texts: How to stress a word in a sentence? Speak louler and clearly or say higher in pitch?

texts:
I can easily find out which word that is stressed in a sentence if it's (1) both said clearly, loudly and said in the highest pitch range of that sentence. But in some cases, the speaker just (2) says quickly one word in the highest pitch, and says another one clearer, slightly slower and louder. So if the the first case (1) is not mentioned, then...

  Which one - (2) saying clearly, slightly slowly and loudly or saying quickly in the highest pitch range of a sentence - is a natural way to emphasize a word in a
  sentence?

To understand what I'm talking about the second case (2), the below examples show you features of the second case (2)

i. THINK him in the BAND ("think" is higher in pitcher than "band", but "band" is clearer and more powerful than "think". > If someone wants to say that both "think" and "band" are stressed, then why does "band" only sound powerful but it's not in higher pitch than "think"?)

ii. STARTED it off in ASIA (Same problem and same question with the iv)

iii. don't even know ("know" is drawled longer and sounds clearer than "don't even", but "don't ev..." is in higher pitches than "know"

iv. absolutely gorgeous ("absolutely" is in higher pitch than "gorgeous", but it sounds less powerful than "gorgeous")


texts: What does "mother ship of close encounters" mean?

texts:
This is the opening monologue of The Cafe, Seinfeld's 24th episode.

  There's always that one location, one store location that's constantly changing hands. Everybody has this in their neighborhood, it's a leather store, it's a yogurt shop, it's a pet supply. It's constantly changing and nobody can do business there. It's like some sort of Bermuda triangle of retail, you know? Stores open up and then they just disappear without a trace. Nobody knows what happened to 'em. I guess eventually when like aliens land in mother ship of close encounters, bottom will slowly open and all these store owners will come wondering out in a daze going 'I thought there would be more walk-in traffic, didn't you?'

I need help understanding the highlighted part. I've looked up all the new phrases: Close encounters, daze and walk-in traffic. But I still can't get the underlying meaning of the whole sentence.


texts: Does the usage of 'ever after' in this line sound weird?

texts:
I'm not so proficient in English, but I got this idea for a poem and am trying to write it in English. So I want to write a sentence like:

"Nobody saw him ever after."

But I'm not sure if this is the right way of saying it. Is it?
Also, can you suggest alternative ways of saying this sentence which possibly would sound better in a poem?


texts:
Why do they use 'winning by anywhere' not 'winning everywhere' what is more clear for non native speaker?

  Exit polls have Jim Matthews winning by anywhere... from a nine to 12
  percent margin of victory.


texts:
I looked it up, but I didn't understand much. Here's a part of Google search results:

  The University’s courses are
  modular in structure. A
  module is a component of a
  course or undergraduate
  Honours subject with its
  own approved aims and
  outcomes and assessment
  methods.
  Each module is taught and
  assessed within a semester
  or across the whole year
  (often referred to as ‘long-
  thin’)

Can you explain it in simpler terms and with an example?


texts:
As far as I know, there are two terms in English grammar to identify two main parts of a conversation: "First person" and "second person".

But my question is that what do you usually call them out of English grammar domain?

I searched a lot and found the following terms:

  "Speaker" ---> I somewhat sure I'm on the right track with this.

And

  "Spoken to" OR "Second person" ---> I doubt about it

For example:

  a) You have to always know your second person (the person you are talking to) and speak accordingly.

  b You have to always know your spoken to (the person you are talking to) and speak accordingly.  [It sounds a bit odd to me.]

Which one is correct? "a" or "b"? If no one, then let me know what would be the normal term here?


texts:
I heard this sentence and I thought if it was possible that 'would" could be in the same clause as 'if', I mean I've read that it's possible if 'would' conveys "willingness?" But in this example I don't see the case.

I don't know if it'd be that worth it.

What's the explanation for this?


texts:
I want to know if it is correct to say "invest on" or "invest in" in this context: the company that I work is giving an english course to an employee, so, it is right to say that the company is investing on Joyce or investing in Joyce?

Thank you!


texts:
"It's may not going to be easy"

Is it grammatical?

When using "is" and "may" at the same sentence?


texts: Difference between a noun + ~ing and a noun + to infinite

texts:
I am confused about the correct usage of verbs in ~ing or to + infinite forms and how differently they mean. For example,

  The picture shows the researcher conducting the test.

versus

  The picture shows the researcher to conduct the test.

To my best guess, the researcher in the former sentence is conducting the test (in the picture) while the one in the latter is about to conduct the test(The researcher is doing something else in the picture). Also, the latter seems rarely used, I guess.

Could anyone clarify the difference and correct me?


texts:
In an English study book a task consisted of listening and writing down what you heard. One of the sentences was:

  Fiona and Charlotte met in the gym changing room.

Why is the above correct? The room is not used for changing the gym (dog walking park) so it feels to me that "gym's changing room" or "changing room of the gym" would be more correct. In both of these cases the room is owned or contained in the gym, thus genitive. The first less correct though as the gym is not alive if I am correct.


texts:
I want to inquire if this sentence "the power to hire and fire" is an idiomatic phrase or not?. Does it mean that a person has the ability to make decisions? For example:

  Two guys are chatting... One said: Our manager has the power to hire and fire.

Does this sentence mean that the manager really can hire and fire employees or it just means that he has the power to make decisions? Maybe both meanings are correct?


texts: Is this the correct usage of the word cranial

texts:
My doubt is about using the word "cranial" here. Does this make sense?

  This is great. I am glad I was able to activate something cranial in you.


texts: I cant easily come up with a verbal expression I can use when I decided to stop talking about something because it's a sensitive topic, for example. One expression I can think of is 'I'll stop talking about it here', but it feels somewhat redundant and too much decisive. Another expression is 'I'll save my words', but is it commonly used?


texts:
This is more of a curiosity than a full problem, but I was wondering who is being pleased, in common phrases using the term.

(At breakfast)

“May I have some jam, please?”

In this case the jam-wisher is the pleasee, and the jam-scooper is the pleaser.

(At a party)

“May I please enter?”

The entrant is pleased, and the host is pleaser.
In both questions, it is easy to see who is being pleased, and how, but from context, not from the position or conjugation of the word

(At royal court)

If it pleases the lord, we shall host a fête tonight.

[if it please* the lord?/sic]
In this case, the question is not posed by somebody looking to be pleased, but a courtier on behalf of a pleasee, in other words, is it then the pleaser asking please? Here the question may be perfunctory, but the format implies an option to cancel, does please work the same from both ends of the transaction?

(At the airport)

“If you please, place your items in the basket.

There is no doubt here, and there is no alternative. If you don’t please, you may not be able to proceed.
Is there a set of rules for using please, or is it really just a softening phrase when otherwise using imperatives?


texts:
Consder the sentence:

  Only if the framework is intuitive(,) can we proceed with formalizing and exploring its variations.

Do we need a comma? Can we omit it?
Is the inverted word order correct here ('can we' vs. 'we can')?

References to established grammar sources are very welcome.


texts: Box in hotel with which you can choose a movie to watch

texts:
Sometime at the end of the 80's, when I was still an innocent adolescent, I made my first contact with video on demand in a hotel room. There was a box under the TV set, with which you could choose from a couple of movies. The first five minutes were free, then you were charged for watching the movie (luckily, I managed to hold myself back from watching more than the free five minutes of "Amanda at Night", or howsoever that masterpiece was called).

Is there a word for this particular kind of box? My Google search was unsuccesful.


texts: Here it goes: "He is the best teacher around." Does it mean that he is the best teacher in the world or the best in some area?


texts:
In the article "What to Do When You’re Addicted to Coffee, but It Hurts Your Stomach" the author suggests that

  "if the thought of giving up your coffee makes you equal parts drained and distraught, there’s always the trusty antacid. Just make sure your coffee is worth it"

What is the meaning of "you equal parts"? Based on my research, "equal parts" means

  "Division resulting in identical parts. Having the same portion, division, piece, or segment of a whole".

Thanks.


texts:
When we buy his birthday cake, we have to make sure it is lemon.

In this sentence, we and it have been used in one sentence without any punctuation.
Could anyone tell me when I can write sentences like this?


texts: Does "I haven't got to do it yet" imply not completing sth but having enough time to make it?

texts:
I wanted to express a similar meaning to the one of this sentence:
I haven't get it done yet, but at the same time, I wanted to emphasise that I had enough time, but was, say, too lazy to complete this thing.

So, is the sentence

  "I haven't got to do it yet."

grammatically correct and does it fit the context I provided?


texts:
We found some students cheating.

We found some cheating students.

It would be appreciated, if someone please show me if there is any difference semantically between the two.


texts: "I have almost finished writing" or "I am almost finished writing"

texts:
I would like to know which of the two sentences are correct

  I am finished writing

or

  I have finished writing


texts: “the that stimulus” Are determiners always mutually exclusive?

texts:
“The drill is initiated on a cue, such as enemy action or your leader's order, and is a trained response to the that stimulus.” (FM 3-21.75)

Is such a construction grammatical and stylistically acceptable?
BTW, wouldn’t it be better to use an article before “enemy”?


texts: How can I use word advise as a verb in a sentence?

texts:
Is it correct to say that:

  It is advised not to exercise after having a meal.


texts: Using non-finite after "but" and "except"

texts:
There is a rule stated on englishgrammar.org saying that we use bare infintives

  After some prepositions like except, but, save and than

  She can do everything but cook.

  She did nothing except cry.

However, we can see usage of both Gerund and to + verb 1 after them.

  “She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there
  leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.”  ―
  J.D. Salinger (goodreads)

Or:

  "But Maclean had taken his share of the punch, and vowed that no
  gentleman should leave his table after the bowl was brewed; so there
  was nothing for it but to sit and hear Jacobite toasts and Gaelic
  songs, till all were tipsy and staggered off to the bed or the barn
  for their night's rest."

So, what's the rule for non-finite verbs' usage after these words?


texts: What tense should I use with "from...to"?

texts:
I'm having trouble understanding some aspects of the Past Continuous tense.

