texts: Can I use a dash to avoid repetition of verbs and whole segments?

texts:
I have a sentence similar to this one that I am working on:

A survey showed that 75% of the respondents used both mobile and
desktop applications, 20% used only mobile applications, and 5%
used only desktop applications.

I know that there is something to be done with the repeated "only" and "applications", but my questions is: can I somehow use ellipsis / dashes to omit the verb altogether without having to use synonyms?
I mean I could write, "used... preferred... chose...", but I am more interested in a "grammar approach" here. My native language is Russian, and in Russian you can just use a dash to omit the repeated part:

A survey showed that 75% of the respondents used both mobile and
desktop applications, 20% — only mobile applications, and 5% —
only desktop applications.

So far, I have found some quiz questions about Emily Dickinson using dashes to avoid repetition, but it seems like this is an exception.


texts:
What is the correct sentence?

  Nucleus is cell organelle

or

  Nucleus is organelle cell?

The context is:

  Nucleus is cell organelle the place where DNA is found (into the chromosomes)


texts:
People say:

  I was walking down the road.

  My friend wanted to run down the village.

  The batsman moved down the pitch.

The phrase down the place means towards decreasing length of that path. However, the length of the path should not always be decreasing when we are running or walking on it. Then why use this phrase only?


texts: Use of definite article when refering to unique fictional things

texts:
I read a lot of explanations about the uses of the definite article, but it sort of made me more confused instead of clarifying about what I had in mind:

In a given story which takes place in a fictional world, there is a place called Sky Shrine. In that world there’s no other shrine in the sky, or another place with the same name to consider. What would be correct to say: “I’m going to Sky Shrine” or “I’m going to the Sky Shrine”?

And (the root of my doubt), considering the given context, if I would name the chapter or the whole story with this place’s name, what would fit better: “Sky Shrine” or “The Sky Shrine”, or is it a style choice? Would be “The Sky Shrine” incorrect?

What would be the difference if Animal Farm by George Orwell was called The Animal Farm instead?


texts: What does this phrase mean? "Trust me to"

texts:
Trust me to open my mouth, now everybody knows Trust me, now I've let
  you down

(Squeeze - Trust Me To Open My Mouth Lyrics)

I have found this phrase

  "trust me to get haunted by the flakiest ghost in the world",

but I cannot understand its meaning and I googled it and found the song by Squeeze. Do they have the same meaning?

Thank you for help!


texts: In software development context, is "hanging task" or "hung task" a good term for a process that isn't making progress?

texts:
At the first glance it seems to me like it is. I think I have heard it being used in this context. Google lists this as one of the meanings of the word "hang".
But then I googled "hung" and came across this page at dictionary.com which says that it's something vulgar.
So, is it okay to use? Is there a better word?


texts: What should be used here? "don't" or "won't"?

texts:
The song anything could happen by Ellie Goulding has these lyrics:

  cover your eyes so you don't know the secret

https://genius.com/amp/Ellie-goulding-anything-could-happen-lyrics

shouldn't it be won't instead of don't?


texts:
A: How are you?
B: I'm good. How about you? I heard (about) what happened. I'm sorry.
Context: A has lost his father, which B has been told from someone else.
Would it be more natural to include "about" or leave it out in this context?


texts: I think "idiot" and "dummy" have the same meaning and they both mean someone stupid. But I came across this sentence, "I might be an idiot, but I'm no dummy." and now I'm wondering what's the difference between these two words in a sentence like this.


texts: "Testing complete" vs "Testing is completed"

texts:
Consider these two ways of saying something:

Testing complete.
Testing is completed.

This is just an example. I want to understand any differences between the two constructions “ᴠᴇʀʙɪɴɢ ᴀᴅᴊᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ” versus “ᴠᴇʀʙɪɴɢ ᴠᴇʀʙꜱ ᴠᴇʀʙᴇᴅ” in the present tense.

Anyone, please explain to me whether these phrases have any differences or not? Do they mean the same thing? Are they interchangeable? Where would you use one and where the other?


texts: Is there an expression to say that an idea has no firm foundation?

texts:
I'm looking for an expression to say that an idea has no firm foundation, that is, the premises aren't quite right enough. Also, it would be good to know the contrary as well, an expression to express an idea that is one hundred per cent right.
I would use the expression in a sentence like this:

Socrates didn't expound ideas that don't have a firm foundation. Socrates's ideas always have a firm foundation.


texts: what does ”a shake of my whiskers” mean in this context？

texts: "Because of another prophecy," said Mr Beaver. "Down at Cair Paravel - that's the castle on the sea coast down at the mouth of this river which ought to be the capital of the whole country if all was as it should be - down at Cair Paravel there are four thrones and it's a saying in Narnia time out of mind that when two Sons of Adam  and two Daughters of  Eve sit in those four thrones, then it will be the end not only of  the White Witch's reign but of her life, and that is why we had to be so cautious as we came along, for if she knew about you four, your lives wouldn't be worth a shake of my  whiskers!"


texts: How to specify the location of a place by mentioning its neighbors?

texts:
Based on the this post, I conclude that I can say

Nebraska is to the north of Kansas.
Oklahoma is to the south of Kansas.
Colorado is to the west of Kansas.
Missouri is to the east of Kansas.

Now, if I want to convey all of the sentences above by a single sentence, how should I phrase it? I want to create a concise sentence.

Based on that post, I think the prepositional phrases act as adverbs and therefore, I came up with this:

  Kansas is limited by Nebraska to the north, Oklahoma to the south, Colorado to the west, Missouri to the east.

Does it make any sense? If No, would you tell me how create the sentence?


texts:
“You’re still the prettiest girl I’ve ever met.” (Ken
  Follett, Fall of Giants)

I guess the clause give a range for picking up one out of it. Does the clause give a meaning of basket out of which the speaker can pick one?


texts: Is the phrase 'do not take leave' the right way to convey the meaning?

texts:
Can I use 'do not take leave' here?

  Mithilesh and me do not take leave this month.

Any help is appreciated.


texts:
The following quotation is from Anthony Trollope's The Small House at Allington:

  We have retricked our beams in our own ways, and our lives have not been desolate. But for her you and her mother will look forward to see her married some day.

The unexpected occurrence of the words in bold puzzles me. I have been made aware that it should have been look forward to seeing but it seems that sometimes things are not all as we would have wished them to have been.

I wonder: why did the author choose it?


texts:
I'm preparing for a TOEIC test, and today I faced with a reading question below:

  John's Online Board will not accept any posting that are
  discriminatory or misleading ...... its members.

  A. by

  B. to

  C. upon

  D. with

The answer is (B). Why can't we choose 'with' (D) for this case?


texts: the words "variant" and "option" are the same in the following context?

texts:
Are the words "variant" and "option" the same in the following context?

  "For the letter B there are two variants of pronunciation"

vs

  "For the letter B there are two options of pronunciation"


texts: using "going by bus" in Present Participle and Gerund form

texts:
Compare

  I will look up train ticket prices but I think that going by bus is cheaper.

and

  A gloomy man is going by bus and thinking his gloomy thoughts to himself.

Is the second sentence unnatural? Is it because the idiom "go by bus/train/plane" is only okay when it's used with go as gerund (as in sentence 1) or verb:

  We decided to go by bus, and we went by bus.

Or is sentence 2 really okay?


texts:
A post present continuous for a temporary habit uses the word "habit" to describe how often a guy comes home.

  Since David began studying in the USA he hasn't come back very often

I am aware that "habit" means

  something that you do often and regularly, sometimes without knowing that you are doing it

source: Cambridge Dictionary

I have a feeling that the "habit" is a choice, consider the examples

  I always buy the same brand of toothpaste out of habit.

what brand of toothpaste is a choice, the guy could have chosen other brands, they don't have to choose a specific brand. This is the situation where the word "habit" would be used.

However, coming back not very often is not David's choice, he has do that because he is studying  in the USA.

In that context of "coming home", is it appropriate to use "habit"?

update for @Katy

Note: the asker uses the word "habit" in the title, not in the sentence above.


texts: How do I say "Congratulations, your photo was also seen on XYZ site!" in different ways?

texts:
Is it possible to say "Congratulations, your photo was also seen on XYZ site!" in different ways?

Let say A's photo is listed on "Flickr's Explore" page or A's photo got selected in "Editor's Choice" category and A happened to post the same photo on Facebook too.

How should I post a short and sweet Facebook comment on A's achievement? I need different ways so that I do not sound robotic or repetitive if I need to congratulate on A's next/future photos.


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to say

  Don't your father have a mother?

I would prefer

  Doesn't your father not have a mother?


texts: What is the difference among "shriek", "scream", and "shrill" as a verb?

texts:
I wonder what is the difference between the three similar words which seems to me expressing the same meaning: shriek, scream, and shrill.

How can I tell them apart? I want to express the unpleasant high-pitch cry issued by a child.

UPDATE

Sorry for the confusion but one, I meant the usage in verb. And two, I want to express what the child in this video does in around 27 seconds or later. The video uses scream, but I only talk about what he does in 27 seconds or later and NOT talk about his shout which occurred before the point of 27 seconds, which I think is classified to scream.


texts:
Source - The Rescue

Author - Nicholas Sparks

  Look for any physical sign of him - you don't want to walk right by him.

Context -

A little boy of four years have been lost and the search team is being arranged for the search. The above quoted sentence is an instruction to the search team.

My question -

What is the meaning of walk by? Is this a phrasal verb? I haven't found it in any dictionary.


texts:
I wrote:

  Web data extraction is the process of seeking and finding data on the Web, then extracting them/it from Web sources, and transforming them/it into structured data

I know "data" is plural but it is uncountable, so is its pronoun "them" or "it"?


texts: Rules addressing the correct order when multiple objectives modifying a noun

texts:
I see many examples on the web for multiple objectives modifying a noun. I am wondering if there are some consolidating rules for the order of those objectives.

For example:

  that hungry, tired, sleepy little match girl

Can it be "that tired, hungry, sleepy little match girl" or "that tired, sleepy, hungry little match girl"? Or some other alternative orders?

Some other examples:

  a beautiful new black Italian leather jacket
  an old large brick dining hall

Are these orders fixed? Or they could be changed to some other orders?


texts:
When can I remove "yet" from a sentence?
I can say for example:

"Has the teacher arrived yet?"

