texts: Meaning of 'it is' in '...than it is that ...'

texts:
[Source] He also offered a now-famous, detailed defense of Blackstone's
Ratio:
"It is
more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be
punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they
cannot all be punished..

I first guessed that the bolded (which figures in a comparative clause) implies an ellipsis of 'it is more important', already stated in the main clause. Yet I doubt this guess, because 2 below seems inane?

1. It is
more important that innocence be protected than it is [more important] that guilt be
punished...
2. = [Protection of] innocence is more important than punishment of guilt is more important.

So what's the antecedent of it? Is it a dummy pronoun? Even if so, what legitimates this use of it is, which mystifies me? What are its purposes? Are there any formal terms describing these issues?


texts: why there is a definite article before "desired"

texts:
I saw sentences like:

  In order to print part of a web page, I would select the desired sections and press command + p.

  To register your courses, select the desired sections in the Find column and click Submit.

Why there is "the" before the phrase? It is not specific what are the desired sections of the user. could it be just "desired sections" or "your desired sections"?


texts: Why "work" in this sentence has no article?

texts:
In this article I found this sentence:

  Spelling words in English is challenging work.

I want to use it in my article, but don't know how to paraphrase it. Moreover, is it a grammatical sentence? Why "challenging work" has no article?

What about these sentences?

Spelling words in English is a challenging work (task).
Spelling words in English is challenging.


texts: Differences between branch, twig, and bough

texts: Could someone explain to me the differences in meaning between those words: branch, twig, and bough? For me they look very similar. Picture would be very helpful. :)


texts:
Some banks in USA, send a cheque to the payee and then deduct the amount when the payee presents the cheque to their bank . As the transaction is processed the money is deducted from the payer's account.

Some other banks , deduct the money as the cheque is issued . Some banks call it a banker's check (USA).

What is the name of the former ?
Are there any alternate names for such transactions ?


texts: "which I gave to you or which I gave you"

texts:
Where are the flowers which I gave to you?

or

  Where are the flowers which I gave you?

I can subconsciously choose the latter, but isn't there any grammatical rule that could cover this topic?

I think that "to" preposition can be dropped in either example and thus both of which are correct...


texts: When-clause refers to the future or general present

texts:
You can get into even worse trouble when you're not careful.

You could get into even worse trouble when you're not careful.

You may get into even worse trouble when you're not careful.

You might get into even worse trouble when you're not careful.

You will get into even worse trouble when you're not careful.

Does the "when-clause" in each sentence refer to the future (as in "when you're not careful in the future")? Or Is each of sentences (1-5) a generic statement (timeless), which is true for past, present and future?


texts:
Could you please tell me what the meaning of "not just" here is?

  I certainly didn’t
  sound like them, and not just because they were British. Their speech had a lilting cadence that made me think of singing more than speaking.
  Educated by Tara Westover

I find in two online dictionaries the meanings below for "not just":

used to say that one thing is true and that another thing is also true.

EX: She's not just my friend, she's my lawyer. 1

not only

EX: It’s not just me. Other people are complaining too. 2

but I don't know for certain if they fit with the phrase or not. Does it simply mean?

    I certainly didn’t sound like them, because:

  (1)they were British

  [moreover] (2)their speech had a lilting cadence that made me think of singing

    more than speaking.

Could you help me please to find  an exact answer?


texts:
Is this grammatical? 'Having done the procedure allowed determining certain aspects of the problem in question'

Namely, can I use the perfect gerund here if what I mean is that only after the procedure is finished can you draw any conclusion about the problem being studied. Or does it sound way too complex and I should better rephrase it and simplify the sentence?

Thanks beforehand.


texts: "the sound was premium external" what does it mean?

texts:
I'm translating Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End, there's a line I don't understand:

"The Problem Is, None Of You Think Nearly Enough." The sound was premium external, like sticking your head inside an old-time boom box.

What does it mean, "the sound was premium external"? as "external" is an adjective, "premium" can't be adjective here, so should be a noun? then as a noun "premium" is referring to money, not able to describe the sound?


texts: My father and my birthday/My father's birthday and mine/My father's and my birthday...something else?

texts:
As an esl teacher I'm a bit embarrassed about this one. I have some groups on WhatsApp to practice English and in one of them a student put: "Today is birthday of my father and my."

What would the correct sentence be? Thanks for your time. I love this site!


texts: Words for "spending much time on the net"

texts:
What's the word for a person who spends much time on the net and especially the verb meaning "to spend much time on the net"?

Everybody knows this meaning of the verb "to hang":

  Computers To cause (a computer system) to halt so that input devices, such as the keyboard or the mouse, do not function.

Can "hang" be used to describe a person who spends much time on the net? Meaning "when he is on the net he is lost for the real life".
I know this meaning of "hang", but can we apply it to the net?

  Slang
  a. To spend one's free time in a certain place. Often used with around or out: liked to hang out at the pool hall.

If this verb (hang) cannot be used for this purpose, would you suggest other words?

  He is...He often...(spends much time on the net).


texts:
I know the following form is possible.

"He died a hero." = "He died the death of a hero."

In light of this, can I also say something like these?

"He died a poor man."
"He died a happy man."
"He died a good teacher."
etc.....


texts: Are there any differences in the ways of speaking English by men and women? Any typical examples?

texts:
In Japan, my home country, men and women speak slightly differently in terms of word choice and how to end a sentence, to give you just a few examples. This is especially true in informal situations. In some cases, completely different words are used to mean the same thing. e.g. "Boku" for men and "Uchi" for women, both to mean "I".
Are there any such gender-specific ways of speaking in English as well? e.g. word choice, pronunciation, intonation, how to start/end a sentence etc.


texts:
I understand "by generics" as "in the way of medical drugs." Am I on the right track?

Drugmakers and others who oppose the measure say that waivers sabotage companies’ enormous investments in drug and vaccine development, which are compensated by their ability to set the price on products that they exclusively own. Normally, patents reward pharmaceutical companies by protecting their inventions from competition by generics for a limited time — US patents on drugs typically last for 20 years.

Source: Nature
In shock move, US backs waiving patents on COVID vaccines


texts: What is the object in "he lent me a book"?

texts:
It's a very simple question actually, but someone asked this to me suddenly and I got confused

  He lent me a book.

In this sentence, is the object book (the thing being lent) or me (the one who is being lent the book)?

How can we determine the object in this sentence?


texts: The house ______ roof is yellow is my grandparents' (relative clause, of which VS whose)

texts:
The house ______ roof is yellow is my grandparents'

I'm studying relative cluase of English and wondering what is the correct answer for that particular question.

At first I thought it would be of which because then the original sentences would be:

1. The house is my grandparents'
2. Roof of the house is yellow.

But I realised that the sentence #2 lacks the proper article, the, so I think the answer might be whose.
However, as of my knowledge whose is for people (or animals at best) and it is rarely used for things or objects.

So which one should be the answer? Or it is possible that the both are okay and natural?
I want it to be grammatically correct but I'd also like to know which one is more 'natural'. Thanks!


texts:
I'm looking for a word of the English vocabulary (and speaking English since 50 years, I fear no good one exists).
So, my height is 1.90 m, my width is around 40 cm, give or take. I might climb the Mount Everest, then my height (in the other usage) is 8 km. Which probably would be rather unhealthy for me, but not as unhealthy as if I had a width of 8 km :-)
You see the problem? In my thesis, I thus can use "height" for an y coordinate, but using "latitude" or "x coordinate" sounds rather forced, and "width" seems plain wrong.


texts: This loss/defeat shouldn't really affect them

texts:
When I'm talking about "losing a match",  will it be okay to use "loss" to mean "defeat"?  Like a team wins all the matches in a row and loses a match (but not in the end), will it be okay to use:

  This loss shouldn't really affect them.

Or should it be:

  This defeat shouldn't really affect them.

I guess only the second sentence sounds right.  Am I right in thinking so?


texts: Question about meaning of the difference between "won't" and "doesn't" in the text below

texts:
Kevin: Where are you Mary?
Mary: I'm home. My car just won’t start.
Kevin: Where are you Mary?
Mary: I'm home. My car just doesn't start.

I would also be very grateful if you help me figuring out what the word"just" here really means. I have my doubts whether it is just used to put emphasis on this statement.


texts: "should" could be inverted in affirmative or some type of condition sentences

texts:
Should anyone phone, tell him I'm busy.
  If anyone phones, tell him I'm busy.

I am wondering what is the difference between those?

What is more, I am wondering as to the inversion in the first sentence has happened. Would you please show me a site so that I could study more about such a specific inversion?


texts:
Looking at the NOAD, I read that using they as pronoun to mean a person of either sex is acceptable in those contexts where it follows an indefinite pronoun such as anyone, no one, someone, or a person.

Can I use they with OP?

My thought is that the OP could ask a question about something a group of people is doing / trying to do, and I could use they to refer to the supposed group of people. Would this be an acceptable reason to use they when referring to OP?


texts: What is the correct form for saying "one stuff"?

texts: I've been told that stuff is not countable since that I cannot say one stuff. But which is / are the proper forms for using the "stuff" word?


texts: Can I use "past tense "and "future tense" in one sentence?

texts:
Can  I use "past tense" and "future tense" in one sentence?

  Although Jason went to the America last week for vacation, he will work on time tomorrow.

Thanks so much!


texts: Meaning of the phrase "bankrupt character"

texts:
Don't think that the guys you're about to meet are humans like us.

  They are people of bankrupt character

What is the meaning of the phrase "people of bankrupt character" in this sentence? I've search in some online dictionary and i found that the adjective bankrupt means that "without any good qualities at all". Is that what it means in this sentence? Can i replace the previous sentence with this one: "They are bankrupt character people"


texts: {the average is X} vs {the average is of X}

texts:
The average is 10 people per month

  The average is of 10 people per month

Which phrase is better? The first one seems more natural, but I'm not so sure, and google seems to tell me both are used.

I think my confusion has to do with how average is usually used:

  With an average of 10 ...

An example of use could be (quite similar to mine):

  In Japan, the average is of 32% for men and 29% for women.