1) I'm struggling to find an example with "from...to" in grammar books. What tenses should I use with this time frame? It seems like it is a particular time + action in progress (therefore Continuous), but it's also a finished time frame (therefore not Continuous).

  I ... football from 6 to 8 yesterday.
  I ... football from 6 to 8 today.
  I ... football from 6 to 8 tomorrow.

2) One of my grammar books gives two rules.

  We use Past Simple to talk about longer past actions.
  Mary and Tim studied physics at university.
  We use Past Continuous to describe an action or situation in the past that continued for a period of time.
  It was snowing heavily all that day.

How can I distinguish between these rules? Perhaps, there are some particular time expressions or differences  in speaker's attitude. But I don't always see it.


texts: What does this sentence tell about their current situation?are they still living here or is it obscure?


texts:
What is the difference between " among" and "of" in the given context?

  1: I like botany among all the subjects.
  2: I like botany of all the subjects.

Can I use both interchangeably or they mean different?


texts:
He saw no other way to stop the killing but by forcing the Germans and Japanese to change their militaristic philosophy. This idea of changing a nation’s philosophy was intimately linked to FDR’s unconditional surrender policy. In his mind he seemed to envision unconditional surrender as making Germany and Japan tabulae rasae, swept bare of all their bad ideas, awaiting American infusion of good ideas.

Is this comma necessary? I don't think so. The reason is that swept is best interpretred to be restrictive in its modification of "tabulae rasae." like, "make him a singer who will appeal to the common masses"

Additionally, what is this other? I think it is no less redundant, since we have "but" to mean except than the other of "I have no other choice to do..." is.


texts:
I am wondering why the word order is inverted in these sentences:

  Blessed are the meek.

  Blessed are the poor.

It seems to me that the inversion is relevant to the adjective blessed. Can someone shed some light on it? Thanks!


texts:
How to say that the name of a student has been removed from the school-register, that the student is no more a student of the school now? Is cut or cut off a correct expression of the idea?
My name has been cut/cut off from school.
Please suggest.


texts: Should we use "kelvins" or "kelvin" when referring to temperatures higher than one?

texts:
Should one say 200 kelvins or 200 kelvin?
Please provide a source to the answer, as that would be much appreciated.


texts: What's wrong with the noun phrase 'their previously washed clothes'?

texts: I have a question about the noun phrase their previously washed clothes (meaning 'the clothes that they had washed before'). I know we can't say this, but is there anyone who can explain to me why we can't? What is the underlying rule, as it were?


texts:
Have I ever done you wrong before?

Can someone please explain what exactly this sentence means?

Thanks a lot.


texts: Which meaning of "A test question" is correct?

texts:
I want to write my professor an email about a question regarding a test. I felt that I should write in the subject of the email an attributive noun, but then I realized it might be ambiguous.

Does a test question mean:

a question about the test, or
a question in the test

And will it convey my meaning if I write "a test question" in the subject of the email?


texts: What does " she seemed no more put out than she would be by a light rain." means?

texts:
I'm reading a Light Novel called "Overlord" and in a fight scene the author is describing a character action and reaction to the enemy's attacks,being one of them,this sentence " she seemed no more put out than she would be by a light rain."
I can't understand what the author means by that, is it a poetical sentence or something like that?


texts:
As it turns out your assuptions were true, as has been evidenced by her conviction for murder last week.

Here using has been is wrong and we should be using was, right? Since when we mention a time in the past, we go for the simple past and not the present perfect.


texts: Difference between "talk back at you" and "talk back to you"

texts: I am not sure if they both mean the same thing, but if they don't mean the same thing is it possible that "talk back at you" implies a more aggressive opposition than "talk back to you"?


texts:
Here is an example about the present simple used for a series of planned actions in a Martinet's grammar book:

  We leave London at 10 next Tuesday and arrive Paris at 13. We spend two hours in Paris and leave again at 15...

I think this is an itinerary. I wonder whether the present simple is the most appropriate tense for itineraries and whether we can also use the present continuous to talk about it, i.e., We are leaving... and arriving.... We are spending...


texts:
The place was called Enchanted Hunters. Query:
  What Indian dyes, Diana, did thy dell endorse to make of Picture Lake a very blood bath of trees before the blue
  hotel? (Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov)

Which is the verb that takes the highlighted part as its object: endorse or make?


texts: Can the adjective "ripe" be used with fields? As an attributive or a predicative adjective?

texts: Is it correct to say in a poem or a rap song, "the fields are ripe the wheat is white" Thanks very much.


texts: What tense is used in the sentence? Why it is "would have had" rather than "would have"?

texts:
The sentence is:

  Hardware specifications rapidly become obsolete, but for the sake of illustration, a typical choice of machine for running an HDFS datanode and a YARN node manager in 2014 would have had the following specifications:
  somespec

So it looks like Third Conditional, which, in turn, is used when "both the condition and result are impossible now.", but it doesn't looks impossible to me. How meaning would had changed if it had have been just "would have"?


texts: omission of prepositions before time phrase

texts:
We often omit prepositions before time phrase. But certain qualifier is included we don't need to use prepositions.
If so, are these two sentences different in meaning.

  Then one summer, she surrendered paying the interest.

  Then in one summer, she surrendered paying the interest.

I prefer the first as I think ''one'' is a determiner.


texts: When the device is turned off, the last active mode is stored in the memory. -- or "stored in memory"? Which is better?

texts:
From an instruction I'm translating from Russian:

When the device is turned off, the last active mode is stored in memory.

Which is better - to use the or not to use it?

When the device is turned off, the last active mode is stored in the memory.

I feel that omitting the definite article is okay, but I can't explain why.
According to Google Ngram, both options are in use:


texts: College of Science or College of Sciences

texts:
I want to issue a certificate for a college. But, I am confused whether to write college of science or college of sciences. Should science be in singular or plural form?

Best regards,
Khalif


texts: Is "I have no story to be told" correct or should it be "I do not have a story to tell"?

texts:
I do not have a story to be told . or I do not have a story to tell .

In the "Rolling in the deep" song of Adele.

Baby, I have no story to be told

What if i use " to tell " here instead of " to be told "

Which one is correct ? And why ?

What is the meaning of both the sentences.


texts: The collocations of "leave" with preposition phrases

texts:
The 12th entry for "leave" in OAAD:

-- to allow somebody to take care of something

  leave somebody/something + adv./prep. You can leave the cooking to me.

  She left her assistant in charge.

  Leave it with me — I'm sure I can sort it out.

  ‘Where shall we eat?’ ‘I’ll leave it entirely (up) to you (= you can decide).’

  They left me with all the clearing up.

  leave somebody/something to do something I was left to cope on my own.

Does "leave sth to sb" have the same connotation as "leave sth with sb"?

We can see that the collocations of "leave" with preposition phrases are highly flexible. I reword these examples as:

  You can leave me with the cooking.

  You can leave the cooking with me.

  Leave it to me — I'm sure I can sort it out.

  Leave me with it — I'm sure I can sort it out.

  They left all the clearing up with/to me.

Do they sound equally natural?


texts:
My brother brought the bread from India that you have eaten.
  You have eaten the bread that my brother brought from India.

Is the that antecedent of the bread above in both sentence or there is some difference?


texts:
I cannot make sense of this sentence, namely the opposite word in

Our house is number 25, and theirs is just opposite.

What is opposite to the number 25 ?


texts: "Hot embers" and "cold ice". Is this a figure of speech?

texts:
I've often come across phrases such as "hot embers" and "cold ice" (I'd be hard pressed to cite sources...I don't remember any). I found the adjectives "hot" and "cold" used with "embers" and "ice" respectively redundant, because...well... that (burning) embers are "hot" and that ice is "cold" is painfully obvious.

But since I see such usage fairly often (once again, I can't cite any sources), coupled with the existence of an establish term "paleo-achaeology", my initial belief that these were products of the airheaded-ness that usually grips users of the English language (joke) was reduced to mere suspicion.

Which is why I ask:

Is this a figure of speech? If so what is it called? Moreover, what purpose does it serve? (sarcasm? emphasis?)


texts:
Which one is correct?

  I prefer sleeping rather than going out and live.

or

  I prefer sleeping rather than going out and living.


texts: Going out is more interesting than GOING / TO GO with your family

texts:
I wonder which form suits this sentence:

  Going out with your friends is more interesting than to go with your family!
  Going out with your friends is more interesting than going with your family!

The reason is more important for me than answer.


texts: Why one sentence is better than the other in a context while the meaning is virtually identical?

texts:
I collect ghost signs. Not the signs themselves, but photos of them. _____ I had made the same drive countless times before, but I had never noticed the sign. (An ACT English question)

Why inserting "I started my collection one chilly October evening, driving home from school" is better than "Driving home from school one chilly October evening was the beginning of my collection"?
I can understand the former one is correct, but I still believe the latter is still perfectly fine. Could anyone explain the nuance?


texts: Election cycle unmarred by ... (multiple choice questions) - Why are these options the answers?

texts:
The multiple choice question below appeared in a test of mine. The answers given were (B, E, and G). I'm okay with the third choice, but having trouble with the first two. Can anyone explain why the answers to the first two blanks should be options B and E.

  In an election cycle unmarred by a spate of television advertisements in which one candidate drags the other through the mud, it is easy for voters on both sides of the political spectrum to think they have (i) __________, and perhaps partially explains why each is (ii) __________ a pronounced bias in news reporting. One newspaper will unleash a fusillade of incriminating articles on one candidate, while printing little that is (iii)____________ the other. A newspaper on the other side of the political spectrum will respond in kind. The overall effect, then, is not much different from the television advertisements: one candidate is the devil incarnate, the other a clear choice for national office.

i. (A) reached an impasse (B) scored a moral victory (C) been absolved of blame

ii. (D) similarly immune from  (E) equally susceptible to (F) likely complicit in

iii. (G) averse to  (H) approbatory of  (I) cognizant of


texts:
Could you please tell me whether the phrase "I don't suppose [something]" is idiomatic? If it is then what is the difference between:

  I don't think [something]

  I don't suppose [something]


texts: Difference between 'cautious with or in' and 'cautious of or about'?

texts:
What is the difference between them?
They confuse me, please teach me how they are different.


texts: Is "are synonyms each other" a bit wordy?

texts:
In one of my posts ("commonly used" vs "sound natural" and "is idiomatic") I said

  Obviously, idiomatic and natural are synonyms each other.