OR

"Has the teacher arrived?"

is there any difference in meaning between these sentences?
And when can I remove it from a sentence?


texts: Should I use "don't" or "didn't" in the following sentence?

texts:
She refused meeting me, ignored my calls, and did her best so we don't/didn't
  cross paths at school.

I'm not sure whether I should use don't or didn't in the sentence above.


texts: "What fruit do you like" or "what fruits do you like"?

texts:
Let's say I want to know the name of fruits a person likes. Do I have to say fruit or fruits? For example:

  What fruit do you like?

  What fruits do you like?


texts: A question about the possessive case of noun.

texts:
I just have a question about the possessive case of noun.
In my understanding, we use "of" to describe the possesive for nonliving things, like "in the bar of the hotel" not "the hotel's bar".
We use "'s" to describe the possesive for living things, like "men's body" not "body of men".

But I don't know how could I describe the possesive for many people. For example, there are 5 people, and each of them has a foorball. What I should use "the five people's footballs", "footballs of the five people's " or "five footballs of the five people's". What if I want to describe that the teacher has stored all the 5 footballs. Can I say:
"The teacher has stored all the footballs of 5 people's (they are Tom, Jerry, John, Lee, and Laura)."

Thank you


texts: Why we can't say "'this black guy" in Europe

texts:
To day, I read on News by Vietnamese. I known that Paris Saint-Germain's vs Istanbul Basaksehir Game suspended after alleged racist abuse by official.
So, he just Said: "this black guy"?
In Asia football, I see, a lot of people can said it.
For example in V-League, the is a lot of player from Africa but we can say:
"Anh da đen đó đá hay quá." It same "This black guy play very well". But any one happy, no problem.
But I don't know why we can't said this in Europe? Hope any one can explain for me, and the best way we can say in this situation?
Sorry that my English writing is not good. Hope some one help edit.


texts:
In many sentences like the following I use "based on" to relate something to another thing. Are there alternatives for "based on"? for example other ways to state the following sentences?

A dialogue opens in which he can select the distinguishing properties of the anchor based on its text or a pattern in the text
In our approach we try to simulate how a user finds the desired data by scanning and blocking the page based on semantic delimiters
Ideally, anchors are established based on the content of data item.
Besides the primitive variables which provide primary contexts based on the anchor nodes, we can build new contexts over them by employing set operators.


texts:
I wrote:

  a minority of pairs has (...)

A native speaker corrected this with:

  a minority of pairs have (...)

Which one is correct?  I thought it should be the former, because minority is singular.  But English is funny sometimes with collective nouns.  What is the case here?


texts:
I want to use this in the following sentence:

  The shape the blocks make together when seen from above resembles a radial.

Radial adjective: a radial pattern or design consists of straight lines that all go out from the center of a circle


texts: What is the use of "being" in the sentence grammatically?

texts:
In the sentence:

  Major refreshes to the OS come about every six months, with the most recent being the May 2019 Update.

What is the use of "being" grammatically?
Can any words be added between "recent" and "being"?


texts: Definite article before 'soul' and zero before 'body' in a Leo Tolstoy quote

texts:
In one video the author puts the following quote of Leo Tolstoy.

  Alcohol is a poison, harmful to the soul and _ body, therefore it is a
  great sin to drink alcohol and to offer it to others. It is an even
  greater sin to produce and sell this poison.

Actually, I do not have any information about in what language Leo said that, whether it was his native Russian – which does not have any articles in it – or he did it in English.

So, my question is: Why does "the" go before "soul" and not go before "body" for the same reason there?


texts: "in goblin eyes" vs "in a goblin's eyes"

texts:
All goblin-made objects are, in goblin eyes, rightfully theirs.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I'm wondering what would be the difference between "in goblin eyes" and "in a goblin's eyes" in the context. Are they the same? Can it also be in goblins' eyes?


texts:
(ii) execute a non-electronic hard copy of this Agreement. (http://overwatchmedia.com/terms-and-conditions)

What does "execute a non-electronic hard copy" mean? Does this mean "to copy this Agreement in non-electronic way", which means to print out this Agreement? I couldn't find the meaning about this expression from any dictionaries.


texts:
In one of my essay which was about describing a picture, I've written a sentence about the illustration and said:

"This photo has been took during the prohibition"

But my brother has told me this sentence isn't correct. Because he was short in time I didn't received any other explications. I'm sure it's the tense that cause the disorder but actually i don't have any idea about how to correct this error.
Are these a correct form of tense that could be use in this sentence ?

This photo was made
This photo has been took


texts:
I learn that 'diss' is a shortened version of "disrespect"
Urban Dictionary: diss

  For example, try to diss me, man.

What's the opposite of it?
I searched 'spect' as shorthand for 'respect'.
Nevertheless, it does not feel as strong and smart as 'diss'

Note:
'Diss' is a extremely popular in China as cyberspeak for joking with each other.


texts: Not only...., but (also)... vs. While I (verb), I (verb)

texts:
A. Not only was I watching TV, I was also eating dinner.

  B. While I was watching TV, I was eating.

  C. While I was watching TV, I eat dinner.

What are the differences in meaning between these?

Edited: As far as I know, B and C mean the same thing.

And, I am wondering whether A means B or C? if not, is there any situation where we could use A rather than B or C?

I, of course, have already  comprehensively studied about the construction"A".


texts: Is the comma needed after the word "nowadays"?

texts:
The first mobile phones were heavy and clumsy to use, but nowadays they are much easier to handle.

I think there should be the comma after the word "nowadays" like in:

  "Nowadays, I bake my own bread rather than buy it."

Does we need the comma?


texts: *Master in Java Programming* or *Master at Java Programming* - The Use of 'Master'

texts:
When you master something, you master in that or at that?

  He's a master in Java Programming

Vs.

  He's a master at Java Programming

Note: Java programming is just an example and not something to explore or dig in further. I'm concerned with when you master something, you master at or in that?


texts:
"Following this, the surviving Malli surrendered to Alexander's forces, and his beleaguered army moved on, conquering more Indian tribes along the way."

I found the above line in an article where the details regarding the Indian campaign of Macedonian King Alexander is mentioned. The above statements specifically mention the information about Alexander's army at that time when it returned to Greece.
 I searched the meanings of "beleaguer" which are as follows:

    Lay siege to.

    1.1 Put in a very difficult situations

I think the first meaning out of these two is applicable in the case of above sentence.

However, the past participle form of "beleaguer" doesn't appear suitable here. As per the rules mentioned in this British council page
, the past participle form shows a "passive voice". But, here the army was the one who beleaguered different places. So, it appears to me that the present participle form "beleaguering" should be used.


texts: The meaning of "He ripped out a fathom and a half o' brimstone Spanish,"

texts:
'"Why, Sim!" he says. Just like that--after twenty year! "Sim," he
  says, "what brings you?" '"Pudden," I says, not knowing whether to
  laugh or cry. '"You told me to bring cannon-shot next time, an' I've
  brought 'em." 'He saw we had. He ripped out a fathom and a half o'
  brimstone Spanish, and he swung down on our rail, and he kissed me
  before all his fine young captains. His men was swarming out of the
  lower ports ready to unload us. When he saw how I'd considered all his
  likely wants, he kissed me again.

This is from "Simple Simon" by Radyard Kipling. I don't understand the meaning of the sentence below, even when I have read the note of the Kipling Society.

He ripped out a fathom and a half o' brimstone Spanish,

the whole text

*The note of Kipling Society
[Page 300, line 4] brimstone Spanish Brimstone is sulphur. In this context, 'fiery', or 'burning'. The reader can assume that Drake was swearing exuberantly in Spanish.

I am glad if somebody would kindly teach me.

meaning


texts: Make a warning message sound as official as possible

texts:
I am attempting to write a warning message for an email program.

My users have informed me that the message sounds unofficial and somewhat scammy.

  WARNING: The sender of this email is from someone from outside of your
  organization, yet the email has a similar display name to someone from within
  your organization. The message is likely a scam email. Please do not reply and forward the message to Help Desk.

How can I improve that message so  that it sounds as official as possible?


texts: Why don't the authors use the articles 'a' and 'an' infront of the the words 'period' and 'entity' respectively?

texts:
This is an excerpt from The IBM Style Guide for technical writers:

In books, use a period in titles for chapters and appendixes. Insert the period after the name of the entity and the identifying number or letter and before the descriptive name.
Examples
Chapter 1. Introduction to InfoBase
Appendix A. Performance considerations
Appendix B. Conversion tables

Why don't the authors write it as follows?

In books, use a period in titles for chapters and appendixes. Insert a period after the name of an entity and the identifying number or letter and before the descriptive name.


texts:
My best friend of the moment - 'Essential Grammar in Use' for elementary students by Raymond Murphy - says that 'we normally use -'s for people.'

  I stayed at my sister's house. (not the house of my sister).

Then, bellow in the same unit (64) says that 'we use of... for things, places, etc.'

  Look at the roof of that building. (not that building's roof)

After that I thought:
 Finally!!! I understand the rules for apostrophes!!!

But soon I lost all that naif excitement when I saw other written examples on the internet that were not following those 'rules'.

I've learnt that we can apply apostrophes to time expressions...

  one year's pay

and, finally, amazingly enough ... to singular and plural nouns, which means ANY kind of nouns (I deduce uncountable nouns are also part of the possibilities).
This demolishes what is said in the grammar. So, it seems that eventually:

  That building's roof -> is valid

So, now I need your help.

1) Can you tell me the rules concerning the apostrophe to show possession in respect to its usage with nouns? Can we really apply to all kind of nouns? e.g. teeth's, vehicle's, Paula's, forest's, manager's, Ireland's, etc

  Scotland's worst drivers
  Metadata improves information's accessibility

2) Is there a sense that justifies what is written in the grammar: 'we normally use -'s for people'? or it does not make sense at all?


texts:
I do not understand the grammatical differences between "though" and "although".

Can we use them interchangeably?


texts: Hover in the meaning "to remain suspended under"

texts:
In most dictionaries the word hover means "to remain suspended over a place or object" and "to hang fluttering in the air or on the wing". Sometimes "to float in the air without moving in any direction".

