texts: "a feeler gauge set no. 4" vs. "a no. 4 feeler gauge set"

texts:
My translation:

  Pipe straightness inspection

  Sufficient manufacturing compliance is generally enough to ensure pipe straightness. In questionable cases or when it is required by the regulatory documentation, the actual straightness of the pipe is checked using a 1 m straightedge tool and a feeler gauge set no. 4.

Would it be okay to say "a no. 4 feeler gauge set"? Which is better?

There are standards for feeler gauge sets in Russia (the particular document is called TU 3936-214-54769955-2008). There are four kinds of standard sets. Thus, when you buy a set of a particular number, you know what feeler gauges it includes.


texts: Is "commemorated" a postpositive adjective? or we are merely faced with a reduced relative clause?

texts:
If this be so, we must necessarily ascribe it to the later of the two monarchs commemorated, i.e. to Sapor  ΙΙΙ.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16167/16167-h/16167-h.htm


texts: How to refer to times with two zeros? (1:00, 2:00, 3:00 etc.)

texts:
How to refer to times with two zeros, such as: 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 etc. (excludes hours with minutes such as 1:01, 2:01, 3:10 etc.)?

Should I refer to them as "completed hours" / "closed hours"/ "round hour" /"rounded hour / whole hour?

I want to say, for example, that such times (01:00, 02:00, 03:00 etc.) are said easily as they are not mixed with minutes.


texts:
Which one is correct?

  She was on OCP for 5 years and had stopped it since 2005.
  She had been on OCP for 5 years and had stopped it since 2005.


texts: Will it be acceptable to use continuous here

texts:
The wind was blowing and an owl hooted in a tree above me

https://teacherluke.co.uk/2009/11/12/mystery-story-narrative-tenses/

why it is not  "an owl was hooting" .Is it because that the wind was blowing lasts more than the owl hooted and will the continuous  be acceptable. it could be possible that the owl hooted lasts more than the blowing of the wind and both events are background too


texts: Is it correct to use "will have been being"?

texts:
By this time next year we will have been being on this committee
   for a decade.

Is it correct to use future perfect progressive tense in this sentence?


texts:
I would like to ask about of in the following passage, which is the definition for interrogate on Google's dictionary.

  ask questions of someone closely, aggressively, or formally.

I also looked up the definition for of but as the preposition is so versatile and has so many definitions that I have come to ask a question here.

In my theory, it can be equivalent to the following two possible interpretations.

ask (questions of someone) → ask questions about someone
(ask questions) of someone → ask questions from someone

Any explanations will be appreciated. Thank you.


texts: What's the difference between "I'm an awarded actor" vs "I'm an award winning actor"? Which one sounds more natural?


texts:
In the book "How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes" by Peter D. Schiff, chapter 7, page 82, paragraph 1, there is the sentence:

  The splashing success of the Water Works project flowed through the island's economy.

"flow through" confused me.

I know the meaning --cash flow--in the below sentence.

  When I get a little cash flow at the end of the week, I’ll treat you to a hamburger.

I know the meaning --flow through--in the below sentence.

  The River Thames flows through London.

How to parse "flow through" in the sentence?

  The splashing success of the Water Works project flowed through the island's economy.


texts: What's the meaning of "rush everything in"?

texts:
From NPR:

  In fact, you're more relaxed because you don't have to worry and rush everything in on Saturday.

I know that "rush everything" means "hurry to do everything", but why does the sentence add a word "in" after it? Is the word superfluous?


texts:
"...focuses on the person’s individual
motivation to pursue skills,..."

texts:
I read a sentence on a video but am not sure what does "motivation" means in it.
Does it mean "enthusiasm for doing something" or "the need or reason for doing something" in the following sentence?

Some of the principles behind IE, intellectual entrepreneurship,
specifically its intellectual aspect, focuses on the person’s
individual
motivation to pursue skills, expertise, and knowledge in one area, the development of what I call
the "unique intellectual capital", the individual’s set of knowledge.


texts:
I've just sent a cake down in/with the elevator, so I hope they're hungry downstairs.

Is "in" or "with" correct here?
Is the sentence natural?


texts: What does "Swedish parents are entitled to 480 paid parental leave days for each child" mean?

texts:
Swedish parents are entitled to 480 paid parental leave days for each child

What does this mean?


texts: eliminate documents and an electronic database

texts:
I am puzzled about the word choice, namely the verb "to eliminate". Can we say that the person eliminated documents or an electronic database because they were of no use anymore or outdated.

If no, which word is natural to native English speakers in this context?


texts:
Which one of the following sentences is correct, and are there any grammatical rules for that?
(1) Wine is being made in Italy for thousands of years.
(2) Wine has been made in Italy for thousands of years.


texts: Usage of 'ever' in the following sentences

texts:
Is 'ever' really necessary in the following sentence?

1- This is the first time I have (ever) been to England.

2- This is the first time I have (ever) seen a crocodile

3- This is the best goal I have (ever) seen in my life.

4- She is the most beautiful woman I have (ever) seen.


texts: Difference between adjective+noun and noun+adjective

texts:
It was a speech calculated to appeal to the unions.

I encountered this sentense on the internet and got a question that

how the sentence will change its meaning or nuance if the noun and adjective switch their position, being as:

  It was a calculated speech to appeal to the unions.

Could you tell me how those two are different?


texts: What does "in various forms" mean in this context?

texts:
We will use your certain video to promote the advertiser’s product or
  service in various forms.

Does the bold part mean "promote the advertiser’s (product or service in various forms)" or "promote the advertiser's (product or service) using various ways"?


texts: what is the meaning of " to be of something"

texts:
I've seen some sentences using this structure, but I cannot find it how and when it is used.
for example : having a traditional meal is of importance in many social situation.
another example is " be of use". What does it mean?


texts: Minimal or Minimum - Which word should I use here?

texts:
The sentence is,
What are the “minimal/minimum" needs of your life?

Which word would be grammatically right and overall appropriate?


texts: How do i get rid of the passive voice misuse error?

texts:
What is the correct way to get rid of the error here?
The sentence goes like

These books are expensive. A book grant must be sanctioned.

If I change it to

These books are expensive. There must be a book grant sanctioned.

Or

These books are expensive. There must be a sanctioned book grant.

Would it be correct?
Or are there any other ways of correcting it?


texts: What does "Monsieur Valmonde grew practical and wanted things well considered: that is, the girl's obscure origin." mean?

texts:
As the day was pleasant, Madame Valmonde drove over to L'Abri to see Désirée and the baby.

  It made her laugh to think of Désirée with a baby. Why, it seemed but yesterday that Désirée was little more than a baby herself; when Monsieur in riding through the gateway of Valmonde had found her lying asleep in the shadow of the big stone pillar.

  The little one awoke in his arms and began to cry for "Dada." That was as much as she could do or say. Some people thought she might have strayed there of her own accord, for she was of the toddling age. The prevailing belief was that she had been purposely left by a party of Texans, whose canvas-covered wagon, late in the day, had crossed the ferry that Coton Mais kept, just below the plantation. In time Madame Valmonde abandoned every speculation but the one that Desiree had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection, seeing that she was without child of the flesh. For the girl grew to be beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere,--the idol of Valmonde.

  It was no wonder, when she stood one day against the stone pillar in whose shadow she had lain asleep, eighteen years before, that Armand Aubigny riding by and seeing her there, had fallen in love with her. That was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot. The wonder was that he had not loved her before; for he had known her since his father brought him home from Paris, a boy of eight, after his mother died there. The passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw her at the gate, swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles.

  Monsieur Valmonde grew practical and wanted things well considered: that is, the girl's obscure origin. Armand looked into her eyes and did not care. He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana? He ordered the corbeille from Paris, and contained himself with what patience he could until it arrived; then they were married

Does it mean that  Monsieur Valmone because of the way of his upbringing was practical and as he wanted things well considered the girl's unknown origin was important to him and raised her so good to make her unknown origin less important?

This passage is from a short story named: Désirée 's Baby by Kate Chopin


texts: An idiomatic word for "very little" in this context?

texts:
The country has produced less than 1 percent of the global output. The
  country's share of the global output is (very) _____ .

Small, little, tiny, few, low are in my mind. But I don't know what is an idiomatic choice for that context.

I am looking for a word to say that the share in question is very little.


texts: How to quickly understand mutliple continuous parenthetical phrases?

texts:
The problem comes when I try to understand (multiple) continuous parentheses, for example:

Summary of text leading up to this: someone purpose to eliminate 13 majors about humanities since they are helpless for future jobs in society.

  That reasoning might make sense if Stevens Point were a trade school, but it is, at least by title and claim, a university, and there is an argument to be made that because the claim is now without support at Stevens Point, the title should be removed.

(It is the last sentence in first paragraph of this essay)

I couldn't get the meaning of "because the claim is now without support at Stevens Point, the title should be removed. ", who supports what? In what condition the university title would be removed?

Meanwhile, I would like to know how to understand multiple continuous parentheses
 and other long complex sentence, as I usually get lost when read 3 or 4 of parentheses/clauses. Any suggestion about training?

BTW: How to do accurate search of parentheses grammar? Mostly the grammar about "()" jumps out when I google "parentheses".

Thanks for any suggestion!


texts: Who [do we think [ _ had a key]]? ; Do we think [who had a key]?

texts:
“Who do we know had a key to the place?”,
“Do we know who had a key to the place?”

When I came across sentence #1 from ‘the Silkworm,’ I thought #2 would be a possible structure. (If they denote the same sense, I’m not sure.) But when matrix verb were ‘think’, can the second-pattern structure (#4 below) be possible?

“Who do we think had a key to the place?” (I can see this type in CGEL,p.1082)
“Do we think who had a key to the place?”

The sentence itself is plausible (you can think a fact, but think a question?) , but the meaning is somewhat strange from #3. Is #4 possible? Possible but not have the same meaning as #3?


texts:
When "get" is followed by an infinitive, it means "manage" or "have an opportunity".

  He is getting to be a naughty boy.

