texts:
An wiki page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemic_modality) explains "epistemic modality" as

  a sub-type of linguistic modality that deals with a speaker's evaluation/judgment of, degree of confidence in, or belief of the knowledge upon which a proposition is based.

It seems the word "epistemic" is related to "inference" or "prediction".

could someone give some simpler explanation about the meaning of "epistemic", difference between epistemic and predictive?


texts:
I wrote this sentence:

  From Web accessibility/usability point of view, speech rendering of the main content can provide better access to web pages for visually impaired users.

Before I had written it as:

  In Web accessibility/usability, speech rendering of the main content can provide better access to web pages for visually impaired users.

It seems neither of them are natural, in what cases "from point of view" is used? How can I say my purpose in the above sentence? should I use FOR web accessibility,....?

Update: It seems I can write from accessibility ( or usability) point of view, can I write from accessibility and usability points of view?


texts:
He bloodied his own face to a cheering crowd.
He bloodied his own face in front of a cheering crowd.

Am I right to believe that "to" can be used as a more refined way to say "in front of". Are both sentences somewhat synonymous or am I mistaken?


texts: Common word for Help and Feedback in a mobile app

texts:
Is there a common word for "Help" and "Feedback" on a mobile app that can be used to group them as one screen?
I am building a mobile app, and because of the small amount of buttons on each page, I want to combine them into one screen, and "Help & Feedback" is too long. I need another heading for the screen that includes both getting help about the app and giving feedback about the app.


texts: What does this paragraph about dependent clauses mean?

texts:
Wikipedia:

The use of present and past tenses without reference to present and
past time does not apply to all dependent clauses, however; if the
future time or hypothetical reference is expressed in the dependent
clause independently of the main clause, then a form with will or
would in a dependent clause is possible:
This is the man who will guide you through the mountains.
We entered a building where cowards would fear to tread.

I want to know what is meant by "if the future time or hypothetical reference is expressed in the dependent clause independently of the main clause, then a form with will or would in a dependent clause is possible.", and by "possible" do they mean whether to use will and would in dependent clauses or not is optional in that case?. wikipedia page


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

texts:
Karen closed her accounts, only to have the criminal crack open the new ones she'd opened and drain those too.

Before this sentence, the passage stated that a criminal stole Karen's purse, which contained her ID card and some credit cards. Then the criminal used the credit cards to scam thousands of dollars from her.

So what does "crack" mean here? Is it a verb or noun? I feel it should be something like "deceive", but I cannot find a proper definition in my dictionary. If it is a verb, how do I interpret the word "open" after it? Does the word "crack" have some such use as crack do sth.? If it is a noun, what's the exact meaning of it? Thanks.


texts:
I read this article, while got perplexed in the following sentence:

  Pande would be in Mumbai on Monday, a day before Shah and Fadnavis, who is currently on a tour to the US, reaches the city.

To my mind, Pande is currently on a tour to the US and is going to reach the city a day before Shah and Fadnavis. Now, my questions are following (as per Grammar viewpoint):

Is the above sentence correct? Why?
If the above sentence is wrong then what is the correct sentence?

Thanks for your help in advance.


texts: give a good run for their money (of winners and losers)

texts:
a run for your money

  ✦Someone who gives you a (good) run for your money in a game or
  contest makes it difficult for you to win by trying hard and playing
  or performing well.

  ▪Though they lost, they gave last year's champions a run for their
  money.

Source: Merriam-Webster’s Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

If there were two strong contestants, could either one, winner or loser, say the expression above about the other?
Or, in other words, could a reviewer/commentator use the expression to praise the winner or console the loser?


texts:
The environment was deficient in many resources, among them salt, stone, and many other materials.

Could you give me some more examples and explanation about this? Or Could you paraphrase it?

Ancient Civilizations By Dr. Brian Fagan, Chris Scarre


texts:
I told my better half that she should say she's "getting on the bus" rather than "getting in the bus." She asked me why, because you would "get in the car" and not "get on the car." (You could get on a car, but we'd be talking about riding on the roof.)
I couldn't answer why, but I came up with a quick rule, which so far hasn't been proven wrong:

If you can stand up/walk around inside the vehicle, you use on: bus, plane, boat.
If you can't stand up/walk around, you use in: car ... what else, go-kart? Haha.

In my mind, when I try to analyse it myself, you are getting inside the bus, you're not getting on top of it. So why "on"?
Does anybody know why this is/can tell me reasons for this?
P.S. is my rule wrong? I thought of motorcycles/bicycles, but I figure different rules apply for modes of transportation that don't have "cabins."
Just some extra info:
My linguist friend sent me a link to a pretty cool talk back radio show about the English language called "A Way With Words" -- somebody had recently asked about in a car vs. on a train: http://www.waywordradio.org/in-a-car-on-a-train/
Their consensus is the same as mine (they called it "freedom of movement, or embedded as a unit" [consider the freedom of movement on a train, lol not at rush hour I guess, vs. embedded as a unit like being in a canoe]) however, what @Jonah mentioned about private vs. public buses really does make a lot of sense.
P.P.S I would recommend subscribing to A Way With Words if you are learning English, a lover of English, or just want to learn more about it! I've listened to one episode so far and it's quite interesting, not as dry as I imagined a radio show like that would be.  About the hosts: Martha is an author, and Grant is a lexicographer and dictionary editor.


texts:
[21 v] He isn’t [enough of a scholar]. (CGEL, p.534-5)
In construction [v], scholar is not head of the whole NP but part of the of phrase complement, and for this reason it must follow enough.

They are, it seems, saying ‘enough’ is a noun, but I’ve not yet found the proper nominal meaning of ‘enough.’ Is ‘enough’ a noun there? What does it mean in [21 v]?


texts:
I am confused about the following two sentences:

  'She drunk lots of beer'

or

  'She has drunk lots of beer'

In the Present Perfect Tense, which sentence is correct?


texts: Kickin' your can all over the place - meaning

texts:
From the Queen song "We Will Rock You". Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/queen/wewillrockyou.html

  Buddy you're a boy make a big noise
  Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day
  You got mud on yo' face
  You big disgrace
  Kickin' your can all over the place

What does that mean?


texts:
1)Playing basketball for UConn is her favorite fantasy.

  2)To play basketball for UConn is her favorite fantasy.

Are both sentences correct? If yes, what is the difference in meaning between them?


texts:
Some people have argued that, though the presence of evil in the world
is clearly not a good thing in itself, it is justified because it can
lead to greater moral goodness. Without poverty and disease, for
instance, Mother Teresa’s great moral goodness in helping the needy
would not have been possible. Without war, torture, and cruelty, no
saints or heroes could exist. Evil allows the supposedly greater good
of this kind of triumph over human suffering.

Philosophy: The basics
The construction of the bolded sentence is complex for me to understand. Could you explain it to me?


texts: Many a teacher and many a student has/have

texts:
Many a teacher and many a student has attended the lecture.
  Many a teacher and many a student have attended the lecture.

Which one is correct? And why?


texts: Is " VOA Learning English" a proper noun？

texts:
From VOA Learning English, welcome to The Making of a Nation,
  our weekly program about American history for people learning English.
  I’m Steve Ember.

Is "VOA Learning English" a proper noun? Is "Learning English" a compound noun? How to parse "VOA + a compound noun" ?

Is it possible to be understood "From VOA Learning English" as : Learning English from VOA?


texts: I don't know how to feel about it/I don't know what to feel about it

texts:
So, since there's a military coup going on in Turkey right now, a few of my friends have taken to Facebook to share how they feel about the whole thing.
And, one of them put up a status that reads:

  There's a military coup right NOW at Turkey. 80 more people were killed
  in France.

  I don't even know how to feel about this anymore.

And I was wondering, should it not be "I don't even know what to feel about this anymore'?

Because, usually I hear people say "I don't know what to feel"..
So, am I right? Or is How always okay in similar contexts?


texts:
What structure is correct:

  1) Voluntarily tutoring a group of struggling high-school students Chemistry and Biology

or

  2) Voluntarily tutoring Chemistry and Biology a group of struggling high-school students.

I have a feeling that the first one is right, yet I'd like to hear you opinion.


texts:
I am going to make up an example with the verb, to entangle.

(ex) Mr. Brown encourages his students to apply their math skills in multiple ways. The students who solve math problems by different methods have excellent analytical skills and earn high marks. In contrast, those who are too entangled in only one problem-solving strategy lack strong reasoning skills.

Here, I want to express the fact that such students get caught or stuck all the time in one problem-solving method. Does the verb fit the context? Thanks a lot.


texts:
What does late mean in this sentence?

  Late in the winter of my seventeenth year...


texts:
Which of the following expressions is more correct or exposes a better English structure or grammar?

My blood pressure is low/high.

I suffer from/have low/high blood pressure?

After some Googling I found both of them but I couldn't find out which of them is better or more correct grammatically.


texts:
Which of these examples is correct?
As she prepares for her transfer to a new academy to pursue her formation
or
As she prepares to transfer to a new academy to pursue her formation


texts: Zero Article of Countable Noun (e.g. government)

texts:
I would like to know when I can omit "the" for a countable noun.

  I've come to realized once again how many accomplishments we can make when businesses and government work together.

Here, government is a general government, so the group of people I guess.

But in dictionaries, government is a countable noun when it means " the group of people who govern a country or state", and when used as an uncountable noun, it means a system or a process of governing (Longman, for which I don't believe I am looking for in this sentence.

When can I omit the/a for a countable noun?

*I would like to ask for opinions of native English speakers.


texts: Can I speak of fighting for a discussion where no insult, or swearing is involved?

texts:
Can I speak of fighting for a discussion where nobody is swearing, saying insults, or using violence?

Imagine two people (A and B) are talking, and A asks B what she meant when she said something. As result, B reminds A what he said in a different, unrelated situation, and A says he said that because something else B said before.

I would rather say it is a discussion, or a debate. I noticed that an American friend of mine would tend to use fighting for such cases.

Is fighting the right word? Can the word be used when two people are exchanging instant messages with each other?


texts: Is the following sentence correct -- "This brings to an end of the topic of inheritance in C++"?

texts:
Is the following sentence correct?