I would like to know if I can use it to speak about an object or person who is floating in the air under [something], a ceiling for instance. Is there a better word for that?

The drone was hovering right under (below) the ceiling. (by request of SteveES)


texts:
Is the following right construction?

The one who treats you unfairly, tolerate him.

I think this is not accurate. The reason is, as I believe, that the first subject 'the one' has no verb in the predicate. So the right way should be:

Tolerate him who treats you unfairly.

Am I right?


texts: What does this "all other dung" mean here?

texts:
Later, Cato the Elder recommended that Romans “save carefully goat,
  sheep, cattle, and all other dung.

  Source

Does this mean goat's, sheep's, cattle's and all other animals' dung?


texts: the meaning of "there" in the particular sentence

texts:
The main safeguards are the Constitution and the Constitutional Court, which are there to prevent such an injustice as the majority deciding to abscond with the property of the minority.

Source: http://www.fsfinalword.com/?page=archive&show=1&day=2015-12-14

Why is the word "there" used in the above clause? Firstly I thought that the sentence has the wrong word order ("which are there") but in this case it is not the structure "there is" but "to be to" and "there" functions in the sentence as an adverb. But to which "place" does "there" refer to. Is it the Czech republic about which the article is?


texts: Meaning of this dialogue "say you believe only in legain equality for all races not racial equality meaning"?

texts:
I was watching the movie 'Lincoln' by Steven Spielberg. One of the many sentences that I didn't understand properly was "say you believe only in legal equality for all races, not racial equality. The character 'James Ashley' played by actor David Costabile says this to 'Thaddeus Stevens' played by actor Tommy Lee Jones.

I started looking for the meaning of the phrases/terms 'legal equality for all races' & 'racial equality' on the internet. I couldn't understand their meaning and didn't get a single difference.

Could someone help me with this? I apologize for my bad English. English is not my first language.


texts:
Has someone seen my bag?

Has anyone seen my bag?

Which one is grammatically correct and Why?
Which one should I use at this place?
Can you give some more examples?


texts:
Born in the Austrian village of Spital, Weitra, Waldviertel, her father was Johann Baptist Pölzl and her mother was Johanna Hiedler. Either Johanna Hiedler's father Johann Nepomuk Hiedler or his brother Johann Georg Hiedler (who is presumed and accepted as the father) was the biological father of Klara Hiedler's husband, Alois Hitler, Sr.. Therefore, Klara and Alois were most likely first cousins once removed.*

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klara_Hitler

I am a little bit puzzled by the statement that Klara and Alois Hitler were "first cousins once removed". From the text it stemms that Alois and Klara were uncle and niece (The godfather of Klara Hitler was at the same time the father of Alois). But the term "cousins once removed" indicates a different sort of the relationship between AH's parents. Or does it not?


texts:
"The famous slogan about the strong and the weak comes, obviously, from the Athenian side of the argument, and its current popularity owes much to the nice balance between the powerful doing 'what they can' and the weak suffering 'what they must' -- as well as that iron law of inevitability (or realism, depending on your point of view) that is introduced by the phrase 'what they must.' But that is not what Thucydides wrote. As Simon Hornblower correctly acknowledges in the third and final volume of his monumental, line-by-line commentary on the whole of Thucydides' History, a more accurate translation is: 'The powerful exact what they can, and the weak have to comply.' Even that exaggerates the idea of compulsion on the weak: to be precise, what Thucydides claimed was only that 'the weak comply' -- no necessity was introduced at all. And Hornblower's commentary also raises the question of exactly what the action of the strong was supposed to be; it could equally well be translated from the original Greek as 'do' or 'exact' or even (as one Renaissance scholar thought) 'extort'. 'Do what they can' and 'extort what they can' conjure up very different pictures of the operation of power.

Does this mean that "do" "exact" or "extort" are equally possible for translation?


texts:
The difference between  "She's gone to London" and "she's been to London" is clear

but there is a sentence that I doubt what to use.

what should I use in this sentence?
(been or gone)

  The refrigerator is full because we've  ...... shopping


texts: Can I use "as" instead of "which" in this case?

texts:
When he was 30 years old, he bought another house, which (as) showed how adept he was in moneymaking.

In this sentence, "which" is referring back to its preceding sentence "when he was ~ another house", but is it grammatically correct to use "as" instead of "which" ?


texts:
Sixteen hours of talks on April 7th and 8th were not enough for the euro zone’s finance ministers to strike a deal on how to combat the economic devastation of the corona-crisis. This afternoon they will fire up Zoom and try again. Two issues stand in the way of an agreement. First are the conditions that would accompany any loans extended from the euro zone’s bail-out fund. Italy in particular is keen to keep them to a minimum, whereas the Dutch insist on attaching tough rules. Second is how to pay for recovery once the lockdowns end. Nine countries, including France, Italy and Spain, want jointly guaranteed “coronabonds” to spread the burden, but Germany and others are allergic to explicit forms of debt mutualisation. Ministers are confident of a breakthrough, but in a mood of rancour and distrust—and without the up-close and personal wee-hours dealmaking that Europe specialises in—it is not entirely clear why

I don't understand the sentence, what is unclear?


texts: "observer" or "supervisor" or "overseer" computer

texts:
I'm a little confused about the usage of "observer" vs "supervisor" vs "overseer". Imagine we have two computers or two systems. Computer1 controls the computer2 and checks to see whether it is not performing so many tasks at the same time. Computer2 informs its state to computer1 and etc.

Here what is the role of computer1? Is it observer or supervisor or overseer of the computer2?


texts: Meaning of "making a communist salute the flag"

texts:
This question on Worldbuilding used the phrase to describe banning vegetarians from eating meat:

  Sure you can instute mandatory public meat eating, but that's like
  making a communist salute the flag. They'll eat the meatloaf to escape
  detection, but inside they're still deeply, morally corrupt.

I don't understand the meaning of this simile. Google searches for "soviet flag salute" or "chinese flag salute" show plenty of examples of communist countries instituting flag salutes, voluntary or otherwise, and I don't see how saluting a flag voluntarily would make one less morally corrupt.

While I inferred the meaning to be something along the lines of "making a bad person do something that a good person normally does", is this the actual meaning of this phrase?


texts: "did you" or "do you" if I'm asking about what language that's s(he) learn?

texts:
If I'm asking other people what language that's S(he) learn, which sentence should I use?

What language did you learn?

or

What language do you learn?

Which is more grammatically correct?


texts:
I read this sentence in a story. Here the pilot is flying an airship: "Vern was steering the vessel through a cloudless blue sky."
What does "through the sky" mean? I have always read in the sky. Why "through" has been used?


texts: what's the term of feeding milk to a young one by its mother animal?

texts:
We say breast feeding when a woman feeds her own human milk to her baby directly. Then,what will we say in case of four footed animals ?

Furthermore,

I want to know that as we use the name of the part of body i.e. breast (from which milk is coming out) in case of human beings, can we use the name of the part of body (from which milk is coming out i.e. abdomen) for many four footed animals in case of animals? Or will the meaning be very odd (vulgar) if we say a new term -'abdomen feeding' (for animals).


texts: Is it possible to use 'shall' for intentions? is PEU wrong here?

texts:
M.swan PEU (3rd edition-unit:217) says,

  " Topic: announcing decisions: will
  We often use will when we tell people about a decision as we make it.for instant if we're agreeing to do something.

  e.g:1. OK. we'll buy the tickets.

  2.The phone's ringing. I'll answer it.
  Shall is not used in this way.

  e.g:You can have it for $50. -OK.I'll buy it. (NOT: I shall buy it) "

According to this, we can't use shall (with first persons) for intentions or decisions which  made at the time of speaking.but the book 'Cambridge Grammar Of English' and these web seits( 1  , 2 ) say that shall can be used to announce intentions or decisions. for example,

I don't want anyone with me.I shall do this on my own. (reference:CGE)
I shall contact you again when I have further information.

So my questions is, is it possible to use shall for intentions or decisions as we make them(with I&we)?  [if the answer is Yes ,Why do PEU say "shall is not used for decisions "]

I searched on the internet and read lot of grammar book but I could not find a clear answer to this confusion.so any answer is appreciated.


texts:
Please imagine someone's statements are very ambiguous and vague. How shall one express this matter and indicate that ambiguity in that guy's words:

  His words were full of ambiguity.
  His words were full of vagueness.
  His words were full of obscurity.

I googled various structures, but I didn't find any proper answer to my question unfortunately. I would be thankful if someone could let me know if my sentences are natural and if not, how a native speaker would indicate such a message?

For me they all work. Meanwhile, I need to know if the structure "someone's words were full of..." works here or not.


texts:
I believe it can't, because the omission of was makes valued and stigmatized paralleled.

  The thing they were good at at school wasn't valued, or was
  actually stigmatized.


texts:
I just asked some question and I have another one and this one is more unsettling to me than the previous one. So, how can you tell which nouns are countable and uncountable?

I understand you cannot count sugar, bread, coffee, cheese, sheep and things like that. But what about some nouns like decision, approval, disapproval, disgrace, judgment and things like that.

Decision is a countable noun if it means "a choice" or "a judgment", but words like approval can only be a singular or an uncountable noun. I mean, is there any set rule for this or do I have to just memorize as I go?


texts:
A sentence like this:

  She's going to a fashion show here in the city tomorrow. She is sleeping here so she won't have to travel from Riverdale in the morning.

If I replace travel with go, will there be any difference in meaning?


texts: Question about two idioms concerning humility

texts:
There is:

  take the wind out of one's sails

and:

  to eat humble pie

Can I use the above idioms in this way in a routine sentence like this:

  I took the wind out of her sails, because she acted very rude towards me.
  You are not going to believe me, she ate humble pie, immediately.


texts: What do you call the diagonal bars as often seen in radio towers?

texts: Is there a specific word for these diagonal bars? I doubt engineers would call them diagonal bars since they're widely used in engineering, radio towers and bridges off my head use them.


texts:
My friend is gone on Annual vacation from feb17 to jun17.

or

  My friend is gone from feb17 to jun17 on Annual vacation.

