texts:
The importance of a good education cannot be overestimated. [=a good
  education is very important]

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/overestimate

I'm confused of this explanation in parentheses.

I think if I rewrite the first sentence like "The importance of a good education cannot be underestimated", then this may fit in the explanation "a good education is very important." Am I right?


texts: How to use grammar book examples in real life

texts:
English grammar books often use these kind of examples to explain the difference between the use of the present perfect simple and progressive:

"I can see you have painted your room, it looks great!" the focus is on the result = the painted room, which is finished and looks great.

"You have got paint in your hair and on your clothes, have you been painting?" the focus is on the process of painting, which results in the unintended side-effect of getting paint all over you. It doesn't matter whether the painting is finished or not.

These examples I understand.

My question is: Can I say: "Your room looks great, have you been painting?" meaning the painting is finished and has a desired result, it looks great.

This example is not used in grammar books, but I think it is idiomatic. Am I right?


texts: Should I say "Are you student" or "Are you a student"?

texts:
When asking someone whether he's student or not, should I use an article before the noun?

For example:

  Are you student or Are you a student?

  Are you policeman or Are you a policeman?

  Are you teacher or Are you a teacher?

I know that we use articles in declarative sentences, but I am not sure about interrogative sentences.


texts: Why is "will" future used in this sentence?

texts:
The following sentence, which is found in a grammar test in a textbook for learners of English called Tourism 2 (OUP), is given by a tour guide as part of her explanation of a schedule:

  As soon as we get to the station, we'll go to the hotel.

The same textbook contains the following as part of its Grammar Reference section:

  will is not normally used to talk about timetables or planned events. We use will when we decide what to do at that particular moment, e.g. to promise or offer to do something, and to make requests.

Why do we use "will" future here, even though this is clearly not a decision being made at that particular moment. It's pre-planned.

Other future forms which are used to talk about arrangements (present continuous, "going to" future) don't seem to work in this sentence. Why not? Is it something to do with the fact that it's part of an independent clause that follows a dependent clause starting with 'as soon as'?


texts: Usage of "few" in a GRE test completion question

texts:
I have some confusion interpreting the meaning of this text completion:

  Because there are few things that (i)____________a scientist more than being told that something is (ii)________________, so called pundits should be more cautious in their pronouncements: the Wright Brothers took the sky at the very time when it was fashionable among experts to ridicule the likelihood of human flight-it was the experts who ended up looking foolish.

  (i): startle, galvanize, discourage

  (ii): impossible, mysterious, serendipitous

I'm able to somehow understand what goes in the second blank, which is "impossible" but can't understand the sentence structure "Because there are few things that__________a scientist more than being told that something is.."

The answer is galvanize, but why is it so? Why can't it be discourage? It could be said since they have only few things to be discouraged than pundits saying something is impossible, they weren't discouraged that much and took to the sky..

Can you explain what's wrong in my interpretation of the sentence structure?


texts:
I found an album named "Moving Mountains" and I was wondering how I was supposed to understand it. To me there are two meanings:

The action of moving mountains
Mountains that can move by themselves

How do I know which one they meant? Did they mean both? If they wanted to mean specifically one or the other, how should they do it?


texts:
Even in the Nazi fervor, he would have nothing of the ideology. He cherished his ideal of peace.

What is this idiom, which I cannot find in my dictionary?

It is not an idiom but I don't know what it means.


texts: Android phones with(for?) those 5-inch screens

texts:
Here's a video transcript from VOA news.
http://www.voanews.com/content/apple-introduces-two-bigger-more-powerful-iphone-models/2444114.html

00:24

  "I think there's a lot of people that got big-screen envy and switched away from Apple towards Android phones with those 5-inch screens, which are really amazing for reading books and looking at your calendar and web-reading.  If Apple can get into that category I think there's a lot of people waiting to switch back," said Ackerman.

I'm wondering if he really said "Android phones with those 5-inch screens".
It seems to me he said "Android phones for those 5-inch screens".


texts:
One plane broke from formation and headed to the sky.

I don't understand what that means.- to break from formation

Does that mean that the plane was out of line?


texts: Is "Your cooking made me happy" acceptable?

texts:
Your cooking made me happy.

Is this correct? Can "your cooking" be used as a noun? The more I read it, the weirder it sounded  to me.


texts: Talking about the future using "Could have"

texts:
"How long will it take to make, anyway?" said Harry as Hermione, looking happier, opened the book again.
  "Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days ... I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients."
  "A month?" said Ron. "Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!" But Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously again, and he added swiftly, "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say."

Why "could have attacked..." is said in the Past Perfect tense? Ron obviously meant the future while saying it.


texts: "see someone doing something" or "see someone to do something"?

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

  I saw him doing his homework.

  I saw him to do his homework.

Not so long ago, I would have thought that the second sentence is incorrect, but I stummbled upon this sentence:

  When a person is under stress, the chest may be seen to heave and contract rapidly.

If the author used the ing ending of heave without to there, would change the meaning somehow?


texts:
My question is that which sentence is  preferable in terms of using: tend to , really or rather, because by me in the dictionaries I can use each of them .

Younger siblings tend to favor the creative fields such as music, art, or writing.
Younger siblings really favor the creative fields such as music, art, or writing.
Younger siblings rather favor the creative fields such as music, art, or writing.


texts: Could someone please give some scenarios for the usage of "despite my money"?

texts:
This video (https://youtu.be/UFuxlnUeGmg?t=399) gives an easy-to-use example about the usage of "despite".

  "Despite the peacefulness of the country, I prefer the city."

and then gives this

  "Despite my money"

I cannot even imagine in what situation I would use this expression. So I googled "despite my money" and got this

  My quota dropped from 100 GB to 15 GB despite my money continuing to be paid.

Which sounds reasonable. Could someone please give more scenarios for the usage of "despite my money"?


texts: Writing : Would you quit killing after how many people you would kill?

texts:
A : Would you quit killing after how many people you would kill ?
B : I would quit killing after I would kill five more.
(or I would quit after I will make the number 10, which is the number of peoples I killed)
I want to know A's question so that B replies like the above.
[Add] Following Bruce Murray's comment, I found the sentence

How many people will you stop killing after you kill them ?

Is this a correct sentence ?
[Add2] A : How old do you think he is ?
B : (I think that) he is around 20.
The first sentence in the dialogue inspires me this question.
I think I would stop killing after I kill 10 people.
From this sentence we can make asking :
A : How many do you think you would stop killing after you kill ?
B : Maybe 10 people.

Here is A's asking correct ??


texts: Is there an idiom to describe when the person who should be the most worried about a situation is the least concerned?

texts:
I need an idiom or a proverb to describe a situation in which the concerned party shows little or no interest while others who hold no stakes in the issue show a lot of enthusiasm.

For example, a student faces the disciplinary board for misconduct. But instead of being worried, he appears totally nonchalant; the concerned happen to be people who don't know the student but still sympathize with him.

Sorry if this example isn't precise enough but I hope you got the point.


texts:
My friend wrote the following sentence to show her reluctance towards watching movies:

  I am quite rigid towards watching movies in cinema halls.

I didn't find any definition in Oxford dictionary for "rigid" which means "a reluctant attitude".

Here, she meant that she always try to avoid going cinema halls for watching movies. Her full statement was as follows:

  I am quite rigid towards watching movies in cinema halls. However, when my family pushed I got ready and joined them there.

Did she write a correct statement? I have found many other people using a similar statement.


texts: "He found the bicycle that he had lost yesterday." Past perfect with yesterday?

texts:
He found the bicycle that he had lost yesterday.

Is this sentence correct? If so, which is the intended meaning:

He lost the bicycle yesterday and he found it  after that.
He lost the bicycle someday before yesterday and he found it yesterday.

Sometimes, past perfect is so confusing to non-native speaker, so which meaning does it have, 1 or 2?


texts: Past Perfect or Past Perfect Progressive?

texts:
They had driven ten miles when the car broke down.

  They had been driving ten miles when the car broke down.

I am sure that the first sentence is correct. The second action happened when they had already covered ten miles. But I wonder if the second sentence is possible.


texts: What's the difference between “It had snowed in the night, so the bus didn't arrive.” & “It snowed in the night, so the bus didn't arrive.”?

texts:
What's the difference between

  It had snowed in the night, so the bus didn't arrive.
  It snowed in the night, so the bus didn't arrive.

I think in the first sentence there is causality and the second it seems the two main clauses are unrelated.
Which one is preferable? Is there really a difference in meaning? Is the second sentence grammatically correct?


texts: What does this dialog from Mad Men mean?

texts:
In the TV series "Mad Men" I'm currently watching, a man is conducting a job interview with two young males (person 1 and person 2) in episode 1 of season 2 ("For Those Who Think Young") starting at about 32:47. During that interview, the following dialog takes place:

  Interviewer: "Are you married?
  Person 1: Uh, that's why we're on the purpose.
  Person 2: He's right. We haven't settled down yet.
  Interviewer: [pauses] So, again, you both did everything together, and yet you get paid more [pointing to person 2].

I don't understand this dialog at all. What does "That's why we're on the purpose" mean?

I looked up "purpose" in the wiktionary, but couldn't find anything relevant. And what does this have to do with their pay? Or is the interviewer just changing the topic?

Edit: I should add that person 1 is not a native speaker.


texts: “The stubble of several nights” vs. "several nights' stubble"

texts:
I happened to run into the following example in Collins:

  His face was covered with the stubble of several nights.

I think the underlying pattern is "a thing achieved of a period of time".

I'm not sure it is OK to say "fruit of several months", "training of a couple of years", "wait of the whole afternoon", etc.

Is it exchangeable with the genitive construction?

  His face was covered with several nights' stubble.


texts: What is the difference in the meanings of the sentences "Would you like some coffee?" and "Do you want some coffee?"

texts:
I asked a similar question about the meaning of the word "would" in similar sentences before. My understanding was, the word "would" asks about the willingness of the listener to do something.

Now, I'm wondering whether it has a specific different meaning or implication in this sentence (I can't seem to fit that previous description in the above sentence); in other words, I'd like to know how and if the use of the word "would" distinguishes the two sentences from one another and how.

