texts: What "structure" is being referred to in this sentence?

texts:
I read this in my history book:

  Generally (though not always), Al-Biruni adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter, beginning with a question, following this up with a description based on Sanskritik traditions, and concluding with a comparison with other cultures. Some present day scholars have argued that this almost geometric structure, remarkable for its precision and predictability, owed much to his mathematical orientation.

In the first sentence, it was said that the structure began with a question, followed up with a description..... with other cultures(suggesting that the "structure" was the way he wrote). But the latter sentence says that the structure was almost geometric which suggests figures and diagrams which contradicts the above one. I want to ask what does author really want to say about the "structure"?


texts: How to use would have + past participle without conditionals

texts:
I've come across many sentences that contains would have + past participle, I know how to use it in conditionals sentences but my problem is how to use it without conditionals sentences

For example , I heard this sentence in a movie

  Have you ever think about how I would have felt?

So What is the difference between saying,

Have you ever thought about how I would have felt?

and

Have you ever thought about how I felt ?


texts:
Why is the phrase “asking price” instead of “asked price”?

Asking price: is the amount of money asked by a seller, so why isn’t "asked price” instead of “asking price” because the price is asked not asking.

To goes like:

  what is the asked price for this product?

instead of

  what is the asking price for this product?


texts: What should I take "should I nod or shake my head here?" to mean?

texts:
I read this in Kafka on the Shore:

  The girl frowns and gives me a hard look. "You don't watch at all?" I shake my head silently. Wait a sec – should I nod or shake my head here? I go with the nod.

I want to know if the author is rconsidering using "shake" or "nod" for concern of them being semantically precise or are they(the author) in confusion themselves whether they watch or not in actual? And also why are they saying that they go with the nod when they actually have shook before?


texts:
In the following sentence, does it need to add a hyphen between 'cleaning' and 'up' as an adjective?

It is a kind of cleaning up job.


texts:
A doctor says  " you have to take this medication 3 times a day"
Does the following questions ok to be asked ? ( Grammatically speaking )

1-How many hours apart are there between each time ?

2- There are three hours apart between each time.


texts: Difference between explaining and explanation

texts:
All verbs have -ing.
 Some verbs have its noun form that often ends with -ment, -ion, -ism and so on.

I want to know the difference.

  Your explanation was very good.
  Your explaining was very good.


texts: "If I had known it will be cheaper, I would buy/have bought it tomorrow"

texts:
I bought something today. But now I found out it will be cheaper tomorrow. Which of the following alternatives is grammatical?

  If I had known it will be cheaper, I would buy it tomorrow.
  If I had known it will be cheaper, I would have bought it tomorrow.


texts: help to understanding the past participle form

texts:
i want know what type of sentence is it and why do we use past participle here and 2nd example i took from (Alan Walker song Faded)

1)You will be shocked?
2)I am faded


texts: An employee or salaried person gets salary, consultants get their consultancy fees. Interns get what? If they are paid, what term is used? This is in respect of software-engineering/coding to make it in plain English.


texts:
Our university has bought a device, and I'm writing a research proposal in which I want to mention that I will be using that device. So should I mention it like,

we are going to use the instrument available in the university

or

we are going to use the instrument available by the university?


texts:
Are the following relative clauses correct?

  This is the house which I fixed the door of.
  This is the house of which I fixed the door.
  This is the house the door of which I fixed.
  This is the house of I fixed the door.
  This is the house the door of I fixed.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
He took his Lego toys and threw to me.

  "Don't throw me."

  "Don't throw it to me."

Do I need to say it in complete sentence as the second one?


texts: Can wee bonnie lass be used for a 2-year-old girl?

texts:
I know what wee bonnie lass means, but my question is can we use it for kids?

I heard that it can only be used when complimenting a girl, as in boys use it, but I may be mistaken.


texts:
Thanks for asking for answering.

If not, then what is the correct form and why?
I am confused with "for".


texts: Expression for doing something too much in a very specific way

texts:
We have an expression in Hungarian that literally translates to "falling off at the other side of the horse" meaning approaching something in a single way without thinking of any other approach.

An example:

  Prefer reactive programming over iterative but you should "not fall on the other side of the horse".

The above sentence means you should generally use reactive programming to solve the task, but you should not use it where it doesn't make any sense to do it.

Is there any similar idiom/expression in English for this?


texts:
Can we use this sentence:

He hadn't talked to his parents since he left school.

instead of this one:

He hadn't talked to his parents since he had left school.


texts: What do you call someone who is rigid in his beliefs?

texts: Is there a word for telling a person is rigid in what he believes, and cannot be swayed into changing his beliefs? Someone who cannot be convinced by reason or facts? A religious person may fall into that category, but I want a generic term that doesn't only consider religious beliefs, but also scientific among others.


texts: How should I use "as" at the beginning of a sentence?

texts:
As a Muslim my opinion about Christianity is just what the “QURAN” says about it. There are many things about Christianity in the QURAN.

I use http://www.onlinecorrection.com/ to correct my letters. That recognised a mistake about the word "As" on the above sentences. It wrote:

  Grammar

  “As” at the beginning of a sentence requires a 2nd clause. Maybe a comma, question or exclamation mark is missing, or the sentence is incomplete and should be joined with the following sentence.

I can't understand what does that mean. Please inform me of how can I correct my mistake. Furthermore, please do me a favour and explain what is the mistake in simple plain English with some examples.


texts:
Is there any problem to say check this out in a corporate environment in general situations?

E.g: I am writing an email to a supplier to verify an issue, sending a ticket to IT support or even talking wit my boss about some problem.

If so, what can I say instead?


texts:
What's the meaning of lawn supplies?

Please explain in detail.

I encountered this sentence in TOEIC questions.


texts:
I am reading the book An Introduction to Formal Logic by Peter Smith. I was checking the following argument  (Exercise-1 Question no-15) :

Miracles cannot happen. Why? Because, by definition, a miracle is an event incompatible with the laws of nature. And everything that happens is always consistent with the laws of nature.

Now, the author has written the following in the answer sheet:

Invalid. The premisses tell us that in fact no miracle ever happens. But they don’t tell us that miracles cannot happen. Compare:

Crimes cannot happen. Since, by deﬁnition, a crime is an act incompatible with the criminal law. And everything that happens is always consistent with the criminal law.

In a law-abiding community the premisses may be true: it doesn’t follow that criminal activity is impossible!

The author and some people seem to stress that 'And everything that happens is always consistent with laws of nature' means everything that has happened or is happening is consistent with laws of nature. It doesn't eliminate the possibility that anything can happen in future which is incompatible with the laws of Nature.
Similarly, they want to stress that 'No miracle ever happens' doesn't eliminate the possibility that it can happen in future. However, 'Miracle cannot happen' is the statement that eliminates that possibility. The same thing can be said about the second argument.
Now, Is the author making the right point? I mean we have other such simple present sentences:

Two plus two equals four.
Sun rises in the East.
Forces occur in pair.

Now, are these sentences claiming only about past and present but not about future? How should we interpret these simple present sentences?
P.S- I have also posted this question on Mathematics Stack exchange for those of you interested.


texts: Why in this sentence the writer wrote the subject before verb to is after why

texts:
From Alice in Wonderland:

You promised to tell me your history, you know,' said Alice, 'and why it is you hate - C and D,' she added in a whisper, half afraid that it would be offended again.

I noticed that the writer wrote “why it is” instead of “why is it”? Isn't that a question?


texts: Using the word "pursuit" in describing the process of learning a foreign language

texts:
How can I use the word "pursuit" in describing the process of learning a foreign language?

  1) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his English pursuit.

  2) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his English pursuits.

  3) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuit of English.

  4) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuits of English.

  5) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuit in English.

  6) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuits in English.

  7) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuit of English studies.

  8) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuits of English studies.

  9) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuit in English studies.

  10) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuits in English studies.

  11) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuit in studying English.

  12) Hopefully, this won't discourage him from his pursuits in studying English.


texts: Using Past tense of verb to know current status

texts:
After the completion of my lecture, can I say the sentence below?

  a) I hope you learned something today from my speech.

or should I say,

  b) I hope you have learned something today from my speech.


texts: Have my doubts if "may not have died " is third conditional

texts:
Prof Saayman said the head wound would have been incapacitating but added Ms Steenkamp may not have died straight away.Source: Sky News – Pistorius Throws Up During 'Graphic' Evidence

I am sure that "it would have been incapacitating" is third conditional but I think "may not have died" is not third conditional.  So what is it?


texts:
Besides "but", "however", "although", what words can be used to mean "in contrast to what was just said" in written English?

For example,

  Such analysis is challenging because it is high-dimensional and sparse, however; the result can be more useful and informative.

Can I use "nonetheless", "nevertheless", etc. Any other suggestions? Thanks!w


texts:
what is the meaning of "should never" and "should not" in this context?

  There are one or two points about the case which would bear
  discussion. One is that a man with so remarkable a name as Charles B.
  Rosma should never have been traced, considering all the publicity
  which the case acquired. This would certainly at the time have
  appeared a formidable objection, but with our fuller knowledge we
  appreciate how very difficult it is to get names correctly across. A
  name apparently is a purely conventional thing, and as such very
  different from an idea. Every practising Spiritualist has received
  messages which were correct coupled with names which were mistaken. It
  is possible that the real name was Ross, or possibly Rosmer, and that
  this error prevented identification. Again, it is curious that he
  should not have known that his body had been moved from the centre of the cellar to the wall, where it was eventually found. We can only
  record the fact without attempting to explain it.

from http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301051h.html


texts: What is the meaning of "One of the most difficult things to make up our minds about is in what freedom consists"?

texts:
What is the meaning of the following sentence:

  One of the most difficult things to make up our minds about is in what
  freedom consists.

Does it mean "One of the most difficult things to make up our mind about is in a thing that freedom consists" ?