  This brings to an end of the topic of inheritance in C++.


texts: A locative complement before the direct object - is 'Do not park here your motorbike' correct?

texts:
I was walking with a friend and we saw a sign that said

  Do not park here your motorbike. Thank you.

To me, it looks incorrect, and I think the correct sentence should be

  Do not park your motorbike here. Thank you.

My friend insisted that the order of the words could be changed, though, and that the first sentence is correct.

Are both sentences correct?


texts: How to interprete a vector which "pointed down the middle of the data"?

texts:
In this tutorial (line three) it is hard for me to interpret what "point down the middle of the data" means. I know from the tutorial the mentioned vector (doted line in the following plot) is the one of which the slope is positive (the red arrow points to). Intuitively the line "point down" (from the left to the right) is the other vector (doted line whose slope is negative in the plot).

Have I made a mistake?


texts: Is it the same to say "he wears a suit to work everyday" and "he wears a suit everyday to work"?or is there a rule for that?


texts:
What is the difference between "near the lake" and "by the lake", meaning-wise?

Just never seen "by the" form in texts before.


texts: A word 'features' is a noun in this sentence?

texts:
I was reading a paper in computer science and found a sentence that I wonder how this sentence is constructed.

  This suggests that our locations are of such quality that features with higher discriminative power than is normally found in Bag-of-Words are now required.

I wonder how the sentence is formed.

I think in the first 'that' clause, S='our locations', V='are', C='of such quality'. But not sure what is the second 'that' and what is the subject of final 'are'. Could anyone show me the structure of this sentence?

It's hard to ask English question in English.. Thanks

For example:

  This suggests (that our locations are of such quality)
  that features with higher discriminative power than {(which) is normally found in BoF} are now required


texts: something that I will/do not want to buy

texts:
I think I will never see an eastern carpet that I will not want to buy.

I think I will never see an eastern carpet that I do not want to buy.

Do the bold parts both refer to the future in (1) and (2)? In other words, do (1) and (2) mean the same thing?


texts: Is "considered" always followed by "as"?

texts:
I have the following idea:

  The reconstruction of object models is performed using a graph
  matching approach, which is considered a corner fixing dilemma.
  The reconstruction of object models is performed using a graph
  matching approach, which is considered as a corner fixing
  dilemma.

Which way is correct?


texts: Do we say "lift your left leg off the floor" when you just actually fold the shin and make it parallel to the ground?

texts:
Ok, look at the picture, there are 2 movements

The first movement, the person seems to lift his leg off the floor, the knee goes forward and the thigh & the shin form a triangle.

The second movement, the thigh is kept fixed & the shin is folded & make itself parallel to the ground.

How do we express the 2nd movement in English?


texts: What is a canvas tent that is used for emergency/survival called in English?

texts:
Is there something like 'canvas tent' (translation for Polish 'płachta namiotowa' suggested by Google Translate), or this has some other name?

This is what I mean:

It's not a tent, it can be considered outside part of small tent, but is used mostly as emergence (because it's very light, compared to ten) and by survivalists.

How is something like that called? The search 'canvas tent' returns the pictures of tents in Google, so I think this thing has some other name...


texts: "This is not necessarily so" sentence meaning

texts:
You might think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so.

I understand the second sentence as having two meanings:

You don't need to think like this
Thinking you will never be a top student is definitely not true.

Which of these is the correct/better interpretation?


texts:
In my text book I saw the sentence: If a request is made to a web service, then the response will be returned within 5 seconds or the service is under DoS attack.
I cannot understand the usage of or in this sentence. Is it an exclusive or meaning that if the response will be returned within 5 seconds then there is no possibility of a DoS attack? Or does it just mean that if no response will be returned in 5 seconds, the service is under DoS attack. I will appreciate any help on understanding this sentence.


texts:
What is the difference between had been operative and had been operated.
Example :

the machines had been operative at the premises.

the machines had been operated at the premises.

Would it be possible for both phrases to be used interchangeably to indicate that the machine was once used at the premises.


texts:
I lie in the bed feeling sorry for myself and start to feel guilty. I could have been nicer to Ellie. I never even kissed her goodbye. Michael never kissed me goodbye either but then again, he doesn't love and he doesn't care about me.

Source: Catherine Barry: "The Twenty-Eights Day". In Irish Girls About Town, 2004, p. 45.

I would like to ask for the explanation for the usage of the word "never" in that sentence. The context is as follows: The sentece is comment of the narrator of one short story on one particular event that occured some hours in the past. Just one morning she did not kiss her child goodbye. The word "never" indicats after all the present perfect which in this case would mean that she has never kissed her child goodbye.

P. S. There could be raised an objection that this is an duplicate of a question that was resolved here: Should I always use the perfect present, when the sentence uses "never"?. But I do not think so. I understand the usage of "never" in a sentence like this: "I lived in Europe in the 90s, but the entire time I never visited Italy". I think that my sentence – given the context – tells that the narrator did not kiss her daughter goodbye just in one particular morning. And that is the reason why she feels ashamed. So this behaviour was an exception from the rule. Normally – when she does not suffer from the mental instability – she kissed her goodbye. Just exactly from this reason I am puzzled by the usage of "never" in that sentence.


texts:
I came across the word "[b]ilingual" when reading this online article from Medical News Today.com.

Prof. Marian explains in the paper that "[b]ilinguals' ability to
seamlessly switch between two distinct communication systems masks the
considerable control exerted at the neural level."

This is my first time to see that way of using "[]" brackets like "[b]ilingual", and I wonder what it means or how you use it. Could you explain it?


texts: R-Ariz. -- what does this shorthand stand for?

texts:
Example with a context:

  Another hated ‘pindos’ is Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), famous in Russia for his periodic tweets to ‘Dear Vlad.’ In 2011, for example, Mr. McCain tweeted Putin, “Dear Vlad, The #ArabSpring is coming to a neighborhood near you.”

I can't really figure that one out, though something tells me that this might stand for something like representative of Arizona. Am I on the right track with my assumption?


texts: I read “An assistant to a powerful man” and I was wondering if that’s the correct way to say it because I thought it would be better “an assistant of a powerful man”. Am I wrong? When should be used “to” and not “of”?


texts:
The following is from The Chronicles of Narnia(The Magician's Nephew)by C. S. Lewis.

  They stared very hard at one another, trying to remember. And then, at
  exactly the same moment, she shouted out “Mr. Ketterley” and he
  shouted out “Uncle Andrew,” and they knew who they were and began to
  remember the whole story. After a few minutes of hard talking they
  had got it straight.

I can't figure out the definition of 'hard' here. 'Intense' or 'factual' seems close, but I am just guessing. Does 'hard talking' have different meanings in different situations?


texts: Is a comma necessary after these speech tags?

texts:
'Hello,' said Peter, with a smile on his face.

  'Hello,' replied John, as he closed the book.

Are the commas after "Peter" and "John" correct? Are there differences between British and American rules in this regard?


texts: How to write a sentence that contains two verbs, and these occur at the same time or one after another?

texts:
"It's not much," Travis said. Shane held out the box; I tentatively
  looked inside. There was a baby pig looking me right in the eye.

  The idea for the pig must have come from a day at the county fair a
  few weeks earlier. Travis had noticed me hanging over the pigpen
  railing. He'd tipped his hat and ambled over in his high-heeled,
  pointy boots. "How dee do, Miss Diana?" he'd asked. My students said
  things like that all the time.

  "Hi, Travis. I love these piggies," I'd gushed, straining to touch
  one. "Don't you?"

  He'd turned crimson and touched his hat again." Yes, ma'am," he'd
  said. "My cousin Shane raises them."

  So they had decided to give me one. As I looked at her, I think my
  heart slowed down. I reached in; she sniffed my fingertips, then
  began to nose against the side of my hand.

The sentences stated above have been recited from the following link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/2004/07/11/the-goddess-of-flowers/f0ca69bf-fb03-47e2-bd6a-460073fbdf52/

1) "I'd gushed, straining to touch one"- here, I think, 'straining' and 'gushed' occurred at the same time. First, I thought 'strain' occurred first, then 'gush'. Sometimes, this type of sentence creates difficulty to understand. Because, there are many types of works; two of these can be done at the same time, and these works also can be done one after another. To express these two different cases, -ing is added with one verb without preceding any auxiliary verb before it, another verb is written with its regular form (i, e another verb may be written with its past form, or auxiliary verb is placed before it).  Is this rule applicable for both two cases? Please, discuss where that type of construction is allowed and where it is not.

I want to discuss more about my question to make it clear. In  "I'd gushed, straining to touch one"- did "staring" happen before "gushed"? Or these two works occured at the same time? If these two works occured at the same time, how to write a sentence in a stylistic way when one occurs after another, or vice versa?


texts: Did you change your shirt vs Have you change your shirt

texts:
I told my son we are leaving in ten minutes and asked him to get dressed.

After ten minutes, I ask him:

  A: "Did you change your shirt?"

  B: "Did you get dressed?"

  C: "Have you change your shirt?"

I am a bit confuse the use of did and have.

In the context above, I am going to ask him is he already change the shirt.

Which is the correct question?


texts: Wondering what the phrase " guide overall corporate agenda" mean in following context

texts:
Lachlan Murdoch, who has been serving as a director at News Corp and 21st Century Fox, will work closely with senior management to develop global strategies and guide the overall corporate agenda, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

source:
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSBREA2P0JQ20140326?irpc=932

My intuition is that it means: to help all problems related to the corporation be solved.  Based on my perception, the word "agenda" has to do with "problems"  ... the word " overall" just means "all"!


texts: not as adjective as to change comparative adjective

texts:
This computer holds less information than that.

If I change this sentence into "not as adjective as",

  That computer does not hold as little information as this.

Is this sentence grammatical or not?


texts:
Which phrase is more grammatically correct?

  1) I have been playing cricket for last 2 years.

Or

  2) I have played cricket for last 2 years.


texts:
I know that saying:

(A) I am here since six o’clock. or (B) I was here since six o’clock.

would sound unidiomatic because of using "since" and its requisite tense which is present perfect. For example:

(C) - I have been here since six o’clock.