It means "he manages to be a naughty boy" or "he has an opportunity to be naughty boy".

Am I correct?


texts:
"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other two. "I was
  trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to
  catch you, he said you had a drag ––"
      Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than
  Norbert as she towered over the three of them.
      "I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning.
  Explain yourselves."  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

What does ‘it’ mean?


texts: "xxx is foolish" and "xxx is being foolish"

texts:
Tom Brady is being foolish for practicing during the pandemic.

In my understanding, the commentator implies, by using present continuous tense, that Tom Brady's foolishness is just temporary. If this is correct, would it add a little insulting implication if the commentator said "Tom Brady is foolish for practicing during the pandemic."? Or does that make no difference?


texts:
I am writing an article. I want to select a suitable sentence for the part of my article. Assume that there are N tasks, T1 through TN, located on a processor. Every task Ti has an attribute--let me call it ki.

Now, after my introduction of a formula such as X = ki + Y, I want to immediately write about ki after the formula. Which of the following sentences is more appropriate?

  X = ki + Y; where ki is an attribute for the tasks located in order i on the processor.
  X = ki + Y; where ki is an attribute for the tasks located in sequence i on the processor.
  [...]


texts: What does "its" refer to in this context?

texts:
As Karl Bürkli, a fervent democrat and trade union leader, wrote in
1869:
Our law-makers, elected by the people, are incapable of making good
laws for the working class, even if they make excellent laws for the
bourgeois class. Why? Because the representative bodies, in their
majority, consist of capitalists and their servants who are hostile to
social progress. Just as slave-holders are incapable of making laws in
the interests of slaves, capitalist-representatives are incapable of
making laws in the interest of workers. Representative democracy is
not a form of government able to improve the living conditions of the
working class and to resolve social problems. (Own translation)
But unlike Karl Marx, who 20 years previously had called for a
revolutionary class struggle against the ‘bourgeois’ state, Bürkli put
all his hopes in direct democracy as law-making by the people. If
direct democracy is realised, he wrote, ‘the people will find the
right way to social freedom, because they feel themselves its daily
sorrows and the need for change’.

I wonder what does "its" refer in this context. I think that this can be two things:

The absesnse of direct democracy
the absense of social freedom.

Which variant is true?


texts:
He was about to take a sip of his coffee when suddenly his car bounced/bumped over something.
Could anyone please tell me the difference between "bounced" and "bumped" here? Are both okay? When to use what?


texts:
What is difference between below mentioned sentences.

Bringing ambition in life.
Bringing ambition to life.


texts: An appropriate synonym for “skills” in this context?

texts:
Which synonym, term or phrase can I use instead of 'skills' to create a sentence?

  I believe that my skills and strengths are an excellent match for your company profile.


texts: How to name this selling format in English?

texts:
In China they sometimes sell coffee in such a way that you can buy two cups of coffee, but you can collect only the first one today, and the other one at any other day starting from tomorrow. You would have to pay for both cups today - the full price for the fist cup and only 50% of that for the other cup. On the day when you make this purchase, they will give you a special ticket that will allow you to pick up your second cup (without paying, of course) starting from the next day.

I wonder how this format of selling is called in English. In Chinese they call it simply "one cup, another cup". So a sentence like "I want to buy one-cup-another-cup coffee, please" is quite common. But how would a native English speaker express the same thought in English? Is there any special term for this kind of selling format?


texts: Strange sounding instruction - I found you X

texts:
Trying to create a notification message for a user on a website.

Right now, the flow is that following some search, results are presented to a user with text such as:

"I Found you these great results !"

I understand this can be changed to "Here are some ... "

But what I am really trying to understand is if this is a legit usage of language:
I found you X

I am of course a non native, so maybe the "strangeness" is just to my ears..


texts:
I don't understand the meaning of party hands in this column by Grace Dent entitled "If you were on your first foreign trip for 24 years, would you want Bono to be a part of the package?" that appeared in The Independent in 2012.

  As of yet, Aung San Suu Kyi isn't meeting Hovis, sorry Jay-Z, Sean "Jolly cross about the Falklands" Penn, Bill "Don't call me party hands" Clinton, Bill "Butter him up for cash" Gates or any of the international "unelected force-for-good brigade". Not even Angelina Jolie has got her crazy ass an invite to stand before the political icon, one leg out like a purposeful pirate, completely festooned in kids, exuding that beatific one-love, one-world glow that comes from private jets and multiple houses.


texts:
School always closes for holidays.

I think it should be "schools close for holidays".
Why is school used without articles here?
Thanks.


texts:
An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics complex in the case of the summer games, or the main ice hockey rink for the winter games. The Olympic Park is part of the "legacy" which provides benefit to the host city after the games have ended. As such it may subsequently include an urban park and a museum or similar commemoration of the games that were hosted there.

Given the above context, Olympic Park is not a proper noun. It has been accompanied with the an article. Then I expect that we can say an Olympic park, not necessarily an Olympic Park (with both words capitalized). Why are the two words capitalized even when not speaking of a specific park in a specific city?


texts: Meaning of the phrase "pressed on" in context

texts:
It is from this article.

  Pressed on what he would do differently from Poroshenko in dealing with Putin, Zelensky said he would insist the Russian president explain his past actions and his demands on an official piece of paper.


texts:
In Arabic, I see it written and pronounced as "Sindbad", but "Sinbad" seems to be the original one.

How should we write/pronounce it, "Sinbad" OR "Sindbad"?


texts: Using "the" with past participle but not with the present participle

texts:
I am currently working on a book review of verb presentation in two texts. I am contemplating the nominal function of present participles. Of course, we know that a present participle is called a gerund or is functioning nominally. However, it is odd to say "The swimming is fun," but we can say "Swimming is fun." For the past participle counterpart, we find instances like "The dead." Consider the following sentences: "The damned are in hell." "Doctor Faustus is among the wretched." "They buried the dead." The past participle, affixed with "the" before it, functions nominally- in the place of the subject, direct object, and the object of the preposition.
So, why can we say "the dead" but not "the flying?"


texts:
As he ___ his report last Friday, Andrew is able to help his
  colleagues this week.

  (A)        already submitted

  (B)        had already submitted

The correct answer is already submitted to put into the blank, the explanation says because of giving exactly the time point(last Friday).

But I think had already submitted is better because the phrase more emphasizes the action of submitting completely done, therefore making Andrew helping others become possible.


texts:
The days on which the slim boy’s cocker spaniel eyes shone brighter than ever, and his brown wavy hair seemed to have a movement of their own, they knew that he must have read a ghost tale and was hatching a plot to scare someone.

I had read something like this, and previously asked a question about "cocker spaniel eyes" , from which I've got some very helpful answers. But a new question was aroused then, as what Mr. PeterG said:

Also, it should be "his brown wavy hair seemed to have a movement of its own," –  peterG Jan 15 at 19:29

I thought that point which hadn't been noticed was quite interesting. After thinking over that, I thought I would see it this way:

"his brown wavy hair seemed to have a movement of its own" can be understood in a way that his hair, as a whole mass, goes in a same direction of its own. But I have a different understanding that the author actually uses "their" to mean each strand of his hair goes in its own direction, that is to say, the boy has rough or Afro hair.

"his brown wavy hair" is deemed to be a mass noun with a singular form, whereas "have a movement of their own" has to lay stress on each individual hair's own movement, and in this case, the author has no way to avoid making "hair" and "their" contradict each other according to strict singular/plural rules. In a word, I don't think it's a mistake. Here, logic should be given greater priority over some rigid grammar rules.

It seems that Mr. PeterG doesn't agree to regarding it as a right sentence. I am not a native speaker, I am somewhat ready to accept his argument, but I still need more evidence to be convinced.

Is it grammatically wrong to use ”their“ in this case to refer to hair？


texts: What “nice one” (possibly an expression) really means?

texts:
I heard it in Diana the movie.

Someone tells the surgeon “nice one” when they meet in the stairs.

I am not sure if we need context here or if it is just an idiomatic expression in English (or perhaps just an expression in British English).


texts: Is the most popular sport = the most prominent sport?

texts:
I'm preparing for the IELTS. So, I'm trying to use high-level vocabulary as much as possible. Consider the following sentences.

In Japan, the most popular sport is baseball.

In Japan, the most prominent sport is baseball.

Do they pretty much mean the same thing, the only difference is the latter is more fancy? If not, could someone provide an alternative word for it?

From the Cambridge Dictionary, prominent

very well known and important

with the meaning, is sounds natural to say

In Japan, baseball is very well known and important.


texts: “When is the last time…?” OR “When was the last time…?”

texts:
I wonder which one is correct: is, was or either in this following conversation ?

  Henry: I was on the phone for an hour.

  Ron: Who were you talking to for an hour?

  Henry: Sam, an old friend from college.

  Ron: When is the last time you talked to him?

  Henry: At college graduation!

  Ron: Wow! That was 30 years ago!

  Henry: We had a lot of catching up to do.

Also ...

I wonder for the verb form "talked" , is it use -ed or not (in case with tobe was ) ?

  (A) Ron: When was the last time you talked to him?

or

  (B) Ron: When was the last time you talk to him?

this question is continuing from older post

"When is the last time...?" OR "When was the last time...?"


texts: 'I wouldn't vote for Clinton if you paid me': what does this mean?

texts:
My understanding was that a sentence of the form:

  I won't do X if Y happens

means something along the lines of

  if Y happens I will not do X

Nigel Farage stated in a speech  'I wouldn't vote for Clinton if you paid me'. To my mind, this seems to be saying 'If you pay me, I will not vote for Clinton', but obviously he didn't mean that. What was the meaning he intended to convey?

Note: the full quote is

  “I will say this: if I was an American citizen, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me!”


texts: Do we say "rinse your mouth" or "wash your mouth" or "to mouthwash" or "to gargle"?

texts:
People say "to rinse your mouth with water or mouthwash after brushing your teeth."

People also say "why wash your mouth out after inhaling?"