If so, What does "One of the most diffiult things to make up our mind about is in a thing that freedom consists" mean?


texts: What does "Besides Jack, no one voted for her" mean?

texts:
Besides, as a preposition, means except and in addition to. What does the sentence Besides Jack, no one voted for her. mean?

  A: Except Jack, no no one voted for her = Only Jack voted for her!

or:

  B: Jack did not vote for her, and no one else voted for her either.

I think the answer is A. Can we say when "besides" comes with negative structures, it must be understood as "except"? Or, Is the sample sentence ambiguous and can mean both?


texts: How do I put "of people" in this sentence?

texts:
Consider this

The word "contradict" means to say the opposite of what someone else has said.

I guess the sentence above is clear and natural as it is adapted from Cambridge Dictionary.
In fact, that page also contains "(of people)" in the definition of the word.
How do I put "of people" in the adapted quotation, to make a complete sentence?


texts: A person who is potentially able to do something, but just doesn't find the needed situation to perform what they want

texts:
In my language, when there is a capable or malicious or any other person who is potentialy able to do something ("usually" a negative act), but they just don't have the needed requirements to do what they want, or the situation is not so good that it should be to make them able to perform their desired act, we say metaphorically:

  He's a good swimmer, just lacks a swimming pool (water) [which I think literally it's quite clear in meaning]

The only close concept I found in a translation web page was:

  He / she just lacks sunshine to make the hay!
  Or just,

  He / she just lacks a hay!

How would you normally describe such a person/situiation in English using an expression/saying?


texts: Meaning of 'rules of order', 'schemes of classification'

texts:
Finally, the general pattern of school organization (by which I mean the relations of pupils to one another and to the teachers) constitutes the school a kind of institution sharply marked off from other social institutions. Call up in imagination the ordinary schoolroom, its time-schedules, schemes of classification, of examination and promotion, of rules of order, and I think you will grasp what is meant by “pattern of organization.” If
  then you contrast this scene with what goes on in the family, for example, you will
  appreciate what is meant by the school being a kind of institution sharply marked
  off from any other form of social organization. (Source)

  Which one of the following is NOT suggested as a possible feature of the
  ‘general pattern of school organization’?
  (a) timetables
  (b) examinations
  (c) school uniform
  (d) school rules
  (e) a set curriculum

I struggle with the abstract notions in the quote, so would someone please explain how to apply them to the choices? What do rules of order, schemes of classification mean? They sound hazy and vague.

2. Isn't (c) a rule of order, because school uniforms maintain order? (c)'s the right answer. Also, (d) says rules so I think this is why it's wrong.

3. Isn't (e) a scheme of classification? I picked this but this is wrong.

Despite my primitive English, the passage does state (a) and (b), thus they aren't the answers.


texts: what does "each with a different set of chromosomes" play grammatically in a sentence?

texts:
Mcclintock believed maize(corn)was idealistically a plant to study because each ear had hundreds of kernels, each with a different set of chromosomes. (From an ACT test)

Could any explain to me the grammatical function and the name of "each with a different set of chromosomes"？ Though I know based on the meaning, it is modifying "kernels."


texts: meaning of "Four hours north of San Francisco"

texts:
guys. I heard the sentence below in a American program and I confused a little bit.

  Four hours north of San Francisco is a place called Ferndale.

Does it means "It takes 4 hours from north of San Francisco to Ferndale?"
I don't understand "Four hours north of San Francisco" this part.

Thanks!


texts: Why "The 12-hour-system in English" rather than "The 12-hours-system in English"?

texts: I have read in this site about the Why "The 12-hour-system in English". Then my question is why "The 12-hour-system in English" rather than "The 12-hours-system in English"?


texts: How to say that you spent the night with someone, you were only sleeping and nothing else?

texts:
In French, as I'm French, to say that I have spent the night with someone, for instance with my dad in separate beds in a hotel, we were only sleeping, for a holiday weekend for example, I would say:

  J'ai dormi avec mon père

When I translate this using Google Translate, I get "I slept with my father", which is definitely not what I want to say, according to the TV shows I've watched!
And the reverse translation is: “J'ai couché avec mon père“ (we had sex together)...

In English, how to simply say that you are spending (or have spent) the night with someone, your boyfriend, your friend, your relative without any doubt that you were only sleeping and nothing else?
Why is Google Translate still wrong for this common sentence?


texts: Can we rewrite relative adverbs in this manner?

texts:
I was studying relative adverb, One example was given

  I will never forget the day when I first met Susie.

I am just curious. Can we write it like this

  The day, When I first met Susie is unforgettable

Is it grammatically  correct?


texts: May I say that reading web pages "faces some ... readability issues"?

texts:
I wrote this sentence

  The rapid growth of World Wide Web has been tremendous in recent years. With the large amount of information on the Internet, web pages have turned to the main source of information. However, reading web pages faces some obstacles and readability issues.

Is using "face issue" for "reading" and adding "readability" as adjective, a natural combination?


texts: difference between present perfect simple or continuous?

texts:
I would like to know if there is a difference between

  I have just talked to John about this

and

  I have just been talking to John about this?

Does the progressive mean the conversation lasted longer or the conversation was more chatty and maybe not as formal? Or is there no difference? In both cases the conversation has just stopped.


texts: What do "reel out" and "pulled" mean in these lyrics?

texts:
In the song "I hate you,i love you" by Gnash, there are some lines

  If I pulled a you on you, you wouldn't like that s___
  I put this reel out, but you wouldn't bite that s___

What's the meaning of "reel out" and "pulled"? Can someone please explain to me?
Thank you!


texts:
Neither I belong to "classA" nor I belong to "classB".
  Neither I belong to "classA" nor I do to "classB".
  I neither belong to "classA" nor "classB".

I want to know which one of the above three sentences conforms to correctness.

And if there's a better way to form the above sentence so that it might sound good and become grammatically correct then suggest that please.


texts: xxx of yyy (should xxx be singular or plural)

texts:
I have asked a similar question, but this problem (see the title) always confuses me. For example, suppose I introduced several symbols (e.g., A, B, and C) in my writing. In a later section, when I reuse the symbols in the same way, which one (or neither) is more appropriate?

  The interpretation of the symbols follows that described above.

or

  The interpretations of the symbols follow those described above.

Each symbol has its unique interpretation and thus there are multiple interpretations, so I think the latter is correct. But interpretation (or definition) is a shared property (although each has a different interpretation) so can it be singular? (e.g., cats have a nose.)


texts: What do you call the sound emitted by a car horn? Is there a formal, non-informal term for the sound? I am pretty sure there is an informal and a formal word for it, but I rather have the formal word.


texts: Present Perfect's explanations vs What it really is?

texts:
First of all, I wish to say I'm kind of confused about the explanations for the present perfect and what really is the present perfect. I've came across many sites saying that the Present Perfect is:

  Something that links the past to the present. (Eg. I have been to London - means that this somewhat affect the present for a reason)

(Which doesn't make any sense to me, since the sentence "I have left home" and "I left home" have the impact in the present - I'm not at home)

  Something that happened at the past and we don't tell when.
  (Eg. I've liked you)

(Which is kind of strange IMHO, since I've came across these type of sentences: "I've been to Chicago (so far so good, didn't tell when). I went to visit him" (but I didn't tell when, so why is the past simple used?!))

  Something that happened in the past and still  goes on.
  (Eg . I have lived here for ten years)

(Agree with this one, although I know it's not this that the "Perfect* is about)

But I still don't get it. When I see the "Perfect" being used, I get confused why the "Simple" hasn't been used and vice-versa. And sometimes, I wonder what the meaning would be if either the "Perfect" or the "Simple" was used (since people tend to say "if you use 'x', means that you are focus on the action, whereas...")

So, could you please explain what really The Present Perfect is about? And how could I learn the sentences between the "Simple" and the "Perfect"? (I've trying to learn it for about 8 months smh)

*And I've also read the post that says about the Perfect tenses and how to use them, but that didn't make my questions disappear, unfortunately;

I  thank you in advance.


texts: "With whom who" vs "Who with whom", a split preposition, and a phrase request for a seemingly strange way of dating among some teenagers

texts:
Context:

Pete likes Jane and Anne. His friend Jack (all the four in their early teens), too, likes both the girls who, in their turns, like both the boys.  To get sure which of the two possible pairs should date on on a permanent basis, Jack and Pete, and Jane and Anne as well, agreed to try changing their dates once in a while. A mutual friend of theirs, Tom, guessing the situation rather than knowing about the agreement, after the boys told him that they just went to watch the same movie in different places, wants to ask who went there with whom.

The variants of the question that I was able to think of are as they follow:

  With whom who went to the movies this time?

  Who with whom went to the movies this time?

  Who of the two with did you go to the movies this time?

  Who of the two did you go to the movies with this time?

My question is about the most casual question that Tom might ask to get the information he wants to get, like, "I (me), with Anne. Jack, with Jane."  Are there any English expressions to describe the experiment carried out by the teens in the context? What can be said in short in colloquial English about their maybe strange yet somewhat rational way of dating?


texts:
I often hear native English speakers say: (someone) lives just outside of (a city) to indicate their place of residence.

Does "just outside of" mean in an adjacent city, in the outer part of the city mentioned or something else?


texts:
I'd really like ______ to eat right now. I'm really hungry!

I think "anything" fits here best.

I think in this way she is really hungry and can eat anything right now. In other words, she exaggerates that she is so hungry she could even eat worms.

Am I right?


texts:
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. - John Milton, "Paradise Lost"

In the above quotation, how should I understand the 'make a heaven of hell'?
Is it 'make A of B', 'make A (out) of B', or 'of hell' is used as adjective or something?
Grammatically, it is not clear to me how to interpret the structure of the sentence.

And can I take the subject of 'can' as 'the mind' and is omitted?

Thanks.


texts: What is the sub-context that enables Taco Bell jokes?

texts:
Throughout many years, I've encountered countless jokes over all sorts of media and pop art where is goes "something something taco bell", and I can't really grasp what is it supposed to mean or why is it funny.

