texts: Do these sentences mean the same: "He has been found not guilty" and "He has not been found guilty"

texts:
He has been found "not guilty".
He has not been found guilty.

In terms of daily life, both sentences mean the same.
Although the first sentence seems to be correct in terms of grammar, I often see this type of negative sentences (in legal texts) written in the form of the first sentence. I think it is because the expression "not guilty"  is a legal term and writers of these sentences want to move  the emphasis on the legal term, rather than making the sentence negative by means of the auxiliary verb (has not).
My question is: could I also use the second sentence structure to mean the same thing without causing change on the emphasis of the sentence?


texts: Describing pictures that are part of a brochure

texts:
He was showing to me pictures of other members of his orchestra
  on the invitation brochure to their concert that would take place on
  Sunday.

The meaning that is meant to be expressed here is that those pictures of other members are, in fact, a part of the brochure. However, the sentence can also be taken as if those were separate pictures that lay on the brochure.

What would be the best way to avoid that ambiguity?


texts: "I've watched a video..." or "I've watched the video..."

texts:
I want to tell to my friends that I've watched some video and give them the link.
How I should write this message in instant messanger or in twitter?

  I've watched a wonderful video about ... You can watch it here

or

  I've watched the wonderful video about ... You can watch it here


texts: Can I use would rather with nouns or verb-ings?

texts:
If yes, how can I do it?

If no, what is the alternative expression to do it?

  I'd rather make a juice from these vegetables than boil them.

I know the above sentence is correct but can I say this:

  I'd rather eat vegetables than meat.

Now, the word meat takes the place of the word boil so I replaced one of the two verbs with a noun. Is that okay?

  I'd rather tea than eating.

I know that's wrong but how can I say it using different expression to make it correct?


texts:
I am going to write down two similar sentences below.

(1) How do you increase the cooling (temperature) of the refrigerator?

(2) How do you change the cooling (temperature) of the refrigerator?

In both sentences, is it redundant to include "temperature"?


texts:
What is the question for the sentence below?

  Your payment is ten dollars short.

Would it be correct to say;

  How short is your payment?


texts: Someone offers someone an opportunity vs. Someone offers an opportunity to someone

texts:
I am trying to express an idea but I am not sure it is proper:
I'm writing a letter to someone explaining a situation, but I need to be sure the person will understand.
My sentence is the following:

Mr.V, our yoga teacher, offers the opportunity to non-experienced
teachers from Europe, to organize outdoor multiple yoga courses to
celebrate summer.

Is this correct? Does it sound natural? Or do I have to write way like this:

Mr V, our yoga teacher, offers to non-experienced teachers from Europe the opportunity to organize (...).

Or even,

Non-experienced teachers from Europe are given the opportunity by Mr
V, our yoga teacher, to organize an outdoor multiple yoga course

I have the feeling that English speakers won't understand... Can you?


texts:
If someone lives in USA he'd say,

  I live in the United States Of America.

But if someone lives in India, he would not say,

  I live in the India.

The better way seems to say,

  I live in India.

So what is the rule to decide with which country do we use The?


texts: What is a way to express ``take your time" non-assumingly when asking a senior fellow to do you a favor?

texts: When you ask a senior fellow (for example, a professor that taught you before) to do you a favor, how do you express ``take your time" without risking letting the professor feel you are assuming that you are important enough to affect his decision? In my native language, euphemistic ways that do the job are readily available. However, in English I would very much like to know a proper way to achieve that purpose.


texts: Are "To be born out in sth..." and "To bear out..." two different phrases?

texts:
To be born out in sth:

  To be proven by or evidenced in sth.

"His assertion that the customer was not being entirely truthful was born out in the later events."

Alternative link

To bear somebody/something out

  to show that someone is right or that something is true

"The other witnesses will bear me out."

"The other witnesses will bear out what I say."

bear out phrasal verb - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com:

They both look alike in meaning.

Is born a passive form of some plain infinitive?

What is the plain infinitive of born?

To bear out [plain infinitive]

To be bore out [passive]

To have borne out [perfect active]


texts:
Can anyone tell me, if the comma before primarily is incorrect grammatically?

  Employment Insurance, throughout the years, has been subjected to a flood of controversies, primarily surrounding the reforms made since 1971.

I know that nonessential clauses require commas (those that add information), but here I am not sure if the last part is essential or not - it cannot be moved around in any other part of the sentence. Also, if I do not put the comma there, then while reading it the stress/emphasis falls on to 1971. Pausing before primarily with a comma puts some sort of a emphasis on controversies, which is what I want.


texts:
You're not going out, 'till you've finished your task.
  You're not going out, unless you've finished your task.
  You're not going out, unless you finish your task.

I made atypo and correct the bold part above: I changed finished to finish.

Would you tell me if all the sentences are correct and whether or not they would mean the same thing?

Furthermore:

UPDATED: I am wondering we must use unless woth which of the conditional sentences?

I meant by which one of these? the firs conditional type, the second one, and so on.

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I want to know the construction of the following sentence from The Great Gatsby:

  The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath--already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group and then excited with triumph glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light.

I can understand from 'The groups' to 'here and there'. I don't know what 'become for a sharp' and I don't know its meaning as well.
I also don't understand what it means that 'excited with triumph glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light'. What 'excited'? And what does 'triumph glide on through' mean?
Thanks,

Roki


texts:
Is it okay to start with an onomatopeia and after that use an uppercase letter ?
E.g:

"Tum...Tum...Tum" The sound of ...


texts: Is it allowed to omit the object for multiple prepositions with the same the object

texts:
I re-write this sentence

  A cripple is a special stud located above a window or below a window.

as

  A cripple is a special stud located above or below a window.

in which the object "a window" right after the preposition "above " is omitted.

Is it still grammatic and clear?

The rewrite is per my intuition. Is there some explicit rules or regularities to do this kind of jobs?


texts:
It is raining heavily.

  It is raining heavier.

When the rain is getting bigger. Which one state as the context?


texts: Not sure whether to use singular or plural

texts:
Is it correct to write

  happiness and prosperity are the result of diligent work

or

  happiness and prosperity are the results of diligent work


texts: the present perfect tense with an incomplete period of time

texts:
I turned off the light before leaving this morning.

If 'this morning' is not over yet, is 'have turned off' also OK?

Because the present perfect tense is used to express actions happening in an incomplete period of time (source).


texts:
It is from this video. It is at around 9 minute and 56 second. Here is the context:

  This all means: more fat synthesis, less fat burning, and less energy production. If you are a human with things to do and places to be, this is not so great.

Does this simply mean with places to live?


texts: In what situations are both "I" and "me" valid?

texts:
I saw this comment by snailplane (emphasis added):

  Even when both I and me can be used, I wouldn't call them interchangeable—there's often a difference of register.

When, if ever, is it equally correct to use I or me in a sentence? I cannot think of any examples. I understand there will most likely still be semantic differences between the objective and subjective even if both are grammatically valid; if there are, please explain the semantics as well as the grammar.

My searches on this topic yield only information about the basic differences between I and me, which I already understand.


texts: Can present perfect be followed by past simple in this case

texts:
Is there a difference between these two sentences
All the things I' ve had but can't keep
All the things I've had but could not keep
Is the second one ok as the non keeping happens at the end of the action of "have had" .So it is a new thing: we should use present simple because present perfect began in the past and includes the present. Past simple doesn't inlude the present. So can must be better
is it possible to write this
Did you get the car you 've been looking for


texts:
Please take a look,at this sentence

I met him last summer and I asked him what he was doing over  here and he said he'd come over to release a single and I thought.....

" He said he had come over here" is reported sppeech , but is it a backshift of "I came over" or did he answer "I had come over"

I think it is not a backshift as the man had arrived before the narrator met him
Am I right ? If I am wrong let me know why


texts: I can't grasp a marked part grammatically

texts:
This is the part of a conversation between 2 people. I am trying to figure out the sentence structure of B's last reply.

A: I do that every day. That’s– [laughs] that’s really become– that’s really
become a part of my– my practice regimen.

B: Oh, super! I’m glad that was useful.

A: Yeah, that was– that was extraordinarily useful. [laughs]

B: Yeah, it’s – it’s one of the things about playing guitar if you’re trying to achieve, yeah, higher than average level of technical mastery is that — you find that unless you’re like one of these freaky people who seem to be just super, super gifted, it takes an inordinate amount of practice.

In emboldened part "is that-", where is subject? I feel like there's some grammatical omission. If possible, could you show me the original version of last B's reply without any omission?


texts:
Consider this conversation:

Person A:

  I used to work til 3am then walk home in -20 or better windchills, with the wind blasting ice in your face (it's no longer fair to call it snow at that temperature, it's just tiny shards of ice) and I loved it. It makes me feel capable and alive, and better than southerners. Like maybe I could make it in the arctic.

Person B:

  It makes you feel better than southerners?

Person A:

  Yup, what do they have? Horrific insects, which is something I wouldn't tolerate, so maybe they're tough in their own way, but whatever. Let me have it.

When person A said let me have it, does it mean something like let me win this argument?


texts: 'Let's move!' - is this okay in the context of going to watch a movie?

texts:
Let's move. Or else, we'll be late at the show.

I'm telling this to my friend. We have a plan to watch a movie and come back!

I remember a learned person advising me that using move for such thing is not a good practice. Because when you move, you shift or go for some mission! as in...

  Let's move soldiers. Be brave and kill those buttheads or  True, we are moving next month. Visa and everything is ready.

Kindly confirm that what I understand is right. I have kept meaning in context as a tag so as to avoid it being closed as a general question of word meaning.


texts: Why does this question sentence end in a preposition?

texts:
Who did you give the keys to?

I know the typical structure is

  Question word + auxiliary verb + subject + infinitive without to

I can understand

  Why did you give the keys to him?

The 'Why did' turns the sentence 'you give the keys to him.' into a question.