In my native language, "each other" is for emphasizing in this kind of situation. However, I am not sure whether it conveys that information in English. So, I looked up Cambridge Dictionary, and got this example

  The words "small" and "little" are synonyms.

So, is "are synonyms each other" a bit wordy?


texts: Question about meaning of "make" in this context?

texts:
What does "make" mean in this exchange?

Burt: The car has been giving me trouble from the start
Carlson: I’m really sorry for the inconvenience Mr. Andrews. Can you please confirm the make and model of the car?
Burt: It’s a YWZA Sports.


texts: "Wash the sections with PBS twice 5 min each time" - is there a need for a comma?

texts:
Should there be a comma before "X min each time" in sentences like:

  Wash the sections with PBS twice for 5 min each time.

I found examples with no comma:

And examples with a comma:

Maybe it could be omitted in terse technical language?
But in normal language, would the comma be necessary?
Would the situation be different If we used "for 5 min each time"?


texts: Who cut the coat - an idiom, a metaphor?

texts:
Frequently I have to ask myself in the street for the name of the man I bowed to just now, and then, before I can answer, the wind of the first corner blows him from my memory. I have a theory, however, that those puzzling faces, which pass before I can see who cut the coat, all belong to club waiters.

(from The Inconsiderate Waiter by James M. Barrie)
Can you explain what "who cut the coat" means in this passage?


texts:
What does it mean? There's a movie by this name, and i've heard people saying it often. I have been trying to find its answer but couldn't find any.
A sentence/example would be nice too.


texts: Which is more correct, "while on the road" or "when on the road"?

texts:
If I am going to say a sentence like this:

  Smartphones allow Internet access (?) on the road.

Which conjuctional word should I use in the brackets, "while" or "when"? Are they both acceptable in this sentence? If they are, which one is more prefered by native speakers?


texts: How do I improve listening to English conversations?

texts:
I am keen on learning how to listen to conversations in English through the BBC learning site. However, I'm not sure how to improve my listening ability. Please help me with a few tips and pointers for the same. Any input from similar experiences will be deeply appreciated.

So far, I just download one script and one voice stream at a time from the BBC site, then I just listen to them. No other exclusive listening activity are practiced at present.

Thanks


texts: Why is this sentence using "cognizance" instead of "awareness"?

texts:
I understand the meaning of cognizance is "knowledge, awareness or notice." However, for a given situation why should I use cognizance instead of knowledge or awareness or notice?

Take the below example from "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman.

  By objective of this book is how to bring intelligence to emotion. This understanding itself can help to some degree; bringing cognizance to the realm of feeling has an effect something like the impact of an observer at the quantum level physics.

Why did the author use cognizance instead of awareness?
Does cognizance carry an extra value or weight than awareness?
What is special about cognizance?


texts: Does "Believest thou this?" mean "Do you believe this?"?

texts:
Does "Believest Thou This?" mean "Do you (singular) believe this?" ?

I want to know whether a native English speaker, when he sees a title like "Believest Thou This?", immediately realizes it means "Do You (singular) Believe This?".

I want to use, in an ironic way, such a title, taken form inside a sermon written by somebody who tried to make credible a fantastic story with technical and scientific character consisting of a chain of events that person claimed he had witnessed.


texts: How to use colon correctly in a presentation

texts:
I would like to clearly understand how to use a colon in a presentation. I read that the colon : is used to add further information to the sentence. I wonder how to use it in a presentation to add extra points as a list. For example,

Gaussian model:

is flexible in high-dimension.
can be constructed easily.
have different dependence parameters for each pair of variables.

Is this a correct way to use the colon in my presentation? if not could someone please let me know why and what is the correct way to express the points?


texts: The use of the preposition "about" with the verb "wonder"

texts:
Tell me please if the preposition about change the meaning of the following sentence.

  I have noticed a tattoo on your left shoulder, and I wonder (about) what it means.

And now I wonder if could use the verb wonder
in the present progressive tense in the sentence, and would it have the same meaning as in the present simple.


texts: Can I say "The country's ongoing widely discussed problems are hopeless"

texts:
Can I use the combination of "adjective + adverb + adjective + noun" like

The country's ongoing widely discussed problems are hopeless.
(Or instead do I need to say ongoing widely-discussed problems)

It is an expensive well-designed program. (Or instead do I need to say a well-designed expensive program)


texts: "I don't give up to you" works in the following meaning?

texts:
As a trainer if I want to encourage my student that tells me that he cannot anymore (and I know that he can...) can I tell him "I don't give up to you I know that you can more! Keep workout a little bit more"?

N.b. It can be due to training of sports but it can be also due practicing of language or any learning subject when I see that the student can more but it's a matter of laziness.


texts:
Can the word outperform replaces achieve faster performance.

  X methods can achieve faster performance than Y.

Become

  X methods can outperform Y.

Does sentence 2 gives the same meaning as sentence 1?


texts: Is "Tweety" suitable as a person's name?

texts:
My name is Chia Yin.  I am a Taiwanese. We usually have two names in this generation: one Chinese, one English. I don't know why.

For my English class, my teacher asked me my English name, I don't really have one, but I have a nickname, "Tweety", same as a cartoon character.  Some of my friends still call me "Tweety".
But my teacher said it isn't suitable for work, like business meeting or other important situations.
Is that true?
I know some of people who named themselves some weird or ridiculous English name. I don't want be like that;  I need some suggestions....

If I had a new name, I will need time to get used to it.

The English teacher gave some name to choose from:  Jacqueline, Jane, and Jolin. They sound more like my Chinese name.

For me, I prefer my nickname "Tweety". I already got used to it,  and I feel more comfortable with it than other names.

But if it's not okay as a name, I will try to change it...


texts:
I regularly hear  the phrase "here goes nothing". For example when someone starts up a computer after doing stupid configuration and is not sure if it will start.

But I'm not sure about what it means, or when to use this sentence. Should I use it just before doing something stupid or when I'm uncertain while doing it?


texts: Are both "possible you" and "possible to" idiomatic?

texts:
I had a discussion with a co-worker at work and said something along the lines of:

  Doing this can hurt you in the long run, but it's also possible
  you gain confidence to do greater things through failures, so it's not 100% clear how good or bad an action is in the long run.
  Predicting what may happen in the short run is a different matter
  though.

However, I don't think "possible you" is grammatical. Should I have said "possible to" instead?


texts: Can it be quickly? Or it should be quick

texts:
I'm just a little bit confused about the following example:

  If we must kill them, let it be quickly and cleanly, without excuses.

compared to the following one:

  Let it be quick, she prayed. For God's sake let it be quick...

I have done my homework reading here and here and here, but I have to admit that I am still unsure whether quickly in #1and quick in #2 are adjectives or adverbs. After all, what do they exactly modify?

Certainly, generally speaking, quick can be used as an adverb or as an adjective but quickly can only be an adverb.


texts:
When do I need to put "on" after "improve"? I have seen things like

  "He has improved his conversational skills this semester a lot."

and I have also seen things like

  "He has improved on his previous results in this subject's tests."

So, I am at loss here as to when "on" is needed in such cases and when it's not.


texts: Is “uncounted day” the right term for this case?

texts:
There’s a 30-day term, and I need to account for 2 days off by extending the term to 32 days. Can use the term like this?:

  Term: 01/01/19 – 01/02/19 (2 uncounted days on 01/05/19 and 01/13/19)


texts:
a. Instead of running straight ahead, ~
b. Instead of straight running ahead, ~
Q1) Are both of them grammatically correct?
Q2) If so, do they have the same meaning?


texts:
I have a query regarding the following statement from this page.

  "Only he who gives up is defeated."

Why is "he" embedded in this sentence?

Is it necessary for the sentence to make sense grammatically? Or could it have just been "Only who gives up is defeated"? To me it looks that the writer is referring to a specific person. I know "he" can be anyone since there is no context, but if I wanted to use it, I think people would ask, "Who is he?"


texts: "a ... city, one that": why is there "one" in the apposition?

texts:
"The first pillar is the concept of Dubai as a global and multicultural city, one that doesn't discriminate about whom to welcome." Dubai: The Making of a Megapolis by Pranay Gupte
Why do we have to add "one" in the appositive clause?
Is "The first pillar is the concept of Dubai as a global and multicultural city that doesn't discriminate..." correct English?
I have the impression one must add "one" but why?
Is the original a relative clause? If yes, shouldn't we have "one which" in an appositional relative clause?
Thanks.


texts: What's the meaning of "standing in yourself"?

texts:
The following are comments made on the effect of social media on people. On person 2's remark, what does standing in yourself mean that I bolded?

Person 1:

  Normally I roll my eyes at people who are anti-social media. I’ve made numerous close friends and professional connections through Twitter. I’ve reconnected with old friends on Facebook. Those are good things. But as I kept reading “The Circle” and thinking about Louis C.K.’s comments, I found myself more and more uncomfortable with just how dependent I was...

Person 2:

  "Normally I roll my eyes at people who are anti-social media".

  I'm one of those people.

  It all depends on where you're standing in yourself, I suppose. I've meditated at least one hour a day for 25 years. People often comment: "I could never find the time for that." But of course many people spend at least that much time gorging themselves on social media every day.

  I tried facebook for one year--family, friends, old high school buddies--all that. In the end I quit... not so much because it was a huge waste of time (which it is) but because it was a huge waste of ME. YOU are more valuable than all that rot. I assure you that once you spend some consistent quality time with yourself you'll come to the same conclusion. You're far more valuable than the Borg!

  "Distracting ourselves to death" is not just a clever turn of phrase.


texts:
In the following context:

  You will be called within 1 to 2 hours

Does "within" imply between 1 and 2 hours? Or anytime from now, until 2 hours?


texts: "A law decreased what schools had been permitted" vs. "are permitted"

texts:
Can you please tell me which of the following sentences is correct?

