texts: Is this a example of zeugma or ellipsis?

texts:
Do you think this sentence is a example of zeugma(syllepsis) or ellipsis?

  This decline in vigor with the passing of time is called ageing. It is
  one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must
  decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and disease we
  shall eventually "die of old age", and that this happens at a rate
  which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy
  odds in favour of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty.

I think all the three that-clauses are all governed by 'it is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make', i.e.

  It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we
  must decline in this way.

  It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that if
  we escape wars, accidents and disease we shall eventually die of old
  age.

  It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that
  this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person.

Am I right to understand this sentence in such a way?
Is it a example of zeugma (or syllepsis) or is it simply a kind of ellipsis?

Here is the full paragraph where this sentence is from:

  At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. It
  has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her
  full intelligence; but at this age the likelihood of death is least.
  Earlier, we were infants and young children, and consequently more
  vulnerable; later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour
  and resistance which, though imperceptible at first, will finally
  become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after
  ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us.
  This decline in vigour with the passing of time is called ageing. It
  is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we
  must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and
  disease we shall eventually 'die of old age', and that this happens at
  a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are
  heavy odds in favour of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and
  eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer -- on into
  a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is
  a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky
  and robust we are.


texts: Should "that basically" be between commas, or just "basically"?

texts: I would say that, basically, anything that can be reasonably considered to be an investment in the future.


texts: 'would have V-ed' when the situation is not in the past

texts:
(NYTimes article)

  American officials said Tuesday that half of the slots that would have gone to Russian students during the next academic year would instead be allocated to Ukrainians.

Why is it 'would have gone'? As I understand, the situation is not in the past, the next academic year has not begun. So it should be 'would go'.


texts: I am eating "A baked salmon" or "Baked salmon"

texts:
I am eating a baked salmon or I am eating baked salmon.

Why can we sometimes omit a and sometimes can't?


texts: "You wouldn't mind ...do you?" or, "...would you?"

texts:
I'm writing a story, but I seem to have forgotten which of the two is correct.

The sentence I used:
"You wouldn't mind if I borrowed this pen, do you?"

But I want to know if it should be:

  "You wouldn't mind, do you?"

or:

  "You wouldn't mind, would you?"


texts: Fronting? "poor standards of maintenance they could take..."

texts:
Please take a thorough look at the sentence below:

  Low costs of air trips might entice plane manufacturers to commercialize them. In other words, they could take poor standards of maintenance an unimportant matter which endangers people's lives.

this was the main sentence, bow by using fronting I want to turn it into the sentence below:

  Low costs of air trips might entice plane manufacturers to commercialize them. In other words, poor standards of maintenance they could take an unimportant matter which endangers people's lives.

In the part which I wrote in bold I tried to use "fronting", yet I am not fully confident whether my usage is grammatically correct with regard to "fronting". If my sentence is incorrect, please rectify it.
Moreover, another problem that I have is that I've read in a limited number of books that fronting is informal, though very implicitly, while it looks extremely complex to me, and I always have wondered whether this grammar is actually formal or not.


texts:
A: What's his age?
B1: I say he is 60 years old.
B2: I would say he is 60 years old.
B3: I will say he is 60 years old.
Do they all sound correct?


texts:
Is there a word that refers to the phrase that follows a dialog? By that, I mean phrases such as "said Matthew", "exclaimed John", etc. Is there a word that refers to those phrases we use in novels?

For example:

  "That was sweet!" said John.


texts: Using "quick" instead of "quickly" in this case

texts:
When I express a desire for a certain happening to transpire as soon as possible can I say

  May that moment come quick!

or should I still stick to

  May that moment come quickly!

?


texts: What does "I Know This Much Is True" mean?

texts:
There is a novel titled "I Know This Much Is True", and I find the title puzzling.

I know this much is true.

At first, I parsed it as

I know this much it's true.

where this much shows the degree of (un)certainty, serving as an adverbial phrase. As in, "I definitely/certainly know it's true" with the order changed a bit.
Then I noticed it's "is true", not "it's true", which leaves me with this sentence structure.

I know (that) this much (=something) is true (=something).

What could this much refer to? Is it something contextual and I need to read up on the novel?
I am thinking of

I know that (giving/receiving/having) this much (love/care/something uncountable) is possible/true.

but there is no reasonable grounds for that...


texts:
I saw an ad regarding a job opportunity, where the following line was written:

  Typically, you would have had 3+years of experience building software
  products.

Does it mean that the candidate must mandatorily have 3+ years of experience?

And even if it does, some lines down, it's stated so:

  Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer
  Science/Engineering. Masters preferred.

Now I am confused whether this is for a fresher or an experienced candidate.

This is the page :
Job Opportunity Ad


texts:
I have some troubles in understanding what pronoun to use when referring to things be they inanimate things, living things, wild, tamed animals or pets, for I saw either use.

When referring to a lion, for example, shall I use he or it, she, her or it, its?

Even in case of a ship or a space ship I came across with expression like this: her crew.

Would you please explain if there is a strict rule or depends on the author’s choice?


texts: Can we say "out of honesty" like we often say "out of courtesy"?

texts:
I often hear people using the phrase "out of courtesy". My question is: can we also say

out of honesty

or

out of simplicity?

If not, then why not?


texts:
In my English examination there is a sentence :

  'You must leave now ..... you will be late for school.

My teacher said that the answer is 'or', but I think the answer is 'unless', and she doesn't explain much. Therefore, I can't understand correctly. Would you mind explaining specifically for me.


texts:
The following sentence is given

  What would you do if I were to lose my job??

I would like to undestand the meaning of were to. Does it mean "upcoming event", that's I'll lost my job later in the future.


texts: Can word "recognize" have the same meaning as "accept"?

texts: Can I use word "recognize" in meaning of word "accept". For instance, "Do you recognize the agreement?". I mean does "recognize" mean completely the same as word "accept" in some cases?


texts: In sentence, what does "their" indicate between women and men? and what does the sentence mean?

texts:
As women come to consider being prized by men their ultimate source of
  strength, worth, achievement and identity, they are compelled to
  battle other women for the prize.

Question

1.I think the sentence means :

  As women come to consider their ultimate source of strength, worth,
  achievement and identity at the same time being prized by men,they are
  compelled to battle other women for the prize.

Is it right?

2.In sentence, what does "their" indicate between women and men?


texts: "if" conditional with present perfect tense that could be real

texts:
If I will write an instruction for passport holders about what to do in case a passport is already expired using an if conditional, will using if...had be wrong?

  If your passport had expired, you would have to renew.

Based on what I understood so far, if...had (past perfect tense) is used for past-unreal construction. So using had is good if it is not true that the passport is already expired. But what if it is possible that the passport is already expired? Would this sentence be correct?

  If your passport has expired, you would have to renew.

I thought about using has expired (present perfect tense) since it's possible that the passport expired some time in the past and until now it is still expired. If this is correct, since it's not past-unreal because it uses present perfect tense, what will it be called?

There is also a simple past version:

  If your passport expired, you would have to renew.

However, this could also refer to a passport that expired at least once in the past (e.g. expired some time in the past but renewed and not expired anymore in the present).

It is possible that there are better alternative sentences but I would like and need help to analyze the sentences I gave to see if they can work without the need to rephrase them. If there is no choice but to rephrase them, then I would love to see the alternative.


texts: Is there a difference between "directly" and "straight"?

texts:
After work, I go straight home.
  After work, I go home directly.

Are these two sentences completely the same?

According to Cambridge dictionary, "straight" has two meanings as an adverb:

immediately
clearly

whereas "directly" has its two meanings:

very soon or immediately
without anything coming in between

So, I think it will be hard to distinguish the meanings of the two words if in the situation they both mean "immediately".


texts: When you're going to console someone without making them more upset

texts:
Please imagine a soccer team loses and one of the players who feels guilty in that loss is deeply sad because of this happening. The team trainer notices that and wants to ask one of the player's closest teammates to go to him and cool him down. The friend goes and sits next to him and starts to talk. I was wondering if someone could let me know which one of the following bold statements of the self-made sentences below would sound natural in this scenario:

  Hey, come on man. Everything is OK. My words are not consolation, but all people make mistakes and you should not feel this guilty.
  Hey, come on man. Everything is OK. I don’t mean to console you, but all people make mistakes and you should not feel this guilty.

For me, they both work, but I doubt if they are the ways a native speaker would say it.


texts: Bare verb vs gerund: watching them play or playing

texts:
I love watching them play in the park.
  I love watching them playing in the park.

Which one is correct or natural if both are correct?
Why would you use the bare verb over the gerund in sentences like this?


texts: Is "appeal" the correct word in "Without appeal to the C-principle"

texts:
Is 'appeal' the correct word in:

  Method A solves Problem B without appeal to the C-principle.

This sentence tries to say that there is an obvious solution to Problem B that can be found using a very general principle C, but method A is actually a more specialized method tailored to Problem B that is found without using the general solution principle C.

I feel like I am confusing 'appeal' with the similar sounding correct word, since I do know of usages of 'appeal to' that are different from the one I intend (e.g. 'it had no appeal to him').

I couldn't find my intended usage in dictionary entries for 'appeal'


texts: "Trapped for so long" vs. "Trapped so long"

texts:
They had been trapped so long that their first priority was to get medical attention

Is sentence correct or not?

I know 'trapped for so long' is very correct, but I wonder if the sentence is acceptable without 'for'.


texts: I can't understand this sentence from Peter hesseler's book called "country driving"

texts:
At the moment it was rain, but I could see clearly what lay ahead; that forecast had been frozen atop the oncoming traffic.

I do not understand what "that forecast had been frozen atop the oncoming traffic" means here. Could anyone explain it to me?


texts:
Please explain this line - taken from song History by One Direction.

  We could be the greatest Team that the world has ever seen.

