  How much time remains (or is left) till they're going to open the
  office?

Which of those should I use in the mentioned scenario?


texts:
DHT concentration with the Low Carb diet was 58% that of the CRPC-bearing mice on the Western diet.

I know a comparison is made, but I don't know if it is saying that the low carb diet was 58% more, or less, than the western diet.


texts: What is the meaning of "to engage in employment"?

texts: Does "employment" mean employing an employee as an employer or seeking a job as an employee (or could mean both?)


texts: Does the trick of replacing “who/whom” with “he/him” always work?

texts:
In many grammar books, whenever Who vs Whom comes up, you get the rule (who is used for to refer to the subject, whom is for the object or preposition) and then you get this supposedly handy tip:

  If you are confused about using who/whom, try substituting he/him or they/them to see which makes sense.
  If he/they makes sense, use who.
  If him/them makes sense, use whom.

  e.g. [Who/whom] do you serve? You serve him.
  Therefore: 'Whom do you serve' = CORRECT

Aren't there examples where this trick fails to work? Can you think of any?

I ran into this problem applying the trick to the question 'Who are you?'. I know, instinctively, that Who is correct, but if I were to use the trick, I would get it wrong:

[Who/whom] are you? You are him.
Therefore:  'Whom are you' = CORRECT

But this is obviously INCORRECT, so what gives? What am I doing wrong? What's the best way to remember how to correctly use Who/Whom


texts: What do they mean “ US Internal Revenue Service that gave it back 810 millions?

texts:
here is the context

  In the quarter ended in March, IBM’s revenues rose by 5.1 percent to $19.1 billion, and its gross profits were up by 6.1 percent to $8.25 billion. There were a whole bunch of things that affected the bottom line in the quarter, including a settlement of two audits by the US Internal Revenue Service that gave it back $810 million, but IBM then took $610 million in restructuring charges for unspecified layoffs. The company also took some charges – IBM’s chief financial officer, Jim Cavanaugh, did not say how much – that pushed its overall systems business into the red ink.

Why did US IRS gave 810 to IBM? and what do they mean by saying bottom line?


texts:
Is there a more idiomatic expression than "the more he becomes into x"? I was trying to form a sentence, but I couldn't find the right words. I know there's the expression "the more x he becomes" as in "the more human he becomes", but that expression doesn't work unless x is an adjective. So for some case you need to find an alternate expression and that's where "the more he becomes into x", but it doesn't sound idiomatic at all.

For example:

  The more a magician uses lycanthropy spells, the more he becomes into
  a werewolf.

How would you rephrase the sentence?


texts: can we use past simple with for the past two days

texts:
I  heard  some strange noises for the past two days after waking up and it scared me, I'm glad it did not happen today

if I consider that the strange noises are over and won't happen again

or

I have been hearing or have heard  some strange noises for the past two days after waking up and it has scared me, I'm glad it did not happen today

if I consider it may happen again

Am I right


texts: what is the meaning of ' games' in this sentence?

texts:
What is the meaning of ' games' in this sentence?

  "There are shelves at the top of my closet.  I keep games up there".

The topic of the conversation is a description of somebody's bedroom and I struggle to explain what "games" is present for.


texts: What should I say after "than" in this sentence?

texts:
One of the benefits of choosing to conduct a predictive validity study
  is the greater likelihood of having  more qualified and productive
  employees than ____.

After than should it be

A. concurrent validity study.

B. there is with concurrent validity study.

C. if concurrent validity study were to be chosen.

Those are my choices, if you know a better one, please tell me.


texts:
In which situations should I use the former and the latter? Or maybe the two mean the same (and maybe the "so" is redundant)?

Example sentence:

  Since you have low self-esteem he knew you'd be with him without a second thought. And you did (so).


texts:
Princess Diana would be 50 this month, if she were here now.
  Princess Diana would have been 50 this month, if she were here now.

Are both "would be" and "would have been" possible here?

If yes, is there any difference in the meaning?