  If you rinse your mouth, you wash it by filling your mouth
  with water or with a liquid that kills germs, then spitting it out.

  Use a toothbrush on your tongue as well, and rinse your mouth
  frequently. [VERB noun]

  Rinse out means the same as rinse.

  After her meal she invariably rinsed out her mouth. [VERB PARTICLE
  noun]

  You should rinse your mouth out after eating. [VERB noun PARTICLE]

  [intransitive] gargle (with something) to wash inside your
  mouth and throat by moving a liquid around at the back of your throat
  and then spitting it out

  Gargle with salt water if your throat is sore.

  Seem like "rinse your mouth" and "wash your mouth" and "to
  mouthwash" and "to gargle" are the same.

  Do We say "rinse your mouth" or "wash your mouth" or "to
  mouthwash" or "to gargle"?


texts: Formal alternatives for "to be justifiable"

texts:
I am writing an academic paper in economics, and I am trying replace is justifiable with some other expression, but I am missing the right word.

Current text: The objective of loss minimization is only justifiable when loss coincides with cost.

Replace with: The objective of loss minimization ... when loss coincides with cost.

I need a formal word or phrase, something like makes sense, but the latter is too informal.

(The example is partly made up, so please do not focus on whether cost and loss are related in a meaningful way.)


texts:
From the song Memory:

  When the dawn comes
  Tonight will be a memory too
  And a new day will begin
  Burnt out ends of smoky days
  The stale court smell of morning
  A street lamp dies
  Another night is over
  Another day is dawning

How do you understand that?


texts:
I have got many (chairs/ cases), so will you help me carry them upstairs?
This good and near (hotel/accommodation) to stay in.

If you have to choose between chairs and cases in the first sentence, which one will you choose? I will go for "cases", but I think we can use "chairs" in some contexts, do you agree with me?

In the second sentence, if I have to choose between hotel and accommodation, I will go for accommodation because it is uncountable, but hotel is countable and we need to use either "the" or "a". Does what I mentioned make sense to everyone? To be honest, sentence number two does not sound correct to me because the verb is missing, do you agree with me??

Thanks in advance


texts: Is there a phrase sounds like "sub this straight keen"?

texts:
In this video, it sounds as if the lecturer is saying:

  ...sub this straight keen

A few seconds later, he then says

  ...so we're taking our function and subbing it in 3
  X plus Delta X...

Now I know that "sub" is an abbreviation of "substitute". Also, the online Cambridge English dictionary gives this explanation of sub

  in sports, a player who is used for part of a game instead of another

So the lecturer's second use makes sense (at least to me). But my question is about his first use. There, is he actually trying to say "sub this straight in" (and not "sub this straight keen")?


texts:
Would you mind explaining me which one is the correct one in following sentences.

  The place where we held the dinner last time was small and smelly.

  The place that we held the dinner last time was small and smelly.


texts: Difference between 'purportedly' vs 'ostensibly'

texts:
Excerpts:

Putin also envisioned a future for war where drones, OSTENSIBLY controlled by artificial intelligence, would fight proxy wars between countries

link to the article

After the participants completed the scrambled-sentence task, they went to another laboratory to participate in what was PURPORTEDLY a second task

link to the book (170th page)

links to the explanations:

first

it says that purportedly is supposedly; ostensibly is seemingly or apparently

roger that, but

second

this source conveys some slightly different point in view of previous explanation

purportedly

Seemingly: Use when an observable fact is contrary to the truth

ostensibly

Supposedly: Use when a fact is rumored to be true

Apparently: Use when the truth of a fact is observable, if one looks

As for me, supposedly and apparently are opposite to each other

third

  This book ostensibly provides the
  reader with all the information needed
  to write good prose.

Here the speaker is implying that some other information — the blurb on the book jacket, a review in a newspaper perhaps — has suggested that the book contains the information in question, but that the speaker makes no guarantees on that point and may even be setting up a rebuttal to that contention, following the first sentence with something like "But I found it an utter waste of time."

fourth

Oxford dictionary has the word 'purportedly' for 'ostensibly' as a synonym

Question:

  I wonder what is the difference between 'ostensibly' and 'purportedly'


texts:
I'd like to ask if we shift the tense when we report a sentence in which who is subject of the sentence.

For example :

  Who came to meet you at the airport?

I saw that it is reported  on Cambridge Dictionary grammar notes as

  I asked them who came to meet them at the airport.

Is this correct or typo and it should have been

I asked them who had come to meet them at the airport.

And how to report the following questions ?

  Who called me?

  How many people came?

  Which machine went wrong?

She asked me who............


texts:
John wishes he will be richer.

The above sentence is a sentence correction question asked in my exam. I know the bold part is incorrect but I am not able to figure out how to correct it should I use were or should I go for would be ? Although were sounds more natural to me, I tried to google for wish usage and here found both being used in different sentences.


texts:
A big disadvantage of online shopping is that there is a big chance
  you will buy something that doesn't fulfill your expectations. It's
  logic because you can't see a product personally and if you can't see
  it and touch it, you will probably buy the wrong thing.

Instead of the a article, I would use there the because I'm assuming that I'm talking about the product in general. Am I right?


texts: When do we say "make a toast to you" and "cheers to you"?

texts:
Your friend has just got a new job and you and your friend are raising your glasses of beer towards each other.
When do you say "make a toast to you" and "cheers to you!" in that situation?
Note: in the movie "Wonder woman 1984", the woman says "Well, cheers to us. Wishing us better luck, I guess."


texts:
There's no point of ( me / my ) staying here anymore.

In grammar class, they taught me to use me for the Subject of the Gerund in a case like the one above, which me being the Object of the Preposition Of as well. However I saw lots of examples they use my in stead. Is it sort of ungrammatical-but-they-use-normally type?


texts: Shortening a clause after the the word "other"

texts:
I want to write this following sentence using a shorter form.

  This process resulted in two lists: one is the group of variable A that are influenced by the variable X, and the other is the group of variable A that are influenced by the variable Y.

I think the clause "the group of variable A" can be shorten but I don't know how.
Anybody can help?

Thank you


texts: Confused about "How could I have done this?"

texts:
This comes up while I am watching westworld.
There is one scene in it. Teddy did some horrible things without consciousness. Then he backed to normal and asked Delores "How could I have done that?"
Now I'm confused about this. As I learned from the grammar book, "could have done" is only used in unreal condition in the past or making a guess in the past. In this case, Teddy had already done the horrible things so the "unreal condition" explanation may not work. He also already knew the result so it's not like a guess either. Why didn't he say "How had I done that"? I'm puzzled here. Could anyone help share some insights on this? Thanks in advance.


texts: Make/verbs of perception + passive voice

texts:
she makes it being connected..

  I've seen her being connected..

  I heard him being punched...

Are these correct? Should we put being or bare infinitive of verb to be after verbs of perception in a passive situation?.

And a small question that is related to the topic. Can we say :

  I've seen that she is becoming arrogant

  I've felt that he is changing

Can we put a complete clause after that and verbs of perception?


texts:
Can adverbs describe nouns?

Down here are some examples I came up with(don't know if they are correct):

1

    The party "tonight" will be great.

2

    The project "since 2001" is a dead end project.

3

    The room "upstairs" is a game room.

4

    The concert "yesterday" was amazing.

5

    The government's policies "last year" have been discussed by the public.


texts:
It's kind of a funny slide.

Is this correct to say? I guess "a kind of funny slide" doesn't make sense either, but "a" after "kind of" seems a little uncomfortale to me.


texts:
Why in most cases do not put the article "a", when you enter the sentence in the search?
In the example on this site, the article is adding (OALD (American English))

Just enter in the search and you will see that everywhere in different ways.

  He is a racist

and

  He is not a racist/I'm not a racist


texts: Is this use of the expression "very far from" grammatically correct?

texts: I wouldn't say that it's not a good hotel, but it's very far from being as elegant and charming as it used to be.


texts: What does "with respect for the choices of society of all peoples" mean?

texts:
Excerpt:

  Aiming to promote responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism in the framework of the right of all persons to use their free time for leisure pursuits or travel with respect for the choices of society of all peoples, ([from Preamble of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism][1])

I understand everyone has the mentioned right provided that they respect the decisions each society makes about its affairs.

So is it right? Can we say choices here means decisions?


texts: could have + past participle to express past possibility that come true

texts:
"I’m happy because you could have won the race."

Could we say this sentence to a person who won a race?


texts:
I've been trying to play around with mixed conditional clauses and inversion. These topics are obviously not the easiest ones, so I have experienced some issues.
My sentence:

Weren’t professionals from Amazon to explore AI and deep learning so vigorously, these vital spheres of science wouldn’t have gone mainstream, gaining popularity and ubiquity.

First off, I am not entirely sure that this sentence is correct. Secondly, I would like to show that the process of exploring is continuous. However, I’ve read that you have to replace if with were and change the verb to the infinitive with “to” (2nd conditional). Without inversion it is quite straightforward (I guess): “If they weren't exploring …”. Could you please help me out? I can’t get my head around it.


texts: A question from a holy book about an article before an adjective

texts:
And remember Ibrahim and Ishmael raised the foundations of the House (With this prayer):"Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For Thou art the All-Hearing, the All-knowing.

All-knowing is an adjective and I expect All-Hearing as well. Is "The" grammatically acceptable in mentioned verse above. I think it should be not because that lacks a noun


texts:
Why do we say "who are you" when talking to a single person?

Related question: "Who is speaking with each other?" Is this correct?


texts:
Can anybody tell me what "play to..." means in this sentence -

  "Extortion hacks play to the deepest fears of companies and executives—if not handled well, company secrets are exposed, customers file lawsuits, and executives lose their jobs"


texts: About the Usage of "When" Clauses as Adjective-clauses

texts:
In the 19th century, Yukichi Fukuzawa, one of the greatest Japanese politicians and philosophers, wrote during his studying abroad:

  "Language is a tool. It is like a hammer when you build a house."

The question is whether the usage of this "when" is correct (I mean, can the "when" act as "with which" or something like that?)