Does it refer to past? They could be the greatest team ? Or does it means they can be the greatest team in future?


texts: Understanding “cattle prod times a million”

texts:
The text is from Radiant Vermin (play) What is "cattle prod times a million" referring to?
Ollie is planning to ambush and kill some homeless.

Ollie: This is the answer to our prayers. Think cattle prod times a million. Simply plug it into any normal household socket. And before you say –
Jill and Ollie: None of the sockets work.
Ollie: They do in the kitchen. And before you say –


texts: Required qualifications or Qualifications required

texts:
I have all the qualifications required for the exam.
Or, I have all the required qualifications for the exam.
What's the difference between them?
and where should we place Participle, working as an adjective, before noun or after noun.


texts: "One should keep his words both soft and tender tomorrow he may have to eat them"

texts:
My book shows the following sentence:

  One should keep his words both soft and tender tomorrow he may have to eat them.

What does eat mean? I guess it means he may have to regret about what he said. Am I right?


texts:
I know what 'I'll be darned' means. What does 'be darned' mean in the following sentences?

  Love Be Darned.

  Usefulness Be Darned!

  Cancer Be Darned.

  Weather be darned, road tests ahead.

  Statistics Be Darned. Redefining Valentine's Day For Single Women Over
  30.

  Facts be darned.


texts: What's the word that best describes a service that helps set up a business

texts:
So my friend and me where talking about starting a service that helps people set up a business. Things like finding space, creating logos/signboards, business cards etc.

What would something like this be called? We tried to come up with a word for this but failed.


texts:
I read a blog and was written as follows.

  "I came to the realization today that every time we decide to agree
  to waive meal penalty, we are actually setting the precedent to have
  the right to have a meal penalty taken away the next time we negotiate
  contracts. "

What is "meal penalty"?

For more context, the sentence after it is: "Take advantage of the hard earned rights your union brothers and sisters have fought so hard to earn."


texts:
In this, I aim to discern (parse[?]) these, grammatically, and have them complete. May these seem grammatically discerned, properly?

  She (subject, argument) did (auxiliary verb) not (auxiliary adverb) go (verb).

I aim to think of this, as a complete interrogative.

  Did (auxiliary verb) she (subject, argument) not (auxiliary adverb) go (verb)?

  Did (auxiliary verb) not (auxiliary adverb) she (subject, argument) go (verb)?

  Did (auxiliary adverb) she (subject, argument) go (verb) not (auxiliary adverb)?

May these seem discerned grammatically properly?

  Did (auxiliary adverb) she (subject, argument) go (verb) not (auxiliary adverb)?

And, may this additionally seem syntactically proper?


texts: "Had been on the phone" vs "Was on the phone"

texts:
"I had been on the phone with my sister when the bell rang."

"I was on the phone with my sister when the bell rang."

Do these two sentences have the same meaning?


texts: Is "qualified in" correct for the following sentence?

texts:
He is qualified in a variety of scientific fields.

Is "in" the right preposition for the sentence above?


texts: What is the meaning of "draining the swamp"?

texts:
What is the meaning of "draining the swamp" in this article?

  “Speaking of draining the swamp, Donna Brazile did it again,” Mr. Trump said. “WikiLeaks today, she gave the questions to a debate to Hillary Clinton. And that was from a couple of weeks ago. Happened again, but this time far worse. She gave the questions to a debate to Hillary Clinton.”

It's from Washington news: Donna Brazile fired as CNN contributor after tipping off Clinton to debate questions


texts: "I've just seen your message, it had been a while since you sent it."

texts:
I've just seen your message, it had been a while since you sent it.

I wrote this sentence but I'm not sure if it is grammatically correct, because I started with present perfect then used past perfect.

I received a message month ago, and I'm trying to answer it now.

Is my sentence acceptable or there is a better way?


texts: Is "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" grammatical?

texts:
What Do You Care What Other People Think?

This is the title of a Richard Feynman's book. Is this grammatical? Does the verb "care" take two objects (the first and the second "what")? Then, what does it mean?


texts: Is it correct way to use second conditional in this sentence?

texts:
I got a question from my english teacher if I wanted to participate in October in a course on new rules and I want to answer using second conditional:

If there wasn’t another option, I would be interested in hybrid courses.

and to be honest I'm not sure if it sounds good in english? I want to write that I can participate in course on new rules if face-to-face classes won't took place. Does this sentence sound like I talk about the future?


texts: Past perfect for something that did not happen

texts:
I got a parcel from the label but it is not what I ordered. I ordered a copy of this and that I received two other things. Both of them had been already ordered and received. I knew you had problems but when I saw the parcel I thought they were over!! I expected to receive what I had ordered! I was wrong......

Will it be possible to write "I had expected" instead of "I expected" because  what I had expected did not happen?


texts: What is the meaning of "see" in this sentence?

texts:
This sentence from the
oxford learners dictionary:
At the definition of a "hedge fund" example. I couldn't understand what is the meaning of "sees" in this sentence.
hedge fund:
 an investment fund involving a group of people who take high risks with their investments in order to try and make a lot of money

This month sees the launch of a hedge fund aimed at private investors.

I think it has the same meaning as in the following sentence but I couldn't be sure:

This summer has seen unusually high temperatures.

Could you please explain this to me.


texts: Does 'with' in the second sentence introduce a nuance of any kind?

texts:
Please give me a baseball bat to hit the ball.
Please give me a baseball bat to hit the ball with.


texts: ShouId I use "how is your weekend looking" or "how is your weekend looks like"?

texts:
Which one idiomatic?

How is your weekend looking?

How is your weekend looks like?

I have seen the first one more often. However, I feel that the word "like" should be added at the end.


texts: If my fingers were stung by fish spines, shall I describe it as "I got hurt" or "I got injured" or what?

texts:
Dr. Lee asked me in email why I wanted to further my study of health care.
I was in a hurry to set out for work so I just wrote this short sentence as a response to her question:
"I often got hurt and sick".

Misuse of words can lead to Misunderstanding between two parties.
I have to handle a lot of different seafood, fishes in particular on my job. Sometimes my fingers were stung by fish spines, and the wounds were not treated appropriately and infected. I ended up getting a fever and lying in the bed for the following few days.
That is what I intended to tell her in the email, but I just wrote "I often got hurt and sick".

Now, my question is that, the way she perceived the word "got hurt" might be different from the original idea in my mind.
If my fingers were stung and then infected by viruses, is it correct to say "I got hurt" or "I got injured" or something, perhaps some other good words for better description of my situation.


texts: Meaning of "you too can join the actors of..."

texts:
In an exercise of the "use of English" appear this sentence: This is to do with big, soft sofas and the idea that if you sit on one, you too can ...... (6) the actors in the American TV comedy "Friends".

You should choose among: a)be b)feel c)join d) contact

According to the book, the correct answer is c) join, but I can´t understand the sense of the sentence. So, I would be grateful if someone here help me.

Thank you all


texts: is this example a reported speech and why no backshifting

texts:
When my mum asked me, why I "was getting" bad marks at school last year.

direct speech  "Why were you getting bad marks last year" so reported speech should be "why had you been getting bad marks last year."

I would like to know why no backshifting for" was getting", is it a direct speech ?or it is not necessary to backshift and in this case why(because it is obvious that
"were getting" is before the asking)


texts: How would I properly say that I already went last year?

texts:
This is is a formal internship application letter. What I'm trying to say is that the same shebang happened last year, and I got to go and it was great.

Is this sentence correct?

  "I had already been given the opportunity to apply for an internship abroad a year prior, which had given me the opportunity to ..."


texts:
My friend said to me yesterday that "I don't think having superpowers would make my life easier". Why did he use would in that sentence?

It is not future in the past, so why use would?


texts:
Here is the task from my textbook:

Add the preposition or adverb

George said – Friday he was leaving __ Britain __ an invitation __ the British Council. He showed me their letter __ invitation and his answer __ it. I saw he had used one __ the patterns his textbook submitted __ acceptance.

I am not sure about the last sentence. Why is the verb submit in the past tense. This sentence expresses – but maybe I am wrong – that he used one of the pattern that his textbook recommends for the acceptance. So I would use the present. Is the past tense used because of the tense shift. Is the correct version: I saw he had used one of the patterns his textbook submitted for acceptance.


texts: Why does the main clause use the present tense?

texts:
Questener: my friend says that it's also correct to say "I'm going to a cinema", then what's the difference with "I'm going to the cinema"?

  Answer: it really depends on what the speaker means. If you're speaking of a cinema that's already been mentioned or is clear from the context in some way, or if there is only one cinema in town, then "the" WOULD be the correct form.

Here why is the clause "if there is only one cinema in town" in the present tense if this sentence is conditional type 2? Why not "if there were only one cinema in town"? I also wonder what the function of "would" is here? The speaker mixs tense, therefore I'm a bit confused by the use of "would" also here.


texts: How should I rewrite this sentence to use the passive voice?

texts:
If I were to rewrite the following sentence using the passive voice, how should I rewrite it?

  That university has English classes for people whose native language is not English.

I thought to the following sentence, but I was wondering if I could use something else instead of given.

  English classes for people whose native language is not English are given from that university.

As side question, is programme more appropriate in this case, or is classes a better word?


texts: When I SAW the top of it, I HAD shivers(tenses confusion)

texts:
I was watching a Youtube video of a doctor removing a splinter stuck on a patient's right foot, inner side a few minutes ago. Fortunately, he successfully removed the splinter and he said:

  ''When I SAW the top of it(splinter), I HAD shivers.

As far as I know, HAD preceded PAST TENSES when you are storytelling about past events right?

So this means that, the doctor HAD shivers(that soon?) BEFORE he even SAW the top of the splinter stuck on the foot?

Should it be as soon as he HAD seen the top of it, he GOT shivers?


texts:
Which of the following sentences is correct?

  The number of apples is half the number of pears
  The number of apples is half of the number of pears


texts:
When I arrived at the warehouse , they have already loaded half of truck.

  When I arrived at the warehouse , they have already loaded the truck halfway.

