texts:
This is the situation, I spent 30 minutes singing my child to sleep and my child felt to sleep, but then 5 minutes later my mom came to the child and touched his head to check if the child had a fever, which accidentally woke him up. That action was unnecessary because she could do that later.

I felt extremely upset and I said this to my mom "You must have had a lot of free time or you must have had nothing to do. Why did you do such an unnecessary / stupid thing?" (translated literally from Vietnamese, my mother tongue is Vietnamese)

Sometimes, we have a lot of free time or we have nothing to do or we may be bored, which may lead us to do extra unnecessary things which may ruin everything you tried before.

Another example, you fed your children a lot of food. Then the child didn't want to eat. If you stopped feeding him then he would be ok. But for some no good reason, you fed him with just a small mouthful of food. As a result, he threw up everything he ate before. You went extremely upset because you did such a stupid unnecessary thing which ruin every effort you tried before.

How to express "you did an unnecessary action which ruined everything you tried hard before"?


texts:
Which of the following two sentences is correct?

He knew what it means.
He knew what it meant.

Can we use the present simple tense with the past tense?


texts:
In the link below, at 2:51, what does the following mean and why did Ross say "Would"?

  Ross: You can see where he'd have trouble!

This is my conclusion:
I think WOULD is used in a hypothetical condition.
Can we rephrase  it this way?
"If your father didn't understand that metaphor, then you can see he would have trouble understanding you."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh0I...o7JxLJgqC4ODfK


texts:
I need to write a title of a section that is a list of deals. The title could be "List of deals" but I prefer a more concise form.
Since there are usually a lot of deals in the list is it correct to use a title like "Deals list" or should I write "Deal list"?


texts: Why is it wrong to use a bare infinitive after "is"?

texts:
Smoking is allowed. (good)
Is smoking allowed? (good)
Is smoking allow? (wrong - should be Is smoking allowed?)
Is school allow smoking? (wrong - should be does school allow smoking?)

I know that #3 and #4 are wrong. But I need help in explaining why they are wrong. Is there a specific grammar rule that can explain why they are wrong?


texts:
In Dutch, we have the word kraamvisite or kraambezoek, which is a visit to a newborn baby and his/her parent(s).  This word is lacking in my dictionary.  Google Translate makes it maternity visit, but judging from the word that's quite related to the mother.

English is quite rich in words, is there a word for such a visit, or must one be verbose and I will visit the newborn infant and his/her parents?


texts:
I have heard the term,

  Wasn't terribly...

Meaning it wasn't very whatever. But this kind of contradicts terrible meaning something bad. So for example,

  The soil wasn't terribly fertile

Versus

  The soil was terribly fertile

Do these two phrases mean the same?

In my opinion, the second phrase sounds better

Any help is appreciated
Thanks


texts: Does `a developing sense` mean that the sense/idea approaches but not achieves the advanced?

texts:
From this book "Deep Learning and Convolutional Neural Networks for Medical Image Computing"

  Interest and advances in deep learning are still growing rapidly in
  both the computer vision and the medical image processing
  communities. In the computer vision community, there is a developing
  sense that the large ImageNet archive used for training the first
  generation of deep learning systems is nearing exhaustion and new,
  larger next-generation image databases are needed to take deep
  learning to the next level, e.g., the Visual Genome project


texts:
What is the difference between 'at least' and 'in the least'? What does 'in the least patient' mean?

  I'm not in the least patient.

A WIND in the DOOR by MADELEINE L’ENGLE


texts: "ways to .. and to .. " vs "ways to .. and .. "

texts:
When should I write the word "to" twice?

  "ways to .. and to .. "

When should I omit the second "to"?

  "ways to .. and .. "

I want to ask a person "What are the best ways to climb over a wall?" and also ask him "What are the best ways to start a conversation with a girl?"

Which of the following sentences should I use?

  What are the best ways to climb over a wall and to start a conversation with a girl?

  What are the best ways to climb over a wall and start a conversation with a girl?


texts: Does a country conquer territory FROM another country?

texts:
Does a country conquer territory from another country or should some other preposition be used? Am I supposed to use some other verb ('win', 'reclaim')?

The Russian Empire conquered the territory from the Ottoman Empire in the late 17th century.


texts:
I'm wondering "must not be" or "must not have been" should be used in the following:

This defamatory letter must not have been written by John / must not be written by John. He's the kindest guy I've known.


texts:
Edited:
Which one of the following self-made sentences sounds more idiomatic to you:

  We will have a shortage of rice in the next year.
  We will be short of rice in the next year.

They both mean the same to me, but I need to know they both work the same with e.g. the noun "rice".


texts: Can "as ... as" clause contain noun + adjective?

texts:
Can an "as ... as" clause contain a noun + adjective? For example:

  There are as many things as you want

Is it possible?


texts:
If we’ve offended someone and now by making an apology we need to get them to forget it and forgive us. And then be normal to us i.e. no grudge in heart for us. What sentence is the most suitable?

I should please him.

I should  bring him round.

I should make him happy.

I should remove his anger.


texts: "difference of average [something] between the different [something]"?

texts:
I have this rather complicated expression that I would like to express in the most understandable way possible.

  The difference of average [something] between the different [something].

I am comparing things by their difference of the average of some metric. I feel that the way I express this is complicated, and I would like to express it in a simpler way.

The problem here is that I can't just say "the average [something] difference between" because it is not the difference that is averaged, and it is important to make that evident.

Is there some other way to more concisely express what I want to say?


texts: Meaning of "mild community infections" and "phylogenetically clustered serotypes"

texts:
I'm not a native English speaker and I'm translating some study about viruses to my mother tongue. Could you help me with some phrases?

  They were thought to cause mainly mild community infections.

What does "mild community infections" mean? Is that some phrase?

  More then 150 serotypes were recognizes phylogenetically
  clustered into groups A,B or C.

What does this sentence mean?


texts:
I'm using these constructions without any confidence. I don't know wheater they are correct or not, in case where I try to build up the whole sentence with them.

These constructions are:

  There would be
  There will be
  There might be

I've just used them in these sentences below:

  There would be a big house in this city if we had money.
  There would be a problem to go abroad for employment without qualification.
  There will be a biggest statue on the middle of this city.
  There might be a poisonous snack in this forest.

Is it the correct way to use these constructions in the context of the whole sentence?

Should I use them in a different way?


texts: Which is the proper use of the adverb "equally"?

texts:
Because it matters to me as it does to you equally.

-In this sentence I've placed the adverb at the end of the sentence even though I'd prefer to reform the sentence, for emphasis purposes, into:

  Because it matters equally to me as it does to you.

Now I think I understand that "equally as" at least according to Merriam Webster is kind of a different or a separate informal usage for the adverb, but their examples require to use "as" two times, before and after the adverb, while my suggested example here only uses one, and I prefer it this way if it's okay. So my question is, do the suggested examples or does one of them work fine, or do I have to reform it into something like:

  Because it matters as equally to me as it does to you.

or, placing "as" before and after the adverb directly:

  Because it matters to me as equally as it does to you.