If yes, I'm glad if you show me some sample sentences using "when" of this usage.

If no, please let me know why it is wrong.

Oops! Note that I know these similar sample sequences:
"I will never forget the time when we first met."
"I can imagine his astonishment when she asked him to marry her."
"This is a picture when I went to Paris."


texts:
If two actions were happening at the same time, we can use both Past Simple + Past Simple and Past Simple + Past Continuous or conversely

While he was having his breakfast, I was reading the newspaper

While he had his breakfast, I read the newspaper

The quetion is can I combine Past Continuous with Past Simple?

While you were walking, I broke the window

I want the "walk" action be like a process while the "break" action - like a fact. If I say

While you were walking, I was breaking the window

then both actions would be a process. The same with

While you walked, I broke the window

both actions are facts.


texts:
I have a friend who uses the term "otherwise else" regularly. She frequently uses words incorrectly and pronounces some things in a dialect all her own, so at first I didn't think much of it. The more she uses it, the more I'm bothered by it. I'm wondering if it has an odd sound because I don't hear it often or if it is incorrect.
Examples:

  I need an answer to this question! Otherwise else I'm going to be confused for eternity!
  I need to run this errand after work, otherwise else I won't have time until the weekend.
  I need to write in pencil, otherwise else I'll use a whole tube of white out.
  You have to seal the cheese completely, otherwise else it will dry out.


texts:
Employee: Where's Burt?
Boss: Unfortunately he wasn't as dedicated as I expect from someone working for this company, so I fired him. Let that be a reminder to the rest of you.
Questions:

Does the highlighted part make perfect sense here and is it natural?

Can it stand on its own without adding something to it like... "Let that be a reminder to the rest of you that if you're not dedicated then..."?


texts: Wondering what the words "confront" & "personality" really are talking about in this piece of news

texts:
On the third day of his cross-examination, Mr Nel pressed the Olympic
  sprinter to explain the final moments leading up to the shooting.He
  asked why he had not checked whether Ms Steenkamp had heard his calls
  for her to phone the police, or why he had not taken her to safety
  instead of going to confront the supposed intruder.Mr Pistorius said
  it was his personality to confront what he believed was an intruder.
  The trial has been adjourned until Monday morning.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26984472

What does "personality" mean here? Is it a typo? Should it not be "responsibility"?


texts: Do I need the verb "be" with the adverb + "ing forms"?

texts:
I came across this sentence:

My sense suddenly tingling warning me of danger!

And I would like to understand what it is:

My sense suddenly tingling

Is this a noun phrase? It's just that I would write this sentence with be:

My sense are suddenly tingling

Did they just omit the verb be, or is it a noun phrase (or gerund)?


texts:
It's really confusing to choose the correct tense between simple past and present perfect.

Let's assume one situation:

Every student has to bring his/her own name tag to the class, but today I forgot to bring it. If a professor notices that I'm not with the name tag now, she would ask me:

'Don't you have your name tag?'

Then I would say:

'Yes. I have the name tag but I forgot to bring it', right?

But is it okay for me to say:

'Yes. I have the name tag but I didn't bring it', or
'Yes. I have the name tag but I haven't brought it.'

Which one is correct between 'I didn't bring it' and 'I haven't brought it'?
(So confusing to pick up the right tense.)


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

As it's a negative sentence, 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 properties 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: Common name for activities of a responsible citizen

texts:
I was chatting with a partner and used word "citizenry" to mean "activities of a citizen, such as voting, showing up to community meetings, talking to representatives". Dictionary define it differently, of course:

  (the citizens of a place regarded collectively).

I am looking for a word that encompasses activities of citizens that are available to make community a better place. Does it even exist?

PS: my native tongue is Russian, was taught british english in school.


texts: What is the American street naming convention?

texts: What sets apart a street, an avenue, a road (rd.), an alley - a way, and whatever forms of communication tracts I missed -  that appear as part of street names on city maps in the US?


texts:
Influence has two main connotations that affect doesn't. The first is that of relation to process rather than state, so that something might affect a rock but rarely would circumstances arise where we could speak of that rock being influenced. The second, and weaker, connotation is of emotive response being involved; this is probably the connotation that makes it feel less appropriate to use in reference to a bike's performance. (We do speak of mechanistic processes being influenced, though, especially complex ones.)

Would you please explain these explanations more readily? especially I have some problem with the bold part.
 I am much too confused to differentiate between these.

This is a link to a similar question.


texts:
Is 'This/that way' a colloquial way of saying 'In this/that way?'. 'In this/that way' to me sounds close to mean 'By doing so.' Does 'this/that way' mean the same thing, only more conversational?

Ex: You need to deposit the money in your bank account. This way, you stay away from overdrawing your account when using your debit card.
(conversational)

... In this way, you stay away... (more standard/grammatically correct)


texts: Can "gaze" and "perspective" be used interchangeably?

texts:
I came across a sentence which was:

  Shahid's gaze was not political in the sense of being framed in terms of policy and solutions.

Merriam Webster dictionaries define "gaze" as: A fixed intent look.
So I gather it means perspective here. But can they be used interchangeably?


texts: "Nothing is available, is anything?" Tag questions for negative sentences

texts:
I wasn't taught how to form a tag question when the main sentence involves "no".  Is it grammatical to say

  There's no problem with the car, is there?

  There's no apples left in the carton, are there?

  The poor man has nowhere to go, does he?

  Nobody cares about it, does anybody?

  It has nothing to do with the incident, does it?

  Nothing is as precious as unobtainium, is anything?

(Some of the above examples might not sound natural.  It would be great if you could suggest me better alternatives.)


texts: Using comma before "reduced non defining relative clauses"

texts:
As far as I know, I can reduce sentence one to sentence two.

  1- My brother Ben, who lives in Hong Kong, is an architect.

  2- My brother Ben, living in Hong Kong, is an architect.

But I often see these kind of sentences :

  3- Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a disease involving
  inflammation of small blood vessels.

I think this sentence(3) is a reduction from this one(4).

  4- Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a disease which involves
  inflammation of small blood vessels.

And I suppose that the relative clause above is a non-defining relative clause, so I should use a comma. Correct?

  5- Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a disease, involving inflammation
  of small blood vessels.

Long story short, shouldn't sentence three contain a comma before "involving" ? (as I used in sentence five)


texts: Grammatical usage of relative pronoun: "many people came who were interested in art"

texts:
I'm confused by this sentence:

  many people came who were interested in art

Why is who is used after came? Is it correct?


texts:
Suppose a person must be either a US citizen or a foreigner that has lived in the US for over 10 years in order to apply for some financial aid.

If John is a Japanese national that has lived in the US for 11 years and has applied for it successfully, can we say the requirement of US citizenship is "waived" in his case?

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
I used to think that "between" is used for 2 things, objects, people and "among" is used for more than 2 things, objects, people. However, I found this article which says we can also use "between" for more than 2 things, people etc.

So my question is that:
I have a number of processing devices which are independent, but they can also communicate with each other and share data (if needed). Which one should I use in this case:

  Load balancing between/among devices


texts: Time before - Is my usage mean the intended meaning?

texts:
I wrote this sentence  -

  Today what is possible thanks to advancement of technology was only real in sci-fi texts times before.

What I want to mean is that "these technological advanced is real today, but was not real sometimes back"

I know "sometimes back" is not sounding good, so I tried to use "time before". I guess you know what I want to mean. I really have no word to express this. Please help.


texts: "Subjective complement and objective complement"

texts:
What is the difference between "subjective complement" and "objective complement"?

How can I recognize them in the sentences?

Is there any special rule for them?

Do they use after special verbs? If yes which verbs?


texts:
A brief burst of machine-gun fire is faintly heard.
A brief burst of machine-gun fire is heard faintly.
A brief, faint burst of machine-gun fire is heard.
A faint, brief burst of machine-gun fire is heard.

Where is the best place to place "faint/faintly" in this sentence?
(The people who hear the machine-gun fire are on the second floor of a building while the man who fires the machine gun are on the sixth floor. That's why it's faint.)


texts: Could have escaped VS Couldn't have escaped

texts:
I am stuck with perfect infinitive:

I could have done = I had a posisibility to do but I didn't

Then conversely it should mean

I couldn't have done = I didn't have a posisibility to do but I did it (somehow)

There are fugitives. Having escaped from a prison they are walking along a beach talking:

A: Yeah, we are finally free. By the way, why didn't you kill that guard near the gates?

B: Then we couldn't have escaped.

A: Got it. I was so scaried when they freed the dogs! Thought it would be our end.

B: Nah, we'd already been far away. Even if they had called all helicopters they had, we could have escaped.

There are fugitives. They are caught and returned to their cells. They are talking:

A: Shit! +20 years to my 180 years! Now I definitely won't wait up till my discharge! Why didn't you kill that guard near the gates?

B: It wouldn't have helped us. We couldn't have escaped. We were shot 74 times.

A: Yeah, I probably didn't have to offer him 20 bucks for opening the gates when we would run.

B: God, again!? It's been the third time you tell some guard about our escape before escaping! This time we could have escaped! You're a trustful idiot!

As I can see, the choice between could have + V3 - could not have + V3 doesn't really affect the reality. If we say "could have + V3" we don't know whether it really didn't happen or happened all the same. If we say "could have not + V3" - the same, we don't know if it occured or no. C-O-N-T-E-X-T. Right?


texts: What did Abraham Lincoln mean by "which are of so extraordinary a nature"?

texts:
Reading a speech of Abraham Lincoln's, I ran across a construction which confused me:

  The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the
  blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties,
  which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source
  from which they come, others have been added, which are of so
  extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften
  even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful
  providence of Almighty God.

The phrase "which are of so extraordinary a nature" really confuses me, especially "a nature"; what does it mean?

Source:  The first paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation, dated October 3, 1863.


texts: What is a pleasure movement of the hands on other hands called in English?

texts:
I am looking for the word that describes a very gentle and light touch back and forth (it can be in any part of the body) that causes to very pleasure sensation feeling to most or many people (not all the people like it) since it influences on the hormonal system of the body.  Is the word "pat" the word that I'm looking for?