What's happening with the original question because 'you give the keys to' isn't a complete sentence?


texts:
I want to pose some questions to a professor who doesn't know me at all. It's important for me to ask my questions politely. The problem is that I even don't know how to start.  This is what I want to say :

  Hello Mr X. I am Mr Y from Z-university. I have some questions about big data analysis. Can I ask them of you?

Note : I know that it may be ridiculous for English people to ask it this way. But please, correct my text with reasons. For example if it's not polite to call him Mr X, why? And what is the right way to do that?


texts: Lately I made some comments in a blog  which is like  "I think I should start to write stories after I completely ...... “ and someone pointed out that it should have been written like " I think I should start writing stories after I completely ... "  it actually makes sense, But I just wonder is "start to write"  grammatically wrong in the above context?


texts:
Most of the american writers have in turn gentrified themselves leaving society for this or that university.

What does this phrase exactly means?


texts: I am looking for a noun which has a meaning close to "someone whose presence is very cherished." Not charismatic, just liked by everybody. I found something like "godsend" but I am not only talking about being helpful.


texts: Is it acceptable to respond to "What's going on?" with "What's going on?"

texts:
I am aware that common answers to

  "What's going on?"

are phrases like:

  "Not much. How about you?"

or

  "Nothing much, you?",

but sometimes people use it in a manner like "hi" and you know that there isn't enough time to respond to it with the two above phrases. For instance, when they're just passing by you without stopping. In such cases, can we respond with the same phrase?

Example: Do the examples below sound natural?

  He: What's going on?
  You: What's going on?

or,

  He: What's up?
  You: What's up?

or,

  He: How's it going?
  You: How's it going?

And if not, how do you handle such situations yourself?


texts: Usage of subject-verb inversion in dependent clauses

texts:
I am so sorry to repeat my question, but I cannot yet understand it.
Could you please readily or freely explain the difference between these? I can not understand their differences...

I know what is the difference between these.
I know what the difference is between these.

Or, when/where are they interchangeable? And what is the difference between them?

I know who are you
I know who you are


texts:
Reading this article, there is a line,

Americans believe that President Biden faced bigger challenges than his predecessor Donald Trump during his first 100 days in office — and performed better than Trump despite those difficulties, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

The survey of 1,558 U.S. adults, which was conducted from April 27 to April 29, found that less than a third say Trump’s challenges were bigger than Biden’s (31 percent) or that Trump performed better (32 percent) during the first 100 days of his presidency. Pluralities say Biden has performed better than Trump (41 percent) in the face of greater obstacles (37 percent).

The definitions of plurarity from Merriam paid version.

1a: the state of being plural

b: the state of being numerous

c: a large number or quantity

2: pluralism 1  also : a benefice held by pluralism

3a: a number greater than another

b: an excess of votes over those cast for an opposing candidate

c: a number of votes cast for a candidate in a contest of more than two candidates that is greater than the number cast for any other candidate but not more than half the total votes cast

I presumably think possibly it would be 3a?
Please let me know here which defition the word "plurarity" falls into.


texts:
Identifying whether the infinitive clause is a purpose or a catenative complement helps me understand what the understood subject is. (I hope the interpretation below is correct)

  He wrote the book to prove his point. (purpose adjunct)

In this sentence,the actor of the infinitive clause will be he.

  He encourages the student to write a book. (catenative )

As for this sentence, the actor of the infinitive clause will be the student.

But when sentences get complicated, I can't tell what acts as the understood subject. For example:

  Frictional unemployment: Temporary unemployment caused by the time required of workers to move from one job to another.

The infinitive tells the purpose(in order to move from...) , but the sentence structure is not as simple as the one above, so I am confused.

Is the understood subject workers or is it not mentioned?

  He recruited new employees to solve this problem.

What is the understood subject of the infinitive clause to solve this problem?
Is it he or new employees?


texts:
What does volume is a conservative dimension mean in the context? Does conservative have to do with the verb conserve in meaning?

  During their second year, children learn to use the words old and
  young, which indicate that they have appropriated the age dimension.
  They can use this dimension to classify people. However, an
  understanding of an abstract time domain develops much later. Spatial
  metaphors for time are ubiquitous: it is difficult to talk about time
  without using words that originate from the visuospatial domain. Jean
  Piaget emphasizes that “time and space form an inseparable whole” in
  children’s minds. In other words, young children cannot treat space
  and time as separate domains. This situation parallels the dimensions
  of height and volume, which are inseparable for preschool children but
  become separable when children learn that volume is a conservative
  dimension. Similarly, space and time start as a single metric that
  becomes gradually differentiated into two separable domains.

The Geometry of Meaning: Semantics Based on Conceptual Spaces
By Peter Gärdenfors


texts: Can "so" be used instead of "this" and mean the same thing in "this far" here?

texts:
Can so replace this in the sentence below and mean the same thing?

This is a situation that a friend of mine and I were in a car going somewhere talking so much that we forgot how much we drove and went farther than the destination.

  I didn't know we came this far.


texts:
I am getting under way to learn vocabulary in etymology.

The word demystify in Online Etymology Dictionary

  de -  "not, do the opposite of, undo"
  mystify - 1814, from French mystifier (1772), a verb formed irregularly from mystique "mysterious" (see mystic (adj.)) + -fier "to make" (see -fy). Related: Mystified; mystifying.

demystify
Make (a difficult subject) clearer and easier to understand.

Then demystify is to delete mystery.

Is this a decent way to learn from etymology?


texts:
What does the term “multiple entries” really mean in this text?

  Your journal needs to be at least 5 pages, with multiple entries.  Watch your spelling and grammar.

Does it mean multiple paragraphs? I’m confused.


texts: You're at a restaurant waiting for a table. People leave a table, now can you say "a table just became free"? or "a table just became available"? or something else? What's the most common/natural way of expressing this?


texts: When converting direct reporting into indirect reporting should “I had” become “he had had”?

texts:
I was given the following:

"I could not get into the house because I had lost my key, so I had to break a window", he said.

To convert it into indirect reporting, I wrote the following:

He said that he could not get into the house because he had lost his key, so he had had to break a window.

However, my instructor told me this is wrong and that instead of "had had" it would just be a single "had". In other words:

He said that he could not get into the house because he had lost his key, so he had to break a window.

I'm confused as to why this is the case since as far as I can tell you need another "had" to correct the tense when converting to indirect reporting. Could someone please explain why this is wrong? What are the rules for these kinds of situations?


texts:
I'm unsure whether this sentence is active or passive voice.

  I want to be there when the final match is played at Wimbledon.

When we marked it, the teacher said that it was passive voice, but isn't the subject ("I") doing the action, which makes it active? Can someone please explain?


texts: Is there a stylistically neutral synonym for 'interlocutor'?

texts:
interlocutor

  formal A person who takes part in a dialogue or conversation.

(from here)

If Lexico says some word is "formal", then it means it's formal AF (it flags them as such much rarer compared to, say, the Longman dictionary). I don't want to pose as some aristocrat without a reason. How can I express the same idea using everyday language? Don't suggest 'speaker', it doesn't fit (it's only applied to spoken speech, as I understand it, I need a broader term).


texts:
Why is DO needed in the sentence below? (would it read well without it?)

Although thunder and lightning are produced at the same time, light waves travel faster than sound waves do, so we see the lightning before we hear the thunder.

Thanks


texts:
Cake Wars is a game where fifteen participants are given sixty minutes to decorate a cake to a theme, after which the finished cakes are rated.

If the finished cakes are rated by the game's participants, then can I change "rated" to "contested" and is it better to do so?


texts: I prefer getting up early (rather) than rushing at the last minute

texts:
As written in the title:

  I prefer getting up early rather than rushing at the last minute.

Why do I have to include ''rather" when it already makes sense if you omit the 'rather' word. So it goes specifically like this:

  I prefer getting up early than rushing at the last minute.

Right? Doesn't add up really... kindly elucidate this one


texts: Can I make a sentence with "for example" in the middle?

texts:
The phrase 'for example' is often used at the beginning of a sentence, but can I put it in the middle of a sentence? For instance, "Then she will be considered as a victim in, for example, a robbery event."

Can I make a sentence like this?


texts:
I spent almost 2 hours trying to understand what did Alan Kirby mean by those 3 lines:

  Filming your friends and putting the result on YouTube is so much more like writing a short story than it is like using a trouser-press that the rejection of a publishing jargon for a mechanistic one is unhelpful.

the term "trouser-press" and the syntax of the following sentence are totally incomprehensible for me. I know the direct meaning of "trouser-press", but could it be an idiom or a metaphor here?


texts:
Legally, the straightforward thing to do would have been for the Supreme Court to act according to the black and white law, and reinstate Mr. Verma, the CBI Director, and leave it there

What is the structure of "to do would have been"?


texts:
A typical use of a function object is in writing callback functions. A callback in procedural languages, such as C, may be performed by using function pointers. Here is the sentence that confuses me:

  However it can be difficult or awkward to pass a state into or out of the callback function.

In particular, I can't understand this expression: pass a state into or out of the callback function. Can you explain it to me?


texts: Jack Kerouac once wrote about his "too big world". Is this grammatically correct?

texts:
This is what Jack Kerouac writes in On The Road:

  A pain stabbed my heart, as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world.

I'm wondering if the construction "too-big world" is grammatically correct English, since I'm planning to use it in one of my songs (I'm a songwriter). Can somebody help me out?


texts:
Proceeding with, say, an agenda item or a new activity, we might say:

  Let's move on the the next item/activity.

  Let's get to the next item/activity.

Recently I heard Let's pass over to the activity. As far as I understand, it's not the phrasal verb pass over which is used but the verb pass + over to something. Does it make sense to you? Can pass be used like this?


texts:
Would you be okay drinking milk that is few days past its expiration date?

I couldn’t understand how the past is used in this sentence . Is it adverb or preposition?


texts: Is this an adjectival or adverbial phrase?

texts:
I want to know everything there is to know about you.