But I came across another sentence somewhere in a textbook which caused me to doubt. Is it possible to say:

(D) - I had been there since six o’clock.

If yes, what's the semantic difference between "C" and "D", and when should I use each one?


texts:
Nobody but him was present.
  Nobody but he was present.

Which usage is correct?

I'm having tough time finding out which case of noun/pronoun should I use in a sentence. I know that I/He/She are nominative case while Me/Him/Her are in the objective case.

My thought process goes like this. In the above example:

I see the verb "present".
I search for the doer of the action. Here it is he/him.
I declare he/him should come in nominative case as it is the subject. Therefore, it should come in nominative case (he).

But the correct answer is "him" in a book without giving explanation. Kindly help me solve this nominative/objective case.


texts: a/the symbiosys between academic and non-academic components. which article?

texts:
I want to write the following sentence:

I have always believed in the wholesome nature of a/the symbiosis between academic and non-academic spheres of life.

I don't know which article to use. I read the following article on Cambridge dictionary blog, but it doesn't say anything that I didn't already know: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/determiners/a-an-and-the


texts: Avoids "to speak", or "speaking", to me?

texts:
Another baffling change/that I notice in him now-a-days/is that he avoids to speak to me.

In this sentence the error is said to be "to speak" is wrong and "speaking" will be used. I am not sure with which grammatical rule speaking should come.


texts:
I own lots of DVD's.

I own lots of DVDs

I own lots of DVD.

How can I properly indicate the plural for acronyms in English?


texts:
Sentence 1: I don’t know if it won't rain tomorrow.

Sentnece 2: I don’t know whether it won't rain tomorrow.

Which sentence sound natural to you?
Is there a rule that we should use "if" rather than "whether" when the object clause is negative?

Thank you very much!


texts:
In an AP photo, I found the following sentence.
A boy eats a freshly pounded rice cake.
I'd like to know the usage of simple present tense in this sentence. Thanks a lot.


texts: What's the difference between "Try not to blink" and "Try to do not blink"

texts:
I recently heard:

  Try not to blink.

However I knew the following form:

  Try to do not blink.

Is one of them wrong? What is the difference ?


texts: "At least I thought" vs "or at least I thought" vs "or I thought"

texts:
Which phrase is more common in sentences like these:

  I knew the man—at least I thought I did.

  I knew the man—or at least I thought I did.

  I knew the man—or I thought I did.

Or maybe they are equaly common and their meaning is pretty much the same?


texts:
Example with a context (Forget Tanks. Russia’s Ruble Is Conquering Eastern Ukraine):

  “The increasing use of the ruble is yet another sign Russia’s going to keep de facto sovereignty over the territory it and the separatists control,” said Cliff Kupchan, Eurasia Group chairman in New York. “If the sides implement the latest truce, which is unlikely, perhaps both the hryvnia and the ruble will be used. If not, it will be all ruble.”

Why do you think there is not any kind of article in front of ruble? Why not say it will be all the ruble?


texts:
When you use the word "space"(outer space in the universe), it seems that no definite article goes with the word. However, I wonder if that is really how it is, there is no occasion you would ever use the article "the"?

  We entered into space.
  What planet haven't we explored yet in this vast space?
  (Later on, back on Earth) I will never forget the space I went in....

Is "the" possible for the word space in that context?


texts:
Some quantities of the materials listed below have been revised.
Some of the material's quantities listed below have been revised.

Which is correct: "some quantities of the materials" or "some of the material's quantities"?


texts: Throw someone (to / in / into) [prison / jail / etc.]

texts:
I was wondering which preposition is the correct one with the words like "prison", "jail", "detention center" or "slammer"?
Example:

They finally caught him and threw him......prison / jail.
a. to
b. in
c. into

He was arrested and was thrown..........detention center.
a. to
b. in
c. into

I am quite sure that "in" and "into" work with them all, but regarding "to" I still have my doubts. However, I think the best answer for both examples is "in".
Please correct me if I am mistaken.
Thank you.


texts: How I despised "she" who would rend this family

texts:
How awful for us to have to see this horrid girl. I wanted to leap at her and take her nose in my teeth and twist! How I hated this young girl who attacked my Denny with her unre-strained sexuality and then blamed him for the attack. How I despised she who would rend this family because of her own agenda. A woman scorned, indeed! Kate Hepburn would smash her with a single blow and laugh while doing it. How my anger burned. (Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain)

For my knowledge, when transitive verbs take their complements, the latter need to be object form of pronouns. So I wonder why there is she instead of her? Is it a new way of speaking?


texts:
"Hang it! take 'em hack to the ship!"

What does 'hack' mean in this sentence? I can't find the right meaning of 'hack' in my dictionary. In addition, What does 'hang it' mean?


texts: What is the meaning of "just" in "I've just eaten a burrito"?

texts:
I've just eaten a burrito.

Would this be correctly interpreted as

"I've recently eaten a burrito"

"I've only eaten a burrito"

Or are both valid readings of the sentence?
Why?
In case it isn't obvious, I'm aware of both meanings being valid for just.  But does one take precedence over the other here, and if so, what governs this?
An example in context (given by @JamesWebster):

"What have you eaten?"
"I've just eaten a burrito"


texts:
Mail means the official system used for sending and delivering letters, packages, etc.

In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionaries, the definition of Official are

1.[only before noun] connected with the job of somebody who is in a position of authority

2.[usually before noun] agreed to, said, done, etc. by somebody who is in a position of authority

3.[only before noun] that is told to the public but may not be true

4.[only before noun] formal and attended by people in authority

Which one is suitable for this sentence?


texts: Can I use the prefix "Non-" instead of other negative prefixes?

texts:
Would there be any difference?
For instance,

  I don't want to talk about non-important issues. (unimportant)
  He is a very non-active/non-sexual person.  (inactive) (asexual)
  This is a non-logical assumption.  (illogical)


texts:
I have the following:

  Sometimes it's hard to tell one twin from another.

I've already looked up in doferent resources, but I'm still not sure about it's meaning.

I don't know whether it is "to distinguish one from another" or "tell both the first and the second twin". Translator says it's the second option whereas I found information confirming the first meaning.


texts: Common way of describing the fact that one topic overlaps with another one

texts:
What's the most common way of describing the fact that the subject matter being talked is overlapping with some other area?

Precisely, what would you say below instead of "bridging on"?

  -- Why didn't Jack agree to pave this road with asphalt last Friday?

  -- It's a complicated matter bridging on Jack's religious views. Firstly, he can't stand the smell of warm asphalt as it brings back
  his memories of the negative experience he once had at a construction
  site when one of his classmates got stuck in warm asphalt and almost
  died. Another reason is because he considers Friday to be a holy day
  reserved only for prayer and fasting, but not for work.


texts:
As I understand, single (sometimes) means one. For example, single pair of shoes or single parameter an so on. My question is can I use "a" with "single". For example,

This shows only a single type of correlation.

Is that correct? if not, then, why?

Thank you in advance for your help.


texts: How to use "gold" as an adjective of colour

texts:
which one is correct or more natural: "the cake is purple and gold" or "the cake is purple and golden", and "a gold cake" or "a golden cake" still speaking of its colour?
Thank you all.


texts: Is this sentence correct "Chemicals are washed away by rain and flood get mixed with water"?

texts:
My book has this form for this sentence Chemicals are washed away by rain and flood, getting mixed with water. and also Chemicals are washed away by rain and flood, to get mixed with water. But I wrote Chemicals are washed away by rain and flood get mixed with water. It will be very helpful if someone explain why one is incorrect and the others are correct.

This is a text book sentence which has When rain and flood wash away chemicals, it gets mixed with water.(make is simple)


texts:
a. I don't believe he's able to open any safe.

  b. I don't believe he can open any safe.

Don't (a) and (b) have two meanings?

First meaning: I don't believe he's able to open just any safe.

Second meaning: I don't believe he's able to open a single safe.

  c. He is unable to open any safe.

  d. He can't open any safe.

Don't (c) and (d) have two meanings?

First meaning:  He can't open just any safe. He can only open some of them.

Second meaning: He can open no safe.


texts:
In the movie, The Theory of Everything, Jane's mother suggests that, she should consider joining the church choir. In reply, Jane chuckles and replies, "I think that's possibly the most
English thing anyone has ever said".

What exactly is an "English thing"?


texts: Why do we need "Off" after verbs (not phrasal)?

texts:
Sometimes I read a verb (or adverb) and I get the complete meaning yet I find "Off" (or some other prepositions) follows the verb or adverb.

For example, In the following sentences why do we need an "Off"? what does "off" add to the meaning?

  I will shave my beard off. (shave was enough)

  Wendy drank half the bottle straight off. (straight was enough)

  Treatment should start off with attention to die. (start was enough)

  They ended the meal off with coffee and liquids. (ended was enough)

  He will drop me off near the station. (drop was enough)

I need the the meaning of "off" here so as to be able to always use  "off" in similar situations.
Thanks all


texts: What does "You are too generous to trifle with me." mean?

texts:
I was wondering what does these particular words mean

  You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.

Full Conversation : here

These lines were in the novel "Pride and Prejudice" in chapter 58, it was said by a man called "Darcy" who wanted to know if "Elizabeth" a good looking girl, loves him or not.

I got the meaning of trifle which is

  treat without seriousness or respect.

and I also got the meaning of word generous

  showing a readiness to give more of something, especially money, than is strictly necessary or expected.

Unfortunately I couldn't link the two words together to know what does this quote mean, so can anybody help me?


texts: Should I use "a" or "the" in the following case?

texts:
The man gave me a slow bow and ambled away, revealing a/the woman who'd been standing behind him.

Should it be "a" or "the" and why?

Both sound kind of okay for me.

"revealing a woman who'd" returns 1 Google result. Using "the" returns none.


texts: Position of Preposition in correct way in sentence

texts:
I have called a Mechanic for repairing my washing machine at 15 USD per day.
I have called a Mechanic at 15 USD per day for repairing my Washing Machine.
can someone explain the difference of above sentences?


texts:
I know "in the morning" is correct and "in morning" is not.
But why are "in the summer" and "in summer" both correct? How do you know when to use an article or not?
Can someone explain this?


texts:
What is the sports hall in schools called in English?
I've translated from my language and the translation is "sport venue", but the according to the picture on Wikipedia I suspect that it is not what I'm looking for.