If not, which one is correct and in what situation should the other be used?


texts: What is the difference between “home” and “house”?

texts:
Can you explain more?  I do not know when we can use them in the sentence.  Can we use them instead of each other?

  They have a beautiful home.
  They have a beautiful house.


texts:
what's the meaning of "sufficient time"

does it mean "in the long run" of "in overtime"?

Bulgarians could not even get a
permit to open up a school in areas where the population had joined the Exar-
chate, but given sufficient time, Bulgarian schools would prevail because they
offered better education


texts: What does it mean, "out of fresh water"?

texts:
Nimitz: That was Washington. They've intercepted several Japanese
  messages claiming that the target of their upcoming attack is out of
  fresh water.

It sounds very identical to idiom called "fresh out of something". I find this line in Midway 2019


texts: How can I ask someone to move closer to someone else on a couch so I can sit down?

texts:
Is there a phrasal verb with this meaning:
Let's say that there are two people sitting on a couch there's some space between them and there's also some space between one of the people and the edge of the couch how to do I ask that person to move closer to the other person so that there is enough space for me to sit on the couch by using a phrasal verb?


texts: "An animal and an animal" or "An animal and animal", which is correct?

texts:
"I am moving in with a dog and a cat"

versus

  "I am moving in with a dog and cat"

Which is correct?


texts: Can the word "help" be used as the example sentence below

texts: Does "thanks for making me feel like it's a help" make sense ?


texts: Is this past perfect tense put because of the previous tense?

texts:
He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at
  his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost
  finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the
  receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was
  being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there
  were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to
  think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd
  never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.
  There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset
  at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a
  sister like that... but all the same, those people in cloaks... (Harry
  Potter)

Does the past perfect tense ought to be put because of the previous past perfect tense? : I think if there’s not the tense before, ‘might’ alone, as a past tense, could express possibility of his thinking. So to speak, the previous sentence makes a kind of unfulfilled condition for the latter sentence – if he had seen the boy, he might have known the exact name.


texts: "Find Ally" hint in Uncharted 4 video game

texts:
When you are far from your current ally and he or she has something to say to you a hint "Find Ally" appears. I wonder why this hint is written the way it is. I personally find it very weird and unusual.

Shouldn't it be for instance "Find your ally"? Why there is no "an" or "your" in the hint and why "Ally" starts with a capital letter? This makes it look like someone's name but there is no character named Ally in the game.


texts: "moving forward" and "starting now" instead of "from now on"

texts:
A: I think we need to trust, moving forward, that decisions
  affecting the entire unit will not be made without  discussion. (A
  tells this to B because B did something by himself that affected the
  entire unit. So A is warning him right now.

What does marked phrase mean here? How does marked phrase modify the sentence? Is it a reduced clause or participle?

Can I just use "moving forward" or "starting now" instead of "from now on" ?

  a- You will report to me from now on.

  b- You will report to me, starting now. (Is it okay to leave that phrase, starting now,  like this?)

  c- You will report to me, moving forward. (Is it okay to leave that phrase, starting now,  like this?)


texts:
The spider’s legs bent in upon its body

I think: The spider's legs bent inward on top of its body not under its body. I found this sentence in Harry Potter
I want to know what this process looks like. (the way its legs are bent, the shape it gets into. Basically, What a native speaker would understand when he or she reads it)


texts: present perfect orr past simple for repeated actions that are finished

texts:
I have been on vacation in Paris for two weeks (ongoing action) I went or have been five times in the Eiffel Tower (I am sure I will not go another  time there during this vacation)

My vacation are not finished at the time of writing but I'm sure that I will not go another time to the Eiffel tower, would I use past simple or present perfect?

I think present perfect is a better choice


texts:
Does the past perfect in the following passage have a past event as
its anchor point?

  To be a good scientist, you have to be tolerant and patient when
  experiments or interpretations do not turn out as you had predicted.
  You must be able to stand high levels of frustration.

Also consider the following. Should "predict" or "had predicted" be used?

  Sometimes, things do not turn out the way you predict/had predicted.


texts:
What does the expression 'Shades off' mean?