(I'm always looking to improve on my English; so, I'd greatly appreciate it if you would point out any grammatical mistakes I've made in describing my question)


texts: "connected" and "linked" in one sentence

texts:
These events are inextricably connected with huge expenses and not necessarily linked with a sufficient revenue.

Is it okay? Maybe I should stick to one adjective.

  These events are inextricably connected with huge expenses and not necessarily with a sufficient revenue.


texts: "Present" vs "future tense" in subordinate clauses in this context

texts:
A conversation between two friends:

  A: When will you come to our house.

  B: I will go when my mother goes / when my mother will go.

I know that we are supposed to use only the present tense in subordinate clauses. But here when my mother goes doesn't sound nice to my ear although I'm a mere learner.

How would native speakers say this?

Thanks in advance.


texts: Can 'make a/the/one's list' mean either "create a list" or "manage to get into the list"?

texts:
Let's say I made your list. Does it mean I managed to get into your list or I created a list for you? Do we have to rely on context to determine which meaning is intended?

Is there any difference among make a list, make the list and make one's list?


texts:
I am really confused about the usage of livelihood and livelihoods in below sentences:
"The falling orders for new ships mean that many shipyard workers are likely to lose their livelihood."

"Many ship workers could lose their livelihoods because of falling orders for new ships."

"They earn their livelihood from farming."

I came accross the above example sentences on Cambridge web dictionary, and I am left confused as to how livelihood could take a singular form when used with a plural noun/pronoun. I guess, in the 1st example, it's related to the shared experience of shipyard workers making ships and in the 2nd example, it's about seperate experiences of all?

Please clear my confusion.

Thanks in advance.


texts:
In the following sentence is the use of "the" grammatically correct? Is it an optional case? I used leakage as a synonym for an oil spill.

  "The study was performed during the two days following leakage".


texts: Which one is that meaning of "The man with the sword attacked the other man first."

texts:
First, the man with the sword attacked the other man.

The man with the sword attacked the other man one.

The man with the sword attacked the other man.


texts: How to understand "This American government — what is it but a tradition" by Thoreau?

texts:
This American government — what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity.

What does "what is it but a tradition" mean?
Can we use "though" and "but" together?
Does "each" mean "each posterity"?


texts: What would be a formal substitute for the informal quantifiers "a lot of" and "lots of"?

texts:
A lot of, lots of with a noun

We use a lot of and lots of in informal styles. Lots of is more informal than a lot of. A lot of and lots of can both be used with plural countable nouns and with singular uncountable nouns for affirmatives, negatives, and questions:

We’ve got lots of things to do.
That’s a lot of money.
There weren’t a lot of choices.

source

Can we use the quantifiers in formal writings, and is there any substitute for them?


texts:
Please, consider the following statements of the book Hamlet:

  BARNARDO
  “How now, Horatio? You tremble and look pale.
  Is not this something more than fantasy?
  What think you on ’t?
  HORATIO
  Before my God, I might not this believe
  Without the sensible and true avouch
  Of mine own eyes.”

What does the term before my god mean? Is the meaning of it no different from the phrase as god is my witness?


texts: How to distinguish direct object and object complement?

texts:
Could anyone please tell me how to distinguish a direct object from an object complement?
Do the two have any radical differences?

In the sentence, "Our childhood experiences have made us what we are", is "what we are" a noun clause? Does it serve as a direct object or an object complement?


texts:
It's from "Green Room" movie. An interviewer asks members of an underground punk band about social media peresence and their music, so the bassist answers: "When you take it all virtual, you lose the texture. Just... you gotta be there. The music is for effect. It's time and aggression... Technical wizardry. And it's shared live and then it's over. The energy can't last."

Now, "share" is to have a portion of smoething with the others as it says in Oxford Dictionaries. But what the definition of "live" in that context? Is it the same as "life"? The pronouncing is same for both, but I'm still not sure.


texts:
Do we need to put question mark at the end of a sentence that starts with "may I suggest"? I have seen both used but I am unsure which one is correct.
For example: "May I suggest you read the rules"
Which punctuation mark should I use, a full stop or a question mark?


texts:
I've encountered with this sentence:

  Vera was reluctant to mention that her uncle had long since departed.

What does "had long" mean here?


texts: Could things go in vain? Or they just were in vain?

texts: What verb usually goes with "in vain"? Just "to be" or any other?


texts:
Look at the clause in bold:

  Job burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion
  which happens due to long-term exposure to a demanding job. It is also
  a response to acute job-related pressures. It is a psychological
  syndrome that involves emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and
  low personal accomplishment. In emotional exhaustion, the afflicted
  person feels being under pressure and losing emotional resources,
  while in depersonalization, a person becomes indifferent to his/her
  clients.

For sure I know the words "being" and "losing" are wrong. But what about using "to be" after "feel"? Would

  In emotional exhaustion, the afflicted person feels to be under
  pressure and to lose emotional resource

be correct?


texts: When italicizing, do I have to include 'a,' 'an,' and 'the'?

texts:
For example, I want to emphasize the term 'multi-channel non-orthogonal multiple access scheduling problem' in the following statements.

Based on (1), (2), and (3), the multi-channel non-orthogonal multiple access scheduling problem for ~~~~~ is finally formulated as follows.

In the above statements, do I have to italicize "multi-channel non-orthogonal multiple access scheduling problem" or "the multi-channel non-orthogonal multiple access scheduling problem"?
1.

Based on (1), (2), and (3), the multi-channel non-orthogonal multiple access scheduling problem for ~~~~~ is finally formulated as follows.

Based on (1), (2), and (3), the multi-channel non-orthogonal multiple access scheduling problem for ~~~~~ is finally formulated as follows.


texts: what's the meaning of "hayseed grammar"?

texts:
"With his hayseed grammar, denim shirt and
  lifetime-member NRA cap, Dad would have always been out of place at
  Harvard, but his scarring intensified the effect."

The word "hayseed" means: a person from the country, especially one who is simple and unsophisticated."denim shirt" and "lifetime-member NRA cap" relate to Dad's clothes. But what about the "grammar"? Does it mean his grammar book?

The full text:

MY PARENTS ARRIVED AS the leaves began to turn, when campus was at its
most beautiful, the reds and yellows of autumn mingling with the
burgundy of colonial brick. With his hayseed grammar, denim shirt and
lifetime-member NRA cap, Dad would have always been out of place at
Harvard, but his scarring intensified the effect.


texts:
It is common to say "What happened to him (or somebody)?" to inquire about somebodies' whereabouts. But is it right?

In my opinion, it should be "What was happened to him?" or "What did happen to him?", even it can be "What had happen to him (before today)?" Am I wrong in this understanding?


texts: interrogative "to be" sentence for 2nd person plural with "Where"

texts:
According to structure of the interrogative sentence for "to be", when I want to ask about a location of a 2nd person then I have to use "were" continuously after "where"

For example:

  Where were you yesterday.

Now my question if it's practical for use, or consider as a case of "just in the book" and practically I should avoid it and people actually use other structures like "Where have you been yesterday" in order to avoid this confusing words (where were) together. Or it is very common in use (it's something that I didn't notice...).


texts: Word for "hard to see because it's twinkling"?

texts:
Let's say, you see a star in a night sky. But you can't see it very well because it's twinkling and very far away. Is there a word like "faded" but that's related with twinkling and flickering?

Example sentence:

  The star was __ so I lost sight of it from time to time.


texts:
I never wanted anything except to be a successful person.

  I never wanted to do anything except be a successful person.

Which form of the verb is possible after except: [ do - to do - doing ] ? And when each one is used?


texts: Is "I'm doing this primarily for myself, so..." proper English?

texts:
Basically a quick question. Consider the phrase:

  I'm doing this primarily for myself, so...

I'm trying to almost literally translate a widely-used expression from my language to English, but it struck me as something a native English speaker wouldn't say (as well as most of my pathetic attempts, sadly).


texts: Using a subject at the end of a sentence

texts:
Piled higher than head-height on every side was mail. Sacks, satchels,
  boxes and carts of it, spilling out onto the cold concrete floor.
  (Clive Barker, The Great and Secret Show)

I can't understand the construction of these sentences above. Why is "mail" at the end of the sentence, so far from the "piled" and why didn't the author use "were" before "spilling" to make a complete sentence?

I suppose the meaning would remain the same if I rewrote this sentence as in:

  Mail was piled higher than head-height on every side. Sacks, satchels,
  boxes and carts of it were spilling out onto the cold concrete floor.

or

  Mail was piled higher than head-height on every side, with sacks, satchels, boxes and carts of it spilling out onto the
  cold concrete floor.

or

  Mail was piled higher than head-height on every side, sacks, satchels, boxes and carts of it spilling out onto the cold
  concrete floor.


texts: Should an apostrophe be used when writing "predeceased by her husband's"?

texts: Should there be an apostrophe after husband when writing "she is predeceased by her husband's" or should it be husbands?


texts: "to be considered " vs "should be considered"

texts:
Consider the following sentence.

  We are happy to recommended that his son to be considered for the
  post.

This is grammatically incorrect(why?). The notes I am reading says that the correct sentence is:

  We are happy to recommended that his son should be considered for the
  post.

Can somebody please explain why the first one is incorrect, and why the second one is correct.

Edit:

Does it make any difference if I simply write

  We are happy to recommend that his son should be considered for the
  post.


texts:
I came across the word "chap" while reading the book The Rules of Life by Richard Templar. It occurs in the sentence

  But then all my problems are object related and needs practical solutions - a chap's sort of thing.

It is in the chapter "Rule 58: Know when to listen and when to act". From the sentence, it seems that it is a name of a profession, but cannot get which one.

According to the Cambridge dictionary or the Urban dictionary, the word "chap" has several meanings: a synonyme of guy, or a gentlemen, or a homosexual (acknowledging it or not). None seems to feel in this context. The closest is "guy", following the cliche that men need action and women need talking about problems, but it doesn't fit with the chapter (as well as the whole book) that doesn't have any gender-related content.