Which is the correct sentence and placement?


texts: Speaking about a real event in the past when it has not happened

texts:
Suppose my friend buys a lottery ticket on April 1st and finds out he has won a million dollars. On April 10th there will be a ceremony where he will get the money. But on April 2nd he loses the ticket. The same day we are both upset and I say to him:

  If you had not lost the ticket, you would have gotten a million dollars.

Is it grammatically (disregard 'gotten') and semantically correct in this context? Should I have said "... you would win a million dollars" because the ceremony takes place in the future? It is not strictly correct that he actually would have gotten the money.

My only justification for the sentence above is that since the ticket is gone, we think of the entire lottery issue as being over, and hence the ceremony is over for us; so we talk about it in the past tense as if it already happened.


texts:
I am not a native speaker.

Is that appropriate to say:

  The assignment was discussed a while ago, that was before you moved up/promotion.

Is "move up" has a positive meaning, can I say:

  That was before you moved up to a coworker that just got promoted.


texts: What is the meaning for the phrase 'your tone doesn't inspire me to be very forthcoming'?

texts:
The phrase from the movie 'House of cards'

context:

Newspaperwoman wanted the man (Underwood) to tell her some info, therefore, she hurries him. And the man (Underwood) told her these words (your tone doesn't inspire me to be very forthcoming)

question:

  1) I don't get his message (to be very forthcoming is about her or about her tone)

  2) I like this way of using of 'to be'. Could you give me some extra examples with such using of 'to be' verb for conclusive understanding

Thanks


texts:
A: I will be on leave from 3rd, 4th October.
  B: I will be on leave on 3rd, 4th October

Which one is correct?


texts:
What does "pp.20 ff." stand for? "Page 20?????"
12 Deng Xiaoping speech on 11 Dec.1961,Hunan,141-2-138,p.43.
13 Speech on 25 March 1959,Gansu,19-18-494,p.48.
14 Shanghai,4 April 1961,B6-2-392,pp.20 ff.
15 Shanghai,8 July 1958,B29-2-97,p.17.

Source: Mao's Great Famine by Frank Dikotter


texts:
Also, I like animals very much and I would like to help them when they suffer.

  I also like animals very much and I would like to help them when they suffer.

Is also at the beginning of the sentence correct? Does it sound too formal to you?


texts: What's the most popular pronunciation of "minutiae"?

texts:
I looked this word up in the dictionary and there are multiple pronunciations:

[maɪˈnju:ʃii:]
[maɪˈnjuːʃiaɪ]
[maɪˈnuʃiˌi]
[mɪˈnuːʃiiː]
[mɪˈnuːʃiaɪ]
[maɪˈnuʃə]
[mɪˈnuːʃə]

The easiest one to me is [maɪˈnuʃə]. In your opinion, what's the most popular one in the American English?


texts:
Is "kids" pronounced [kidz] (the same /z/ of "zebra", voiced)  or [kids] (the same /s/ of "star", unvoiced) ? I have always heard and pronounced the latter, but I have just seen the former in Wiktionary. Oddly, I hear [kids] in the audio available in that wiki.

Reference: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/kids


texts: "I won't be attending" or "I won't attend"?

texts: In which cases should these two similar sentences be used (i.e., future progressive vs. future simple)?


texts: Doesn't this contradict 'know better than + to do '?

texts:
Paras 3 and 4:
This is why the unfolding scandal of police hacking journalists’ phones matters. Like the media phone-hacking scandal that led to the Leveson inquiry, it offers a glimpse into an abuse of power that doubtless involves far more victims. Phone hacking arose when private detectives realised that new technology allowed them to hack into the voicemails of victims. With police hacking, the bobbies worked out that new technology and new laws let them ask for the phone records of any journalist — they no longer had to go through the tiresome ritual of asking ‘Who’s your source?’ and being told to get stuffed. They could just grab the journalists’ phone records and work it out for themselves.
The first such case that came to light involved Tom Newton Dunn, political editor of the Sun. The Metropolitan Police wanted the name of one of his contacts, and knew better than to ask. So they ordered Vodafone to hand over his phone records. Vodafone obliged: under the law, it has to.

The linked definition implies that the police were devious enough (probably NOT moral in this case) NOT to ask the Sun for the name. Yet then why did then order Vodafone? Isn't ordering a hostile form of asking? Strictly according to the passage, I had thought that the writer was implying that the next step is subversive hacking, not to use a legal order.


texts:
What does " red -rope" mean ?

  A source with a foot in the Moss camp told me: ‘Kate is prone to a
  spot of red-rope rage, which is what happens when someone who has been
  famous and sucked up to for their whole life encounters ordinary
  people who say things like: “She doesn’t look like she does in her
  magazine pictures,” and, “Isn’t she drunk!” Or they bother her for an
  autograph or a selfie.

Source


texts:
At just two weeks old, he weighs less than a lb.

or

  At just two weeks old, he weighs less than an lb.

Grammar Checker says "an lb" is right, really?


texts: Is the place of the word "alike" correct?

texts:
Many facilities for young and old are offered alike by the resort.

In the sentence, is the place of the word "alike" correct?


texts: What does the meaning of words "jigsaw" and "decay" in this paragraph?

texts:
Please tell me meaning of the words "jigsaw" and "decay" in this paragraph.The combination "the crazy, jigsaw geometry of decay" seems strange and vague to me.

  Whenever I visit Khartoum I find I am at my most content when simply wandering the streets.The dust, the crazy, jigsaw geometry of decay, the broken pavements, the slabs of concrete that seesaw over the drains, the yellowed neem leaves that glow like golden embers in the sand.

Hint: Khartoum is the capital of Sudan and neem is the name of a tropical tree.


texts: The meaning of "spat out" in the mentioned sentence?

texts:
What is the meaning of "spat out" in the following sentence?

  And in Titelbaum and Kopec’s Reasoning Room, one agent knows that her
  reasoning process spat out P while the other knows that her reasoning
  process spat out not P. (Source)

"spat out" is the past form of "spit out". But here "spat out" seems not to be a past form.


texts: Is it redundant to use “speech” and “recordings” here?

texts:
I wrote the following sentence. It is a point listed in my CV to show my work in one project related with my major computer science. I am applying for a graduate university. The missing subject of the sentence is "I". Because the succinct form in CV, all the pointed I listed ingorns the subject. I think the form is very common in CV. You can see the words after "using" as one kind of technology in computer science.

“Performed speech transcription for course recordings using a recognition framework based on a deep fully convolutional neural network”

I want to express that I converted the course recordings to text. I am not sure whether it is redundant to use “speech” and “recordings” in “performed speech transcription for course recordings” because the two words seem to have the same meaning. If it is redundant, how about using “performed course recordings transcription using a computer technology”? And does “performed course recordings transcription” express the same meaning with my old expressions?

Response to the comment
The speech transcription is actually one function of the class assistant app I have developed. So I think maybe I can write
“Implemented a digital speech transcription service to transcribe recordings of courses using a recognition framework based on a deep fully convolutional neural network”.
May I ask that can this new sentence convey my initial meaning clearly?


texts:
Carry out the/a disinfection with/by this detergent.

I would like to ask: Is it supposed to be the article before "Disinfection"? What preposition is appropriate before "detergent".


texts:
"Qatar Petroleum is looking to invest at least $20b in the United States over the coming few years, its chief executive told Reuters, after the Gulf Arab state  quit OPEC, freeing Doha from potential legal risks in the United States."

Is that sentence grammatically sound?

Shouldn't it be " after the Gulf Arab state had quit OPEC" instead of "after the Gulf Arab state  quit OPEC" as the action of leaving OPEC took place before the action of  telling to the Reuters?

Please help with explanation regarding tense.


texts: "As fast as I want to" vs. "As fast as I'd want to/ like"

texts:
I've recently corrected a text that one of my students wrote. One of his sentences was, "Sometimes it's annoying that I don't learn new things as fast as I want..."
I replaced as fast as I want with as fast as I'd want to/ as fast as I'd like to. However, he asked me for an explanation and I am stuck.
Am I wrong? Are both constructions correct? If not, does anyone have an explanation as to why the first is incorrect?


texts: Is "ask to join" and "ask if you can join" synonymous?

texts:
The student asked if he can join the basketball team.

  The student asked to join the basketball team.

I am wondering if they mean pretty much the same thing. I think it means the same thing, but it sounds odd to me. However, I don't like number 1, because the sentence is a bit longer.


texts: Normally the place where people eat is the kitchen (or in celebrations they eat in the living room which has a corner with a big table as well). But in huge houses there is a particular room that is aimed for eating only (outside of the kitchen and outside of the living room). My question is if it's possible sometimes to name the kitchen as dining room also (depending on the action. for example while cooking- kitchen and while eating - dining room)


texts:
Biology used to be my least favorite subject in the field of science, but it became my favorite science subject. It was from my great effort and work to understand biology, so i could say it became my favorite subject because it was my least favorite subject.

Could I say that this was a come-from-behind victory?

Should I use a quotation around "come-from-behind victory" because it's a metaphor?


texts: Is it appropriate to use tailored in this sentence?

texts:
I have tailored the configuration files so that they can run on two nodes rather than four nodes.

Basically, I am trying to say that I have cut short the configuration file so that it can run on just two nodes rather than four nodes. Is tailored a correct word to use here?


texts: What is the difference between, "it means," "this means," and "which means"?

texts:
What is the difference between these: it means, that means, and which means? For example:

They gave her the nickname Katie because it means "pure." I don't know if that means she is innocent or not. All I know is that she's been a good friend, which means I can trust her.

I hope it doesn't rain. If it does, it means we won't be able to go to the park today. Of course, that means we can't meet up with Heather and Peter today, which means we'll have to reschedule our meeting with them.

We encourage the use of YouTube. For companies, it means more potential customers. Just last month, one of our clients got a million hits on YouTube, which means more revenue for them because more people were visiting their website. That means all you have to do is create high quality videos, with relevant and engaging content, and essentially your marketing is done for you.