The most recent one, that instigated me to reach for human assistance, is this comic by Zach Weinersmith on SMBC:

I still find it funny and get part of the humor, sure, but what is it specifically about Taco Bell that prompts all these jokes and references?

I would still find it funny if it was just a random 'pizza' place, but if it was a "Thai food", not so much. However, I believe there's an extra bit of comic effect linked directly to the Taco Bell franchise.

I've tried searching on Urban Dictionary, Google, and even Uncyclopedia -- which ironically seems to be a great resource when one needs to search for all sorts of informal and unwritten aspects of a place or culture -- all to no avail.


texts:
I was talking with a friend today, and he used a word that sounds like "yaky", where the "a" is pronounced the same way as the "a" in "father". Judging from the context, I think it describes something that he doesn't like. I tried to look for the word but could not find it. Could someone tell me what the word might be? Thanks!

Additional context:
It does not involve food. We were talking about math, and he describes the kind of analysis (a field of math) that he doesn't like as "yaky analysis".


texts: Using the definite article the before night

texts:
In the sentence given below

Other forms of harassment that plumbed new depths included ringing the doorbells of diplomats at late hours of the night to intimidate them, and even tailing cars ferrying diplomats’ children from school.

Why is the used before night.


texts: Meaning of "the vanquishing of something"

texts:
In this NPR news excerpt, it says:

  At one point, Shepard has director Ishiro Honda explain why the vanquishing of Godzilla feels so sad, and his words sum up brilliantly what gives Godzilla its strange power.

Does the vanquishing of Godzilla mean Godzilla wins in some sense?
Since "A vanquished B" means "A beat B" in some sense.

But somehow I think in the original excerpt, It is more reasonable that it means the fact that Godzilla is beaten makes us sad. Since we have some compassion toward him.

What does the vanquishing of Godzilla really mean?


texts: to reduce the sentence from A to C and from B to C

texts:
I need to reduce the phrase "from A to C and from B to C".
Is this "from A and B to C" or "from both A and B to C"?
For example, if I need to reduce the following sentence:

The Granger causality analysis demonstrated causalities from trust in executive power to political interest, and from trust in legislative powers to political interest.

What sentence has the same meaning?

The Granger causality analysis demonstrated causalities from trust in executive and legislative powers to political interest, or
The Granger causality analysis demonstrated causalities from both trust in executive and legislative powers to political interest.


texts: What do you call the decoration on a dress?

texts: Is there a term that refers to the decoration on a piece of cloth? I am wondering if there's a particular word for it.


texts: Would it still be grammatically correct if I omit or add "for" before "number+time(s)"

texts:
1.I told you three times
2.I told you for three times

Which one is correct or more common? I saw many of them in some random articles, sometimes, it adds "for" before it, but sometimes it is just ommited.


texts: The different nuance between "I think~"/"I don't think~"

texts:
Is the sentence 2. sounds more..rude-ish??
They convey the same point but the way how the speaker delivers it could change the nuance and I wonder if that is applied to these two sentances~!

I don't think you care about anything
I think you don't care about anything


texts:
They would have come to the party if they knew where it was.

It sounds like a third conditional to me. Instead, I would say

  They would have come to the party if they had known where it was.

However, a native speaker expressed the first sentence, hence it is probably correct. Nevertheless, I would like clarification.


texts: Are these sentences with "as" equivalent?

texts:
I wrote:

  As I checked "Pied" in French, it means "foot", which is "Pā" in Persian.

I am not sure what my sentence means. Is it equivalent to the following sentences that are my purpose in the sentence above:

  According to what I read about "Pied" in French, it means "foot", which is "Pā" in Persian.

  From what I read about "Pied" in French, it means "foot", which is "Pā" in Persian.

  Based on what I read about "Pied" in French, it means "foot", which is "Pā" in Persian.


texts:
In the following sentence:

  "I don't think this can be the correct answer."

If I replace "can" by "could", would it sound more correct?

  "I don't think this could be the correct answer."

Because I learnt that "could" has to be used when a thing can be or not be, or will be, or what sounds more logical to say about a question, considering that we
never can be completely sure.

So, that choice "can" (#1) means that the speaker is absolutely certain about the answer, or is this a general affirmation?


texts: "Removes her dress" versus "strips her dress" versus "sheds her dress"

texts:
Which one is correct?

  She removes her dress and dives in the pool in her underwear.
  She strips her dress and dives in the pool in her underwear.
  She sheds her dress and dives in the pool in her underwear.


texts: For "The Nicest Reasons" or "of Reasons"

texts:
What is the difference between the two sentences below:

  They did it for the nicest reasons
  They did it for the nicest of reasons

from the meaning perspective?

Note: I see that someone downgraded the question without even the courtesy of telling why. Please tell so we can learn. Note that we are not native speakers.


texts:
Businesses will raise their voices, making common cause with pro-European MPs, the Treasury (in the person of Philip Hammond, the chancellor of the exchequer) and a newly thrusting, liberal wing of the Tory party (led by George Osborne, his predecessor).

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/thrust

As you can see it has meaning of "to push suddenly and strongly"
Does it mean the liberal wings are violent or they are growing suddenly?


texts:
There is one word that confuses me a lot - series. What is hard for me to understand is that this word has only plural form while pretty related word movie has a singular form as well. So I would like to know whether the following sentences are correct:

What are your favorite series?
My favorite series are True Detective.
Have you seen the new series Taboo?

Is there a word with a singular form, like a movie but for TV series?
And the last question - should I add TV before series or is it implied?


texts:
It's from the 11th episode of the 10th season of Friends. Here is the context:

Roy: What's the matter? You never saw a 50 year old stripper cry
before?
Phoebe: You know, it's fine. We'll pay you.
Roy: No, no, you're right. Who am I kidding? I should have hung up
that breakaway jockstrap years ago. What am I gonna do? I mean, this
has been my life for thirty two years. Taking my clothes off in front
of people is all I know.

I am sure that's some kind of joke. I can't seem to get it.


texts: Ambiguity in "hear from". Can it be used either way?

texts:
"Can God hear me from heaven?".
[can God hear me from where he is?]
"Can God hear me from earth?"
[I cry out to God from earth but can he hear me?]


texts: I want to write 'crucial figures in english literature' to not write 'important figures in english literature'. Can I use word 'crucial' in this case?


texts: Why did they use article in the phrase "a workers' cooperative"

texts:
Why did they use article in this sentence below?

  The factory is now a workers' cooperative.

Why did they use an article before the word (workers)? Which is plural?
Does the article a refer to workers, plural, or refer to cooperative?


texts: During the tour, you will hear interesting stories about the city, learning (?) about its establishment

texts:
I wrote a sentence that was considered awkward by fellow translators, on a couple of counts. I'm singling out one particular word they found awkward:

  During the tour, you will hear interesting stories about the city, learning about its establishment and history.

Does this "learning" look awkward here?

Would a native speaker use the finite-form "learn" instead? I understand that that would involve adding "and", I just wonder whether the -ing form or the finite form is more felicitous here.

(Another question concerning the same sentence)


texts: Choosing between "with applications to" and "with application to"

texts:
I am in the process of finalising my PhD thesis title, and I am unsure if the second of the following options is grammatically correct:

"A Higher-order VOF Interface Reconstruction Scheme for General Structured Grids with Applications to Surface Tension Modelling"
Same as above, but using "...Application to..." instead.

My conflict between the two options arises from the fact that there is only a single sense in which the "interface reconstruction scheme" can be "applied" to "surface tension modelling" in my thesis. Therefore, I am leaning towards the latter option. But I have a strange discomfort about whether it is grammatically correct. Can someone advise me on this? (I am also open to other options that convey the same idea concisely).


texts: I don't know for sure the sentence is grammatically correct

texts:
I have written a sentence that seems to me a little cumbersome because of the uncertain use of verb tenses.

  In the beginning, it had been just a hobby, but more I had been improving in it, more I had been realizing it as a significant part of my life.


texts:
An attitude of religious faith is attractive to many people. It makes the kind of arguments we have been considering irrelevant. Yet
at its most extreme, religious faith can make people completely blind
to the evidence against their views: it can become more like
stubbornness than a rational attitude.

I don't understand the meaning of the word "of" in the bold text. I think it means "showing"
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/of?q=of
Could you explain it to me? Thanks


texts: Is there both -the infinitive and the basic form of a verb?

texts:
I have exploring several books on English language and some of them mix two notions: an infinitive and "basic form of a verb".

I would like to ask, if there are any difference between them or there is only an infinitive, which is a verb without face, time and number?


texts: What is the exact meaning of "no sooner ~ than" in this sentence?

texts:
He found the tinder-box, but (1) no sooner had he struck a few sparks from the flint and steel, than the door flew open and the dog with eyes as big as teacups, whom he had seen while down in the tree, stood before him, and said, “What orders, master?”

  “Hallo,” said the soldier; “well this is a pleasant tinderbox, if it brings me all I wish for.”

  “Bring me some money,” said he to the dog.

  He was gone in a moment, and presently returned, carrying a large bag of coppers in his month. The soldier very soon discovered after this the value of the tinder-box. (2) If he struck the flint once, the dog who sat on the chest of copper money made his appearance; if twice, the dog came from the chest of silver; and if three times, the dog with eyes like towers, who watched over the gold.

  Source : The tinder-box by Hans Christian Andersen

At (1), how many times had he struck the spark after all?

My dictionary says that "no sooner ~ than = after".

According to (2), for there had been a few sparks, all three dogs had to make their appearances, but only one dog had appeared.

I don't understand well. Please tell me what I'm missing.


texts: How to understand "Would you say what you felt was a feeling of betrayal"?

texts:
I think I am hard to understand

  Would you say what you felt was a feeling of betrayal?