What is the meaning of chap in this context ?


texts:
Here are two sentences which have been transformed into two different kinds of sentence having a different structure to the first version:

  1a) All the employees are huge basketball fans. That makes it a very fun winter.
  1b) He couldn’t give me a straight answer. This leaves a lot of room for doubt.

  2a) All the employees are huge basketball fans, making it a very fun winter.
  2b) He couldn’t give me a straight answer, leaving a lot of room for doubt.

Source: http://www.writeexpress.com/emphasis.html

I think it's the use of present participle(ing form) connecting two different sentences into one sentence. Isn't it? Do we use such sentences to show the result of first clause to the second clause ? Or why we use such sentences ?

I think we use such sentences to emphasize our writing(as per the website content refers to), But I don't know what kind of emphasize it is.


texts: Can you use "as + adjective + a/an + noun + as" with plural nouns?

texts:
I know this grammar structure. For example:

  I have as good a voice as you.

But I'm not sure if you can use a plural noun there. For example:

  I have as good books as you.

Or:

  They're not as glamorous jobs as people think.


texts:
I know the meaning of 'brawl'.But what does this phrase 'all-out brawl' mean?
Thanks in Advance.


texts:
There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess, who was also a powerful sorceress.

The sentence is cited from The Wizard of Oz, page 37.

What do the words in bold mean?  Thank you!


texts: How often do native speakers use the word "to scathe"? Is it OK if I use it instead of "to injure"?

texts: The word "to scathe" is the synonym of the word "to harm" or "to injure". However, I have never noticed how somebody uses it. Is it OK to occasionally use it instead of "to injure" during speaking and writing?


texts:
When I was reading The First Phone Call From Heaven, I found the following sentence

  "She felt her chest well up as if she were going to cry".

Supposing the meaning from the context, this sentence seems meaning to say "She was moved", but is this interpretation correct?"

Sorry for gramatically incorrect sentences cuz I'm poor at grammer.


texts: Colon or em-dash when asking a question with multiple choices

texts:
I am trying to ask a questions like these:

Which security should I buy: a foreign-listed bond issue with a five-letter ticker ending with "Q", or a domestically-listed convertible preferred share issue with a five-letter ticker ending with "A"?

Is my use of the colon correct? Should I have used an em-dash instead? For example: "Which security should I buy — a foreign-listed ...".

Which one do people usually buy — the first one, or the second?

Is my use of the em-dash correct, or should I have used an em-dash instead?


texts: What is the meaning of "put a knot in your tail"?

texts:
What is the meaning of "put a knot in your tail" in the following sentence (Source: The great big elephant and the very small elephant),

  He stopped short. The Very Small Elephant stopped too. There in the
  middle of the path stood Rinaldo. Rinaldo loved to fight.

  "If you try to pass here," he shout, "you will be sorry!"

  The Great Big Elephant was angry.

  "Get out of my way or I will put a knot in your tail.!"

?

Does "I will put a knot in your tail" mean  "I will bite your tail so that your tail will be hurt and you will have a lump(knot) in your tail" ?


texts: Is it acceptable to say "I am off" in meaning that I'm tired or something like that?

texts: Is it acceptable in English to say "I am off" in meaning that I'm tired or something like that? I heard it from non native English speaker, that's why I'm not sure about it.


texts:
"In the past India has explained its failure to clean up its act by pleading poverty, noting that richer countries were once just as dirty and that its output of filth per person still lags far behind theirs."
What does it mean by "clean up its act by pleading poverty"?


texts:
In the following sentence I think still is incorrectly used.

  He has a bad cold and sore throat. He may still get flu.

I think it should be he may have got flu


texts: What is the meaning of "do a barrel roll"?

texts:
At work I heard in the middle of a conversation someone saying "well, do a barrel roll in that case", like if nothing more could be done.

What would it mean in the context of business?


texts:
Just some examples: in Information Technology, it's common to use the word a core (of a processor) and the kernel (of an operating system). Both are the main parts of hardware and software respectively. Also I've heard something similar is used in Economics: core business, core inflation.

A nucleus is the most important part, the central part of something (that definition also works well with "core" and "kernel"). But I associate this word with science (physics, chemistry), such as an atomic nucleus.

Is there any other usage beyond the above mentioned subjects?

Is there any specific usage of these words as well? (Something more than the examples above, even with similarities with their meanings, doesn't appear to be interchangeable).

Using "Day-to-day English" is better to say 'most important', 'main' or 'central'?


texts: difference between have been and had been

texts:
My friend just answered to one of my important questions. Now how should I reply to him?

  1.Oh! That question had been on my mind for a long time, finally, I got my answer. ( Oh! I had that question on my mind for a long time, finally, I got my answer)

or

  Oh! That question has been on my mind for a long time, finally, I got an answer. ( Oh! I have that question on my mind for a long time, finally, I got my answer)

Basically, I am confused with had and have. Since that question is not anymore on my mind after having got an answer, which one of the above two sentences should be used?


texts: What's the difference between using 'the' or 'these' in the following sentence?

texts:
These apples are red.
The apples are red.

I think in the second sentence the meaning is that all apples are red, am I right?
Also, using 'the' in this example is grammatically correct?


texts:
He ran to the living room then ran to kitchen.
He kept ran and ran.

"Why are you running here running there?" I asked him.

Does it sound grammatically correct to an native speaker?


texts:
I know when to use an adjective as comparative or superlative.
Example -

This is an easy job.
This is easier than the previous one.
This is the easiest.

And when this way, we can't derive comparative or superlative form, we use much/more and most.
This is okay for me. But when I need to use adverb in comparative or superlative form, like this -
Example -

This is done easily.
This is done more easily than I thought.

Is "more easily" correct? Or is there any other way to construct comparative and superlative form of an adverb?


texts:
I am used to the saying "not much else" but I don't know if the opposite sense is accepted. Is the following correct?

  I know you have much else to do

to indicate that I recognize the person has other things to do than spending time on the subject of the conversation.


texts:
When someone fastens a "clasp bracelet/necklace", will it be natural to use:

  She clasped her necklace/bracelet. (I feel this sounds okay)

  She latched her necklace/bracelet. (Maybe this sounds a bit off.)

  She hooked her necklace/bracelet. (Maybe this sounds a bit off too)

Or will it only be: "She fastened her necklace/bracelet."

And when we wear our necklace, sometimes, the clasp starts showing and we have to turn the necklace around. What will be a natural way to express that?

  The clasp/hook/latch of your necklace is showing.

Is there a better way to describe it? What sounds the best "clasp" or "hook" or "latch"? I feel that "clasp" sounds the best?


texts: What is the difference between "Over the following years" and "In the following years"?

texts:
A report of sentences that I found on Google follows:

Over the following years

  Although William's main rivals were gone, he still faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072
  Support for gun control slipped to 54 percent over the following years.

In the following years

  The 10-year difference between the youngest and oldest is not so dramatic here, but begins to register in the following years.
  After the fall of Antwerp in 1585, King Philip II ordered Alexander Farnese to direct his military actions first towards the failed
  campaign of the Spanish Armada, then against France to prevent the
  succession of King Henry IV. In the following years the Army of
  Flanders was entirely on the defensive.


texts:
the Byrds were now a family friends.Joan again
"I remember  meeting them inside Ciro's - at first they had seemed older than the english groups.But up close it was clear that they were very young and very poor and may be they did not eat enough.
My question is why had seemed , for me it seems strange as "meeting them in Ciro implies that it was the beginning of the band.(it was told before in the text that they took a residency at Ciro's in the beginning of the band , so we already now that it is in the past of the past before they were a family friends so there is  no need to indicate it a second time.
I Think that using the past perfect emphasizes the contrast between at first and it was clear that this first impression was wrong
Am I wrong thinking that ?
Extract from Inside the Byrds/ personnal reflections


texts:
Why on Facebook on the button in the menu block an article "a" is missed.
I have a guess, but not sure if I'm right.
Could it be because of all the inscriptions on the button are cut?


texts:
I guess this sentence is both grammatical and idiomatic.

  VOA is located at 330 Independence Avenue.

The street is labeled ad "Independence Ave SW" On Google map. What does "SW" stand for? Is it a combination of the first letter of some words?

play.google.com describes

  SW Maps is a free GIS and mobile mapping app for collecting, presenting and sharing geographic information.

It seems like "SW" is a brand, is it?


texts:
Claude Miller, a sales representative for our farm equipment products, is truly an asset to the company, having increased its annual profits by as much as 25  percent.

What is the difference between representative for or of? I've usually seen using of. In the sentence above, is it possible to use of instead of for, in that case what is the difference in the meaning?


texts:
Should I put any commas here?

  Paint the fence that's red green.

(meaning "Paint the red fence with green paint.")

  Move the wheelbarrow that's on the stairs below the stairs.

(Could be shortened to "Move the wheelbarrow on the stairs below the stairs."


texts: A word for a man who doesn't get upset about his wife's relationships

texts:
Is there a word for a man who doesn't care about his wife, sister or girlfriend's relationships.

For example: He is OK with his wife being kissed by every man and somehow encourages her to do so.

  I don't mean a person who is open-minded, Rather a person who is weak and somehow like potato. Of course a real man gets angry in that condition and in some situations tells her wife to dress clothes which are less revealing.

  And, Is there a word which is opposite for that potato man. A man who cares.
  Edit: A real man fights against somebody who stares at his wife/sister.


texts: Can I say "I am out of breath because I have just been climbing the stairs"?

texts:
I would like to know if I am correct about this. I have trouble climbing stairs because of health problems. I have just climbed stairs and I am out of breath.
Can I say: "I am out of breath because I have just been climbing the stairs"?
I am really proud of this fact and so I say: "I have climbed the stairs!"


texts:
What's the meaning of "for good"?

For instance, one says "Are you leaving?"
The other replies "Yes, for good."


texts:
Air is all around us.

All around means in every way according to the dictionary. But this explanation doesn't make sense in above sentence, so I guess something maybe wrong here.