For example:

  She loves when I'm (patting?) her.

  Would you mind to (pat?) me?


texts:
Could someone say what "less than savory" means in general and in the context below?

  "Anybody who was anti-communist in the Far East was likely to receive American backing – regardless of their less than savoury background." link


texts: Do we say "He littered candy wrappers all over the floor" or "He littered the floor with candy wrapper"?

texts:
litter [transitive, usually passive, intransitive] to leave
things in a place, making it look untidy
be littered with something The floor was littered with papers.
He was arrested for littering.

It seems that the dictionary suggests us to say
The floor is littered with candy wrappers.
or
He littered the floor with candy wrappers.
My question is that:
We can say "He left/scattered/dropped/threw candy wrappers all over the floor"
But why can't we say "He littered candy wrappers all over the floor"?


texts:
I heard one people saying to another:

  But now he is a bundle of nerves, he can not perform this particular task.

Does the phrase have any meaning at all? Is the phrase safe to use without hurting others feelings? What exactly is meaning of the phrase?


texts: What is the difference between "I don't know when it starts" and " I don't know when it does start" in this context

texts:
If someone asks me "when does school start again" and if I don´t know the answer should I say:

  1 I don't know when it starts.

  or

  2 I don't know when it does start.


texts: The F-word: Is there a polite but equally emphatic and concise alternative to this specific meaning?

texts:
Is there a polite but equally emphatic and concise alternative to "Fuck 'em" or "Fuck it"?

I am asking if there is an acceptable alternative to the F-word when it is used particularly to dismiss someone or something or to express indifference or nonchalance. I want a word or a short phrase that is somewhat equivalent to

  Stop thinking about what others are going to think, and just do your thing ...

But I want it to be as powerful as "Fuck 'em" or "Fuck it". Note that this specific use of the F-word does not have any connotation of "anger" or "ill-intentions". Instead, I would say that it shows the speaker "cares" about the person they are talking to.

Polite ways to express the intended meaning includes

  Don't worry about it (them), it (they) isn't (aren't) important.
  Listen, just forget about it (them), and focus on ...
  Just don't think about them, who cares about what they want/think! Stay away from the naysayers.

But these don't have the power and the impact that I am looking for. Compare "Fuck 'em! I know what you got, now let's go and get it done!"

Example of the usage in an informal setting:

  Coach to student: Hey, you got this beautiful beach near your house, why don't you go for a run and shadowbox there early in the morning?

  Student: What?! Shadowbox in public? People are gonna to laugh at me, probably gonna think I am crazy, or that I am showing off.

  Coach: Listen, what is wrong with you? How you gonna get naked and fight in the ring in front of thousands of people, with the light shining on you, if you are so bothered with what a few people will think watching you shadowbox in the beach? Listen, fuck what everybody is gonna say or think, just fuck 'em. You go and do your thing, the whole world is your gym.

Now, this use of the F-word is perfectly fine for an informal setting. But I would like to know if there is an alternative for a more professional and formal setting. The alternative does not have to be formal; it can be a mild curse word/phrase too. It just needs to not have the F-word in it and still be effective and powerful.


texts:
We now spend the most and get the least. We spend among the
  most  for education and we’re 46th in education. We spend among
  the most for prisons, and we are among the highest recidivism
  rates …

What does "the most" in bold refer to?


texts:
Father has good reasons on his side, since few people can go through life listening to the birds sing, and the sooner the boy starts his “education” the better. Maybe he will be an ornithologist when he grows up.  A few people, however, can still see and hear in the old way. But most of the members of the human race have lost the capacity to be painters, poets, or musicians, and are not left the option of seeing and hearing directly even if they can afford to;they must get it secondhand.

What does it mean?

So difficult...


texts: Usage of direct infinitive or bare infinitive

texts:
1) She did no more than sleep the whole day.    (Or)

  She did no more than sleeping the whole day

  2) She did nothing but cry.     (Or)

  She did nothing but crying

which of  the sentences are correct in above pairs? What is the difference of meaning in those pairs?


texts:
Example:

  The ideal programming book, according to publishers who sign authors to write them, is "of a high enough technical level to appeal to the professional programmer but basic enough to be highly instructive and easy to understand by the novice trying to get a foothold on the subject," As one who is signed to write such books, I consider these requirements to be on a par with designing a full-fledged competition automobile that can out-accelerate any other
  race car and yet still gets 43 miles to the gallon for those persons who want an economy car. The two are not simultaneously possible. However, one must still make an attempt to offer technical materials to a broad range of readers.

I'm not sure how to exactly interpret that line.


texts: Which is right? "require that it have" or "require it to have"?

texts:
Additionally, to achieve goals, the organization requires that it have hardworking leaders, people get motivated, attempts be organized, decisions be made, and operations be controlled and directed.

I am skeptical on how to use the verb "require" when I want to say that it is necessary for someone to do something. Should to+infinitive be used (e.g. this requires your to be strong) or bare infinitive (e.g. this requires that you be strong)?

I don't know what the underpinning grammar is, but I guess it sounds cool to use the latter form as it resembles an apparently more popular usage of recommend as in "I recommend you go home and wait until more is known of the issue."


texts:
Sometimes, it's difficult to decide the preposition which fits in, without going with the instincts or "oh yeah, this sounds right"
In the sentence: I've been busy for the past few days, can 'in' substitute 'for'? Which one is correct and why?


texts:
Please read the following sentences and my concern for them:

  1) In 4Q 2013, Malaysia’s national house price index rose 8.1% year-on-year, a slowdown as compared to 12.2% registered in 4Q12.

Is this sentence correct? A slowdown as compared to 12.2% registered in 4Q12, is this an adjective phrase describing 8.1% ?

  2) House prices in State A recorded the highest surge,grew 14.7% yoy.

Again, is the sentence correct? Grew 14.7% yoy, is this an adverb clause modifying the action surge?

Thanks for all the answers. Just to understand the sentence construction better, is (A slowdown as compared to 12.2% registered in 4Q12 ) an adjective phrase describing 8.1% ? Is (growing 14.7% year-on-year) an adverb phrase describing surge ?


texts: What does "incorporated" mean in the TV show "Kids Incorporated"?

texts: Someone recommended this show for my kids. Kids Incorporated is the name of a rock group of children. What does incorporated suggest in the title? I understand incorporate is similar to include, but what does it mean for the kids to be included?


texts:
You have to brush your teeth for your health three times which are in the morning,afternoon and evening.

''three times'' is used as an adverb in this sentence. Can use relative clause in the way above ?


texts: You MADE/HAD/GOT me check the dictionary

texts:
Earlier today, I read an answer by jonlink which used the zero plural aspirin.  I wasn't sure whether that was correct, so I had to check a dictionary.  I found that both aspirin and aspirins are okay as plural forms.

If I wanted to express this in a comment, which sentence would I use?

  　1. You made me check the dictionary.
  　2. You had me check the dictionary.

I think these first two sentences sound natural.  I'm not sure about using the pronoun you, though; it might sound rude.

  　3. You got me check the dictionary.

This last one doesn't sound right.  Is there a problem with using got this way?


texts:
Do the following sentences have the same voice form? Are they passive?
And do they use the same tense? simple past?

  The clothes were folded and the room was cleaned.

  The clothes were folded by him.

Is "folded" a verb or adjective? or there is another part of speech we can use to describe it. (in this context)


texts:
I came across the following sentence in which ‘very’ is used before ‘many’. When do we use ‘very’ before ‘many’?

Very many people have complained about the situation.


texts: Can "the" be used once for a list of things instead of for each of them?

texts:
Consider a sentence like:

  We also exploit the inappropriate relevants, the inappropriate searches, the inappropriate queries, and the publication-date-based filtering heuristics.

Can we summarize the sentence into the following by using "the" just once?

  We also exploit the inappropriate relevants, inappropriate searches, inappropriate queries, and publication-date-based filtering heuristics.


texts:
Which one to choose:

  (A) My father has never gone on holiday in summer.
  (B) My father has never been on holiday in summer.


texts:
Q1. Are those 8 sentences grammatical ones? or if not could you tell me?
Q2. Why do we use 1 instead of 3?  It seems both are similar but is there any meaning difference or any purpose?

I love it that he will resign.
I love it he will resign.
I love that he will resign.
I love he will resign.
Rumor had it that he will resign.
Rumor had it he will resign.
Rumor had he will resign.
Rumor had that he will resign.

With the verb love, for me as second language learner, sentence (1) can be paraphrased as I love the situation(=the fact) that he will resign. While, when it comes to the verb had, the sentence, Rumor had the situation(=the fact) that he will resign., sounds bad.


texts: "three hours of you writing", is it an idiomatic expression?

texts:
This video (https://youtu.be/iSV9uohbCjQ?t=258) is saying

  if you're taking something like
  TOEFL or TOEIC that's going to be an
  exam, exam instills fear of one or two or
  three
  hours of you writing the test.

I understand which might mean

  (That) exam instills fear for 3 hours while you are writing the test.

though I've never seen structure like "three hours of you writing" before, is it an idiomatic expression?


texts: Sentence Structure Nice to chatting with you is it correct

texts:
ladies and gentlemen!
I would like to ask about a sentence if it is correct or not.
Is Nice to chatting with you right? Does it have a grammatical error?


texts:
Which of these sentences is correct:

Pain tolerance differs from person to person

or

Pain tolerance differs between person to person.

Why is one preferred over the other?


texts: Is the sentence "You {verb}, I {verb}. I makes a difference." correct?

texts:
Inspired to this sentence:

  KEEP CALM AND {verb}

I want to create my own, this is my current work:

  You {verb}, I {verb}. I makes a difference.

Example usage to that sentence template:

  You {sleep}, I {pray}. I makes a difference.

  You {are sleeping}, I {am working}. I makes a difference.