What's the meaning? Is it correct in grammar?


texts: "Two years ago I studied/was working..." – difference in meaning

texts:
I would really like to know the difference between these two sentences:

  Two years ago I was working in New York.
  Two years ago I studied English in England.

The way I interpret them:

means that in 2016 I was working in New York, I started before 2016 and my working was in progress. It is an action occurring at a specific time – that is, two years ago.
I am confused, because I am not sure what it means. Does this sentence mean I started studying in England two years ago, or does it actually mean I was studying in England in 2016, (like my first example) and would past continuous also be possible?


texts: Disjunct/Adjunct and the focus of cleft sentence

texts:
I generally don't follow the terminology and framework of A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (CGEL) by Quirk et al., rather I follow The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CaGEL). But at times I do read CGEL. It is during one of those reading session I came across this:

  only the adjunct clause can be the focus of a cleft sentence:

    1. It's because they are always helpful that he likes them. [CORRECT]
    2. It's since they are always helpful that he likes them. [INCORRECT]

I found this on page no. 1071 where they were distinguishing between Adjunct and Disjunct. Now CaGEL doesn't have any disjunct category and after reading CGEL it sounds like their disjunct is basically CaGEL's speech-act related adjunct. But still I can't make out how "since they are always helpful" is a disjunct and "because they are always helpful" is an adjunct.

There is another example of disjunct on CGEL's page no. 612:

  Since she ran out of money, she had to defer buying a new car.

Since she ran out of money is a disjunct.

I knew in CGEL there is a disjunct category, but it so far didn't make much sense to me. I was not even bothered until I find the reason of incorrectness of sentence #2.

Can you please tell me what disjunct is claering out my confusions I already mentioned?
Why in sentence #1, because they are always helpful is an adjunct and in sentence #2, since they are always helpful is a disjunct?
Without the disjunct category, following CaGEL framework, can you please explain why sentence #1 is correct and why sentence #2 is incorrect?


texts: Is it grammatically correct to omit the words "yes" or "no" when replying to questions?

texts:
Is it natural to use only auxilliary verbs when answering questions. For example:

  Person A: Does he live in the house?

  Person B: He does.

  Person A: Has he won the game?

  Person B: He has.


texts:
Is the first sentence correct? Does it have the same meaning as the second one?

  Him knowing four languages helped him with getting a job.
  The fact that he knows four languages helped him with getting a job.


texts:
There is about 16 months between the two photos.

is the above sentence ok, or I must say : There are about 16 months between the two photos ?


texts: Can I say: "This server is healthy." knowing that "server" is a material thing?

texts:
I was wondering, is it proper to say: "This server is healthy." knowing that "server" (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/server) is a material thing?

Thank you!


texts: Why not: ''The Game of Thrones''? The noun ''game'' is countable, and I couldn't find the explanation looking into special rules and exceptions. Anyone has an idea? Thanks in advance.


texts:
I read about question tags, and they give this example:

  He has a book, hasn't he?

I think that using doesn't he? would be more logical and in accordance to modern grammar.
Because I cannot say "He hasn't a book." or "Hasn't he a book?" — it's outdated. You always say "He doesn't have a book." or "Doesn't he have a book?"


texts:
Are there any differences in the meaning of or when we use the idioms 'give a shot' and 'have a go'? The definitions in Merriam-Webster Dictionary are:

give (something) a shot : to try to do (something)
have a go : to try to do something


texts: Is this passage natural for a native-speaker?

texts:
The following is part of a book that I guess is written by a non-native speaker because some parts of it do not sound natural to me. Can you please let me know if the marked words and the passage in general are academically correct?

  The statistical data reveals an information regarding daily processor
  chip output. The horizontal axis shows the days ranging from Monday to
  Sunday, whereas, the vertical axis express the chips produced in
  thousands, and ranges from 0 to 18 thousand. According to the graph,
  the highest number of chips were produced on Friday, approximately, 18
  thousand, whereas, the lowest were produced on Sunday. Apart from
  this, almost a similar number of chips were produced on Wednesday and
  Thursday. In conclusion, the company is closed on Sunday and very busy
  on Friday.


texts: What is the grammar rule here? How do I explain this in a simple way?

texts:
So my Japanese friend asked me why we can say

Is he gone?
Is he finished?

But we can't say

Is he changed?
Is he arrived?
Is he fallen?
Is he shrunk?
Is he departed?
Is he died?
Is he melted?

I'm wondering what the grammar here is. changed, fallen, departed can be used as adjectives so shouldn't it be okay to use it in that kind of sentence? But I feel a entence like "Is he fallen?" sounds unnatural.

How do I go about explaining this in an easy-to-understand way to my Japanese friend?

I appreciate any help! Thank you.


texts:
I am confused about this sentence: do I use do or does?

Will it depend on what the subject is? Which is the correct one?

  What do your best friend's parents do?
  What does your best friend's parents do?

What is the subject here?


texts: what is gentle landscape ? I've got a short explanation like "a landscape with nothing extreme or threatening about it" but I find it insufficient. Could you please define it broadly?


texts: "Day of month, morning" vs "Morning, day of month"

texts:
You know the date format in American English is different from British English. So I wonder if there is a pattern when referring to parts of the day and days within a month.
Which sounds more natural? Or are both natural but have slightly different nuances?

Usually Omar buys stamps on the first day of the month in the morning.
Usually Omar buys stamps in the morning on the first day of the month.


texts: Which pronoun (you or yourself) is correct in this sentence?

texts:
Which one is correct (or better)?

Take an umbrella with you.
Take an umbrella with yourself.


texts: Is there a difference in meaning between "FROM the last ten years" and "IN the last ten years"?

texts:
Why is in the first sentence the preposition from but in the second sentence is the preposition in ? The ending phrase is the same in both sentences and they have got the same meaning. Am I correct?

Tonight we've got Mariela with us to talk about her favourite films from the last ten years.
It was the most unusual film in the last ten years.

P.S.: Source: Total English Elementary, Students' Book page 157, Recording 9.4


texts: Is it rude to ask "What have you been doing since you have been here?"

texts:
If I say to my English friends

  What have you been doing since you have been here?

(in fact I want to know how they have been occupied) is it impolite? Why? (tense or verb)

How can I say this better?


texts: If the word "method" is abstract noun then why do people say "a method" with article?

texts:
I learnt that "abstract nouns don't get articles". Now my question is if the word "method" is an abstract noun then why do people say "a method" with an article? The same question for the noun "wish", which is referred as "a wish" ("You need a wish...").

Are they considered as mistakes or they are exceptions among other abstract nouns which get articles? If they are, is there an explanation for why they get articles?


texts: Is the sender name/signature on the bottom of a letter called 'inscription'?

texts: My attorney drafted some legal document for me but the name on the bottom of the letter was misspelled. When she asked me which part of the letter needs correction over email, I wanted to answer with a single precise noun (phrase). I looked up dictionary from my mother language to English and got the word 'inscription'. However, when I looked it up in English-to-English dictionaries, it seems not the proper word. Can someone enlighten me please?


texts: What does this sentence mean: "don't keep giving jazz"?

texts:
Few days back, I was communicating with a friend, and she is much better at English than me.

There came a situation where I tried to be like I was not knowing anything and asked her something. And she replied like, "I know you know the answer."

Then after few minutes one more text was there like "don't keep giving jazz" but still I can't get what this last text message was meant to be.


texts: Synonym of "scrap" in the given econtext

texts:
Here is a description of a battle game from the Internet:

  Once you take a good amount of damage, it will cost hundreds and
  eventually thousands of scrap. But you can bypass this entirely with
  one 300 scrap health power-up. The difference is that you need to
  equip it to one of your power-up slots and use it during gameplay, but
  so what? It is insanely cheap. Likewise, you never really know where
  to spend your money, either on new guns or upgrading, and it’s a total
  crapshoot with almost everything being unlocked from the start. And
  most of these things are pretty expensive.

  This lack of direction leads to weird pacing. Once you upgrade your
  chassis the first time, you’ll gain access to the second area of the
  game, along with your 2 new gun slots. This is where the game becomes
  truly fun, as you get much more scrap and can experiment more
  frequently.

Here I am looking for an easier synonym of the word "scrap" to make a similar texts easier for my target readers who are not well versed with game's terms.


texts: What does "out of nerves" mean in this context?

texts:
... Hermione had been right; Professor Flitwick did indeed test them on Cheering Charms. Harry slightly overdid his out of nerves and Ron, who was partnering him, ended up in fits of hysterical laughter and had to be led away to a quiet room for an hour before he was ready to perform the charm himself. ...

I don't quite get what "out of nerves" means in this context. I've looked it up and it doesn't seem to be a set phrase. I guess it could mean "Harry is nervous, so he slightly overdid his Cheering Charms...". But I don't know if my understanding is correct. How should we understand it here?


texts:
I heard the phrases "Guess what" and "You know what" from movies and native speakers a lot, but I do not really catch the meaning implied.

1) Are they equal?

2) In what contexts one uses these phrases?


texts: I feel so sad that we can't talk tonight

texts: Does the sentence mean that I feel very sad and because of that we can't talk tonight or does it mean that I feel very sad because we can't talk tonight? Or can it mean both?


texts: Theirs was not exactly a textbook friendship: What grammar construction is used here?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a short story by James Gripando:

  Theirs was not exactly a textbook friendship, the Ivy League son of a
  governor meets the black high-school dropout from Liberty City.

If the first part of it read "Their friendship was not a textbook one", there'd be no question. But as it is, is its subject still their friendship? Looks like it is split, and this made me search for the rule allowing it. The best I could find was this definition:

  A split subject is a construction in which the subject of a sentence
  appears to consist of two parts that do not appear next to each other.

(The source)

Yet, on reading the article, I could see that the grammar construction described there has little if anything to do with that used in " Theirs was not exactly a textbook friendship".

What is the correct term of what I thought to be a split subject? How and when this grammar construction may be used?


texts:
Thank you for your elaboration on the possible reasonings behind this result.  Thank you for your elaboration of the possible reasonings behind this result.