  A law passed in 2006 decreased the amount of chlorine that schools had been permitted to add to drinking water.
  A law passed in 2006 decreased the amount of chlorine that schools are permitted to add to drinking water.
  A law passed in 2006 decreased the amount of chlorine that schools were permitted to add to drinking water.
  A law passed in 2006 decreased the amount of chlorine that schools have been permitted to add to drinking water.


texts: Are "what is (something) stand for?" and "how is this happen?" correct?

texts:
I heard someone saying "what is (something) stand for?" and another question format "how is this happen?"

Are these questions grammatically correct?


texts: What kinda construction 'everything else fails' is?

texts:
We all have used it several times...

  When everything else fails try/do [something]

While going through the definitions, I came across this -

  else - In addition; besides

But then, if we go by books, everything else sounds ambiguous. If everything includes every single thing, what is ultimately left for being else?

Else=In addition/besides but in addition/besides what; as by putting the word everything, we have covered everything! How come something comes up when everything has already failed (in that example)?

Why not...

  When everything fails, try/do [something]

After Damkerng's useful comment, this also sounds a bit illogical! If everything fails, how can we come up with something? Everything has literally taken all the options!

How do we come up with such sentence?


texts: Absolute Phrases vs Participial phrases with and without commas

texts:
It was a stormy day. We stayed inside the house.

  It being a stormy day, we stayed inside the house.

Source: Absolute phrase on EnglishGrammar

I'd like to see if the patterns hold if the subject is a proper noun such as Jake?

Absolute phrase in the past form:

Jake was late. His friends left without him.
Jake [being/having been] late, his friends left without him.

Absolute phrase in the present form:

Jake is often late. His friends leave without him.
Jake being often late, his friends leave without him.

There are no problems with commas in the absolute form but the participial form is tricky on account of commas.

Jake's friends leave without him being often late.

If a comma is added, how is sentence six different from sentence five?

Jake's friends leave without him, being often late.

Who is late in five and six, Jake or his friends?


texts:
Is it impossible to say "I am busy on every Monday" ?

I was told that it's not a grammatically correct sentence.

Someone said "I am busy every Monday" is correct.

Is it true?

Why can't I use "On" in front of "Every Monday" ?


texts:
I have a problem with auxiliary verbs in questions with interrogatives.
I can't feel the difference between following questions.
"What do tenses use in the essay?" or "What tenses use in the essay"?

Could you help me?


texts: Can "would have pp" have present as its reference time?

texts:
I've been guessing that would have p.p can be used for future and it has present reference time. But I've not met the case before this. I strongly suspect that the example's reference time is present. Is this really the case?

  Any place cold is definitely out, I decide. Easy enough, just choose the opposite--a warm place. Then I can leave the coat and gloves behind, and get by with half the clothes. I pick out wash-and-wear-type things, the lightest ones I have, fold them neatly, and stuff them in my backpack. I also pack a three-season sleeping bag, the kind that rolls up nice and tight, toilet stuff, a rain poncho, notebook and pen, a Walkman and ten discs––got to have my music––along with a spare rechargeable battery. That's about it. No need for any cooking gear, which is too heavy and takes up too much room, since I can buy food at the local convenience store.
  It takes a while but I'm able to subtract a lot of things from my list. I add things, cross them off, then add a whole other bunch and cross them off, too.

  My fifteenth birthday is the ideal time to run away from home. Any earlier and it'd be too soon. Any later and I would have missed my chance.
  During my first two years in junior high, I'd worked out, training myself for this day. I started practicing judo in the first couple years of grade school, and still went sometimes in junior high. But I didn't join any school teams. Whenever I had the time I'd jog around the school grounds, swim, or go to the local gym. The young trainers there gave me free lessons, showing me the best kind of stretching exercises and how to use the fitness machines to bulk up. They taught me which muscles you use every day and which ones can only be built up with machines, even the correct way to do a bench press. I'm pretty tall to begin with, and with all this exercise I've developed pretty broad shoulders and pecs. Most strangers would take me for seventeen. If I ran away looking my actual age, you can imagine all the problems that would cause. Other than the trainers at the gym and the housekeeper who comes to our house every other day––and of course the bare minimum required to get by at school––I barely talk to anyone. For a long time my father and I have avoided seeing each other. We live under the same roof, but our schedules are totally different. He spends most of his time in his studio, far away, and I do my best to avoid him.
  (Kafka on the Shores, tr. by Philip Gabriel)


texts:
I've struck upon these uses of the noun 'bite' in texts related to surgery:

  This distance is marked on the sclera with the caliper, and 7-0 or 8-0 double-armed polyglactin suture is used to place 2 radial bites on either side of the mark. These bites should be about 1.5 mm long and 1.5 mm from each other. (at Emedicine)

and

  Most corneal surgeons prefer deep partial-thickness corneal suture bites over full-thickness bites. Incorporating 95% of the donor’s and host’s relative corneal thickness avoids posterior wound gape. Full-thickness bites may be associated with a higher chance of leakage along suture tracks and serve as a portal of entry for microorganisms or epithelial ingrowth. (at Ophthalmic News Network)

and

  Long scleral suture bites are recommended to reduce the risk of the sutures cheese-wiring out of the sclera when the sutures are tied. (Strabismus surgery)

Does this use of bite make it equal to the word stitch (a single pass of a needle; the resulting loop of the thread)? Or are there nuances of meaning differentiating the two words?


texts: "continuing success" VS "continued success"

texts:
Innovation is, by its very nature, a never-ending process, one which is crucial to the continuing success of any organization and its customers.
Innovation is, by its very nature, a never-ending process, one which is crucial to the continued success of any organization and its customers.

What's the difference between the two sentences?


texts: What classic author teaches us about using a comma?

texts:
From "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

This sentence there is not a comma behind 'and':

  Handsome to look at and a perfect gentleman.

This sentence there is a comma behind 'and':

  Miss Baker's a great sportswoman, you know, and she'd never do anything that wasn't all right.

The author has open hands to write a comma where he wants. The role of the comma is not only to divide clauses in a sentence but wider. If we look at a sentence as music, emotion, and imagination, then we can understand why an author manages a comma like it. The book is a river basin. The sentences are the main river and a lot of tributaries, waterfalls, ponds. Sometimes we hug and sometimes words flow smoothly.

How would you explain to me FSF's style of writing comma on the example of the two sentences above?


texts: Ambiguity of the idiom - "A friend in need is a friend indeed."

texts:
Since my childhood, I have been told about this phrase/idiom by my teachers, friends and parents. Since now I see everything written in English microscopically, this seems perplexed to me.

  A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Think about two friends - Jack and Jill. Now, if Jack is in need, does he become friend indeed?  Keeping Jack as main person, where is Jill described? The former 'friend' or the latter? Or this is written keeping ONLY ONE PERSON in mind? No second person (as a friend) is required?

Furthermore, the adverb indeed is described as the word used to emphasize a statement or response confirming something already suggested. Then...

  Jack is Jill's friend if (and only?) he's in need (of hers?) all the time!

Does the idiom require comma or an additional word somewhere to make it clearer?  Like this -

  A friend, who comes (and probably helps) when you need, is a friend indeed.

How the original is grammatical?


texts: How to express "to go to the other side of the room in the direction that we want"?

texts:
Ok, this is a picture of my apartment.

There are 2 adjacent rooms. There is a balcony. The child is standing in Room 1. The child can go from Room1 to Room2 through route 1 (the child can walk down room 1 and go to room2) or route 2 (the child can walk from room1 to the balcony and then go to room2)

I am working on the balcony and it is very dirty. I want the child to go from room1 to room2 and I don't want him to use route 2, I want him to use the route 1.

How would I say?

-Please go to the other side of the room via something?


texts: What does this sentence "the hacks used to die" mean?

texts:
This is one of those sentences every word and every part of which makes sense but not the whole sentence.

From the movie Goodfellas:

  In prison, dinner was always a big thing. We had a pasta course, and then we had a meat or a fish. Paulie did the prep work. He was doing a year for contempt, and had this wonderful system for doing the garlic. He used a razor, and he used to slice it so thin... that it used to liquefy in the pan with just a little oil. It was a very good system. Vinnie was in charge of the tomato sauce. I felt he used too many onions, but it was still a very good sauce. Johnny Dio did the meat. We had no broiler, so Johnny did everything in pans. It used to smell up the joint something awful... and the hacks used to die, but he still cooked a great steak.

It is very clear "hack" in this movie means a person that does regular boring things, who doesn't know how to game the system and be a "wise guy". But what does this sentence mean? Why "the hacks used to die"? Of the smell?


texts: Term for one "story"/"node"/"item of news"

texts: I am not a native speaker of English. If there are many news, we say "there are some news", but what if there is only one "item of news"?


texts: Is there a difference between "should not have done something" and "needn't have done something"?

texts:
What is the difference between shouldn't have done something and needn't have done something?

Everything was okay. You needn't have worried.

Can we say you shouldn't have worried instead of needn't ... ?


texts:
Is there any meaning difference in below questions?

a) Which movie you saw yesterday?

b) Which movie did you see yesterday?


texts: What does "it" refer to here and what's the meaning of the sentence?

texts:
Asleep was the way Harry liked the Dursleys best; it wasn't as though they were ever any help to him awake.

  Harry potter and the Goblet of Fire

What does it refer to here and what's the meaning of the whole sentence?

(For those who don't know, Harry and the dursleys hate each other very much.)


texts:
Let's say you and your son, who is 3 years old, watched a movie at a theater. Then your son fell asleep and you have to carry him back to your car. And you say:

  I laid my son safely in/on/at the back seat of our car.

All of these make sense, but which is correct?


texts: What is the right phrase to express "I speed up and repair slow computers"?

texts:
I want to express that I speed up and repair slow computers but I am not sure what phrase I should use.

If I wouldn't want to use the word "Slow", then the phrase

  Computer speed up and repair

would do the magic, but I want to use word "Slow" because I only repair the slowness of computer. And yes, I have to use the word "Repair" too because of the keyword preferences.