The context is: 'I am nervous. Shades off!'

I have searched the definition in different dictionaries, but I could not find anything appropriate.  This phrase is taken from the movie "Battleship" (see subtitles - around 300), it is used two times.


texts:
What's the difference between

  "I've gone there three times today"

and

  "I've been there three times today"

?


texts: "Uprooting plants IS/ARE/HAD BEEN/WAS like uprooting your life."

texts:
Suppose we have to fill in the blank with a correct verb form:

Uprooting plants ________  like uprooting your life.
Options:
a) is
b) are
c) had been
d) was

I think that the answer ought to be a) since the verb will refer to the act of uprooting but the answer is given as b). Where am I going wrong?


texts: Is it natural to say "a content" when talking about a picture?

texts:
A guy described the following picture in this way

  The picture shows a beach, with many small
  boats in the water nearby.

That's good, at least to me.

And then he said

  Simple summaries like this make it easy to understand the general contents of the picture.

Where he used the word "contents".

Cambridge Dictionary gives some definitions

  the articles or parts contained in a magazine or book, with the number of the page they begin on

  the amount of a particular substance contained in something

  everything that is contained within something

I guess the last one fits with this situation, any object within the picture, the question is

is it natural to refer to boats or any boat in the picture as a content in the picture?


texts: Watching the animation or viewing the animation

texts:
I know in the case of movies or TV "watching" is used, but I have consulted some animation tutorials and in the description they usually write "viewing the animation", which is the right one for this case?

Link


texts: About "The comparative, the comparative" expression

texts:
In my school days, I was taught the English sentence structure, "The comparative + Subject + Verb, the comparative + Subject + Verb."

In a certain software help document, I saw a sentence, "The lower the difference, the better the x will be..."

According to the sentence structure which I learnt at school (decades ago), the sentence would be "The lower the difference "is" (Verb), the better the x will be..."

Is it grammatically correct to omit this "is" (Verb)?


texts: It (is/has been) four years since our family has had a vacation

texts:
It is four years since our family has had a vacation.
It has been four years since our family has had a vacation.

What is the difference between these two sentences? And why is sentence 1 even correct, since we usually use the construction "has been+since/for"? I checked a similar question on this site, but that question doesn't tell the difference and doesn't tell why #1 is correct.


texts:
I was watching a video and announcer said this:

  "...over the weekend the LA Lakers gave away almost everything to the
  New Orleans Pelicans, the sole reason being to bring Anthony
  Davis to the west coast and give Lebron James all the tools he needed
  to win a championship."

I think this is the proper way to write it down.

Can I rewrite this sentence as:

  1a- ...over the weekend the LA Lakers gave away almost everything to
  the New Orleans Pelicans. The sole reason being to bring Anthony
  Davis to the west coast and give Lebron James all the tools he needed
  to win a championship."


texts:
His best. Time may show it to be the best single piece of any of us, I mean his and my contemporaries. This time, he discovered God, a Creator. Until now, his men and women had made themselves, shaped themselves out of their own clay; their victories and defeats were at the hands of each other, just to prove to themselves or one another how tough they could be. But this time, he wrote about pity: about something somewhere that made them all: the old man who had to catch the fish and then lose it, the fish that had to be caught and then lost, the sharks which had to rob the old man of his fish; made them all and loved them all and pitied them all. It’s all right. Praise God that whatever made and loves and pities Hemingway and me kept him from touching it any further.
-William Faulkner’s Review of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea

What does he want to say with this sentence?


texts: Difference between "mortals" and "the mortals" in a text where "the" doesn't seem to be referring to specific ones

texts:
Here is a tale from a video game. Sheogorath is a god, a so-called Daedric Prince, whose sphere is Madness, and whose motives are unknowable.

  In the earliest of days, in a time when the world was still raw, Sheogorath decided to walk amongst the mortals. He donned his guise of Gentleman With a Cane, and moved from place to place without being recognized. After eleven days and eleven nights, Sheogorath decided that life among mortals was even more boring than his otherworldly existence.