  When I arrived at the warehouse , they have already loaded the truck half.

  When I arrived at the warehouse , they have already loaded half of truck in a half way.

  When I arrived at the warehouse , they have already loaded the truck up to the half of its capacity.

Do all these sentences mean the same? Are all uses of “half” correct?


texts:
It was in Crash Course World History. It is at 6 minute and 12 second. Here is the context:

  We talk a lot of smack about taxes, but it turns out they are pretty important to creating social orders.

I have looked it up in the Oxford and a few other dictionaries, but it seems to me that no definitions they give fit.


texts: what does "working life organization" mean?

texts:
The polytechnic develops and provides learning and working environments, which enable the experiments and study of new activities and procedures together with the companies and other
  working life organisations.

what does working life organisations mean?

I know meaning of working life is the period of time in your life that you work.


texts: at this time vs at this same time vs at the same time

texts:
Could you help me to understand, there are the same meaning in these examples? Are all of them idiomatic? Is there no difference?
I would like to meet you

at this time tomorrow.
at this same time tomorrow.
at the same time tomorrow.


texts: What is the sound you often make when you are annoyed called?


texts: Sorry, I wasn't able to send a letter (earlier or in earlier time)

texts:
Is there a difference in meaning between writing "in earlier time" and "earlier", for example

  I wasn't able to send you an email (earlier \ in earlier time).


texts: Please think of fairytales... What word would you use when you refer to a prince's clothes? Is it a dress?


texts: Is "completed Bachelor" a correct and natural sounding expression in English?

texts:
I am searching for a shorter way to refer to a Bachelor I have completed and obtained a degree or to a Bachelor I have not completed.

I thought about writing "completed/uncompleted Bachelor", or maybe "finished/unfinished Bachelor". But the dictionary doesn't list "completed" as a possible adjective and both ways, "finished" and "completed", don't sound natural to me when applied to a Bachelor.

Question: Is it OK to say "completed/uncompleted Bachelor" (or maybe "finished/unfinished") or is there a better expression?

Thanks!


texts: Should I use “at” or “in”? “... carried out at/in the university”

texts:
The research is not being carried out at the university

or

The research is not being carried out in the university.

I don't understand the difference between them. Could someone please help me with it?


texts: My brother Mike. What's the simple subject?

texts: In the sentence "My brother Mike went to the store" what is the simple subject? Brother or Mike? And what is the identity of the word that is not the simple subject?


texts: Which is correct: member / user / customer?

texts:
I'm working on a FAQ text for users of the website. I'm stuck with a text about the PayPal payment option.

The question is:

  Do I need to be a PayPal customer to pay with credit card?

Answer:

  No - PayPal also accepts credit card payments from non-customers
  just enter your credit card details when ordering. If you are already
  a customer of PayPal, simply log in and confirm the payment.

What I'm not sure of is the phrase/word PayPal customer - should I rather use member or user?


texts: What's the shortest way to say this sentence?

texts:
I would like to offer customers a family size french fries. The total amount or number of fries that a customer buys is divided into two equal groups. The first group has curly fries. The second group contains normal fries.

I would like to shorten this sentence without losing the meaning. Here's what I can think of:

  You can get a family size french fries that half of it is curly and the other half is regular fries.

I know that there might be grammar/structure mistakes. Is this sentence short and correct?


texts:
I know that the words "tangerine" and "mandarin" are quite interchangeable in common practice. Which one is more frequently used? How do you usually name this fruit in everyday life?

I asked this question, because in Russia we do not make much difference between tangerines and mandarins which are slightly different from each other; we call them both mandarins.


texts: which one to use 'will open' vs 'is open' for future?

texts:
Which one is correct or wrong? Can you please explain in detail?

The shop will open tomorrow.
The shop is open tomorrow.
The shop will be open tomorrow.
The shop will be opened tomorrow.

And one last:

You have to come to the office tomorrow.
You will have to come to the office tomorrow.

Which one is correct in above two and why?


texts: near-English identifiers -- what exactly are those?

texts:
Source: The ABCs of IP Addressing by Gilbert Held (2002)

Example:

  Most readers should be familiar with the entry of near-English identifiers, more formally referred to as Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), into a browser to access a particular Web page.

What exactly do they mean by that?


texts: What adjectives can be used to describe a language that is spoken by very few people?

texts:
The rise of English from being a SMALL language spoken only in the British Isles to the Lingua Franca of the modern world is staggering.

I want to replace the adjective "small" with something else. Could anyone please suggest anything?


texts: What does the word "though" mean and on which occasions can be used?

texts:
I'm a little confused about the word though. I hear it a lot of times in different sentences in different sequences, as well as in speaking and writing.

Sometimes it seems to me that this word is used randomly in a sentence.

Here are some examples:

Thanks though!
It is still pretty weird, though.
Though Gemini love being adventurous, they also crave stability and
security in their hectic lives.


texts: Which of the taxonomy categories could fit the example provided by this post?

texts:
We know that 'scientific disciplines divide the particulars they study into kinds'. But there are also taxonomy categories that rank above a kind (of particulars). In that case, the kind mediates that higher category and a particular: it acts as a middle category between them. For example, a biological species mediate a relevant particular and a genus, a member of which the species  is itself. In this case, the name for the middle category is a species and for the higher one genus.

Now consider an example I am specifically interested in. Each object is characterised by the property of color (a higher category here); furthermore, we do not have one color but instead many kinds of color (white, yellow etc.--a middle category) which are instantiated by objects in the form of actual particular instances of them (a particular).

What would be right words (names) for the middle and higher categories in this example (for I doubt that the 'species' and the 'genus' could fit there)?


texts: Is the expression “the numbers of each castes of bees in a honey bee colony” OK?

texts:
What I want to express is the following information:

  A honey bee colony consists of a single queen, hundreds of male drones and 20,000 to 80,000 female worker bees.

So is the expression OK?

  “The numbers of each castes of bees in a honey bee colony are one for queen, hundreds for male drones and 20,000 to 80,000 for female worker bees.”


texts: Does either 'messy' or 'untidy' necessarily imply 'dirty'?

texts:
This flat is messy/untidy.

I want to say the flat is rather disorderly, not perfectly neat, chaotic, with things all over the place, with things being (possibly purposefully) badly arranged.  I don't want to mean it's a dirty/filthy place.
I am wondering whether it's a proper word choice and whether I would need to elaborate further to reduce ambiguity. Dictionaries mention 'dirty' being a synonym for both words.


texts: present perfect or simple past for a recent event with adverb of time

texts: If I have been in hospital for 2 weeks and I have just returned home, I say "I have been in hospital for 2 weeks". It is a recent event. After I have been home for a few days I will probably say "I was in hospital for 2 weeks", because some time has passed, those 2 weeks are in the past. My question is: how much time should pass before you switch from present perfect to past simple? This is a grey area I find quite difficult.


texts: "I'm tired of she keeps bugging me" or "I'm tired of her bugging me"?

texts:
I'm tired of she keeps bugging me!

I've been googling about this (found nothing) and I feel stupid but I think the grammar above is not right. What's the correct way?

Is this better?

  I'm tired of her bugging me!


texts: What is it called when a star or candle changes its intensity at random?

texts: Is there a word given to the phenomenon that occurs when the intensity of a candle or star fluctuates at random?


texts: What does "get through their brains" mean?

texts:
I can't seem to get through their thick brains.

Get through someone means: to succeed in talking to someone on the phone, but what does "get through their brain" means? Is it an idiom derived from the idiom "get through someone"? I am a little confused on where the expression comes from, and what it means exactly. Could you explain what "get through someone" can mean, and then tell us what "get through their brains" mean?


texts:
It's a psychology text and I have a problem understanding the bold part:

  But still, the advice to be more mindful often contains a hefty
  scoop of moralizing smugness, a kind of “moment-shaming” for the
  distractible, like a stern teacher scolding us for failing to
  concentrate in class.

what does ''hefty scoop of moralizing smugness'' mean?

what's the general idea of this paragraph ?


texts:
Is the word "wonder" a noun or to-less infinitive here? What kind of a clause is "why Simpson wasn't immediately arrested in that incident".

  The transcript makes one wonder why Simpson wasn't immediately arrested in that incident.


texts: Does "subsequent" only refer to the direct successor?

texts:
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries defines subsequent as happening or coming after something else but it is not very clear if it can still be used if there is another of the same thing between the two subsequent things.

For example, in the series 1 2 3

2 is subsequent to 1. 3 is subsequent to 2. Is 3 subsequent to 1, too?

If yes, how can I call the relation between 1/2 and 2/3 so that it can be distinguished from the relation which 1/3 have?
Something like 2 is directly subsequent to 1 or so? Are 1 and 2 directly subsequent? Is that correct English?


texts:
Which possessive determiner should I use for the authorities? Its seems wrong, but their doesn't seem quite right, either. Example:

  After examining all the evidence, I've found that the authorities are
  right and _____ critics are wrong.

If either its or their sounds perfectly fine to you, please say so and I'll use it. (In the example above, the is also an option, but it would work less well in my actual construction.)

If both of them sound off to you, as they do to me, please say so as well and I'll probably use the noun government instead (although I really prefer authorities in my context).


texts: "My prescience is unerring" vs. "In my prescience, I am unerring"

texts:
I am writing dialogue for a '70s / '80s style text adventure I hope to develop. I would like to use option A, but it seems less grammatical than option B. The difference, of course, is the subject.
Can an ability be unerring, or only a person/group? Does A get the point across, or is it safer to use B?
Option A:

"My prescience is unerring..."

Option B:

"In my prescience, I am unerring..."


texts: I became the most successful student with this study technique who many professors congratulated

texts:
I wrote the sentence

  I became the most successful student at the university with this
  study technique who many professors congratulated.

However, I am pretty unsure about the position of the relative clause "who many professors congratulated".

It is at the end and too far away from the noun "student" it refers to.
On the other hand, "became" is a stative verb and we usually use relative clauses at the end in sentences with a stative verb.