I am thinking of using

  Slow computer speed up and repair

but isn't that confusing? It could mean both

  I speed up and repair slow computer

OR

  I speed up and repair computer slowly

What phrase should I use? Any ideas?


texts:
From BBC News on Airport expansion comes the quote:

  But the Gatwick scheme is better for the local environment, and it should be easier to deliver politically and financially. You pays your money, you takes your choice.

What does You pays your money, you takes your choice. mean?  It is clearly grammatically incorrect.  Googling unhelpfully results in forum posts answered with "just google it".  What does it mean, and why is it you pays rather than you pay without an s?


texts:
According to Longman

  consider (that) to think of someone or something in a particular way or to have a particular opinion : The local authority considered that the school did not meet requirements.

In that example sentence from Longman, could we use considerations that instead of consider that?

  The local authority based its decision on consideration that the school did not meet requirements.


texts:
I have just got this message on Facebook from someone in London. What does it mean?

  God. I have to much inspiration. Do you have a stronger machine, a
  stronger body for me? Will look. All things may be churn to the mill.


texts: Could you teach the context of the part of the sentence?

texts:
I came across the sentence

  "I have been looking for other work for a while now, but now that this
  miserable excuse for a person as all but folded the school...well,
  it's lucky I had a feeling and started looking for other job
  opportunities when I did"

She left her job due to her stupid boss and she said the sentence. I couldn't understand "that this miserable excuse for a person as all but folded the school...well". Could you teach me?


texts:
I was practicing with a key word transformation exercise and then I found the following phrasal verb:
went on to become

the full sentence is the following one:
she went on to become a successful business woman

My question is: what does the phrasal verb exactly mean ( if that can be considered a phrasal verb ) ?
Could you please give me a few examples about this verb's usage?
Thanks in advance.


texts: "speaker reliability" vs "speaker's reliability"

texts:
We should notice that speaker reliability is very crucial in this community.
  We should notice that speaker's reliability is very crucial in this community.

What is the difference between the meanings of 1 and 2? And, does any of them need to have 'the'?


texts:
A line from The Water Diviner (2014)

I hit water at 15 feet. Bit brackish, but good pressure. With water we'll be able to put stock in that valley block.

"Block mountain" is a term referring to "a mountain formed by the uplift of blocks of the earth's crust." (Dictionary.com) I could see "valley block" referring to a similar concept having something to do with earth's tectonic plates or crust. But I can't find a dictionary definition on this.


texts: Are these two sentences the same? What are the nuances in these two scenarios?

texts:
He bought me a book.
  He bought a book for me.

Are the two sentences above the same? I wonder whether there are some nuances differentiating these two scenarios.


texts: Can we say "A recently done research" and can we consider it a noun phrase?

texts: Is it correct to begin with an adverb just like in: "A recently done research"...


texts:
I knew I had to get this award

This means this award had to be mine (it was bound to happen)...

Or does it mean I needed to get this award?


texts: Would it be wrong to write "I'll pay the next time we'll have dinner" instead of ""I'll pay the next time we have dinner"?

texts:
I need a little help with the grammar structure being used in this sentence

  I'll  pay the next time we have dinner.

Would it be wrong if I write

  I'll pay the next time we'll have dinner"

I would appreciate it if someone can enlighten me on this. Thanks.


texts: Should I use "important" or "importantly" in the introductory phase of a sentence?

texts:
Should I use important or importantly in the introductory clause of the second sentence:

  Appellant's argument is premature. More important, it lacks merit.

Google NGram shows a significant preference for "more important."  Recently, however, it appears the democracy of usage has swung slightly in favor of "more importantly."

I prefer the former, but I am more concerned about learning which one is grammatically proper, and the particular rules that control the analysis. Can someone walk me through it?


texts: How to identify whether the sentence is in passive voice or Simple past (state)

texts:
Sometimes in newspapers, the writer does not include the agent in the sentence. Hence it makes it very difficult to determine whether the sentence is in passive voice or in simple past tense stative.
For example:

Actual sentence "5 people were killed / injured."

Meanings:

5 people were killed/injured (in yesterday’s incident.) (Indicative)
5 people were killed/injured (by a gunman yesterday.) (Passive)


texts: Is it breast or breasts when talking about one person

texts: When you talk about a person's breast do you say “breast” or “breasts”.


texts: What is the grammatical function of "as was…" in the following context?

texts:
I read the following paragraph on page3 from the book The year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes.

  The next thing Billy remembered was waking up in a hospital. His
  parents, whom he called Mama and Papa, were with him, as was his
  three-year-old sister, Sally, whom everyone called Sal.

As for the bold sentence, I can understand its meaning but not its grammatical function. My questions about the sentence are listed as follows：

1，Is it a dependent clause or independent clause? If it is a dependent clause, what type it is?

2，Is as here a pronoun?

3, Is as was derive from as is? I did not find any detailed explanation, and there is only one dictionary explains that the meaning of as was is in a previous state


texts:
A major incident was declared when winds caused two fires to merge near communication masts on Saturday.

From BBC.com

How should we interpret the main clause that a major incident was declared? Does it mean when winds caused fires and at that time somebody declared an incident or the major incident here is exactly the fire incident?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-44676707


texts:
Should I use commas in the way I did and isn't it unnecessary to say that it's a day off because a public holiday is usually a day off?
"In the winter, in my country, we celebrate New Year.  1January is a public holiday and it is a day off."


texts: Use of "compared to" as found in a dictionary

texts:
I read that "compared to" is used to indicate similarities between things of a different nature. So is this sentence

  I'm a slob compared to my roommate.

from this dictionary
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compared%20to

wrong?


texts:
Although they are smaller, chipmunks are ________ most other ground squirrels.
 A. like to
 B. like as
 C. like
 D. alike

the correct answer was 'C'.but I think it must be 'D'.
I thought we can use 'like' between two singular name and 'alike' after plural name or two singular.

Noun + is like + Noun
Noun + Noun + are alike
Noun (plural) + are alike

why the answer is 'like'?


texts: Is it okay to use the words "awesome" and "amazing" as adverbs like in "The Lakers played amazing/awesome tonight"

texts:
On dictionaries(for instance, definitions of awesome and amazing on Cambridge Dictionary), there are no definitions of "awesome" or "amazing" as adverbs (they are only defined as adjectives), but I think native English speakers can use them as adverbs. So I wonder if it is wrong usage because you can't find any adverb definitions of them. For example, is it wrong to say,

"The Lakers played amazing tonight" to mean "The Lakers played in an amazing way/extremely well tonight";

and is it wrong to say,

"The Lakers played awesome tonight" to mean "The Lakers played in an awesome way/extremely well tonight"?

And another question is, if those two words can be used as adverbs, why isn't this specified on dictionaries?

Context: The Lakers are a famous basketball team.


texts: What should I say "Had Happened" Or "happened"?

texts:
Due to some reason I could not completed my task yesterday. Is it correct to say Today that?

I really don't Know what had happened to me. I could not complete my task yesterday.

or only simple past tense will do

I really don't know what happened to me yesterday. I could not complete my task.


texts: The lack of food, about the definite article "the"

texts:
If I want to tell somebody that Chinese people have a lot of food and that they eat cats and dogs for other reasons, can I say:

  The reason why Chinese people eat cats and dogs is not because of the lack of food.

Would it be mistaken for "Chinese people don't have food, but they don't eat cats and dogs for not having food but for other reasons." because the "the lack of food" over here kind of makes me think like they are having that kind of problem, which is not exactly what I meant.

Or I should say it without a "the"

  The reason why Chinese people eat cats and dogs is not because of lack of food.

If you could, please also explain how the article "the" works in cases like this?

It is just a example sentence. Please forgive me if you get offended. By the way - I am Chinese, so I can't be racist, right? lol


texts:
Which is correct:

  If we withdraw from the defense, you will need to make arrangement to pay for the fees and costs incurred by your attorney.

OR

  If we withdraw from the defense, you will need to make an arrangement to pay for the fees and costs incurred by your attorney.

OR

  If we withdraw from the defense, you will need to make arrangements to pay for the fees and costs incurred by your attorney.


texts: If there's no contradiction, can I make a sentence like this?

texts: Under the circumstance that I needed two cups, I found a bundle of 5 cups, and I say Oh, finally I found 2 cups. As you see, there's no contradiction in itself, so is it okay?


texts: Using verb forms to indicate, in the same sentence, which of two activities is the important

texts:
In the Italian language, "stare" used with the gerund, which is different from the English gerund, is a much more 'immediate' way of expressing the past than the plain imperfect verb form. It is a way of speaking about what we were doing at that very moment or about an ongoing action or event.

Thus, for example, "Stavamo guardando il telegiornale quando è andata via l'elettricità" can be translated as "We were watching the news on TV when the electricity was cut off", where the highlighted phrase are equivalent, at least literally, in the two languages.

But we can also say "Guardavamo il telegiornale quando è andata via l'elettricità" which is different from the previous sentence in the fact that it doesn't express the same emphasis, as if there were no interest in what we was doing when the electricity cut off or as if we don't want to highlight/emphasize exactly what we were doing at that very moment.

Now, hoping to have well explained the context, what word or phrase 'X' should we use in the sentence below to have a parallel translation?

  We 'X' the news on TV when the electricity was cut off.

I have thought to the past tense form "watched", but I'm unsure because "watched" doesn't carry that sense of continuity  that the word "guardavamo" do.


texts:
From "Sunrise on the Hills" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Came sweetly to the echo-giving hills;
And the wild horn, whose voice the woodland fills,

the last line means "the woodland fills the voice of the wild horn"? I am trying to make sense of this sentence, but it doesn't seem to make any sense to me.


texts: Why should "are" be used here instead of "is"?

texts:
The sentence given in our book is as follows,

  More important than winning is developing the ability to work with others and developing leadership skills

We are supposed to find where the mistake is in the sentence... 4 options are given ( which I have made bold ) and one of them is correct ( meaning the mistake is there )..
As per the key given in our book, the correct answer is B option i.e. "is" and the key says that "are" should be used here... I am confused and can't understand why should "are" be used here? Anyone who can help me here, please?


texts: difference in verb collocation with exam

texts:
I have read three verb collocations with exam but cannot find the difference in meaning.

  sit an exam/test,
  do an exam/test, and
  take an exam/test

I would like to know the difference in meaning for each phrase.
Secondly, What verb we use for teachers who design a test because I have learned that "make a test" is wrong. Then if I am a teacher and design a test for my students what shall I say,for instance, I .... a chemistry test yesterday.
thanks in advance.


texts:
I was taking a test a few while ago when I encountered a question regarding conjunctions.
What should be the correct sentence here?
"Though all players do not play hard, but when captain is motivated properly, they do a lot better"
A) Not all players play hard
B) Though all players do play hard
C) No improvement
I chose option B, but the answer was option A. I don't know how option A is the correct one.
Please help me with this question.
Thank you.


texts: Words that mean "walked in an annoyed manner"

texts:
I want to express that my character was walking away after her friend teased her a bit but she's trying to be serious. I don't want it to come off as she's angry, but just annoyed.