Another one, which could have a different meaning:

  Sedulously, you begin writing out twenty-five consecutive numbers, hoping to be able to find what percent the average is of the total.


texts: Should I write "to" again in this sentence?

texts:
Her words seemed to make him happy and (to) pacify his inner turmoil.

Is the sentence correct both with or without the second "to" in bold?


texts: Is it OK to use "so" twice in immediate succession? --"I'm not saying so, so you quit your job"

texts:
Is it OK to use so twice in immediate succession?

  I'm not saying so, so you quit your job.

And does it sound better with this in place of the first so?


texts:
Example sentence:

  Eri hugged him back, tears reflooding.

The word appears in some online dictionaries, however every word processor underlines it with a red line.

Is it safe to use this word?


texts: "Notice period at your job" or "notice period on your job"?

texts:
Could you tell me which preposition it is more natural to use after notice period: at or on? For example:

Person A: How long is the notice period at/on your job?
Person B: The notice period on/at my job is two weeks.


texts: "Within", "in", "during", or "over" ? I will call him ---------- the next break

texts:
Consider you are in a meeting. The meeting is going to continue for the next several hours. Therefore, some breaks have been devised in order to let people refresh themselves.

Now consider a brief conversation between two guys sitting near each others:

  A: Did you notify C that you would be here until 9:00 ?

  B: I will call him ........... the next break.

Which one of the prepositions listed below is the best choice?

within
during
in
over

My interpretation:

Using Ngram, I can easily rule out "over" and "within" although I have no idea why they are wrong.

Now, the question is what is the difference between "in" and "during" in that context?


texts: What is the more appropriate adjectival form of Trump?

texts:
Wiktionary has  " Trumpian", Tumpesque", and "Trumpish"   meaning:

  Related or pertaining to Donald Trump

but there are few usage examples. Is there a more established term among those cited above or possibly a different one?

What is a "neutral" term that could be used for instance in e following sentence?

Protectionism will probably be part of (Trump.....) economic policies in the future.


texts: How to say it in English "Khana nikalo"?

texts:
I am trying to speak English but I am stuck with the following situations that I have to frequently use. I am a Hindi speaking person.
Example,

  Khana nikalo

In Indian villages we keep all the food items on a mat when the food is ready and everybody in the family sits on it and eat the food. When the food is ready and we want to eat we ask someone to take the food from kitchen and put it on the mat. We say "khana nikalo" in Hindi. What I understood from this link explaining English idioms, the phrase above is not an idiom. It's basically a soft command, to as someone to do something.

When I try to ask someone these questions I can't figure out how to say it in English. How the English people say when the meal is ready and they want the lunch/dinner table ready? Do they say this

  "please ready the lunch/dinner table"?

I am just confused how they do say it. What is the equivalent in English?


texts: Can there be 'and' between the adjective and the noun?

texts:
A beautiful and chocolate cake.
A chocolate and beautiful cake.

Are both grammatically correct, meaning as the sentence above whether they sound natural or unnatural?


texts: Should I use a definite article in this sentence?

texts:
I wrote:

  Birds are some of the most beautiful and inspiring creatures in the world. They fly freely in sky. They are always among trees and flowers.

A native speaker corrected it to "the trees". We don't speak of specific trees. Then why a definite article is needed?


texts: Prepositions of Place: "next to" or "behind"?

texts:
I'm a non-native teacher of English and I work with adults.

On Monday we studied prepositions of place and when my students were working with the picture one of them asked if we should say

  "The sink is next to the toilet"

or

  "The sink is behind the toilet"

I feel we should use "next to" because the toilet doesn't cover the front side of the sink and some of my students agreed with me. That very student, however, is an engineer and he sees geometry everywhere. He said that if a person was standing on the rug they would see the toilet covering the most part of the sink, so "The sink is behind the toilet".

Now I'm pretty confused. Which preposition would you use and why?


texts:
Is the sentence below correct:

  I wish he goes to where he loves.

Please supply reasons for your answers.


texts: Should I write "has returned home" or "returned home"?

texts:
I am writing a diary to improve my English. I write it describing the situation at the end of the day. My grandmother arrived home  yesterday.
How should I describe this?

My grandmother returned home.

or

My grandmother has returned home.

Are both correct?


texts:
I would like to ask which one of the following introductory is more appropriate for a formal and polite registry when I text to someone who knows me for the first time after I got her number or when I text through a different phone number than that I already have been using so in both cases there is someone knows me but cannot recognize my number unless I make  my name clear on my text.

Should I say :

  Hello, Mr./Mrs.Green. This is Jamie.

or

  Hello Mr./Mrs.Green. It is Jamie.


texts: What is the difference in meaning between the question "did you ever do...?" and "have you ever done...?" without referring to any period in the past?

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between the question did you ever do something? and have you ever done something? without referring to any period in the past? For example, in the 17th episode of the 6th season of Friends, Ross asks Joey the following.

  Ross: Hey Joe did… Did you ever have a threesome?

  Joey: (not quite sure of how to answer that) Well uh, look Ross I uh,
  I think Carol’s great and I’m sure you’re a very attractive man, but
  I….

  Ross: No! The reason I’m asking is that… I sorta had one last night.

I canno get why he didn't say have you ever had...?, which would make sense becase he didn't refer to any period of time in the past in the episode.


texts: What is the difference between 'Inaugurated' and 'launched'?

texts:
We usually say,

  Windows 10 has been launched.

Why can't we say,

  Windows 10 has been inaugurated.

Question 1: If we can, then why are there two different words for exactly the same thing. In other words why do exact synonyms exist?

Question 2: If we can't then what is the difference between inaugurated and launched? In which situation do we use inaugurated rather than launched. As user Random explained in his/her comments(1,2) sometimes inaugurated is used to imply that the thing being inaugurated has been tested first and then given for use. If possible please provide reference for this meaning. Also what kind of things are considered importantant so that they get inaugurated e.g. does a private hospital, private company, private shop, private mall/govt. mall, new version of Mercedes or some movement started by people or other things which are at the median of being governmental/political and private.

My Research effort: I looked in merriam webster dictionary and google translator but could not find the answer to my question.


texts: Which is the right variant for "bind" or "tie-in" in computing/IT?

texts:
I want a picture to appear simultaneously with the start of some applications. In this case, which verb should I use?

  Bind the picture to the start of the application.

  Tie-in the picture to the start of the application.

Are those verbs right?

If not, is there any synonyms for using in the context of technologies?


texts: This is/these are (parts of a predicate joined by the conjunction "and")

texts:
These are a kettle and an inkpot.
  This is a kettle and (this is) an
  inkpot.

Which sentence is correct? Or both are correct? (The kettle and the inkpot are not considered as a single entity.)

Update. I've just come across some similar sentences in "Essential English" by C.E. Eckersley:

  Is this a man and a boy? (accompanied by a picture of a man walking
  hand in hand with a boy) Is this a cat and a dog? (a picture of a dog,
  a cat and a bowl between them)

Why are two items considered as one and not separately?


texts: Can bracketing commas contain incomplete sentences when introduced by although, though, even though, because, etc.?

texts:
According to this university site (section dedicated to bracketing commas):

  There are a number of common words which typically introduce weak
  interruptions containing complete sentences. Among the commonest of
  these are although, though, even though, because, since , after,
  before, if, when and whenever.

Example from the site:

  Columbus is usually credited with discovering America, even though the
  Vikings had preceded him by several centuries.

The author says weak interruptions typically contain complete sentences. So I wonder if, according to this rule, you can use incomplete sentences as well. Example:

  She'd never let anyone hurt him, even if that meant sacrificing her
  life.

I wonder if by typically the author is implying that sometimes these interruptions are not complete sentences.


texts: In a passive tense when should I add 'being' in a combined statement?

texts:
Should I write like:

  I don't like his manner, it is like I owed him a billion and am required to pay him back.

or:

  I don't like his manner, it is like I owed him a billion and required to pay him back.

because I should "be required", I think the first one is more logical, but it sounds wired.

The second one sounds more nature but is it grammatically correct?


texts:
In the context of making a proposal to someone's request on a freelance site, what is the correct preposition to use with the verb bid?

Should I say,

  I am bidding to/on/(no preposition) your request.

Does it make sense to simply say,

  I am bidding you,

even if this phrasing is somewhat informal?


texts: Hundred or hundreds (for unit-less numbers)?

texts:
Which is correct?

The molecular weight of this substance ranges from

two hundred to two hundred and sixty.
two hundreds to two hundred and sixty.

I need to spell the numbers out for some reasons and I'm stuck.  Thank you for your help!


texts: "My son and I are..." or "My son and I am..."?

texts:
My son and I are your fans.
  My son and I am your fans.

Which is correct?


texts: Using the verb 'have' instead of the verb 'eat'

texts:
I used to think that the verb have can only be used when we talk about meals, which means  an occasion when people sit down to eat food, especially breakfast, lunch, or dinner. But I see native speakers say:

  I eat breakfast.

I mean they use the verb eat for a meal like breakfast or dinner. So my questions are:

Is this common to say "I am eating breakfast, lunch or dinner"  for a meal time?
Can we use the word have with the word eat interchangeably?

For example when somebody phoned us while we are eating something (at anytime) and asks

  What are you doing?

Can we also say:

  I having some pizza now. I'll call you back.


texts: Word choice between 'stem from' and 'ignite'

texts:
I am writing my Statement of Purpose, and could someone possibly answer my questions here?

  My strong passion for education stems from my experience with Jack
  Liu.

In this sentence, would the phrase "was ignited by" be better here?


texts:
These are electric cars that is cars that run on electricity.

or

  These are electric cars that are cars that run on electricity.

To clarify cars that run on electricity does not add any new information, it merely defines/clarifies what an electric car is.

Sorry if this is stupid I've actually never heard people use that are for definitions.


texts:
I saw this sentence in a book: "If we work together, we will make it possible for the society to provide us with more facilities." But I had read from a TOEFL structure book that I should avoid using an infinitive or an -ing form of a verb word after a person or thing in a causative with make. For example, "I made the machine work".