  "What can I do to make their lives more interesting?" he said to himself. At that same moment, a young woman nearby commented wistfully to herself, "The sounds of the birds are so beautiful."

  Sheogorath silently agreed with her. Mortals could not make the beautiful and inspired calls of birds. Their voices were wretched and mundane. He could not change the nature of mortals, for that was the purview of other Daedric Princes. However, he could give them tools to make beautiful sounds.

  Sheogorath took hold of the petulant woman and ripped her asunder. From her tendons he made lutes. From her skull and arm bones he made a drum. From her bones he made flutes. He presented these gifts to the mortals, and thus Music was born.

I don't see why the is being used in those two sentences. The definite article doesn't seem to be describing any specific mortals.

There was an answer about half a month ago:

    I was in the N.Y. Library. I was reading the books there, and one book interested me.

  This sentence treats "the books" as a single fixture in the New York Library. That doesn't make sense if you're reading them; it makes sense in a context like this:

    The yearly cost to insure the books in the New York Library is over a million dollars.

As in the above example, is the article in my text referring to all mortals as a single entity (i.e. not individually)?


texts:
Just would like to know if I can say

because of the cov19? my shop has been closing down for two days

I think it is not possible to use the continuous because what we emphasize here is also the result but I am not sure


texts: 'in control of' and 'in the control of' are different?

texts:
Q1. My dictionary says that "The city is in the control of enemy force" means "The city is controlled by enemy force." Then, "The situation is in the control of the police." means "The situation is controlled by the police"?
Q2. What about this?
"The police is in the control of the situation" means "The police is controlled by the situation"? While "The police is in control of the situation" means "The situation is controlled by the police"?
Q3. I mean "be in the control of ~" and "be in control of ~" are different meaning?


texts:
I was describing the weather conditions. I used the following sentence:

  The clouds were floated away by the wind.It was a fully clear sky.

I checked this sentence on Grammarly, which suggested me that this sentence should be:

  The clouds were floated away by the wind. It was a full clear sky.

I think "fully" is more appropriate here, as it shows a degree of completeness. Since sky can be partially clear as well. Need suggestion for the suitable sentence out of two aforementioned ones.


texts: Explain the verb tense in "All that glitters is not gold"

texts:
I am confused by the maxim All that glitters is not gold.

May I know why the word is  is used there?

In my known according the English grammar glitters is plural, So after plural we add verb+s.

As in above example use auxiliary verb so why not are – why is?


texts:
I would like to know if the following expressions can be used interchangeably.

just in case/out of caution/for caution’s sake/for the sake of caution/ err on the side of caution.

a.  I took an umbrella just in case.

b.  I took an umbrella out of caution.

c.  I took an umbrella just for caution’s sake.

d.  I took an umbrella just for the sake of caution.

e.  I erred on the side of caution and took an umbrella.

Thanks


texts: Is it clear and natural to say "rehearse the IELTS test"?

texts:
This series of books contains some IELTS tests.

An ell post uses the phrase "rehearse the IELTS test" to refer to practice with tests in those books.
Is it clear and natural to use "rehearse" that way?
From Cambridge Dictionary

The musicians rehearsed (the symphony) for the concert.

In accordance with the usage from the example, should I say it like this?

Doing exercise to rehearse for the IELTS test.


texts:
A woman's boss invited her to attend some business dinner and she asked

  and I fit into this how?

Is it same with

  How do I fit into this?


texts: how do I interpret the sentence structure

texts:
During my first months on the job, Salinger remained a comfortably abstract concept. Then, in June, he called, anxious to speak to Phyllis Westberg, the company's president. My stomach lurched a little when I realized that it was Salinger, for real, on the other end of the phone.