I can use them, although I just don't understand the rules behind them. I do know that "which" comes after a comma, whereas "that" usually does not. Also, I know sometimes you can use "that means" or "it means" interchangeably, but other times you can only use either "it means," "that means," or "which means," for example.
Could someone explain why we might use one and not the other in different situations? Is there a rule that explains when to use "it means," "that means," and "which means"?


texts: Verify a signature or confirm a signature

texts: I'm making an online petition and after somebody signs my petition, I will send an email to make sure that the email address belongs to right person. Should I write verify a signature or confirm a signature? The White House's petition service uses the word verify but UK Government's petition service uses the word confirm.


texts:
Besides, making Ooho has a climate benefit, as it does not cause the CO2 emissions that the bottle manufacturing process does.

What does it mean?

Ooho
Making Ooho


texts:
a list of the players who have been invited.

  a list of who have been invited.

Can I reduce the 1st phrase like 2nd?

or should I have used 'whom' instead of 'who'?


texts: Is Canadian English considered more as American En or as British English?

texts:
Is Canadian English considered more as American English or as British English or neither? I always thought that there are only British English and American English but recently I realized that there are also Australian English and Canadian English.

For example, If someone wants to live in Canada or Australia, on which English would you recommend him to focus, AmE or BrE?

In addition, a lot of times I see the same books (especially professional books) in two different editions: one edition for British and the other one for American, with minor differences of the language. What edition Australian or Canadian normally prefer among these two?


texts: The meaning of 'where' in "Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things rationally and logically"

texts:
This is a paragraph generally describing the characteristics of an ISTJ person:

As an ISTJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where
you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete
fashion. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things
rationally and logically.
Source: http://www.personalitypage.com/ISTJ.html

I've checked the meaning of the word 'where' in many dictionaries but I couldn't find the correct meaning of that word in this context. For me, I guess 'where' in the paragraph means 'which means', or I can rewrite these sentences like:
As an ISTJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, which means you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion. Your secondary mode is external, which means you deal with things rationally and logically.
Is my guess correct? Could you explain more and give some examples like this?


texts: how to say the sentence "I am walking on the steps of bus"?

texts:
When I catch the bus , I say I caught the bus (or) I got the bus. But I need to say I am walking on the steps of bus.
how can I convert that into a sentence? I don't have a clear idea.


texts:
I have two question in below two sentences, which are highlighted in bold.

Q1: Is it fine to retain "The shipping of raw materials being improved" in the corrected version?

Q2: What is the difference between "economical" and "economic"? Please provide relevant examples to understand more.

  Incorrect: The shipping of raw materials being improved has become an economical factor in the transformation of Japan into a world economic power.

  Correct: The improvement in shipping of raw materials has become an economic factor in the transformation of Japan into a world economic power.


texts: Can 'address" used as a verb be used without an object?

texts:
I received an email from a client who is a native English speaker. At the end of his message, he wrote, :If there are any follow-up questions we are happy to address."

This sounds weird to me. Shouldn't he say "we are happy to address them"? Is it a thing in modern English that we can drop the object after "address" in these cases?

Thanks for much for your help.


texts: "You or singular noun" should be followed by 3rd person singular or 2nd person?

texts:
If you or a team member needs / need any help during my vacation,
  please do not hesitate to contact me on my mobile phone.

Should I write need or needs?


texts:
None of my friends ever come to see me.
None of these appeal to me.
But none of them owns the landscape.

In this phrase "none of + plural noun", why can the predicate use both singular form and plural form?


texts: What does "pilgrim" mean in this paragraph?

texts: I was reading this paragraph, and I saw this word and I don't know what does it mean. The story is about a girl whom lost her leg in an accident with a "horse Pilgrim". I can discern that it spouse to be someone fall from back of a horse or something like that, but what "Pilgrim" means here? And why it begins with capital letter?


texts:
In an email I received, the professor wrote:

  I am trying to decide how best to proceed with our content for this week. For now, I will post slides for what would have been today's lecture by this afternoon.

I thought the structure would have been is associated with the past (conditionals and modals). Then why did she use this structure in this case?


texts:
I was reading an article about the recent New York prison break.

I came across the word subpoenaed , which is new for me.

"Investigators have also subpoenaed her cell phone records and found that she spoke with Matt's daughter at least once, Wylie said."

I don't see in dictionaries that it is used for things. Is it correctly used in the article?


texts:
Did Esther handed her bag to you before she left?
  Did Esther hand her bag to you before she left?
  Did Esther hands her bag to you before she left?

Which of the three is grammatical?


texts:
I have a question about the usage of according to.
I wrote this sentence:"These permits were issued according to the proper process." and some of my English native speaker friends said according to was not correct here. They told me to change it to "in accordance with".

But aren't they the synonyms?I always thought according to = in accordance with = be pursuant to = in compliance with.https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/according%20to

And longman and oxford also says according to means following or in agreement with https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/according-to:

  in a way that agrees with a system or plan, or obeys a set of rules

  The game will be played according to rules laid down for the 1992 Cup.

  Everything went according to plan, and we arrived on time.

And I also found some examples from the New York Times as follows:

  However, to become a proponent of truth, trials must be conducted
  according to the strictest standards of due process.

  But war is not conducted according to the requirements of due process

  .... if lesser (i.e. non-Piracy) charges are to be pressed, which must
  be done according to the civilian court process of that victim
  vessel's country.

Could you please help me with this?


texts:
Search engines seem to understand "nerve system" just fine, but most results seem to use "nervous system".

Is "nerve system" a synonym for "nervous system" or is it somehow unacceptable? And if these are synonyms, why the strong preference for "nervous system"?


texts: A picture or the picture; mood or moods?

texts:
I am about to send this message to my group mates:

I am sending you the picture of my wholesome dad to elevate your moods!

Should I say 'a picture' or 'the picture'? Is is better to use mood or moods?


texts:
I want to ask you a question about capitalization. I would like you to have a look at the following sentence:

I love listening to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Do I have to capitalize 'the' in the above sentence or should I keep it as a small letter.


texts:
All he does is watching TV.

I said this sentence and my native friend corrected me and said 'you need to use bare infinitive here'

  All he does is watch TV.

Why is this right while the other is false? If I change the placement of the complement and subject, I will have this sentence:

  Watch TV is all he does.

Shouldn't it be 'watching TV (or to watch) is all he does'?

I searched for it online and I couldn't get anything. Is there a rule that I'm missing? When do they use bare infinitive after 'to be' verbs?

Thanks


texts: Construction of "Third Conditional" sentences

texts:
I have read English grammar lesson about "Third Conditional" and got confused. Let's consider the following two sentences:

  If I would have bought the house, I would have got a mortgage.
  If I had bought the house, I would have got a mortgage.

Pattern which has been used to make the first sentence is considered to be wrong, meanwhile the second one is considered as a correct one. So why in the first half of the sentence it is incorrect to use would, meanwhile in the other half it is OK to use it?

Also is there a general pattern for construction of "Third Conditional" sentences?


texts:
I ask the following as a non-native English speaker.

In this question, I have trouble understanding how does "accompany me to my office" connect to anything else in the sentence.

Original sentence:

  Sometimes, when we ran out of time and did not have space for any further activity, he used to tell us that should anyone need any assistance or have any query, accompany me to my office.

The sentence contains:

we ran out of time;
he used to...;
tell us;
should anyone;

and is followed by "accompany me".

My best guess is that it is just disconnected from the rest of the sentence and it should read:

  "accompany him to his office"

Also, I feel that (at least) a connection word is missing ahead of the fragment, maybe it should be:

  should anyone need any assistance ..., one should accompany him to his office.


texts: Word to describe "to talk excitedly about something"?

texts:
Is there a word for "to talk excitedly about something"? I'm sure there's a word for that. But Thesaurus.com didn't give me the answer.

Example sentence:

  Mary took John to the place where they sold the banana splits she'd
  been ______ for the past few days.


texts:
So I was guiding a user to perform a task on his browser.
However I feel that the construction of the sentence is wrong:

"Could you select the URL , by clicking on the address bar and scroll
to the extreme right "

Is it right or is there a better way of saying it ?


texts:
I found a strange usage of word ME reading one book and I wonder what the author means.
I thought this could be a misspelling of word MY but it happens alot. Or is it a special addition to show that the person doesn't know the language well?

he's right 'cause me mum and me sister both goes off the next day

the cobblestones all hard against me knees and cold against me face

it's way too big for me and me clothes is way too small for her

"Oi'm not yet done with me toilet."


texts: is that correct to use "local residents" in the below sentence?

texts:
I'd like to say

they only provide their services to people in the same country that
their company is located.

Is that correct to use "local residents" instead of above sentence?

they only provide their services to local residents.


texts: Is is grammatical to use a mass noun after the phrase "the majority of"?

texts:
The majority of people who have a church wedding ...

is grammatical because "people" is a countable noun, but, for example, "driving" is not:

  The majority of driving is done on country roads or highway.

So, I wonder if it is good English to use a mass noun after "majority of". Is it?


texts: Can "interesting" be used anything else other than adjective?

texts: "It was an interesting movie."  Any specific rule that the word INTERESTING ends with ing. Can this word be used as a participle or a gerund phrase?


texts: Subject-Verb Agreement: The horse and carriage is ready

texts:
A rule in my text book says

  If the 2 subjects separated by 'and' refer to the same thing/person/suggest the same idea, they take a singular verb.

  E.g. The Horse and Carriage is ready

I feel that the sentence should be -

  The Horse and Carriage are ready

And Grammarly agrees with me -

So what does the subject agree with? 'Is' or 'are'?


texts: Can we use the word "image" for all digital pictures?

texts:
I was reading this question : Photo Vs. Picture Vs. Image : What is the difference between them?

As a technical person, we use the word image for all digital pictures. I wanted to know is that correct? Or is there any specific word for digital pictures?


texts: What is the difference between "infrequent" and "rare"?

texts:
I have come across the word infrequent in the patient information leaflet for Prozac.
When looking up the German translation of that word, I wondered what exactly is the difference between infrequent and rare?


texts:
We don't normally use the present perfect for definite expression of "time up to now" like
(Swan, Practical English Usage):

I saw John this week and he said...

But why in a negative and question the present perfect is normally used:

Have you seen Bill this week?
I haven't seen Bill this week.

I don't understand difference between them. Could you explain?


texts: Could I use the pronoun "their" instead of "its" in this sentence?

texts:
These changes have been made possible by use of the scientific method
  to solve such problems as the causes of diseases and its
  prevention.