Here is my question. Do we always use a verb word after 'make'? Is the first sentence wrong?


texts: is it correct: a pencil with length of 5cm?

texts:
For example,

a pencil with length of 5cm
a harddisk with size of 100GB

something like that, is it correct?


texts: Review of "Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays"

texts:
Excerpted from thesmartset.com:

    On the first page of Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays, Northrop Frye irritably dismissed the “conception of the critic as a parasite or artist manqué … sometimes reinforced by a dubious analogy between the creative and procreative functions, so that we hear about the ‘impotence’ and ‘dryness’ of the critic, of his hatred for genuinely creative people, and so on.” As a critic himself, Frye might have been a bit touchy on the subject, but he had nothing to worry about on that score. It’s a rare novel that has anything like the “creativity” of Anatomy of Criticism. While few people care overmuch about the debates that roiled English departments in the years when Frye reigned at the University of Toronto (1939 to 1991), readers coming to Anatomy of Criticism for the first time might be surprised at what they find: a work of formidable scholarship, yes, but with a huge cast of characters (seemingly every writer who ever lived, from the tribal scribes of Mesopotamia to P. G. Wodehouse) moving in a dense network of interconnectedness in which every end is a new beginning, and genres as various as melodrama, farce, epic, satire, and romance live happily together on the same page. It’s rather like George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire saga, but with good prose.

What is the novel referred in bolded letters above? I think most reader of this article will not have priorior knowledge on Anatomy of Criricism, but I couldn't find any mentioned novel in this paragraph.


texts: Why can't we use "to" in "I saw something to approach me."?

texts:
I saw something to approach me.

I know that we wouldn't use to here, but I can't find an explanation as to why not.


texts: "Not all people HAVE/HAS pigments in their eyes"

texts:
Should I use "have" or "has" after the word "people"?

For example:

  "Not all people HAVE pigments in their eyes"

or

  "Not all people HAS pigments in their eyes

I'm asking it because "people" refers to a quantity, it says more than one person, at least two.


texts:
As you might expect, I did not take Mr Farraday's suggestion at all seriously that
  afternoon, regarding it as just another instance of an American gentleman's
  unfamiliarity with what was and what was not commonly done in England.

Can might here mean certainly? Or it has its usual sense, that is probably?


texts:
I find so many people saying

  You look hot!

I am a bit confused about this. What does this word stand for? I mean, is this a feeling? Or is this an expression? Or is this a look factor?

Can anybody please explain this?


texts:
Writing a mathematical text I came across a site that lists some common mistakes when writing scientific texts in English including the following:

  x fulfills property P
     x satisfies property P

I am now very confused since I read this (the “wrong” usage) quite a few times in various papers (and I can't remember a single one were the “correct” word is used). I also found this site stating

  The difference between satisfy and fulfill is that satisfy is to […] fulfill (wishes, requirements) […]

  fulfill: […] To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.).

which gives me headache explaining satisfy with fulfill and vice versa.

So what is the difference between satisfy and fulfill? In particular I want to know what to use when I want to express that a condition must be satisfied / fulfilled?

The specific examples where I want to use one of these words:

The angles satisfy / fulfill the condition…
The vectors satisfy / fulfill the inequalities…
This condition has to be satisfied / fulfilled for every vertex.

I don't think these are very different, but just in case. Thanks.


texts: "Night falls": why not continuous/progressive?

texts:
There is a series of "Nighty Night" videos for preschoolers about going to bed, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqRDEV6BnAU.

All of them begin with the sentence:

  Night falls.

I wonder why here Present Simple is used. Why not Present Continuous/Progressive?

Is the following sentence wrong at twilight?

  Night is falling.


texts:
Someone in a race passed another racer/runner.
"He got ahead of me."
"He got/went past me."
"He went ahead of me."
Do these work instead of "sped/ran past me", or simply "he passed me."


texts: You may/might/could need it in the future

texts:
Can I use "may," "might," and "could" in my first  sentence? Additional information is provided for context.

Yes, you may need English in the future. We don't know what's ahead of us in the future. If you spend a lot of time learning English you will learn it quickly. You may need it when you travel but it depends on where you go.


texts: A word for a light thud that a letter makes when dropped into the wooden mailbox

texts: What is the word for a light thud that a letter makes when dropped into a wooden mailbox?


texts:
Context example:

  Teaching simple massage methods to caregivers provides them with a
  means of meaningful and structured interaction with their loved one,
  in addition to a means of connecting with and supporting each other.

What does "with a means of" mean?
Is it a conjunction?


texts:
Which of the following is right in this context?

  Who is your favourite footballer and cricketer?

  Who are your favourite footballer and cricketer?


texts: Use of the singular/plural in "there is a multitude"

texts:
I understand that "multitude" expresses a collective noun. While writing the sentence:

There is a multitude of articles and blog posts written on the topic,

the Google doc spellcheck flagged that I should instead use "there are a multitude" which seems wrong to me, given the word "multitude" is singular. However, I am not a native English speaker and I know I've stumbled onto counterintuitive things in the past about this topic (e.g. "the police are"), so I'm asking for the wisdom of the crowd.


texts: What's the meaning of the phrase "narrative arc"?

texts:
The chapters that follow, trace a narrative arc through nine variations on the multiverse theme.

This is a sentence from a book about 9 different types of the parallel universes (multiverse). I'm wondering what is the meaning of the phrase "narrative arc" in here.


texts: “The hundred years” or "the one hundred years"?

texts:
The hundred years after Euler represented a period in which functions not satisfying his "official" constraints were frequently smuggled into mathematics through fudgy considerations involving infinite series expansions and the like. (Source: 1993, Steven J. Wagner, Richard Wagner, Naturalism: A Critical Appraisal (page 72))

I tried to find out which of "the hundred years" and "the one hundred years" is more common, but Google search results mostly contain "the Hundred Years' War". "War" taken out, it seems both terms are in use. Do they mean the same thing? Does the sentence read the same with "the one hundred years"?


texts:
I'm a little confused about the use of did and had in past tense -- recent past and distant past.

For example, If I want to ask a friend whether he applied for a job (today), I would simply ask "Did you apply for the job?"

Similarly, if I want to ask him whether he had applied for the job that day (a day in the past) -- without having to mention that day -- I'd probably say "Had you applied for the job [that day]?"

Is this second sentence correct? If not, please help with the sentence construction in this context.


texts: (Having been) employed at previous places, I now do this

texts:
Employed at previous places, I now do this.
  Having been employed at previous places, I now do this.

Do both mean exactly the same?


texts: Mismodeling or mis-modeling, how to connect prefix and word?

texts:
What method I should follow when combining prefix and word? I am especially interested in the word "mis-modeling/mismodeling". Some authors use the 1st form and some use the 2nd form.

I am aware of the closed question which refers to the related grammar. If I understand the text well, the form "mis-modeling" should be used (section 'Hyphens joining prefixes to other words'). However, the fact that I found both forms in proof-read articles confuses me. So I would like to ask:

Is there any preferred form or both forms are possible?
Is "mis-modeling/mismodeling" an English word at all?


texts:
As detailed in Section 5.15, “Additional Capabilities of the ApplicationContext”, ApplicationContext instances in Spring can be scoped. In the Web MVC framework, each DispatcherServlet has its own WebApplicationContext, which inherits all the beans already defined in the root WebApplicationContext

I can't figure out what the "scoped" mean in this sentence...does it mean range or extent?


texts: How can I say following sentences properly? ''He drinks water at once ''

texts: The meaning is, drinking water in one gulp.


texts: why is the present perfect used in this sentence?

texts:
This is from a novel:

  "We have walked along the beach and are now approaching the prom".

Why not use "we have been walking along the beach?"
 It is recent and it conveys duration, so to me the present perfect continuous seems a good choice.

I thought the present perfect simple is used in contexts like:
"We have walked along the beach many times" or "We have walked 5 miles along the beach."


texts:
What's the reason behind NOT using 'the' in these cases? I thought use of 'the' specifies the case about smth.

1) The number of THE CATS in my neighbourhood has increased.
(there is literally no hits with 'the cats' but only 'cats')

2) The number of THE survivors of the blast is mere 10.


texts:
In "The Dagger with Wings" by G. K. Chesterton, Dr. Boyne was talking to Father Brown after the priest said the murderer was trying to convince him to believe fake superstitions about the murder although he could have simply killed him and escaped.

“I wonder why he didn’t,” observed Boyne. “I don’t understand it; but I don’t understand anything yet. How on earth did you discover it, and what in the world did you discover?”

I can't understand how Boyne asked him about the way that he discovered "it" with, which implies that he know the thing that this "it" refer to, then asked him about this thing by what, as if he don't know it?!!

Does it mean what else?!


texts:
In Dictionary.com listed at number 14 is this definition of pin: Informal a human leg.

"Legs that go on forever: Kylie showed off her enviable pins in the dress, which she teamed with black heels"

Nowadays online newspapers keep referring to women's legs as pins (never men's). I would like to know which type of pins are women legs being compared to?

bobby pins
bowling pins
hairpins
push pins
rolling pins
safety pins (unlikely but who knows!)
sewing pins

And when did it start coming into fashion?


texts: What does "extra shiny" mean in this context?

texts:
The brass ring to reach for is extra shiny, as the long-term target
  environment will be dynamic, efficient and programmable.

I searched, and found out that brass ring is an expression for some kind of goal. Then, what does "extra shiny" mean? Does "The brass ring to reach for is extra shiny" mean that "the goal will be extra valuable"?

I couldn't find the source. It's been a long time that I read this line from a paper.


texts:
Suppose that I have a friend which I miss him very much and I am waiting for his call.

10 days later I see him in the university and I want to tell him that if he had known, how happy I would be by his calling, he would have called me(perhaps my sentence is grammatically wrong). so what is the sentence I should say?

is this correct?