In other words, which of any of those sentences would work or would not work and do you suggest others? Also a note of punctuation enhancement would be great.


texts:
what does this sentence really mean?

  it attempted to magnify the effects of growth
  by reducing disparities in the distribution of assets.

does it mean that:

  reducing disparities in the distribution of assets will magnify the effects of growth?

does it mean that:

  it wants to magnify the effects of growth because growth will reduce disparities in the distribution of assets and this itself is important?

Yusuf, Shahid 2009. Development Economics through the Decades : A Critical Look at 30 Years of the World Development Report. p 35.


texts:
I often hear people say:

Do you want to go out this evening?

But it seems no-one says:

Will you want to go out this evening?

Do we often use "will want"?


texts: How do I parse a sentence with two verbs?

texts:
I know that we usually break sentences down into subject, verb, object. But the following sentence is causing me problems:

  I want to give a present.

How do I parse this?

Is want the verb and give a present the object?
Is want to give the verb, and a present the object?


texts: The indefinite article when we mention something for the first time

texts:
I stumbled upon the following example sentence in a Russian article about English grammar (not articles):

  There were a lot of people at a conference.

The use of the indefinite article does not seem correct to me: I suppose, we know what the conference it is since we know how much people were there.

In the comments, I found that it is not only me who noticed that. The authors give the following explanation: there is no enough context to claim that it is a specific conference. When we mention something the first time, we use the indefinite article.

The question is: is the use of the indefinite article justified in this case?


texts: What is the use of the word Instead here?

texts:
Holly narrate these words while going to mountain of Saskatchewan with Kit on Car:

  We took off at sunset, on a line toward the mountains of Saskatchewan,
  for Kit a magical land beyond the reach of the law. He needed me now
  more than ever, but something had come between us. I'd stopped even
  paying attention to him. Instead, I sat in the car and read a map and
  spelled out entire sentences with my tongue on the roof of my mouth,
  where nobody could read them.

She was sitting in the car instead of doing what?

I was confused by seeing the word instead in Holly's narration. Is there any use of the word "Instead" in this narration.

Source: Badlands (1973)


texts:
I am not sure which phrase is more correct

"Level up a total of 5 times. (You level up killing enemies, after you level up, you can choose a perk)"

"Gain a total of {0} levels.(You level up killing enemies, after you level up, you can choose a perk)"


texts: Is "have been concerned" in present perfect?

texts:
I'm a bit confused with the present perfect form. I know that it is formed using has/have + past participle. But in the following sentence, there's a been included too.

"Psychologists and the public alike have been concerned that violent video game exposure has the potential to increase aggression on a societal level."

I'm not really sure that this sentence is in present perfect. But if it is, can someone explain why?

Thanks a lot!


texts:
So we have got a project to work on, and I wanted to tell my mate that I can't finish it by my own alone so how can I say that grammatically.

Hey mate do not expect me to do the project alone, I will need help.

Hey mate please don't keep any expectations from me that I can do it by my own I will need help.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks in advance.


texts: The team who ( has scored /scores ) more goals wins. - tense problem

texts:
Basketball is a sport played by 2 teams and each team has 5 players. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop. The team who ( has scored /scores ) more goals wins.

Even though we are not talking about an incident that happened in the past, we need to show which action is preceded by which action in one sentence, which has 2 verbs. That's why I think has scored or scored is right. Am I right ?


texts: Proper use of Past Perfect Vs Past Simple

texts:
English is my second language. I've learned all tense rule. Problem is every day I'm facing a huge confusion between Past simple and Past Perfect.
According to grammar rule, we can you use Past perfect when talking about some point in the past and want to reference an event. But sometimes I notice people use  Past Perfect sentence without any reference event.
Can you please give me some example with explanation and clear my confusion for a life time.


texts: Borderline between "translucent" and "transparent"

texts:
I'm trying to understand the meaning of the word "translucent" when used to describe optical properties of objects. Does it mean "I can see through" or "the light can go through"?

I understand that water is transparent (and colorless), whereas iron is opaque. What about colored glass: it's still transparent, right?

Now, let's take the same colored glass and turn it into a shape which distorts light. Does it become translucent, or is it still transparent?

Finally, what about wax? It's certainly not transparent, but some light manages to go through. Is it translucent then?


texts: Using "besides" to add extra information

texts:
I wrote:

  However, XSLT power may be excessive for a simple web scarping task, besides that it requires expertise knowledge.

However, I've mostly seen Beside is used to start a new sentence. I want to know did I use it correctly in this sentence?

What are other alternatives to add this extra information to this sentence?


texts:
I am a bit confused in using drank and drunk. I know we use it with past tense but not when to use drank and when to use drunk.  What are the better ways to use these?

I visited this, too, but it does not explain when to use which form.  What scenarios best suit each form?


texts:
Do "would be no" and "would not be a" mean the same in the following context? And do they sound natural?

If I were elected the president, There would not be a clash between communities regarding religion.
If I were elected the president, There would be no clash between communities regarding religion.

Can any teacher or anyone who has knowledge of the langusge please answer this?


texts: "compared to" vs "than" - rewriting exchangeable

texts:
Although there were some similar questions asked here and here , I think this one is still different.
Is it true that sentences using "compared to" can be rewritten using "than" without changing their original meanings? Like these examples,

A This road is quite busy compared to/with ours.   ->
B This road is much more busy than ours.
C Children seem to learn more interesting things compared to/with when we were at school. ->
D Children seem to learn more interesting things than what we were learning at school.


texts: Farm usage....present and present progressive

texts:
I have a question about present possessive for the word farm. Can you say, "Do you farm chickens?" Is that present possessive usage for farm?

I have heard, do you raise chickens?

I was told you could use farm as long as you have an object. However, I was told it is not common to say, do you farm chickens


texts: He has been buried 4 days or for 4 days?

texts:
I have read this sentence and I'm not sure that it's correct
He has been buried 4 days
I think it should have been He has been buried for 4 days. Am I correct?


texts: ''Charity begins at home'' or ''Charity begins from home''?

texts: Which one is correct, 'charity begins at home' or 'charity begins from home'? And I also want to know the exact meaning of the proverb.


texts:
I'm looking for a size large sweater?

Is it idiomatic to use a label of the size of an item of clothing as an adjective?


texts: 'she will always complain' versus 'she is always complaining' - any difference?

texts:
Is there any difference between

  she will always complain

and

  she is always complaining

Does the first mean that it is bad habit that she always does in any time and does the second mean in some very precise occasions.


texts:
When do you use in and when at the flat, in English?
Can I say both

I live in the flat.
I live at the flat.