Does ‘to know about you’ modify everything (adjectival function) or
is it an adverbial phrase? Or are both possible?


texts:
I just encountered this question:

  It is imperative that every manager clearly ........ to all members of the organization
  what the purpose of the organization really is

  a/ communicate

  b/ communicates

  c/ communicated

  d/ communication

I thought "every manager" is a singular noun, so the answer would be communicates, but then I saw the answer, it's communicates ?!

I just can't get it.
Someone please shed some light for me on this question.

Thanks in advance.


texts: What does "Botox in real life" mean here?

texts:
I would like to know what "Botox in real life" means in the following sentences:

‘Now,’ Will says, palm on my back as a gentle steer, warm through my
dress, ‘let me introduce you to some people. This is Georgina.’
Georgina, thin and chic in a column of fuchsia silk, gives me a wintry
smile. She can’t move her face much and I try hard not to stare – I’m
not sure I’ve ever seen Botox in real life. ‘Were you on the hen
do?’ she asks. ‘I can’t remember.’
‘I had to give it a miss,’ I say. ‘The kids . . .’ Partly true. But
there’s also the fact that it was on a yoga retreat in Ibiza and I
could never in a million years have afforded it.

Lucy Foley, The Guest List, Chapter 12

This is a thriller novel published in 2020 in the United Kingdom. One hundred and fifty guests would be gathering at some remote and deserted fictional islet called Inis an Amplóra off the coast of the island of Ireland to celebrate the wedding between Jules (a self-made woman running an online magazine called The Download) and Will (a celebrity appearing in a TV show program called Survive the Night). The day before the actual wedding day, Hannah, the wife of Charlie (Jules' friend), arrived at the island and is now at the dinner party for the rehearsal dinner with only some selected guests. And during the party, Hannah meets Georgina, who was like "Botox in real life."
In this part, I am wondering what "Botox in real life" would mean. Does that mean Hannah has never seen someone who used Botox in her daily lives? Or would its meaning be closer to that Georgina was like the incarnation of Botox, like her entire face was injected with Botox...?


texts:
a. All my friends when I was growing up have good jobs now.
b. All my friends growing up have good jobs now.
Are the above sentences grammatically correct?


texts: The... rising numbers of those out of work are adding greatly to the government's problems

texts:
Which option fits best for the followings sentence:

  The.........rising numbers  of those out of work are adding greatly to the
   government's problems.

  High
  Hard
  Steeply
  Promptly

This question also prompted another related question in my mind about a general grammar guides.

As we know, the word rising is an adjective. I'd like to ask if it is grammatically correct to use another adjective before a gerund + noun phrase.

  Rapid rising prices caused chaos.
  Rapid developing countries..


texts: Is 'It's a pen you could use to shoot lasers out of' grammatically correct?

texts:
I heard someone explain to someone else what a laser pen/ laser pointer was.
This is how he explained it, "It's a pen you could use to shoot lasers out of." and I have been wondering whether what he said was grammatically correct or not.

So, is it?


texts: The use of 'while' and 'at the same time' in one sentence

texts:
Can I use 'while' and 'at the same time' in one sentence?

For example,

  while cooking and listening to the radio at the same time


texts: "Mastery" and "Master" against "Domination" and "Dominate"

texts:
As many of us know, domination
simply means "power or control over other people or things" and mastery means "complete control of something". Also, if someone has a mastery of something, they are "extremely skilled at it."

Also, based on dictionaries;

Master means:

  to learn to control an emotion or feeling.

and

Dominate means:

  to have control over a place or person.

As you see, despite the fact that there is a considerable overlap between these two words, unfortunately I couldn't find any reliable and reasonable online resource to list them as a part of my research. I have made some examples which logically, each one of them can take both of the two words, but I wonder if you could let me know which word fits better and sounds more natural and idiomatic within each case and why?

Examples:

  He is an expert in (his job / English) and has quite good experience in this field and I believe that he ................... (his job / English).

a. has mastery of
b. has domination on
c. masters
d. dominates

  This is a large land and there is only one person who is well familiar with this area and knows every single spot here. She ................. this area.

a. has mastery of
b. has domination on
c. masters
d. dominates

  The meeting was really breathtaking for all of us excepting David. He is a very intelligent man and as a person who knows what and how to say anything, he ............... the situation/meeting.

a. had mastery of
b. had domination on
c. mastered
d. dominated


texts: Difference between 'anyone' and 'anyone else'

texts:
What's the difference between these two sentences?

1- My mother loves me more than anyone.

2- My mother loves me more than anyone else.


texts: is it wrong to say "to clean your pee" when you want to mean "to remove it"?

texts:
clean [transitive, intransitive] clean (something) to make something free from dirt or dust by washing or rubbing it

  to clean the windows/bath/floor

  to clean a wound

  Have you cleaned your teeth?

  The villa is cleaned twice a week.

  I spent all day cooking and cleaning.

Ok, your little toddler peed on the chair and his pee is all over the place. Is it wrong to say "Now, I have to clean your pee"?

Or "Now I have to clean the chair"


texts:
I see both of those examples.

Say, from COCA -

  These special carriages were made especially for the London Necropolis Railway and painted chocolate brown, edged in an orange-red vermilion, to match the carriages of the London and South Western Railway, upon whose tracks the LNR ran.

We have Indian Railways but is it 'Railways' as it is divided into Southern Railway, Northern Railway etc. so collectively Railways? What if there are no divisions?

Same with 'Airways' (in transportation only).

Please answer in this context only, I know pretty well that the singular form is used when the word is a collective noun.


texts: What does 'They while away their evenings with books and games.' mean?

texts:
I was asked to name the highlighted part of speech in the given sentence.

They while away the evenings with books and games.

the sentence, however didn't felt grammatically correct to me, and I didn't know what the sentence actually meant. So I said verb arbitrarily, which to my surprise was the correct answer. Can anyone explain me what the sentence actually mean and how is while a verb here?


texts: When talking about the weather, what does 'There isn't much' mean?

texts:
It's often very cold here, but there isn't much now.

What is the last half talking about? I mean I think it's implied that it's talking about the temperature. I thought this much of implication was allowed in conversation. (The sentence above is brought up by someone studying English and it sounds like it's from a grammar quiz)
PS: I'd like to hear from AmE too. I just want to know what would be possible in casual conversation, not about grammar or logic.
PPS: I want to make sure what "~, but there isn't much snow" means. This is still talking about the general climate of the place, right?
By the way, the expression in my native language is closer to "It snows a lot every year," but we don't express it as "There's much snow every year."


texts: What does 'practice' mean in 'practice law'? Is it a common to use like this?

texts: What does 'practice' mean in 'practice law'? Is it common to use like this?


texts:
Can we use two infinitive verbs in the same clause? or Is it better to add "and" between them?

  I would like to learn to play the piano.

  I would like to learn and to play the piano.

  I would like to learn play the piano.


texts: What's the meaning of "that said"? Under what contexts can we use it?

texts: As title said, I'm confused by the meaning of "that said". I tried to google it, but I failed find a clear and convincing definition.


texts:
Today I discovered the word "scurry" and I immediately found that I couldn't tell it apart with "scary". I looked it up and found that it boils down to differentiating /ɝ/ and /ɛ/, at least according to these Wiktionary entries:

scurry

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scurry
Audio
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AEn-us-scurry.ogg

scary

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scary
Audio:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AEn-us-scary.ogg
They seem to sound the same to me at this point. How could I learn to tell the difference? One idea that comes to my head is to look for words that only differ by this sound, but I'm not sure how to start looking.


texts: How to formally and politely ask for details of an yet-to-be-advised interview

texts:
I would like to email a Consulate-General in regards to a job application I made sometime ago. I have received an acceptance letter stating they will get back to me with the details regarding the interview.
I haven't heard anything yet and would like to email them.

I have written the following letter, but I feel it still sounds very colloquial and may hinder my interview.

The email I would like to write is:

  Dear Sir/Madame,

  I have received a letter dated on the XXth of [name of month] 2019 from the Embassy of XXXXX for an interview in the Consulate General of XXXXX in late [name of month] 2020 stating that I will be contacted with the details of my interview.

  However, I have not been contacted yet and would kindly request the details for the interview.

  Kindest Regards,

  XXXXX XXXXX

The bold and italicised sentence, I feel, is far too informal and perhaps a little colloquial.

Question:

What would be an appropriate substitution for this sentence, conveying the same meaning?


texts: Should I say "slipped out/off the clothesline" or "slipped from the clothesline"?

texts:
What the correct option?

Example sentence:

  Look, this is exactly what happened. I was hanging my laundry on the
  clothesline, there was a gust of wind, and my favorite T-shirt---the
  one that says, 'Love Life'---slipped out/from/off the clothesline.


texts:
My husband wrote another question on here, and he wrote:

  I was watching the movie 'The Fugitive' with Harrison Ford.

I told him:

  That means that I am sitting beside Harrison Ford watching the movie.

So what does the phrase mean in this context in the USA?


texts: Can be described the outer curved surface of a round object as an outer circumferential surface?

texts: I want to know the difference among  "circumferential", "periphery", and "perimeter".  Which is best to describe the outer surface of a round object such as a tube, a cylinder, and a can of beer.


texts: What does the phrase"directly to my attention" mean?

texts:
I am not very comfortable with English and had a question about what this line in an email might mean. I had to take a break from playing on a team and have been medically cleared.

"Request a typed letter of medical support directly to my attention"

What does the phrase "directly to my attention" mean? I think it means that the letter has to be addressed to the sender of the email, or it could mean that the letter must be sent from the doctor to the sender of the email without me involved as a middle man (to deliver the letter) Or it could indicate that I bring the letter to the sender of the email? I'm confused. Does this mean that I cannot read the contents of the email? It does not suggest that at all.


texts: "Every Sunday, he has lunch in restaurant" or "...a restaurant"?

texts:
A. Every Sunday, he has lunch in restaurant.