If you had known how happy I would be, you would have called me.

and if it is correct why we use "you would have called me"?


texts: Should I use the past perfect "have thought", or the present "think" with "would"?

texts:
I don't know if you watch Champions League, which is a European soccer league. However, in the beginning of this season, no one expected that Juve, an Italian team, could reach the semi final, but Juve did. so I wrote this sentence

  No one would have thought that Juve could play the semi final for this year.

is it correct? or it should be

  No one would think that Juve could play the semi final for this year?


texts: Compound sentence takes both auxiliary verb and principal verb

texts:
He has not married and will not marry in near future.
She is intelligent but her sister dull.

Both are compound sentences. But in both cases the usage of verb is different.
Why we  have not used is in the second sentence after sister?


texts: If someone asks me: "is that clear enough?" can I answer "it is clearest" or it "Is the clearest"?

texts:
If someone ask me: "Is that clear enough?" (in meaning of "do you understand it clearly"?)

can I answer by choosing one of the both answers or should I use one of them?

  1) "It is clearest" (without a definite article)

or

  2) "It is the clearest" (with a definite article)

I saw some answers here on ELL and it's not clear enough for me for my specific case to conclude about an answer:

First related question that I saw on ELL.
Second related question that I saw on ELL


texts: The differences between "wanted" and "would want" and "would"

texts:
I'm a non-native speaker. In my mother tongue, we just have one verb to express "willing", so sometimes it's a puzzle to us Persians: What are the differences among "wanted" and "would want" and "would"?

For example, what are the differences among these sentences:

You wanted to do it.
You would want to do it. (I guess it's better to add some words at first of this sentence like "maybe")
You would do it.

Edit:

There is no problem to me about "want" and "would". my main problem is the difference between these two verb.

What do I know about "Wanted" and "would"?

To me "wanted" and "would" is completely like together and it expresses a willingness in past that is failed.


texts: What's the meaning of "Not unattractive but getting on"?

texts:
Not unattractive but getting on.

to get on means: get along to have a good relationship.1

Does it mean:

  she is attractive but she doesn't set along to have a good
  relationship?

The context of the phrase is:

  The writer herself is rather austere looking. Dark hair pulled back
  from her face in a tight ponytail. Strong bones. No-nonsense skirt and
  sweater, equally no-nonsense eyeglasses. She looks like she might make
  a competent nurse. The only flourish is a pretty scarf around her
  neck. Not unattractive but getting on. Maybe pushing forty. Lauren
  wonders idly about the book she’s writing.


texts:
When someone asks us: "What have you done?", how we should answer?
With present perfect? or we can use simple past?
For example" what have you done?" " I just opened the can" or 'I have just opened the can?'
I think the second one is correct, but some say that both of them are correct. if so, can you explain the reason?
I don't want to know only which one is correct, but I want to know the grammatical reason.
I am confused about the different tenses. The question is in present perfect tense but the answer is in the simple past tense? is that okay?the question and answer are correct? what's the explanation for this different tenses?


texts: Why in this trivial example the use of present perfect is possibly wrong while the use of past simple is ok?

texts:
I have an extremely stupid question about present perfect vs past simple. Imagine the following situation:

I want to take a shower, but the water is cold, so I want to postpone it then until the water gets warm. I then text right in that moment to someone saying "the water is cold, I'm going to wash myself later" or maybe I could text someone like 10 minutes later and saying "the water was cold so I couldn't take a shower". I'm using here both simple present or simple past (because it's natural to me).

Following this link however it sounds to me that if I said "the water has been cold" would be "correct" (but not natural actually). Am I right? If I'm wrong why am I wrong?


texts: Is it correct and natural to say "be at one's training " meaning to at a places where one's training takes place?

texts:
Could you tell me if it is correct and natural to say be at a training session meaning to at a places where one's training takes place? For example:

I can't talk at the moment because I'm at my training.

If it doesn't sound right, does any of the following sound more natural?

I can't talk at the moment because I'm in my training.
I can't talk at the moment because I'm at my training session.
I can't talk at the moment because I'm in my training session.


texts:
In a piece comparing two poets (Source), an author has a single paragraph that reads:

  For shame. (As in “because of shame.”) Which is a shame.

This is confusing – What does this writer mean by what he says in the parentheses, and by "which is a shame"?


texts: What's the meaning of "a remainder (viruses) that cannot ever be re-integrated into the subordinate moment of a higher level of life"?

texts:
... a remainder that cannot ever be re-integrated into the
  subordinate moment of a higher level of life.

I know the meanings of the words individually but I can not understand the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Could you please explain it to me?

The fuller text:

  Viruses are “any of various infectious agents, usually
  ultramicroscopic, that consist of nucleic acid, either RNA or DNA,
  within a case of protein: they infect animals, plants, and bacteria
  and reproduce only within living cells: viruses are considered as
  being non-living chemical units or sometimes as living organisms.”

  This oscillation between life and death is crucial: viruses are
  neither alive nor dead in the usual sense of these terms, they are a
  kind of living dead. A virus is alive in its drive to replicate, but
  it is a kind of zero-level life, a biological caricature not so much
  of death-drive as of life at its most stupid level of repetition and
  multiplication.

  However, viruses are not the elementary form of life
  out of which more complex developed; they are purely parasitic, they
  replicate themselves through infecting more developed organisms (when
  a virus infects us, humans, we simply serve as its copying machine).

  It is in this coincidence of the opposites—elementary and
  parasitic—that resides the mystery of viruses: they are a case of what
  Schelling called “der nie aufhebbare Rest”: a remainder of the lowest
  form of life that emerges as a product of malfunctioning of higher
  mechanisms of multiplication and continues to haunt (infect) them, a
  remainder that cannot ever be re-integrated into the subordinate
  moment of a higher level of life.

  From COVID-19 shakes the world by Slavoj Žižek


texts: Passive voice personal construction, when the main clause is in the Present Perfect

texts:
When the main clause is in the Present Perfect, while converting it from impersonal to personal structure, it becomes Present Simple.

Example:
It has been reported that they have found the missing documents.
The missing documents are reported to be found.

Why can't it remain Present Perfect?


texts: These clothes were expected ____ by people under twenty only

texts:
"These clothes were expected _______ by people under twenty only."

  a) to wear
  b) to be wearing
  c) to be worn
  d) to have worn

It sounds like somebody already wore the clothes.  So because of this can we say option d is right? or it is always b


texts: How to scan THREE items connected by "and"s?

texts:
I found a sentence in the Reader's Choice (5th Edition, by Sandra Silberstein, Barbara K. Dobson and Mark A. Clarke) that has three items connected by "and"s in it:

These efforts can assure the survival of wildlife that otherwise would not continue to exist. I also may be that tourism can help strengthen local cultures by encouraging awareness of traditions and ceremonies. Historic building thrive on tourism. These cultural locations enjoy great success with the money and attention and respect brought by tourism.

Which one, in the following, is a better or (more) correct way to parse the relationship of the three things and why?
A. "with the (money and attention and respect) brought by tourism"
B. "with {the money and (attention and respect)} brought by tourism"
C. "with {(the money and attention) and respect} brought by tourism"
D. "enjoy {(great success with the money) and (attention and respect)} brought by tourism"
E. OR any other syntax scan.
Grammatically, 'X & Y & Z' should be "X, Y, and Z'.
However, the definition of "and" as a conjunction from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary is:

When "and" is used in common phrases connecting two things or people that are closely linked, the determiner is not usually repeated before the second.

But this sentence has "THREE" things.
What do you think about that?


texts: Which version is correct: "I didn't know" or "I didn't knew"?

texts:
Is it right to use this word when referring to the past:

  I didn't knew he was the antecedent of my problem.


texts: Family-relative teacher? (Correct wording)

texts:
Let's say you are a teacher who is a family member at the same to one of your students (such as uncle-niece) Your opinion is that sometimes, it's a bit awkward. You say:

  Being a family-relative teacher can cause uneasiness, because your approach becomes different from what you normally would as a non-family relative teacher.

I'm not only describing the bold letters using the adjective-noun combination to avoid verbosity, but also in an advanced way to express it. However I'm not sure if those (bold letters) are grammatical/correct description, cause I've just combined them, which I've never heard of in my entire life.


texts:
wall street journal

  In many ways, the jury is still out on the bail changes. The court system doesn’t yet have data showing if there are racial disparities as to who goes to jail and who is freed.

As I know that yet is mostly used with present perfect to give the meaning “up to the moment of speaking” but why has been, here, used with present tense?


texts: Dilemma of "forbade me to use" and "forbade me using"

texts:
Consider the sentence:

  "My teacher forbade me to use mobile phone in the class."

Is it right to rewrite the sentence as:

  "My teacher forbade me using mobile phone in the class." ?

Please highlight the differences of the usages of "forbade me to use"  and "forbade me  using" with some examples.


texts:
Me Before You

  ‘How is he in himself? Have you …  have you come up with any other
  ideas?

One paralyzed man wanted to commit suicide. This girl (man's nursing assistant) told that to the guy's mother. His mother asked this question.

What does "How is he in himself?" means?


texts:
Can I use "before" with past simple? Or "earlier" is better?

Wear this shirt. This one is better.
I told you it is okay. I wore it before/earlier. (meaning a moment ago)


texts: Why in this sentence has an article "the"?

texts:
Sentence:
"You've got to the count of five to let me out of here." (it's from futurama first episode.).
Why in this sentence is definite-article?
Is "count" a noun in this sentence?


texts: I don't know if the sentence 'Is it ok if I give this to you?' is correct

texts:
My friend asked me to download the song "What can I do."
So I did. I didn't get the studio album version, but the "live" version.

I asked him:

  "Is it ok if I give the music for the live version to you?"

Is this sentence correct?

I don't know well..


texts: You're never gonna take me there is it idiom or not

texts:
I was listening an English song. And I confused about that part of the song.
You make me so upset sometimes
I feel like I could lose my mind
The conversation goes nowhere
'Cause you're never gonna take me there

At the end of this part of song she says "'Cause you're never gonna take me there". What I understand is like "You are not gonna allow me to tend this conversation toward where I want."
And I looked the translation of this verse in my native language. One of the translators translated like "You are not allowing me to speak" other translator is translated "You are not gonna understand me".
When I search at Cambridge Dictionary it says taking someone to somewhere physically, but I don't think she meant that. Am I wrong at my assumption. Is that a idiom or something like that.


texts: Usage of progressive tense in "I'm making you all personally responsible for his deliverance"

texts:
[Farell uncuffs Cage's hands and turns to the squad]

  Sgt Farell: Private Cage is a deserter, I'm making you all
  personally responsible for his deliverance. He will be combat ready at
  06:00 tomorrow.