Here's what prompted this question; a passage from a textbook goes like this: A girl arrived in a city where she was going to live for a while, in a new flat. Her friend picked her up at the airport.
She: ´How is your wife?´
He: ´She is fine, she is at your new flat.´
Which means, if somebody stays in a flat which is not his/hers, then he/she is AT someone´s flat, not IN someone´s flat?


texts: What does "... they believe were to be ..." mean?

texts:
For evidence, investigators pulled from along the driveway a few dozen castor bean plants that they believe were to be the raw material for the biological toxin ricin, which can be fatal if ingested even in small doses.
  (The New York Times)

What is the rule governing the presence of to be in the above sentence containing the highlighted phrase?
How does the sentence meaning change after removing to be or were?


texts:
Dating violence means violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim.

What does it mean by IS OR HAVE BEEN? Does it apply to someone who was and no longer is the boyfriend/girlfriend? If so, why not use "is or was"?


texts: word choice - realize notice find out figure out

texts:
The other day, I was at the bookstore and I noticed there was a woman surrounded by a large crowd. It was hard to tell what was going on. So, at first, I figured it was an employee handing out free stuff. But when I got a little closer, it looked like she was signing autographs. Since it was a bookstore,

I (knew/noticed/found/found out/figured/figured out/realized) that it could be a famous writer signing books.

I don't want to ask a lot but, could you choose the right word?

And could you let me know which one is right/not right and why and why not?


texts: What does the phrase "minimum of introspection or self-analysis" mean in this sentence?

texts:
"These situations are best resolved with the minimum of introspection or self-analysis."

This is where I found it: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/introspection

Does it mean the situation requires us to introspect, as in even the barest amount of instrospection would resolve the situation. Or does it mean the situation would best be resolved if only the least possible time was spent on self-analysis (while more on let's say communication or discussions about the problem).


texts: Whether to use the definite article when we talk about a noun that belongs to an indefinite noun?

texts:
Rule 5: Order [the] elements included in a bibliographic record in the most appropriate way to retrieve the book.
For example, if the books are retrieved according to the author, the author element should appear first. If the books are retrieved according to their title, the title element should appear first.
Jerome, J.K. - Three Men in a Boat - 1889
Palahniuk, C. - Fight Club - 1996
Wodehause, P.G. - Something Fresh - 1915

Fight Club - Palahniuk, C. - 1996
Something Fresh - Wodehause, P.G. - 1915
Three Men in a Boat - Jerome, J.K. - 1889

1889 - Three Men in a Boat - Jerome, J.K.
1915 - Something Fresh - Wodehause, P.G.
1996 - Fight Club - Palahniuk, C.

I try to understand whether the definite article should be used in such a case.
On the one hand, we talk about elements included in a bibliographic record. They are not "just" elements.
On the other hand, "a bibliographic record" itself is used in indefinite sense.


texts: Is there any difference between 'body' and 'one' in these terms?

texts:
We use 'body' and 'one' for referring to a person like: everyone, somebody, no one etc. So I want to know is there any difference in usage between them i.e:

Everyone vs Everybody
Someone vs Somebody
No one vs Nobody
Anyone vs Anybody

In other words, Is there any recommendation to choose one over another in what cases etc.


texts: What's the meaning difference between "the meat of a deer" and "the meat from a deer"?

texts:
Macmillan dictionary
https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/venison

  the meat from a deer

Longman dictionary
https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/venison

  the meat of a deer

I'd like to inquire about what the meaning difference between them is.


texts:
The sentence is:

  I’d encourage everyone to read as far into these sections as interest and patience allow.

Why it's "read ... into" and not simply "read", like this sentence:

  I’d encourage everyone to read these sections as far as interest and patience allow.

I found it confusing mostly because my dictionary says the phrasal verb "read into" implies a negative meaning:

  read into [read sth into sth]: think that a situation, action etc has a meaning or importance that it does not really have


texts: Is this "game of words" understandable for the native speakers?

texts:
I wonder if the following game of words is clear to native English speakers, or does it sound confusing and weird?

I'm working on a project, dedicated to some anniversary, and related to the space thematics. I was thinking about the title which will appear as "Anniversary" - and then turn into "Universary" (in association with universe).

Is the association "readable"?

Thank you in advance!


texts: What does the expression "from downtown" mean in the basketball?

texts: I really like to watch NBA and sometimes a commentator says "~from downtown" or "~from way downtown". Is it an expression used in NBA, or the basketball? Or is it one of the expressions of any kind of sports? Or is it a common expression in US?


texts: "It needs to {be / have been} deviated for 1 minute"

texts:
I would like to understand the difference between these two:

  "It needs to have been deviated for 1 minute"
  "It needs to be deviated for 1 minute"

Are both saying that the deviation needs to be occuring over time? I think that the past infinitive is just for that but on the other hand, wouldn't the other sentence mean the same?


texts: How ofted do you use Future Perfect nowadays

texts:
How often do you use Future Perfect in the US and UK? How does it sound to you?

I will have visited Asia by the time I am 30 years old.
The mankind will have colonized Mars by 2030.

For example:

a) We use it (regularly, seldom).
b) We don't use it but it sounds nice.
c) We don't use it and it sounds awkward.


texts: How to understand "as was inevitable" in this context

texts:
Harry watched them go, feeling slightly uneasy. It just occurred to him that Mr and Mrs Weasley would want to know how Fred and George were financing their joke shop business when, as was inevitable, they finally found out about it. Giving the twins his Triwizard winnings had seemed a simple thing to do at the time, but what if it led to another family row and a Percy-like estrangement?

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix

I think as was inevitable can be taken as "as it was inevitable, meaning because it was inevitable. Is my understanding correct?


texts: Does this sentence make sense? - would expect to receive

texts:
Could someone please check if the following sentence makes sense/correct?

  As discussed earlier, there is one more video in the pipeline you would expect to receive by the end of September.

It should be a polite version of saying “you want to receive it by September” but it just sounds a bit odd to me...


texts: "I did edit my question" or "I edited my question"?

texts:
If I wrote a question and someone said please edit your question, then I did it and wanted to notice him in comment, which one of these sentences is true for that:

I did edit my question
I edited my question


texts: When you're going to remove all the obstacles "from your way"

texts:
Imagine you as a prime minister of a country are giving a speech in a congress about the current status of the economic affairs in the country. You intend to indicate that there are lots of stumbling blocks in our way [all have an identical way because they are considered as one single union] and we have to remove it to arrive at success. Doe the sentence bellow work in natural English? If not, then please tell me how it would be better sounding and more idiomatic to be said:

  We must remove all obstacles from our way.


texts: Past Simple vs Past Continuous (with for/because)

texts:
The following two example were taken from F2F course workbook with answers included but there is no reasoning in the workbook. In both of them, I feel the past simple and the past continuous are possible, but the workbook chooses one tense only. By the way, one example has past simple while the other has the past continuous.