Is my sentence template sound good? thanks in advance.


texts: Is it correct to use "they" for an abstract object?

texts:
Which sentence is correct:

The rules were challenged because they impose an onerous burden.
The rules were challenged because it imposes an onerous burden.

The second one seems to be wrong because it uses the singular "it" to describe the plural object "the rules", but how should the sentence be fixed? By using the first sentence?


texts: Were owened/ had been owned/ have been owned

texts:
I have a difficulty know which tense I should use in this case.

I am to state factual information, what should I say?

  in 2011, only 46% of the houses were rented/ have been rented/ had been rented.

What tense should I use?


texts: Is 'to get enough time ON everything' grammatically correct?

texts:
I have come across the following sentence in Activate Level A2 by Carolyn Barraclough, Elaine Boyd, Suzanne Gaynor, Megan Roderick, Mary Stephens:

  The only bad thing was that it was very busy so we didn't get time on everything and it is quite expensive.

I have found out that you can 'have/find/make time for everything/tennis/long walks'. My question is whether it is grammatically correct to use preposition 'on' here. Any reliable sources are appreciated.


texts:
a. Twice, I almost married a French woman.
b. I almost married a French woman twice.
Do those imply that it was the same woman?
Do those imply that I married a French woman once and almost had a second marriage with the same woman?
Do those imply that I married a French woman once and almost had a second marriage with another French woman?
Related Word Reference post.


texts:
Don't be staring at me. / Don't keep staring at me.
We will be singing.  / we will keep singing.
Do 'be' and 'keep' mean the same thing in these sentences?


texts: What is the difference: "have been" vs "were"

texts:
What is the difference between this two sentences?

  We're in love and have been for eight year.

  We're in love and were for eight year.


texts: What does “scarcely” imply when used with a quantity?

texts:
Does "scarcely" imply it is less than or more than when used with a quantity?

I have checked a few threads on the internet.

1)  He is scarcely four feet tall.

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/barely-scarcely-hardly.800741/

2)  Scarcely twenty years passed before our imaginations were duly stretched.

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/scarcely-twenty-years-passed.3225794/

3) " As the seventeenth century dawned, scarcely a hundred years after Columbus’s momentous landfall, the face of much of the New World had already been profoundly transformed. European crops and livestock had begun to alter the very landscape, touching off an ecological revolution that would reverberate for centuries to come."

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/scarcely-a-hundred-years-after.3570032/

In all of the above three examples, native speakers take "scarcely" to mean " a little more than".

This is confusing to me.

  Scarcely: only just; almost not  ( Oxford Learner's Dictionaries)

How would I understand the meaning of "scarcely" when used with a quantity?


texts:
In the following sentence, can I leave out 'to' before 'the winners'?

  Prizes were awarded (to) the winners by the headmaster.


texts: "I've known her for two years" v "I knew her for two years"

texts:
I would like to know precisely how to describe the length of actions throughout time.
I also would like to know the situation with "Be" sentences.
Is it always this way: "I am hungry for two hours" - incorrect.
"I've been hungry for two hours" - correct.

You can either say "I worked here for two years" or "I have worked here for two years". So, my question now is would be both variants correct, considering that you still have the job in this moment?

And the same question with the verb "know". Are the both variants "I've known her for two years" and "I knew her for two years" correct, considering that you are still in touch whith the person?


texts:
Jen PSaky said :

Don't take questions

in White House press secretary frowns on Biden's media interaction.
What's the meaning of this sentence?


texts: What to call someone you're trying to keep a secret from?

texts:
I've realized when you know something you're trying to keep secret, there is usually one person whom you most want to not know -- that if they found out, would be more disastrous for you than any other person finding out.  What would we call that one person?

(If you're trying to not tell, it's important to know who that one person is, so you can concentrate your efforts on not telling them.  I once let something slip in front of such a person, being caught off-guard; and was much embarrassed as a result.)

Please don't edit or XY this question.  An answer that doesn't specifically address the question as asked is no answer.


texts:
People power is critical to ensuring that hardware, software, and connectivity are effectively integrated in a society responsible way.

why ing from has been used here? it could be "critical to ensure"?


texts: Deverbals: is there a rationale which allows deverbing to a noun and using the plural form or is it about usage?

texts:
There are nouns which are formed from verbs; deverbals. If I take teaching, running and rambling, I have the strong intuition that the first and last can be used as nouns, whereas I can't really imagine "running" being used as a noun with the plural form i.e. "runnings". I don't exactly know why I use the plural form to "gauge" if this works, but I do, and since I know nothing about grammar, then this surely means it's about usage and what I have heard as a learner...

Is there an overarching rationale for enabling such verbs as nouns; for instance a category of verbs, a cluster of semantics, or a rule of grammar whereby you would know which verbs can be "deverbed" and which can't. Or is it just the case by case evolution of the individual usage of each of those verbs?

When you can't "deverb" a verb, such as with "running"(if I'm right), does that offer any insight as to how meanings/sentences are constructed when itemizing the process of the verb? As when you think about for how long, how much, how far and how many times, you would use distance, time, laps, and such concrete quantification or result for the process, and not "runnings". Or is it once again usage specific?


texts:
The type of the receiving coin, upon which another set of dies are
  struck, is referred to as "undertype", while the type being struck
  over it is called an "overtype". (Source)

Am I understanding correctly?:

"undertype" is the original coin.
"overtype" is the original coin which counterstruck by another set of dies.


texts:
The hunter hid the gray fox heads below the bed.

The hunter hid the gray foxes' heads below the bed.

I am wondering if gray fox can be singular or not. Is this ok to use the singular when used as an adjective?


texts: What's the meaning of to "scare someone straight"?

texts:
What's the meaning of to scare someone straight?

The usage came from the following passage of this article:

  Here is where I find myself turning an about-face of sorts. I have long thought everyone should have to wait tables, but for years my goal was collective comeuppance or just to scare them straight.


texts:
Sentence 1: He doesn't earn as much as me.

Sentence 2: He doesn't earn as much as I.

In sentence 1, the second "as" is a preposition so it is followed by an object pronoun.
In sentence 2, the second "as" is a conjunction, and the complete sentence should be "He doesn't earn as much as I earn". Am I right?


texts:
If you had been born two hundred years ago,you would have had about one chance in eight of living to be one year old....
In those days about seven out of eight babies died before reaching their first birthday.

I couldn't understand how to use ago and before in a sentence.  Do they use alternately or any other way?


texts: How would you name this peculiar finger position?

texts: Say if by gripping a pen, the thumb is placed on top of other fingers (the index finger in the example below), instead of touching the pen itself, how would you name that position? A short expression with as few words as possible is appreciated.


texts: What is the spatial explanation of "in" and "on" prepositions when they are contained in sentences holding an abstract meaning?

texts:
What is the spatial explanation for the preposition "in" or "on" in the following examples:

1- American society is in trouble. (Why do I  have to use the preposition "in" instead of the preposition  "on" in this sentence?

2- ... in the following sentence... (I don't know if I have to use "on" or "in" in this sentence either.)

I just do not know how to apply a spatial meaning (or imaging in my head to make a difference between in and on), to correctly use these two preposition, when they are used in sentences holding an abstract meaning.

If you can provide an example through a pictorial description, it would better.

Thank you to all of you!


texts: Is the interrogative structure "Is X to do with Y" grammatical?

texts:
I don't know precisely why, but the interrogative structure "Is X to do with Y?" sounds weird and not natural English.

In fact, if I transform "Is X to do with Y?" into the related affirmative form I should write "X is to do with Y", which seems ungrammatical because "is to do" has the form "to be + infinitive".

Instead I know the form "to have + infinitive", therefore I conclude that the affirmative form should be "X has to do with Y" and the interrogative form should  be "Has X to do with Y?"

Can anybody enlighten me on this problem?

I'm asking because on an earlier question a user changed the question title into the form I mentioned above.


texts:
What does the expression "call the code" mean?

Example:

  Each patient is different, so the researchers looked at hospitals, comparing the average time spent trying to resuscitate patients and tracking how many patients survived until they were released. “How long do hospitals try for before they call the code?” Nallamothu said.


texts:
I'm preparing my CV. I was wondering if I have used the word contribute i n a correct way :
My Main roles were contributing in Drainage design, Storm water design and developing Systems.


texts:
Should "a" in the phrase "with a CDC and NIH that are free from political influence" be removed?  "that are" means "CDC + NIH" as plural and so "a" appears to be a mistake.

Joe Biden tweeted just now:
Our Administration will lead with science and scientists — with a CDC and NIH that are free from political influence, a Surgeon General who is independent and speaks directly to the people, and an FDA whose decisions are based on science and science alone.


texts:
Does "be careful of" make sense in the following?

Be careful of John's health. He may have a heart attack anytime.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
What does this sentence mean?

  That it's not loved, only appreciated?

  Or oh my goodness I so appreciate this, I might just love it too!

I'm not sure how I should take this.
As a slight middle finger, sarcastic.
Is this said/written with a good vibe, good intentions or the opposite?


texts: refer to "x" by "y" or refer to "x" as "y"

texts:
How to correctly use refer to:

  We refer to products prior to "x" by "y"

Or,

  We refer to products prior to "x" as "y"


texts: Placement of the adverb in "The river Thames last froze over three decades ago."

texts:
I was solving a question for TOEIC prep, and found this sentence.
The question was

"The River Thames last ______ over three decades ago."

freeze
froze
frozen
freezing

The book says the answer is number 2 because the structure of the sentence goes like:

The River Thames(subject) last(adverb) _______(verb) over three decades ago.

However, somehow the placement of the adverb in the sentence feels so foreign.
I mean, it is a foreign language to me, but this feels unusually foreign to me.
Isn't there a certain rule to place adverb in a sentence? or you can place it anywhere?


texts: having a strong desire to do something, as you have not done it for a long time

texts:
When it comes to expressing the fact that, for instance, you have a very strong desire to do something what would you say?

For instance, it's a long you have not reading a book:

I crave/ long for reading a book

having a yen for

Any comment would be greatly appreciated.