Why writer used its instead of their in the sentence above?


texts: The rate we are going at, we won't be able to make it - Does the "at" in the end make the sentence incorrect?

texts:
The rate we are going at, we won't be able to make it.

Does the "at" in the end make the sentence incorrect?
I'm confused whether I can use the "at" or not.


texts:
I was listening to the radio today and the presenter, talking about a presidential candidate, asked a guest "If he became president, what would that mean to ..."

It seems to me that the verb to become is incorrectly conjugated in this particular instance, but I can't quite pinpoint the reason why.

I know I'd say something like ...

"If he becomes president"
or ..
"If he were to become president"

But I'd never use the conjugate the verb in the past when it's an something that might still come to pass.

Can someone explain whether the first instance is correct and the reason why it is either correct or incorrect?


texts: "the rich don't pay enough tax" vs "the rich people don't pay enough tax"?

texts:
I have some doubts about which form, "the rich" or "the rich people", that I should use here:

  Some people think that the rich don't pay enough tax.
  Some people think that the rich people don't pay enough tax.

Which of the two sentences is acceptable English? And what part of speech is the word "rich" in both #1 and #2, adjective or noun?


texts:
fibre optics:the use of very thin glass or plastic threads through which light can travel to carry information.

I am unsure about where through should go to in the relative clause.

Which of the following is correct?

A) Light can travel through glass or plastic threads to carry information.
B) Light can travel to carry information through glass or plastic threads.


texts: How to ask for a clarification for some word

texts:
For example, someone said:

The dm said its our call

I'm new to D&D, so I don't understand what does it mean by "our call". How do you ask for that? I tried:

What do you mean by "our call"?

But it sounds like I am thinking that the other person says bullshit. The situation is a casual discord conversation.
Is there a better way to ask for the meaning of the word? Is "What does 'our call' mean?" polite enough?


texts: Please explain what this "Priority Seat" represents

texts:
I would like to understand what exactly this "Priority Seat" represents:

Image credit: Southern Rail, UK.

At first I thought this "Priority Seat" is an abbreviated form of "A Priority Seat"; "A" is simply omitted because it is a sign. But when I imagine a sign that reads "A Priority Seat" in this context (adjacent to a priority seat) I feel so wrong. The text wouldn't work to create the right nuance. So I had to drop this idea.

The next idea that I came up with was that this is an abbreviated form of "The Priority Seat." "the" is used here to talk about a particular type of things, not about a particular thing, just like "the" in "I want to play the guitar." But I can't be sure if my interpretation is correct.

Could anyone explain what this "Priority Seat" represents?


texts:
He was not the only one to call for a legal reform in the sixteenth century.

In this sentence I expect to see "who" instead of "to":

  He was not the only who called for a legal reform in the sixteenth century.

I wonder is the first sentence following a general grammatical structure?


texts:
When I want to express one of the series in harry potter,
which one is better?
ex) Third episode is my favorite among whole series.

Third episode/
episode three

Are all of them can be used?
If not, what is the problem with them?

One more question...
In a subway linemap, what is the exact way to express line?

line one = the most common used
first line (is it also possible?/ then how about line first?)

I want someone to distinguish their differences as I don't have intuition.


texts: What's the difference between suit, lawsuit, litigation, accusation, proceeding?

texts:
These words suit, lawsuit, litigation, accusation, proceeding, when translated into my native language they are all the same. I also have looked them up in the dictionaries and it seems they are very very similar. Could someone help to explain the differences between them please?
I reflected on these words and trying to give my understanding about them. For me, suit is exactly the same as lawsuit (suit has other means for sure). litigation seems have the same meaning as suit or lawsuit. Like in that galvanized her interest in women rights litigations, I believe we can also say that galvanized her interest in women rights lawsuits. proceeding seems like the arguing processing in the court to discuss who is right and who is wrong. I only use proceeding in the usage criminal proceeding. accusation is like a claim saying someone did something wrong.
Is my understanding accurate? Please help to correct me.


texts: Do we see through / in / behind/ by / from the window?

texts:
What preposition goes with see something or someone behind the window in the following contex?

  I live in a villege,  and every morning when I get up,  I go to the window to look at the nature.  Yesterday when I did it,  I saw my best friend through / in / behind/  by / from the window,  coming to me.

  Believe me,  I saw you through / in / behind/  by / from the window yesterday,  but you were far to notice me.


texts:
The audience can suspend their disbelief ...?
Can you fill in the blank for me?
I want to convey that the audience's suspension of disbelief has limits but I forgot how to say it in the context of the sentence above .
I think it's"suspend their disbelief for so long".is it correct?


texts: Why is present perfect used instead of past tense in this sentence?

texts:
On  a website I read this dialogue:

  I'm looking for a cheap virtual credit (Master/Visa) card for paying online.
  I have been asked for a scanned copy of my credit card on first purchase by Aliexpress. This might cause a problem if you use virtual
  card.

https://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/37873/cheap-virtual-credit-card

Why the respondent did not say I was asked (past simple) ? because it is clear (for me at least) that the speaker tells a previous experience and gives it as an example.

So what actually does the speaker want to imply here by using the present perfect tense?

Questions goes in my mind:

Does  he want to just highlight the action ? or to imply that Aliexpress still requires a scanned copy ? or he wants to imply that his action itself took place a little time ago (and maybe based on that Aliexpress still asks for a scanned copy) ?

Thank you


texts: An understanding of "No one could be more generous"

texts:
No one could be more generous; he has a heart of gold.

Does the sentence mean "he is the most generous person I've ever met" or "he is very generous"?


texts: I am talking with my colleague at work and I said "this man" told me, and I referred to the third highest colleague in functional class is with us.  Is  "this man" is not polite phrase?


texts:
Is the preposition used with substitute same / fixed  in all sentences or it changes with meaning ? I tried to find my answer from google and found sentences mostly using for with substitute, on oxford dictionary website its mentioned that verb substitute is  traditionally followed  by for
so are there any exceptions to this rule ?
I have confusion between to and for in the following sentence.

  It is not a substitute ____ the formal criminal justice system, but a good backup to reduce its workload .

What should come in the blank ? Substitute for or substitute to ?


texts:
In Longman's Common Mistakes in English Grammar Practice, 6th ed. (2002) by T.J. Fitikides, at #251, the author recommends using make a noise instead of make noise. The sentences go like this:

  Don't say: I told them not to make noise.
   Say: I told them not to make a noise.

My questions:

It's a negative sentence, so why not use any instead of a, i.e. I told them not to make any noise[s]?

Is it wrong to say to a couple of noisy students in the hallway for example, Don`t make any noise[s]?

I've looked up the word noise and it's both count and non-count. In the context that I made above which one is correct or more common?

Don't make any noise.
Don't make any noises.
Don't make a noise.
Don't make noises.


texts:
He's going to be/get called all kinds of things.

Are "be" and "get" interchangeable here?

Are they considered equally correct?


texts: Form Label to Indicate Childrens Prices Group And Those That Are Free of Cost

texts:
Our company finds it difficult to word the notice indicating that infants under certain ages are either "free" or go at "half-price".

What should we use? "Free child age?" or ...? we're not native english talker so it make it lot harder...

thank you

I'm not sure what tags should be used. I will leave it up to the moderator to decide if more should be added.

Previous Answer:

First i asked this question on another forum "english.stackexchange.com", and they told me that i should ask it here, i also share our Q&A up to now:

  This would be better asked on the EL Learners site. But "Under 10s -
  half price; Under 5s - free" sounds alright to me. – WS2

  @WS2 first does stack have another section for english? second, it's
  like key value field, which ask the user to enter the age which system
  should consider to be free or half price... like: Q: A , Question
  always is on the left hand side and the Answer is on the right hand
  side – deadManN

  Anyway, I would go with something like "Maximum age for half price". –
  Mr Lister 4 mins ago

  it'a a little long but i'm wonder if there is a better answer, also
  it's harder for the child with no cost, also note that we should note
  it to user that we meant infant or child or adult( as we saw many of
  them, who don't get a thing after explaining things to them... Let me
  move my Question – deadManN


texts:
The distinction between an appropriate gift and a bribe can be a fine
  one.

It's about anti-bribery, and what does "fine one" mean here? Does it mean "Distinguishing between an appropriate gift and a bribe can be useful"?


texts: Gramatical Structure - "Need I justify myself any further?"

texts:
Is it correct to say:

  Need I justify myself any further?

to make the same sense as:

  Do I need to justify myself any further?

Is that even grammatically correct?


texts: 'I feel like bread baked in an oven.' is this sentence correct?

texts:
I am in a very hot room, or I was in a very hot room, so I got scalded. In this case:

a. I feel like bread baking in an oven.
b. I feel like bread baked in an oven.

Are both of these sentence correct ? Expecially 'b' is possible in grammar?

Someone(we are non native, so not sure 'b' is correct or not) says 'bake is intransitive verb in this sentence, so 'b' is impossible in grammar. So, is 'baked' impossible in any context or any case? and not natural?


texts:
In this sentence:

  The diet could be prescribed for someone with any disease in which there is an abnormal retention of fluid.

Is it correct to replace "in which" with "in that"?

Where we could do that?

Are they interchangeable?

Can we put prepositions exactly next to "that" (as a relative pronoun)?

like this:

  He worked for a spy network about that I knew nothing.


texts: 'Make the best of' or 'Make the best out of.'

texts:
I was all by myself, no one there to support me mentally or financially. I though in order to survive I had to start buying cheap things, spend less and sell the unnecessary things. And I said to myself:
"I have to make the best of whatever I have."
I don't know if the sentence is correct given the context. But if it is, how about "I have to make the best out of whatever I have"?


texts: Why are some common nouns' first letters being used capital?

texts:
I am reading "The Orphan Child". On  the first page there is a sentence which seems fine to me. But I think I should clear the air and make sure am with the writer on the same page. My question is very simple, and I think I already know the answer as well. But before we move further I should write down the sentence so you can understand what exactly I am asking.

Still from the novel:

  Patterns of ice lingered on the outside of the scullery window at Meadow Hall....

My question is in the above sentence why the writer used the letter M and H  capital as meadow and hall are common nouns? And if you notice in the same sentence scullery and window both are also the common nouns but he didn't use the capital letters in this case. I gave the answer to myself and I said, "He used these nouns (Meadow, Hall) as proper nouns, and calling them by their names."