  Cage: Combat ready?

  Sgt Farell: Private Cage is under the delusion that he
  does not belong here, we must dissuade him of this delusion. If he
  tries to run, feel free dissuade him until he can't piss standing up.

  Cage: You have to listen to me, I will never be combat ready!

  [suddenly Farell punches Cage in the stomach]

  Sgt Farell: I envy you, Cage. Tomorrow morning you will be
  baptized, born again.

  [Farell turns and starts to walk off]

  Sgt Farell: PT, ten minutes!

  [as Farell leaves the rest of squad look at Cage with distrust]

This conversation is taken from the movie Edge of Tomorrow.

As I recall, lots of performative verbs like advise, permit, promise, warn, etc. are used with present simple rather than the present continuous to perform a speech act.

In this context, could Farell say "I make you all personally responsible for his deliverance" instead? Any nuances suggested?


texts:
He said,"I am going to New York tomorrow." Into indirect speech.
How do I do this question? Should I change 'am going' to 'was going' or to 'would be going'


texts:
I am looking for a word.

When we want to say that

  The new technology will recieve/has recieved a nice welcome from the
  industrial companies.

what is a better word instead "nice welcome"


texts:
Can we use a word "burst" as an adjective? if not, which word can we use instead of this word?

For example is it correct to say:

  I had a "burst'(adj) pipe in my room.


texts:
I just read a sentence:

  Three things in life that, once lost, hard to build up.

Can I rewrite it as:

  Three things in life that are once lost hard to build up.

Is my sentence correct?

What are the functions of commas?


texts: Usage of the word "don't" + "Substitute"

texts:
"It's important to support business, but meal deal vouchers don't substitute for effective public health messaging and measures"
The above excerpt is from a political advert and was ridiculed for its poor grammar and structure today on Twitter. In particular, the use of "don't". Is anyone able to explain exactly why this is inappropriate?
My English isn't perfect and I've been trying to figure out why this is not correct.
EDIT - Here is the tweet
https://twitter.com/MattChorley/status/1280843436657172481


texts: (English is not my native language.) Is the sentence 'only then did she realised the sun was setting.' correct? Or should I write 'only then did she realise the sun was setting.'? Is 'did' even correct at all in this sentence?


texts: What does BL mean, which a farmer can refer to other farmer?

texts:
He argues that David should give up dairy; perhaps he could turn to BL?
  (lowfield.co.uk)

What does this abbreviation mean, which a farmer (Brian) says to the other (Daivd) farmer? The word is voiced at 3’40” in its BBC's audio of 2014-10-24 Friday.


texts: Short universal single expression for saying a kind of congratulations

texts:
My friend tells me that their physics teacher is such a good man, he's always so thoughtful of them to learn the lesson and answers all their questions patiently and as simply as possible, while our physics teacher is sort of a grumpy woman(!) and she always talks down to us so we can't ask anything comfortably.

Now, what can I tell her to show my envy of her situation (obviously this is not a jelousy case), and at the same time my good feelings for her situation? I could say:

  "I wish I had your teacher"

...but there are no happy feelings in that. In my own language we have a universal single expression for such moments, that means "I wish I were instead of you and i'm sooo happy for you". What is the equivalent in English?

Does "good for you" work here?  I don't think so because she's done nothing to "gain" that teacher, it's just happened to her by chance.
Good for you is kind of a praise, However, my case is rather sort of a congratulation to her for her good fortune.


texts:
This post gives nice explanation about "We are all" vs. "We all are":

  Both are grammatical, but the first is more usual. We are all is much more frequent than we all are in both the Corpus of Contemporary American English and in the British National Corpus. There are, however, some contexts where we all are would be used.

and gives this easy to understand example.

  The answer to the question Who is responsible? might be We all are, and not We are all.

Could someone give more examples where "We all are" is suitable, since "We are all" is the default option?


texts:
In the dictionaries:

cumbersome (adj): 2 heavy and difficult to move
a large cumbersome
machine

clumsy (adj): 2 a clumsy object is not easy to use and is often large and heavy

What is the difference between "a clumsy bag" and "a cumbersome bag"?


texts: "Do you know what IS IT?" vs "Do you know what IT IS?"

texts:
What is the right way to embed one question inside another?

For example:

  "Do you know what is it?"
  "Do you know what it is?"

Are they both grammatical? If one of them isn't, then why is it ungrammatical?

I can say the question "What is it?", so I assume I can also say the question "Do you know what is it?" Can't I?


texts: What's the meaning of bee in hand and beauty in eye?

texts:
I've seen this riddle.

  I have a bee in my hand. What's in my eye?

Apparently, the answer is beauty but I don't get it. What's the play on words here?


texts: It seems that using **even** sounds more idiomatic and natural in lots of situations, is it true?

texts:
Consider these 2 sentences

  Alice's cooking is so bad that her dog doesn't want to eat it.

  Alice's cooking is so bad that
  even her dog doesn't want to eat it.

The latter sounds more idiomatic and natural, right?

It seems that using even sounds more idiomatic and natural in lots of situations, is it true?


texts:
can please somebody tell me if I should use the article "a" in this sentence?

It is an expression that has different meaning than ...

It is an expression that has "A" different meaning than ...


texts: Converting "Give my best to Alex" into indirect speech

texts:
Suppose somebody told me: "Give my best to Alex".

How do I convey this to Alex (i.e., transform into indirect speech)? I think something like "Sue gave her best to you" would be okay, but when I search "gave her best to you" (with quotes), Google shows only 5 results, which makes me think this may be not the most natural way to express what I need.


texts:
She was holding a green beans bag and accidentally dropped it.

The beans were all over the floor.

My son saw it and told me,

  "She spilled the green beans."

I always saw this word use for water, milk and soup.

Could it be use for green bean?


texts: "Veins bulging purply from their foreheads" meaning

texts:
I was reading Historical Linguistics by Larry Trask Revised by Robert McColl (Chapter I, The fact of language change - Topic: Attitudes to language change) and came across an unfamiliar phrase:

Veins bulging purply from their foreheads

I've never heard it and searching it on Google didn't help.
Here's the paragraph:

This curious (to us) construction was the only possibility in the eighteenth century, and
when a few innovating speakers began to say things like My house is being painted, the
linguistic conservatives of the day could not contain their fury. Veins bulging purply from
their foreheads, they attacked the new construction as ‘clumsy’, ‘illogical’, ‘confusing’ and
‘monstrous’. But their efforts were in vain. Today all those who objected to the ‘illogical’
and ‘monstrous’ new form are long dead and the traditional form they defended with such
passion is dead with them.

Trask was talking about old grammatical constructions that are no longer in use. But the emboldened phrase wasn't one of those constructions. Does anyone know what it means?


texts:
I want to talk about changing schools someday and I want to ask which phrase is the commonest.

change schools
transfer to another school
go to another school
move to another school

If anything else is common, I'm glad to hear it.

I will use it when I'm talking to my friend. What is the proper use when you say like "by the way, maybe I'm gonna go to another school."


texts:
Why do some people pronounce "idea" like "idier"?
Sometimes they do the same thing with some other words too.


texts:
Some examples of use of emphatic "do":

"Now, I don't speak Chinese, but I do speak a little Polish, a little Korean, and a few words in half a dozen other languages. This comes from my living in New York City where I encountered people from every nationality on a regular basis," (Vickers 2011).
"I know it doesn't look like it, but I really do work hard around here. It's just that I'm so disorganized that I never finish anything I start," (Rubin 1992).
"'Do be quiet, Larry!' she said impatiently. 'Don't you hear me talking to Daddy?'" (O'Connor 2009).

My question:
Does it work with "have/has been"? Here are two versions of my text:

Source blocks without a language attribute should never be used unless a global language has been defined. If a global language has been defined, the source attribute can be omitted; however, it’s better to be explicit.
Source blocks without a language attribute should never be used unless a global language has been defined. If a global language has been do defined, the source attribute can be omitted; however, it’s better to be explicit.

The second version seems to have the required emphasis, but I'm not sure it's grammatical.


texts:
Consider this sentence, please:

She has provided five witness statements to the court in total, detailing acts of physical, mental violence etc.

Can I write 1) as two separate sentences?

She has provided five witness statements to the court in total. These statements detail acts of physical, mental violence etc.


texts: Using "lesser" or "smaller" in reference to an abstract quality

texts:
In Italian "piccolo" (small) has two comparative forms: "più piccolo" and "minore". While "più piccolo" can be used to refer either to physical size or age difference, "minore" generally refers to age difference or to an abstract quality, rather than physical size.
So, Italians can correctly say:

Our room is "più piccola" than yours.

The incident is of "minore" importance.

It is clear to me that in "1" case the correct English word to replace "più piccola" is "smaller", but I'm not sure whether in "2" case one should replace "minore" with "smaller" or with "lesser", or if both are correct.
Can anybody explain if there exist a parallelism between Italian and English in the sense above and if "smaller" and "lesser" are both correct in "2" case?


texts:
I'm curious about knowing the reason why we say "I do" after "Yes" while answering a "do question".

Let's look at the following example:

  Question: Do you speak English?

  Answer 1: Yes  Answer 2: Yes, I do Answer 3: Yes, I speak

The answer 1 is clear, nothing to ask about it. It's the same for answer 3.
But in the answer 2, why do we add "I do". What is the reason for doing so?
What's the meaning of "I do". I wonder if "Yes, I do" expresses "Yes, I speak".

Could you please clarify that for me?


texts: What difference does it make with or without not?

texts:
Look at this sentence:

  He is just acting like a clown, but if you think about his personality, which is usually more staid, you wonder if this clownish behavior might not be camouflage.