So I don't know if "stormed" or "stomped" would be a good match?


texts:
Which one of the following 2 sentences is grammatically/ idiomatically more correct:

"She is almost a real fan of the jazz band."
"She is an almost real fan of the jazz band"

Tnx!


texts: "The girl I love hates me" or "The girl who I love hates me"

texts:
The girl I love hates me

Is the sentence grammatically correct?

My teacher says it should be

  the girl who I love hates me


texts: How come US Date format is month/day/year?

texts:
Whenever I read a US date I have the problem of figuring out what each number represents. So when I see: 10/11/12 I assume it means "10th November 2012" (which would be the norm for my country) or "12th November 2010" (which would make the most sense to me) but it actually means "11th October 2012".

So, how did this come to be? Shouldn't the order of elements be from largest to smallest or from smallest to largest? What's more, one says hundred-twenty-two, not hundred-two-twenty.


texts: Is it ok to write I go to USA for three days?

texts:
I am wondering if it is grammatically right to say "I go to USA for three days or I went to USA for three days"
"go" or "went" is not a continuous word and should not be followed by a duration "for ".


texts:
When a process is done over a series of things (e.g series of nodes of a graph), they may be in turn processed. What are words for the node that is being processed?

Current Node
Under-Process Node ?!
Under Consideration
...

It is a general question, "node" is just an example here


texts: 'went with it' and 'hard five massive major ammunition sites' meaning

texts:
The source is https://youtu.be/5QZmMWSVw_4?t=159

What does went with it mean?

'We had very,very hard five massive major ammunition sites' -> What is it about?


texts: Is "I never saw him yesterday" grammatical?

texts: Is "I never saw him yesterday" grammatical, used to mean that "at no point in time in yesterday did I see him"? Does the sentence sound weird to a native speaker of AmE?


texts: What do you call a thing that holds a heavy armor?

texts:
https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Power_armor_station_(Fallout_4)

In Fallout 4, they use the term "power armor station", but I am wondering if there's any other word for these type of support object that holds a heavy armor in place.

This weird contraption doesn't seem to have a name in English. The armor is hung by the contraption.


texts: "participate in a free t-shirt coloring" or "participate in free t-shirt coloring"

texts:
I'm in 5th grade, preparing a flyer for a fundraising fair. In the flyer, I need to call out an activity, coloring activity, which would be offered for free to all who purchased the coloring books. I would really appreciate your help getting this phrase grammar-proofing.

  "Don’t have colors? – no problem! – participate in a free coloring during the event"

OR

  "Don’t have colors? – no problem! – participate in free coloring during the event"

Should there be "a" before "free coloring" or not? I thought it should be because it's an activity = coloring. I couldn't get my teachers to agree on one vs. other. Please help!


texts:
1) He broke a bone three times recently.

  2) Recently, on three occasions, he broke a bone.

Do '1' and '2' imply that the same bone was broken?

  3) He broke a different bone three times recently.

  4) Recently, on three occasions, he broke a different bone.

Do '3' and '4' work?


texts: “just went to [place] last September” vs “have just gone to [place] last September”

texts:
May I know are the following two sentences grammatical and idiomatic?

  I just went to Venice last September

  I've just gone to Venice last September


texts:
I know we can use present simple tense for story telling even in the sentences with the meaning of continous tense but I'm not sure that I can use present continous tense.

For example: I'm walking in the street. I'm completely lost. Suddenly I'm seeing a friend and asking where this street goes. So, I find my way.


texts:
Which Tense should I use to tell if completed action in the future?

e.g 1

a) Later we realized that he changed his route. (in the past context)

b) Later we realize that he change/changed his route. (in the future context)

e.g. 2

a) Suppose he changed his address in the book but later realized that it was wrong ( In the past Context)

b) Suppose in the future he changed his address in the book but later realized the it is wrong, can he change the same at that time? (In future context)

e.g 3

a) Later we come to know that they spent/spend a whole day in the computer fair. (in future context)

I am mainly concern about my construction in future context. Please help.


texts: How popular is the Passive voice of Past Continuous?

texts:
Can you give an account on how often Passive voice of Past Continuous used nowadays.

The room was being cleaned when I arrived.
Their performance was being recorded.
The son was being looked for by his mother.


texts:
In Greyhound (2020), from Fletcher-class destroyer, Commander Ernest commands Taker
& Helmsman to intercept German U-boat, which was following 37 Allied ships,
which are making its way to Liverpool:

Taker: Contact bearing 066, range indefinite, sir.
Commander Ernest: Left hard rudder. Ease the rudder.
Helmsman: Easing the turn. Aye, aye, sir.
Commander Ernest: Meet her.
Helmsman: Aye, aye, sir. Holding course.

What does "her" refer to?


texts: I have seen a plethora of examples of sentences which use the word 'trot' in the context of horse gait, meaning a moderately paced running of the horse which is faster than horse's walking but slower than galloping. What I want to know is that if the word could be used for humans as well, in the sense that it would mean faster than leisure walking but slower than running?


texts: "if I was rich, I would have bought..." vs. If I was rich I would buy..."

texts:
Is it correct to answer if it was or were with “would have”?

Example:

  If I was rich, I would have bought a car.

Or should it be only would?

  If I was rich, I would buy a car.

If the former, why?


texts:
Is "I've worked as a teacher in the past" correct? Doesn't "in the past" mean a finished time in the past so it should be "I worked as a teacher in the past"? If someone says "I worked as a lumberjack in the past", I'd assume they don't work as a lumberjack anymore. The construction "I've worked as a lumberjack in the past" sounds correct? I think "in the past three years" is ok cause that includes the current year, but only "in the past"...? As in "I've done this in the past" and "I did this is the past"

Thanks in advance


texts:
What does the phrase "curious as it may seem" mean?

Quoted from On 'The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences' by Sorin Bangu,

Curious as it may seem, such explicit reconstructions of the problem are not
common in the literature.

Does it mean "strange or unusual as it may seem"?

Taking into account the sentence as a whole, can the sentence be interpreted as:

It is strange that such explicit reconstructions of the problem are not
common in the literature.

Is this phrase equivalent to "curious though it may seem"?


texts: Distance from Chicago to New York vs Distance between Chicago and New York

texts:
Distance from Chicago to New York is 1500 km.

  Distance between Chicago and New York is 1500 km.

Are these 2 sentences exactly the same or they have different meanings?
Can I use them interchangeably?


texts: Definition of 'purpose' & relative adverbs

texts:
purpose (Cambridge)
Why you do something or why something exists.
purpose (Merriam)
The reason why something is done or used.
Does it mean 'why' can be replaced by 'the reason why'?
If so, is 'why' a relative adverb or an interrogative adverb as in 'We talk about why the Earth is round'?


texts: Sometimes I don't know if I should attach a definite article in front of a noun

texts:
Some people do not think interior design is an important part of life.

Please look at the sentence above.
The 'interior design' does not have a definite article in the sentence.
Should I put 'the' in front of it?
If I do not place anything in front of it, is it still correct?

In addition, please look at the end of the sentence.
Should 'part of life' be 'part of their lives'?
Or is 'part of life' still correct? If so, what makes 'part of life' and 'part of their lives' different to each other?


texts: Usage of 'would' in "When people would ask me"

texts:
When people would ask me how old I was, I would answer them correctly.
  When I would go to social events, people would ask me to tell them my harrowing story.
  It was annoying when people would ask me about that.

What is the usage of "would" in these sentences?


texts: Auxiliary to be with first person singular

texts:
A. If I was you, I would help the poor
B. If I were you, I would help the poor

Which of the sentences is correct, A, B or both


texts:
Could you tell me if there is any difference in meaning and usage between at what age and from what age? For example:

At/From what age are you allowed to drive a car in your country?


texts: About the sentence "Do you have any idea"

texts:
Are the following sentences grammatically correct?

  Do you have any idea to prove it?
  Do you have any idea how to prove it?
  Do you have any idea about proving it?


texts: Can adjectives come with a noun directly?

texts:
Can we say

  it is the data accessible by the system

or we must instead say

  it is the data that are accessible by the system


texts: Type of clause and correct usage in this example

texts:
It follows two sisters— one is devoted to her faith, the other breaks the community's strict rules.

What would we class this type of clause ?  (one is this, the other is this)

What part is the main clause ?


texts: Which word should I use "which" or "where"?

texts:
Which one of the two following sentences is correct?

  It's a place which they can call home.

Or

  It's a place where they can call home.

I'm asking this question because I recently wrote a paragraph in which I used the word "which" but my teacher changed it to "where" and I was wondering why? Why did she did that?


texts: Why must I use "following" instead of "next" when introducing a list?

texts:
Why is it correct to say:

  We would like to thank the following contributors:

  Mr. X
  Mrs. Y
  Mr. Z

while it is NOT correct to say:

  We would like to thank the next contributors:

  Mr. X
  Mrs. Y
  Mr. Z

I see how the word "following" makes sense:

  coming next; listed or shown next

but I don't see why "next" is a bad choice, especially as it's part of the definition above:

  coming after this one;  in the time or place that follows or comes directly after someone or something : after this

I saw this answer on ELU which just says "'following' is generally used," and the question was closed as answerable by commonly available references, but I don't see this answered in those references (maybe I'm just missing it).