In your opinion what is the answer to each one and most importantly tell why you chose one tense over the other?

Note that there are two action one could be progressing and the other is short that interrupts the progression or just happen at a point during the progression of the other. If this is the case then non-short action would be the continuous.

The situation might not be as described above. It could be two complete actions (events) that could be described as one follows another like in narrative mode. This would suit the past simple. I don't know if this is true but in the past simple sometimes there is a cause-effect relationship between the two events. I know that in past perfect you can use past simple for the two events if the order is clear esp. with after/before. With for/because the order is clear but you bump into the possibility of using the continuous tense if you could interpret one action as continuous not as a completed event.

Sentence 1:

  In 1959, a teacher threw a 16-year-old Jimi Hendrix out of school
  because he (held/was holding) the hand of a white girl in his class.

Sentence 2:

  Fans (queued/were queuing) overnight at a Hollywood music shop
  for the chance to get Lady Gaga's autograph. While they were waiting, Gaga saw their tweets. She immediately ordered 80 takeaway pizzas and sent them to her fans in case they were hungry.

Update:
Adding more context to Gaga's text after reading DT's comments below. Hope it might help get better guess. As for the first text that is all the context there is. Note that Gaga's text doesn't start with a point in time as compared to the first one, i.e. 1959. This is in case it might help.


texts: What is meant by "so it says something that" in this sentence?

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

  Don’t think that Gove was a windbag: he was a New Englander and valued sparse efficiency in all things (including lexicography). So it says something that the memos are so long.

Does the latter sentence's construction have some idiomatic significance because it in itself doesn't seem to make much sense? And what does "sparse efficiency" mean in this context? Does it have something to do with New England being sparsely populated? But I'm not getting the "efficiency" part.


texts:
Thank you in advance,

Reading this article,, 6th passage says,

  Parliament has already dealt Johnson a series of setbacks and derailed his promise to take Britain out of the EU by the end of the month "come what may." Johnson has now pinned his hopes on an early general election, calling for one on Dec. 12, but how Britain will solve its Brexit stalemate is still completely up in the air.

Is this bold line "the month" the noun adjective modifying the "come what may"?

It sounds a bit odd to me personally when I read the preceding sentence as a whole.

Thank you.


texts: What does 'touch' mean in "It opened at a touch"?

texts: Clay promptly withdrew again and hurried across to the window. It opened at a touch and gave on to a wide courtyard.


texts:
If I want to say "popular" about the cars.

Cars were more (popular) than now days

In the sense that they were used a lot, what's the adjective I should use?
Not popular, but... (adjective which correlates with the word use).


texts: Necessity of using "had had" when a single "had" could have sufficed?

texts:
If Sir John had had the slightest idea what was going to be the devastating effect of his son's handsome looks upon a certain beautiful courtesan and the tragedy which would ensue, he might have had second thought about continuing his journey without him. (Source: Vengeful Ghosts by Vida Derry)

I am having problem with this use of "had" (BOLD). How I understand using had is that it is used if some action (action 1) precedes another action (action 2) and "had" accompanies the first action (A perfect Past Perfect scenario). For example:

  I had done it, before you did that.

Now in the highlighted text, Sir John did not have the slightest idea, he did not take his son with him and the devastating effects of his son's looks did happen. So how can "had" here be used when the action i.e. having a slightest idea has never happened to Sir John?

In my opinion, a single "had" (simple past) would have sufficed.


texts: What follows "besides" when it means "in addition to"?

texts:
Would the main subject be considered plural when "besides" is added to the sentence?

For example:

A mother is telling her daughter:

  Me, besides your father, (think/s) that your attitude these past few
  days is unbearable and very rude indeed.

I know the sentence can be structured in other ways that may be more suitable, but I'm intending the situation more than the sentence (example) itself.


texts: The difference between " former", "previous" and "last"

texts:
This is about a TV drama series. My sentence is

  "I prefer the last show to the current one."

Can I use the previous one, or the former one instead of the last one?

Then how about one which was aired long before, but I'm not sure when? Can I say

  "I prefer a previous one" or
  "... a former one."

Another example is about my coworker.
I quit the job, so she is not my coworker anymore. In that case, how do I refer to her—as my previous coworker, my former coworker or my old coworker?  I looked these words up in the dictionary, but I'm not sure yet.


texts: There has to be an article before singular countable nouns, right?

texts:
I've gone through the tutorial about "A/an and the" from English Grammar Today in which I guess I understand the rules.
Regarding singular countable nouns, the tutorial states

We only use a/an with singular countable nouns

We can use the with singular and plural countable nouns

The tutorial does explicitly claims something like

there has to be an article before singular countable nouns.

However, in practice, the statement seems to appear to be a rule.  Is my understanding correct?

This is the precise version, which is waiting to be reviewed.
"Usually, there has to be a determiner before singular countable nouns that are not proper nouns"


texts:
Do we use comma in this situation or not? I have a sentence in mind and I was wondering if someone could give me a feedback on it.

  He yelled "blasphemy!" as the man showed him the Bible on top of the
  cliff.

Do we put comma around blasphemy here? What about the exclamation point? Do we keep it? What's the most standard format?


texts: Any suggestions on how to improve the sentence?

texts:
Any suggestions on how to improve the sentence (more specifically the words in bold)?

I'm writing to you because I would like to participate in a special contest, which I noticed at the back of my ticket for the exhibition Royal Portraits at the National Gallery in London.


texts: What is the brown cardboard covering coffee cups called in English?

texts:
I recently got into an awkward situation when I wasn't able to ask for a 'warmth protector thingy' in Starbucks, and wasn't accurately able to describe it, so could someone tell me what you would call the brown paper thing covering the plastic cup of coffee? I struggle to find it anywhere because it's hard to describe, hence why the title is badly phrased.
edit: would zarf be socially acceptable to use in a casual environment?


texts: Is "before" used correctly in this sentence?

texts:
For a beginner who starts learning English, it is quite surprising that in English you use "before" instead of "in front of" in many occasions. However, it happens and I am getting used to it, but not without any further problem. To make a long story short, is the following sentence correct? What are the possible alternative prepositions or phrases to state this sentence?

  Learning a new language opens new windows before you, which can change your whole life.

Are these phrases good alternatives to this aim?

in front of
against


texts: past continuous or present perfect continuous

texts:
If I play football since I was eight years old and still I am playing football I should say I have been playing football since I was eight.

But if I started playing football when I was eight and then stopped it 2 years later(now I retire from playing football) I should say I was playing football since I was eight?

So am I correct?

Because I have learned that present perfect continuous is for events that are connected to now but past continuous is finished in the past. (example)


texts: "in places recommendation" vs. "in the recommendation of places"

texts:
When I need to say "to use something to recommend a place", what is the correct phrasing?

  in the recommendation of places

or

  in places recommendation

Here is the full context (it's the abstract of my college final assignment):

  Study on the use of multiobjective optimization in commercial establishments recommendation.