I'm looking for the name of the sports hall in schools, such as in the following picture:


texts: How to express my sold items are diverse?

texts:
In Czech, I would say there is a varied offer, would that be correct? What about diverse, various, miscellaneous, multifarious?

Also, I didn't find any synonyms to offer in the business sense. Are there any?

  Example: The more varied the offer is, the harder it is to target a single target group in your marketing.


texts: A comparison between "Creep", "Crawl" and "slither"

texts:
We have three too similar words: Creep, Crawl, Slither. These three words have very tiny and slight nuances. Based on dictionaries, one cannot recognize which ones can be used for the nouns: "snake" "snail" or or "lizard" or "soldier / child". I cannot recognize which verb can be used for which noun!

As far as I know, the creatures that have legs crawl and the animals that are legless can either slither or creep. So:

For instance:

  A lizard / soldier / a child can only crawl on the ground.
  A snake and a snail can only slither.

Does my understanding work in English logic? If not, please correct me and explain me how I am mistaken?


texts: "The Fox defendants do not get a do-over with their (new) reporting now that --> because they have been sued.”?

texts:
Currently reading this article, there is a line, saying,

The election technology company Smartmatic pushed back Monday against Fox News’ argument that it had covered the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election responsibly, stating that Fox anchors had played along as guests pushed election-related conspiracy theories.

“The First Amendment does not provide the Fox defendants a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Smartmatic’s lawyer, J. Erik Connolly, wrote in a brief filed in New York state Supreme Court. “The Fox defendants do not get a do-over with their reporting now that they have been sued.”

Actually, I am sorry I don't understand the meaning of the bold part.
Since Merriam provides with the meaning of the word "do-over" as following,

Definition of do-over
: a new attempt or opportunity to do something after a previous attempt has been unsuccessful or unsatisfactory

The bold part should be,

“The Fox defendants do not get a do-over with their reporting now that they have been sued.”

--->

"The Fox defendants do not get a do-over with their (new) reporting now because they have been sued.”?

Then I kind of understand. What is your answer? Thank you in advance(m_m).


texts:
'A bill is "an amount of money owed for goods supplied or services rendered, set out in a printed or written statement of charges", while an invoice is "a list of goods sent or services provided, with a statement of the sum due for these"; the NOAD reports also that invoice means bill.'

Aren't these two definitions saying the same thing? When do we invoice someone and not bill them, and when do we bill them but not invoice them?


texts:
Boss: I'm going to fire him. (him=Will)
Employee: You can't do that!
Boss turns to the group of employees.
Boss: Who said that?!
Employee: I did. You can't do it. Will doesn't deserve this.
Hi. I wrote this. I was told that the boss' second line of dialog is wrong and that it should be Who said so?! instead. Is that really so?


texts: I want to know the difference of feeling between where and . There

texts:
The following two sentences used different expressions. 'where' and '. There'.
I want to know the difference of feeling between them.

He emigrated to New York City where he started a small trucking business.
He emigrated to New York City. There he started a small trucking business.

Thank you for your reply.


texts: In what circumstances should it be preferable to use for when it has the same meaning as because?


texts:
I have sent an email to my client yesterday which starts with this

  10 of 15 items we discussed yesterday are resolved and the 5 are in progress.

For some reason I feel an email should not start with number (I think I have been told to avoid very long ago). I wrote emails which starts with number without using 'of' something like 'Ten items have been resolved yesterday'.

So I changed it to this.

  Out of 15; which we discussed yesterday, 10 are resolved and the 5 are in progress

But again, I was not confident of punctuation, so I sent the first one. Can some one please help me correct this if its wrong?


texts: A question about usage of articles in a specific sentence

texts:
I am not sure what article to use in the following sentence:

  Dear IT support, within your IT product I am using a / the  part "GERMANY" and within it a / the module "HAMBURG" and having the following problem...

On the one hand the part and the module are mentioned for the first time so "a" should be appropriate, on the other hand I am talking about a specific part and module, so "the" also does not seem to be that bad. Names of the part and module ("GERMANY","HAMBURG") are explicitly mentioned, which brings me to an idea that probably no article is needed at all.


texts:
When I use the structure so that, must I always use the modals can / could / won't / wouldn't? Check the numbers 2, 4 below.

  1) I wore warm clothes so that I wouldn't be cold.

  2*) I wore warm clothes so that I am/was not cold.

  3) Please arrive early so that we can start our meeting on time.

  4*) Please arrive early so that we start our meeting on time.


texts: What does "I never stopped to think of it" mean?

texts:
I saw what I thought was a double negative in this sentence from Norwegian Wood

I never stopped to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression.

The double negative in this sentence really confuses me. I interpret it as "I'm keeping to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression", but I feel like it should be interpreted as "I didn't think of it as something that would make a lasting impression until recently.", but I don't know how it can be interpreted in grammar to the latter version.
The first negative is, of course, ‘never’ - and I thought ‘stopped’ is the second negation. This is how I was thinking about it:

I never think → I haven't thought
I stopped to think → I didn't think

So

I never stopped to think → I was and still am thinking

And now I am confusing myself.


texts: "The President was/is to address the gathering."

texts:
What is the difference between the following sentences

The President was to address the gathering.

The President is to address the gathering.


texts:
a hot spicy Mexican dish made with meat, beans and chillies
I am wondering if the italic part could mean:
a mixture of both a hot and spicy dish
Therefore, the dish would be at the same time not only spicy, hot,as well.
Updated: Is there ant difference between the two?
a hot spicy food
a spicy hot food
But, when we say a hot food, it mean the food is just temperature hot. Am I right?
In addition, I cannot get what these mean:
is saying is that "hot spicy" is clarifying that "hot" in this use is spicy, not temperature... I'm not sure how else to explain it. A cold dish (like a salsa) could still be explained to be "hot spicy"... it does not mean the dish is both temperature hot and spicy at the same time.
enter link description here


texts:
I texted one of my friends following:

  Your transaction got canceled.

He replied saying that it should have been get canceled.

So what is the correct form? If my version was wrong, please let me know how such sentences should be written.


texts:
What is the "Flying Y Ranch" in the following paragraph?

  One day in California, I drove to the end of the box canyon I lived in, took a wooden footbridge over a stream, and climbed through a stand of second-growth redwoods and up a slope lined with blackberry bushes onto Mount Tamalpais, my sacred mountain. Up the steep railroad-tie steps to Cowboy Rock I sweated and panted, my buttocks and lungs burning, up past the county water tank and the dozen rich houses built where the Flying Y Ranch used to be.

This is in this book.


texts: What does “hangs a cloud of thoughts…” mean?

texts:
I want to know what this sentence means; particularly the part that says "hangs a cloud of thoughts":

  About what goes on today hangs a cloud of thoughts concerning similar
  things undergone in bygone days.
  The Middle Works of John Dewey

It is difficult for me to understand this sentence. It was used on an exam.


texts:
A teachbook says that 'be going to' is the substitute for modal verb 'will'. Example:

  When I was going to school, I was preoccupied with good grades.

What tense did use the first clause, and why? Because 'will' produces future tense, but I saw past continuous.


texts: What does the “…speculation a very conservative business” mean?

texts:
Advertising has flourished under these new conditions. It has multiplied in volume, in prestige and respect. The perils have increased many fold. Just because the gamble has become a science, the speculation a very conservative business.

Source: Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins
He is saying that the volume and respect of advertising has increased, and the gamble has become a science. But I do not understand the last part of that sentence or perils have increased many fold.


texts: I don't understand the structure of this sentence, especially the do and however?

texts:
Only when your mental energy is needed elsewhere and you are caught
  off guard, however, do these emotions and feelings emerge.

Why should the "do" be placed ahead of the clause?

Could anyone please give me some hints?


texts: "I will no longer use these tools any more." Is this sentence correct? if not why?

texts:
Would you please elaborate your explanations on the reason why the following would be incorrect?

  I will no longer use these tools any more

Thanks in advance


texts:
Between the students in the class which is the best?

Is the above sentence correct grammatically? (My book says it is)

I presume we are using 'Between' instead of 'Among' although the question involves more than 2 people, as the comparison is between only two at each instance (Or am I wrong?)

But can 'which' be used here instead of 'who'?


texts: "Think of somebody" or "think somebody as" or "think of somebody as"

texts:
I think of you a good person
  I think you as a good person
  I think of you as a good person

Which one is correct?


texts: I don't understand this structure of the sentence

texts:
As committed as he is to improving the quality of education in urban school,

I don't understand why the word used is improving, not improve (root verb)


texts: Is there a name for this type of food (matambre arrollado) in English?

texts:
Matambre arrollado is a type of meat filled with bacon, eggs, carrots, green peas, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, pepper, parsley, chili pepper.
Does this type of food have a name in English?


texts:
I need help in passive of this sentence

  Spain expected to win the world cup

My answer was

  The world cup was expected to be won by Spain

but the book's answer is

  it was expected by Spain to win the World cup

Why " to win" is not changed in passive in the book?


texts: Meaning of a stanza of Stevie Wonder's song

texts:
I've listened to the song "They Won't Go When I Go" of Stevie Wonder

and I'm not sure that I understood the first stanza.

I'd like to ensure that I understood it properly. Then this is the original stanza:

  No more lying friends

  Wanting tragic ends

  Though they do pretend

  They won't go when I go

And this is my interpretation for this:

  No more lying friends = there is no more friends who are liars.

  Wanting tragic ends = these liars want tragic ends (because the lie)

  Though they do pretend

  They won't go when I go


texts:
I would like to ask about repeating the preposition in this sentence
"he focused on learning the poems by heart not (on) how to write poetry."

Is it necessary to use the preposition with the bracket or can we omit it?

Thank you.


texts:
We usually use the past participle to indicate passive.

Why the rule doesn’t apply to “control”

The Source

  This suggests that mind control by the media should be particularly effective when the media users do not realize...