Why is it "might not be" and not "might be"?

Why is not here? What difference does it make?


texts: Is “I play soccer, but I’m not playing right now" grammatically correct?

texts:
I play soccer, but I’m not playing right now.

Does the sentence make sense?


texts: Does "I am well, thank you. And you?" expect an answer?

texts:
Suppose that somebody greets you, and asks "How are you?" You answer with "I am well, thank you. And you?" Should an answer be expected?

I know that who answers could say "I am well too." even if it is not true, but would not answering be understood negatively?

If it would happen to me, and I don't hear any answer to my "I am well, thank you. And you?" I would think I have not spoken loudly enough to be understood, and I would probably repeat what I said.


texts: Conditionals "when talking about possible events in present"

texts:
Conditionals always make me confused. My question is that when I want to build a sentence relating to possible events in the present time. Which conditional form should I use?

For example, I am wondering about my friend's opinion regarding something(quite likely) that he would see right now and his response to that thing.

  1-If you see X, what will you do? (First conditional)

  2-If you saw X, what would you do? (Second conditional)

  3-If you see X, what would you do? (Mixed conditional) (I would
  choose this one)


texts:
From NPR:

  Remember the child, in some ways, identifies with both of those parents so if the mother is really asking the child to be her sounding board, she robs that child from the ability to feel good about his connection with the father.

What's the meaning of robs that child from the ability to feel good about his connection with the father? I know that rob has two usages:

rob something from somebody.
rob somebody of something.

But it seems that *the ability to feel good about his connection with the father is belonging to "something", so is it more appropriate to modify the word "from" to "of"? just as follows:

  robs that child of the ability to feel good about his connection with the father

Which usage is correct? Thanks.


texts: How can I say correctly ( I have been trying to call you since Sunday, but there has no answer ) or is it (there was no answer)?

texts:
How can I say correctly  ( I have been trying to call you since Sunday, but there has no answer )
or is it (there was no answer)//(there is no answer)?
Thank you ...


texts: How to use the word "range" in a sentence?

texts:
I am not sure about the correct usage of "range"

Should I say:

1) Usually a PCB dissipates power with a range of 5 watt to 30 watt.

2) Usually a PCB dissipates power ranges from 5 watt to 30 watt.

3) Usually a PCB dissipates power ranges between 5 watt to 30 watt.

cordially, let me know which sentence is correct and why.


texts:
Does the connection of 'in my opinion' and ' it seems' make sense? Here is an example:

In my opinion it seems that the aforementioned process is effective only on a laboratory scale.

What do you think?


texts: I was reading a book from Dale Carneige named "The Art Of Public Speaking"(Originally published: 1915). I encountered that word "annals" is that exactly same with "annuals" or are there tiny differences?


texts:
I am wondering if there is a word for a product that does not meet the expected quality. Something like a 'below average product', but that does not feel correct so I was hoping for a better word.

In this specific case it is about a refurbished product, which is sold for a lower price than the regular product. So it is the same product (it is even tested to comply with standards), which could retail for a slightly lower price.

In context it could be something like this:

  People assumed that the refurbished product was of ___ quality.

What would be a word for a product that is below the expected level of quality?


texts:
He connects the LED driver to the input power lead.

It's about making LED light. I searched google about that part
but nothing found..
Is it powersupply or input jack?


texts:
A post says

  Bureaucratese is an informal term for obscure speech or writing that is typically characterized by verbosity, euphemisms, jargon, and buzzwords. Also known as officialese, corporate-speak, and government-speak. Contrast with plain English.

as per another post, "Jargon" is the opposite of "Plain English"

Cambridge Dictionary gives this definition of "jargon"

  special words and phrases that are used by particular groups of people, especially in their work

In the field of medical, people would use the phrase "ophthalmic diseases" to refer to "eye diseases".

Is my understanding (the following) correct?

  "ophthalmic diseases" is some kind of Jargon, while "eye diseases" is a kind of Plain English.


texts: Have the newspapers started using Informal Language?

texts:
Using formal language doesn't mean that you have to sound stilted and boring. You can still sound lively and engaging by using words imaginatively but choosing carefully to avoid slang and incorrect grammar. News reports use formal language, but the words are rich and stimulating to keep the audience interested. BBC Bitesize

  ... Editorial policies dictate the use of adjectives, euphemisms, and idioms. Newspapers with an international audience, for example, tend to use a more formal style of writing. Wikipedia

  Formal English is used in “serious” texts and situations — for example, in official documents, books, news reports, articles, business letters or official speeches ... antimoon

Despite the above, I noticed news websites are using some Informal English words and style within their article content.

Examples:

  ... But now she's decided to go a step ... BBC

  ... They laid into the Senate committee with a vigor that Brennan ... The Guardian

  The 7.8-magnitude quake, which struck Saturday night ... CNN

So, my question: Have the informal words (and style) that are being used by newspapers become more formal in modern language? Or have the newspapers started using informal language in their content?


texts: why the verb of this sentence has a third person "s"? It must be "increase"

texts: "As people live longer into their old age, the chances of them suffering from serious illnesses increases." I came across this sentence in Mindset 3 as a sample for writing. Is it correct? "increases"


texts: What's the difference between "despise" and "scorn" as verbs?


texts: Why does Register become Registration (no e)?

texts: Why does the English word Register become Registration, with the second 'e' being removed?


texts: What is wrong with "I had a cup of tea for breakfast because I had been running out of coffee."?

texts:
So I was doing some test in past tenses and I had the headline sentence to fill in so I decided it to be the past perfect continuous tense because why not? It also satisfies the past perfect continuous conditions.

However, it corrected me for "I had a cup of tea for breakfast because I had run out of coffee."

Why is this so? For me it just seems a matter of context, not grammatics


texts:
"You're under-age!" Mrs Weasley shouted at here daughter as Harry approached. "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"

  "I won't!"

  Ginny's hair flew as she pulled her arm out of her mother's grip.

  "I'm in Dumbledore's Army -"

  "- a teenagers' gang!" [I supposed it's been said by George]

  "A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" said Fred.

  "She's sixteen!" shouted Mrs Weasley. "She's not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you -"

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

In this scene, Mrs Weasley didn't permit Ginny to fight against Voldemort. I don't understand what Fred was saying: "A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!". Is 'him' referring to Voldemort? But Voldemort has not been mentioned in the near context.


texts:
Is there some difference in these phrases or not?

tasty dishes

vs

delicious meals

Maybe "delicious meals" are more tasty than "tasty dishes"?
Are "Dishes" and "meals" absolutely interchangeable in this context?


texts: What word is used when I have to say "I ________ the page in two parts"?

texts:
Two words I know are: "split" and "tear". But I want to know the correct word for the following sentences.

Which one should I use in, for example:

  I _______ a page from my notebook.

or

  I ________ the envelope to get the letter from it.


texts: Another usage of "from which" in this case?

texts:
...or like our young student, they have what is called a mental
  calendar from which they can pull details about almost any date.

(The source: https://youtu.be/43JDG0E5k4U?t=212)

Could the "from which" be separated and used like this,

  ...or like our young student, they have what is called a mental
  calendar which they can pull details from about almost any
  date.

?

If it could, does the whole sentence sound as good as the original sentence? How could we tell if a [preposition + which] is separable? Does it depend on the particular preposition?


texts:
Mom: "I've already spent all my money on your bedroom. I'm broke."
Boy: "Uh, you're broke. Poor Frankie. What, What did you break?"
Mom: "No, I haven't broken anything. Broke means I haven't got any money."
Boy: "Well, I'm not broke. I've got lots of money."
Mom: "So it sounds, good for you."

What does "So it sounds" mean?


texts:
I often get confused with this phrase "Get It Done" . I searched a lot on the internet about this. But where does it actually use ?

Word "Get" is also used when you arrange for another person to do some work. eg.
"I ll get my hair cut" (Means i ll arrange for barber to cut my hairs)

But i am confused with the following part-

But i have heard my manager saying this word 100 times, We ll get it done. He simply mean we will do it. so can get it done replace the word do it ? if yes when do we have this replacement ?


texts: How should similes be treated/considered grammatically? Should they be preceded by a comma?

texts:
Should similes, when it comes to grammar, be treated/considered as subordinating conjunctions of comparison (e.g. just as, though, etc.)? And therefore, they shouldn't be preceded by a comma (unlike coordinating conjunctions when they introduce an independent clause)?

Examples:

  They played energetically like a pup.

  He worked on the math problem until night like an obsessed person.

  She goes to sleep after the sun goes down as if she were a nocturnal
  animal.

Or maybe similes should be preceded by a comma when there's an adverb or adverbial clause in front of them?


texts: in the sentence below should i use of/ for ? Please explain places where one can use of and where one can use for

texts:
The international monetary fund maintened its forecast 'of/ for' weak global growth???
According to me it should be 'of' as the news of weak global growth makes up the forecast and hence is a part of the forecast.


texts: What is the difference between "cry" and "burst into tears"

texts:
"I burst into tears every time I see my late Mother's picture."

"I cry a lot every time I see my late Mother's picture."

What is the difference between those two sentences?


texts: "are not prepared" or "haven't prepared"

texts:
You are not prepared for the exam.

  You haven't prepared for the exam.

Which one is the right one?  Can someone explain in detail the differences if there are?


texts:
I wanted to thank someone who has helped me a lot, and I wanted to say that I hoped I could at some point "give back some of the good you've given me". But this doesn't sound correct. Is it ever grammatical to "give good" to someone? (here's an ngram for "the good you have given")
I know someone can do good to someone else though, so would the above sentence be correct if I said instead "give back some of the good you've done to me"? It still sounds odd to my ears. How could I express this in proper English?
Related: Difference between "do good to" "do good for" and "do good by"


texts: Any differences between my battery is dead and my battery runs out

texts:
I was talking to Jane on my mobile phone. When she was going to tell me something important, our conversation suddenly cut off.
My mobile phone was reaching the critical level. It was around 10% full.
Some time later I phoned to Jane. I told her, "My battery was dead."
She was laughing with "What!What! What... Your battery's dead..."
Her reaction made me think if I should have told her, "my battery ran out."
I am not sure whether there are any differences between my battery is dead and my battery runs out.


texts: barely anything/barely nothing/almost nothing

texts:
We thought and she broke up with me.