Does it mean something else here?


texts:
Should we use don't or doesn't in the below sentence and why?

"Knowing magic secrets doesn’t make you a magician"


texts: How to understand this running train sentence?

texts:
Source

  ....Nicoli then kills the conductor who tries to intervene, and the
  crowd on the train flees

Actually train is in motion, but in this sentence says crowd on the train flees, how crowd flees in running train ?

How to understand this running train sentence ?


texts:
Could I say the sentence below? Should I use the preposition "in" instead of "at"?

I improve day by day but at a slow tempo.

Or, is it totally wrong the whole sentence?


texts: What is the difference between "check something for something" and "check something over for something"?

texts:
Is there any difference between check for and check over? For example:

  I have to check my essay for mistakes.

  I have to check my essay over mistakes.

Does over imply greater carefulness in checking something? If so, then why people sometimes say just check? Don't they want something to be checked carefully?


texts:
I've just heard very interesting sentence on popular TV channel. It said sth like that :

  Hitler is not that kind of man. He does no wrong

I know what could that mean "He does not make mistakes" but, is this sentence correct in terms of grammar ?

I know there is something like "Do no harm" and this is acceptable because "do" behaves like "have".

e.g "I have no money"

Can somebody explain to me how these processes work ? Also there is double negative here "no wrong"


texts: How much(from where to where) can I take away in the sentence when same words are repeated?

texts:
We’ll be able to carry any books in New York public library wherever we go, and while resting(while we rest), we’ll be able to read any part from them whenever we want.

Here, 'We'll be able to' is repeated so I guess I can use ellipsis, as in

  He likes dancing, and he likes singing, and he likes hiking. >> He likes dancing, singing, and hiking.

But how much, (from where to where) can I take away in this sentence?
Should ellipsis part be exactly the same as the part which is being repeated? as in

  We’ll be able to carry any books in New York public library wherever we go, and while resting, read any part from them whenever we want

Or can I also leave 'to' or other words in the sentence? as in

  We’ll be able to carry any books in New York public library wherever we go, and while resting, to read any part from them whenever we want.

  We’ll be able to carry any books in New York public library wherever we go, and while resting, be able to read any part from them whenever we want.

What's confusing me even more is that there's 'and while resting' in the middle of the sentence. It feels like it's interrupting the flow of the sentence so I'm not sure if I can use ellipsis here or not.
Should I first reorder the sentence, and then use ellipsis?


texts: Is "by" required in an adverbial phrase, and is an article needed before "access"?

texts:
Is it okay to say

  (By) studying in the university, I was able to gain (the) access to the knowledge I desire.

Do I need to add by in the front?
Do I need to add the in front of access?


texts: Problem of abstracting two things into one

texts:
As I am having some new options to describe one of my earlier post regarding to the following two constructions making into one sentence, I want to post this once again with my options.

If I say main two things which I want to include separately,

  Testing of previously fixed edge and currently fixed edge is done in order to
      maintain the correct alignment of the boundary segments.
  previously fixed edge and currently fixed edge are relevant to the two successive
      corners but associated with a same polygon.

after joining above 2 into one sentence I have following options

  Testing of previously fixed edge and currently fixed edge,
  relevant to
  the two successive corners but associated with a same polygon, is done
  in order to maintain the correct alignment of the boundary segments.
  Testing of the previously fixed edge and the currently fixed edge
  is
   done to maintain the correct alignment of the boundary segments; these
   edges refer to two successive corners associated with a same polygon.
  Currently fixed edge is compared with the previous fixing which
  is
    relevant to the predecessor of the current corner and associated with
    the same polygon in order to maintain the correct alignment of the
    boundary segments.

AS this point is very important for my writing, I want your assistant to say this in a formal way.


texts: What is the word for referring to the act of "putting" gas inside a container?

texts:
You put a solid object into "something".
  You pour a liquid into "something".
  You ___ a gas into "something".

  With that "something" being a three-dimensional container large enough to hold the objects in question.

What is the word for referring to the act of "putting" gas inside a container (for the lack of a better word)?

  Gas is ____  into a pistonless cylinder on a cold day.

Would "filled" work in this case?


texts:
We are 1 of the 2 final vendors left. Presentation to Company A has
been delivered. Decision planned for 11 April.

Decision planned for 11 April - What I want to say is the decision will be out on 11 April on whether we are selected as the vendors, but to make it concise and professional. Nevertheless, is that grammatical and idiomatic?


texts: Which definition is this article using of the verb "temper"?

texts:
Currently reading this article, the last paragraph says,

  Mr Grant said: “FRA & GER used to each work with the UK to create a balance v the other. Now they’ve only each other to get annoyed with. And other members are much warier of Franco-German dominance, without UK to temper FRA’s & GER’s influence.”

My dictionary gives the definitions,

  transitive verb

  1
  a :  to dilute, qualify, or soften (as something strong, harsh, or excessive) by the addition or influence of something else :  make temperate :  moderate, season

  b :  to make suitable for :  adapt to :  adjust, modify — usually used with to

  c archaic :  to mix (ingredients) in suitable proportions :  prepare by combining :  compound, blend

  2
  archaic
  a :  to exercise control over :  govern, restrain

  b :  to cause to be well disposed :  mollify

  3
  :  to bring (a substance or material) to a suitable state (as of consistency or workability) by mixing in or adding a usually liquid ingredient: such as

  a (1) :  to mix (clay) with water and knead to a uniform texture (2) :  to add an aplastic material (as grog or sand) to (clay)

  b :  to mix oil with (colors) in making paint ready for use

  c :  to moisten (as sand for molding) to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly

  d :  to dampen or remove moisture from (grain) to secure the best grinding

  e :  to make (leather) uniformly moist and soft for further processing

  4
  a (1) :  to soften (hardened steel or cast iron) by reheating at a temperature well below that from which previous quenching for hardening was done (2) :  to harden and reheat (steel or cast iron) or to harden alone especially in oil — not used technically

  b :  to anneal or toughen (glass) by a process of gradually heating and cooling

  5
  :  to make stronger and more resilient through hardship :  toughen

  6
  a :  to put in tune with :  attune

  b :  to adjust the pitch of (a note, chord, instrument) to a temperament

Thank you in advance(m_m).


texts: Don't word defintions need to be in one of five phrase types?

texts: There are noun phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, verb phrases, prepositional phrases. Word definitions don't need to be in one of five types?


texts: Is "to be  for  to do " a valid expression?

texts:
I am currently translating a text and just wrote the following line:

  Comments need to be detailed enough for the reader to understand the text on a deeper level.

Is this correct grammatically and equals the following?

  Comments need to be detailed enough so that the reader is able to
  understand (...)

I'm especially concerned about this part

  (...) need to be detailed enough for the reader to (...)

My gut says it's a valid expression but something got me thinking...


texts:
Fascism has opened up the depths of society for politics. Today, not only in peasant homes but also in city skyscrapers, there lives alongside of the twentieth century the tenth or thirteenth.

Could the preposition of can be omitted in the above sentence without a change of the meaning?


texts:
What is the correct verb to be used in the following places?

  1) Teacher Mary A s tuition. Therefore she would take the fees.

  2) A student B s tuition.

  3) An Exam is "taken" by a student, not "given", but a teacher C s the exam.

In all the places (A,B,C) what should the verb be with respect to the context? "Take" or "Give"?

Also I want to know is there any other such word where "take" and "give" is very hard to guess?


texts: What "could hang together or one at a time" mean here?

texts:
Benjamin Franklin’s timely warning that the colonies either could hang together or one at a time ultimately translated itself into the brilliant outcome achieved by the revolutionary diplomats who seldom failed to take advantage of Europe’s distresses.

If hang = cut, what does this mean?
I'm confused about this phrase: either could hang together & hang one
at a time.


texts: Bachelor's degree vs undergraduate program

texts:
Good morning!

May I employ "bachelor's degree" as a synonym for "undergraduate program"?

For instance, is it correct to say that I am "currently enrolled in a bachelor's degree"? Or, otherwise, that I have learned a lot during my "bachelor's degree"?


texts:
As far as I know, the phrase 'too far from' could be used with

noun (too far from a good car - bad car)
adjective (too far from beautiful - it isn't beautiful)
adverb (too far from always - rarely)

QUESTION:

Can I use this way of using the phrase 'too far from'?

  man A: no one can do this exercise

  man B: It's too far from no one can do it


texts: What should I use, "in her stead" or "instead of her"?

texts: Which phrase should I use,"in her stead" or "instead of her"? I encounterted the both. Is there any difference in meaning?


texts: What does "persecutory trends" imply in this definition?

texts:
I read a definition of the word "paranoid" in Merriam Webster which was:

  characterized by suspiciousness, persecutory trends, or megalomania

I'm not sure what specifically "trends" mean above. Another definition of the word suggest that the one affected with paranoia feels as if other people are trying to harm them, but when I read the relevant definition of "trend" (which is "a prevailing tendency or inclination") it seems to suggest the person "does persecution" not "feel persecuted".

What am I missing?


texts:
Can Noun phrases include commas?

Example:

  A star for each Kid attending the classes Math, English and History.


texts:
I am used to say post to mean either a question/answer or a comment posted on a Stack Exchange site, influenced from the fact that post seems to me a verb I could use for answers and comments.

Looking at the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (the fifth definition), I read the following definition.

  a message sent to a discussion group on the Internet; a piece of writing that forms part of a blog

On the given examples, I interpret That forum does not allow posts from nonmembers. as referring to either a forum post or replies to a forum post done from other users (which in the Drupal CMS I use are comments).

Can I use post to include also comments, or should post just be used for what in Stack Exchange sites are questions and answers?


texts:
Is the phrase "the entire body of an individual is unfamiliar at the conclusion of the procedure" correct in English? What does it mean? Especially, what does "conclusion" mean here? Normally it means "the final part of something" (here "something" is the procedure). If this is still the case, then  "the entire body" seems to be familiar with the first part, middle part" of it. Oddly enough, I don't know what they exactly mean.