  B. Every Sunday, he has lunch in a restaurant.

Which of above sentences is correct? I want to tell the habit, not to specify any restaurant.


texts: singular nouns after a plural possessive form

texts:
This is perhaps a bit of a strange question, but it's bugging me no end.
I know that it is acceptable to use both a singular and a plural noun after a plural possessive, e.g. "..this influences people's lives/this influences people's life" are both considered correct as far as I know...
Now I have a sentence here which goes "... this influences students' mind" and it just doesn't sound right. Is that just me?


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

texts:
If I lie to you, I'll lose your trust forever. This is the last thing I want.
If I lie to you, I'll lose your trust forever. That's the last
thing I want.

What's the most appropriate option? Or maybe they are both correct


texts: How to ask someone when they will submit their work in an e-mail

texts:
In brief, I want to write an e-mail inquiring an agency as when will they submit the work.
This is what I have written. I am not quiet sure whether it is the proper way of writing the mail. I would appreciate if you could provide feedback as to how can I write it in correct grammar.

  Dear Xyz,

  Hope you had a great weekend. I wish to inquire as when will you submit the files regarding the project.

  Many thanks,
  Oklao Sds

Is it grammatically acceptable?


texts: What is the opposite of 'go down the road'?

texts:
Let's say I am in my car, and I have to give directions for a place located two-three miles behind the car. How should I describe it?

From what I know, if the something is located at some distance ahead, I can say

  It is 2-3 miles up/down the road.

What word do I use to describe something two-three miles in the back?


texts:
How do native speakers read "did an"?

  He did an embarrassed little dance.

  The student did an excellent job leading his group for the school
  project.

sound example


texts:
I think it is grammatically correct to say She is not happier than her sister but,  with the adverb less, I should say She is not less happy than her sister.

  1) She is not less happy than her sister.

  2) She is not less happier than her sister.

Which of the two is correct?  Could you help me clarify it?   Thank you always.


texts:
I'm preparing for the job interview. One of the topics I'm studing is algorithms analysis, which uses so called Big O notation. So, the problem is, I actually don't know how to properly pronounce those designations, for example, O(n log n). A few more examples here.

The most interesting case is O(n log n), because here we have a function O, multiplication n * log n and logarithm log n together.

Thanks.


texts: Singular vs. plural in "Different {type / types} of {question / questions}"

texts:
Different types of questions

or

  Different type of questions

or

  Different types of question

or

  Different type of question.

Can anybody tell me, which one is the correct usage?


texts:
I would appreciate any clarifications regarding the correct usage of "early" vs "preliminary" in these two sentences.

  This study provide an early evidence about life on Mars.
  This study provide preliminary evidence about life on Mars

For instance, does early vs preliminary change the meaning? which one is more accurate to explain the meaning, or they both have the same?

When I opened my dictionary to check the difference in meaning between early and preliminary, I found "early" is largely referring to a time frame (e.g. I got in the early morning, she is in her early thirties). On the other hand, 'preliminary" usage has nothing to do with time. It is a word used to explain position (i.e. something come before something else). It was explained in the dictionary as "something that precedes or is introductory or preparatory" so it refers to something not sometime.

What confused me is that these two words were used in the literature to refer to a timing frame. I am not sure about the correct usage in my examples above?!


texts: What's the meaning of this sentence "Does anyone ever get this right?"

texts:
in a lyric of a song by QOTSA have the sentence below:

"Does anyone ever get this right?"

Is it the same meaning of this sentence?

"Does no one ever understand this correctly?"


texts:
Should I use “which one” “of which one” “one was” or “one of which” for the following sentence

  Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote four novels ... ‘The Scarlet Letter’ became an American literary icon.


texts: Will people get confused if I use passes as a countable noun in my C.V

texts:
I am going to finish an apprenticeship with a master chef, so I have to write my CV.
I sat for a public examination in 6 subjects, 3 credits and 3 passess, two years ago. In the first row of my CV, I want to list the results of these six subjects, but my teacher advised me not to do it this way.
She told me to make it clear and neat for people to read.
Let's assume that this is the CV, and in the first row, I have written this record:
Public examination: 2012, 6 subjects, all passess.

But as soon as I have done this, I found that people may get confused with the word, pass, and thinking if it is a verb instead of a noun.

Are there any replacements for the word, pass, in my question?

Thank you

Kitty


texts: Are both these sentences in different orders correct?

texts:
The original sentence is below.

  When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out.

I would like to know if the sentence below in a different order is correct as well.

  When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what the facts are and what the truth that the facts bear out is.

I am not a native English speaker and there is so much basic stuff I am confused about like this. Any explanations will be greatly appreciated.


texts:
In the following sentence:

  "Is this your first _______________ to Sydney?"

I thought that the possible answers were "visit", "trip" or "journey".(any others?)  However, I've just seen on the internet the sentence:

  "Is this your first time to Sydney?"

I tend to think that this is not correct and would rather say:

  "Is this your first time in Sydney?"

Is sentence 2 correct?


texts: What is the difference between Do you arrive vs Are you arriving

texts:
I would like to know what is the difference between these two examples and can I use them both with the same meaning?

When do you arrive tomorrow?
When are you arriving tomorrow?


texts: May I use a phrasal verb as an adjective, like "commented out code"?

texts:
I'd like to express that some old code that has been commented out should be removed. May I phrase it as follows?

  Remove old, commented out code.


texts: What is the difference between "a female" and " the female" in this paragraph?

texts:
I have read a book talking about monogamous relationship. The book has a paragraph:

  Nevertheless, few men like sharing their women, and many do not mind having one woman at a time if she happens to be great — not only drop-dead gorgeous, but also lovely to talk to and spend time with, both in and outside the bedroom. But most males are in long-term monogamous relationships because they have managed merely to find a female, not because they have found the female.

In the book, the writer said that monogamous relationship is not natural, and many men are in long-term monogamous relationships because they find it to to be a way to make their female stay and be faithful. But I don't understand the difference between "a female" and " the female" in this paragraph. Can anyone help me?


texts: Combine singular and plural form of 'party'

texts:
Recently I came across following sentence on a form at a client's intranet:

  Enter the domain name(s) of the external party(s) you want to share with.

Except for the fact that the sentence doesn't sound 100% correct in my head when I read it, the part that disturbed me most was party(s).

In the case of name(s) it's correct as the plural of name is names. But the plural of party is parties and not partys.

My question is: how can you combine the singular and plural of the word party in one 'word'. Or is there another short form to do this?


texts: How can I tell whether "c" should be pronounced like "s" or like "k"?

texts: How can I tell whether "c" should be pronounced "s" or "k"? I always get confused and pronounce it like "s" because it looks like russian "с".


texts: "Slipped into the hole" vs "x slipped and fell into the hole"

texts:
As you know, some prepositions such as into, onto and unto may be used with movement verbs, which is the case of: I knocked something into, I dropped something into, I put something into...

Anyway, can these prepositions be used with verbs such as slip and slide?

I slipped into the hole - It would mean that I slipped on something and fell into a hole as I slipped.

I slid into a hole - It would mean I slid on probably a wet floor and fell into a hole. (Basically the same as above)

I know it could possibly sound like I slid/slipped in the hole (which doesn't make sense) because people normally use: I slipped/slid on a wet floor/the ground/ the floor... However, since I added in/on + to it becomes a movement, which implies to say I'm going towards that direction: Into the hole = Inside the hole.

I have two questions: Could it possibly be right (grammatically) even if it sounded awkward to say something like: I slipped/slid into the hole?

And: Even if saying the above suggestion is correct, saying: I slipped/slid and fell into the hole would sound better?


texts:
Why ‘is’ there so much violence in that movie?
Why ‘are’ there so much violence in that movie?

Which one is correct?


texts:
At the end of the season, the team, regardless of whether they win the championship, are splitting up.

I thought this was perfectly fine, although perhaps saying "the team members" would have been nicer (in my opinion). However, apparently, it should be rewritten as

  At the end of the season, the team, regardless of whether they win the championship, is splitting up.

But this bothers me a) because I thought "team" could be both singular and plural depending on the situation, and b) with the clause "regardless of whether they win the championship" where "they", a plural, is used, wouldn't it be odd to use "... is splitting up" just to match "team" which is apparently singular? (That's why I chose to keep "team" plural in my first attempt at editing.)


texts: Is this sentence correct: "He devised the article in such a way that each reader understand what he wanted."

texts:
This is about a misleading text, written 100 years ago, that can be interpreted in various ways. It was written to please everybody.

  W. Thompson devised his article in such a way that each reader understand what he or she wanted.

Is the above sentence correct? If not what is the right form of it?

The problem is that W. Thomson just tried to fool his readers. We do not know if they fell in his trap. If I use "understood", it means that his trick succeed and each reader understood what he wanted and all were happy. What is an idiomatic way to express that readers may be fooled in the present even though the article was written a long time ago?


texts:
To me, this is the normal usage of the word:

  Mary convinced Tom to wear a dress.

How about this one:

  Tom nodded, convinced to wear a dress.

I think I've never seen this usage before, so I'm not sure if it's correct.

Note: I searched on Google, but I couldn't find this sentence structure.


texts: Using the phrase 'rise to the level of [sth]'

texts:
At a number of state-owned factories, workers staged anti-government protests. Most of them, however, didn't rise to the level of strike/a strike/strikes.

Which should I prefer? And how idiomatic is the phrase 'rise to the level of [sth]'? Google News didn't find many matches (in quotes).


texts: Prepositional phrases and what they go with

texts:
He delivered a presentation which students are not likely to see in class.

What does the PP goes with , does it go with the verb delivered or the verb in the relative clause see ?

  Involvement is the level of perceived personal importance and interest evoked by a stimulus within a specific situation.

Do the PP only goes with the phrase interest evoked by a stimulus or it goes with two phrases, which are the level of perceived personal importance and interest evoked by a stimulus?

  The effect of prior Prior Net Income and Zero Earnings Benchmark on cost asymmetry.