Does my answer make sense? Or am I wrong about it?


texts:
How would I rephrase the sentence below into past tense? I'm writing a story in past tense (e.g. she came, he said, they kissed).

Present tense:

  z) "It was beautiful there, it is beautiful here."

Past tense:

  a) "It ??? beautiful there, it was beautiful here."
  b) "It was beautiful there, it was beautiful here."
  c) "It had been beautiful there, it was beautiful here."

I'm a little confused, I would use version (b) but I think I'd make a mistake. This is just comparing 2 places. The thing that confuses me is that both places are still beautiful so I want to use (b) but (c) seems to be more correct. Which version is better? Current time and place is "here", "there" is the past of "here". Or maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Edit:
(z) displays that there is a (significant) time period between visit of 1st and 2nd place.
(b) is an option for me to use, but the time period is lost in this one
(c) is an option for me to use, but I'm not sure if the reader knows that the first place is still beautiful.
(a) is the option if there is an even better form I don't know

(I'm not native English, sorry.)


texts: "As for to" in comparison to "as for" or "as to"

texts:
I often ask myself: if the preposition can be placed before the verb and not after it, will the construction "as for to" be grammatically correct in comparison to "as for" or "as to"?

As for to where you are going, "The place is horrible" they say.

In comparison to:

As for where you are going to, "The place is horrible" they say.
As to where you are going (to), "The place is horrible" they say.

What do you think friends?

Edit: To those whom it concerns "as for/to" means "changing the subject".


texts:
I should have been sentenced to prison , but my lawyer convinced the court that I'm innocent

The person who said the sentence is thankful because he is not in prison now , he does not wish to be in prison .

My question is:  could we use "should have +pp" to mean that something was to expected but it didn't happen (and we are happy because it didn't happen) ?


texts: What are other ways to say that I'm no match for someone?

texts: I am looking for idiomatic sentences to say that "I am nowhere near someone's level" similar to "I'm no match for (someone)".


texts:
Can you help me to think of another ways to say:

  "The gauge has a scale with units at a distance of every 10 cm."?

Are the following sentences correct:

  "The gauge scale is divided by 10 cm intervals.",

  "The gauge scale has a mark every 10 cm."?

What is the most common and natural way to say this in English?


texts:
I found the expression in this video (around 0:56): Youth & Consequences (Ep 1) - The Hanging Chadwick Part 1

  (Farrah narrating) That’s Sarah Hurley. She and I almost didn’t make it as friends because of the Sarah and Farrah annoyance. I am not an ampersand person. So I got the whole school to call her Hurley.

I know that ampersand is the '&'-sign. But I do not know that this is supposed to mean in this context. Could you explain that to me? Thank you!


texts:
They say chicken as food is non-count in English. In my native language, we simply count chicken as food. We go to a grocery store and ask for ONE, TWO, THREE frozen chickenS.

How do you count chicken as a whole (i.e. not having cut into pieces but without a head and feathers)?

Are these sentences right? If not, what's the right way to say them?

  I bought three raw fat chickens today.

  I roasted the three chickens for dinner.

  I put all three roast chickens on the table and said, 'enjoy'.


texts:
Is it correct to say:
"How did the problem started?"
"How did the war started?" and so on?

I think the difference there is if you are using "the". Can someone enlighten me if the base form of the verb should still be used?


texts: What is the difference between 'come to' and 'come at'?

texts:
I heard somebody say "come at me".
Why does he use the preposition 'at' instead of 'to'?
I want to know the difference between 'come to me' and ' come at me'.


texts: First, Second, Third, Fourth or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th? One, Two, Three or 1, 2, 3?

texts:
When we use words like first, second, third, fourth or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, in sentences, what will be the best way to write these? Also, what about numbers? Do we put them as numbers or numerals?

Here are some sample sentences,

He got first/1st class in that examination.
He gave me two/2 books.
He will be the first/1st to get there.
My son is finishing his seventh/7th semester.
The turkey weighed five/5 Kg.

Yes, I understand that we can have many examples like the above.

Do you think that you can give some general rules for these?


texts: How do you pronounce 'rat' and 'ran'? Isn't the 'æ' sound different in these two?

texts:
I'm having a concern about how the pronunciation guides use 'æ'.
As far as I know (not a native speaker here), the word 'ran' is pronounced with a long 'æ' while the word 'rat' is pronounced with a relatively short 'æ'. (Correct me if I've been speaking these words wrong - may be this is just a bad example)

I normally refer either Cambridge or Oxford online dictionaries to refer how words are pronounced, but these both variations are using æ there. Is there something like 'æ:' symbol which works as a longer æ may be? (Like with 'i' and 'i:') Or these differences are so subtle so no one really cares? :)

rat: BrE /ræt/
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries: rat
Cambridge Dictionary: rat

ran: BrE /ræn/
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries: ran
Cambridge Dictionary: ran


texts: "He spends a lot of money buying a house" or "he spends a lot of money for buying a house"?

texts:
He spends a lot of money  buying a house

Or

  He spends a lot of money for buying a house?

Which one is correct?


texts: Has it rained/been raining at all since?

texts:
I want to know if rain occurred occasionally in France since the last time I went there, which is February. I would ask " Has it rained at all in France since February?". Is this correct?

Could I also say: "Has it rained in France since February?" or does this imply it has rained most of the time since February?

I am not looking for how many times it has rained, I just want to know if any rain has occurred.


texts:
I have a question about using past simple with the future tense. For example, if someone told you something yesterday and what he said will occur tomorrow, which one should you use?

  Yesterday , he told me that he would be here tomorrow.
  or

  Yesterday, he told me that he will be here tomorrow.


texts: What is the meaning of "I've had it with [sb.]"?

texts:
I read the script of the film "Terminator-2" (here is the script) in English and saw a lot of unknown words and phrases.

One of them in a dialogue below:

  WOMAN: ...John?  John!  Get in here right now and clean up that pigsty of yours.

            John's friend TIM, a thirteen-year-old Hispanic kid, watches as John  replies by turning up the volume on the boom box.
      Janelle gives up with a SLAM of the house's back door.

  TIM:  Your foster parents are kinda XXXXX, right?

  JOHN:   Gimme that Phillips right there.

  ..................... HOUSE - LIVING ROOM .....................

              Janelle storms into the room.  TOD VOIGHT, her husband, watches
      sports on the TV.  They're both in their thirties.  Middle-class
      working stiffs.

  JANELLE: I swear I've had it with that goddamn kid. He won't even answer me. (neither does he). Todd?  Are you gonna sit there or are you gonna do something?

I don't understand what "I've had it with that goddamn kid" means. "I have had" - is present perfect. But I don't understand the role of PP in this sentence. Is this some common expression?

P.S. I speak Russian, so it would be great if you  write some examples in Russian for better understanding


texts: How to say " I was about to tell you ... " in a native way?

texts:
When there is a topic or subject in my mind and I would like to speak with my friend about this topic and my friend starts to speak about this topic (automatically) before I speak, I would like to tell him that I was about to speak about the same topic. I was about to say the same speech or the same opinion that he said.. What a coincidence!!

Also, When I have a question in my mind and a person tell me the answer through his speech before listening to my question, I would like to tell him that I was about to ask him about what he already answered.

In my native language, When I speak about this coincidence, It shows that I'm interested in that topic and I love to listen to the Peron who speaks.

Is there a native idiom or expression to tell about this coincidence?
How do you say "I was about to tell you about the same topic that you're saying" in a more native way?  It is OK if the expression is slang.


texts: Using the word "remain" in the question "how many courses do you have?"

texts:
How to ask about the rest quantity of courses using the word "remain"?

I mean to ask about If I want to use the word "remain" in the context of the question "how many courses do you have to do in order to get the diploma?" or "How many classes do you have in order to get your final mark?" how can I do that?

I build the following sentence:

  How many courses do you remain?

but it's not clear to me and I'm afraid to use it without verification.

In addition, I don't know how to build an answer using the word "remain" ("remain to me 4 courses to complete" is correct?).


texts: How can I ask the question according to description below?

texts:
1) I want to ask about the room which was the end point for the book (e.g. To what room the book was taken?)

assertion:
The book was taken to that room

question:

Where was the book taken

2) I want to ask about origin place, from what room the book was taken to this room

assertion:
The book was taken to that room

question:

Where the book was taken?

3) Compound 'wh' questions

from the first example:

Do you know where the book was taken?

from the second example:

Do you know where the book was taken? (exactly the same)


texts: "Cricket will be being played by me" - Future Continuous Tense to Passive Voice

texts:
While I was talking to one of my friends, he changed a sentence which used the future continuous tense into one using the passive voice.

When I asked him about this, he showed me a picture from a BBC English broadcast demonstrating the same thing:

  I will be playing cricket.

  Cricket will be being played by me.

Is my friend correct that this is acceptable English?


texts: "time vs. times" when referring to the current COVID-19 incidence?

texts:
An easy google search shows both "time" and "times" are used in describing the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Is there any difference?

Resources You Can Use in These Unusual Times from the National
Initiative for Consumer Horticulture
In these unusual times, Aditro is of course continuously
monitoring the situation regarding the coronavirus (covid-19) in all
Nordic countries.
UL remains open for business and committed to serving your needs in
this unusual time
... providing some guidance on how to navigate relationships in
this unusual time


texts:
I ran into this:

  The press, and particularly the specialized travel press and the other media, including modern means of electronic communication, should issue honest and balanced information on events and situations that could influence the flow of tourists; they should also provide accurate and reliable information to the consumers of tourism services; the new communication and electronic commerce technologies should also be developed and used for this purpose; as is the case for the media, they should not in any way promote sex tourism.(Source)

My interpretation is that it means just like, that is just like the media should not in any way promote sex tourism,  the new communication and electronic commerce technologies should not in any way promote sex tourism.


texts:
In the sentence below...

  Scarcity and the need to economize.

What does the noun 'the Need' mean?
What does the noun 'the Need to' mean?
Why do we put the defined article the before the noun Need?