But no transplant had ever been performed where the entire body of an individual is unfamiliar at the conclusion of the procedure, and one of the few documents discussing the ethics in the biomedical literature, a letter to the editor of a journal published in 2015, foresaw a high risk of insanity as a result of the procedure.

Source: Wikipedia


texts: A questions from a student. In the sentence "the plant operaties 24r hours a day", why is this not in the passive as the plant can not operate itself?


texts: Ask some work to be assigned to someone in office

texts:
Usually I used to write this as:

  "Please allocate a resource to do this task"

I'm sick of this sentence which is used by everyone in our office and it had become very common in emails. So, no one cares about those emails except the recipient. Therefore I would like to alternative way of writing this.


texts: What is the order in the adjective forms? -music/musical instrument vs. -biology/biology class

texts:
Is there any order in the way the adjectives form?

There's

  Music --> Musical instrument

  electricity --> electrical circuit

  logic --> logical sentence

But

  Biology --> biology class

  Internet --> internet shopping


texts: When you are consoling somebody about their loss knowing they may dislike it

texts:
Imagine you are talking to a friend about their recent loss and you know that they may dislike to hear condolence (at least at that specific moment). In such a situation in my mother language, there is such a possibility to say:

  I don't mean to console you, but...

Or

  My words are not consolations, but...

Which one of the above-mentioned self-made structures sounds natural in English to begin a friendly conversation to show your emotions and bad feelings regarding the happening that your friend is facing at the moment and make them  feel better?


texts: What is the subject for the sentence "kind of"?

texts:
The sentence here

  Kind of makes me wish that I had parents who would arrange a marriage for me if my love life fails. - discussion about marriage in india

makes here is predicate verb， Is Kind of, which is at the beginning of the sentence is subject? Kind of is not a noun: how can it be a subject for the sentence?


texts: What does the one refer to in this paragraph?

texts:
I have the following paragraph:

The new shape should be compatible with the original shape. If an integer, then the result will be a 1-D array of that length. One shape dimension can be -1. In this case, the value is inferred from the length of the array and remaining dimensions.

I want to know what does the "One" mean. My idea: why it's not "A shape" or "The shape", etc. If you could explain why not for all other choices it will help me a lot!
The paragraph is from a documentation: https://numpy.org/doc/stable/reference/generated/numpy.reshape.html#numpy.reshape


texts: Which preposition should I use, "on" 1st January or "in" 1st January?


texts:
"You're not the first one who's had trouble with money," said Mr. Roberts, scrutinizing Mr. Weasley closely. "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."

I think "I had two try" here means Mr. Roberts had encountered this kind of situation two times. (Is my understanding correct?) I don't quite understand why the singular form of 'try' is being used, instead of the plural form "tries", given the word 'try' is actually a countable noun. Is it a dialectal usage?


texts: What's the difference between ""on my mind"" and ""in my mind""?

texts:
What's the difference between "on my mind" and "in my mind"?
For example, in this context "There's a lot going on in my mind". I understood that this person is worrying about a lot of things at the moment. What if I say "There's a lot of things going on on my mind", is the meaning changed?


texts:
So the background story is that there an 8-month-old-pregnant woman who wrote a caption of a photo:

  "My last ice cream before you were born."

Is this grammatically correct? Can we use past tense to state future event? Why not

  "My last ice cream before you are born or you will be born."

Which one is correct grammatically?

Why did she use past tense considering that the baby will be born.


texts: Who/such/which why one rather than another

texts:
Most people would say it’s impossible and I include  the most greatly successful among us ________ probably these people

A) such as
B) which are
C) who are

Which ones are correct and which ones  aren’t?

Which one of them would a native say?


texts: "that you find it a helpful suggestion" vs "that you found it a helpful suggestion"

texts:
Suppose that you give a suggestion in comment to someone and he says that your comment was helpful.

Is it wrong to say

  I am glad that you find it a helpful suggestion.

I know I can use the past tense "found", but I am curious to know how do you read it if the tense is present.

I feel that using the present simple will imply a sense of politeness or formality. Is that right?


texts:
Which one is correct:

  1)Unfortunately they are not at the same age so I can't expect them to behave in the same way.

  2)Unfortunately they are not the same age so I can't expect them to behave in the same way.

I know that when we only want to talk about people's age we say they're the same age or they're not the same age but what about this sentence,I want to emphasize both about the age and the fact that people behave differently at different ages.

Thank you in advance for your help.


texts:
When you tear or rip a thin paper, you just rip it easily "by its surface" (I am not sure I am saying correctly).

Now, you have a very thick cardboard, and it is not easy to rip the cardboard "by its surface" like you often do to a thin paper.
But a cardboard is made by sticking many layers together, and you can put your fingers in the between layers of the cardboard and rib it apart as shown in the above picture.
Is it correct to say "I ripped the cardboard apart by its side" in this specific situation?


texts: verb+"to not"+infinitive OR verb+"not to"+infinitive

texts:
I believe the negative of a sentence, in which an infinitive is used, is made in two different ways.

For example, "I know what to say." can be negated as follows;

I know what not to say.
I don’t know what to say.

However, I often come across the swapped version of "not to" as follows;

I know what to not say.

Other examples follow;

  Tom had enough sense to not go out by himself after dark.
  I want you to not go to Boston with Tom.
  Why did you decide to not go to Boston with Tom?

Grammarly finds the third way to be fine.

Google Books Ngram Viewer prefers not to over to not in general.

I need to know if the third way of negating an infinitive-sentence is grammatical. Please, explain!


texts: Plural or singular? After the word "any"

texts:
I often get confused which one to use after any. Or are both correct?

Do you have any room available on March 22nd?

Do you have any rooms available on March 22nd?


texts:
Please help me understand the meaning of the "pick up a lot of ground" expression.
I've tried googling, but I couldn't find it in any idioms dictionary or similar places. I've seen several cases of use:

  And the left-leaning New Democratic Party has picked up a lot of ground, led by their charismatic 40-year-old leader Jagmeet Singh, who has energized young voters much in the way Trudeau did four years ago.

(An interview about Canadian polls)

or

  The Pittsburgh Pirates had a chance to pick up a lot of ground in the Wild Card race over the past few weeks but they have struggled.

(Some baseball season report)

The phrase seems to indicate some success or good progress, but I would like to know a more precise meaning. It would be great if someone could explain the origin of this phrase.

P.S. This discussion: what does ground mean in "a lot of **ground**"? hasn't give me complete clarity


texts:
"Have never been" or "never was", which one is grammatical in the following context?

  John: Hey Subha, can you please make pizza for us tonight?
  Me: You know I have never been/was never a good cook. We better order it from restaurants.

I think "present perfect" is the correct choice. The reason is that it implies that upto the moment of speaking I am not a good cook. I think never was can fit in the following context:

  John: Hey Subha, do you remeber you made pizza last year? It tasted really bad.
  Me: You know, John, I never was a good cook.

I am a non native speaker. So sometimes it's very confusing for me to choose the correct tense. Can anyone please provide a good example that help me understand the difference between never was and have never been?


texts: I recently started a new job,one of my male colleagues keeps referring to me as trouble. 'Hello trouble, how are you trouble'. What does this mean?

texts: He keeps ringing me up saying, 'Hello trouble', or 'bye trouble. I don't understand it. I've never heard of this as a nickname


texts: I had an epiphany about what my life may/might actually be like a few years from now, if i did't set my priorities set

texts:
(1) I had an epiphany about what my life might actually be like a few years from now, if I don't set my priorities.

  (2) I had an epiphany about what my life may actually be like a few years from now, if I don't set my priorities.

  (3) I had an epiphany about what my life might actually be like a few years from now, if I didn't set my priorities.

Let's say the epiphany the speaker is talking about, the speaker had earlier today. Having said that, which of the above sentences are grammatically correct, and what's the difference in their meaning?


texts: Difference between complements (italian vs english)

texts:
To be honest I didn't know where to post such question... since it is English related I'm posting it here.

Lately I've been watching several videos about sentence structure in English, and I have a question. In the sentence structure S-V-O (subject verb complement) I've been told there are two kinds of complements in the english language, Direct Object and Indirect Object. Such complements usually answer to the question "whom" and "what". However in Italian for example there are many more complements, a full list is here.

My questions is if are there equivalents for each of those complements in English or each one of those complements can be built using the two complements of the English language.


texts: Difference between "did broke" vs. "was broken" vs. "broken"?

texts:
How did the window broke?

  How was the window broken?

  How the window broken?

Do all the above sentences mean same meaning?

Which one is more common?

Please help. Thanks in advance.


texts:
Merriam-Webster - Definition of "Pay Off" (transitive verb) to pay (a debt or a creditor) in full

Merriam-Webster - Definition of "Pay Up" (transitive verb) to pay in full

According to the dictionary, both phrases could mean to pay in full. So, is there any difference between these two at all? Or they can be used interchangeably?


texts:
There are a lot of various services named 'fiddle' in IT. (js fiddle, sql fiddle etc).

What does it mean and where did come from?

I guess that it's something like 'play with' (like violin or at the playground or in the sandbox), is it right?

And 'to fiddle' equals 'to play', 'to test' and so on, and 'the fiddle' is 'a script', 'some piece of code' etc.


texts: look up the dictionary VS look up in the dictionary

texts:
Usually the phrasal verb look up is used as follows.
These example sentences are from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

  Can you look up the opening times on the website?

  I looked it up in the dictionary.

The objects of the phrasal verb in those above sentences are what are actually needed to be found.

Suddenly, I saw this sentence from an English learning material which is not popular and this sentence was there alone so there is no context I can add here.

  Look up the dictionary if you have trouble translating.

As the dictionary in that sentence is not something searched for but something used as an instrumentality to search for something else, I somehow feels the sentence below is more correct.

  Look up in the dictionary if you have trouble translating.

I would like to know what is right and wrong.
Thank you.


texts: "No hurries. No worries" - could we say "No hurries nor worries"?

texts:
I was recently commenting some answers in Stack Overflow when one person said something to which I replied:

  No hurries. No worries.