In my opinion, the sentence is grammatically correct, what do you think?


texts: How should I punctuate a sentence beginning with 'I was wondering'?

texts:
How do we use wondering sentences that have a question it by comma , interrogative,question mark...

I was wondering when he rejected him do John got upset ?
I was wondering do you love me.
I was wondering you love me.


texts:
How to use "in which", "by which", "of which", "on which", and "for which"? What are the differences among those?

Are there any other combinations of preposition and the word "which"?

I have searched a lot in the Internet and I cannot found detail elaboration about them.


texts: On an online video chat, should we say "I go back to you later" or "I come back to you later"

texts:
Ok, let see this scenario.

You are an online English teacher & you are teaching a student online. The student got some technical issue & you need to wait for a while until he fixes his problem. You then say "I go back to you later" or "I come back to you later".

Some people say "I go back to you later" and others say "I come back to you later".

I think the correct saying is "I go back to you later" because the speaker will move far away his position.

Is that correct?


texts: What is the pronunciation of "Will you" in fast/connected speech?

texts: I usually pronounce "will you" as "/wɪ/ + /lju:/", but seems that people have some troubles understanding me (at least here in the UK). Is my pronunciation wrong? That's the way we usually make the linking sound between a consonant and a vowel. If so, what should be the proper pronunciation? Should this be as "/wɪl/ + /lju:/" (that's how google translator pronounces it, apparently)? Or there's no way to connect these words and I should say "/wɪl/ + /ju:/" ?


texts:
I have come across the following passage. I just cannot figure out what "a voice that is bright red" means although I have checked my dictionaries.

I’ve become so attached to my phone
that the sun no longer provides light.
I’ve become so attached to my phone
that I don’t know how to talk to my best friend
face to face.
It’s hard to socialize in person
but behind a screen I am powerful.
I have a voice that is bright red
that can scream at these
stupid blue screens.
I’ve become so attached
that it is starting to feel like I’ve become addicted.
I’m always on social media.
Constantly texting, liking, commenting.
There are days I cry, stressing about
how many followers I have
and how many likes I receive.
It’s like a job, keeping the data of
every single notification sent to me.
I’m lost behind this stupid blue screen.
I’m done with these stupid blue screens.
They don’t let me think.


texts:
Thursday’s tragedy should serve as a grim warning to the powers that be of potentially darker times ahead if the surcharged rhetoric is left unchecked.

What does be of mean here?


texts: What is the common word for the cover of the pot-cooking?

texts:
When referring to something that covers another things, normally there are 3 words:

  cover
  lid
  top

My question refers to the cover of a pot. What is the usual word for that in English? (I don't want to be weird and refer it in a word that is not normally for that).


texts:
This diagram illustrates these five transmission steps, which computer performs each, and which steps involve the messaging system.

I am confused with the two "which clause"? Are they served as attributive clauses?


texts: What is the English term for "dousing yourself with cold water to build immunity"

texts:
In russian, the word "обливаться" can be colloquially used to describe a specific recurring  activity where you pour a container of cold water on a person with the goal of building up that person's immunity.

I there an equivalent English idiom/short expression for such an activity?


texts: Meaning of "points" in "try saving your points"

texts:
Kindly explain what does the word "points" mean here?

  After strangers respond to your initial message, don’t email them every day — or even every week.

  People sometimes interpret a polite reply from a stranger as an offering of friendship. If you’re tempted to reach out too regularly, try saving your points in a draft email, and then prune at the end of the month. Intermittent reinforcement can be a powerful thing.

  (link)

I guess the TFD's definitions 14 and 15 can be right, but I am not sure:

A specific moment in time: At this point, we are ready to proceed.
An objective or purpose to be reached or achieved, or one that is worth reaching or achieving

Also, what did the author mean when he talked about intermittent reinforcement?


texts:
I am wondering about the spelling of these two words.
Why is "free rider" spelled as two words, while "freeloader" is only one? Is there a rule for this?

Furthermore, where is the exact difference between the two words or are they synonyms? When would we choose one over the other?

Finally, is this question better suited for this community or better in "English Language and Usage"?


texts: Java provides a grain that is easier to work with than against - a grain - meaning

texts:
About this time (around the turn of the millennium), new ideas were gaining currency in other coding communities. An interest in object-oriented design galvanized the Java community. You may think that this is a redundancy, as Java is an object-oriented language. Java provides a grain that is easier to work with than against, of course, but using classes and objects does not in itself make a particular design approach.

What does a grain mean in this context?


texts:
"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"  "School houses. (1)
  There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff (2) are a lot o' duffers, but --"  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

I guess, there’re is grammatically proper instead of (1)-there’s; but I’m not sure for (2)-are. Because are can be used except when Hufflepuff is regarded as a collective noun, I think. Would you let me know how to use the verb grammatically right?


texts:
The amendment would have to be repassed.

What time does would have to + past participle indicate? How is it different from would have + past participle?


texts: Someone who always goes to extremes in everything

texts:
What do the native speakers usually call a person who does everything to excess and often goes to extremes in doing everything or is too excessive in anything?

Let's make some examples:

Imagine a guy who establishes many celebrations every week (I'm not talking about big spender) or wants to be perfect every time, and buys the best clothes (I'm not looking for the word perfectionist). Or when they fall in love with someone, they give their everything to their beloved;  even when they buy a bouquet they buy many flowers, many more than they need to etc.

I have found two words:

  Over-doer
  Extremist ---> I know that nowadays, native speakers tend to associate the word 'extremist' with the concept of 'terrorist' and usually it is used when we want to refer to political matters, but based on the  definition linked, in my opinion, it can be used to describe this type of behaviour too.

I want you to let me know if my words work for all these cases. If not, please provide me with some other examples.


texts:
Stoic thought is not intended, in this instance, to replace the
  specific religion that forms the vehicle of morning reflection, but
  rather as a means of enabling a purer reflection on the issues of
  faith which may affect the rest of your day. This process of
  reflection may commence after clearing the mind of unnecessary emotion
  and distracting passions.

  [Dale Kingsley, Stoicism a beginners guide to the history and
  philosophy of stoicism]

"vehicle of" = "means of"?

"the rest of your day"? I don't know the meaning of "day" here. Does it mean "life" or "time" or just "a period of 24 hours"?

Could you help me please!?


texts: What does "never been one for me except" mean?

texts:
There is a sentence from Johnny Cash's Wikipedia page with a very strange structure:

At the July 5, 2003, concert (his last public performance), before singing "Ring of Fire", Cash read a statement that he had written shortly before taking the stage:

The spirit of June Carter overshadows me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her. We connect somewhere between here and Heaven. She came down for a short visit, I guess, from Heaven to visit with me tonight to give me courage and inspiration like she always has. She's never been one for me except courage and inspiration. I thank God for June Carter. I love her with all my heart.

Does this sentence mean "She has always only been my courage and inspiration", or "She has always been my courage and inspiration (and probably some other things)"? And can anyone explain more about this structure?


texts: "What any muscle or a group of muscles (do - does) is change energy to motion"

texts:
What any muscle or a group of muscles (do - does) is change energy to motion.

For the above sentence, what is the right verb? "Do" or "does"?


texts: In my opinion identical in what they say. Is this correct or is there a subtle difference?Very rarely do I see the second form but it has to have the same meaning. What about "It is" constructions? "It is fun to play." can be said although with focus on the "it" but I am not sure if you can do this with gerunds, "It is fun playing." Id say no. But I think I heard something like "It was fun meeting you." Is there a stop in this "It was fun.Meeting you." When talking?


texts:
I know that "tit" means nipple, and can be used to refer the to the breast as a whole, and has a few unrelated meanings.

But can it be used in a normal context to mean a man's nipples, or only a woman's nipples?

I've heard of the expression "As useless as tits on a bull", but it's a derogatory expression, so I don't know if it's a good example.


texts:
Here is what I read

  Legislation X transformed criminal law as we know it.

Does it mean legislation X transformed criminal law at some point in the past into the one we know today?


texts: Which pronoun is more appropriate to refer to "heart" (using personification)?

texts:
Is it better to use "she", "he" or both can be right?

  I'll trap my heart (...) / So it won't find a way to love again / 'Cause when it does, it hurts too deep / For all it wants and never finds is a love it can keep.

It (is supposed) to be a poem, but I'm having a hard time deciding if replacing the "it"s for he/she is appropriate or not.


texts:
I ma having an uneasiness about the use of the preposition of and from. I decided to ask when I saw this ELL question about "He died of cancer" and "He died for country".
So that, am I correct to understand, according to this site (EnglishForums.com), and this site (Japanese), when of is used, we refer to the direct cause such as cancer, heavy headache (if there were such thing). But when from is used, we refer to the (rather) indirect cause, such as poverty, weather condition (which is to me questionable.)
Am I correct to understand this in this way?


texts: "selling pottery" or "by selling pottery"?

texts:
Quezada helped his village with the money he earned selling pottery. (From ACT )

Why is the present participle used here? Would it be better to say "by selling pottery"?


texts:
I want to shorten "A good boy and a bad boy" omitting one "boy" because it's being repeated.

How can I do that?
I mean, which of the followings has the same or similar meaning as "a good boy and a bad boy"?

  A good and a bad boys
  A good and a bad boy
  A good and bad boys
  Good and bad boys

Or something else . . .


texts: Difference between complementary and supplementary

texts: I've encountered these words numerous times in articles I read over the web. But still I haven't exactly understood how they differ.


texts: How to express this action in English: "lean over with your butt up"?

texts:
Ok, how to express these actions in English "lean over with your butt up"?

look at these pictures:

and many are paying in that position


texts:
Kelly: Ms. Kline, how do you think the attempt on Detective Alex Murphy's life will affect tomorrow's vote for the Dreyfus Act?

  Kline: At this time, Omnicorp's sole concern is the full recovery
  of Detective Murphy.