Do the PP only goes with the phrase Zero Earnings Benchmark or it goes with two phrases, which are The effect of prior Prior Net Income and Zero Earnings Benchmark?

Is there a way to know exactly what the PP modifies? Or is prepositional phrases themselves an ambiguous grammar phrase.


texts: What does this sentence mean? "not any more than" phrase

texts:
I'm confused about this sentence from The Catcher in the Rye:

  They don't do any damn more molding at Pencey than they do at any other school.

I can think of two interpretations:

Other schools do molding students and Pencey doesn't do more than them.
Other schools have never done molding students and Pencey has never done either.

Which is correct?


texts:
This is about the use of even as an adverb. I only found this. The question is whether you can express surprise by using something like a comma followed by the adverb. Here's a typical interaction, possibly about something like ice cream:

  Clerk - This is what you get for 5 EUR.

  Customer - Ok, I'll have one, thank you.

  Clerk - Here you go. Wait, let me see what you have... I'll even give you more.

vs.

  I'll give you more, even.

  [ I'll even give you even more? ]

Can you have a comma construct like with the second example and carry the meaning of surprise even though the word is not before the verb proper? Is there any difference between the two and is that even idiomatic English? If you want to express both the surprise and the intensity, will you even go as far as to use even twice?


texts: The corectness of the following sentences

texts:
Maybe someone consider it too silly but I want to clear it up:

  Are they equal and correct in grammar sense: You have never really worked / You haven't ever really worked in you life.
  What would native rather chose: The director hasn't come / returned / come back yet.
  Best choice: What have you been looking at / examining for long?
  Best choice and how awkward will it be if I replace both parts of the sentence?: She told me everything when we were coming / going
  home yesterday.
  Are they interchangeable?: How long is it since he wrote to you last / When did he write to you last / How long ago did he write to
  you last?
  When we are talking about learning English we use begin, don't we?: How long is it since you began (not started) learning English?

In the long run all of them reffer to one exercise and as a result I wrote them in one topic.


texts:
This is a part of a dialogue between two characters that I was reading in my book:

  Mr Lamb: You could tell me your name. If you chose. And not, if you didn't.

  Derry: Derry. Only it's Derek.... but I hate that. Derry. If I am your friend, you don't have to be mine. I choose that.

What does the word "only" mean in this context? And the second thing I want to ask is why Derry retells his name (the highlighted part)?


texts:
A man and a woman are sitting next to each other at a bar. The man says something to the woman. The woman looks at him and answers shortly, then turns back to her drink to avoid further conversation.

If it's established that they are sitting next to each other, is it natural to use "turns back to her drink" here to mean that she just turned her head away from looking at him and back to her drink?


texts:
Teachbook issue:

  I (to miss) your excellent cooking!

Why "I miss" in the book answers mentioned instead of "I am missing"?


texts: A little help for a phrase from Tolkien's The Hobbit

texts:
Tolkien uses a lot of unknown and strange phrases to me, especially in character's lines. Like for example this one:
"To think that I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna Took's son, as if I was selling buttons at the door."
At first I had no idea what it means. Then some kind people from reddit explained it to me and now I understand the phrase as a whole, though it still looks quite unnatural to me. And that's mainly because of that 'should' part. Doesn't "I should have lived to be greeted (just using other verb here)" alone mean "I have had to live to be greeted" and is 'should' interchangable for would in this particular case?
"I should think so!" instead of "I think so!" is another phrase  containing 'should' with other than its original meaning (You should = I recommend you to, You should have ≈ You had to..., as I recommended you, as you were supposed to)
Maybe I've missed some 'should' grammar?


texts:
What is the meaning of 'should have ' in the following sentences do they mean regret or what ?

1.I should have let her know what was happening but I forgot.

2.They should have remembered that their guests don't eat meat meat.

3.I should have sent everybody a reminded by email.

4.He should have told them the truth but he didn't.

5.I don't think you should have done i
t.

I'm confused here because I know that'should have'is used to imply'regret' ,for example:

1.I got really wet today while going to market . I should have taken an umrella.

2.she wept so badly. I shouldn't have scolded her.


texts: Confusing word order of "more a lowering of some positions..."

texts:
Consider:

  “It was a risk-off shift in the last three days,” Benno Galliker, a
  trader at Luzerner Kantonalbank AG in Lucerne, Switzerland, said.
  “It’s probably more a lowering of some positions into the summer. The
  Fed minutes could be very important. There are some rumors about some
  hawkish comments.”
  ....
  British insurers led a gauge of European insurance companies lower
  after a report showed U.K. prices for new-car insurance fell for a
  record 10th quarter.

  -- Source Europe Stocks Little Changed Before Fed as Espirito Santo Falls

I cannot fully grasp the meaning of the first bolded sentence.

Since lowering is a gerund here, why is it that "It’s probably more a lowering of some [financial] positions into the summer",

not "It’s probably more of a lowering of some positions into the summer",

or "It’s probably a more lowering of some positions into the summer",

or "It’s probably more than a lowering of some positions into the summer"?

Besides, does gauge metaphorically refer to a certain index for the European insurance industry here? Is lower here an adjective, acting as an object complement?


texts:
In Cambridge Advanced Grammar in Use we read:

  We use should have + past participle to talk about an expectation that something happened , has happened or will happen.[page 40, Unit 20]

  We use Must have + PP to draw a conclusion about something happened in the past [page 36, Unit 18].

I dont understand the difference between the "drawing a conclusion", and "predicting/forecasting/guessing an occurrence"

Consider :

John isn't home yet. He -------------------have got in trouble.

Is there any difference if we use Should instead of Must and vice versa ?


texts: A single word in English for "easily make others miss the person"

texts:
Is there a single word in English that means "easily make others miss the person"?

For example, if such word were xqxqxq, a sample sentence would be:

The baby xqxqxqs everyone because she is so cute. (if the word is a verb), or
The baby is xqxqxqs for everyone because she is so cute. (if the word is a verb)


texts: Social Sciences or social sciences or Social Science or social science

texts:
How should we write when we're talking about the subject?
For instance, I know that "math" has to be written with the capitol letter:

Math

What's about "social sciences", what do we have to write:

I study Social Sciences
I study Social Science
I study social sciences
I study social science


texts:
What does "set yourself up for" meaning in this sentece?

  Another one of the best ways to make your New Year’s resolutions
  stick: Don’t set yourself up for failure with goals that aren’t
  realistic.

Source link : https://www.thehealthy.com/habits/new-year-health-mistakes/


texts:
Do you use the verb "taked" to mean the past of the verb "take" or the p.p. form of it?

For example is it right to say:

I taked an exam yesterday. instead of I took an exam.
I have taked an exam. instead of I have taken an exam.


texts: I have two questions about how to use 'will'

texts:
There are two sentences that I'd like to fully understand.

  Only 30 years ago, it was almost impossible to come across a family that had a car, but Korea has changed beyond all recognition and cars have become very common. More often than not, one family 'will' have 2 or 3 cars.

I can't understand why 'will' is used. What if I use just 'has' instead of 'will have'?
All I know about how to use 'will' is 'voluntarily action' or 'prediction'. Could you help me understand the difference 'will' and 'will have' above sentence?

  Once I'm done with my banking, everyone wishes me a good day and someone 'will' always be on hand to hold the door open when I leave.

Similarly, I'd also like to know the difference 'someone is always on hand' and 'someone will always be on hand'. For me, it is much easier way that I use the former than the latter.

Thanks in advance.


texts: What is the difference between 'my wrists' and 'me by the wrists'?

texts:
There are two sentences like these.

He held my wrists.
He held me by the wrists

What is the difference between the two expressions in meaning?


texts:
I found this tweet but I don't know what it implies...
Does it mean the show will regret that it spent more time wallowing in sad feelings about what it had done and should have spent more time speaking about what it would do to improve the journalistic integrity?

Have a feeling 60 Minutes is going to wish that apology had more time devoted to a commitment to act differently and less to sad feelings.
— Linda Holmes (@nprmonkeysee) November 11, 2013


texts:
What is the difference between these sentences? Are they the same?

If I weren't going to meet my grandma tomorrow, I would be coming to your party.
If I weren't going to meet my grandma tomorrow, I would come to your party.
If I didn't go to meet my grandma tomorrow, I would come to your party.
If I didn't go to meet my grandma tomorrow, I would be coming to your party.


texts: What do I call the ′ in mathematical formulae?

texts:
As in x′ = x + t

"Ex (?) equals ex plus tee".

In Russian it is called "штрих" (shtrikch).


texts: Meaning of "to stay in hospital" in a headline vs. "will remain hospitalized" in the lead

texts:
First, in the present and then in the future. Why? it's from a newspaper

The title is in the present tense. I don't understand why:

  Taylor to stay in hospital

  The actress, Elizabeth Taylor, will remain hospitalised for another day or two following a brain seizure that put her back in the hospital shortly after she was discharged following brain surgery, a spokesman said yesterday.


texts: Is this proper English "They have church building, but they're not church."?

texts:
In a script I am working on a line is phrased within the movie: "They have church building, but they're not church."

It is our job to edit the lines and make it more natural for the American audience so therefore I suggested: "They have a church building, but they're not a church.". In my view the line needed those articles to be more natural and to make sense, but my associates disagreed.

Can anybody articulate the answer to this problem? Is it proper to say "They have church building, but they're not church."?


texts: What does 'opening storyline' mean in this sentence?

texts:
Today I was studying my physics textbook and this sentence shows up

"....filling the tank of your car in the opening storyline with gasoline."

I can't seem to understand what it means. Google says storyline is just another word for plot line, which I am familiar with.


texts: Does "there are" pronounce /ðer/ in spoken American?

texts: An American tutorial teaches reduced speaking, where "there are" sounds like /ðer/, am I hearing correctly? Do Americans speak that way in real life?


texts:
Could someone please elaborate this sentence's meaning?
I was just surfing through internet, there I came across it.


texts: Why is there no conjunction in “...symptoms are so slight you do not even know..”?

texts:
I have just finished some of my exercises and this sentence really make me confused:

  Sometimes the symptoms are so slight you do not even know you have an allergy, and it may take years for an allergy to become noticeable.