I have seen both "no hurries" and "no worries" many times, but I doubted on what was the best way to use them together: would it be correct to say as follows?

  No hurries nor worries

I would say this as a way to contract the "neither you have to hurry neither to worry".


texts: Question about " What do we put on the back"?

texts:
What does it mean? Is it an idiom?
I saw it on BBC.
Does it talk about forgetting something? Or holding or writing something on a banner in a demonstration. I just saw it in subtitle and the programe was over.


texts: Is it acceptable to write "the innovative Picasso"?

texts:
By including pieces of cloth, newspaper, wallpaper, and other materials in his work, the innovative Picasso was an important influence on twentieth-century art.

How is using "the innovative Picasso" correct here? Can adjectives be added just after the introductory clause ends, i.e. "the innovative" after the comma and before Picasso in this sentence.


texts:
He was a big one, to be sure. At his belt he had three calves strung up by the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and said: 'Here, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast. Ah! what's this I smell?

  'Fee-fi-fo-fum,
  I smell the blood of an Englishman,
  Be he alive, or be he dead,
  I'll have his bones to grind my bread.'

This content is from "Jack and the Beanstalk"

Why is "be" used instead of "is" in this sentence "Be he alive, or be he dead"?


texts:
I am Brazilian and I found a strange phrase:

Fonte Are questions about undocumented functions deprecated on Mathematica.SE

  Not offense taken. I have a fairly thick skin. I have revised my answer to give my opinion how to make such questions acceptable. Further, I do not always disapprove of your questions. I have up-voted quite a few of them.

The term "fairly thick skin" is a phrasal verb? Here in Brazil this does not mean anything normal for this context ...


texts:
Julian Assange plans to walk out of Ecuador’s embassy a free man, avoiding arrest and extradition to Sweden to face questioning about sexual assault and rape allegations. (The Age)

‘A free man’ gives me these two possible interpretations.
[A] ‘A free man’ seems to be a result predicative adjunct. So the sentence means: Julian Assange plans to walk out of Ecuador’s embassy and become a free man with the result of his walking out.
[B] Assange plans to walk out of the embassy ‘as a free man,’ after the change of British government’s attitude toward him.
Which is right? Or Are there any other interpretations?


texts:
To what is the modern cult of beauty due? Why is it not exclusively a
  function (in the mathematical sense) of wealth? Explain your opinion
  with examples.

I can not understand first two sentences above. What is the meaning of the first sentence? Does it mean that what the modern cult of beauty really is? In my opinion, the word due here means exactly, is that right?

As for the second sentence, I think it means the modern cult of beauty is not only produced by wealth. Is my understanding right?


texts: Is there a difference in meaning or usage between "desolate" and "deserted" (used to describe a place)?


texts: Woudn't usage: Wouldn't vs didn't ,wouldn't vs will not, wouldn't vs doesn't

texts:
Wouldn't usage has become very common in American English and in Novels? I spent a lot of time to understand the difference between wouldn't vs didn't, wouldn't vs will, and wouldn't vs don't. The more I try to understand, the more I am getting confused. Can someone explain this in detail? Below are the examples that sound the same when I replace wouldn't.
E.g.:

I wouldn't want to do it all over again.

1a. I don't want to do it all over again.

He wouldn't like to fight with the bull.

2a. He doesn't like to fight with the bull.

It wouldn't be the end of the world.

3a. It's not the end of the world.

We'll have a vacation you wouldn't believe.

4a. We'll have a vacation you will not believe.

Wouldn't you like It?

5a. Didn't you like it?

I wouldn't do it.

6a. I will not do it.


texts:
The sentence I have is:

  A lifetime friend and relative, my neighbour was often interested in the same subjects that I.

I would 'correct it' by replacing the last part with that I'm interested in

however, the book that I have states that it is correct as it is. Could someone explain?


texts:
Things are blown out of proportion if you decide to talk about it with
people who are just like you and you convince them you are smart.

Not sure, but the tense mismatch sound a little bit off, but I think this is correct. However, I don't remember why this is correct.


texts: Meaning of "she's got her head in the right place"

texts:
What does "she's got her head in the right place" mean here?

  "I can't stop thinking and talking about it, but Sarah's happy to move onto the next thing," her mother says. "She wants to keep doing her drawings and talk about the exciting things she's doing at school, so she's got her head in the right place."

Source: CNBC News Story


texts:
Which is written correctly:

  I caught a cold because of an air-conditioner
   or
  I caught a cold
  because I was flying in an air-conditioned plane


texts: wondering what "the goods' means in this sentence

texts:
I looked in the dic but hard to figure out the meaning of the "the goods" in this sentence. Thanks in advance.

The idea that justice in allocating access to a university has something to do with the goods that universities properly pursue explains why selling admission is unjust.


texts: "award" passive voice. Put the word in brackets into the correct passive form

texts:
After (award) a medal for bravery, he became a local hero.
Help me with this one please, I don't understand it.


texts: Is it natural to say "as proof" to convey my agreement and support?

texts:
From the Cambridge Dictionary

  I'm glad I had the forethought to make a copy of the letter, as proof of what had been promised.

According to an ELL post, some people would not like using "as per" as alternatives to "according to". To agree with and support that point of view, I said

  As proof, synonyms of "according to" listed on the Cambridge Dictionary does not include "as per".

Is it natural to say that for this particular situation?


texts:
1- Micheal has a tendecy at times of behaving in a way that some of us
  might see as perhaps more assertive than is normally called for.
  (Original)

  2- Micheal has a tendecy at times of behaving in a way that some of us
  might see as perhaps more assertive than it is normally called
  for.

  3- Micheal has a tendecy at times of behaving in a way that some of us
  might see as perhaps more assertive than normally called for.

Do all of these sentences above mean the same thing?


texts: is "great many thanks" a correction expression and if yes, where is it from?

texts:
I've seen the expression "great many thanks" at the end of many online postings and have always wondered if the expression is grammatically correct. It appears that a similar expression "a great many thanks" also seems quite popular and is a "standard" English expression.

Why is "a" great many thanks standard English and is "great many thanks" itself a good grammar English expression?

Any thought? Thank you.


texts: What does “A man passed him, and a man and a woman, talking” mean?

texts:
It was eighteen minutes after nine when Mr. Martin turned into Twelfth Street. A man passed him, and a man and a woman, talking. There was no one within fifty paces when he came to the house, halfway down the block.Source: James Thurber, The Catbird Street

Does it mean "A man passed him, and a man and a woman who was talking passed him as well."?


texts:
The Olympics is probably the most exciting event in sports calendar. It is one of the few opportunities we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.

Is "we get to see some of the best athletes in the world' an adjective clause?"
If yes, we have to include 'opportunities' in the clause as :

  It is one of the few opportunities we get (them )to see some of the best athletes in the world.

But as you know we have the following :

  get to do something: 8[INTRANSITIVE/TRANSITIVE] [NEVER PASSIVE] to have the opportunity or be able to do something

  get to do something: Did you get to visit the Louvre when you were in Paris?  Her brothers went out a lot, but Lisa never got to go.

As you see, we shouldn't add any pronouns or nouns between 'get' and 'to do'.
So please help me with such a confusing expression.

There is only one guess that 'we get to see some of the best athletes in the world' is not adjective clause. it is noun clause.

we have to use as following :

used as the same clause as : (I am sure that you are not guilty of crime).

  It is one of the few opportunities (that) we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.

Thanks.


texts: How to say "Those guys whom you talked to are looking for you now." in another way?

texts:
I have read that "whom" is used only in formal writings.So how can I say the following sentence in a better way?

  Those guys whom you talked to are looking for you now

Is

  Those guys who you talked to are looking for you now

or

  Those guys that you talked to are looking for you now

correct?


texts:
I often have seen using "meaning of something". So I understood I have to use "meaning of", but I saw following sentence:

  Its meaning is "Really?"

I am thinking why does the sentence use "its meaning"? What is the difference between "its meaning" and "meaning of it"?


texts: Difference between "do it yourself" and "do it on your own"

texts:
What is the right sentence between the following (or the best/most appropriate if they're all correct)

  (1) You will have to do the proofreading yourself

  (2) You will have to do the proofreading by yourself

  (3) You will have to do the proofreading on your own

What is the difference between them ? A similar question has already been asked, with no answer. This question also doesn't answer mine, as suggested by the title my main concern is the difference between (1) and (3), not (2) and (3) (which are very close.)

My guess is:

"to do something yourself" means that the action has to be done by you, and not someone else.
"to do something by yourself" and "on your own" both mean that you will do the thing alone. It's more about who you do the thing with rather than who does the thing.

Am I correct ?
(If so, don't forget to answer the first question)


texts: "is broken" "does not work" "is not working"

texts:
In one of my posts ("get it repaired" vs. "repair it") I said

  My phone is broken

Actually, what I suffered is that my phone repeatedly restart by itself.

Is it appropriate to describe that problem as "broken"?

Or, only the following status is called "broken". If it is, is "repeatedly restart by itself" called "does not work" or "is not working"?


texts: 'justify their idleness to their intelligence' Why 'to'?

texts:
What is the difference if I would say - justify something by something, instead of - justify something to something. Would it better say - justify something to somebody. Why here the author used preposition 'to'?

  Ministers agreed that this decision was fully justified by economic
  conditions.

Example from Collings dictionary.

  You will see that Charles set his sights high. Intelligent idlers
  always have, in order to justify their idleness to their intelligence.
  He had, in short, all the Byronic ennui with neither of the Byronic
  outlets: genius and adultery.

THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN
by John Fowles


texts: Is "libre" understood by native English speakers?

texts:
E.g.

  software libre

  Libre Office

  libre software

  I want to be/stay/feel libre.

Do native English people understand this word or not?


texts:
What's the point of prefixing a sentence with "Please be advised that"?

Example:

Couldn't the first sentence have simply started with "Your application for research utilizing human subjects […]"?


texts:
I wonder whether the word expenses  is normally singular or plural in the following sense:

  Hey Brian, please keep track of all (expense / expenses) you make so that we can settle (it / them) later.