  Why isn’t it like: ........mind controlled by the media....


texts: 'Our calendar is based... or was based'?

texts:
Our calendar is based on Julius Caesar's calendar.

  Our calendar was based on Julius Caesar's calendar.

Which is correct "is" or "was"?


texts: Inside or Interior, which is better to describe a hollow space inside something.

texts:
The inside/interior of that box is partitioned into three spaces.

I think native English speakers may say that "the inside/interior" is unnecessary, but I want to emphasize that the inside/interior is partitioned.


texts: What is the difference between "start by doing something", "start off by doing something" and "start out by doing something"?

texts:
What is the difference between start by doing something, start off by doing something and start out by doing something? For example:

Let's start the lesson by taking a roll call.
Let's start off the lesson by taking a roll call.
Let's start out the lesson by taking a roll call.


texts: Is the phrase "ranging from" a noun or an adjective?

texts:
I have seen many present participles, some act as a noun, e.g. Reading is fun, and some act as an adjective, e.g. Look at the reading boy.

However, I am not sure whether it is a noun or an adjective in the sentence e.g. Here are dog breeds ranging from $300 to $15000.


texts:
Here the word of know has the meaning of "recognize":

I couldn't see who was speaking, but I knew the voice.
She knows a bargain when she sees one.

But I think the bold know here is static and cannot be replaced with recognize.
I guess know here could be replaced with be able to recognize. Am I right?


texts: correct usage of clauses referring to subject and object

texts:
I have a doubt on my construction. Here is my original idea. i have written it in 2 sentences.

  Outer bounds are fixed using method A. Method A leads to a closed
  polygon having preserved their symmetries.

if i combine them,

  Outer bounds are fixed using method A which leads to a closed polygon
  having preserved their symmetries.

My first question is does this full sentence is correct?

As far as I know, i think this Which refers to method A, not the Outer bounds. that is to the object.

Let me take another example,

  She is my wife. She is sitting on the corner.

So, I think if i combine them, it would be like

  She is my wife who is sitting on the corner.

So i think this who refers to the she, i.e. subject

So, my second question is either subject or object, the clause like which, that can be used just after the first sentence? If I ask it another way, I want to know the place where I should put which, who or that etc. Does it goes to same place whether it refers subject or object?
Any rule for that like SUBJECT+OBJECT+WHICH+...


texts: Is it natural to say "You must be very hungry, mustn't you"?

texts:
I feel this statement "you must be very hungry" seems to be very suitable for being used in a tag question.
To be honest, I feel very uncomfortable if I can't use that statement in a tag question.
It seems like that statement was born to be used in a tag question.
However, according to my research, question tags such as "mustn't he/you/we..." are very rare.
So, How do we form this statement "you must be very hungry" into a question tag?
For example, "You must be very hungry, mustn't you" but it sound unnatural.


texts:
I wish everyone was beautiful in this world. And nobody would have been ugly like me.

I have a doubt concerning the second sentence.

And nobody would be ugly like me.

And nobody would have been ugly like me.

Can anyone suggest to me which one is grammatically correct?


texts:
Now we present the main result, that is (that is to say), the achievable region...

Could you please tell me if it's obigatory to put a comma after "that is" ( and "that is to say") or we can skip it?


texts: Does a tourist guide make a welcome speech or talk? Which one is proper?

texts:
A tourist guide makes a welcome talk to a tourist group on the coach.
A tourist guide makes a welcome speech to a tourist group on the coach.
Which one is proper, a welcome talk or a welcome speech?


texts:
Should I use them when I only have the verb to be and when it is referring to the subject?
For example, I know that I shouldn't use him here

1 but it's he who's trying to capitalize on this.

but I heard a native speaker say:

2 but it's them who are trying to capitalize on this.


texts:
Scenario

I sent my person to our client's site but the client's office  was closed. Two days later he called me to enquire about the visit.

Which tense should I use. Past perfect or simple past? Why?

E.g.

  I sent my person to your office but it was closed

Or should I use past perfect

  I had sent my person to your office but it was closed


texts: Is the correct word "when" or "since" or both?

texts:
"I love you now more than at the time we got married"

is the sentence correct?

  "I love you now more than at the time since we got married"

what about this one?

Is there any difference in the meaning?


texts:
Please critique my sentences below.

This code is specifically for this type of production.

This code is specific for this type of production.

I feel like option 2 is correct. Please provide some feedback on when to use each word.
Thanks!


texts: Should I say "laundry poles on the veranda" or "laundry poles in the veranda"?

texts:
Example sentence:

  She was hanging my clothes on the laundry poles on/in the veranda.

By veranda and laundry poles, I mean something like this:

(Note: for some reason veranda is synoynm with balcony in some Asian countries like Japan.)


texts: "It may have been her brother" Why do we use IT instead of HE?

texts:
I read the following in English Grammar in Use book (app):

  Who was the man we saw with Anna yesterday?

  I don't know. It may have been her brother.

Why do they use "it" instead of "he"?

Generally, when do we use "it" instead of "he" or "she"?

Update:

So, Does It use here as an empty (dummy) subject, or as pronoun of unidentified person?


texts: Does this pronunciation of "consent form" sound strange?

texts:
Does this sound wrong or just a different way of saying
"consent form"? Almost like a dialect of some sort?

https://soundcloud.com/sunshine-sunflower-ken


texts:
As I know, have been is present perfect sentence. But when I want to tell which of somewhere experience of mine, I know, I have to use 'to' at this present perfect sentence.
but someone is use 'on' but I don't know what is this for usage.
For example, I have been on this project 4 years ago.
As I know, the on is also used in trip as verb.

so please let me know when do I use 'on' in present perfect sentence.
If you don't mind , let me know what else options?


texts:
I was watching the new movie of Jim Carrey named Dumb and Dumber 2 when I heard some dialogue which I didn't understand. In the following text, what is the meaning of B?

A: "Well, nice catching up."
B: "Not if I see you first."


texts: We report something or report on / about something?

texts:
Does the verb 'report' needs a preposition in the following context?  I have many choices and I'm not sure what's natural.

  I found there an error and I want to report them on / about it.

  I found there an error and I want to report on (or about)  it to them.

  I found there an error and I want to report it to them.


texts: interested to do vs interested in doing something

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

(A) You are interested to learn accounting.

(B) You are interested in learning accounting.

I have two questions.

(1) If you want to learn how to do accounting, does (B) work?

(2) When do you say (B)?

I don't know the difference between "interested to do" and "interested in doing"?


texts: Can "Become" perfectly substitute for "get" in this context?

texts:
Below is an explanation about internship versus apprenticeship.
I would like to ask if become can be also used perfectly there instead of get in bold. I know there are several posts in ELL covering become vs get, but I really wonder about this specific context.

  On the other hand, an internship is for undergraduate students where
  they learn specific skills and work experience required in a
  particular field or job, which may or may not be paid. People get
  puzzled when they are asked to distinguish the two, but the fact is
  that there exists a fine line of difference between apprenticeship and
  internship.


texts: "Stand up in a train" or "stand up on a train"?

texts:
Is there any difference in meaning between the following sentences?

  I have been standing up in the train a few hours.

  I have standing up on the train a few hours.

Not a long time ago, I thought that the second sentence was the only correct, but then I saw in being used in the context in a textbook. If there is no difference, which one is more common. And by the way, do I have to use stand up in the context. Could I just say

  I have been standing on/in the train a few hours?


texts: customer or passenger: man traveling in a taxi

texts:
What do natives in the UK and USA call a person who catches a taxi?
Is that a customer?
OR
Is that a passenger?
Please note that he is  getting services and here is the definition of 'customer:
a person or an organization that buys goods or services from a shop or business
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/customer?q=customer


texts: I saw a nightmare, dreamed a nightmare or something else?

texts:
Which one is the correct one?
And if there is more than one answer, when to use each?


texts: Noun Clause in Apposition of Adjective Clause?

texts:
In Nesfield's Outline of English Grammar (the McMillan Press Ltd, London and Basingstoke, 1978) he identifies the noun clause in the following sentence:
The rumor that he is sick is false.
I see no reason why "that he is sick" is a noun clause in apposition (as Nesfield says it is) and not an adjective clause modifying "rumor."  What am I failing to see in this example?


texts:
When forming a conditional clause with "if", when should I choose "if I am", instead of "if I were" or  "if I was"?

I think was is never correct, but may be acceptable for informal use.

I'm writing a song lyric:

  If, after life, I satisfy myself for feeling more alive,

  will I still feel alive as if I'm breathing?"

Am I correct for choosing "as if I am"? Would "as if I were breathing" be better?


texts:
I quoted the following sentence from the guardian newspaper.

  With a fumbled start that many will hope does not herald more serious voting irregularities to come, residents of Dixville delivered four votes for Hillary Clinton, two for Trump, one for libertarian Gary Johnson and a quirky write-in for the 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

I have 2 questions.

[ 1 ] What does a "fumbled start" mean? As we following the link, we can see a picture in which a man is about to cast a vote in US presidential election. Why did the article depict him as a "fumbled start"?

[ 2] What is the subject of the verb "herald"? Is the subject "that" (in "that many will hope")? If it is the case, What does "that" refer to?


texts: Why does e in edition and eleven have difference sounds?

texts:
edition  ɪˈdɪʃn̩

  eleven  ɪˈlevn̩

Edition, I hear this e sounds like a as in (a pen).

Eleven, e sounds like short e.


texts: Is there a difference between "revoke" and "revocate"?

texts: I'm trying to find a verb that would correspond to noun "revocation", and it seems logical to me that I should use "revocate". However, in many editors this word is highlighted by the spell checker, and I wonder if it is used at all. Should I use "revoke" instead? Is there any difference between these two words?


texts: Sentence correction: Both his parents and his teacher do not believe that the boy lied

texts:
From my textbook:

  Both his parents and his teacher do not believe that the boy lied.

The answer to this question is

  Neither his parents nor his teacher believes that the boy lied.

I have no trouble understanding the second sentence, but I don't know why the first sentence is incorrect.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Is it correct to describe someone who generally tells lies as lying?

texts:
Could you tell me if it's correct and natural to describe someone who generally, not at the moment, as lying. For example:

I wouldn't believe the man. He is lying.