As to the bold sentence above, I first interpreted it by regarding " anxious to speak to Phyllis Westberg" as a parenthesis elaborating on the emotional state of "he," and the main sentence is " he called the company's president."
But then I feel as if "the company's president" is an appositive of "Phyllis Westberg." While still " anxious to speak to Phyllis Westberg" is a parenthesis, the main sentence becomes " he called."


texts: Difference between 'measured with' and 'measured using'

texts:
This may be a silly question. In the sentence 'X was measured with a galvanometer', does the use of the word 'with' instead of 'using' convey the meaning that X was measured along with a galvanometer?

Which of course does not make sense, but to be correct should we not say 'X was measured using a galvanometer'? Or am I wrong and both usages are acceptable in this context? The use of 'with' instead of 'using is very common, as you can see. Which is why I feel this might be a silly question and that I might be nitpicking.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Could you please help me identify the subject of the sentence?

texts:
"Years of bitter dispute about whether to progress with the eradication led to a poll..."

I'm not sure whether "years" or "dispute" should be subject.


texts: Difference between the two words: "satisfactory" and "satisfiable"

texts:
Is there any difference between the two words - satisfactory and satisfiable? From Merriam-Webster,
satisfactory: giving satisfaction
satisfiable: capable of being satisfied
There is no example sentence or phrase for satisfiable in Merriam-Webster.


texts: We prove or we will prove ...in mathematical papers

texts:
I often read in published mathematics papers

  We prove the claim as follows.

I am wondering why mathematicians use "prove" instead of "will prove"?
(I sometimes read papers using "will prove but they seems less popular.)

Is this because everything is written in a paper, so there is no "future" involved?


texts: Which word – 'leap, spring, bound (etc)' – is most appropriate for a single jump?

texts:
In one leap, she sprang up on her desk, nimble like a cat.
In one spring, she sprang up on her desk, nimble like a cat.
In one bound, she sprang up on her desk, nimble like a cat.

I'm trying to figure out which of these words is best to use, especially when I want to emphasize that it's taking just one step to get from the floor to the desk. Are they all essentially the same in that regard, or would any of these words not be good to use in this context?


texts: How to change "He told me that he has locked the door" to a simple sentence?

texts:
He told me that he has locked the door.

How can this be rewritten as a simple sentence? A simple sentence is one that consists of just one independent clause.
Can it be written as

He told me to have locked the door.

In this sentence, the actual agent (doer of action), which is 'he' here, is not just beside the Infinitive. So I think it does not work.


texts: Use of "will be" and "shall be" in the speech "I Have a Dream"

texts:
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted .every hill and mountain shall be made low , the rough places  will be made plains , and the crooked places will be made straight , and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed , and all flesh shall see it together.

Could someone help me in understanding why did the speaker  not use "shall be" instead of "will be" in the bold area; although, in all lines he used "shall be" even when "will be" should be used.


texts: Is this 'interfering' an adjective or a verb?

texts:
A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe
  and a frown.
      "You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"
      "I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy -- he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."
      Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.

  –– Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

It’s easy for me to read ‘interfering’ as a predicative complement, but its adjective meaning is found only in front of noun phrases. Is it a predicative or a continuous aspect?


texts: Difference between "you're such a" and "you're a"

texts:
I wonder if my example below is correct or if it needs to say "you're such a" instead of just "you're a" of course I wanted it to sound funny as a joke not as a real thing.

My friend: "You know me du!"

Me: I kinda do dawg, you're a hustler!"

Further info. I read on a web page that "such" can be followed by adjective + noun, judgemental noun or just plain noun, but I don't know if I really need the use of "such" for a statement such as my example. Below is the link for the webpage, mentioned before.

Link: http://www.curso-ingles.com/aprender/cursos/nivel-avanzado/adjectives-and-adverbs/so-vs-such


texts: A vietnamese woman in a TV show asked a candidate 'what do you feel right now?'. I wonder what this sentence means. I think she should have asked 'how do you feel right now' instead but some people say these two sentences have the same meaning while some say the first sentence is used for asking about the state of health. I need some explanations from native speakers.


texts: Informal question construction: "Anyone know what...", "Everyone finished?"

texts:
I've encountered this slight problem with an informal sentence:

  Anyone know what a serrated knife is?