What happened?

Barely anything/Barely nothing/Almost nothing, but she gets hysterical easily. We're back together tomorrow.

What is most natural in this context? (it doesn't have to be one of my suggestions)


texts:
Today while watching TV, I came across this sentence,

  Don't waste this summer watching TV.

The sentence seemed weird to me because in English grammar if you want to use progressive tense then you should use by, for, before, after etc.  One more example:

  Puppy fell asleep sucking his thumb.

Shouldn't that sentence have been like this:

  Don't waste this summer by watching TV.

And the second one

  Puppy fell asleep while sucking his thumb.

But I am only new to English grammar. So if I am wrong, please elaborate.


texts:
Excerpted from chronicle.com

  On the contrary, coherence work of the moral kind pushes in the direction of less influence by those unthinking processes and the presumptions they spawn—all variations on "me and my kind are worth more than you and your kind."

What does "pushes in the direction of" mean?


texts:
If you don't understand a person's language, you should try to pick up on the information on their face.

This sentence seems a bit awkward to me. Though to pick up on something can mean to notice something that is not very obvious, I'd probably say "you should try to read their face." Is "pick up on the information on their face" OK to you?


texts: Is "If I die one day, at least I lived." grammatical?

texts:
Is “If I die one day, at least I lived.” grammatical?
I am not sure if it's correct or should I use "I have lived"?


texts: What is the difference between "thanks" and "thank you"?

texts: Is it about the person's age or the extent of my knowledge of the person?


texts: How common is it to use "D-Day" to refer to an important day in the future?

texts:
In French, we use "D-Day" (Jour J) for any major coming event, a wedding for instance.

But when I look for "D-Day", I mostly find results on the Normandy landings, or military usage in general.

The Cambridge dictionary states "D-Day" can be used for a day when something important will happen, and Collins Dictionary seems to say that this usage is valid only in British English.

How common is it in English to use "D-Day" as a reference to an important coming day? Can I say:

  The preparations will be complete for the D-Day.

Or:

  The elections are coming soon. We are ready to vote on the D-Day.


texts:
From a lesson named (WOULD as a past tense), I quote the following:

[You cannot use WOULD for a past state or things that lasted a long time.
"I USED TO smoke" that's correct, but you cannot say "I WOULD smoke"].
(end of quotation)

My question is: (smoke) is an action verb (not stative) refers to a past habit; why it can't be used with "WOULD" as stated above in the example given.

Thanks in advance.


texts:
yet: somebody/something has yet to do something formal used to say that someone has not done something, or that something has not happened
  when you think it should already have been done or have happened: I
  have yet to hear Ray's version of what happened. (Longman’s)

  yet: The team has not yet won a game. = The team has not won a game yet. = The team has yet to win a game. (Merriam-Webster’s)

I understand what meaning the structure above has. But I’m wondering if the last sentence, The team has yet to win a game, could be interpreted as another meaning. Let’s suppose a soccer team that has won a game in a qualifying round, and it now has to win at least one more game to advance to the second round. In the case, can we say this sentence: “The team has yet to win a game”?


texts: Idiom to indicate accepting culpability for an action

texts: Is there any idiom which resembles similar meaning to as you make your bed so you must lie in it (one must accept the bad results of his action)


texts: Is my interpretation of this paragraph from a horror short story by Arthur C. Doyle right?

texts:
I'm reading Arthur Conan Doyle's LOT NO. 249, and I'm having some troubles understanding the first paragraph.

  Of the dealings of Edward Bellingham with William Monkhouse Lee, and of the cause of the great terror of Abercrombie Smith, it may be that no absolute and final judgment will ever be delivered.

Let A stand for "the dealings of Edward Bellingham with
William Monkhouse Lee".
Let B stand for "the cause of the great terror of Abercrombie Smith".

And maybe, we can rewrite it as:

  It may be that no absolute and final judgment will ever be delivered of A and B.
  = It may be impossible to make an absolute and final judgement on matters A and B.

which may mean that it's hard to really understand or form a definite opinion on matters A and B?

  It is true that we have the full and clear narrative of Smith himself, and such corroboration as he could look for from Thomas Styles the servant, from the Reverend Plumptree Peterson, Fellow of Old's, and from such other people as chanced to gain some passing glance at this or that incident in a singular chain of events.

Does it mean

  The story will narrate Smith's perspective which is full and clear. The story also has evidence from the servant, from one fellow of Old's, and from other such people who might have had witnessed some incidents part of a big happening (consisting of many events).

  Yet, in the main, the story must rest upon Smith alone, and the most will think that it is more likely that one brain, however outwardly sane, has some subtle warp in its texture, some strange flaw in its workings, than that the path of Nature has been overstepped in open day in so famed a centre of learning and light as the University of Oxford.

This sentence is the really confusing one. I vaguely understand the first part of this sentence. As for that "path of Nature [...]" clause, I really have no idea.

  But, in the main story/narrative, the focus must be Smith's experiences/perspective. Most can reasonably argue that one brain no matter how sane it seems from the outside is likely to have slight distortions—and thus one person's narrative is questionable, something experienced and agreed on simultaneously by multiple people has more credibility. And even someone from so famous a institute as Oxford may have a flawed .... brain???

  Yet when we think how narrow and how devious this path of Nature is, how dimly we can trace it, for all our lamps of science, and how from the darkness which girds it round great and terrible possibilities loom ever shadowly upwards, it is a bold and confident man who will put a limit to the strange by-paths into which the human spirit may wander.

Clueless on this one.

Is my interpretation of this paragraph right? What exactly do these sentences mean? Could you break them down or simplify them?


texts: Is the antonym of "questioner" - "answerer"?

texts:
What is the opposite (antonym) of "questioner"?  I mean if the one who asks is called questioner, then it makes sense that the one who answers is called "answerer", but the issue that Google chrome marks it as a spelling mistake. In addition, Cambridge dictionary doesn't show such word in it.

Nevertheless I found such words on Google and Oxford dictionary, but it caused me to think about it, maybe it is a new word or maybe it's not acceptable widely or it is a matter of American versus British English. So in what word I should to use if not in "answerer" for example in the following context:

  Questioner: How are you.

  Answerer(?): I am OK. Thank you.

Here is the picture of Google Chrome while marking this word as a spelling mistake:


texts:
What is the most beautiful place you have ever seen?
What is the most beautiful place you ever saw?

Is any of the questions grammatically wrong?
If not there is any semantic difference between them?


texts: does phrase “keep something from sb.” has some hidden information？

texts:
"The Farewell," which features as predominantly Asian cast, tells the
  story of a young woman named Billi (Awkwafina) whose family decides to
  keep news of a terminal diagnosis from the family's elder matriarch,
  Billi's grandmother Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao).

Awkwafina makes Golden Globes history

I am doing some reading practice. But i was confused by this sentence.

  " keep news of a terminal diagnosis from the family's elder matriarch"

I know the phrase means don't tell sb. something.
The problem is don't tell grandmother what?
whose terminal diagnosis? Billi or Grandmother?

The answer tell me is Gradmother's terminal diagnosis. But why?

Am i missing some important information?


texts:
What did he do that was so wrong?

Why don't you say that without 'that'? I asked this somewhere else a few months ago, and got an wonderful answer. I thought that was reasonable enough. The answer said that you always need a subject for every verb, and if you take away the 'that', then the sentence would lack the subject for 'was'.

But see this example below.

  Who do you think work the most?

Here, doesn't 'who' work as the subject for 'work' properly? Why do natives say this without 'that' when you say the very first sentence always with 'that'?


texts:
Please suppose a girl that has a compassionate friend who is older that she! The friend knows the girl well! Due to some problems the friend feels that her friend is getting emotionally very dependenat on her boyfriend! The friend is talking to the boyfriend now and she is giving some advices to him about the girl!

  She is very sensitive; so treat her gently! Please remember that she is a super emotional girl, so be very considerate and don't depend her on yourself.
  She is very sensitive; so treat her gently! Please remember that she is a super emotional girl, so be very considerate and don't depend her so much!

My question is that do the bold parts above sound natural and idiomatic?  I'm asking this question because when I was surfing on the Internet I couln't find any hit about it!


texts: What is "of all" supposed to imply here?

texts:
I had just started studying "Hamlet" when I came across this verse:

  Last night of all,
  When yond same star that’s westward from the pole.....

Most of the online interpretation- providing sources(like Litcharts and spark notes) imply that the "of all" is redundant since they just interpret the first verse to mean only "last night". The meaning of "of all" in modern English doesn't seem to fit here. But I'm still curious whether it is of any significance (such as laying emphasis) in that verse or not.


texts: Present simple and Past simple: exported or exports?

texts:
I have a question that makes me confused for a long time.
In the speaking test at school, I said: "India exported the most rice in the world". Then, my teacher said I should use: "India exports the most rice in the world", instead.
But I used past simple just because I think this country used to export the most rice but now it didn't.
Please explain to me! I'm sometimes really confused with the present simple.
Thank you in advance!!!


texts:
If a specific name is connected to the possessive form is it restrictive and therefore leave out the comma? In the sense the information before the last noun at the end of the sentence modifies/acts as adjective, it in these contexts.

Star Wars will be remembered for the then groundbreaking special effects, and George Lucas' villainous creation Darth Vader.

The Harry Potter series is memorable for the chemistry between the three leads, and actor Ralph Fiennes' evil character Lord Voldemort.

Unlike: He liked Mary Shelley's most iconic creation, Frankenstein.
The good natured veneer of Dr Jekyll masked his evil character, Mr Hyde
If so what context would they appear non-restrictive form?


texts: What do you call neither spicy nor sweet food?

texts: What do you call food without a lot of pepper or salt or spices? How is the taste of ordinary food called?


texts: "He had a book stolen from him three times."

texts:
a. Three times he had books stolen from him.

b. He had books stolen from him on three occasions.