As you can see, the word "expense" can be either countable or uncountable and I have no idea in what form it should be used here to be natural-sounding?
The problem is that depending the form of the word "expense(s), the following pronoun should be changed.


texts: "See somebody do" and "see somebody doing"

texts:
My grammar book says that if you saw the complete action you use do/get/drive: "I saw him fall off the wall." Otherwise you use -ing: "I saw him standing at the bus stop."
A native American speaker said that he doesn't agree with that and there is no difference whether you use -ing or not. He said that particularly in these situations I can use either verb without affecting the meaning:

—How do you know I took the money? —I know it because I saw you take / taking it.
—How did the woman fall? —I don't know. I didn't see her fall / falling.

He couldn't come up with a situation where this rule makes sense. But I tried to come up with such situation and he said that in this case it can be true.

I saw him eat the whole plate of pasta.

He ate everything that was on the plate. I saw him finish it.

I saw him eating the whole plate of pasta.

I saw how he was eating from a plate full of pasta. But I'm not sure whether he ate everything or not. I didn't see him finish it.

Please comment on what has been said. And give your opinion about this rule.


texts: Should I use zero/first conditional here?

texts:
I have come across this sentence

  It will be hard to bear If I see a child who can't achieve his goal

.

I think It is always true that when you see a kid who can't achieve their goal due to lack of social support or their race you get sad and It is really hard to bear.

Can we use zero conditional in these situations?


texts: What does "only to have" mean in the sentence below?

texts:
What does only to have mean in this sentence:

Iberville seized Fort Nelson in 1694, only to have the English recapture it in 1696.


texts:
I looked on Google and there's rarely anyone ever using the expression elect someone to x, as in choose someone to do something, so I was wondering if it was grammatical in any way.

For example:

  They elected him to pilot the aircraft, which was in free fall,
  because he had the most experience within our group.


texts: What does "premises" and "press full charges" mean in this sentence?

texts:
"We have notified the police of the current situation and will not hesitate to encourage anyone who falls victim to theft while on our premises to press full charges, should the thief be identified."

Could anyone please help me to explain the meaning of "premises" and "press full charges" here? Does "premises" mean buildings? and "press full charges" mean they want to put more efforts to catch the thieves?


texts:
Here's a sentence written in my textbook.
The drawing took me a day to complete.
In order that I understand this more deeply, I've made sentences and I'd like to know if these are possible to use.

That I completed the drawing took a day.

For me to complete the drawing took a day.

Me conpleting the drawing took a day.

It took me a day to complete the drawing.


texts: what does refer the word 'to' at the end of the sentence?

texts:
What does refer the word 'to' at the end of the sentence?

This is the school which I used to go to.
This is the school which I used to go.

What's the difference between these two sentences, and which one is grammatically correct?


texts:
It is cheap to replace these chairs.
These chairs are cheap to be replaced.
These chairs are cheap to replace.
These chairs are cheap to replace them.

To me, 1-2-3 seem to be correct. If not, what is wrong with them and why?

4 seems to be incorrect because of 'them' - unnecessary repetition... Although 'replace' is usually followed by an object, the phrase 'cheap to replace' refers to 'These chairs', so not necessary to use 'them' again... Is it so? If not, why? Could you give a more precise grammatical explanation?

Finally, which of these seem to be most natural? I guess 1 and 3. If not, why?

2 is correct but sounds kind of clumsy... Or maybe it's perfectly OK?

====

@Sander and @Omnidisciplinarianist

Thank you for taking the time to answer ^_^

To sound a bit more logical semantically, let's change 'cheap' to 'expensive'.

Both @Sander and @Omnidisciplinarianist, I think I get your point about the linking verb 'be', and yet the logic seems to me elusive.

In sentence #1 & #4 'is' and 'are' respectively appear to have completely identical role. In #1 'these chairs / them' doesn't refer to 'it', so the sentence sounds all right. Both of you seem to consider the whole phrase 'expensive to replace' as the complement. But if we consider the complement to be 'expensive', then 'to replace' needs an object and in #1 it has its object. So, is the whole thing really because of the linking verb 'be'?

Next @Omnidisciplinarianist and partially @Sander, #2 and #3 are both correct and I would say identical in meaning, though #2 may not be the best choice. Intuitively I can't but come to the conclusion that 'to replace' in #3 sounds almost as passive as 'to be replaced' in #2, though practically it's not. Could this observation be explained in solid grammatical terms? If yes, obviously a passive verb (or a verb 'behaving passively') would not take a direct object.

Finally, @ both, let's slightly change 4 in this way '5.These chairs are too expensive for us to replace them.' Now I still think that the sentence is wrong because of 'them', applying similar logic as above, but I'm not as sure as I would be about #4. I mean if I'm reading through a text and see #4, it will stick in my eyes, if I see #5, I think I'll overlook it. What are your thoughts about 5? Maybe you think it's correct? If yes, why?

Again @Sander and @Omnidisciplinarianist

I had some further thoughts about the sentences... Sorry if you feel it's boring to discuss this question more :(

It is expensive to replace the chairs.
The chairs are expensive to replace.
To replace the chairs is expensive.

All of these three are correct, we agree, right? OK, so we just rotate the infinitive phrase (or whatever you call it grammatically) around 'be expensive' - putting it at the back in #1, splitting it in #2 and putting it at the beginning in #3. If we use 'them' after 'replace' in #2, then when we bring 'to replace them' at the front in #3 it is more than obvious that such a sentence would be incorrect - 'To replace them the chairs is expensive.' Maybe in some special context the following may be correct 'To replace them, the chairs, is expensive.' What are your thoughts about this reasoning?


texts:
I want to say that the cat walks under the table, but also that he entered on the one side and exitted on the other side. It is not that he is just walking around beneath the table.

So the cat is not doing this:

But doing this:

What is the correct way of describing this?


texts: What is the difference in meaning between "I think" and "I am thinking" in the sense of having an opinion?

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between I think and I am thinking in the sense of having an opinion? Grammar books say that it isn't correct to use the verb think in the present continuous in that sense, but Joey in the 22nd episode of the 6th season did exactly that. Here it is:

  Well it’s just—it’s one of those situations that I just hate. Y’know?
  A massage client gave me three tickets to the Helmet-Pelts exhibit at
  the Morgan Chase museum.

  Joey: (nodding knowingly) Now you’re thinking you gotta sleep with
  him.

How the meaning of the sentence change if he said now you think?


texts:
What does "that's you all over" mean?

I got this reply when someone asked me to do a favour, but I refused.


texts: What does the phrase "rotating the pieces and lining up edges" mean here?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a space adventure game's description:

  In an activity, you have to to reassemble a torn-up map by grabbing
  and rotating the pieces and lining up edges.

I am confused about the meaning of the phrase rotating the pieces and lining up edges. Maybe it is because I have always been afraid of drawing maps. :)


texts:
I'm stuck with this prbolem:
Can I say "They usually go bowling on Saturday and Sundays"?
It's the correct answer of a test I had.
I wonder why isn't it "They usually go bowling on Saturdays and Sundays".
Many thanks!


texts: Using plural and singular with "each" before or after

texts:
It seems correct to me to say

  These 5 apples weigh 100g each.

However it also seems correct to say

  Each of these 5 apples weighs 100g.

What is the reasoning behind using the plural in the first, and the singular in the second? They seem to be saying the same thing about an individual apple.


texts: "contents" or "content", which to use when talking about a book?

texts:
There could be lots of topics on a book, such as the form/style, the author. In contrast to which, there could also be another topic, namely, the content.

An answered to a post (https://qr.ae/pX80PJ) says

  "contents" is grammatically correct but only if used for the things that are inside a box, bag, room etc OR the things that are written in a book, letter etc. This will be considered as plural, countable.

where she uses "contents" to refer to the things that are written in a book, I suppose "things" is interchangeable to "ideas".

Another post gives this explanation

  The singular form content can only be used to refer to something abstract or not easily dividable into parts.

Nevertheless, Cambridge Dictionary clearly defines the word "content" as [ S or U ] with the meaning "the ideas that are contained in a piece of writing, a speech, or a film"

I guess the part about book in that quote is incorrect. Is my understanding right?


texts: Synonym "to fire someone" - My doubt specially is about letter C

texts: All the expression below mean the same as "to fire someone". Except: A)To sack B) To lay off C)To make someone redundant D) To retire.


texts: "I saw one of my classmates who was/were?"

texts:
Which one is correct? Please explain.

I saw one of my classmates who was also on the boat while travelling to Saint Martin.

I saw one of my classmates who were also on the boat while travelling to Saint Martin.

In this sentence what is the subject and why? How can I find the subject in sentences like this?


texts: Can someone please explain the usage of "amenable" in "...a technical problem amenable to intervention"?

texts:
The statement -

Poverty is increasingly seen as a technical problem amenable to intervention. — Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (book name)

I found this on vocabulary.com as an example on how to use the word amenable. I believe the word "amenable" means to be compliant to something or willing to agree. In the above statement I'm not able to understand how "amenable" is used. Also I'm just not able to make any sense out of the whole statement. Can someone please explain that statement in layman's terms. Make me understand that line please.


texts: 'How long does it take CO2 would go away?' Grammatically right?

texts:
'How long does it take CO2 would go away?' : This is the sentence. For me, this sounds strange.

I have thought in many different ways, but I can not find one possible explanation.
One of my coworkers said that there is 'elliptical that' before 'CO2', but it sounds even more wrong.

Then, the statement sentence of this will be like :

'(That)CO2 would go away takes ~~~ years.'

Is this a right sentence?? I don't think so.

So, I'd like to know if this sentence is grammatically right,first.

If it is, I would have many studies to do, and probably lots of questions to ask, too. :)

Thank you~!


texts: It's a good thing - talking about future or opinion

texts:
From the dictionary, I know that It's a good thing is used when something happened, it is lucky that it happened.

But in the following sentence, that is not describing something has happened and instead it is just about a future situation or an opinion. So I think it is inappropriate to use this clause - It's a good thing.

If just saying It's good seems not correct, then what should be used here?