I don't understand why there wasn't any conjunction between two clauses: 'Sometimes the symptoms are so slight' and 'you do not even know you have an allergy'.

Could anyone explain it to me, please?


texts:
I had a case today where I really didn't know what to choose:

  My friend: Please, wait me on the first floor, I'm coming  soon.

  I (me): Ok. But Don't give / cause / let / make me wait for long?

Which of the bold verbs is idiomatic in this context?


texts: "I don't want to have to leave" what does it mean?

texts:
I've been listening to Mutual by Shawn Mendes and one line of the lyrics gets me confused, especially the "have to" part

  No I don't want to have to leave.
  But half of you's not enough for me.

Do I want to stay nor not? Am I being asked to leave but I don't want to leave? Do I willingly want to leave?

full lyrics here


texts:
Question is simple and straightforward. Which one to use when and why?

The data is available for the public. (Why or why not correct)
OR
The data is available to the public. (Why or why not correct)

Which one (to or for) to use, as consulting some resources online could not find any relevant justification when to use which.


texts:
Does the following sound like natural English?

  The mayor acknowledged and received the protest, along with a petition with 40 signatures.

A coworker of mine, who is a native speaker of English, wrote it. The only way to make sense of it would be to associate each of the two verbs with one of the two objects separately, so that acknowledged takes the protest as is object and received takes a petition as its object. But this does not seem to be how a two-verb sequence is interpreted.


texts: Metals can be damaged by water BUT diamond can't

texts:
I have troubles with using but in the particular example I made by myself below:

  Many types of metals can be damaged by water but diamond can't

  Diamond can't be damaged by water but many types of metals can

The reason I use either "but something can/can't" is because I want to avoid repetition (such as "many metals can be damaged with water but diamond can't be damaged with water"). Is it grammatically correct if I omit "be + verb 3/verb+ed"?

Thank you


texts: What's the difference between the two sentences here?

texts:
When our country got its independence, the man called "blah blah" had said we weren't ready for it.

  When our country got its independence, the man called "blah blah"  said we weren't ready for it.

I'm kinda having a verbal fight with a friend.
He says the first one and second one have no difference between them.
I say, in the first one, the act of blah blah's saying what he said occurred before the country got independent. And in the second one mean he said it at time the country got its independence.

Am i right here, or is he right here?


texts:
Which form is correct:

I have size 9 shoes.

or

I have 9-size shoes.

Does the number go before "size" or after?

A self-note (note to self?) on something related. It's the 'number 2 bus'. Not: 'bus 2' or '2-bus'.


texts: What is the difference between in meaning "in the job", "on the job" and "at the job"?

texts:
Is there any difference in meaning between in the job, on the job, at the job? For example:

  I have to do a lot today in the job/on the job/at the job.

I feel they all mean the same in the context, but if it is not so, what is the difference? Is there contexts where I have to use one but not the others?


texts:
I've read a number of older books in which I see the work "employé" being used where we would today use "employee". The meaning in all cases was obvious.

Example:

"You seem most fortunate in having an employé who comes under the full market price."

(Source: "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

How is this word pronounced? Is it pronounced the same as "employee" or is it pronounced as it is in French (I can't do IPA but, to approximate, something like "omp-lwa-yey")?


texts: "used to" or "used for", which one should I use when I want to explain what's a tool for?

texts:
this question comes from this post

  make_blobs() is used for Generating isotropic Gaussian blobs for
  clustering.

when I want to talk what the function make_blobs() is for, should I "used to" or "used for"?


texts:
what is the difference between "grit your teeth" & "grind your teeth"?

  grind [intransitive, transitive] to rub together, or to make
  hard objects rub together, often producing an unpleasant noise

  grind (together) Parts of the machine were grinding together noisily.

  grind something (together) She grinds her teeth when she is asleep.

  He ground the gears on the car.

grit your teeth

  to bite your teeth tightly together

  She gritted her teeth against the pain.

  ‘Stop it!’ he said through gritted teeth.

Does "grind the teeth" mean the upper & lower teeth touch together & they move backwards & forwards?

& "grit the teeth" means the upper & lower teeth touch a little firmly  together?


texts: Is this "It could've been more thrilling as I was expecting something more at that time." correct?

texts:
I have a confusion with a sentence. Is this sentence correct in grammar-article sense?

  "It could've been more thrilling as I was expecting something more at that time."

I have confusion with "as" and "was expecting" and I wonder if there is a mismatch of tenses in the second part.

I wanted to say, "It could have been more money as he is an honest guy". My confusion is if I use past tense on main clause "It could have been..." and use "as", can I use any tense with the subordinate clause starting with "as"


texts:
Question:

"_____ the malfunctions of dishwasher are due to defects or low-quality material is still being investigated."

I don't know should I choose "Whether" or "While" to fit into the space. The answer is "While", but I don't see it's a perfect answer, and I don't understand why I cannot use whether. Is it because that both of two reasons (defects and low-quality material) are possible?

Thanks!


texts: If John does ten pushups, does that mean he does nine reps?

texts:
When talking about pushups, we know the word rep comes from repetition.
But is rep really the same as repetition in this context?

If John does ten pushups, he does nine repetitions, plus the first pushup, right?
Does that mean he does nine reps?

I'd appreciate your help.


texts: Difference between "buy into" and "believe"

texts:
In this video,

https://youtu.be/Lo52BObqCds

the senator keeps saying, "buy into my agenda".

  Number two -- no. The answer to the question is that people buy into my agenda. And I do support the Second Amendment.

  that is the wrong way to look -- first of all, the answer is, people buy into my agenda.

  But I -- I -- listen. I respect -- you can ask that question, and I can tell you that I -- people buy into my agenda.

  . . .

I wondered why the senator's keep saying the same phrasal verb, buy into, so I looked up the dictionary and found out that the definition of "buy into" is "to completely believe in a set of ideas".

So "to completely believe" is the difference between "buy into" and just "believe"? Is the senator keep using this verb to emphasize that lots of people truly/strongly believed his agenda? Or is "buy into someone's agenda" kind of a set expression and that's why he keeps using it rather than choosing some other verbs?


texts: Correct Sentence construction using Based on or Base on

texts:
How to use Based on or Base in English Sentences?

Please help me with this example.

  This is your report "base on/based on" which you can proceed further.

According to me we should use "base on"

a) sentence is in Present tense.

b) "Based on" is not an Adjective.

c) Also, it is not used as passive voice.


texts:
Hawaiian Customs and Traditions

  Hawaii’s traditions are as diverse as its people. Rooted in Native Hawaiian culture that has been passed down through generations mixed with the traditions of the peoples from all around the world who have made Hawaii home.

This is from the the Hawaiian official website, and I'm having difficulty understanding this sentence. It seems like there's no subject here, am I right? Isn't this incomplete sentence?


texts:
If I want to tell to my friend to send "hi" to someone else, is it acceptable in the spoken English to say:

  "Send them (or him) my regards"

?


texts: When I want to buy a book, can I say "where to buy this book"? I just tried to search "where to buy" on google, there were a lot of search results. But I feel it doesn't look right. Do you have any ideas?


texts: Can I say to my girlfriend "You are my whole"?

texts:
I want to say to my girlfriend that she is everything for me. And my question is if I can say her this thing by the sentence "You are my whole".

I made a little googling about but I didn't find a clear answer.


texts: What's the colloquial way to express those questions?

texts:
Now, if someone told me that the weather is very bad. I would like to ask about when it started to become bad and for how many days.

Is it okay to use "How long" like:

  How long has it been bad?

Or

  For how long has it been bad?

Also, can I say:

  Since then has it been bad?


texts:
Why does the verb "continue" take the infinitive form sometimes instead of the gerund form in its progressive form?:

-I continue to love my wife.

-She continues to study at the same college.

Is there another verb which occupies this same special structure?


texts: What do we call it when someone injures himself?

texts: What do we call it when someone injures himself on purpose because of a mental problem? For example, they cut their own flesh or something.


texts:
What does the phrase in bold below in the sentence mean?

  One should not eat food which is cleaned of other's sight.

Explain the meaning and origin if possible.

EDIT: The context is a Hindu religious work called the "Virodhi Pariharam" which discusses various obstacles to spiritual progress.  Here's the relevant passage, which discusses various forms of food that are an obstacle to spiritual progress:

  The obstacles in this head are: food eaten in the houses of materialistic family; food eaten in houses of ordinary people related by natural kinships; the god's prasadam at special occasions given by people desirous of trivial objectives; not accepting prasadams in divyadesams of great influence; food eaten in houses of mere devotees of God; food self-cooked in srivaishnava houses; food given on an account; food offered for fame; wedding food; food for posthumous rites; food given for a price; defiled food; food given on a declaration; food given with some pride; food touched by others; food kept in vessels touched by others; food cooked by people thinking of other god or chanting other verses; food not cooked by people thinking of the God and reciting divyaprabandham; food not prepared with the objective of God and bhaagavatas but with the objective of oneself; food served from vessels not having the emblem of tirunamam; food not already offered to the God; food offered by ordinary people to the God; food cleaned of others sight; food offered only to the God and not to Sesha Seshaashana (Anantha Garuda adhi nithyasooris) and Alwars; food defiled as a category; food defiled owing to its possession; food circumstantially defiled owing to falling of worms,insects hair etc; food eaten in the row of non-bhaagavatas; food eaten after chanting bad things; food not offered with dvaya chanting; food eaten with the sense of enjoyability; food eaten without sense of its being prasadam of bhagavan; food eaten without a sense of worship of internal God; food eaten without completion of the God's worship; food not eaten as the prasadam of the food accepted by bhaagavatas; food not taken as the prasadam of a good Acharya; food eaten with a mere wrong sense as the remainder of pancha prana aahuthis; food eaten without an understanding of the power of sanctification of the seeing and touch etc of special bhaagavatas; food eaten with hesitation to mix with bhaagavatas who are sanctifiers of the row in which they are sitting (pankti pavanar); regular food in one's house and regular food in the houses of persons equal to the Acharya.


texts: How would I describe someone walking with crutches?

texts: I'm just trying to describe it for a short story I'm writing? I figure that one would describe the way someone moves in crutches differently than walking, and the only word that comes to mind is "swing" and that sounds a little odd in my opinion.


texts: Use of article without (pro)noun: "Both of these terms matter, but the fall in lattice enthalpy is the more important"

texts:
From Chemguide:

  Both of these terms matter, but the fall in lattice enthalpy is the more important. This falls because the ions are getting bigger.