  Pat Novak: How many times does Detective Murphy have to give his life for his country?

  Pat Novak: I sincerely hope the Senate makes the right vote tomorrow so that Alex Murphy's sacrifices will not have been in vain.

  -- Robocop 2014

I was wondering why will not have been is best used here. Why not will not be or have not been? Is will here auxiliary or epistemic?

Is it the same usage as in:

  I will have completely finished by next June. (usage of simple future perfect, auxiliary)

or

  It’s no use phoning -  he’ll have left by now. (used to express certainty about the past, epistemic)

or a variation of either of them?

I would think it's associated with both usage here - Murphy's sacrifices refer to the past while being in vain or not refer to the future.


texts: Sentence structure question: modification

texts:
It relies on the opinions of a group unlikely to be representative of
  the group at issue in the conclusion.

Is there a omitted "that" between a group and unlikely? In other words, is the phrase (unlikely...... conclusion) modifying a group?
If it is true for the first question, then is "a group" different from "the group" in the sentence?


texts:
That the equipment of modern camping becomes yearly more sophisticated
  is an entertaining paradox for the cynic, a brighter promise for the
  hopeful traveler who has sworn to get away from it all.

I like to confirm that "it" refers to "the equipment", and "the cynic" and "the hopeful traveler" are the appositives in the sentence.


texts:
I have been struggling whether or not using "for" in front of "many times".
Some explanations on the internet say "for many times" is British English and "many times" is American English.
Also, "for many times" is more formal than "many times".
Are these explanations correct?
My son's English teacher at high school insisted no "for" in front of "many times" in any circumstances.
Is she right?
Would you kindly help me on this matter?
Here is an example:

Mark has been to Hong Kong for many times, so he decides not to visit there on vacation this summer.

Also, if I use a number instead of "many" in this phrase, is that OK, too?
Here is an example:

After Jessica failed for 10000 times, she created the talented robot.

compared with the following example:

After Jessica failed 10000 times, she created the talented robot.

What's the different between them?
Also, here are 2 more sentences that I read from the exam paper and an English magazine:

I have visited there for many times since 2001. (from the exam paper)
The baseball player has pitched for 42 games in a row. (from an English magazine)

Are they grammatically right or not?
Hope you can guide me.
If "for many times" that kind of usage is acceptable, for the sake of my better understanding, please give me one or two examples about "for many times" or "for+(number)+(nouns)".
Thank you so very much.


texts: What is the difference between "don't think it!" and "don't think about it!"?

texts:
What is the difference between don't think it! and don't think about it!? For example:

  Person A: I think I will flunk the test.

  Person B: Don't think it!/Don't think about it!


texts: When you are blamed for no reason in a company

texts:
I was wondering whether there is any English proverb, idiom or expression which can be used to describe the situation in which someone behaves in an unfair way to you, for instance by blaming or criticizing you unfairly.
For example, let's say something wrong has been done by someone else which has made one of your friends so angry. He/she (your friend) comes to the company (group of people) which you are in and puts all the blame on you out of all other people who are there (at that company and at the same time,) without being sure whether you had done that.
You get shocked because you know that you have been absolutely innocent and say:

(Literal description): Didn't you find someone else to blame?!
(said sarcastically in a surprised tone.)

I wonder what a native speaker would probably say here to show his/her surprise and bad feelings toward that behavior as a proverb or fixed expression or an idiom?


texts:
Like say you a sentence like

  I like office apps (like word etc.)

Then how do you add period? Like etc.).? Will it be weird to have two dots so close and also like the U.S.A. at the end of the sentence we'll write like I like the U.S.A. which combine the dot and period together? Or this etc.). is the correct usage?


texts: What is the grammar of "the fact that [contents of the fact] "?

texts:
(Note: I'm a native English speaker, who is interested in learning English grammar, because I found that learning French became more interesting through learning French grammar)
Consider the following sentences, which behave similarly:

The fact that you yell at me everyday makes me not want to come
to the office.
The thought that I actually looked up to you in the past makes me feel like a fool.

What is the grammar of the clause "that [contents of fact] " (or "that [contents of thought]") ? I note that this kind of clause is somehow modifying a noun, and explains the contents of that noun. I also note that you could remove the clause and the sentence still makes sense.
This use feels different than the following:

I know that you are going through a divorce, but you still have
to treat your workers with respect.

where "that you are going through a divorce" acts as a direct object of a verb, and the only reason that removing it still allows the sentence to make sense, is because our brains hear an implied (but unstated) direct object in its place.
(Finally, I note that "The fact that [contents of the fact]", of course, is very different than a relative clause ("The fact that makes me feel the most unhappy is that I'm going through a divorce, too, and I need some kindness in my life right now.").)
The best analysis I can think of is that "that you yell at me everyday" is merely some modifier to the word "fact", the same way that in "The ugly fact", the word "ugly" is merely some modifier. But I'm unsure if this analysis is correct, because it doesn't seem to acknowledge that "that [contents of fact]" functions differently than the other two examples ("that ___" as a direct object, or "that ___" as a relative clause) ; and a person might say that the other two examples also are noun-modifiers in some way, too.
Is there a different, more illuminating analysis, that can be done? And can you give me other examples of "that __" clauses (or, indeed, other clauses or non-clauses) that function similarly to "The fact that [contents of fact]"?


texts: What the difference between on/at a hill

texts:
It seems to me that on a hill has subtle difference in connotation from at a hill. In my opinion, I would think on a hill implies on the surface and at a hill express a specific location. I am not sure if is a right understanding, but I am confused when I need to distinguish these two usage or it is basically the same.

For example: There is a flame on the hill and There is a flame at the hill. Is there any different meaning or connotation in them?


texts: What does "feels be" mean in this context?

texts:
She agrees to rescue him, which she feels be ultimately saving
  herself.

Does it mean "She agrees to rescue him, and she feels that saving him is eventually saving herself"? I don't understand how "feels be" is grammatically correct.


texts: Difference bwtween heavier than and weightier than

texts:
It's from this question.

Can "he" and "man" refer to all genders?

  The ancient Chinese writer Si Maqian said, "Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather." To die for the people is weightier than Mount Tai, but to work for the fascists and die for the exploiters and oppressors is lighter than a feather.

And I've found another adjective and it's very similar to this.

  heavier than

What's the difference between them?

Is "weightier than" also an old English as man refers all genders?

Because I've found nobody uses "weightier" on "blackhole", everyone says "heavier than a blackhole," and "heavier than" also works on "Mountun Tai" too.

  To die for the revolution is heavier than Mount Tai.

  ... is even weightier than a blackhole.


texts: Why is "Sheila couldn't come to the party, it was a pity." wrong?

texts:
I came across with this exercise in Raymond Murphy's  English Grammar in Use:

  Sheila couldn't come to the party, ____ was a pity.

The correct answer is which, but I would have said that it was equally valid.

It seems to me that Sheila couldn't come to the party. It was a pity. and Sheila couldn't come to the party; it was a pity. would be correct.

But why is Sheila couldn't come to the party, it was a pity. wrong? Does the comma have anything to do?


texts: Which is correct, 'called as' or 'called' in the given sentence?

texts:
They are taking an anti-typhoid drug that is called as xyz.
They are taking an anti-typhoid drug called xyz.

Which one is correct and why? or both are correct?


texts: Could youy tell me What the meaning of “I hope this email finds you well” is?

texts:
Could you tell me what the meaning of “I hope this email finds you well” is? Does it mean the writer doesn’t know where the receiver is, or he is not sure whether the receiver can safely receiver this email?

If I send an email to a colleague, he doesn’t give me a reply within the expected time. Can I simply say “Did you receiver my email”? Please give me some example sentences to express “Did you receiver my email” in good business manners.

I think this short sentence “Did you receiver my email” has a tinge of aggressiveness.

Thank you.


texts:
Imagine we have 150 apples, randomly divide them into 5 group and randomly pick one group to stat the weight of each and whether each is rotten. When the job is done, we have 30 records of data.

I guess the stats about all 150 apples would be called the "whole data", a record of data that has both the weight and quality is called "complete data", a record of data that lacks the weight, the quality, or both, is called "incomplete data".

Is my understanding right?

Why would I have this question? Because a post says

  In this approach we randomly split the complete data into training and test sets.

where the author uses "complete data" to refer to all 150 records of data.

The uses of "complete data" in books.google seem to be the way I use it.

Could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.


texts:
I am confused about "have much in common" and "have many in common".

I have searched and I know the phrase "have something in common".

If I want to convey that between Jack and I both like many stuffs and have the same tastes,such as movies,songs,games and so on.

How should I say it correctly,by this way?

Jack and I have much in common so we become good friends
Jack and I have many in common so we become good friends


texts: What does “Never have so many owed so much to so few” mean here?

texts:
Can anybody paraphrase it for me, please? Does it mean "Never let so many people owe so much to so few people"?

  With a population of only slightly more than 2 million people in the
  1770s, how was the United States able to produce an extraordinary
  leadership team that included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander
  Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington? In World War II,
  did anyone believe that Britain’s Royal Air Force could defend the
  island nation against the overwhelming power of Hitler’s Luftwaffe? As
  Winston Churchill later commented,“Never have so many owed so much
  to so few".

Source: Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership
By Lee G. Bolman, Terrence E. Deal


texts:
How can we name female people whose name we dont know when we refer to them?

I was in a situation in which I talked to a female person who works at information desk in a company and after I talked to her , I talked to someone else in the same place.So in this situation how can we refer to the first person I talked to if we do not her name and she is about in middle-ages like 35.

Should I say:

1.The lady I talked to on reception desk said that..  (for me it sounds fancy)

2.The woman I talked to on reception desk said that.. (for me it sounds a bit rude )

3.The girl I talked to on reception desk said that..  ( for me it sounds unfitting)

4.The ma'am I talked to on reception desk said that..