Thanks for help.


texts: Use of notwithstanding in start of a sentence

texts:
I had wondered over the usage of notwithstanding for a long time when I got this problem.
I came out with a few solutions.But, I don't know which one is right or wrong.

 Maya worked very hard but did not impress her teacher. (Begin with Notwithstanding)

  Notwithstanding her hard work, Maya did not impress her teacher.
  Notwithstanding Maya worked very hard, she did not impress her teacher.
  Notwithstanding the fact that Maya worked very hard, she did not impress her teacher.
  Notwithstanding Maya's hard work, she did not impress her teacher.
  Notwithstanding that Maya worked very hard, she did not impress her teacher.

Can you tell me which one of the sentences is correct? And the reason for the one being wrong.


texts:
A boy asks a person a philanthropist why he helped a lot of people. So he replied:

  I get happiness and satisfaction by / from helping people.

So what will be used: from/by?

(I read this somewhere)


texts: Is it possible for the ‘yet’ within ‘Are we there yet?’ to mean ‘still’?

texts:
Are we there yet?

I know that this sentence usually means

  Have we got there so far (‘at this time’)?

and it is even somewhat idiomatic.

But ‘yet’ has another meaning, ‘still’, which may give the sentence the opposite meaning:

  Are we still there (‘even so far’)?

Is it totally impossible for the ‘yet’ to mean ‘still’ in this sentence? If so, why is it?


texts:
I saw translation of this, but the end part of the sentence is translated just as 'for someting else' not in details. What does 'trading in the limelight for a different kind of light altogether' mean?

  So what was it that made him run at the height of his career and throw
  it all away, trading in the limelight for a different kind of light
  altogether?


texts:
I don't know what to do.

Here, is what to do a clause?

If so, what's the reasoning for that?


texts: Are acronyms pronounced as a one word or separately?

texts:
In English language there are innumerable Acronyms, but what I don’t know is that when do we pronounce an acronym as one word and when as separate Letters?

For Instance, UNICEF is pronounced /ˈjuːnɪsef/, which sounds as a one word. On the other hand, IOM is pronounced /ʌɪəʊˈɛm / as though it was three words.

Are there any rules for Acronyms pronunciation?


texts: Difference between using a gerund and using a noun form

texts:
How is using a gerund different from using a noun form? Are they interchangeable? For example, how are the below two sentences different?

You should verify that there is no problem in the code's implementation in the system.

You should verify that there is no problem in implementing the code in the system.

Thank you.


texts: Adverbs often end in -ly. But the word friendly is not an adverb, is it? A friendly advice is incorrect, but a friendly person is correct. Is the word friendly very unusual or are there many non-adverbs ending in -ly?


texts: What's wrong with "My next steps could be as follows"?

texts:
What's wrong with the sentence "My next steps could be as follows: blah-blah-blah"?

It has always seemed OK to me, but today I've noticed, that Google suggests using "would" instead of "could" here. So, is "My next steps would be ..." really more appropriate?


texts: Recognizing worth without sounding condescending

texts:
I am writing a sort of proposal for a scholarship and I am thinking of how to write the final paragraph.

At the moment I have in mind that perhaps I should mention something along the lines of

  I am appreciative of your program

The funding body is a bank, and therefore could afford not funding anyone's university fees). The problem is that everything I come up doesn't sound half as humble as it ought to (e.g. verbs 'acknowledge', 'recognise').

I don't think saying that I am 'grateful' works either since this would be the sort of thing you say once you have already been accepted/ asked to interview.


texts:
He willn't go there tomorrow.
He won't go there tomorrow.

Do people use "willn't" our days?


texts: Is the possessive of a name that ends in 's' pronounced differently if it refers to a group of people (like a band) instead of a single person?

texts:
How do you think names that have the plural "s" should be pronounced when they get the apostrophe? I researched this on the web and I couldn't find any very reliable results. For example, how should these three words be pronounced?

The Beatles'

Red Hot Chili Peppers'

Mr. Jingles'

Context: In case you don't know, The Beatles are a band, Red Hot Chili Peppers are also a band. "Jingles" is a last name that includes the plural "s". It is not a band name. I know that normally, when a plural word gets the apostrophe, you don't make a second /ɪs/ or /ɪz/ sound. For example, you don't say, /ɡɑɪzɪz/ when you say  "guys' ". But I think we might pronounce another /ɪs/ or /ɪz/ when we say the words I gave because names like "The Beatles" represent one singular band while they also represent the people in the band. When you say "Mr. Jingles" also it represents one person. So I thought it may be correct to pronounce the example words I gave as, "The Beatles + /ɪz/", "Red Hot Chili Peppers + /ɪz/", "Jingles + /ɪz/".


texts: Inquiry about first, middle and last names

texts:
I have a question regarding my name and how to write it in the United States application forms since I'm planning to undergo some exams there.
I'm an Arabic National
My first name is Omar
My father name is Farok
My grandfather name is Mohammed Jawad( double barreled name)
So in my native language my full name is : Omar Farok Mohammed Jawad
Forgive my lengthy introduction,,
The problem is that my full name in the passport is : Omar Farok M. Jawad ( the shortened Mohammed into initial M.) and my surname is Mohammed Jawad ..
So to be clear my First name is Omar and my Last name is Mohammed Jawad
The problem is when I write the middle name is is just Farok or Farok M. Jawad??
This is creating a huge anxiety for me as the name is sensitive matter in every paperwork.


texts:
Which of these sentences is correct?

  Rupees are interchangeable with dollars

or

  Rupees is interchangeable with dollars.


texts: A word for 'being secretly watched' by someone.

texts:
Let's say I daily offer water to one specific holy plant. One day i'm in a converstion with my new neighbour for the first time ever since he came(after many months).

  ME: I'm quite religious.
  HE: Yeah, I've seen you offer water daily to that plant.
  ME: Really? I didn't know I was 'being secretly watched.'

I'd like to replace 'secretly watched' with another one word that can imply the same meaning.
It could be of any form. Please feel free to re-phrase my line, if needed. I feel like there is a one word for that.
I'd appreciate any help.


texts: What is the meaning of "cognitive" ?in simple words? Does it means,ability to memorize or ability to learn or any other meaning?


texts: Singular or Plural words in this sentence

texts:
I wrote:

  ... and the leaf nodes are either labelled with a terminal (anchor) or a non-terminal symbol, which are marked with the substitution marker.

Vs.

  ... and the leaf nodes are either labelled with terminals (anchor) or non-terminal symbols, which are marked with the substitution marker.

In fact each node is marked either with a single terminal or a single non-terminal. But when I use them as plural, I don't know what to use.


texts: "It was made beautiful" and "It was made beautifully"

texts:
It was made beautiful
It was made beautifully
I'm hurt badly
I'm hurt bad

Which one is correct? Since I know that in the active voice, we can use both with different meanings. Does the passive voice apply the same rule?


texts: What does "they" do in "Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they"?

texts:
Below are two lines from a famous poem by Dylan Thomas:

  " Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

  Because their words had forked no lightning they

  Do not go gentle into that good night."

I can sort of understand what he tries to imply, but I am wondering what does they  do or mean there?

Does it related to the next line? That might be the case. That's the only thing that comes to my mind. In this case, is that punctuation correct though?


texts:
Do both have the same meaning? Or they are subtly different?
Example sentence:

What was (the) best? To go left or right, up or down?

In an answer on englishforums.com it says that both are exactly the same. But I wonder if that's really the case.


texts: When using “until”, is the time mentioned inclusive or exclusive?

texts:
Examples:

"I'm going to study until 8PM" Is he going to stop studying at 8PM sharp or 8:01PM?

"I'm not going to study until 8PM" Is he going to start studying at 8PM sharp or 8:01PM?

"I'm working until Friday" Does he stop working after his work on Thursday or Friday?

"I'm not working until Friday" Does he start working at Friday or Saturday?

"The kidnappers have given us until October 11th to deliver the documents" Do they need to deliver the documents before it hits October 10th or 11th?

From other similar posts, I learned that until is mostly exclusive but it can sometimes be inclusive but how do I tell exactly?


texts:
I broke my arm.

In my language (Persian), if I say this to one of my friends, her response would be like this: “Are you out of your mind? Why did you break your arm?” because it implies that I broke my arm on purpose. And we usually say this in passive voice.
So I actually think passive is more correct. I mean, you fell down and your arm was broken. You didn't want to break your arm. So I don't get why we say this in the active voice.


texts: number: a savings / saving in time and money?

texts:
I'd like to know whether "saving" or "Savings" should be used in the following:

  That move might mean a saving / a savings in time and money.

Traditional grammar would lead me to expect the singular "saving," but
I have seen the plural "savings" used after an indefinite article, as here.


texts:
a. Dancing acrobatically is something I enjoy very much.

b. I enjoy dancing acrobatically very much.

I think (b) means that I like to dance acrobatically. I like to do that. (a) could have that meaning, but could it mean that I enjoy watching acrobatic dances?

Many thanks.


texts: when I want to express that a job is easy to finish, should I use "simple" or "easy"?

texts:
this post is talking about an image processing problem.

in this context, I want to express that the job is easy to finish with OpenCV.

it is very easy to do the job with OpenCV.
it is very simple to do the job with OpenCV.

which one should I say? or some other better expression?


texts:
Only one painting by Van Gogh was sold during his lifetime. What would be the best sentence to describe that?

1) He could sell only one painting during his lifetime.

2) He couldn't sell more than one painting during his lifetime.

3) He succeeded to sell more than one painting during his lifetime.

4) He was able to sell more than one painting during his lifetime.


texts: How to call a customer who presents a good chance to acquire another customer after a succesful project?

texts:
I'm looking for a term/phrase used in business / business consulting that describes the following situation:

If a successful project has been implemented with customer A, our company is likely to also acquire company B as a customer, e.g. because B is the mother company of A.


texts:
The home could have been burned in the fire if the firefighters hadn't arrived.

My intuition is that although the form is similar to third conditional, it is not third conditional.
Because we use third conditional about wishes in the past. Also this could be written in following form using just "could have" and not "could have been"
Could have burned.


texts:
What does the expression "for your record" mean here:

  "If you have any questions about the study, please ask us.  A copy of this form will be provided to you for your record."

The text is from a consent form for the study of the access to medical services in a poor village.