I thought the sentence was incorrect - there's no ·s for the third person singular. However, my teacher informed me that it might actually be correct, similarly as in the sentence "Everyone finished?".

I've been trying to find some explanation for this; however, I haven't really been successful.


texts:
....... the pathogenicity of Beauveria spp. against N. lugens.
........biocontrol agents against brown planthopper

*The context is microbiology.

I'm always confused in using against properly. Can I just use on for those sentences?


texts:
I'm reading an article at Quora and one answer provides the text quoted below.

  If you’re dining in a formal Japanese restaurant, they serve rice last, after everything else. Dessert is…almost nonexistent. The set meals (which are expensive, costing around 20,000 to 30,000 yen on the average) also don’t include the usual dishes that we see in Japanese restaurants in other countries (you know, tempura, gyoza, gyudon, tonkatsu). Sashimi is always a staple.

I can't figure out what a staple is in this context. Nor can I judge if it means that there is or there is not any sashimi to be found. The whole sentence seems to me a bit awkwardly styled in this paragraph.

Am I missing something and if so what?


texts:
Is there any difference between saying

  I'll be always using it.

or

  I'll always be using it.

?


texts:
Could someone explain which one is the correct answer and why

He hasn’t played since he ……… the accident.

a) had b) has had c) has c) had had

thanks


texts: What's the meaning of the phrase "employs an original approach"?

texts:
The vocabulary builder employs an original approach that take into account how many people learn and remember.

What does the word 'employ' mean in 'employs an original approach'? And what's the meaning of this phrase?


texts:
The dog is given food once a day \ once in a day.

  We get a day off a week \ in a week.

Thank you.


texts: the difference between A, B, C, and D - saying it concisely

texts:
I want to write this sentence in shorter form

  I want to see the differences between the decisions made in scenario
  A, the decisions made in scenario B, the decisions made in scenario C,
  the decisions made in scenario D.

How should I write that without losing any meaning?

Thank you


texts:
I wonder can I say

  "It's a heat"

meaning

  "It's a very hot weather"

or

  "it's a very high temperature"

I know there should be an article, but I didn't encounter example with the indefinite article before the word "heat".


texts:
I am reading 'Black Beauty' by Anna Sewell. (1877)

What would be the meaning of 'came in warm' in the below paragraph?

  "Jerry kept us very clean, and gave us as much change of food as he
  could, and always plenty of it; and not only that, but he always gave us
  plenty of clean fresh water, which he allowed to stand by us both night
  and day, except of course when we came in warm. Some people say that a
  horse ought not to drink all he likes; but I know if we are allowed to
  drink when we want it we drink only a little at a time, and it does us
  a great deal more good than swallowing down half a bucketful at a time,
  because we have been left without till we are thirsty and miserable."

Is it an expression no longer in use?

I've never come across this kind phrase in modern English.


texts: What structure is "if you drank a bottle of vodka yesterday, you should be feeling sick today"?

texts:
"If you drank a bottle of vodka yesterday, you should be feeling sick today". (Note: Person saying this has no idea what exactly happened yesterday).

Question No 1: Is this sentence grammatically correct?

Question No 2: Is this Conditional? If yes, which one? If no, which structure is it then?


texts: Correct uses of Perfect continuous Tense

texts:
Between them which one is right?

  Indira Banerjee who was the Chief Justice of Madras, has recently been elevated to Apex Court.
  Indira Banerjee who was the Chief Justice of Madras, had recently been elevated to Apex Court.


texts: Splitting the infinitive particle with the verb...is it lawful?

texts: I was taught that the infinitive particle "to" cannot be separated from the verb under no circumstances, but my friend (a Canadian) told me that she would prefer "I try to never tell a lie" over "I try never to tell a lie". Is it correct to squeeze anything in the middle?


texts:
a. They were drinking wine and beer.

b. They were drinking wine or beer.

Can one use (a) if some were wine and the others beer?

Can (b) used in that case?

Does (a) necessarily imply that all the guests drank both wine and beer?