5.Another option

I wrote what I feel for some options but I can be wrong.
Thank you


texts: What's the grammatical structure of "all three of them periods"?

texts:
Oxford Guide to English Grammar; John Eastwood; Oxford University Press 1994-09

Page 54

  2 Information in a text

  a In a text, old information usually comes first in the sentence and new information comes later.

  ELEGANT BUILDING
  Britain's towns were given a new and an elegant appearance between 1700 and 1830. This period covers the building styles known as Queen Anne, Georgian and Regency, all three of them periods in which houses were very well designed.

  Previously, towns had grown naturally and usually had a disorderly, higgledy-piggledy appearance. In the new age, architects planned whole parts of towns, and built beautiful houses in terraces, or in squares with gardens in the middle.

  The houses of these periods are well-proportioned and dignified, with carefully spaced windows and handsome front doors. They can be seen in many towns, especially in London, Edinburgh, Bath, Cheltenham and Brighton.

  Brighton became famous after 1784 when the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, went there regularly, and later built the Royal Pavilion.

  (from R. Bowood Our Land in the Making)

  The subject of each sentence is something expected in the context. Usually it relates to something mentioned earlier.

What's the grammatical structure of "all three of them periods" (sentence in bold)?

related: subject vs subject-complement; inversion


texts:
Kristin: What led me to it, um… I guess it was a series of things that
  kind of led up to it. My, uh, uncle for example, he’s been a
  vegetarian as far back as I can remember. So that wasn't a new concept
  to my family at all. Um, I can remember when I was in high school I
  just kind of started losing the taste for meat, particularly red meat
  and, uh, chicken. I, by the end of, uh, high school I’d pretty much
  cut those out.

1)Does those "kind of " mean "rather, to some extent" in the link below?
https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictiona...of-a-something

Is it an adverb or a preposition?


texts:
I understand that a coordinating conjunction must combine two words, phrases or clauses of equal weightage, thus, a coordinating conjunction must never combine a clause and a phrase. It should be either a word-word relationship or a phrase-phrase one or a clause-clause one. What role is the coordinating conjunction 'but' playing in this sentence then -

I would like to watch a movie but not alone.

I believe that but in this sentence is combining a clause (I would like to watch a movie) with a phrase (not alone). Can someone clarify if I am making a mistake in identifying the role of but here?


texts: " a child growing up in two cultures" equals to "a child who grew up .../who had grown up..."?

texts:
As a child growing up in two cultures, I found this difference a bit confusing.

Does the present participle (bold text) equal to "who grew up" or "who had grown up”？ My reasoning is because of the absence of tense for present participle, it can be transformed into multiple different tenses.
If that is right, I am wondering whether I should understand the present participle as "who grew up" or "who had grown up," because there are clear distinctions between "who grew up" and "who had grown up."
And I think I could even say "growing up" is equivalent to "who was growing up"?


texts: Using first person as a polite way to ask second person to do something

texts:
I emailed someone asking for a piece of information. He wrote back:
"I'd contact X for the latest data."

I'm having trouble understanding what he (a native speaker) meant by using the word would. It seems he meant number 2 below, as a polite way to suggest I do something.

I'll contact X and get the latest data (I'll then send it to you).
If I were you, I'd contact X. In other words, you should contact X instead of me.

Can we rule out one of the two or is it ambiguous to a native ear as well?


texts:
Is there any differences between these sentences:

she closes her store during weekends
she closed her store during weekends


texts: Difference between 'reach' and 'outreach'

texts:
How do we differentiate between reach and outreach while using in a sentence.
Say,

  We need to reach/outreach the opposition to get the bill cleared.

Which option will be better suited and why?


texts: Can I use this epistemic expression: “He won’t have gone there yesterday”? It may not be ungrammatical, I think. But I have two questions. First, is this ‘won’t have p.p.’ used casually or freely to say that something might have happened in the past? Second, If it were present perfect, adverbs which denote the past would not be used. Then Is it, yesterday, okay in the example above?


texts:
I want to write something imaginary like

  I am happy for the positive results as if I really helped in the treatment.

In fact, I am really happy, but I didn’t help in the treatment.
Which one is the correct one?

l am happy for the positive results as if I really helped in the treatment.
I am happy for the positive results as if I really had helped in the treatment.
I am happy for the positive results as if I really have helped in the treatment.


texts: As shown in picture below, can I say state 13 is in shaded-yellow circle?


texts: Singular countable nouns on its own without any article

texts:
So the general rule is that an article, either definite or indefinite, must be used with any countable singular nouns.

We say 'a chair' or 'the chair', for example.

But I found some singular countable nouns without any article in these sentences.

palm tree:
Tree native to tropical regions; among its various species are date- and coconut-bearing kinds.

ractor:
Motorized machine used for operating farm equipment and tools.

container:
Metal box of standardized size for transporting cargo.

Are these sentences correct or not?


texts: Mobile network operator vs. mobile network carrier

texts: Is there any difference between "mobile network operator" and "mobile network carrier"?


texts:
I'd like to know if "It is" + that-clause is correct:

It's that I don't want to talk to you anymore.

If it is not, would mind saying how I could rephrase that sentence?


texts: The meaning and form of ' in most cases'

texts:
Is the phrase in most cases  a superlative prepositional phrase?
For example: In most cases, I believe that community service is the best option.
I'm trying to understand MFPA of this.


texts: Use past and present tense in the same sentence

texts:
This topic was discussed before, and I do know that tenses should agree when they're in the same clause, but hear me out:

"I realized that, in order to make a real difference, I need an MBA."

My logic: My realization happened in the past, but the fact that I needed an MBA is still a present-day problem (I still don't have it). Would such a twist be considered correct, or should I just go with the classic simple past in the subordinate clause as well?

Thanks!


texts: Why hyphenate past-tense phrasal verb when turning it into an adjective?

texts:
Joey logged in.
  The logged-in person is Joey.

What grammar rule applies to the hyphenated word logged-in?


texts: Simple Past vs. Present Perfect for "Load"

texts:
I wrote:

  After the page was loaded, you can apply a filter on the page to automatically extract the main content and eliminate clutters.

It is "After the page has loaded" or "After the page was loaded". I think was is correct and load is passive. but I saw some sentences including "the page has loaded"


texts: What is the difference between "getting robbed" and "getting mugged"?

texts: I can't seem to find the difference on the internet between "getting robbed" and "getting mugged". I would appreciate it if you could explain it to me.


texts:
What tense is the sentence "He would go to finish the job?"
Other examples, "He would leave the store." "He would decide to help him."


texts: Can you help me with -3 weeks ago / 3 weeks before now

texts:
I know that later can be replaced by after s + v like the following.

I wake up at 10 but I get up about an hour after I wake up.

I wake up at 10 but I get up about an hour later.

Then, how about this?

Since 3 weeks ago, I have been dating her.

Since 3 weeks before now, I have been dating her.

I just want to know more expression that is the same meaning as "ago", so that I can use more sentences.
Or better,

I met a girl 3 weeks ago.

I met a girl 3 weeks before now.

Are these possible?


texts: Difference between "outside" and "on the outside"

texts:
Is there any difference between the following sentences?

  I have coffee on the outside. It is referring to some coffee shop.

  I have coffee outside.

Can anyone explain to me which of these constructs is correct?


texts:
The sentence I want to write is:

  I was fascinated by the role that science and engineering plays in high-technology companies.

I think that this sentence convey the idea that in the past I was fascinated but no longer. I would like to express that once I got fascinated, the fascination didn't end.


texts: Which type of condition is it? What is the mood?

texts:
If any person be found guilty, he shall have the right of appeal.

Is it a type-2 conditional clause?
Is it subjunctive mood, conditional mood, or imperative mood?


texts:
What does this mean?

"every fourth person is fat."


texts:
______ understaffed and under tight budget, 911 centers are struggling to adequately provide emergency assistance to the citizens.

There are four choices to fill in the blank:

Yet
Meanwhile
But
Although

After considering the meaning of the sentence, I chose "meanwhile" to fill in the blank, but the book which I am using chose "although". Therefore, I am kind of confused here because I think we just use "although" when there are two contradictory sentences or ideas. So, could someone please help me to explain the problem here?


texts:
Some words use silent letters in the spelling. I often ask myself: why are they used? English is a global language and it is changing day-by-day.
Even if I have to believe they exist as they were in the words originally, why should we still retain them?

Various spellings have been changed for this pronunciation change, like "colour" to "color", "centre" to "center", "catalogue" to "catalog", then why are we still using "H" for "honest" or "P" for "Psychology"?

Do these letters help native speakers to picture the spelling in their minds somehow? And if not, why are they still being used?


texts: when Verb DO is not used as an auxiliary verb, it changes to does just the

texts:
My wife always does what I say.

  My wife always do as I say.

What is the correct sentence? Should I use does or do, when do is not an auxiliary verb?


texts: Combination of past simple and present simple in telling stories

texts:
Here is the paragraph from a textbook:

  One day the Princess decided that she didn't like staying at home all day. so she told her father that she wanted to get a job.

My question is: can I replace didn't like with doesn't like, and wanted with wants so the paragraph becomes:

  One day the Princess decided that she doesn't like staying at home all day. so she told her father that she wants to get a job.


texts: What's the difference between "on" and "for" in this sentence

texts:
What's the difference between:

My brother's traveling to Argentina FOR business

and

My brother's flying to Argentina ON business?

Thanks.


texts: What's the white thing which corrects text called in English?

texts:
What's the thing which correct text by white fluid applying called in English?

The dictionary in my native language says it's called: correcting fluid, or white-out, but in fact my classmates call it 'corrector' (as it's called in the eastern Europe countries: Russian, Ukraine, Belarus, Polish, and many other languages such as: Spanish, Bulgarian etc.). Is it wrong?


texts: Is it "at" or "in" or "on" stack exchange?

texts:
Could someone tell me which   is correct? is there an alternative?

Thank you.

  You are at Stack exchange site.