If it isn't correct, how would you describe someone who tends to lie? I would like to know nound and adjectives.


texts: What does "at stake" mean in this emboldened sentence?

texts:
For the past two weeks Chinese and American negotiators have been locked in talks in Beijing and Washington to end their trade conflict before the deadline of March 1st......Don't be distracted by mind-numbing details on soybean imports and car-joint ventures. At stake is one of the 21st century's most consequential issues: the trajectory of China's $ 14trn economy.

Added from OP's comment:

I know the basic meanings of "at stake", but I find it difficult to decide which best fits in the context. I thinking both "under discussion" and "in the process of being determined as a positive or negative outcome" make sense. But translators from "The Economist" magazine decided on "what matters most". I'm confused...


texts: What does "from connected to" exactly mean?

texts:
From connected to cloud, this scanner series is easy to setup and
  integrate with any environment.

It seems something is omitted here. Does it mean "this scanner series which is connected to cloud" or "this scanner series which has a function to connect to cloud"?


texts: What does this clause explain: the subject or the preceding object?

texts:
I am trying to shorten the following sentence:

  When the mirror is rotating at a large angle, the mirror reflects the light away from the lenses.

into:

  The mirror diverges the light from the lenses when rotating at large angle.

Does the new sentence have the same meaning ? My concern is: does the clause 'rotating' explain the mirror or would it inadvertently refer to the lenses ?


texts:
In a scenario I came across a sentence and tried to translated it to English. I am interested to know which one of the similar verbs listed below work here properly?

I wouldn’t............being in the loving embrace of the family over anything.

  a) trade

  b) exchange

  c) change

For me, excepting the last one the first two sound the same and natural, but what a native speaker would think.


texts: English description of a bought bottle with strange words

texts:
I bought a special bottle to keep my drinkable yogurt in a safe place.

There is a section in the product description saying:

  Do not use detergent containing bieach or abradant and any other rough
  material to clean this product.

I understood what they wanted to say, because we have similar words, in Italian, but i tried to search on the internet and it looks like in english they don't exist at all except for abradant which appears in some minor translators but not in the most famous

I would like to understand if there is something missing.

Abradant is something abrasive as i understood but bieach?


texts: Can I paraphrase "none" into "no one" in this context?

texts:
Mio had no money, and Pat also had none.

Can I paraphrase that into this?

  Mio had no money, and Pat also had no one.


texts: Is "look upon them for inspiration" correct?

texts:
The title says it all, but I am repeating it here. Here is the sentence.

  I looked upon them for inspiration.

Is this grammatically correct ? Is there a better alternative ?


texts: Is "Did you return ALL" a grammartically correct sentece?

texts:
I would like to ask a question regarding the use of all. I found the following sentence over Duolingo French cource:

  Est-ce que tu as tout rendu ?

The translation is the following:

  Did you return everything?

While I know the translation is better, my answer Did you return all? got rejected. Now I wonder if it is a correct English or just that Duolingo fails to add it.

At least the following is fine:

  Did you return it all?

But how about the case of all as an independent noun?


texts:
This site says:

  We also use the definite article:

  • to say something about all the things referred to by a noun:

  The wolf is not really a dangerous animal (= Wolves are not really
  dangerous animals)

  The kangaroo is found only in Australia (= Kangaroos are found only in
  Australia)

  The heart pumps blood around the body. (= Hearts pump blood around
  bodies)

My question is that

In its basic sense, "the" refers to things that are specific.

For example, I don't like the bird (we are talking about that specific bird - the one that I know)

However, "The" is also used to refer to "all things in general".

For example, The bird can sing.

So, when I say "I don't like the bird", do I mean "I don't like birds  in general"?

"The" is very ambiguous, in this case.

So, When shouldn't we use "the" to refer to "all the things" in general?


texts: Why can't we say: "a person getting crossed"?

texts:
You say to another "get dressed" (1. You say this when someone asks you what you are doing? "I am getting dressed.")

But in the same way, why can't we say "get crossed" (crossing a street)?

Edit: Sorry,  but this question is about: a person getting crossed vs. a person getting dressed.


texts: "James will [...] implore the big man to *make* every part of his 7-foot-1, 275-pound frame *felt* by the opposition."

texts:
But the lighthearted interplay often devolves during games. [LeBron] James will
  shout at Mozgov for a failed defensive assignment, criticize him when
  a play isn’t executed properly, implore the big man to make every part
  of his 7-foot-1, 275-pound frame felt by the opposition.

I want to know if this sentence uses proper grammar. I've checked the grammar of "make" in a combination of the subject+verb and subject+past participle. But, according to my dictionary, we can use only "understood" and "heard" as the past participle in that grammatical construction.

So, can we use felt? And does the sentence mean "LeBron want him to overawe opposition player?"

Additional information that is not part of the question:
Nice to meet you. It's my first post on this website. I'm Japanese and and a beginner at English.


texts: How else can I convey the following: sorry for repeating myself?

texts: I wonder what else (that sounds more natural to a native ear) I can say about being sorry for repeating myself. Can anyone help?


texts:
You can never be in this forest but some evil power will overpower your senses.

I found this but it doesn't make much sense grammatically.
How can I dissect this?


texts: Best way of saying that your sobriety came back up by a little?

texts:
"His level of sobriety rose up a little bit."
Sounds weird, because of level, I think we can remove it.
"His sobriety came back up a little bit."
I can't find any similar phrasing, so I am wondering how a native would say this.


texts:
Is this sentence well-formed English with or without "to be"?

  A shipment of books just arrived, but I think our order (to be) mixed up with someone else's.

Where you can keep the bracketed "to be" or leave it out, says the writer of this sentence.

FYI, this sentence has been given as a correct example sentence to illustrate the usage of the verb "think" in this site.


texts:
That's a misunderstanding.

Why do you say "a misunderstanding", instead of that's misunderstanding?

Why do  you need an article for this gerund?


texts:
Is he the prime minister?
a. Yes. He has been for the last ten years.
b. Yes, He has been so for the last ten years.
I think response (a) is grammatical and response (b) is not. It seems to me that "so" cannot be used with a noun (prime minister).
Am I correct?


texts: If you have more than one adjective to describe a noun, is there is a specific order you put them?

texts:
According to an answer in Quora to the question: What are the most frustrating grammatical errors you see online? there is a specific way to position adjectives based in their type, how accurate is this?

  Ordering of Adjectives#3: Ordering of Adjectives

  If you have more than one adjective to describe a noun, there is a
  specific order you put them in, or else the clause will sound very
  awkward.

  That order is:
  Opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose-noun.

  The most common example of this is "the lovely little old rectangular
  green French silver whittling knife."

  If you put any of those adjectives out of order, the phrase will sound
  extremely confusing

How confusing will sound to mix that order? I mean, would it just sound a little like a non-native speaker or it will mess the sentence meaning completely?

Doing a little research on the subject it seems that there is not even a consensus for the right order, so I wonder how important is this or under what conditions it may change (American English has the same order of Brithis English?, etc).

Example Order 1:

Example Order 2:


texts: "You have a sick balance of..." or "You have sick balance of..." - which is correct?

texts:
I work in payroll dept and received a query in a email that some XYZ wanted to know his/her sick balance.

Now, in response I am confused between two sentences:

  You have a sick balance of 10 hours.

or

  You have sick balance of 10 hours.

2nd one seems right to me, but not sure.

Could someone please explain this to me?


texts: Is "I know >how many< evils the world is riddled with" exclamative?

texts:
I now know how many evils the world is riddled with.

Is this like,
How many evils the world is riddled with!

namely, an exclamation sentence?


texts: Word for coming to a conclusion due to a pattern of events

texts:
I'm looking for a word that refers to something like "concluding that the same thing/event will happen again, and will continue to result in the same without fail, due to similar circumstances that happened in previous events; following a pattern of similar situations as basis, in which another case that is similar to the previous ones, you'll be able to draw a conclusion to what will be the most likely outcome of this present event."

Ex.
Event 1: There is a co-operated cultural festival between several different school. During the 2nd day of the cultural festival, the clouds are dark and it begins to rain.

Event 2: 1 year after that, on the same 2nd day of the cultural festival, clouds become dark and it rains.

Events 3-99: Every year, during the same 2nd day of the cultural festival, clouds turn dark and rain soon follow. This weather phenomenon occurs every year WITHOUT FAIL, and it become sort pf a tradition to celebrate the rain.

Event 100: There is a freshman that wondered why everyone brought umbrellas today, even though the clouds aren't dark, hinting no sign of rain. Note that it is the 2nd day of the cultural festival. His senior says that it will rain today, drawing his conclusion from the pattern of past events, even though today the clouds aren't dark. Soon enough, a strong torrent of rain falls from the sky, all while the warm sunlight is shining down on them.

Note: THERE IS AN EXACT WORD FOR THIS. I know it because I had just recently googled the word not long ago. I just forgot the word. Don't tell me to look it up in the web history, I often browse in incognito mode to free myself from cache data.


texts: Wondering what the phrases " vast arcs" and " could do no better" mean . From reuters

texts:
That has led them to focus on hijacking or sabotage, but they have not ruled out technical problems. Faint electronic "pings" detected by a commercial satellite suggested it flew for another six hours or so, but could do no better than place its final signal on one of two vast arcs.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSBREA2701720140323?irpc=932


texts:
According to this,
In-Into
One of the usages of into is ,

We use into after verbs describing change

Then it would seem "reincarnate into" would be more appropiate than "reincarnate in", however, both usages can be found being used (correctly or incorrectly) in internet
Reincarnate in
Reincarnate into
Reincarnate in vs reincarnate into, which one is correct? Can both be used?


texts: 'lose your money' or 'lose money for you'

texts:
I ran into this sentence,

  With your average win rate, The game will consistently lose money for you.

I wonder why 'lose money for you' is used here instead of 'lose your money'.


texts:
My class position is three

or

  My class position is third

In my view, the first one seems to me natural and grammatically correct. Am I right?


texts: What is a word meaning "with a low possibility"?

texts:
A simplified example:

— Do you think you can come?
— Yeah, unless (word here) I have a visitor.