As a footnote, thank you all so much for your invaluable helps. Meanwhile, I must assert that I am an ordinary person who has graduated in civil engineering and is studying semiotics and linguistics. I have to explain these as some of you sometimes think I deliberately ask some offending questions. Nevertheless, you must know the fact that if you see such things, then you must assure that you are interperating my question or explanations wrong. Or, I have been misunderstood by you. I never ever want to offend anyone. I sometimes don't know those and these are caused by not being a native speaker. that's it. I am just learning.


texts:
Does it mean "Sometimes Western manufacturers have to use out-of-date technology (from 1985) in building C919 for intellectual property reasons"?

"Basically, they're telling them they have no intellectual property protection," said Aboulafia. "This means you have Western manufacturers sometimes showing up with the 'latest and best' from 1985."

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/08/chinas-new-passenger-jet-is-not-seen-as-an-immediate-threat-to-boeing-airbus.html


texts: Can I use adjective clauses to describe a whole sentence or clause?

texts:
Modifiers are usually placed directly next to the nouns that are being modified.

But what if I need to modify a clause or a sentence holistically, such as in the following sentence:

  when it comes to choosing between these two factors, which is so difficult and almost impossible, I would prefer classes with lectures to classes with open discussions for two main reasons.

In the sentence, I do not want to modify factors but the whole situation of choosing one over the other.

Is that kind of use of adjective clauses grammatically acceptable?


texts: What is meaning of 'head-rig' in nineteenth century English?

texts: Manuscript written in late nineteenth century Ireland uses the term in conjunction with transportation or travel by road.  Does it refer to the conveyance or to the type of track over which the travel is undertaken?


texts: The difference between " I was not aware" and " I did not know"

texts:
May anyone please tell me which one of the following statement is correct

I wasn't even aware it's his birthday today.
I didn't know it's his birthday today.


texts:
I want to say that that person is me. But then, precisely, I want to keep the pronoun in place to add some spice and power to it! Otherwise, better choices are... That person is me/that's me, I'm that 'he' etc.

The context (hypothetical) is someone unknowingly describing 'he' and then I reveal that I'm that 'he'.

  "Yeah, I know she is mad in love with someone whom I have never seen. And you know what, he is very mysterious. I have heard that he practices black magic as well. At times, she behaves that someone has doggoned her. Do you know him?"

And I reply cunningly...

  (chuckling) I am he/him.

I lean toward him. As we say... "...hey...see there...that's him"

But Jesus says... I am he!.


texts:
In Biography English movie Marie Antoinette (2006), Scene where French queens having dinner with American's generals.
At Dinner table, Ducchess De Polignac asked everybody to lick a finger and rub it
on a glass. So all did and it produced beautiful sound.
One woman, who is sitting beside her, asked this question to her
and everybody laughed.

  French Queen#1: It's very spiritual, really, isn't it?

  French Queen#2: When was the last time you went to Mass?


texts:
https://www.lingq.com/learn/en/preview/item/431401/

The eyewitness might become convinced that the suspect was carrying a knife, even if that were not the case.

Why in the above context there is "were" instead of "was"?


texts:
Extracted from a textbook of master.get.com.tw

  ______ us the ability to resist disease, but also helps us build our body tissues.
  (A) Vitamin C not only provides
  (B) Not only does vitamin C provide
  (C) Not only vitamin C provides
  (D) Vitamin C, which not only provides

The answer of question number 17 is A, which I know is correct, but Why can't I choose D?
They both seem Ok to me.

Thanks!


texts: It's "scenes comparisons" or "scene comparisons"?

texts: I make videos comparing scenes from 2 movies. I use scenes (it's always more than one movie) or scene in the title?


texts:
Another important trend has been to reduce the number of platforms used for car models, as Japanese producers have long been doing.
Another important trend has reduced the number of platforms used for car models, as Japanese producers have long been doing.

Both are present perfect tense, aren't they? Are they correct sentences? Do  they have the same meaning?


texts: Is it right? "Have you been struggling with your new year's resolutions like I did?"

texts:
I had been struggling with my new year's resolutions and then I found a solution. The opening question I would like to ask my audience is "Have you been struggling with your new year's resolutions like I had been?". However, the last words "... like I had been" sound a bit awkward.

Can I say "Have you been struggling with your new year's resolutions like I did?" Will it lose the meaning I try to convey?


texts:
I know usually well is an adverb and good is an adjective. I can clearly see in the expression

  It’s all well and good

that well is an adverb for is. Forgive my ignorance, but what is ‘good’ in this sentence? Can it also be an adverb?


texts: How should I write a sentence that has multiple questions?

texts:
I got these words from a speech, so I'm not entirely sure how I would write this...

  Is the website easy to navigate? Easy-to-read? Well-structured? Concise?

"Easy-to-read" and the others are fragments, aren't they? So the above sentences are incorrect?


texts: Meaning of ' rooted themselves ' in the following context

texts:
Awareness beliefs rooted themselves in reason and logic.

I referred to dictionary for its meaning but did not find any suitable meaning.

Is it correct to say   Awareness beliefs fix themselves in reason and logic?


texts: What does it mean to say that someone is "too much of a grind"?

texts:
Sure he's a nice guy, but don't you think he's too much of a grind?

Would you please explain what too much of a grind means?


texts: Is it formal to use "Usually" in the begining of the sentence

texts:
For example

  They are characterized by the amount of automation or the flexibility they provide. Usually, the more automation a method provides the less flexible it becomes.


texts: A strange or rare using of the adverb yet?

texts:
However, Maya hieroglyphs is really a bible for modern man, its mystery until today, yet to unlock.

Would you please throw a light on whether or not the commas are put properly grammatically?
Having taken into account the following, would you tell me if there has been the same usage of the word yet in context? if not, what's that?

Explanations by Free Dictionary:. 'have yet to'
Instead of saying that something 'has not yet happened', you can say that it has yet to happen. People often use this structure to show that they do not expect something to happen.

I have yet to meet a man I can trust.

enter link description here


texts: Is "Today, 800 billion cup of teas is sipped from teabags." correct?

texts:
My English is telling that this is correct but I don't think so.

  Today, 800 billion cup of teas is sipped from teabags.


texts: If + past tense + would VS If + present tense + would

texts:
I would/(will) eat it if you add more sugar.
I would eat it if you added more sugar.

What are the differences between them?

Can we use "would" instead of "will" to make the first sentence more polite??


texts: Words to describe pleasure in keeping something or an activity secret

texts: Is there a single English word that can be used to describe the deep pleasure that can be experienced when you keep something to yourself, especially, when it concerns an activity you engage in or take part in?


texts:
I was reading news on Yahoo and got confused. I read this – a snow – on Yahoo; as per my opinion snow is not a countable noun. So, we should not use the article (a) before snow.

This is from Yahoo:

  If there's going to be a snow or rain storm the next morning, you
  should probably get out the door sooner than usual.


texts: Colon/question mark conflict in a question containing a description

texts:
Which punctuation mark to use in a sentence that contains a description (needs colon) and a question (needs question mark)?

Example:

  How would you act in a situation like this one: you are trapped in a cage with a bear.

If I absolutely want to build my sentence using this structure (using a colon before the description) where should I put a question mark?


texts: "not good" vs "not very good" - which is more negative?

texts:
Which of these two phrases has more negative undertone?

  "The interview I had was not very good"

or

  "The interview I had was not good"


texts: Active Infinitives vs. Passive Infinitives. Which one is more suitable for formal writing?

texts:
I have seen the following sentence:

They gave me a question too hard to answer.

However, in my opinion, this use of active infinitive is ungrammatical here, and the following passive Infinitive should be used here:

They gave me a question too hard to be answered.

I wonder which structure is more suitable for formal writing in case both structures are grammatically correct.


texts: Do we need to change 'and' to 'or' when the affirmative sentence is modified to negative or interrogative?

texts:
A grammar rule has been taught in our school, in which when we modify an affirmative sentence to a negative or interrogative one, we should change 'and' to 'or'.

For example:

  Eat and drink in the metro.
  Don't eat or drink in the metro.
  He and I are playing football.
  He or I aren't playing football.

But I also saw some sentences in which 'and' should not change to 'or' when the sentences are modified to negative/interrogative.

For example,

  You know French and English.
  Do you know French and English?
  Do you know French or English?
  You don't know French and English. // This one seems not correct.
  I don't know French or English.

There should be more, but I can not dig out all of them. Appreciate if anyone could provide more here.

So, are there any rules of thumb for this?


texts: Is Present continuous better in this case

texts:
Imagine that I bought a book two weeks ago, payment was made the same day but the seller has not sent the book yet. Shall I write Are you sending the book soon or are you going to send the book soon
I think the first one is better because I have already paid for it the emphasizes is more on the event itself than on  the intention


texts: what is only a fiction VS what a fiction only is

texts:
Recently, I`ve stumbled upon an opinion by Slavoy Zizek, that contained a sentence that puzzled me. The sentence was the following:

"Our fundamental delusion today is not believing in what is only a fiction, to take fictions too seriously – on the contrary, it is not taking fictions seriously enough."

The part that confuses me is: "...not believing in what is only a fiction..." Why is the word order like this? Shouldn`t it be: "...not believing in what a fiction only is...." ?

Thanks for advance for all your feedback


texts:
I have following 2 statements.

  The convergences of topological relations of adjacent segments can be
  derived from graphs.
  The convergences allows reconstruction of object
  geometries with preserved topology.

I want to combine them to make a single sentence. I am struggling the placement to be linked this second sentence. I did as follows.

  try1: The convergences of topological relations of adjacent segments can be
  derived from graphs which allows reconstruction of object geometries
  with preserved topology.

But, I feel, this should be like

  try2:The convergences of topological relations of
  adjacent segments, which allows reconstruction of object geometries with preserved topology can be derived from graphs.

Do you think that I placed the 2nd sentence correctly in try2? instead of adjacent segments can I use segment adjacencies?

Overall, what is good scientific writing style?


texts:
In this article, what does the subtitle mean?

I mean "Revellers must ~the art trail."