  You are in Stack exchange site.

  You are on Stack exchange site.

I checked this page https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-place-at-in-on.htm and I think the correct is in.

in because you are inside a site/place.


texts: What shoud we write before "visit''and before 'from''? The sequence of tenses

texts:
need help with the sentence

He told me that he will/would visit them when he returns/returned from China

I think the correct variant is:

He told me that he would visit them when he returns from China

The fist part, I believe, is future in the past, but I'm not  certain about the last part (he returns from China) , probably bc can't find grammar explanation.

Thanks in advance for your answers


texts: Plural Usage- 10 Travelers Who Bought A One-Way Ticket And Began A New Life

texts:
I came across this title today

  10 Travelers Who Bought A One-Way Ticket And Began A New Life

I was confused about the usage of singular nouns "a one-way ticket" and "a new life" as the subject is clearly plural. Aren't these words supposed to be plural as well, following the subject-object agreement?


texts: "The sky lacks clouds" or "Clouds lack from the sky"

texts:
I can say, "The sky lacks clouds," but can I say, "Clouds lack from the sky?"

If the latter can be said, to me, it sounds more poetic and better than "there are no clouds in the sky."

Can one element lack from some other thing?
Can the word lack replace are missing?

  Clouds lack from the sky.

  Clouds are missing from the sky.


texts: How to pronounce the "n" in "wasn't really..." fast?

texts:
When people say "wasn't really" really fast, does the tongue position for /n/ in "wasn't" exactly the same as an usual /n/?
(like in this description.)
I ask this question because when I try shadowing the sentence "It wasn't really a job." in this video, I find it extremely difficult to speak at the exact same speed as Tom Hanks. If I put my tongue for the /n/ in the "proper" place (alveolar ridge), the /n/ will hinder my /r/ that follows.
Is it just a lack of practice for me or the tongue position for
/n/ deviates a little?


texts:
Do both mean the same? Or maybe one version is correct and the other one is incorrect?

Example sentence:

  It's getting late. Better (to) go home.

(This is colloquial speech.)

Another similar situation:

  He's going to arrive late. Better (to) text him.


texts: "The fourth next to it" - does this express an item four items away?

texts:
Which one do you want? This?
No, the fourth next to it.

Should we use four or fourth here? When they say the one next to it, they apparently have not used the word first.
I want to say that I do not want the one next to it. I want the thing that its distance is four items away.


texts:
I learned that which and that are interchangeable; and I also learned that *which8 can be converted to and it.

Then how about these sentences?

  In this chapter we presented a new context sharing scheme within
  a pervasive and ad-hoc network that can address the problem in
  many-to-many communication: a large number of context exchanges.
  In this chapter we presented a new context sharing scheme within a pervasive and ad-hoc network which can address the problem in
  many-to-many communication: a large number of context exchanges.
  In this chapter we presented a new context sharing scheme within a pervasive and ad-hoc network, which can address the problem in
  many-to-many communication: a large number of context exchanges.

Do 1 and 2 convey the exactly same meaning?
How about 3? I think 3 is the correct statement, as what addresses the problem is "scheme" not "network" so there should be a *which" to explicitly show that.


texts:
Drift: to move smoothly or easily in a way that is not planned or guided

  Wander: to move around or go to different places usually without having a particular purpose or direction

  (From Merriam Webster Learner’s Dictionary)

Is there any difference between these two words?  Are they completely interchangeable in the following context(drifted about England)?

  “When economic depression hit the woolen trade in the late 1500s,
  thousands of footloose farmers took to the roads. They drifted about
  England, chronically unemployed, often ending up as beggars and
  paupers in cities like Bristol and London.”

  From “The American Pageant” by Thomas A. Bailey


texts: Does the verb "reduce" have an adjective form meaning "can be reduced"?

texts:
Some verbs have adjective forms meaning the verb can be done.  For example, "searchable" means "can be searched".  I searched for the adjective form of "reduce" and found the word "reducible".  However, as far I searched, it seems that this word is usually used in the field of chemistry. Does this word "reducible" can be used in general sentences, such as the following:

  The shipping cost is reducible by negotiation.


texts:
Can an adverb precede modal verb? I've seen this kind of sentence:
I just can't believe what happened


texts: Differences between the questions: "he didn't tell you? / he hasn't told you?"

texts:
A= I'm so sorry Andy is moving away tomorrow.
  B= really?
  A= he didn't tell you /he hasn't told you?

I have seen them both used in similar contexts but I was wondering  is there a difference?


texts: What does the phrase the more you know mean?

texts:
What does The more you know mean?

  Alex: Did you know a flock of crows is known as murder?
  Jim: No. The more you know.


texts:
Dictionary say "here" is adverb and "there" is adverb and noun.

How can the word "there" be used as noun? Can't the word "here" be used as noun?

In addition, now I knew that "there" is used as pronoun like " There is a pen.". If so, how about "Here is"?


texts:
Wisconsin has dissected Zellner's court filing to determine evidence that was overlooked at the time Avery was convicted of killing Halbach. Zellner contends that the new battery of tests can be done within the next three months, if not sooner. She said the tests will reveal who killed Halbach and will show there was massive evidence planting — not only by Manitowoc County law enforcement, but also possibly by civilian searchers following Halbach's disappearance.

Source: http://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/local/steven-avery/2016/08/31/defense-targets-key-evidence-halbach-case/89558120/

I would like ask about the backshifting in the passage in bold in the above excerpt. Can you explain to me why the backshifting is like that. If I applied my school knowledge concerning this matter, the clause would be: …She said the tests would reveal who had killed Halbach and would show there had been massive evidence planting — not only by Manitowoc County law enforcement, but also possibly by civilian searchers following Halbach's disappearance.


texts: Differences between "suck up" and "suck in"

texts:
I am not sure if we can use both phrasal verb to mean the same thing. I am thinking of using them as "swallow" or "gulp down". Is that semantically correct?

For example:

  The black hole sucked up the entire solar system.


texts: "The Night of": common phrase ? Or just "the night of "?

texts:
I have been watching the television drama "The Night Of", and I am not sure how the title should be understood: I can't find another example of a phrase where the preposition "of" is used without a noun or pronoun after it.

is "the night of" a common phrase, or an idiom ? What does it mean ?
Or is just an abbreviated form for "the night of something" (no spoilers intended, but it would be here eg "the night of the murder") ?


texts:
What is the difference between the following sentences?

  It has been developed
  vs
  It is being developed

  It has been held
  vs.
  It is being held

Which tense is "is being" used here and when do we use it?
Is there any difference between "It is being held" and "It is helding"?


texts: If I had been you, I woudn't have gone there. Is this correct sentence?


texts:
What is the grammatical role of "disposed of" in the following short-passage?

  The worlds of science fiction abound with wonders. Yet modern
  technology progresses so rapidly that what is today's wild dream may
  be next year's kitchen appliance. A British scientist has
  prognosticated that within ten years every suburban abode will have
  its own robot servant. One task this domesticated automation will not
  have to contend with will be scouring the oven because even today the
  newest ranges can be programmed to reduce their own baked-on grime to
  easily disposed of ash.

Also, the following excerpt meaning is a little bit vague for me. Can you clarify it?

  One task this domesticated automation will not
  have to contend with will be scouring the oven because even today the
  newest ranges can be programmed to reduce their own baked-on grime to
  easily disposed of ash.


texts:
I'm watching this documentary about Nick Yarris. At the beginning, there are some introductory lines in a black page (I don't know what they call it in English) saying,

  ... He requested that all appeals cease and his sentence of death be carried out. He agreed to be interviewed about his decision. His story has been independently verified.

What do they call those lines at the beginning of a movie introducing some background information?
What does independently verified mean?

Thanks


texts: Help to understand this question from reading comprehension in my GRE textbook

texts:
The organizers of tomorrow's outdoor concert announced that it will go on tomorrow on schedule unless bad weather is forecast or too few advance tickets are sold. If the concert is canceled, refunds will be made to ticket holders. Since some ticket holders have already been issued refunds even though more than enough advance tickets were sold, it must be the case that bad weather is forecast.

  Question

  Which of the following is an error of reasoning contained in the argument?

  (A) It proceeds as if a condition, which by itself is enough to guarantee a certain result, is the only condition under which that result would occur.

  (B) It bases a conclusion that is known to require two conditions on evidence that bears on only one of those conditions.

  (C) It explains one event as being caused by another event, even though both events must actually have been caused by some third, unidentified event.

  (D) It treats evidence for the absence of one condition under which a circumstance would occur as conclusive evidence that circumstance will not occur.

  (E) Evidence given to support the conclusion actually undermines it.

This is an reading example from my GRE textbook, but it doesn't offer the answer key for it(that's why I ask here).

I choose B, because I don't quite understand it(maybe that's not a good reason to choose it). Here is my understanding for all the other options:

[(A) It proceeds as if a condition, which by itself is enough to guarantee a certain result, is the only condition under which that result would occur.] I think A is correct, because it reflects the logic of {If the concert is canceled, refunds will be made to ticket holders.}
[(C) It explains one event as being caused by another event, even though both events must actually have been caused by some third, unidentified event.] C is correct because refunds will be made if the concert is canceled, and both refund and the concert is canceled would be caused by either bad weather is forecast or too few advance tickets are sold.
[(D) It treats evidence for the absence of one condition under which a circumstance would occur as conclusive evidence that circumstance will not occur.] D is correct, because it reflects {Since some ticket holders have already been issued refunds even though more than enough advance tickets were sold, it must be the case that bad weather is forecast.}
[(E) Evidence given to support the conclusion actually undermines it.] I'm not quite sure what "it" refers to. If 'it' refers to the concert event, then I think D is also correct.