Which one is correct?


texts: club members "at the school" or "of the school"?

texts:
Is there any difference between following sentences:

Cooking club members at the High School work at a restaurant in New Jersey on Saturdays and Sundays.
Cooking club members of the High School work at a restaurant in New Jersey on Saturdays and Sundays.

Which one do native speakers normally use?


texts: Which is right among "a limit" and "limits", followed by "in many areas", in this sentence?

texts:
Which is right among the two following sentences?

  My vocabulary, as describing things, has a disastrous limit in many areas.

  My vocabulary, as describing things, has disastrous limits in many areas.

My vocabulary is narrow in every aspect including everyday life, study, politics, society, science. So I came up with the sentences in the yellow box.
But I cannot define whether "limit" has to be singular or plural.

I will appreciate any explanations about this.
Thank you.


texts:
this is the text:

  “Sit still,” Ma says as she reaches down to stop my leg midswing, but
  I end up kicking her hand. Ma gives me a stern look and a swift slap
  on my leg. “Don’t you ever sit still? You are five years old. You are
  the most troublesome child. Why can’t you be like your sisters? How
  will you ever grow up to be a proper young lady?” Ma sighs. Of course
  I have heard all this before. It must be hard for her to have a
  daughter who does not act like a girl, to be so beautiful and have a
  daughter like me. Chat conversation end

It says who does not act like a girl, to be so beautiful

Is it a paradox to not act like a girl and to be so beautiful ?


texts:
While learning the position of the adverbs in a sentence, I came across this sentence.

  I am obviously not welcome here.

I'm not asking about the adverb obviously's position here, but in this sentence, the word welcome refers to verb, does not it?

It should go like this -

  I am obviously not welcomed here [maybe, because I'm not invited].


texts: I knew sentences like "Is this your pen?", "This pen is yours", "Your pen is beautiful", but I don't see sentences like "This your pen is beautiful". Can I say that?


texts: What are the alternatives for "I was going to ask you"?

texts: What are the alternatives (but not too formal or unnecessary polite) to "I was going to ask you" phrase to start conversation with the question?


texts: ... others suggest that lively colors are (the) best because they make people happier

texts:
Do we need the 'the' in this sentence?

While some have argued that pastels are better because they calm
people down, others suggest that lively colors are (the) best because
they make people happier.

The task suggests that the 'the' shouldn't be used, but I don't know how to explain it.
How does the use of the article change the meaning of the sentence?


texts:
I wonder which option below sounds more natural to you:
Protect yourself and others around you by knowing the facts and taking appropriate precautions. Follow advice provided by your local health authority.

........... surfaces frequently especially those which are regularly touched, such as door handles, faucets and phone screens.

a. Disinfect
b. Sanitize

........... your hands often. Use soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand rub.

a. Disinfect
b. Sanitize
Based on my provided links, I think they both mean the same and can be interchanged in either case above.


texts:
I've been meeting all the three words (class, form, grade) related to schooling, but I can't get my head around the differences. Please could you explain the differences? I need to know which one of them means a group of young people of about the same age who study at school together in the same classroom during one school year.

Here are some examples:

  "There are several parallel classes in ordinary schools, but we had
  only five classes in total."; "We studied in class".

  "She studies in the second form"

  "He is in the second grade"


texts: "would have v3" or "must have v3" for presumption in the past

texts:
We were taught at school that condition 3 (would+have+v3) is used for unreal past, which means "there is no more chance for it to happen in the other way around" such as "if you had driven the car carefully, he would not have died". So, we can easily understand that "condition 3" is used there is no more opportunity for something to happen in another way because it already happened in the past. You can't reverse the time.

But today, I was watching ITV and the TV presenter, when he appeared after a break, said: "if you were watching earlier, you would have heard me talk about the solution."

He simply referred to his previous talk about a solution before the break. And break-time passed by. So he appeared again and he continued talking on the same issue. So he wanted to remind the viewers that he was talking about this issue before the break time.

But I got confused when I heard him said ""if you were watching earlier, you would have heard me talk about the solution." He used conditional  3 (would have v3) which seemed irrevelant to the situation, as in this situation he is not referring to a past event which he now wishes to have happened in the opposite way. What he is doing is to guess something did happen. So, the situation here is not a wish for past event, and it is only a guess or presumption about a past event.

So;
1- why did TV presenter say "if you were......., you would have heard me..."?
2- Is this really conditional 3, because the "if+sentence" is not past perfect.
3- Would it not have been better if he instead said "....you must have heard me...", not "would have heard" because he is guession or presuming that something was highly likely the case.

Regards,


texts: What is "to cram pearls onto a handful of pages" when making an application to a College?

texts:
You can't believe that after 12 years of education your future
  depends on what pearls of genius you can cram onto a handful of
  pages – or that complete strangers will sit in a room and determine
  if you will be "worthy" of attending their institution.

Making the Most of Your College Applications By Melissa Algranati and Jennifer Gioia

How should I understand the phrase in bold?


texts: Does "was going to try it out in the morning" mean tomorrow morning the first time?

texts:
In the book The Great Gatsby on page forty there is a sentence:
"Evidently he lived in this vicinity, for he told me that he has just bought a hydroplane, and was going to try it out in the morning."
Does "was going to try it out in the morning" mean tomorrow morning the first time or he has been trying it more morning til now and tomorrow he will continue with trying?


texts:
Trump can't postpone the election, but officials worry he and the GOP could starve it
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-cant-postpone-election-officials-150757454.html
I am not able to understand the reason why the officials should worry. What substantive does "it" replace? Is it an election?
PS: I have not read the full article below this title.


texts:
As far as I know people say that "must have done" can't express obligation in the past. However, how would you classify these sentences then?

1 To qualify for this position, you must have had a two-year working
experience in the position of sales-manager.
2 To qualify for this position, you must not have been married.

What is this if it's not an obligation in the past?


texts: “The white and the black dogs” or “the white and the black dog”

texts:
Suppose that there are two dogs. One is white and the other is black.
Which one is grammatically correct?

  the white and the black dogs

or

  the white and the black dog

Should I use singular dog or plural dogs?


texts: Should I use Past Perfect or Past Simple here?

texts:
Which one of the following sentences is grammatically correct and why?

She baked а cake, but he had eaten it before you came.
She had baked a cake, but he had eaten it before you came.


texts:
Well, it's not going to talk about Middle English, but middle verbs.
There are some verbs, such as, read, slice and break that just like ergative verbs, affect their subjects making confusions whether they are used correctly or not.

We, simply, can use an adverb at the end of the sentences having those middle verbs to make them both correct and logical, if and only if, we know those verbs.

It's a rather complicated issue even for a native speaker and mostly sounds to be of linguistics. But it may cause more problems especially for a non-native speaker, a Kurdish person like me.

What I'm looking for is a list of those verbs (middle verbs) to identify them in sentences/texts and as well as to be able to use them grammatically correct.

If you do not use a list, then how will you recognize them in writings, please?

EDIT:
An example sentence: This book reads easily.
Read: middle verb, and "easily" the adverb for making the sentence more logical.


texts: Is it ok to use 'Empire' twice in a sentence?

texts:
I went through this source when I read the following sentence:

  It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the short-lived First Mexican Empire, followed by membership in the United Provinces of Central America, from which it formally declared sovereignty in 1847.

Now, my questions are:

Do they talk about the British Empire while using 'empire'? Here, if it is not directly told, then what's the need to write it, and that too in small letters? Is it necessary to write?
Is it ok to remove one 'Empire' in the following way:
It remained a peripheral colony until independence as part of the short-lived First Mexican Empire,...

Thank you for your help.
Can the sentence change the meaning?


texts: What verb form should I use after "and/or"? "are" or "is"?

texts:
The sentence is the next:

  Item can't be represented in the graphic because its value on X and/or Y aren't defined.

After "X and/or Y" should I use "aren't" or "isn't"?

And if I use "X or Y, or both", what should I use?


texts:
This might be a silly question, but I've noticed that some people in the US don't pronounce their "TH's" in some words such as (This, that, the, these, those and etc...) and some other people don't even bother pronuncing it in words such as "there" either. Is it me or people really do drop that "TH" sound in the word "there"? If so, how common is it to hear something like that?

Here are some example phrases where I've heard no TH coming from the word "there" in American English:

  I'm going over der. (There)

  Did you go der? (There)

  Did you see that der? (There)


texts:
The light can't on.

  The wires are broken.

  The wires are broken into half.

Do they describe well as the image below?

(If look carefully, it actually are 2 wires that broken. There are a little wires on the top, not broken from the bulb.)


texts:
What is correct usage of 'while'?
Is it correct to use 'while' here?

Please consider the day and timing while/when you expect me to respond on call.


texts: What is the meaning of "Wake up sneezing"?

texts: I am confused about one thing about that phrase "wake up sneezing". Does it mean that I wake up because of sneezing, or I wake up then I sneeze?


texts: "How soon will we be moving along?" help me to understand the grammar

texts:
How soon will we be moving along?

Move along (idiom): continue to move; to start moving out of the way.

Why do we use "be + <verb>ing" in this question? Can we modify verbs in idioms?


texts:
Sometimes I am struck by the use of prepositions by native speakers. Here is one example.

  He wipes his mouth on the napkin. (So Much Water So Close to Home by Raymond Carver)

All dictionaries will translate this correctly and also correctly give their own version which is more logical:

  He wipes his mouth with a napkin.

Could you explain such flexible use of prepositions on and with.


texts:
The quill whizzed across the parchment between them, back and forward as though it were skating.

I've never seen "back and forward" before. I doubt if it means the same as "back and forth". Is there any difference between these two phrases?


texts: Shortening similar compound words in an enumeration

texts:
In Dutch - a language with many compound words - it is common to leave out the common last part of compound words in an enumeration, and write a hyphen instead. In English it would look like this:

  She uses tele- and videoconferencing extensively.