I'm in doubt about that last phrase.


texts: I'm making good progress... & My friends say my pronunciation is much better

texts:
Please read below text. Could you say why it's necessary to use "I'm making" & "My friends say" in this context, but not "I make" & "My friends are saying"?

I’m taking the opportunity to improve my English. I make good progress, I think. My friends are saying my pronunciation is much better than I arrived...

I thought that it's necessary to use "I make", because it's a fact or my opinion. --> Present Simple.
I thought that it's necessary to use "My friends are saying", because it's an action around now. --> Present Continuous.
Where are mistakes in my thinking?


texts:
I would like to describe the main focus of my thesis. However, I do not know which one is correct:

My thesis focus is on ...

or

My thesis' focus is on...


texts: Why is "got in the car" relatively common, whereas "got in Japan" is not?

texts:
"got in the car": 50,000,000 hits
  "got into the car": 17,900,000 hits
  "got in Japan": 178,000 hits
  "got into Japan": 1,160,000 hits

After having observed that the hit ratio of "got in the car"/"got into the car" is equal to 2.79, whereas the hit ratio of "got in Japan"/"got into Japan" is equal to 0.15, I began to wonder whether the choice between "in" and "into" could depend on the largeness of the object to which the preposition is referred to. Could it?


texts:
What is the difference between the two words "Autonomic" and "Autonomous"?

Are they interchangeable in any situation?


texts: "No, you must" vs "No, you must be" as a response to "You must be an idiot"

texts:
Let's say someone said, "You must be an idiot" to me to mean that I'm most likely an idiot. As a response to that, can I say these sentences below interchangeably to mean that that person is actually most likely an idiot himself?

"No, you must."
"No, you must be."

I think the the latter is correct, but the first one somewhat sounds wrong to me.


texts: How do I know when to use "the" versus "a" versus "∅" as an article on a noun?

texts:
With proper nouns, we don't use the except for river names, newspaper names, etc.

I want to know why we use the with White House. I mean, under which rule can we categorize it? What could other similar examples for that rule be?


texts:
I've encountered a contradiction in different dictionaries regarding the definition of acreage.

Oxford Dictionary says

  An area of land, typically when used for agricultural purposes, but
  not necessarily measured in acres.

Oxford Dict

Cambridge Dictionary and a few others say

  An area of land measured in acres.

  the area of a piece of land measured in acres.

Cambridge Dict

Longman

I usually use the Oxford Dictionary as a reference work, but I am not sure this time. Is there a way to tell which one is correct?


texts: Definite article in "Police were able to find out where the father lived from _THE_ information the child provided"

texts:
From the BBC article "Bravery of France 'heart attack boy' is praised":

  Police and the emergency services were able to find out where Kevin Djene's father lived from information the child provided.

Can we put in the definite article before "information"?

  Police and the emergency services were able to find out where Kevin Djene's father lived from the information the child provided.

After all, the noun is postmodified by "the child provided", and from the context we already know what that information was about.


texts:
The lack of a strong gravitational pull has caused any water the moon
  may have had to leak out into space over the 4.6 billion years that it
  has been in existence.

I'd like to know the meaning of "over" in the sentence.


texts: Why does this sentence use 'where' instead of 'when'?

texts:
I am playing a game and it says

  The day finally came where you take over the throne

Why is it using "where" rather than "when"? Is it correct?


texts: Does it need 'where' in "He wanted to explore the place the third brother had died."

texts:
"...... He wanted to come to Godric's Hollow, as I am sure you have guessed, because of the grave of Ignotus Peverell. He wanted to explore the place the third brother had died." (Dumbledore)

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I think it should add 'where' there: He wanted to explore the place where the third brother had died.

It seems that 'where' is omissible in this case. I'm wondering under what circumstances it's omissible?


texts: "Convergence of A 'with' B" versus "convergence of A 'and' B"

texts:
If I want to say "convergence of line A, line B (say outer boundaries) and some other lines (say internal skeleton)" which of the following phrases should I use?

  Convergence of outer boundaries with internal skeleton

  Convergence of outer boundaries and internal skeleton


texts: Is this a correct way of combining two conditional clauses?

texts:
The process is ended if the ‘a’ and ‘b’ values of the object are lower than the given value.
  The process is ended if the condition ‘c’ is not fulfilled.

Can I combine these sentences as below?

  The process is ended, if the ‘a’ and ‘b’ values of the object are lower than the given value or if the condition ‘c’ is not fulfilled.


texts:
We tried, but the window couldn't be opened. It was painted shut.

I am wondering what the bolded part could mean.


texts: How is the expression "very much" used and is "I like very much to play volleyball on weekends" correct?

texts:
I know in general terms how to use "very much" but since my students started making specific questions and writing sentences like the one above I got very confused (I'm brazilian, and I just started working as an English Teacher).

I would say that the sentence would sound better if it was "I like to play volleyball on weekends very much", but I want to understand what positions it could be placed and how it would change the sentence's meaning.


texts: Having problem with present contiunous and context

texts:
The river (flows/ is flowing) very fast today.

Do you know how to drive?
I am learning (to). My father (teaches/is teaching) me.

Normally I finish work at five, but this week I (worked/am working) until six to earn a little more money.

In the above three questions, the choice between continuous and noncontiuous verb was made based on the context. But as a foreign learner of English, I have to a couple of questions;

In the second question is it correct to say 'I am learning to'?
In the second question, I'm assuming that  the 'my father is teaching me' refers to learning how to drive. So does that mean that even if his/her father taught him/her something else than driving, it is still appropriate to use 'is teaching' because it is only talking about the driving lesson?
In question 3, what if the time at which the person was talking was on the weekend? Then, should the person say 'worked' instead of 'working'??


texts: What's the differece between these two sentences?

texts:
My entire skin is green.
My skin is entirely green.
Can sentence 1 mean my skin is partially green?


texts: to have something something else -- grammatical pattern

texts:
Usage example with a context:

  If you try to make a field that already has data an indexed field with no duplicates and the data does not consist of unique values, the system will not let you save the new index.

First of all, let me make sure that I semantically get this right. What this says, as I understand it, is that there's a field that has data and the data have been indexed, i.e. the field has an index. Is that correct? If so, is it alright to say something like this:

  These days, I'm having my computer the only way to reach to people because I'm under house arrest. I can't go outside.

I know, this example probably sounds like an awkward way to say it, but that's all I can come up with at the moment. Again, the point for me here is to make sure that I have a coherent understanding of it.

Is this a common pattern in English? Could you please give me some more examples of how to use this pattern?


texts:
Maria Vasylovna was not aware of the death sentence or his apparent execution until speaking with Mashable on Thursday. Upon hearing the news, she broke down in tears in front of her home.
  “For two shirts… they shot him?” she said as she fought by tears. She said that her son’s friend, Valentin, had told her “everything would be fine.”