Is my understanding correct? What's B conveying? Finally, which one should be the answer for the question?


texts: How to say naturally when you look at your child's face and have a feeling that he has done things suspiciously?

texts:
You look at your son's face and he smiles at you in a suspicious way. That makes you have a feeling that he has done things suspiciously like sneaking sugar in the kitchen.
How to say naturally in the situation?
For example,
-You look suspicious
-You look sneaky
-You look dodgy
-You look guilty
-What have you been up to?
-I can tell from your face that you have done something sneaky.
etc


texts:
"I guarantee you that not only will the means negatively affect the relationship but the room won't stay clean when you leave town for a few days."

I just wonder if we can use "will" this way:

  "I guarantee you that not only the means will negatively affect the relationship but the room won't stay clean when you leave town for a few days."

Is this still grammatically correct?


texts: Using/avoiding "the" after/before possessive construction with"of"

texts:
I am wondering when we should use "the" after a possessive construction with "of"?

Is this necessary to use/avoid "the" before a possessive construction with "of"?

For example, consider:

the observation of the instability
the observation of an instability
an observation of the instability
an observation of an instability
observations of instabilities
the observations of instabilities
the observations of the instabilities

which one is intrinsically incorrect?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
How do you explain what kind of guideline a person has to follow?
Should I say "the guideline/rule is that" like the examples below?

"The guideline you need to follow on this assignment is that you should do a thorough research."
"The guideline I have been following is that I do a thorough research."
"The rule you need to follow is that you should do a thorough research."

Edit:
Okay, maybe my question wasn't clear at all. What if I insist on explaining what kind of rule/guideline a student has to follow to a friend by using "the rule/guideline is that" construction? Is this construction not possible at all?
Should I say something like "you need to follow the guideline/rule, which is that you should do a thorough research"?


texts:
I'd like to ask you some questions.

Firstly that is this.
" When one of a person's ten nearest neighbors bought a car, the [    ]that that person would buy a car of the same brand during the next week..."

I thought the word that is proper was possibilities though, the answer is chances.
Could you let me know why 'chances' is correct?

And there's another one.
"You add the team skills like [     ] you get from playing a sport."
I thought 'what' is proper though, the answer is those.
I wonder if what is also acceptable or not

Thank you!


texts: singular or plural nouns with "no" when "except" is used

texts:
Should I use singular countable nouns or plural countable nouns with no along with the word except?

There is no scientist who is as renowned as Einstein except Stephen Hawking.
There are no scientists who are as renowned as Einstein except Stephen Hawking.
I have no book except this red one.
I have no books except this red one.

I know it is more natural to use no with countable plural nouns in general. So we would generally say "There are no scientists in the hall." and "I don't have any books in my house." But when I use no with except the problem arises. Can anyone please explain?


texts:
Nancy, we're still trying to learn more about the situation.
  You can read more about all of this on my blog.
  (All are from COCA)

In both the case above, is ‘more’ an adverb or pronoun? When I interpret it in my own tongue, it’s very likely to be adverbial, but I have no idea what it would be like in your own tongue.


texts:
This is a sentence in my grammar book.

  He was asked to write the letter.

In the book it says :
 He = subject , was asked to write the letter = subject complement.
The verb ask is a catenative verb.(this part wasn't written, I added myself)

And I came across the following two sentences:

  The medicine is not warranted to treat a patient's condition.

In this sentence ,I guess the same rule applies,
with to treat a patient's condition being a subject complement,
And verb warrant here is being used as a catenative verb.
Is my understanding right?

  A business plan was designed to boost company's revenue.

However,in this sentence,
 I am not sure if the infinitive to boost company's revenue can also be a subject complement,
as it seem to be a purpose adjunct, and verb design isn't catenative.
If my understanding is correct, how can the structure of this sentence be explained?


texts: Adjective to describe someone in a very good mood

texts:
A cheerful/high-spirited Jeff came up to the bar.

Which adjective would be the best suited in the above sentence to describe that Jeff seems in a very good mood?
Would "cheerful" or "high-spirited" work? If either of them are okay, which one would you prefer in the context?


texts: “Firstly, secondly, thirdly,…”, what comes next?

texts:
Similar to this Question

How would you complete the following sequence, until point 10?

Firstly
Secondly
Thirdly
...

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: What's the meaning of "....don't you black or white me"

texts:
Beat me, hate me
  You can never break me
  Will me, thrill me
  You can never kill me
  Jew me, sue me
  Everybody do me
  Kick me, kike me
  Don't you black or white me

It's from MJ's track, my favorite one. I understand the meaning that he wants says 'NO' to racism but then are words black and white used as verbs here?

Also,

  Everybody do me?


texts:
Yesterday, I met my old cat.

What does old mean here? Does it refer to the age of cat or to the fact that the cat used to be my pet before I brought a new one?

The suspicion arose from the sentences like I met my old friend. and I met an old man., where old means 2 different things.

If in the first sentence, old conveys one meaning, how can I make the same adjective convey the other meaning?


texts: Which word correctly follows "my fascination"?

texts:
If I want to express how I find a field of study fascinating, should I say:

  ...my fascination with this field...

OR

  ...my fascination of this field...

OR

  ...my fascination for this field...

OR a completely different word?


texts: What adjective or phrase can describe that there is a lot of information?

texts:
I want to describe that the data contains a lot of information. I am considering

lots of information from the data
sufficient information from
the data
large information from the data

Am I correct? Do you have other suggestive adjective or phrase can describe that there is a lot of information?

Another question is that can I say "take advantage by doing something"?


texts:
A and B are going to take a bomb-defusing class tomorrow.

  A: I am going to dominate that class. You don't cross-stitch for 20
  years without developing a steady hand.

  B: Wow, you really think that is a brag, don't you? 20 bucks says, I
  do better in that class than you do.

  A: All right, you're on.

C is super drunk and A is offering to sober her up.

  A: I got this. I'm a master at sobering up.

  B: Are you sure?

  A: Uh, you don't go to the Renaissance Faire every weekend in your 20s
  without learning how to handle your mead.

  B: Great. Thanks, C

I hardly understand what these marked sentences mean. I definitely don't understand the construction, though. Why do they use "don't" here, not "didn't" or "haven't" ?

Those dialogues was taken from an sitcom.


texts:
Suppose that when I was a child, my parents' wages were low. Is it good to write:

  I knew that their money was not earned easily. So I rarely ask them for allowances to buy candies or toys.

In particular, is it good to write their money was not earned easily? I found money was not earned easily appears very rarely in Google search.


texts: Preposition usage - the taxes they paid can be used [on] the health care system?

texts:
Countries that are facing population ageing should encourage
  immigration. An aging population means that there are more retired
  people and there are fewer people working and paying taxes. As a
  result, working adults need to pay more taxes to the government. If
  more people immigrate to these countries, there will be a larger
  working population and the taxes they pay can be used on the
  health care system and to improve the infrastructures in these
  countries.

Is the use of on correct in the above sentence?

I wrote this so there is no source for it.


texts: 'People gathered around might discover' is ungrammatical. Do you agree?

texts:
I think 'People gathered around might discover' in the following sentence is ungrammatical. It should be rewritten as 'People gathering around might discover' People who gathered around might discover.' Do you agree?

  People gathered around might discover, in the documents coming off
  the machine, the writeup of a colleague’s project that’s relevant to
  their own work, or a new company policy that might affect them.

Source: Who Moved My Cube by Anne-Laure Fayard and John Weeks


texts:
Being situated seems to need some kind of complement. According to Cambridge Dictionary, it may be used in the following ways:

with in/on/near/...
with an adverb
with a to-infinitive

However, it appears that in the following passage it is not used in any of the above-mentioned ways, and I cannot make sense of the sentence. Am I making a mistake here?

  [T]here is no privileged point where one can ground the entire
  enterprise, and from which one can build up everything else.
  However, I take it that all knowledge, about logic, as much as anything else, is situated. +


texts:
i am learning this course.

the teacher is saying

  what this course is about and also what it is to be a CS230 student in
  fall 2018.

what does "it is to be" here mean?


texts: What are the differences between "inform" and "notice"?

texts:
I am trying to make a sentence in a IT document.
At the first line, I'd like to say that "This document inform you that ~~".
The verb "inform" is correct for it? Or is there any proper template for this kind of situation?


texts: Which is right in this sentence: semicolon or colon?

texts:
Daylight began to forsake the red-room; it was past four o'clock, and the beclouded afternoon was tending to drear twilight. I heard the rain still beating continuously on the staircase window, and the wind howling in the grove behind the hall; I grew by degrees cold as a stone, and then my courage sank.  My habitual mood of humiliation, self-doubt, forlorn depression, fell damp on the embers of my decaying ire. All said I was wicked, and perhaps I might be so; what thought had I been but just conceiving of starving myself to death? That certainly was a crime: and was I fit to die? Or was the vault under the chancel of Gateshead Church an inviting bourne? In such vault I had been told did Mr. Reed lie buried; and led by this thought to recall his idea, I dwelt on it with gathering dread.
  (Jane Eyere)

The highlighted punctuation (after "I might be so") is a semi-colon in Gutenberg eBook, and a colon in Penguin Books. Which is right, or more proper in the context?


texts: What is the difference between reject and discard

texts:
As far as I think
We reject something we recieve:

Eg: Transplant patients take powerful drugs so that their body will not reject the new kidney or heart.

We discard something we already have:

Eg: Hilary bundled up the clothes she had discarded

But still I'm skeptical about it

As the web dictionary says
Discard and reject are synonyms


texts:
I am reading a text. A part of that is as follows:

Paul Washington: My flight doesn't leave until late this afternoon. Is there any possibility of an extended check-out time? I don't want to cause any problems. I'll understand if you can't do it.

Front Desk Clerk: Well, we're busy today...but I could give you an extra hour. Will that help?

Paul Washington: That's a big help. Thanks. I p.m., right?

Why there is "I could give you" instead of "I can give you" in the above text?


texts: repetition of subject in relative clause

texts:
"The time that gets wasted in conversing, that time will also be saved." is a right sentence?

Or it should be: The time that gets wasted in conversing, will also be saved."