Could those sentences be used if each time one book was stolen from him?

=============================

c. He had a book stolen from him three times.

Is that one correct? Obviously, each time a different book was stolen from him.


texts:
Is the following expression grammatically correct ? If so, does it sound natural ?

  I've corrected it, just after I've seen it.

Thanks .

Update :

Here is the scenario :

My friend has sent me an email with a text to correct . So, I have checked the text out after a while from the reception time.


texts:
Please take a look at the following example:

  Let's see if we can't get there before they get back.

I'm pretty sure the sentence is grammatical and its semantic is quite similar to:

  Let's see if we can get there before they get back.

But then what's the point of using the first version?

In my language the situation is similar and we use it as the speaker is giving the sentence extra emphasis by using the negative form.

Consequently, by checking if the opposite of one thing is impossible then the thing we want to do must be possible.

What about in English? Please let me know your thoughts on this.


texts:
Is in responses to a correct usage? I use in response to when the amount of subjects is one and in responses to when the amount of subjects is more than one. For example:

  In response to A, B does...
  In responses to A, B and C do...

Or should it be:

  In response to A, B does one thing.
  In responses to A, B does two things.

Which usage is correct?


texts:
In AmE, you only use the proposition 'on' with nouns that refer to groups of people ('team', 'board', 'commission', etc). Am I right?

Can I use 'in' without sounding like a weirdo or, at least, a foreigner (for the purposes of this question, we put the accent aside)? Is it mandatory or just an option? If for some reason you need an example sentence, here it is:

  Mr. Smith is on the team/board/commission.


texts:
In my recent English examination, I read this sentence:

  His time spending in the countryside for him writing is enjoyable .

But my teacher said that it was wrong and the answer is :

  His time spent in the countryside  for him to write is enjoyable.

Would you clearly explain this to me?


texts: Should I use "has" or "does" in a comparison of possessions?

texts:
For comparing two things which have the same quantity, Which sentence is grammatically correct?

He has the same number of children as his brother does
He has the same number of children as his brother has


texts: I'm doing dictation I want to know what they are saying

texts:
Birds of Prey interview

in this video at 0:21, what is he saying? To me, it sounds like "It's so _______ awful"

and at 2:15 Is she saying "she will? would? just bash it"?

and I really don't know what he's saying at 2:24... all I hear is.. "and I just got... blah blah.."

please help me


texts: Grammaticality: 'We invited more people than wanted to come.'

texts:
[Source:] Comparative subordination
Examples of the comparative that do not allow an analysis in terms of coordination (because the necessary parallel structures are not present) are instances of comparative subordination. In such cases, than has the status of a preposition or a subordinator (subordinate conjunction), e.g.
a. We invited more people than wanted to come.
1. We invited more people than [the number of people who] wanted to come.

Is this sentence perfectly grammatical? It sounds wrong. I can't pinpoint my angst's confusion, but maybe I'm concerned by the absence of a noun after than? I would've written 1 which sounds right to me, but again, I can't explain why. Please help me to dredge up the origins of my dread.


texts:
"How far is Natural semantic metalanguage really natural?"

  "How much is Natural semantic metalanguage really natural?"

Can I use any of these sentences to express:
"To what extent is Natural semantic metalanguage really natural?"


texts:
It's hard to analyze the structure of the phrases and get their sense of meaning.
WH DRAFTS MORE CLEARANCE CANCELLATIONS DEMANDED BY PRES. TRUMP, COULD BE RELEASED AS DISTRACTIONS TO UNFAVORABLE NEWS.

How many verbs are here
What is a subject which responds to "could be released~" and what is released?
"What is" the "unfavorable news" here ? and "To whom" the " unfavorable news" belongs?
What does this sentence mean?


texts: When buying a decent pair of shoes, I often see the statement "with Natural Sole" ("Loafers in Tan Leather with natural sole.") written in the description of the shoe. Does this mean that the shoe's sole is made out of natural materials e.g. various types of wood or does it refer to something else in particular?


texts: At some point "in future" or "in the future"

texts:
Using the is when we refer to something known to the reader or something specific. It is not clear to me how to deal with a word like future. Here is an example:

  They may get access to the book at some point in the future.

Is it:

  At some point in future

Or

  At some point in the future


texts: Term for the request for reimbursement from an employer

texts:
We have this system where we buy what we see fit and later fill out a form requesting that our employer pay back the expenses. I'm pretty sure there's a special term for it in English.

I'd also like to know if there are different names for such a form: a formal and official one as well as a colloquial, commonly used one.

Moreover, I'd like to know if those terms (both categories) are the same on both sides of the Sargasso Sea.


texts:
sentence: How may i help you

   1. How
   2. May
   3. I
   4. Help
   5. You

I am facing difficult to pronounce between 3 and 4.

Suggest me what are the exercises I need to do for improve pronunciation.

Normally I can pronounce the sentence "I will meet" but once when I was talking with my friend I used that sentence like _I will mill". Likewise sometimes happening to me how can I overcome this problem.


texts: What is the construction of "It's the best there is"?

texts:
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. If he flew them, he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to, he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.

I think the Doc meant it's the best one out there. But the construction is strange and not seen very often, is it kind of idiomatic phrase?


texts: Which tense is used after the verb hope?

texts:
Which sentence is correct? Is there any rule for using any particular tense after the verb "hope"? We use these sentences in writing letters to each other.

I hope you will be hale and hearty.
I hope you are hale and hearty.


texts: A sentence in pride and prejudice I don't understand

texts:
What does this sentence in bold mean, as I come across this in pride and prejudice.

Thanks！

    "I do not imagine his business would have called him away just now, if he had not wished to avoid a certain gentleman here."

     This part of his intelligence, though unheard by Lydia, was caught by Elizabeth, and as it assured her that Darcy was not less answerable for Wickham's absence than if her first surmise had been just, every feeling of displeasure against the former was so sharpened by immediate disappointment, that she could hardly reply with tolerable civility to the polite inquiries which he directly afterwards approached to make. Attention, forbearance, patience with Darcy, was injury to Wickham. She was resolved against any sort of conversation with him, and turned away with a degree of ill humour which she could not wholly surmount even in speaking to Mr. Bingley, whose blind partiality provoked her.


texts:
I know I can say "adjust something to something". Can I use the verb adjust in the way below?

  I adjusted the piston to rotating at intervals of five minutes.


texts:
Can we use 'adverb' before pronoun?

As we know adverbs are normally used to modify 'other adverbs' , 'verbs', and 'adjectives'. e.g (I'm feeling a lot better today.)

I consider 'a lot and 'much' as adverbs and 'more' as pronoun in the following. Is my analysis OK?

I earn a lot more than my sister does.

I have a lot more in common with my friends than my family.

I can't stand much more of this.


texts: Usage of 'could' in the past and future tense

texts:
Excerpt from Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice':

  "You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who would make you so."

Form the context of the book it seems that here 'could' is being used in the future tense. I would like to know more about this kind of usage, as when I think of "You could not make me happy", it seems the usage is in the past tense. Also in the past tense we could have also used "You could not have made me happy." Please comment/elaborate about these two usage of 'could' in the past as well. Thank you


texts: "Imagine the world" or "imagine a world"?

texts:
I came across a sentence while watching a YouTube video which was:

  Imagine the world powered by mushrooms.

Shouldn't there be "a" instead of "the"?


texts: "Until afternoon" or "until the afternoon"?

texts:
Tell me please if I need to use the before afternoon in the following sentence.

  On Fridays I work until (the) afternoon.

I am aware that generally the is used with afternoon, but what about my example?


texts: Is the plural better in "help the weak(s)"?

texts:
There is a sentence: Monkey king uses a magic stick to fight bad people and help the weak.
As you can see, the author used the weak in the third line from the end of the composition above.
My question is:
Would it be better if the phrase be replaced with the plural form the weaks for a correspondence with the previous phrase the people?


texts:
This is from the book 'In cold blood' by Truman Capote
Now, Upstairs, she changed into faded Levis and a green sweater, and fastened round her wrist her third-most-valued belonging, a gold watch; her closest cat friend, Evinrude, ranked above it, and surmounting even Evinrude was Bobby's signet ring, the cumbersome proof of her "going-steady" status, which she wore
(when she wore it; the least flare-up and off it came) on a thumb, for even with the use of adhesive tape its man-size girth could not be made to fit a more suitable finger.
"when she wore it; the least flare-up and off it came"
I wonder what this sentence means.


texts: Difference between at one level and at some level

texts:
What is the meaning of the underlined part

  There is a spike in the mails since the re-election of Narendra Modi and his supporters pitching him for the primeministership. At some level, all these letters share the opinion that one who has got the electoral approval is beyond criticism, and that this newspaper is not accepting the electoral verdict as the ultimate truth.I am disturbed by the tone, tenor and the general thrust of these letters as they try to reconstruct India as a homogenous entity obliterating its multiplicities, its natural treasure called its diversities and heterogeneities. At one level, these voices say that they are not bothered about what the world thinks of them and cloak a form of xenophobia.

Can 'at some level' and 'at one level' be used interchangeably? Or is there a difference between them?


texts: looking for an idiom meaning "be the first to do bad things and others follow suit"

texts:
Suppose I was a teacher.  One of my students often misbehaved in class. When he suddenly talked in class, other students would follow suit.

I am trying to describe his behavior.

He_____ to misbehave in class. I think "take the lead" is not idiomatic here.

Is there an idiomatic expression for this?


texts: I am never going to talk to you ever again vs will never talk to you

texts:
What is the difference between "I am never going to talk to you ever again and "I will never talk to you ever again"

As far as I know, Present Continuous is used to talk about planned or scheduled events or events taking place in near future, but can we use it in this sentence for example. Or is only use of simple future valid?


texts: Is "left" correct in "I didn't get to see that movie before it LEFT the theaters."?

texts:
Today, I saw the following sentence on my English-learning magazine

  I didn't get to see that movie before it left the theaters.

But, I think the verb "leave" in this sentence is kind of weird…
So, is it correct? And, is "leave" the suitable choice in sentences like this?