Which would be used if some of the guests only drank wine, some only drank beer and a third group drank both wine and beer?


texts: "got our sleeping bags unrolled" vs "unrolled our sleeping bags"

texts:
Can you explain to me the ussage of "got our sleeping bags unrolled". The text in my book is:

  When we got our sleeping bags unrolled, I pulled out a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.

Can I say it without "got":

When we unrolled our sleeping bags, I pulled out a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.

What difference is for English people between "we got our sleeping bags unrolled" and "we unrolled our sleeping bags"?


texts: what does "one could shunt symbols around" mean?

texts:
I am reading Gödel's proof book. But there is sentences that i cannot understand.

"One of them "From a fixed set of axioms and a fixed set of typographical rules, one could shunt symbols around and produce new strings of symbols, called “theorems.”. "

Other is

"A couple of decades later, Gödel began to doubt this noble vision, and one day, while studying the extremely austere patterns of symbols in these volumes, he had a flash that those patterns were so much like number patterns that he could in fact replace each symbol by a number and reperceive all of Principia Mathematica not as symbol shunting but as number crunching (to borrow a modern term)."

I could not understand what the word "shunt" means. Also "number chrunching". Could you explain these phrases for me?


texts: What do native speakers think of word roots?

texts:
As the number of English vocabularies required by my English literature teacher is increasing, I am now confronting a great problem memorizing them in a short time. Simple words are okay to me, but it's especially difficult when I come across words with crazy suffixes and prefixes or with tricky interchangeable prefixes (such as proclaim, declaim, acclaim, reclaim, disclaim and exclaim).

Since I'm a clever guy (or I just made up :D), I found out a post somewhere written by a Chinese, which was upvoted to the top of the "English Learning" category, and therefore I read it carefully. This post greatly recommends folks to make use of word roots. The writer argues that it can help you spell it correctly, remember the accurate definition, and deal with multiple evolved meanings of a word.

Personally, most of my English vocabularies are remembered by rote memorization, which is, as I have experienced it in person, super inefficient. Since I am convinced by this post, I would like to change my out-of-date method into this new one and give it a shot. However, I would like to know more before I get started.

Thus, would you like to give me your perspective to this method and show off your personal way of English word memorization?

By the way, Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis was mentioned in that guy's post.

After reading such a number of reasonable, detailed and helpful answers, I ruminated and decided not to second (in fact, I did :D) any answer here to avoid leaving future confusion to visitors to this post. Every answer here is super delicious, and thus it's hard to judge a BEST one. And, I believe, everyone have his/her own ways of vocabularies acquisition so it depends. Am I right? o(^v^)o

At last, sincere thanks to everyone who generously answered this post and gave me their interesting perspectives. ;D


texts: what does "show up to" means in this sentence?

texts:
We can show up to and mine our emotions for their values without needing to listen to them. Just like I can show up to my son in his frustration with his baby sister.

I read above sentences in a ted talk.
Here is the link video source at 12:48.
I have searched for the meaning of phrasal verb "show up" in dictionaries,but it seems that there is no definition below suitable in the mentioned context.
Could anyone help me explain the meaning of "show up to" in these sentences?.


texts: "scraped open a grave" Why two successive verbs?

texts:
Please consider the following fragment of an article:

  An agricultural worker, digging in the ground of a derelict plantations, scraped open a grave -- the first of dozens in
  a burial ground some 3,000 years old.

Are both "scraped" and "open" acting as verb?


texts: What does “quite a” (as in “He’s quite a guy”) mean, and when should one use it?

texts:
What does the following sentence mean?

  He is quite a guy.

In which situation would quite a be used?


texts: Whether a length of time should come with "for"

texts:
I came across two sentences with a similar structure. The instance is shown below.

  For how many weeks is the lecture series given?
  How many weeks of the lecture series can non-engineering students attend.

If we compare these two sentences, we can find the primary difference is with and without 'for'. I am wondering why they use or don't use 'for', and when or in what situation we should have 'for' and shouldn't have.


texts: What is the meaning of "open" in "he swings the plastic strip open"?

texts:
I've been reading a text from the book 1100 words you need to know.