I know the literal meaning but I guess that doesn't  enough to get the whole meaning.

Does "Revler" have the other meaning?
Or is there anything  else ambitious?

Please hepl me to get the proper idea of it.

Thank you so much in advance!


texts: Far from being of purely theoretical interest

texts:
The sun is surrounded by a powerful magnetic field, which, far from being of purely theoretical interest, has profound effect on life on Earth in the form of its effect on radio communications.

Can you please explain the sentence in simple form, specially the bold part?


texts: Difference between "a ruler with a ribbon" and "a ruler on a ribbon"?

texts:
There is a small hole with a ruler, and a ribbon is bound in the hole of the ruler.
The ruler is not laid on the ribbon, but it is bound.

Which is right to express this situation?
1) a ruler with a ribbon

2) a ruler on a ribbon?

What is the difference in meaning between "a ruler with a ribbon" and "a ruler on a ribbon"?


texts: Idiomatic expression for "close to the average, yet not the average"

texts:
What's the idiomatic way of describing someone's ability level as being very-very close to the average, yet not the average? For example,

  Jack's reading ability is one fraction of a millimeter below average.


texts:
What is meaning of the "time to head XXX" forms?

Whole English context:http://mangahasu.se/onii-chan-wa-oshimai/vol-5-chapter-14-mahiro-and-a-little-adventure-c551795.html


texts: What's the meaning of "with the out-running tide"?

texts:
I came across the sentence like

  "The ship began to move gently down the river  with the out-running tide".

I checked "out-running tide" in dictionary but I can't find them. Could you teach me?


texts: What does "half-slipped and half-fell" mean?

texts:
The astrologer was frightened out of his wits. He started to climb down-slowly, shakily. But he was trembling so much that he half-slipped and half-fell from the bael tree..

I know the meaning of "slipped" and "fell". But I can't guess the usage of "half-slipped and half-fell".
Please explain this to me.


texts: 'go as fast as you can' (1st as is an adverb and 2nd as is an conjunction?)

texts:
'go as fast as you can'

1st as is an adverb and 2nd as is a conjunction?
After 2nd 'as', there is a subject and object, i.e., 'you can'.
As much as I know 'as', as is used as preposition, adverb, and conjunction.
I wonder in which way native speakers classify 'as' as the parts of speech.


texts: When do we omit "be" verb and when do we change it to "being"?

texts:
Which one is correct?

It seems to me that people buy such goods whether or not they are advertised, being only affected when choosing a certain brand.

It seems to me that people buy such goods whether or not they are advertised, only affected when choosing a certain brand.

Can they be both correct?

The original sentence is this: It seems to me that people buy such goods whether or not they are advertised, and they are only affected when choosing a certain brand.


texts:
2.83. ... We have seen that the general rule is that displaying goods in shops only constitutes an invitation to treat, although there are good reasons
  for taking a different approach (paras 2.22–2.23). However, what of a typical
  website that allows the customer to select the item, enter his payment details and
  seemingly conclude the agreement online. ♦ In this situation, then (absent the terms
  and conditions of the site providing to the contrary) it is suggested that it is clear
  that a contract has been concluded (see Christensen (2001) and Phang (2005)).

Based on my other question on ELU,  what of is a question clause (Is the right term?), right? So why a period, and NOT a question mark, where I've placed a  diamond?

Source: p 39 , The Law of Contract, 5 ed (2012), by O’Sullivan and Hilliard


texts:
I am really confused about this and wanted to share/learn.

I was talking with one of my Canadian friends with whom I would like to hang out, about a song and I wanted to say:

  "What a good song is this!" (i don't know if it needs to end with "!"
  or "?")

But something within me said it's not a good usage of English, so I decided to say

  "Isn't it a good song?"

and now I am stuck right at that point because none of the above sounded right.

Which way can I tell my friend that I liked this song and ask him if he liked it or not?


texts: "I've never seen an elephant" vs. "I've never seen any elephant"

texts:
In these sentences:

  A: I've never seen an elephant yet.
  B: I've never seen any elephant yet.

Which article fits better?


texts: “Was in labour for 3 hours” versus “had been in labour for 3 hours”

texts:
As a continuation to this question and AlicjaZ's beautifully explained answer, I would like to ask whether there is any difference in meaning between the following sentences?

She was in labour for 3 hours. (simple past)
She had been in labour for 3 hours. (past perfect)

Both sentences use a past tense. In principle, the only difference is that the verb in the latter has a perfect aspect.
However, although the verb in the former has no perfect aspect, the use of "in labour for 3 hours" implies the action has been completed before the moment the baby was born. I think this means both sentences have exactly the same meaning. Is this so? If so, is there any difference in usage? If not, what is the difference in meaning?


texts: What's the meaning of "keep it together"?

texts:
But Riley had headed to the war zones. And she’d managed to keep it
  together for a long time.

I found this definition for "keep it together":

  To maintain composure; to avoid an overly emotional reaction; to
  suppress an instinct or urge. [1]

Is it a correct definition?

The full text is here:

  Riley watches nervously out of the car window, peering into the
  shadowy woods, trying not to imagine someone jumping in front of their
  car at any second, waving them down. She clenches her hands into fists
  inside the pockets of her down jacket. She reminds herself that she’s
  not in Afghanistan anymore. She’s home, safe, in New York State.
  Nothing bad can happen to her here. Her career has changed her. Seeing
  what she has seen, Riley is so different that she hardly recognizes
  herself anymore. She glances furtively at Gwen. They’d been close
  once. She’s not even sure why she agreed to come with her to this
  faraway country inn. She watches Gwen concentrating fiercely on the
  winding road up the slippery incline, heading into the mountains. “Are
  you okay?” she asks suddenly. “Me?” Gwen says. “Yeah, I’m fine. We
  should be there soon.” In journalism school, when they were both at
  NYU, Gwen had been the steady, pragmatic one. But Riley was
  ambitious—she wanted to be where it was happening. Gwen had no taste
  for adventure. She’d always preferred books, and quiet. Out of
  journalism school, unable to find a decent job at a newspaper, Gwen
  had quickly parlayed her skills into a good corporate communications
  position and had never seemed to regret it. But Riley had headed to
  the war zones. And she’d managed to keep it together for a long
  time. Why does she do this? Why does she keep thinking about it? She
  can feel herself starting to come apart. She tries to slow her
  breathing, the way she’s been taught. To stop the images from coming
  back, from taking over.

  An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

[1]  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/keep_it_together


texts:
It seems to add -ment suffix does not generally change the spelling of the base word: "mange" -> "management".

However, I've just noticed that this is not the case for "argue"->"argument". I wonder if there is any other instance similar to this and is there any rule regarding the spelling of suffixes starting with a consonant.


texts:
What is "tent canvas" in the text below?

  He established Levi Strauss & Company in 1850 to sell pants made of tent canvas to gold miners. He eventually switched to denim cloth and made the work pants that became known as blue jeans or "Levi's."

Could you, please, give detailed explanation about the words:

tent - the meaning in original text
canvas - in other words separately
tent canvas - what these words mean in the original text together.

I ask it because in our language is said that Levi used canvas cloth of sails of ships to make pants. I don't understand why in original text the word "tent" is used because "tent", as I know, is a small portable tourist house made of durable fabric.


texts:
Contest of burger eating

  Burger eating  contest

Is there any difference between two phrases . I mean does “of” change meaning in this phrase. I thought there is no difference but “ of” realy confuses me.


texts: Can a company have a "sector"? "The company's meat sector produces over 400 tonnes/day"

texts:
I have a Russian sentence:

Общая производительность мясной отрасли компании превышает 400 тонн в сутки.

Which, put literally, translates into

In total, the company's meat sector produces more than 400 tonnes per day.

But it feels to me like in English a company cannot have a sector, and it's better to use meat-production branch or something like this. It feels like in English a meat sector can only be part of an economony.
Am I right, or maybe not, and a company can have a "sector" to itself? The Russian company in question is a big regional (south of Russia) corporation with many facitilies, some of which produce meat and meat products.


texts:
Does this sentence need a comma?

  Further to your recent phone call I can confirm that we have waived the charge applied to your account after your payment.


texts: Which of the combinations sounds more natural to your ear?

texts:
Which of the combinations in the sentence below sounds more natural to your ear?
I felt disrespected so I just completely lost my cool and started yelling and screaming. (1)

yelling and shouting. (2)

screaming and yelling. (3)

screaming and shouting. (4)

shouting and yelling. (5)

shouting and screaming. (6)


texts: Is this 'as' an object: "as he called it"?

texts:
"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say
  there are dragons at Gringotts?"
  "Well, so they say," said Hagrid.
  "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."
  "You'd like one?"
  "Wanted one ever since I was a kid –– here we go."
  They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes'
  time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the
  bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.
  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Is ‘as’ a pronoun and direct object of ‘called’?


texts: what is the answer and why please "I'd rather you ...... to her why we can't go"?

texts:
Would you please tell me why the answer is "explained" for the following question and why:

  I'd rather you ____________ to her why we can't go.

  1-would explain

  2-explained

  3-to explain

  4-will explain


texts: please explain these sentence and why we use being?

texts:
I am new in English grammar and I want to know about this sentence Please explain. In my book there is Continuing Passive, and I don't know what is passive sentences. Please help me

This book was being written.

This book is being written.

Please explain these sentence


texts: Tag question of "must"; how to determine?

texts:
It must be her car, isn't it?

  It must be her car, right?

  You must be tired, aren't you?

Why it can't be expressed:

  It must be her car, mustn't it?

  You must be tired, mustn't you?

Note:

  Q:Is it her car?

  A:Yes, it must be her car.

  Possible tag question: It must be her car, isn't it?

Is it possible to ask: Must it be her car? (I've never used it though).

Do native speakers really avoid using tag question of "must"?


texts:
Every single day while I sit to write, I am to think what I will write.
Every single day when I sit to write, I am to think what I will write.

From while and when, which will you prefer and why? If it is possible, please say another word that can used instead of while and when in this case.