However, I can't recall having ever seen something like this in English, most likely because English doesn't have as many compound words.

Does this practice also exist in English? If yes, is it allowed in formal writing? Or if no, how would you write such a sentence without sounding overly verbose?


texts:
What's the difference between "stone" and "rock"? When exactly I can use the first word and when the second one?

As far as I understand, if the matter is a part of our planet, you must call it rock and can't call it stone. But how do you define when it is a part of planet and when it is a separate matter, which just stick into the planet?

Also, do you always call "stone" a peace of matter, which is clearly separated from the planet? Or you can call it "rock" in some cases?


texts:
From the book Mastering Regular Expressions, 3rd Edition:

  The story that is the first six chapters form the basis for the last four, covering specifics of Perl, Java, .NET, and PHP. To help you get the most from each part, I've used cross references liberally, and I've worked hard to make the index as useful as possible. (Over 1,200 cross references are sprinkled throughout the book; they are often presented as --> followed by a page number.)

I can't make grammatical sense of the first sentence. It seems that the subject is the story. The rest reads that is the first six chapters form the basis for the last four, covering specifics of Perl, Java, .NET, and PHP and seems to be a dependent clause. But where is the subject's verb? ...actually, the sentence is very confusing.


texts: Hair: stand up,stick up (are these interchangeable)

texts:
Are   "stand"   and    "stick up" interchangeable ?

Like:

  Static charge makes our hair stand up/stand on end.

  Static charge makes our hair stick up.

And here:

  He always gels down his hair and that's why not even a single hair strand is standing up/sticking up. (And is it natural to mention "a single hair strand", because I want to emphasize more dramatically.)

  My hair is always sticking up/standing up.

I guess "stand" is used with static charge and "stick up is used otherwise". Am I right? What do you think?


texts: What is the meaning of found one's claim to something?

texts:
I can not get what it means to "found one's claim to something".

For example:

  Television’s ‘peculiar form of presentness’ founds its triumphal
  claims to immediacy

Source: Communication Theory; Media, Technology and Society belonging to David Holmes


texts:
I've read the rule which states:

  One ought to put an adverb of manner after the main verb if the verb
  is intransitive, but if there's a direct object after the main verb
  and the verb is transitive you can put that adverb either in front of
  the main verb or after the direct object.

Following that rule, I've made up these sentences with the adverb of manner "well":

1) I sing songs well. / I well sing songs.

2) I play football well / I well play football.

But I'm not sure if they're all actually correct. Could you explain the right rule to me?


texts: It's known that we can't say "I am begin" in English because it's gramitically wrong but someone told me that there are some cases where we can use it can anyone tell me what is this cases?


texts: Past participle followed by past simple/perfect

texts:
I've quite a specific question regarding participle clauses. I recently wrote:

  "Having painted what he bothered, John began packing his brushes."

Or should it be:

  "Having painted what he had bothered, John began packing his brushes."

Even though the first example sounds better; logically, John firstly had been bothered to paint the bare walls, and after that he started packing.

Thank you for any input.


texts:
How do you refer to a power generation station that derives its energy from burning oil, rather than coal?

I looked up "oil plant", on onelook.com, thinking that it'd also be used to mean a place where oil is refined, but instead I ended up on Wikipedia's page on vegetable oil, indicating yet another meaning of "oil plant".


texts: Can the definite article be used in the sense of all?

texts:
Tell me please why "the" was used in the following sentense.

  The historians do not like that I don't use historical terms.

I am confused because the speaker had not mentioned any specific historians before, could he use it in the sense of all like when we are talking about nationalities, for example the French, the Russions, the Dutch?


texts:
This question related to another one, in which Flater gave me a very good explanation. But I just come up with another question and I am afraid editing that question will mess it up, so I create this one instead.

I am a programmer developing software systems for attractions, I observed there are two ways for the attractions to do business with travel agents.

Need prepayment from travel agents
Invoice the travel agents after purchase made

Now I have to develop a system to record the travel agent's account balance.

One of my colleagues suggest to call it "credit management system", so when a travel agent make a prepayment (1), the system "add credits" to the travel agent's account balance, it seems like what apple called it. And, suggest to call the maximum prepayment balance "credit limit". Then the system decrease the travel agent's balance for his purchase.

But what about (2)? The attraction need to set a upper bound for how much an travel agent can purchase and owe to the attraction, call this "credit limit" again?

I have the following questions:

How to call the "maximum prepayment balance"?
How to call the "upper bound for how much an travel agent can owe to the attraction"?
When a travel agent make a "deposit" or a "prepayment", should the system recorded it as a "credit"?
When a travel agent make a purchase and amount is deducted from the balance, should the system recorded it as a "debit"?


texts:
When we were children, we lived by the sea. In summer, if the weather was fine, we would all get up early and go for a swim.

Sometimes I get confused with the conditionals. In this specific example can we use the past perfect? because I think this example is a “hypothetical past condition”. So is it possible and grammatically correct to say something like this:

  When we were children, we lived by the sea. In summer, if the weather had been fine, we would have all gotten up early and gone for a swim.


texts: "Setup work environment" vs "Configure development environment"

texts:
I need to assign a first task to a new employee, a developer. They must configure the computer, install the necessary software, etc. I need to name this task somehow and put it into a report.

  Setup work environment

  Configure development environment

Both these names/titles seem to be perfectly understandable, but I'm not sure if they are common, idiomatic. Could you please answer? If they are not idiomatic, could you please provide an idiomatic one?

I'm also not sure about articles ("a", "the"). I'd say we shoud use "the":

  Setup the work environment

  Configure the development environment

On the other hand, is it common not to use articles at all when creating a task in task tracking system or in a report?


texts: Is it natural to the phrase "stop with" in the sense of choosing something after consideration?

texts:
Is it natural to stop with in the following sentence?

  We were offered the car in a lot of colors, but We stopped with a red one.


texts: how to distinguish using past simple or present perfect?

texts:
I wonder if there is any difference in meaning between these?

It’s years since I rode a bike. (it’s = it is)

It’s years since I’ve ridden a bike. (it’s = it is)

Thanks

In the following link, below the phrase Since and tenses, there is what I have already excerpted from:

enter link description here


texts: Is there a real difference between "to mull something over" and "to think something over"?

texts:
I've done this exercise focusing on phrasal verbs. There was a sentence, something like this:

I need to ...... it over before I make my decision.

The particle "over" gave me only two choices - mull x think, whose respective definitions are:

mull over - to think carefully about something over a period of time

think over - to consider a problem or decision carefully

The key says that the only correct answer is "think over" (at school I was prudently told that even though a textbook can be the best ever, it does not mean the key is always correct (which is an assumption that has been confirmed by this very key, in which I have already found two mistakes).

Both these words seem identical with little to no difference in their meanings. Can, possibly, native speakers see that big a difference between them that would limit their interchangeability? If you go to a car dealership and the person there tells you:

"Here´s the complete catalogue, go home and think/mull it over."

According to their definitions, both words seem perfectly correct.


texts: what is the difference between 'easy to make' and 'easy to be made'?

texts:
I'll give you some examples

The cocktail is easy to make with this bottle
The cocktail is easy to be made with this bottle

what is the difference between the two in meaning? and grammatically,
the number 1 can be rephrased as 'it is easy to make the cocktail with this bottle.'
And then how can we rephrase the number 2?

And I found another sentence.

'it's best to be taken on an empty stomach'

can I also change this sentence to 'it's best to take on an empty stomach'? would the meaning be the same?


texts: Check if that sentence is grammatically correct

texts:
Why is thinking of used instead of think of, in the following sentence?

People talk and listen to what others thinking of and learn.

It is taken from Youtube, at the end of paragraph 4.


texts: Which is correct? "I have been here so long." vs. "I have been here *for* so long."

texts:
Hope you guys help me with this question!

  I have been here so long.

  I have been here for so long.

Which is correct? I looked up Google books, and I saw both sentences were used in many books.

Another question. When I just moved to other city, can I say "I haven't been here for a long time." ? This sounds natural to native speakers?


texts: The meaning of "ran him off his legs", and " took to brooding"

texts:
“Pansay went off the handle,” says Heatherlegh, “after the stimulus
of long leave at Home. He may or he may not have behaved like a
blackguard to Mrs. Keith-Wessington. My notion is that the work of
the Katabundi Settlement ran him off his legs, and that he took to
brooding and making much of an ordinary P. & O. flirtation. He
certainly was engaged to Miss Mannering, and she certainly broke off
the engagement. Then he took a feverish chill and all that nonsense
about ghosts developed. Overwork started his illness, kept it alight,
and killed him poor devil. Write him off to the System—one man to take
the work of two and a half men.”

This is from "THE PHANTOM ‘RICKSHAW" by Radyard Kipling.
http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_phantom_notes.htm
I can't understand the meaning of the sentence below.
My notion is that the work of the Katabundi Settlement ran him off his legs, and that he took to brooding and making much of an ordinary P. & O. flirtation.
Whatdoes "ran him off his legs" mean?
And "take to brooding"?
As to P. & O. flirtation
I have read the note of the Kipling Society"
http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_phantom_notes.htm
I am glad if someone would kindly teach me.


texts:
When one says:

I want A as well as B.

Which does one precisely mean by using "as well as"?

1) I want A and B. (Just a simple conjunction)

2) I want A as much as I want B. (Emphasis on A being wanted, as in: I
want not only B, but also A, or: I want A as much as I want B)

3) I want B as much as I want A. (Emphasis on B being wanted, as in: I
 want not only A, but also B, or: I want B as much as I want A)

4) Either of 1, 2, or 3. (Depends on the context)

5) Something else.


texts:
Is there a word denoting an action after some object appears but it's unknown whether it was found or created?

Single variant I have is arrange but I doubt that it fits perfectly. What are some other variants?


texts: Is the expression "sick to hell" too strong?

texts:
For example, can I use it while I'm talking to a kid or could it sound vulgar?
So when do you exactly use it?


texts:
What is the difference between "either...or.." and "not only.. but also"?