Week 6 Day 1. The text is about an invention - an umbrella substitute. In this text, there is a passage where the word "open" is used but I don't understand its meaning. Is it a noun? Is it a verb? Or is it an idiom?

  When a person is caught in a sudden rainstorm, he swings the plastic strip open in a shape of a cross

The person already "swings" and what "open" is doing here?

Online source (The original book says the same)


texts: "throughout the development program" vs. "throughout the course of the development program"

texts:
The same drug substance should be used throughout the development program.

Is this okay? I think that this is more appropriate:

  The same drug substance should be used throughout the course of the development program.

My intended meaning is: the same drug substance should be used consistently from the first day of the program to the last day. I want to emphasize this "time course" sense. Would sentence 1 manage to convey this "duration & consistency" sense?


texts: How do you parse the sentence and what is "it"?

texts:
The bulk and weight of coal required in the majority of manufacturing
  industries is large in comparison with the bulk and weight of other
  raw materials. This is not always true -- as with the manufacture of
  pig iron and steel from low-grade iron ores -- but it did lead to the
  concentration of industrial developments on the coal-fields, a
  phenomenon well seen in such countries as Britain where the Industrial
  Revolution came before the days of oil or electricity. Coal being a
  solid must be distributed mainly by rail or water.

I would think "a phenomenon" is the appositive of "the concentration of industrial developments on the coal-fields." Thus, "it" would refer to "this" in the previous sentence, which is the statement point in the first sentence. Does it make sense?


texts: I `have` heard about or I `had` heard about?

texts:
I asked a question just now

  I did hear about the interview somewhere else, but I cannot find the original data

I heard about the interview not today, not yesterday, many years ago.

I have know idea about the detail of the interview.

I am not sure if the interview really happened.

In this context, which expression is more appropriate?

I did hear about the interview.
I have heard about the interview.
I had heard about the interview.


texts: My child stands with her feet on my feet, I hold her hands to balance, I walk and move her. Is it ok to say "She's walking on my feet"?

texts:
My child stands with her feet on my feet, I hold her hands with my hands to keep balance, then I walk and thus move her along as shown in the picture.
Is it correct to say "She's walking on my feet"?


texts:
Reporter: Hi. Today we're here with  Captain Paul Lesley of
the fire department and he's going to give us a few tips about fire prevention around a stove.
Captain: Secondly, don't have your pot handles out over
the floor like this; a little person can come by and pull that
down on top of them. I think we'll turn the pot handle off to the side.

What does " a little person can come by and pull that down on top of them" mean?


texts: Where is the subject in "[...] weaker than would otherwise have been the case"?

texts:
Where is the subject in the following dependent clause?

  [...] Germany adopted a much weaker currency than would otherwise have been the case [...] (taken from BBC News)

Is "the case" the subject? I don't think so. Imagine I re-write the sentence as:

  Germany adopted a much weaker currency than would otherwise have been possible

My inability to tell what is the subject in those sentences makes me feel there is something wrong?

If I try to find the subject by asking: "what would it otherwise have been the case?", I would answer the subject is "that Germany adopted a much stronger currency".

The meaning is clear but the grammar feels wrong.

Could anyone explain the grammar involved in this sentence?

ADDITIONAL QUESTION

This n-gram shows that "than it would otherwise have been" is never used.

Is it wrong to write the following? If so, why?

  Germany adopted a much weaker currency than it would otherwise have been the case


texts: I gave money to dad - do I need an article here?

texts:
Do I need an article in the phrases:

"I gave money to a/the dad".

"When a/the son was conscripted to the military, I became concerned for his life."

etc.


texts: Someone who enjoys competing with others

texts: I wonder what do you call a person who is interested in completeling with others in every aspect of their life; (uch an individual might love doing that). They can be either deceitful and act insincerely or act as a real competitor as their character requires. We call such a person: a man of contest or a man of competition figuratively.