Is there any source, rule, or more general way to intuitively understand this?


texts: didn't pay attention vs wasn't paying attention

texts:
As I understand, following sentences have the same meaning, haven't they? There is only a small difference that the first one says about the fact (I didn’t pay attention), but the second one says about the process (I wasn’t paying attention). In fact, meaning is the same, isn't it?
As I see from Books Ngram Viewer, both versions are often used, aren't they?

I didn’t pay attention when I was writing the letter, so I made some mistakes.
I wasn’t paying attention while I was writing the letter, so I made some mistakes.


texts:
She's been a vegetarian for ten years now.

Does She continues to be vegetarian or no?


texts: Can the verb "code" refer to [producing] any kind of code?

texts:
I am a programmer, and I know it is fairly common that we say "to code" to roughly mean "to work with some body of code".

My question is if we can use this word for other kinds of code as well. For example,

  There's something special about that song. It's got a secret message Morse coded into the percussion.

(code, meaning to represent the code) or

  These blades code the character onto the ticker tape each time this rod is pulled low.

(code, meaning to cut the code into the paper) or

  When you speak into this microphone, they will hear your voice next door. Instantaneously it is coded as an MP3 and streamed across the internet also.

(coded as, meaning recorded in the form of)


texts:
Found it in Patrick Rothfuss's book "The Slow Regard for Silent Things." I tried googling it but came up with nothing.

  She already had straw here, and three bottles waited on a narrow ledge of stone along one wall. But looking at them, Auri frowned. There was a green one, a brown one, and a clear one. There was a wide wire baling top, a grey twisting lid, and a cork fat as a fist. They were all different shapes and sizes, but none of them were quite right.

Any ideas? Thanks.


texts:
I'm writing on my website:

  This German / English Word List in Excel contains 1593 German words. If you need more words, you can have my German-English word list with 27449 words (stand: September 16, 2018).

Is the turn of speech "stand: September 16, 2018" correct? By it I want to say that as of September 16, 2018, there are 27449 words in my word list, but in the future there may be even more.


texts: Can we use WHOSE for things? (or should I use 'that' or 'which'?)

texts:
I have changed the net connection to a package that/which cost is $15 per month.

Which relative pronoun is proper to use in such scenarios? Can we use whose for abstract or non-living things?


texts: "After years of uncertainty and upheaval allowed ISIS militants"

texts:
After years of uncertainty and upheaval allowed ISIS militants to gain a foothold in the country, the U.S. has begun carrying out airstrikes to try and oust them.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/04/africa/libya-chaos-in-graphics/index.html

Don't you think that there is "that" omitted in the sentence above (…upheaval that allowed…). I was thought that when relative pronoun “that” is a subject, you cannot omit the relative pronoun. Or the first clause is not a relative clause?


texts:
What is 'falls' or 'individual falls' here? It is difficult for me to find the right word for 'falls' which has many meanings.

  I think they convincingly showed that genetically this individual
  falls halfway between the Neanderthal and Denisovan fossils found in
  the same cave,


texts:
It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate. I was furling my wieldy umbrella . . . when I saw her. . . . She was a descript person. . . . Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she
  moved in a gainly way.

I have difficulty understanding this passage, especially the bolded words. I didn't find those words in my dictionary. Can someone help explain it?

The passage is excerpted from

“How I Met My Wife” by Jack Winter from The New Yorker, July 25, 1994.


texts: is there a rule to capitalize a canonical name, a scientific and technical term?

texts:
k-means clustering is a scientific and technical term.

Wikipedia and some books use "k-means clustering" instead of "K-Means Clustering", while some other posts use "K-Means Clustering".

Is there a rule to capitalize a canonical name, a scientific and technical term?


texts: usage of "an" with phrase "emotional perspective"

texts:
I am confused about the usage of the indefinite article in the following sentence:

  We compare the language of false news to the real ones from emotional perspective.

or

  We compare the language of false news to the real ones from an emotional perspective.

For both versions, I saw many examples of usage in various articles, and I don't know which one is correct.


texts:
The OALD says that ages is, "informal, especially BrE."

Is ages as in "I waited for ages" only used in British English?
If it is also used in other English dialects, is there any difference between the usage in those dialects? For example, is ages considered informal in one dialect, but not in another one?


texts: What is the difference between "play at" and "play upon"?

texts:
We are playing at cards.
She is playing upon the piano.

In both sentences, why are we using prepositions ?


texts: Is it right to say "what do you prefer to go to work?"?

texts:
I created this structure from its possible answers like:

I prefer buses to go to work. ➡ what means of transportation do you prefer to go to work ➡ What do you prefer to go to work?

  But on second thought the first sentence seems wrong to me and I should change it to these:

  A: What do you prefer to go by to go to work?

  B: What do you prefer for going to work?

I know for sure that B is right. Even if it is correct, Can I replace for going to work with to go to work to have:

  What do you prefer to go to work?


texts: When to use "alright" and when to use "okay"?

texts:
While speaking when should I use "alright" and when should I use "okay" ? Their meaning what I think is somewhat similar yet their sense seems to be different.

Please provide some helpful examples with your explanations.

EDIT 1:

When I am saying the meanings are similar but senses are not same. This occurs with synonyms. Yes. That is what synonyms are what I believe. Such as poor, broke, bankrupt are synonyms but we can't use them in same sense or in same context usually.

EDIT 2:

In the first edit I used examples of poor, broke and bankrupt for the ease of understanding. Of course this is not the case with "alright" and "okay".
They are more interchangeable. Nevertheless, as I said before, that their meaning is similar , but their sense differ. If I would think of some other words like these, they will also make some new questions which I don't want to include in this.

EDIT 3:

Why do I say "alright" and "okay" has similar meanings? Because when we say alright, It gives a sense of satisfactory response, such as to put it in "fairly well" response. When we say okay I presume it gives a sense of satisfactory response but a "not specially good" hidden in there somewhere also. The sense of the words may differ that alright carry a bit of positive outlook and okay may carry a bit of negativity with it.

Now I am not sure of these conclusions but this is as far as I could gather from what I have observed while listening to natives speak.

I would had put this 3rd EDIT in answer but for good reasons I don't have those privileges now.


texts:
Is it correct to end a sentence with a superlative without followed noun?

For example: I am the happiest. He is the fastest.

If it is not correct why do people widely use to say: "It is the best" without any continuous noun later? Is it not correct usage or maybe it is an exception?


texts:
I want to make question sentence like this.
"What does it have a meaning xxx ?"
Or
"What does it is having a meaning xxx ?"

I have no idea what I do use question sentence with having.


texts: What does the author mean by saying "dartboards and blindfolds are sometimes invoked"?

texts:
I read this in Word by Word by Kory Stamper:

  Folks assume that I spend my day in a locked, smoky conference room, chomping on cigars and guzzling scotch, where other lexicographers and I bark out the latest, greatest additions to the language like caricature admen. Dartboards and blindfolds are sometimes invoked; extensive bribery setups are hinted at-how else did "Xerox" and "Kleenex" get into the dictionary.

I want to ask what type of image and idea does author want to convey with this?


texts: Understanding - "Cantaloupe-colored sunrises ... all kinds of things that didn't include black plastic mountains of trash and the smell of dog urine."

texts:
I am helping a friend who is preparing for their GRE (Graduate Record Examinations).

In the "reading comprehension" section, there is a passage and then there are some questions. While I can easily understand the passage and answer the questions correctly, I don't particularly understand how some of the sentences are constructed.

  Most of Werner's metaphorical moments were painterly - the juxtaposing of the wild bird and the tame tree, the shimmer of the periwinkle, the splurt of titanium white that fell from it onto the pavement. He loved New York for its simple surprises, although in truth, Oregon and Iowa and Arizona and everywhere else had simple surprises as well. Cantaloupe-colored sunrises, banded cows, Dairy Queens, all kinds of things that didn't include black plastic mountains of trash and the smell of dog urine.

First, why are there three "and"s like that - so close to each other? They don't seem to be serving a purpose that commas cant.

Second, the bold sentence has me really confused - it is not idiomatic (In fact, I suspect it is not syntactically valid).

Question: How is the bold sentence idiomatic or even logical? There seems to be something missing from it. To me, it seems incomplete - like a sentence fragment.

This seems to be from a famous "creative nonfiction" essay published in "Best American Essays 2007". The essay is called “Werner”, written  by Jo Ann Beard. I can't find the full essay, but here is the paragraph I am talking about (passage 2): GRE Reading Comprehension "Werner".


texts:
"Have you read about the latest royal scandal?

No, don`t you believe all (or all what?) you read in the papers, do you?"

Which one is correct?


texts: The difference between Laughed and Laughing in my sentence

texts:
I have two phrases but I can't understand what's the difference between them.

  I will make you laughing.

and

  I will make you laughed.


texts: Is "When I got back home, did the lights go out?" grammatically correct?

texts:
Is the sentence:

When I got back home, did the lights go out?

grammatically correct, as compared to its inverted form:

Did the lights go out when I got back home?


texts: What does "crescendo of degradation" mean and refer to?

texts:
One trouble with pretending to be someone or something
  else is that there is no stopping it. For Plato, the act of pretending
  rapidly runs down through a sexist chain of being from
  men to women to animals to inanimate objects,in a crescendo
  of degradation. Socrates’s affirmation of this terrible danger
  in poetry is the classic condemnation of imitation in the
  Western tradition. Imitation is a species of dehumanizing
  or unmanning (!) madness. Poetry, for Plato, has authority
  all right, but it is the authority of radical evil. Therefore the
  poets must be banished from his ideal republic. This is the
  most powerful argument ever devised for why not to read literature.

Dose it refer to the verb "run" in the cited context and mean: the act of pretending in this sexist chain that at top of it are men, rapidly spread and its bad influence in the bottom of the this sexist chain is more powerful.?

This context is from a book named: On literature.


texts:
According to  Merriam-Webster, "at school" is an idiom which means

attending school as a student

From Cambridge Dictionary

I studied modern European history at college.

I met my husband when we were in college.

In the post "Hi Joe" vs. "Hi Mr Parker" when writing an email, I said

... By tutor, I mean he doesn't teach at college or school...