"not very likely" seems like a solution, but is there any other shorter word/phrase to use?
One of my clients asked me if I was okay to meet with him on the coming Monday morning at 10am.
But I was expecting my mother's visit. She had told me she would visit me either on Monday or Tuesday, but most likely on Tuesday. So, this event was NOT unexpected, but rather what I was not quite sure of its possibility other than it’s low. And so words like “unexpectedly”, “possibly”, “by some miracle” don't fit.
A fuller example:

10am on Monday is fine with me, unless (with a low possibility) my mother visits me, in which case I would have to ask you to reschedule our meeting.


texts: “got me feeling” or “gives me” , which one seems grammatically correct?

texts: when a picture gives you 2016 vibes, how do you say it in a sentence? Is it accurate to say “This picture got me feeling 2016 vibes” , or any other way to say this sentence?


texts: How professional is this to begin a paragraph?

texts:
I am speaking about my fourth paragraph, in which I want to say about opponents' point of view, how natural and professional does it seem for you to start my fourth paragraph like this:

  As opposed to the above ideas, opponents say that ... .

and also, what is the more professional alternative of "It is agreed that"?
Thank you in advance


texts: what does usage between raise and increase?

texts:
I want to write a sentence like of the following.
I don't have idea what is more prefer word between raise and increase.
What does usage increase and raise?

When the day raised my salary was my happiest day one of my life.
When the day increased my salary was my happiest day one of my life.
When they raised my salary was happiest day.
When they increased my salary was happiest day.


texts: what does *appropriately distributed* mean in the following sentence?

texts:
what does "appropriately distributed" mean in the following sentence? what does it refer to? (emphasis added)

  Where public agencies or community
  bodies have the administrative capacities, contractual arrangements
  that set fees can help deliver quality services, appropriately distributed.

Hear is the whole paragraph:

  Competition from private schools and health providers is an important
  spur to competition, and the main source of growth in supply for lower-income
  groups is access to privately supplied services, with some assistance
  from vouchers and targeted subsidies. Where public agencies or community
  bodies have the administrative capacities, contractual arrangements
  that set fees can help deliver quality services, appropriately distributed.

Development Economics through the Decades: A Critical Look at 30 Years of the World Development Report, Shahid Yusuf, page 38.


texts:
What is the difference between them in this phrase? And Which one is not correct or are they both correct?

  These things happen. We are all human.

  These things happen. We are all people.


texts:
Today my daughter and I were listening to directions in a children's course where the speaker said something like "[in the] student book"; I was not really sure about "in the" part. My daughter said the meaning of which "this is wrong! He should have said: ... the student's book". I didn't know what to say but this is okay.

I heard both but the problem is I don't know if there's any rule or it's arbitrary! This question was in mind long time ago but it's now or never.

By the way, what I am sure about is that the student's book has this phrase on the front cover "Student Book". So it's not plural just in case you might say what the speaker actually says is "in the students' book". It's a possibility but I really doubt it. It's very unlikely especially when I hear both "... the student book" and "... the student's book"

Could anyone enlighten me please?

Update:

Interested people could read this article: Happy "Veterans' Day," "Veteran's Day," or "Veterans Day"? Possessives vs. Attributive Nouns

Or this: Possessive Forms


texts: Difference in meaning between "I provide her with a TV" and "I provide her a TV"?

texts:
What is the exact difference in meaning between "I provide her with  a TV" and "I provide her a TV" ?
Does "I provide her with a TV" mean "I own a TV. And I give her my own tv." ?
Does "I provide her a TV" mean "I do not own a TV. Nevertheless, I give her a tv in any way." ?
What does "with" mean in the sentence?
If we don't use with in the sentence, is there a difference in nuance?


texts: A usage of the construction "much of the + noun"

texts:
Here is the sentence.

  The President took a drubbing from much of the press, which had breathlessly reported that a deal was in the bag.

I don't know the exact meaning of the phrase "much of the press".

I guess maybe the President had too much pressure from the press, so they're making him weak.

So I refer to a dictionary and found the closest usage is:

  If you do not see much of someone, you do not see them very often.

  e.g. I don't see much of Tony nowadays...

But it seems not to match the context well.
Could you tell me the usage of "much of the.."?


texts: Definition for an outer cycle in formal English

texts:
When defining a thing based on the mathematical perspective, I am using the following construction:

  This cycle can be defined as Outer Cycle: The closed path between two
  vertices whose starting and ending vertices are the same and (the path) running along the vertices where they are located most outer edges of the original graph.

How could this be modified avoiding unnecessary things while making clear idear to reader.

For example, my outer cycle looks like red cycle in figure below.


texts: Is Irene Adler in the Sherlock Holmes series pronounced eye-REEN or eye-REE-nee?

texts:
For some years I thought that, over in England, any woman with that name was always eye-REE-nee (like the second principle character of the Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy), and never eye-REEN.

Now I'm watching this super-popular Sherlock series (my friends made me; it ain't my fault; I don't watch TV) ... you know the one I mean, with what's his name, and I'm beginning to have doubts.

I looked it up. Turns out, both versions are in use in Britain. Check this out: How to pronounce Irene Adler

Is Miss Adler eye-REEN or eye-REE-nee? Do please enlighten me.


texts: What's more stronger in meaning of "not interesting","dull" or "boring"?

texts:
In everyday spoken language, what's more stronger in meaning of "not interesting", is it "dull" or "boring"?

According to Oxford dictionary:

dull: Lacking interest or excitement.

boring: Not interesting; tedious.

N.b. can I say about a show, person, lecture, even, teacher etc, that they are dull?

Based on that, they seem to be the same or synonyms (I don't really remember when I heard dull in such context. What I used to hear is the dull as a synonym of sharp.)


texts: "Y, inclusive of X" vs. "Y, including X" vs. "Y, X included"

texts:
Is there any difference between the following sentences:

Paper submissions must be no more than six pages in length, inclusive of figures and references.
Paper submissions must be no more than six pages in length, including figures and references.
Paper submissions must be no more than six pages in length, figures and references included.

?

More generally, is there any difference between “Y, inclusive of X”, “Y, including X” and “Y, X included”?


texts: Correct usage of IF condition with various tenses

texts:
Which one would be the correct form for this context?
This situation is a Hypothetical and takes place in future.

  He would be killed when he arrives in London.

  OR

  He would be killed when he arrived in London.


texts:
Do both constructions mean the same? And is the first one grammatically correct?

  What is the difference of x compared to y

  What is the difference between x and y


texts:
What's more sounds naturally in the following scenario?

A very good  friend call me and I saw his unanswered call after 2 hours. Then I want to explain him that I saw his call two hours later. The options are:

I Just saw your call
Just now I saw your call
Only now I saw your call

Is there any a difference or it's just a matter of style?


texts: Is 10/9 ever used to mean "9 out of 10"?

texts:
"9 out of 10" is mainly shortened as 9/10 in English as far as I know.
In my native language (Hungarian) 10/9 is also used, although it is not as common nowadays as 9/10. Probably because the translation of "9 out of 10" in Hungarian is "10-ből 9", notice the change in the order.

Is 10/9 used in English (even if rarely) as well, and if yes then what is the reason behind it in English?


texts: 'Is need, should be, have to' which is better approach?

texts:
I have sentence like this:

  ...set some edge cases where component will throw an error.

and I'm not sure which of these ones is better:

There should be...
There have to be...
There is need to...

I want to say something like "It would be great and very highly recommended but not necessary to do".

Which approach would be more suited?


texts: “Bring that one by in a couple of days” What does “by” here mean?

texts:
Conversation:

  Librarian employee: I see you've got some books there. Is that the one you were asked to return?

  Student: No, I left it in my dorm room. These are books I need to check out today. Is it OK if I bring that one by in couple of days?

  Librarian employee: Actually, you need to return it today. That is if you want to check out those books today. That's our policy.

  Student: Oh, I didn't know that.

What does "by" here mean?

There seems no idiom like "bring by," so I don't really know how to understand what this preposition "by" here means.


texts: "to drive around" implies who is driving the vehicle?

texts:
In the sentence "I drive the car", I am controlling the car. If I am not driving, I could say, for instance, "I ride the car".

edit: I meant "I ride in the car"

Could "to drive around in" mean both or necessarily just one of them? Examples:

I am driving around in my car (I am driving)
My mother drives around in (the?) bus every day (Does she drive?)


texts: Also (in the sense of too) could but be put at the beginning of a sentence before the subject?

texts:
In a formal (IT) report, a sentence like:

  ... the feeding leans temporary on the XYZ. Also the engine output,
  the ABC, is sent to the XYZ.

is correct?


texts: " is being a big flaw " or " is a big flaw"?

texts:
Could some one please explain?

What is the difference between following sentence constructions?

  Interior water leaking is being a big flaw.

and

  Interior water leaking is a big flaw.

what is the grammar used here?


texts: The difference between "reduce", "lower", and "decrease"

texts: Is there any difference between the three verbs "decrease", "lower", and "reduce"? All three can be used in both transitive and intransitive forms. Are these just synonyms or are there some cases that you must use one over the others?


texts: What does the phrase "peer down" mean here?

texts:
Please help me figure out the meaning of the phrase "peer down" in the following sentence:

You peer down on a grassy field of play, and drag three of the same thing closer together.

For more context, it's about a game app. Here is another excerpt from the same source:

Then pop! They merge into one, more valuable, item. And the more you smoosh things together, the bigger and grander the items get....So after starting out with little weeds and shrubs, you’ll merge your way up to flowers that yield yellow hearts (which can also be merged to ‘heal’ greyed out areas you can’t merge in).

Thank you for your time.


texts:
Please read the following sentences:

  Thank God, I have got the real time information about flood.
  The software provides real-time data.

Can I interchange these sentences with real-time and real time respectively?

Also, is it fact that 'real-time' word is only used for computers?

I want to know about this.

Thank You in advance.


texts: Which word is opposite to "warm-up" in sports? I mean slow running, gentle exercise after hard work to accelerate recovery processes.


texts:
What does "swat" mean in a football (soccer) context?

Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten honeymoon continues as Chelsea confidently swat Everton aside at Stamford Bridge.


texts:
The verb 'resist' means

  withstand the action or effect of.

Now, I want to convey that a person (suppose "he") has a tendency to be on top always, like he always wants to be the best among the lot. I want to express this using resist. So which of the following is correct :

He can't resist being the best among all.
He can't resist not being the best among all.

The confusion is that according to me, the first one is like "He has an addiction to be the best, so he has to be the best"; whereas the second one is like "He cannot stand the fact that he is not the best."
So which one of the two is correct?


texts:
I recently heard the phrase "The matches were contesting" after a game in which both teams fought equally well. Then others started pointing that the phrase is grammatically incorrect.
I'm wondering, who was right in that case.
And if the phrase was incorrect, then what would be a correct way of putting a similar statement?


texts: present perfect with "for": For almost a century, researchers have argued over this question

texts:
How do the meanings of the following sentences differ:

For almost a century, researchers have argued over this question.
For almost a century, researchers have been arguing over this question.

I understand that the present perfect continuous tense emphasizes that the action is continuing while the present perfect tense do the result. What baffles me is the use of latter with "for almost a century", which seems to go with the former better, right?

Thanks in advance!


texts: I want to tell you something about me / myself

texts:
What is the difference between the following sentences?( It sounds like both are ok)

  I want to tell you something about me.

  I want to tell you something about myself.

Sometimes apparently it is possible to say

  It is about me, not you.

or

  Tell me about yourself. (in a interview)

but we cannot replace with one another in the examples above.

I'd like to ask what the rule is here?


texts: What should I say what you are doing or what are you doing to make a statement or declaration?

texts:
What should I say "what you are doing" or "what are you doing" to a statement or declaration?

Let's say I'm on Facebook and I want to post something like "comment what you are doing". Is it correct or should I post "comment what are you doing"?


texts: ask about the relationship (connection) between two organizations

texts:
Assume I don't know the relationship between Alphabet Inc. and Google Inc. I don't even know if there is some relationship between them. How do I ask about the relationship between them?

Is there a relationship between A and B.
Are there any relationships between A and B.
Are there some relationships between A and B.
Do A and B have a relationship?
Do A and B have any relationships?
Do A and B have some relationships?
Does A have a relationship with B?
Does A have any relationships with B?
Does A have some relationships with B?


texts: Instead of (date) or instead of on (date)

texts:
A meeting was held on 23/8/17 instead of on 13/08/17

Should there be instead of on or only instead of ?


texts:
I'm sure that from among the following sentences, the first sound natural to natives, but the question is that whereas 'being sorry' and 'being afraid' are the same, then whether 'afraid' is usable in the following ways as numbers 3 and 4 or not?

  I’m sorry for being absent last session; I was on a trip.
  I’m sorry that I was absent last session; I was on a trip.
  I’m afraid for being absent last session; I was on a trip.
  I’m afraid that I was absent last session; I was on a trip.


texts: How to express mandatory internship to enroll to Psychologists Association

texts:
I have to say that I am doing an internship that is mandatory in order to be a certified psychologist, that means being a member of the Psychologists Association. Therefore what is the best way to express concisely this concept?

"a mandatory internship to enroll in the Psychologists Association"
"Psychologists Association mandatory internship"
"internship prerequisite to be a certified psychologist"
or what wlse?

I edited the post to address some comments:
- It is for a resume.
- the connection is that certified psycologists (the ones that can work as psycologists) are the one in the Psychologists Association. the association request as mandatory an internship of at least one year and then a final exam in order to be part of it


texts:
Is there any difference between sleep and doze off?
I have always used dozed off to imply that I slept unintentionally or lightly like for example

  The lecture was so boring that I dozed off in the class.
  I missed my stop as I dozed off in the bus.

Is this how we use "doze off"? Can someone please clarify?


texts: Does "That {thing / one} I don't know" sound natural?

texts:
I know that some people use this when they want to say that they have no idea about that particular thing. But the thing is that, in my case none of them are native English speakers. So I thought it's worth to ask if natives use That thing I don't know. Though, indeed, it sounds OK and some natives even use "That I don't know" in the same context.

Also, what about That one I don't know? Sounds like native English to my non-native ears :)

That one I don't know.
That thing I don't know.

Not (really) sure about that (one). I don't (really) know about that. Can't say about that (one) - are among those I've heard from natives.

...a helpful reference I found on this. Still I think the question is valid.
Should I say "I don't know" or "That I don't know"?


texts: Grammatically , when can we use "you is" instead of "you are"?

texts:
Can we say "you is" instead of "you are"?

For example;

  "You is smart"


texts: "fully stuffed with cash" or "stuffed full of cash."

texts:
While I was checking the meaning of stuff I found this two examples below.

  An old teapot stuffed full of cash.

and

  The wallet was stuffed full of pictures, letters, keepsakes and prayer
  cards.

But I've learned that they should be "stuffed with".

Could someone please analyze the two mentioned examples?


texts: Is the emphatic pronoun (itself) felicitous and grammatically used?

texts:
"Stay there itself, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Is the emphatic pronoun (itself) in the above structure felicitous and grammatically used?
If not, what other word would be appropriate there?

Context: My friend was waiting for me in the play-ground. He called me and asked to come to the play-ground and that was how I replied.


texts: A single-word verb for "cause to loop/repeat"

texts:
I am looking for a (preferably single-word) verb that means "cause to loop/repeat". I will use it in a very technical context, so I don't really have a proper example to give.

So far, I have been using the verb "wind", as in winding an old clock. I am not sure if it actually has such a meaning, though. It seemed similar enough, but I don't feel so comfortable with it now.

Per request, here's an example:

  The robot A winds the robot B by asking it to fetch a jar of air from outside the window, repeatedly.

  The robot A winds the robot B by asking it to do the following: Fetch a jar of air from outside the window, repeatedly.

This is not the exact way I will be using it but it is very close. The exact use case is with the Turing Machines, and appears after 7 pages of preliminary definitions and examples in my document.

Second edit: I changed the example, the previous one was ambiguous and got interpreted differently than I had intended.

Edit 2.1: To make it crystal clear, I am looking for a verb that makes the robot A in the example do its thing that I called "winding" only once, and then the robot B should respond to that by doing a specific action repeatedly and forever.


texts: In tense can I mix past with present in same sentence to show permanence of past?

texts:
Is this correct use of tense?

  "I observed that there are three baseline user cases..."

Or should the tense match? Such as this example,

  "I observed that there were three baseline user cases..."

To me it seems logical to use past tense that I observed and the present tense for the content of the observation since these observations are still valid and will be valid forever.


texts: What is the difference between using can or could in this sentence?

texts:
Everything is fine right now. Things couldn’t be better.
Everything is fine right now. Things can't be better.
What would be the meaning if we replaced could with can here?


texts: please help me to choose correct meanining of "bank" in "I bank it in"

texts:
The text is:

  I covered for Ashley at dinner, even though I didn't know where she was. Later, when Sam and I were shooting baskets outside, I said, "You think Ashley and I can camp out over at the Morris farm Thursday? We have Friday off from school." His shot clunked off the rim, giving me an easy basket. I banked it in and turned to him. "Supposed to be warm".

In the dictionary there is 3 meaning of "bank" and I don't know which to choose for that case.


texts:
Ok, according to my study

We can only use "can" & "may" to give permission in present

Eg: I can / may wear jeans at work.= I have the permission to wear jeans at work.

I am not sure if I can say "I could wear jeans at work" to express the same meaning.

However, we can use "Can", "May" & "Could" to ask for permission.

Eg: Can / may / could I wear jeans at work?

But if someone asks "could I wear jeans at work?" & we answer "Yes, you could", then it breaks the law that we can not use "could" to give permission

Can we say "Yes, you could" when someone asks "Could I wear jeans at work?"?


texts: What is the opposite of "to fall in love"? I mean two people fall in love but in a year they stop loving each other.


texts: "a leader able to solve humanity's shared issues" - is "able" right word?

texts:
Is it possible to say this?

  This undergradute program would teach me to become a leader able to solve humanity's shared issues.


texts:
I am learning the concept of complete sentence. An ELL post (Is "It is" a complete sentence?) says

  A complete sentence must contain at least one main clause that contains an independent subject and a finite verb and has a complete meaning.

which uses a term independent subject, what does that mean?

I searched on ELL and got only one hit, namely, that post itself.

I also searched on google, no luck.

So, what is an independent subject?

Note: I am aware of the concept of subject, I just don't know the term independent subject.


texts:
I would like to describe a process that is done gradually/incrementally, i.e., things do not change all at once - they change slowly.

In particular, I would like to describe a land reform in which lands are taken from the wealthy and given to the poor, but this is not done all at once, rather it is done gradually/incrementally.

What is the correct term to use? "Gradual"? "Incremental"? Something else?


texts: I decided to go whole hog and  or  her a pistol

texts:
I think I have spotted a grammar mistake in a novel.

  I decided to go whole-hog and bought her a pistol and holster like mine, also.

Source:Gold Fever
By William Post
Gold Fever

Is and bought grammatically correct in the sentence above.

Here's what I think: The decided to applies to both infinitives, to go and to buy. Therefore, there's no need for the verb buy to be in the past unless we insert a comma before and to indicate a different course of action.

Which one(s) is/are correct? If they are all correct, is there a difference of meaning?

a.    I decided to go whole hog and buy her a pistol and holster like mine, also.

b.   I decided to go whole hog [,] and bought her a pistol and holster like mine, also.

c.    I decided to go whole hog and bought her a pistol and holster like mine, also. (no comma)

d.   I decided to go whole hog and to buy her a pistol and holster like mine, also.


texts: Take medicine, commerce (opt for/choose)

texts:
We use "take" with individual subjects, to mean that the person "takes classes in that particular subject ". But in College,  can it be used to describe the "major" chosen, like "medicine" or "commerce"?

Like:

  I took Commerce in College.

  I took Medicine in College.

Does it mean "I studied Medicine in College " or "I chose Medicine in College"? Is the use of "take" common this way in AmE?