I'm making many mistakes about them when I'm solving a conjuncture question. They both seem to match the sentences.


texts:
That algorithm suffers from not-sufficient-enough data modelling techniques.

or

  That algorithm suffers from not sufficient enough data modelling techniques.

Hint: The algorithm's modelling techniques are good but not enough to achieve my purposes.


texts:
"Co" implies partnership and togetherness in many technical contexts, e.g.,  co-planar (located in the same plane), co-orbital (moving in the same orbit), etc.

Which prefix is the antonym of "co" whose usage reverses the meaning of the words like co-planar?


texts:
Just a moment ago I heard a guy in a documentary utter the following sentence:

"It has both the Roland logo and the Moleko logo on it and I take both of those seriously as is Roland"

My question is: Why is the verb "to be" before "Roland" here? I mean - it's a positive sentence, isn't it? Then why the inversion?  Wouldn`t it be more correct to say "I take both of those seriously as Roland is" ?


texts: Equivalent word combination for 'greater flexibility'

texts:
I am writing the opening line for a technical presentation and not sure of the correctness of the following statement.

Under Display Cameras promise greater flexibility to phone manufacturers.

Are all of the following equivalent or one is better than the other in terms of grammar, syntax, etc?

Under Display Cameras promise greater flexibility to phone manufacturers.
Under Display Cameras promise more flexibility to phone manufacturers.
Under Display Cameras promise much more flexibility to phone manufacturers.
Under Display Cameras promise higher flexibility to phone manufacturers.
Under Display Cameras promise superior flexibility to phone manufacturers.
Under Display Cameras promise better flexibility to phone manufacturers.

Personally I think of all the third one is the most appropriate. Besides this, do any of the aforementioned statements have incorrect usage of words?


texts: meaning of this perfect tense: will have seen the whole show

texts:
  The clock now says two fifty-three-just seven minutes to showtime. [The circus show beside the nursing home is to open at three, so if my family gets here now I can get there in time. All other old ones have gone there with their family but me now –– OP’s adding] My blood pressure is so high my entire body buzzes like the fluorescent lights above me.
      I've entirely given up on the idea of not losing my temper. Whoever shows up is going to get a piece of my mind, and that's for sure. Every other old bird or coot in the place will have seen the whole show, including the Spec, and where's the fairness in that? If there's anyone in this place who should be there, it's me. Oh, just wait until I lay eyes on whoever comes.  (Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants)

There’s a perfect tense, and their having seen the whole show must be posterior to speech time. So I guess my mind has shifted to the time of the end of the shows and this strengthens the reality of sadness. Is this what the tense saying?


texts: A verb for expelling mucus from nose with force

texts:
The winter is 'on', and we all are getting cold. Being a doctor, I know that if you don't expel the mucus accumulated in your nose, you are likely to get an infection. Anyway, facts aside, how do I instruct my daughter to expel the mucus from her nose with force?

Note that in this process, we close our mouth tightly and exhale air from the nose with force so it expels all the  mucus from there.

(Yuk! But I need a verb!)

I don't think sneeze is a good word. Because it's involuntary and it involves both the mouth and nose. But here, it involves only the nose.

'Clean your nose' also comes to my mind but then it is not necessarily blowing out air.

Not strictly a verb, I'm open to getting anything though - a noun, idiom etc.


texts:
Seen from outer space, our earth looks like a blue planet.

  Seeing from outer space, our earth looks like a blue planet.

Which is better? I find the former fine but my teacher says it is the latter.


texts: Interrogative adverb vs interrogative pronoun

texts:
Is this sentence first word

  Where did you find the book at last?

Is (Where) an interrogative pronoun/adverb?


texts: Expressing a toddler's behavior: "…to beg for food of other kids" or "…sponge food from other kids"?

texts:
This is one of the common behaviors of toddlers.
Toddlers may not want to eat food that their parents give to them. But when their parents take them to a group of other kids or people who are eating food.
These toddlers may stare at the food & their eyes express as if they want others to give them some to eat.
These toddlers may or may not show their hands towards them. So, I think the verb "begging" may not be suitable.
I found this word

sponge informal + disapproving : to get money, food, etc., from (someone) without doing or paying anything in return
[+ object]
She always sponges meals from us.
[no object] — often + off
She lives at home and sponges off her parents.

How to express this toddler's behavior:

"She always stares and seems to beg for food of other kids."
or
"She always sponges food from other kids."?


texts:
Actually, i work at a supermarket, so when a customer asks me about a specific product, i struggle to describe this spot, which is at the back end of the isle.

Sometimes i say, it is on the corner of the isle.

So, imagine you are with a customer standing down this isle, what would you say to point him to the product where the directions are?


texts: Past or present tense for a hypothetical situation

texts:
Please let me know if you have a spare copy or did another run

Is it correct to employ present because the  first event has more chance to happen than the second (past simple)


texts: Preposition when speaking about time record

texts:
I want to say something in meaning of "You've made the record at?/in? 2 seconds" - basically a user answers questions and time to answer is measured. After each question, I want to say if a new record was made and what's the record.

But to be honest neither at/in or other preposition seems to be right and I don't know how an English speaking person would say this. (And something like 'you've made a record, you've answered in X seconds' seem to me a bit awkward.)

Thank you


texts: How to enrich my “everyday” vocabulary as an ESL parent in the U.S.?

texts:
What resources exist to quickly acquire the "everyday" English vocabulary needed to communicate with my preschooler child?

I am an immigrant IT professional who speaks fluent English, but who learned his English as an adult. My child was born in America. I can easily communicate on work-related topics. But when my child asks me "What is this?" or "What are you doing?", I often find myself at a loss.  Instead of a single word, all I can offer is a lengthy explanation that relies on nerdy terms or ill-suited synonyms.

For example, I am playing a tune by drumming with my feet, the child asks "What are you doing?" -- and I say "Err.. I am making music by..." [Hitting? No; Knocking? No; Stepping? With? Ugh...]  Asked about a milk carton, I say "a special container to hold milk" etc.  This worked with other adults, but not with a preschooler.

A related problem is figuring out pronunciation while reading children's books aloud. I've never heard these words spoken, and can't look them up with a child on my lap. Is there some online resource, or a textbook, or a collection of text snippets that I can memorize? Something more efficient than writing out phrases by hand from hundreds of children's books? Thanks!

PS. (1) I do speak in the native tongue too, but unwilling to curtail the rest of my child's development for the sake of bilingualism. (2) I know the basics of studying English, but I wonder if there is a resource for my specific need: everyday/children's English for adult ESL nerds.


texts: rekindling the American right’s love -- what does that mean?

texts:
Source: Obama again gets the last laugh against Putin

Example:

  That is, until a few months ago, when the Russian president deployed forces to Syria, rekindling the American right’s love. Republican White House hopefuls once again praised Putin’s bold “leadership,” as did like-minded pundits. The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin argued, “In taking this action just days after meeting with President Obama, Putin is delivering one more finger in the eye of a president whom he continues to out-wit and out-muscle.”

I don't understand what they're talking about.


texts:
What is the difference between the following sentences ? Are they both grammatically correct ? if yes, what is the difference between the meanings ?

1- Your following payment shall cover also the additional cost is to be incurred due to the reasons stated in my previous letter.

2- Your following payment shall cover also the additional cost to be incurred due to the reasons stated in my previous letter.

More example sentences will be appreciated.

Thanks.


texts: Reduced relative clauses with non-progressive verbs

texts:
Is it correct to change, for example:

  The people who like money too much must be kicked out of politics.

to:

  The people liking money too much must be kicked out of politics.


texts:
I was reading an article about data compression in computer when i faced this sentence:

  It tends to be easy to compress a string that has runs of repeated
  characters by techniques such as move-to-front transform and
  run-length encoding.

I know this is about computers but i don't think that the part "having runs of" is about computers. So, What does it mean?

I also appreciate if you give some examples of using it. I searched by didn't find anything!  The sentence itself was found here.


texts: Are "Beautiful me" and "Beautiful we" grammatically correct?

texts:
I wanted to create some maximally short and correct construction with any adjectives and those pronouns.
I did some search engine research but there was nothing with "beautiful we", so what about the "we" pronoun? Also there was a song and some site articles with exactly "beautiful me" so it's probably correct?


texts: Stands or standing in the shade of a tree

texts:
1)She stands in the shade of a tree.

2)She is standing in the shade of a tree.

One of the grammar books says that the first sentence is incorrect and second is correct.  Suggestions please.


texts: Should the word "the" be capital or small after quotations?

texts:
“Do I have cancer?” The patient asked

or

  "Do I have cancer?" the patient asked

Should the word "the" be capital or small in this context?


texts: Difference between "doesn't pity" and "doesn't do pity"?

texts:
He doesn’t really do pity.

In a sentence like that one, what's the difference between "doesn't pity" and "doesn't do pity"?


texts:
I want to write a program which will translate a number into text, but I am not sure how to read those numbers and about the rule.

999,999 =?

Nine hundred ninety nine thousand and nine hundred ninety nine?
Nine hundred and ninety nine thousand and nine hundred ninety nine?

123,909,909 =?

one hundred twenty three million nine hundred nine thousand and nine hundred nine?
one hundred and twenty three million nine hundred nine thousand and nine hundred nine?

1,000,000,000,000,000 =?

one million billion?

What is the rule to read them?


texts:
Why do you say

  Have a nice trip!

but the Frank Sinatra song goes:

  Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

What's the motivation for adding yourself?

I know the motivation for adding for yourself (Do it for yourself!). I have a notion, but is it correct? Is yourself added to express 'you as well' or 'you too'? Kind of:

  (Look, I'm having a merry little Christmas).
  Have a merry little Christmas too / as well.


texts: Colors alternate every row between blue and white in an Excel spreadsheet

texts:
Can anyone advise me on how to describe the following condition of an Excel spreadsheet:

Row 1 is colored with blue.
Row 2 is colored with white.
Row 3 is colored with blue.
Row 4 is colored with white.
Row 5 is colored with blue.
...