Shouldn't it be either "is the more important one/of the two" or simply "is more important"?

This use of the definite article without any noun or pronoun seems strange.


texts:
What do you know about the comma used in the sentence with a 'since'?
If the structure of a sentence is "Since (Noun + Verb)   (Noun + Verb)"
How's right?

Since (Noun + Verb), (Noun + Verb)
Since (Noun + Verb) (Noun + Verb)


texts: How to avoid the use of the word "exceedance"?

texts:
From my translation from Russian:

  The following safety information that may suggest changes in the benefit-risk ratio of the drug product is subject to expedited reporting to the regulatory bodies within 15 calendar days:

  imposition of restrictions on the drug product’s distribution; market withdrawal; non-renewal, revocation or suspension of marketing authorization in the territory of other countries for safety- or efficacy-related reasons;
  exceedance of the expected frequency of serious adverse reactions;

I feel that exceedance is stylistically wrong, it's a rare quaint word. What could be the alternative phrasing of this item in the list?

I thought of exceesive frequency but where to put the word expected, which is present in the Russian original?

So is there an alternative to the word "exceedance", a word or phrase with a noun function that has the same approximate meaning?

Maybe "violation of the upper limit of the expected frequency of serious adverse reactions?"


texts:
When I read an article on Time today, I encountered a structure that I haven't seen before. Here it is:

  Millions of commemorative plates bear his portrait, a Mona Lisa smile    leavened by the benign air of Winnie the Pooh. Poets lavish ornate    verse on him–“My eyes are giving birth to this poem/My fingers are    burning on my cell phone,” wrote one amateur bard in February,    describing his search for the perfect paean. Bookstores across China    give prime display to his collection of speeches and essays, which    has sold more than 5 million copies, according to state media. His    ideology is even enshrined in an animated rap video, with one line    that goes: “It’s everyone’s dream to build a moderately prosperous society. Comprehensively.” A killer rhyme it is not, but who cares when you’re almost certainly the most powerful ruler on the planet?

The last sentence, "A killer rhyme it is not,  but who cares when you’re almost certainly the most powerful ruler on the planet?" looks unfamiliar to me. Is "A killer rhyme it is not" equivalent to "Although it is not a killer rhyme"? Can we end a sentence with "it is not"? Is it very prevalent in English writing?


texts:
He once conducted a party, but he did not invite me/had not invited
  me.

To me,
Did not invite sounds like present case. So i guess it'd be
Had not invited


texts: Difference between "for a long time" and "long time"

texts:
For the following sentences:

Alex has been my friend for a long time.
Alex has been a long time friend of mine.

Do both of these sentences imply that "Alex" is still my friend?


texts: "You betcha" as a response to "Thank you"

texts:
A: Thank you!

  B: You betcha!

I've heard the phrase "You betcha" several times as a form of agreement or understanding. Though, I don't understand what it means after the exclamation "Thank you".

I assume it could mean you're welcome/no problem/it's my pleasure, but it's a shot in the dark.

What exactly does it mean?
Does it imply that B expects something from A in return?

Thank you. Any help would be appriciated.


texts:
I don't understand the structure of "which they are."
Does it mean "which are infringements and they are such proposals"?

  France and other countries regard such proposals as infringements on their national sovereignty, which, of course, they are.


texts:
When we want to say we don't care about something which may happen in the future. Should we use the simple present tense?

Let's say I am going to ask a girl out for the first time (I never asked her out before). In this situation, is the sentence "I don't care if she says no. I am going to ask her out" correct, or should I say something like "I don't care if she is going to say no" instead of "I don't care if she says no"?

Another example: Let's say I am going to a dangerous place, or I am generally not scared of death. In these contexts, can I say "I don't care if I die", or should I say like "I don't care if I am going to die"?

I think I should use the version with simple present. What do you think?


texts: How to express something like classmate, colleague for some scientific fields?

texts:
Assume there are only 3 people A, B, C working for a company. In other words, the employees of the company consists of A, B and C. So, A is a colleague of B or C.

Machine learning (M) is a field of computer science, consists of supervised learning (S), unsupervised learning (U) and reinforcement learning (R).

Similar to "colleague", is there a term used to describe the relationship between several different and related sub-fields (M, S, U) within a field (R)?

M, S, U and R are not commonly used abbreviation, I used them here just to make the expression easier to understand.


texts: Why do you "get in a car" but "get on a train"

texts:
I was trying to work out why get in car but on most other transportation systems.

Get in a car, helicopter

Get on a train, plane, boat (although in feels like it works ok here)

Is it the size of vehicle? The function (private/public transport), or something else? How would you know whether to use in or on for an unknown vehicle?


texts: Part of speech of "one half" in "one half a number plus three is five"

texts:
I thought it should be "one half of a number" but it seems one half a number" is the preferred way of saying this. Why? Is it incorrect to use "of" here?

Does the same apply to an actual number such as "one half 8 is 4"?


texts:
I have a sentence using "as ... as". Could you tell me which sentence below is right?

A. Marine transportation is a high-risk industry as aviation.
B. Marine transportation is an industry as high-risk as aviation.
C. Marine transportation is as a high-risk industry as aviation.


texts:
With my good friend, Brian's help, I can skate very well now.

I wonder whether this expression is right, since 'Brian's help' and 'my good friend' seem to be in apposition.


texts: He has been working on the problem for a long time but is still/yet not able to solve it

texts:
Sentence improvement:

  He has been working on the problem for a long time but is still not able to solve it.

I believe this sentence is correct. But the answer to of this question is to place yet in place of still. Any suggestions on this please.


texts:
Some of rules can be the same for most websites.

vs.

  Some rules can be the same for most websites.

I think I want to say

  Some of these rules can be the same for most websites.


texts: Use of "Have" in questions "Do you have" or "Have you"

texts:
I've seen it on TV that a guy asking another man, "have you a map?"

If I were him, I would probably say, "do you have a map?"

I would like to know what grammatical rules it followed in this case.


texts: What is the difference between first hand and hands-on?

texts:
For example, which one fits in this context better?

  Working as a teacher, she has hands-on experience with suspected drug user students.
  Working as a teacher, she has first hand experience with suspected drug user students.


texts: If A has one ball and B has one ball, isn't just a sentence 'we have two balls' appropriate to combine two situations? I heard of saying 'we are the one,' not 'we are the ones, so I'm confused.


texts: Is sheltering in this sentence gerund or present participle

texts: 'Sheltering thieving juveniles causes harm to all' Can two present participles be used sequentially


texts: Use of "take on" and subject-verb agreement

texts:
I have two doubts about the following sentence:

  Assignments are how data objects take on a new value.

The first is whether the subject-verb agreement is correct for the two verbs in the sentence. The second is whether the phrasal verb "take on" is correctly understood with the meaning of "to assume" a new value in the sentence.

Finally, it would be nice to know whether the sentence sounds natural or not to a native speaker.

Thank you,


texts:
She became angry and violent very easily.
I think >angry and violent very easily means

angry and violent most of the time.

Please answer whether  my opinion is right or wrong.


texts:
Let's suppose that there are two people talking each other at a restaurant:

  John: I'll have one hamburger and large soda for lunch.

  Sandy: So will I.

  John: So you will?

Here, my question is about the order of the agreement in the "Sandy"'s answer. I mean, my doubt is about the word order in this kind of agreement structure.

I would like to know if it's necessary to respect the inversion of the auxiliary verb "will" ("So will you?" ) in statement or I need to change the word order ("So you will"?) in a question grammar mood?


texts: If love is an adjective than what do you write for an abstract noun

texts: If love is an adjective than what do you write for abstract noun is it also gonna be same love and love because if angry is adjective than anger is abstract right. So what is an abstract noun for love?


texts: "Don't think about" vs. "don't be thinking about"

texts:
Could you tell me if there's any difference in meaning between don't think about and don't be thinking about? For example:

Don't think about the problem. It'll work itself out.
Don't be thinking about the problem. It'll work itself out.

I would've thought that the second sentence isn't grammatically correct, but it's something a friend of mine, who is a native English speaker, say.


texts:
The sentence is,

We shall apply (2) to the realistic model, regardless of the validity of this formula when x is small.

The situation is that, for the realistic model, the formula (2) is invalid when x is small.

So, should the 'validity' be replaced by 'invalidity'?


texts:
When a noun relates to a large number of people then it is used in plural

Example--

Human Rights Organisation

Men's parlor

But ICC Code of Conduct For Players and Player Support Personnel
is correct.

Support personnel relates to a large number of players not a single one so why is it not Players support personnel


texts:
By the time he is finished with this first volume.
Up to now he is finished with the first volume.

Are these two sentences synonymous and indicating that the author has just written the first part of his work  and that the other volumes will be released in the next future?

P.S.
I came across this sentence:

By the time Kotkin is finished with this first volume, the Stalin that he produces is an “uncanny fusion of zealous Marxist convictions and great-power sensibilities, of sociopathic tendencies and exceptional diligence and resolve”.

Not sure how to to exactly understand time determination "by the time".


texts: How to correct: The economic situation of the country today is almost same as we experienced in the early 1960’s

texts:
I'm supposed to correct the following:

The economic situation of the country today is almost same as we experienced in the early 1960’s.