  It is a good thing that if grandparents can contribute their efforts to care for their grandchildren.


texts:
Is the construction "noun- and adverb adjective noun" correct?

Example: "we found a significant difference between human- and algorithmically generated summaries".


texts:
It is made in Japan , But It is from USA.
1.Can i write? -> It is made in Japan which is from USA.
2.Which one is correct ? ->
   A.It was made...
   B.It is made...


texts:
In the song "Everyday" by Phil Collins there's a lyric:

Every way there is to cry, ourselves to sleep we will.

Is the phrase "there Is to do something" valid and natural English?

I'm striving hard to understand this whole part actually.


texts: "preparing for IELTS" vs. "preparing for the IELTS"

texts:
I've read a tutorial about article on Cambridge. I've also understood the general rules about the usage of "the".

How about a famous examination/test, like IELTS? By "famous", I mean something like "the with things that are universally known", which is one the rules in that tutorial.

Which of these should I use?

  I'm preparing for IELTS test.

  I'm preparing for the IELTS test.

  I'm preparing for IELTS speaking test.

  I'm preparing for the IELTS speaking test.

In my point of view, I should use "the", as it's famous. Is my understanding right, Especially the reason? My concern is, wether it's too much to use "universally known" to describe a test?


texts: What is this 'the' in "if you live in 'the city'..."?

texts:
If you live in the city, you need to know that everything is noisy.

This "the" could mean both a specific city and a general city?


texts: What role does the "that" clause play in a sentence?

texts:
It won't be any easier now that the pause in use of the Johnson&Johnson vaccine has sown fresh seeds of doubt. (From The Economist)

Which type of clause is the bold one?
I don't think it is the real subject of the main sentence, in which "it" is the dummy subject.
I also won't think it's a relative clause, for no proper antecedent is preceding "that." Besides, the sentence after "that" is complete in itself, it doesn't need "that" to be a grammatical component in the sentence.
It makes more sense if the clause is relative clause though, but because "now" is a time, the relative pronoun "when" will have to be used rather than "that."


texts:
Does "business" here mean "a company", legally speaking?

A breach of fiduciary duty: Partners have a duty to act in the best interests of the business. They should not misappropriate company funds, they should not take business that ought to belong to the company to benefit them personally, and they should not otherwise do anything that would harm the interests of the partnership. If a partner acts inappropriately and hurts the business, this is a serious dispute that can sometimes result in litigation and that could sometimes set the stage for the end of the partnership.


texts: How to analyze this complex sentence from Lolita by Nabokov?

texts:
About as many years before Lolita was born as my age was that summer. (From Lolita by Nabokov.)

Please help me analyze this sentence. I totally understand the meaning but I can't comprehend the structure. Is this a sentence or a phrase? If a sentence then which part is the subject and which part is the predicate. Can 'as many as..' be a subject of a sentence?


texts: I had not seen your message yesterday. I did not purposely delay my reply

texts: A friend sent me a good morning text.I saw the message in the afternoon and replied then as good afternoon.She did not text me back.How to tell her in the next day that I did not purposely delay replying to her. I just did not see her message at that time


texts: What do they call postmasters in the UK?

texts: I need to send a package to a postmaster in a Commonwealth country. What do they call postmasters in the British dialect? It might be the same word, but I just want to make sure they don't call them something else.


texts: Is it correct to say he was let to go out or he was let go out

texts:
Can you guys help me with this question:

Is it correct to say

  he was let to go out

or

  He was let go out


texts: In Which Position To Place Adjective In Infinitive Form Of It

texts:
I Want to know when we use infinitive verb as an adjective what is the position of the to-infinity adjective as i noticed in this url examples it always use the last postilion https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/infinitive_form.htm

Give him an ornament to polish.

(The infinitive modifies ornament. This means it is functioning as an adjective.)

I need a volunteer to take the minutes.
(The infinitive modifies volunteer. This means it is functioning as an adjective.)


texts:
1) This is not the first time that the residents
of the capital have had to suffer such inconveniences. (This is collected from a daily newspaper)

2) "This is not the first time that the residents
of the capital have to suffer such inconveniences.

I know the rules of "have to/has to,  had to ". But I haven't found anything  on "have/has had to ".

Would somebody tell me the difference between those sentences?


texts: Unreal uses of past tenses "if only+simple past" vs "if only+past perfect"

texts:
If only I knew the answer!

What's the difference between simple past and past perfect in unreal uses of past tenses?

● What's the difference between these two sentences?

  If only you didn't forget the map, we would be there by now.
  If only you hadn't forgotten the map, we would be there by now.

I know that we use simple present to talk about things we would like to be different in the present/or future (but which are impossible or unlikely) and what we now want to achieve.

And we use past perfect to talk about things that happened/didn't happened in the past and that what we now regret.

● Are there any more differences between simple past and past perfect which I didn't mention?

● With these explanations, how can I answer questions like the following question?

● Should we recognize that the question is talking about a regret from the past, or a sensation that is about the present or the future?

  A: Do you wish you ________to college or do you think you made the right decision to leave school and start working?

a) Went

b) had gone

c) would go

d) would rather go

(I think b sounds better because the questioner is asking about something that happened in the past)

And what about this:

  B: It __ a difficult problem. I wish I _____ the answer to it!

a) is - had known

b) is - knew

c) was - had known

d) was - knew

(The best answer is b, I suppose. In this case it's about an impossible imagination, but I wonder whether it's in the present or not.)

  C: He should be less stingy! Then he'd enjoy life more.IF ONLY

  ___________________________________, he'd enjoy life more.

a) If only he were less stingy

b) If only he had been less stingy

& Can we use if only... instead of wish with the simple past and past perfect? For example:

  X:

  I wish I hadn't spoken to Emma like that - you know how sensitive she is.

  Y:

  (a)If only I hadn't spoken to Emma like that - you know how sensitive she is.

  (b)If only I hadn't spoken to Emma like that, she would be here by now.


texts: Is this the correct way to ask? "within what time should I send the mail"

texts:
I will explain the scenario. My manager asked me to send a mail with some documents attached and to send it as soon as possible. Now, I want to know how soon exactly. So should I ask "Within what time should I send the mail?" or "Before how many hours should I send you the mail?"
Both of those sentences sound awfully wrong. So is there a better way to frame that question?


texts: Why need "any of" in "The fingers are any of the digits of the hand"?

texts:
The fingers are any of the digits of the hand, ....

I saw the sentence from here.

In my view, the sentence should be written as:

  The fingers are the digits of the hand,...

It's because any suggest singular, but the fingers are plural.

Any thought?


texts: Is it correct to say "you have to wind the watch all the way to the end"?

texts:
My friend has just bought a mechanical watch, he needs to wind it many rounds until he hears a click or can't wind any more.
Is it correct to say?

"you have to wind the watch all the way to the end"

"you have to wind the watch all the way clicked"

"you have to wind the watch all the way until you hear a click"

"you have to wind the watch all the way until you feel resistance”


texts: Where do I place commas in a compound-complex sentence?

texts:
I don't know if I should use a comma before "and" in this sentence.

I grunted from the weight of the dresser and after a pause, the doorbell rang again. I gave up with a huff and went outside.

I think "I grunted from the weight of the dresser" is an independent clause and "after a pause" is a dependent clause. Thus, there should be no comma before "and". "After a pause" also connects to the independent clause "the doorbell rang again", so there should be a comma between the two.
Am I correct in my assumption?


texts:
I'm trying to accentuate the essence of "food," and try to make it clear that nowadays people don't truly eat food, they just eat [insert debased synonym here], similar to when people say, "this isn't a car, this is just a vehicle."

Any way of saying this? Also, it should be formal. I've tried to look for lists of synonyms, but they are more like "substance," I would like something actually defined as food.

Or what other way should I switch my sentence?


texts:
What does "Gringo Price" mean in the following context?

  "A lot of places will “Gringo Price” you.   Remember those scammy repair places in the US? They exist in Portugal too."

Source: How to Buy a Car in Portugal


texts: Can iPhone Siri recognize most of native speakers' English as long as the sentence is simple enough?

texts:
I ask the above question because Siri doesn't recognize certain words even if I tried many times.

For example, I asked Siri the following question.

"What does the word vilify mean?"

She doesn't recognize the word vilify.
I'm wondering if my pronunciation is too bad or Siri has a problem in the voice recognition.


texts:
Detective-

  What were you doing the day the crime took place?

Suspect-

  I woke up a little late day. When I took a look at the clock the first time that morning, I realized I was running late for work.
  I brushed my teeth, took a shower, and hurried off to work.
  I was at work the rest of the day.

(This is in chronological order.)

Now, instead of putting what he wanted to convey in chronological order, what if he chose to put it this way:

  I realized I was running late for work, looking at the clock for the first time that morning. I had woken up a little late.
  I took a shower. I had brushed my teeth.
  And I hurried off to work.
  I was at work the rest of the day.

If he were to convey what he wanted to convey, putting it this way (the part right above), would it be grammatically correct, and would it mean the same thing?

What other ways, other than putting it chronologically, can what the suspect says be put? I'd appreciate it if you used past perfects more in your example, trying to convey what the suspect says.


texts: What is the difference between "all day" and "all the day"

texts:
Do noble deeds, not dream them all the day.

  Do noble deeds, not dream them all day.

Can these two sentences be used interchangeably? If not, which one is correct?


texts: What is the function of "do" in this sentence?

texts:
Rarely, though, do countries introduce a single reform alone.

What function does do have in this sentence?


texts: "are" or "were" in a clause embedded within a counterfactual clause

texts:
In the following sentences, the boldfaced coupular verb is found in a clause within a counterfactual clause. Should "are" or "were" be used? Why?

Imagine a 100-story skyscraper without an elevator. People whose offices were/are on the 60th floor would have to spend lots of time walking up and down every day.

I feel as if I were standing on the edge of a cliff toward which thousands of horses were/are rushing.


texts:
People were helped during the flood.
If I rewrite the sentence as "Everyone was helped during the flood", is it exactly the same as the original one ? Thanks a lot.