I don't understand what to fight by tears means.


texts: What is the difference between "closing the shop" and "closing up the shop"?

texts:
I read a story and found a sentence : they were closing up the shop.
As a learner of English if I have to write , I would simply write: they were closing the shop.
I would like to know what is the difference between the two: "closing the shop" and "closing up the shop".


texts: If "so that, in order that, in case, for fear (that),lest" introduce adverbial clause of purpose

texts:
If "so that, in order that,  in case, for fear (that), lest" introduce adverbial clause of purpose, should we use  'subjunctive' clauses?

Thank you very much!


texts: What is the meaning of "we were in China. And that's practically sufficient."?

texts:
Paul along with wife going to tranfer someplace.
but his wife writing a cook book. Right now they are
living in france.

  Julia: But we would still be somewhere in Europe. Don't you think?

  Paul: It's very hard to say, given the current  political climate.
  Senator McCarthy does not like people like us.

  Julia: Us? Why? What have we done?

  Paul: We haven't done anything.That's not the point. The point is, we
  were in China. And that's practically sufficient.

Is Paul saying that he know Senator McCarthy behavior while both traveled to china?


texts: What does the idiom "wings of fortune" mean?

texts:
The idiom "wings of fortune" can be found in writing. For example, near the end of the Grateful Dead song Terrapin Station, it says:

  The sullen wings of fortune beat like rain

Many older books contain the expression, too. For example:

  The road was so smooth, the day so fine .. it would have needed but a little imagination on his part to believe himself carried away on the wings of Fortune.
   (published in The Universal Review, 1888)

and, from that same time period:

  The wings of fortune do not pass every day
  (published in The Dublin University Magazine, Vol. 94, 1879)

Does anyone know what the expression "wings of fortune" means? Is the meaning commonly known, where it could be used in day-to-day conversation?


texts:
If I am writing an email to inform someone of a particular item I noticed in the file, should I use past or present tense?

I noticed there are/were two past due orders in the attached report.

I notice there are two past due orders in the attached report.

I am confused because the condition still exist. The past due orders are still in the report.


texts: How to respond to a manager if he said he is very busy and hoped he can finish work before 5?

texts: I am not a native speaker. And I came across this situation: I came to my manager's office and reported to him about my recent work. At the end, he received an email and said something needs to be redo. He said he hoped he could leave before 5 pm this afternoon. How should I respond to him? I said "Good luck with finishing the tasks." I felt that is not appropriate.


texts:
So my question came up because of the verb "try".

I'll give you an example of a situation:
John is mad at Mary. So Peter tells Mary to try talking to him, to make things good between the two of them.

And then a fourth person comes in and says "What is Mary doing?", to what Peter replies "She is trying talking to him.". My doubt is: Can we have these two gerunds in this order? Does that make the sentece sound weird, or is it just me?

Because Mary isn't trying to talk to John, she is trying to make things better betwen the two of them, and she does that by talking to John. That's why I think that the gerund must be used after the verb try in this situation. But does it make the sentence sound weird?


texts:
From Cambridge Dictionary, Meaning of "lesson" [ C ]

a period of time in which a person is taught about a subject or how to do something

From Cambridge Dictionary, Meaning of "material" [ C or U ]

information used when writing something such as a book, or information produced in various forms to help people or to advertise products

EF is an online English learning platform which sells lessons. An EF lesson consists of some questions, answers and a vocabulary list containing dozens of words or phrases regarding a specific topic and usually lasts on hour.
I guess learning material in this context could refer to a vocabulary list in an EF lesson or the whole lesson in general.
A friend asked me about the platform yesterday, because I had been its paid classes. Here is part of my reply.

Most of the material in the EF lessons are not very practical. What kind of people would use personal checks in daily life?

I used the word "material" as an uncountable noun and "lesson" as countable. Did I use the correct forms?
Should I have used "material" in its plural form?

Most of the materials in the EF lessons are not very practical ...


texts: How to invite a couple when I don't know husband's name?

texts:
On an invitation card...

  Mr and Mrs Jack Anderson

works very well. It includes both Mr. Jack Anderson and his wife.

The beauty of this style is, I need not know Jack's wife's name. Here, Jack is my friend and I know him.

Personally, I'm quite terrible at names. So, what if I know Julie Watson but don't remember her husband's name? I don't want to sound ignorant and ask Julie about her husband's name (it's embarrassing too!).

I'm now stuck. While writing Mr & Mrs Jack Anderson includes his wife, is there such a way that I can write Julie's name and her husband is included automatically?

What are the possible ways to address Julie and include her husband's name as well?

  Mrs & Mr Julie Watson

(Julie's second name after marriage is Watson; it's not her maiden surname. Also, I'm inviting her husband just because he's her husband. He's not a friend of mine! Kinda formality.)

works...?

Please mind that I don't want to include all the members (i.e. her in-laws). Or else 'Watsons'' would have worked.

Answers from all cultures are welcomed.


texts: Can I say "sth like a machine adopts advanced technology"?

texts:
The equipment adopts advanced technology.

Is the word "adopt" used properly? or is "use" better than "adopt" in this sentence? thanks a lot


texts: How to pronounce "hundredth chance" from the song " Exile" by Taylor and Bon?

texts:
Second, third, hundredth chances...

I feel like when these two sounds "th" and "ch" meet, it is almost impossible for me to get them smooth.
On top of that, I also found when "sh" and "s" sound are together, my tongue gets tangled, just can't make it sound natural as native speakers.
Is it common to have difficulty to pronounce these combinations? What's the linking technique?


texts:
We have to determine missing//short amount of raw materials in storage.

  We have to determine what amount of different types of raw materials are missing//short?

What is the difference between short and missing in sentences above? Or ıs there any difference between them?


texts: What does "I'd take a break and go wallpaper the garage first.” mean?

texts:
"The Sages of Sivana have known the secret of happiness for over five thousand years. Fortunately, they were willing to share this gift with me. Do you want to hear it?"“No, I thought I'd take a break and go wallpaper the garage first.”
  “Huh?”“Of course I want to hear the secret of eternal happiness…”

Source: Robin Sharma, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable about Fulfilling Your Dreams


texts:
In Italian one can make a passive construction by adding the so-called "si passivante" to the third person singular or plural form of the verb. Albeit I'm not sure if the following definition makes sense to/for an English mother tongue, literally the "si passivante" is the "si" that makes the verb passive.
Italians, especially if they are high educated people, generally prefer impersonal constructions and the "si passivante" construction can be used to explain to someone how to do something without giving the impression of having a direct/personal relation with the hearer (spoken case) or with the reader (written case).
In English language I have observed that  the impersonal construction is made using "one", "you" or "we".
So, let us consider the following example:

Italian version: "Prima si taglia la cipolla e si mette nel tegame, poi si aggiungono i pomodori tagliati a pezzetti e si lasciano cuocere per mezzora.
English version: First, 'you'/'we'/'one' cut(s) the onion,  'you'/'we'/'one' put(s) it in the pan, then 'you'/'we'/'one' add(s) the tomatoes cut into small pieces, and 'you'/'we'/'one' leave(s) them to cook for half an hour.