Can this condition be described that colors alternate every row between blue and white ?


texts: What's the name of the sound that a hungry stomach makes?

texts:
When the stomach makes a sound like croaking of a frog or similar to it (mine just did, it's trying to speak to me), that alert when you are hungry, is there a name for it?

I mean the name for this very sound?


texts:
I don't understand what this expression means:

  Little adults are the children that parents describe as
  'eight going on forty-eight'.


texts:
What this line means: That’s what I always you see?

  (Edward canes Anna once)

  Edward: One. That’s what I always you see? I think it’s fairer you see to
  count aloud. So that the boy knows what to expect. And to judge the gap
  between – too long prolongs the experience but too quickly – you see?

  Maureen: You’ve broken the skin.


texts: what is the difference between kind, type and sort

texts:
I see these sentences:

  Newton invented a new type of microscope.
  Newton invented a new kind of mathematics.
  Apple invented a new sort of cameras.

What is the difference between kind, sort, and type?


texts:
Is the expression "if there are tickets available, I would like to buy one"  correct?
In case it is, which type of conditional would be?


texts: Had sent/ sent... which one's better, and why?

texts:
I was overwhelmed with joy when i read the texts you had sent me.

I was overwhelmed with joy when i read the texts you sent me.

Are both the above sentences grammatically correct?
What's the difference in their meaning?


texts: Is the word contributor part of participator or completely different words? Or can they be interchangeable in some cases?


texts: Future unreal conditional or second condition with continuous form

texts:
I've learned that second condition is used to talk about unreal or unlikely or hypothetical condition. But some kind of 2nd conditional sentence construction are confusing to me. They are:

If I were going to climb up mountain, I would be taking a walking stick with me.

(This sentence is created by myself by looking at Englishpage.com (mixed conditionals), the sentence that I looked at in this site was: If I were going to Fiji next week, I would be taking my scuba diving gear with me. I could write this sentence in question itself but don't understand its words)

(Can i say: if I were going to climb up mountain, I would take a walking stick ? Does it make sense? Why continuous form (would be+v4) has been used in the above above instead of would+v1 ?)

Again, in the same way, the following sentence is also followed by continuous form(would be+v4) in the main clause, why? The sentence is:

I am busy next week, If I had time, I would be coming to your party.
(Englishpage.com, same page)

(Can we say: I'm busy next week, if I had time , I would come to your party ?)

Again, what is the difference between following sentences:

1.If I were going to Rome next week, I would be trying to find accomodation.

If I were going to go to Rome, I would be trying to find accomodation.


texts: wooden owls that keep guard over the names of houses; crumbling dwarfs indefatigably poised over goldfish ponds

texts:
The rusticity of the environment [Merridale Lane in Surrey] is enhanced by the wooden owls that keep guard over the names of houses, and by crumbling dwarfs indefatigably poised over goldfish ponds. The inhabitants of Merridale Lane do not paint their dwarfs, suspecting this to be a suburban vice, nor, for the same reason, do they varnish the owls; but wait patiently for the years to endow these treasures with an appearance of weathered antiquity, until one day even the beams on the garage may boast of beetle and woodworm.

Source: Call for the Dead (John Le Carre)

I am having difficulty understanding the description of the owls and the dwarfs. What kind of house decor is the wooden owl that guard over the name of the house? And is the dwarfs another ornament decorating the house? Am I correct to understand that the inhabitants there deliberately refrain from painting the owls and the dwarfs such that they will look old?


texts:
Can somebody explain me the difference between only and just? In which cases we can use them?

ex: I need just one glass of water, i need only one glass of water


texts:
"Why does it not sell?" or "Why it does not sell?"

The first seems correct by gramatics but the second is suggested by my intuition.


texts:
So if we want warmth,we use a.hot water bottle (sometimes)
So what should it be :

Put hot water bottle on your feet.

Use hot water bottle on your feet.

Keep hot water bottle on your feet.

What should be used "put on/use on/keep on"?
Thank you:)


texts: "Inspiration" mean "a sudden feeling of enthusiasm"?

texts:
"Inspiration" in Macmillan, http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/inspiration,
 means " a sudden feeling of enthusiasm, or a new idea that helps you to do or create something".

I am wondering which example use "in spiration" as "a sudden feeling of enthausism".I think the examples below all uses "inspiration" as "a new idea" rather than "a sudden feeling of enthausism. Am I right?


texts: How to say I've succeeded against all the odds of someone

texts:
Usually a successful person thanks to his wife or parents for his success during a public speaking.

On the other hand, what if someone becomes successful while his spouse/parents always discouraged him, or insult him continuously?

What does he say in such a situation? Something like:

I've succeeded despite all her discouragements?
I've succeeded against all discouragements of her.
I've succeeded against all insulting of her.
I've succeeded not because of her but in spite of her.


texts:
Source: Using SQLite by Jay A. Kreibich (2010)

Example:

  Perhaps most importantly, computer users have grown to expect that a document, project, or other “unit of application data” is stored as a single file. Having the whole database in a single file allows applications to use database instances as documents, data stores, or preference data, without contradicting customer expectations.

What exactly is it?


texts: What does “second” mean here and why did Jamie used it here?

texts:
This is from Jamie Dimon interview in Stanford:

  Character is a sine qua non and by character I also mean that they tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth. They do not shape the truth and they say the same thing to you and me. because second I see people doing something different than that you just go on a list to me, I have no interest. “

So why he did not say just when instead of second? I am also not able to find the meaning of “you just go on a list to me”


texts: What does the phrase "trades" mean here?

texts:
Please help me figure out the meaning of the word trades in the following (made-up) sentence:

  In the game you will find that Blades trades open worlds for quests
  through scary dungeons.

The sentence is from a description of the game "The Elder Scrolls: Blades". Here is a reference text (it does not contain the sentence above) from Wikipedia:

  The Elder Scrolls: Blades is an action role-playing game played from a
  first-person perspective.[1] The game was designed specifically for
  mobile devices and features nearly-unavoidable one-on-one combat,
  which is engaged by tapping, swiping, or using virtual dual-stick
  controls via touch screen.[1][2][3] Unlike the majority of the
  installments in the series, which are primarily built on open-world
  and world map features, the game's overall design is linear, due to
  the challenges and limitations of mobile devices.[4] Another
  distinction is that the abilities of sneaking around non-playable
  characters, moving corpses, and hiding/storing/stealing items were not
  included in the game. Combat includes using melee weapons, magic
  spells, and ranged attacks.[1] Regarding the use of magic, the player
  can only equip up to three different magic spells to use during
  combat. The game features dungeons that are both hand-crafted by
  designers and procedurally generated.[1] Players can customize and
  level up their characters to enhance their abilities.[1][2]

  Blades features three main game modes: Abyss, Arena, and Town. Abyss
  offers a roguelike experience in which the player must attempt to get
  as far as possible in an endless dungeon. Despite not connected to the
  game's story, the endless dungeon is ideal to gain experience and
  strength for the player. Arena is a player versus player multiplayer
  mode in which two players battle against each other.[3] Town is the
  game's main mode, which is a hub area where the player can receive
  quests and meet non-player characters (NPCs), in order to progress the
  story.[3][2] The player's hub town initially starts destroyed and they
  are tasked with rebuilding and upgrading it, which consequently
  unlocks more quests and NPCs.[3] Players can visit their friends' hub
  towns.[2][5]

I am confused by the word "trades". Does it mean "in-game purchases" here? Or does the phrase "trades open" have an idiomatic connotation that I am not aware of?


texts:
To give you some context, I'm reading Michael Swan's 'Practical English Usage', and I'm at a section covering passive voice and verbs with prepositions in the passive.

The author states that "The object of prepositional verbs can become subjects in passive structures." He then gives the example of "Somebody has paid for your meal" transformed into "Your meal has been paid for."

My question is: In this case, is "pay" an intransitive verb of incomplete predication and "for your meal" the subjective complement, and Swan is instead analyzing it as "pay for" being a prepositional verb whose direct object is "your meal", are both analyses correct, or am I missing something?


texts:
Some days ago I got a sentence on my lesson, which I had to rephrase. The sentence was:

  “I m sure, that the Smiths bought this house”

And I said

  “ The Smiths must have bought this house”.

My teacher made me feel confused about it, because she said that it was wrong. Is she right?


texts:
What the correct option, or maybe both are correct?

I'm confused because I got more or less the same number of Google Book results for each of them:

he blurted at her.

he blurted to her.


texts: What does "cued to your preferred 5 minutes" mean?

texts:
The phrase appeared in the context of an art portfolio requirement.

  Still Images.  Images should be sized at 1024 x 768 @ 72 DPI.  Limit
  the total number of still images to 20.

  Audio & Video. Limit the total
  time-based media selection to 10 minutes, cued to your preferred 5
  minutes. source

What does "cued" mean? If I have a 10 minutes video, does it mean that I write "my preferred 5 minutes is 3:20-8:20" somewhere?

Or as Em.♦ suggested, "I expected the spelling queue here, but M-W (cue (verb 2)), and Dictionary.com (8/9 cue) offer relevant entries." If "cued" means "queued", given for example I have 10 minutes video, does it mean I put my preferred 5 minutes before the other 5 less preferred 5 minutes?


texts: Wonder what the word "register" really is talking about in this context

texts:
Members of the religion cannot register with the government officially. Despite this, members do not face significant persecution due to the separation of religion and state here.

I have my doubts around my perception of this word. There is an ambiguty.
Does it mean:

They can not put their religion on application forms to get a job and by leaving the space blank they can be addmitted to the governmentally jobs or governmentally run universities.
Even by not putting their religion on application forms they can not be accepted in governmentally run jobs or enter university.

Many thanks in advance.