Which, I suppose, is in accordance with the use of "at school".
Cambridge Dictionary indicates both "at school" and "in school" are in use though Ngram Viewer shows the former is less common than the latter.

Do they mean the same thing? Which one should I use?

Note: I've gone through the post Preposition confusion - Do you learn somthing 'at' school OR 'in' school?, which is related but different. Because "teach at college" means neither the location or the process of attending classes


texts:
It is a rule in the use of the articles that when a noun is used in the second time it is preceded by the definite article the. As it is a book. The book is in English.

I want to know whether this rule is true even when a noun is used in general. As in -

Books are good friends of man.
Books provide us with knowledge. (OR)
The books provide us with knowledge. (in case of countable nouns).
Iron is a useful metal.
Iron is very precious for human life. (OR)
The iron is very precious for human life. (in case of uncountable nouns).

Which sentences of them are right and why. Please clarify this point.


texts:
But I'm not going to stand here and take all the credit myself. Because we're a team.
Is the sentence natural with going to? Does the sentence mean that he doesn't want to take all the credit himself?


texts:
1

Vinay plays cricket, so does Ashok.

We use  so+ auxiliary verb when second person( Ashok in case of above sentence) shows agreement with positive sentence.
Here in 1 sentence i have no confusion.

He can speak French, and so can  speak German.

What about this sentences. It seems correct grammatically correct but doesn't make any sense. French and German are two different language. So if one can speak French than it is not necessary that one can also speak German.  So i am confused if it is correct way to write this.
2.

I don't like coffee, neither does he.
This sentence is correct.

I seldom went to Christmas parties, neither did he.

Is the second sentence correct? When i read this sentence It seems "neither" does't fit here. I mean it doesn't fit in the flow of a sentence (it's look like breaker on road when we have to slow our car).


texts:
He described the situation to me. correct

  He described me the situation.  wrong

The second sentence is said to be wrong with the reason that describe cannot take two objects.

If that is so then why does the first sentence contain two objects namely situation and me?


texts: Trying to get over a bad case of something

texts:
To me:

  'Bad case of (an ailment)'

sounds anything and everything that is either the direct result of an ailment; for example:

  I have a bad case of the flu.

would cover other symptoms that might accompany it in a given case (i.e, headache, sore throat, body aches, etc.) Is that right?

Whereas if I said:

  I am trying to get over the flu.

means I am doing my best to recover from it. Correct?


texts: What is the difference between "go up to something" and "go over to something" in the sense of approaching something?

texts:
What is the difference between the following sentences?

  He went up to the table to grab some cake.

  He went over to the table to grab some cake.

If the phrases have identical meanings, could the verb come be used with the same meaning?


texts: How to explain the process of deriving a mathematical expression-Number 2?

texts:
suppose that we have derived two expression  as below.

a = b+c  (1)

y = w-z  (2)

Now, suppose we've been asked to solve an integral. to explain how to solve the integral, I say:

  The integral can be solved from (1) and (2) under simple modifications. To do so, we only need to ...

  The integral can be solved using (1) and (2) under simple modifications. To do so, we only need to ...

  The integral can be solved by/via/through (1) and (2) under simple modifications. To do so, we only need to ...

Questions:

1) Which one do you prefer?

2) If there is a better option, I will be happy to know it.


texts: Specific case of using articles in mathematics

texts:
My czech book on English in mathematics has a section about choosing the right article. It says:

  Use the indefinite article when you are referring to each element of a
  class. For example: Mersenne primes are related to perfect numbers.

And then:

  Use the definite article when you are referring to all elements of a class. For example: The harmonics numbers are the numbers H^n for \alpha > 1 defined by the formula...

I am deeply confused since I do not get the difference between the examples. I do not get the difference between each element and all elements neither.


texts: I have two questions about these paragraphs

texts:
This dilemma is nothing new. For years he instilled this sense of competition at the Trump Organization to, in his mind, great success. The enemy was both rival developers and down the hall. Once employees proved their loyalty, they took up offices on the 26th floor near Trump and his children. Most stayed over a decade once they got there.

  But members of the new Trump team know they don't have years to earn that trust. To expedite their rise, they have become intimate with each other's biggest secrets and will spill them to their own advantage. Trump's first campaign manager and the head of his transition project were each ousted when they questioned the calls of Trump's son-in-law turned senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

I have two questions from these paragraphs. The followings are the parts I'm confused by.

  Question#1: The enemy was both rival developers and down the hall.

  What does down the hall mean?

  Question#2 : Trump's first campaign manager and the head of his transition project were each ousted when they questioned the calls of Trump's son-in-law turned senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

  I'm not absolutely sure what this sentence is trying to say. I tried to make sense, however.

  My interpretation: They(trump's aides) were fired when they opposed to Trump's judgment nominating his son-in-law as a senior adviser.

http://time.com/4672974/donald-trump-white-house-chaos/


texts:
In an article I want to say:

  At the present time, there are web data extraction
  systems that provide an interactive graphical users interfaces(GUI)
  for the user to deﬁne and execute a wrapper.

However, I am afraid it is not natural or formal, I think of some other phrases like

Currently
Today
Nowadays
...

What is the best word to fit my sentence? Can I use "currently"?


texts:
I have a question about the usages of the verb "hold" here:

  New Breast Implant Holds Its Shape

I checked this dictionary, but cannot find a definition that fits the usage of "hold its shape" in the example.  Could the example be either an error, or some sort of pun-intended usage?


texts:
Another war began right there. Captain Roque Carnicero and his six men
  left with Colonel Aureliano Buendia to free the revolutionary
  general Victorio Medina, who had been condemned to death in
  Riohacha. (One Hundred Years of Solitude, tr. by Gregory Rabassa)

Does the prepositional phrase take a role of adverbial; in the phrase, ‘Colonel Aureliano Buendia’ is a semantic subject, and ‘to free the revolutionary general Victorio Medina’ the predicate?


texts: How do I emphasize the 'BE' form of words without formatting?

texts:
I was reading a paragraph in Last Generation magazine. Here it is:

  I was attending a closed meeting for recovering drug addicts, but I
  wasn't a drug addict. I felt the need to lie in order to be there with
  a friend who was a drug addict.

As you can see, was was emphasized using italic formatting. What's the best and succinct or to say, generally accepted way to emphasize the same in words?

That is, how can I add emphasis to "was" in the above paragraph if I don't have any formatting options to add emphasis and I've to manage with just words but still emphasize it?


texts: Difference between sentences using 'was' and 'being'?

texts:
What is the meaning of below sentences using was and being?

  He committed suicide after he was severely beaten up by four teachers. He committed suicide after being severely beaten up by four teachers.


texts: When you need to go through multiple complicated and very difficult steps to accomplish an action

texts:
Please imagine to accomplish an official task you have to go through a very strict rules and processed and of course multiple complicated steps to perform that action. For example you want to see a CEO of a big company. First you have to meet a secretary of a middle manage and then write your request and wait while they post you an e-mail and then you have to be present at a middle manager's office and after awhile if they recognize that you need to meet the CEO, they will route you to his representative and if you were supposed to meet the CEO, his / her deputy will set a time i.e. one month later to be able to see the CEO.

Is there any idiom in English which can describe such a situation in which you have to go through many difficult steps and hard work to do something especially in American English?

I have found the following idiom, but I don't know if it is in common use or old-fashioned and of course it can be used to describe my intent:

  go through hoops


texts: What does "names coloured with blackness" imply?

texts:
I read a sentence in my history book which was:

  Shaped by the language of race even names were often coloured with blackness.

I don't think "blackness" here has been used in any literal sense but I'm unable to explain what it means to my student-friend. Could it mean that the "names" had something associated with blackness in them? Or is it something else? Or does it require more context to arrive at any conclusion?


texts: How does “turn on” develop to mean “Have as the main topic”?

texts:
I apologise for any mistake, but this idiom sounds too modern to be explained by etymology.

I want to dredge below the definition, the first one of which is too violent and doesn't explain the neutral meaning of the second here:

  2. Have as the main topic or point of interest:

Source: pp 205, Thinking like a Lawyer, Frederick Schauer

  But given that
  questions of law almost always turn on determinations of fact, and given
  that determinations of fact are in numerous ways structured by legal
  rules and by characteristic ways of reasoning,   to exclude questions of fact
  from the topic of legal reasoning seems peculiar.


texts: 100m people, 1 household... Pronoun + singular or plural noun.

texts:
100m people have no access to a water source within 1 mile of their household.

Should this sentence be reformulated? It implies 100m people share a household. Should it be households?


texts:
Do you say Industrialist Henry Ford or the industrialist Henry Ford?

I have been speaking English in the US for 8 years now. The pattern I am seeing is that when you call someone by placing their degree or job title before their name (usually their last name), you capitalize the degree or job title, like Doctor Parker or Poet Shakespeare. But you don't need to capitalize the degree if you add the word "the", like the poet Shakespeare (you probably don't need "poet" since Shakespeare is so famous.)

Here the question comes whether you can just all lowercase letters without "the". I just saw it used today in a book:"As humorist Will Rogers would note of his industrialist friend..."

(One bonus question: can I have great humorist Will Rogers, or the great humorist Will Rogers? Now, I am using "great".)


texts: What is the name of an excercise where the teacher reads some text and then students have to retell it in written form?

texts:
How in English speaking countries you name a kind of scholar work when the teacher reads some text a few times, and then students have to retell (in a written form) it as close to the original as they can?

Here we call it "изложение" but this word is also multi-meaning in Russian. The dictionary tells me "exposition, statement, narration, recital, recitation, presentment, relation." Which of them?

Basically, we have 3 kinds of big textual exercises:

Сочинение (essay?) - the teacher gives a theme and students have to write a few pages of text about it.
Изложение (recital?) - the teacher reads some text a few times and then students have to retell it close to the original
Диктант (dictation?) - the teacher slowly reads a text and students have to write following him. It is more about spelling and punctuation.


texts:
Please clarify the exact difference between:
I've seen your hands before
and
I've already seen your hands
Which sounds more natural in everyday English and which sound more common in formal talking or writing?