Assuming that 'you' is 1 case, 'we' is 2 case and 'one' is 3 case, which is between the three the most impersonal construction in cases like these? Cases in which, I repeat, there is no reason to refer to any singular person in particular.


texts:
This post is derived from a meta post (“review close votes” sounds grammatically incorrect),
 where an answerer considers "swimming" as a verb.

I'm afraid I cannot agree with that. So, I said there

  "Swimming" is a gerund, not a verb. A gerund could be used as an adjective, a verb cannot.

Is my understanding right? Is that the way the compound noun "swimming pool" constructed, gerund + noun = compound noun?


texts: What is the right term to indicate the opposite of the math operation distribution?

texts:
I am studying math, and there's a term I don't know how to express, I just know that is the opposite of the operation of distribution of terms in an algebraic expression. For example, from the basic math operations we all learnt at primary school:

  (a + b) * 3

... and if I distribute (distribution) the 3, I get:

  3*a + 3*b

Now, what is the technical English name and verb for the reverse operation:

  3(a + b)

?


texts:
After a hard day's work or a sleepless night, I am tiring/fatigue in driving.

Which sentence sounds more correct?


texts: "meant" and "mean" do both words have the same meaning?

texts:
Which would be the correct use of the word in the two sentences below:

I mean, I can do it!
or
I can do, I meant it

Also, please explain why! Because I'm trying to improve my English usage of words in everyday English.


texts:
All I could think through the whole day was that we missed my brother’s football game because of me, and I really hoped my sister thought to tape it.
—The Perks of Being a Wallflower

It looks like it meant "remembered to". But is this a usual usage with the word? Can someone point me out a legit source for this definition?


texts: What is the word for your state when something is not how you expected it to be, in an unpleasant way?

texts:
I’m looking for a word that describes your state when something is not how you expected it to be. Not in a pleasant way but the opposite.
Is baffled appropriate? But I think baffled doesn’t really show any emotion but just a sense of confusion. Also baffled expresses in a large quantity. I want something of less magnitude.
I don’t want to express something mysterious. It's like I expected something and I got it. But with something else that I don’t like. If that makes any sense.
I want to use it in a sentence like this one:

The overall experience was a pleasant one, don’t get me wrong. But a few things _________ me and made me wonder if it's the harsh truth.


texts:
Although most apps have some educational aspect, many include characters tied to popular TV and movie characters. Children can look at a variety of pre-screened content online, but can’t search for specific topics, as they would for homework.

What would they do for homework here?

Is it Children can look at a variety of pre-screened content as they would for homework. (［but can't....］ is just a sentence inserted there)
（Here they would look at pre-screened content for homework.)

Or They can’t search for specific topics, as they would for homework
(They would search for homework)?

How to know which one it is?  they are both reasonable to me.

Source:The News Tribune


texts:
We are about to go out.

My wife went to the washroom.

My son shouted his mother at downstairs.  So I told him:

  She can't hear you. Go to the stairs ask your mother come down.

Would it clarify the place of the location if just simply use "stairs"?


texts: When you didn't expect someone say something

texts:
When it seems unlikely to hear something from somebody and that person says something that was not expected, which one of the following sentences would sound more natural:

  I didn’t expect such things coming out of your mouth.
  Such things were not expected coming out (of / from) your mouth.


texts: Should I write "said someone" or "said by someone"

texts:
What is more applicable when writing "said someone" or "said by someone"
e.g. "said Elon Musk" or "said by Elon musk"


texts:
Can we use the word over ( I think as adjective) to mean that something, which can be refilled or re-bought,  is finished or depleted.

For example:

1.This battery/power unit is over. We need to plug it in.

2.The cherry juice in the bottle is over.

3.The water in the tank is almost over. We need to refill it.

4.The gas  in the car is over. We need to buy gas.


texts:
Herb: What's that smell?
Herb looks into the pram, suspicious.
Herb: Honey, I think Marcus needs to have his diaper changed, so I'm just going to take him.

Have I used "suspicious" correctly here to mean that Herb looks into the pram (where Marcus lies) because he has an idea about where the smell is coming from?


texts:
Sentence : National and international fixed calls showed a similar pattern , starting at just under 40 billion minutes of calls in 1995, then rising/rised steadily to around 60 billion minutes of calls in 2002.
Which word should i use in the sentence above "rising" or "rised"


texts: Can I use ''the world is crumbling" instead of "the world is falling apart"?

texts:
I want to say I'm very sad and hopeless. Can I say the following?

I feel like the world is crumbling.

Instead of

I feel like the whole world is falling apart.


texts: like most program windows, ... -- I don't understand this grammatical construction

texts:
Example:

  Like most program windows, the Visual Basic Editor has a title bar and menu bar at the top. Optional toolbars appear under the menu bar. You can hide or show any toolbar at any time by choosing View➪Toolbars from the menu bar. Select the check box for the toolbar you want to show; deselect the check box to hide that toolbar.

How do you understand that phrase? Is this something along the lines of the expression all things ~ as in the sentence "She loves all things Korean"? Then I suppose it should be programs, with an s at the end. I'm a little bit confused.


texts:
Here is the sentence:

  Several prisoners escaped last night, none of whom/neither of whom
  has been caught so far.

In my opinion, I'd use 'none of whom', since we are talking about several people who escaped.

Which one would you rather use in this particular context?


texts: Meaning of a paragraph about a literary heritage

texts:
Passage to analyze:

Tillie Olsen's fiction and essays have been widely and rightly
acknowledged as major contributions to American literature. Her work
has been particularly valued by contemporary feminists. Yet few of
Olsen's readers realize the extent to which her vision and choice of
subject are rooted in an earlier literary heritage—the tradition of
radical political thought, mostly socialist and anarchist, of the
1910's and 1920's, and the Old Left tradition of the 1930's. I do not
mean that one can adequately explain the eloquence of her work in
terms of its political origins, or that left-wing politics were the
single most important influence on it. My point is that its central
consciousness—its profound understanding of class and gender as
shaping influences on people's lives—owes much to that earlier
literary heritage, a heritage that, in general, has not been
sufficiently valued by most contemporary literary critics.