The answer suggests, "almost as the same as that."

Is this correct? I thought "as the same as" is grammatically wrong.


texts: Is it grammatical/idiomatic to say "[number] [objects] of [person]?

texts:
In other words, is it grammatical/idiomatic to say:

200 Lies of Luke (as opposed to: Luke's 200 Lies)?

500 Eggs of Erica the Chicken (as opposed to: The 500 Eggs of Erica the Chicken)?

Just like they did in the title of the movie: 500 Days of Summer?


texts:
When I come to I'm in thick brush, lying there on the damp ground like
  some log. I can't see a thing, it's so dark.   My head propped up
  by prickly brambles, I take a deep breath and smell plants, and dirt,
  and, mixed in, a faint whiff of dog crap. I can see the night sky
  through the tree branches. There's no moon or stars, but the sky is
  strangely bright. The clouds act as a screen, reflecting all the light
  from below. An ambulance wails off in the distance, grows closer, then
  fades away. By listening closely, I can barely catch the rumble of
  tires from traffic. I figure I must be in some corner of the
  city.   I try to pull myself together and pick up the scattered
  jigsaw puzzle pieces of me lying all around. This is a first, I
  think. Or is it? I had this feeling somewhere before. But when? I
  search my memory, but that fragile thread snaps. I close my eyes and
  let time pass by.   With a jolt of panic I remember my backpack.
  Where could I have left it? No way can I lose it––everything I own's
  inside. But how am I going to find it in the dark? I try to get to my
  feet, but my fingers have lost all their strength. (Kafka on the
  Shore, tr. by Philip Gabriel)

If the sentence were ‘this is the first’, I would not have raised my question. What does a first mean?


texts: Why using the past continuous tense when the action has already finished?

texts:
Past continuous tense

  The past continuous describes actions or events in a time before now,
  which began in the past and is still going on at the time of speaking.
  In other words, it expresses an unfinished or incomplete action in the
  past.

For example, I was watching a TV series.

"A" has quarreled with "B" and they don't talk to each other. "C" wants them to compromise with each other. "C" runs into "B" and says,

  I was talking to A this morning, and I think he feels really bad about
  it.

The "talking" apparently has finished, yet why the past continuous tense is used here?


texts: Tense disagreement of the irrealis forms "could ..." with "would have..."

texts:
G. H. Hardy, "A Mathematician's Apology":

  Some hold that it is 'mental' and that in some sense we construct it, others that it is outside and independent of us. A man who could give a convincing account of mathematical reality would have solved very many of the most difficult problems of metaphysics. If he could include physical reality in his account, he would have solved them all.

In a first clause there is 'could', in a second 'would have'. Kind of a mixing, it should be either 'could have' in a first, or just 'would' in a second.

The only way I see it is that in would [have solved] the whole have solved stands for the verb (with a taste of the perfect aspect). But I have never read about it. It would mean that have belongs to either would or the verb: would have [solved], would [have solved].


texts:
If you would have told me I would have done it.
I would mind if you wouldn't do it.
I wouldn't mind if you would do it.
If you wouldn't have told me I would have done it.
Are there sentences correct?


texts:
''Over'' meaning in longmann dictionary

  Preferring: if you choose one thing over another , you choose that thing rather than the other.

EX:

  What is your main reason for choosing one restaurant over another?

**Can I make this sentence with ''Rather than'' in the same meaning with ''Over'' ?

  What is your main reason for choosing one restaurant rather than another?

''Rather Than'' definition

  We use rather than to give more importance to one thing when two alternatives or preferences are being compared:

EX:

  He wanted to be an actor rather than a comedian.

  Can we come over on Saturday rather than Friday?

  Can I make these sentences with ''over'' in the same meaning with ''Rather than''?

  He wanted to be an actor over a comedian.

  Can we come over on Saturday over Friday?


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

texts:
There is a lot of information in this video, much more than anyone can digest in one single setting.

It seems like "one single time" or something like that, I suppose. But I can't find a similar explanation in any dictionaries.

As it is easy to be confused, I put the link to the video here.
The sentence is at 13:25 and It's indeed a "setting" but not a "sitting".


texts: the same formatting control over Web documents that they have over - I can't make proper grammatical sense of it

texts:
Web designers sometimes try to achieve the same formatting control over Web documents that they have over, say, printed documents. They want what they see on their screens with their browsers to be exactly what any visitor to their sites may also see. (Even if they can’t pronounce WYSIWYG, they want “what you see” to be “what you get.”) Two overarching problems prevent Web designers from achieving this control with HTML:

Web designers sometimes try to achieve the same formatting control over Web documents that they have over... And then little can I do to make grammatical sense of the rest of the sentence.


texts: Why did they use "didn't XXX nobody" rather than "anybody"?

texts:
https://newsday.co.tt/2018/11/29/suspect-i-didnt-kill-nobody/

  Suspect: ‘I didn’t kill nobody’


texts:
People say 'I have an epiphany' but I want it shorter and sound more sudden.

Does 'an epiphany hit me' sound right?


texts:
Here is my sentence. I want to know if I use the tenses correctly.
Bolds are confusing me.

  I want to change my life, starting at stop doing ...


texts: Slang words for person who is bad at language

texts:
I'm searching for slang or informal words that describe person who is bad at language, especially English. Is there anything like this in British English or American? I think about people who had moved to - for example - UK, have lived there for years, but their language skills are still low and full of grammar mistakes.
I would be really thankful if you could answer.


texts: What is it the meaning of "amorphous blob"?

texts:
What is the meaning of "amorphous blob" in the following context?

  "Along this ladder, also known as the “Great Chain of Being,” all
  living things essntially strove to achieve perfection with humans
  -specifically men- as the most perfect non divine beings at the top and some kind of amorphous blob at the bottom" (The Complete Idiot's Guide to College Biology)

I tried to search on google but I didn't find an explanation while I think it's  an idiom.


texts:
You’re not limited to using it. (It’s preferable not to.) There are
  other options already defined.

Can you explain me the "not to" structure? "It’s preferable not to" means "It’s not preferable" ?


texts: the woman whom I couldn't remember the name (of)?

texts:
I'm learning about relative pronouns, and I saw a sentence in my workbook as below:

He was talking with the woman the name of whom I couldn't remember.

I guess this sentence could be rewritten as follows:

He was talking with the woman whom I couldn't remember the name of.

Then, my questions are:

Is the second sentence correct grammatically?
If so, without the last word "of" in the second sentence, could it be a correct or comprehensible sentence?

Thank you for help.


texts: "since you have kids" or since "you have had kids"

texts:
Do you think your relationship with your wife has changed since you have kids?

I am not sure whether the tense in the bold part is used correct. I would use the present perfect (you have had kids).


texts: Question past perfect, action/state finished

texts: Does the sentence "I have been married for five years" mean that I am still married?


texts:
Before I met her I had a poor opinion of her.

As person had a poor opinion before a particular time in past (before He met her) so I think there should be had had.

There are some more example like this:

Before I went to the university, I worked/had worked as a carpenter for 5 years.
Before I opened the door, I put/had put the key in the lock.
Before I opened the door, I looked/had looked carefully into the barn for snipers.

In all these sentence, for me, it should be perfect tense.

I asked that question on another platform where I was told that if sequence of past event is obvious and sentences uses "before"and "after", we often use past tense. Which means we should use past tense in all these sentences. But I have another sentence "The train had left before I reached the station." If I follow above mentioned rule there should be "left" instead of "had left". But I am damn sure this sentence is correct with "had left".

Am I correct?

Thank you


texts: What is an adjective meaning "informing others"?

texts:
In translations, sometimes several parts of the source texts are completely deleted.
 This happens either with prior notice (e.g. it is stated clearly in the preface that several chapters have not been translated) or without any mention of it.

I call the latter "stealthy deletions". I am looking for a similar friend for the former, those done with prior notice. What do you suggest? Especially, I am interested in a word that has the element of informing others in it.

Is "overt deletions" good?


texts: "deemed + noun": Is "deemed" an attributive modifier?

texts:
A definition on Merriam Webster says:

  lacking restraint
  especially : marked by indulgence in things (such as drink or promiscuous sex)
  deemed vices (source)

This definition is a bit confusing, because I am not sure if it means:

  marked by indulgence in things and deemed vices

Is that line saying that "deemed vices" is among the things one indulges in? If this is the case, is "deemed vices" a noun phrase here and "deemed" an attributive modifier?

Having checked several dictionary pages on "deem", I haven't found an example of "deemed" + noun. Is "deemed" used as an attributive modifier before a noun? If so what does it mean? "reputed"?


texts:
I am a bit confused

  It has been believed that people who read have developed better imagination

Is it still believed or is no longer believed? Is it closer to "it is believed" than "it was believed"?

  It might have been believed they have developed better imagination.

Is there a possibility of being believed now? Is it related to
the present? Is " it might be believed the opposite  in terms of time?

Is present perfect continuous usable? Or is just a grammatical structure?


texts: What is the word for a structure that covers the part of the house that is lower than the top?

texts:
Looking at the definition of roof, I read that it is the structure that covers the top of a building.

Suppose that the house shown in the picture didn't have a porch and the garage was extending more outside the house. What word should I use for the (structure covering the) top of the garage? Could I use roof, or should I use a different word?


texts:
Tell me please if I used the verb correctly in the following sentence.

  I want you to put every new word you learn down onto sticky notes, and stick them all over your house so to better memorize them.

What I am trying to say is that I want my students to stick the notes onto every thing in their houses. By the way, was the phrasal verb put down used correctly? And would have it been better to use the preposition on instead of onto? For example:

  I want you to put every new word you learn down on sticky notes, and stick them all over your house so to better memorize them.


texts: Meaning of "Setting the alarm clock aside"

texts:
I have some troubles with understanding the first part of below sentence.
When the girl wake up late because of broken clock she said this

  Setting the alarm clock aside, why did they have to cut the power today, of all day?

I have no idea the purpose of word "aside" here