Multiple-choice question:

The primary purpose of the passage is to:

point out a literary heritage to which Olsen's work is related
argue that Olsen's understanding of class and gender is her greatest gift as a writer
acknowledge Olsen's importance as the leading spokesperson for a radical literary heritage
urge literary critics to investigate the origins of a literary heritage
suggest that Olsen's work has been placed in a literary heritage to which it does not belong

I had chosen 3 because his writing influences women. But answer is given 1. Where is my point is wrong?


texts: Best way to say that I have never heard about some action

texts:
How to correctly say that I have never heard she speaks English (I am not sure she knows English)?
I used a Present Perfect in the first part to say that the action takes place from the moment when I have heard her for the first time to the moment of speaking.
And then I am not sure which tense should I use to describe the second part of the sentence. Should I use  Present Simple or the other one? I am thinking in this way: we can use Present Simple to say she was speaking English all her life, but what if she didn't with me (in this case we should only take that interval from our meeting to the present, right?)?
How do I plot the second part on the timeline?


texts: It is along the same straight line as the other

texts:
Thus we come to know much more about the relations of distances in
  physical space than about the distances themselves; we may know that
  one distance is greater than another, or that it is along the same
  straight line as the other, but we cannot have that immediate
  acquaintance with physical distances that we have with distances in
  our private spaces, or with colours or sounds or other sense-data.

[Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Chapter III]

I can't imagine what Russell said in the bold text. Could you explain this to me?
I think he meant that one distance is parallel to another distance. Is it right?


texts:
'Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy - and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save themselves. But is either willing to turn on their friends and comrades they've made during their long stints...'

Does this sentence mean that they didn't want to attack their friends they have made?


texts:
What is the exact meaning of the following passage? It is about the oil agreement between Iran and England in 1953. Of course, there were few passages before this one, which were related to one another as a, b, c, and so on. If more details or information were needed, I can add them. Its economic terms, due to their multiple meanings, make this sentence ambiguous for me."balance due the company" is problematic.

"If in any year the amounts deposited pursuant to (b) above less than one-twentieth of the balance due the company after the deduction of payments under (a) above, the company shall be entitled to receive and Iran shall deliver free crude oil equal to 25 percent of the amount, if any, by which Iran’s exports of oil and oil products in that year fall short of 20 million tons."


texts: What's the meaning of the preposition "by" in 'a party by counsel'?

texts:
Source: Powell v Alabama (1932)

  ...He requires the
  guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings
  against him. Without it, though he be not guilty, he faces the
  danger of conviction because he does not know how to
  establish his innocence. If that be true of men of intelligence,
  how much more true is it of the ignorant and illiterate, or those
  of feeble intellect. If in any case, civil or criminal, a state or
  federal court were arbitrarily to refuse to hear a party by
  counsel, employed by and appearing for him, it reasonably
  may not be doubted that such a refusal would be a denial of a
  hearing, and, therefore, of due process in the constitutional
  sense.

  2.1. A group of people taking part in a particular activity or trip:

Am I right that the following definition applies? If so, should this be written as party OF counsel?


texts:
For example,

I am working in an office right now.
Today, I will arrive home on 6 pm, then I will call my mom immediately.

Please help me to correct the following sentences.
Please point out which one is right or wrong.

When I arrives home, I will call my mom.
When I arrived home, I will call my mom.
On the heels of arriving home, I will call my mom.
After arriving home, I will call my mom.

Please also choose the best one.


texts: "She became involved with a married man [who is] many years her senior." - Is "who is" required for correct grammar?

texts:
She became involved with a married man many years her senior.

Is it correct in grammar?

I suppose it should be

  She became involved with a married man who is many years her senior.

Is my opinion correct?


texts: Are all of the words of this sentence in an appropriate order, "the larger the space at your searching of solutions"?

texts:
It sounds like the lecturer is saying

  the more attributes the more variables you have to start with, the larger the space at your searching of solutions.

I understood the lecturer is trying to say something like the algorithm needs to search a larger space.

I would like to know if those words all are in an appropriate order.


texts: I feel loved. What part of speech is 'loved' here?

texts:
What part of speech is 'loved' here? I think it is adverb.

Adverbs help us to know the: when, where, why, how, and to what degree.

In this sentence, the loved asks the question,
How did he feel? He feel loved.

The loved modifies the verb feel.

Dictionary says loved is an adjective.

I know lovelily is an adverb. But in the context above, what is loved?

I look forward to your answers.


texts: What word describes 'reconnect and continue' a previous correspondence?

texts: I had a correspondence with an office that ended some time ago. Now I want to reconnect and continue from where I left the previous correspondence. My mind tells me the word Resurrect, i.e. resurrecting the previous correspondence but I know this is not appropriate word. Any suggestion?


texts: What does the word "transaction" convey?

texts:
Doss the word "transaction" convey transfer of anything?

In economy does it mean any operation?

In databases does it mean any SQL command?

Where else is it used mostly except banks and databases?


texts:
Please look at the following example:
If someone asks me to not upvote a question (suppose) and I want to tell them in response that "I will upvote whoever's question I want".
How to express this? The bold word sound wrong to me. But I want to say that I will upvote any question I want. Is my sentence wrong? How to fix this problem please?


texts: When would you rather use one over the other?

texts:
Thank you so much all for supporting and wrote back to my previous question?

They are 15-year-old girls

They are 15-year-olds


texts: Capitalization of questions in sentences

texts:
Which of the following are correct:

"Tom, do you like fishing?"

"Tom, Do you like fishing?"


texts:
“On my first trip to Italy, I found myself in Rome in heavy traffic,
  riding out to the highway that leads to Florence. We were driving
  during the rush hour in winter, and so the sun was setting, and the
  unique pastel colors of the eternal city made the old buildings come
  alive in the warming light.”

  From "The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life" by Thomas Moore

How to interpret "riding out to" here?

A person is either driving a car or riding in a car. Does "riding" here imply that the writer himself was not driving the car? Because the following sentence tells us that they were driving during the rush hour, I guess the writer’s family was driving the car. But I am not sure.

Does "out" imply that they were going to a remote place or does it simply mean out of traffic?


texts: a sore throat vs a strep throat vs strep throat

texts:
If my throat is red and it feels painful to swallow, I say

  I have a sore throat.

Recently, I've come across "strep throat". It's an infection and it doesn't seem to be used interchangeably with "sore throat". And I am wondering why.

  I have a throat infection.

If it's a type of infection, why can't I say the following?

  I have a strep throat.

  I have a strep.

All the sentences I've found suggest leaving out the article.

  I have strep throat.

  I have strep.

  Most likely, your doctor will prescribe an oral antibiotic if you have a strep infection.

  If you have a strep infection, your health care provider will prescribe an antibiotic.

Could you demystify it for me?

The difference between "sore throat" and "strep throat".
Whether I should use an indefinite article before "strep throat".


texts:
A friend of mine corrected this sentence...

  It's a sensation I didn't feel for ages

...to this one...

  It's a sensation I haven't feel for ages

He said this: "I think it is something like 'You do to an object' but 'You have something done to you'"

I know there are similar questions about this case in here, but I want to know if there are any rules and when/how to use them. How do I know when to use "didn't" or "haven't"?


texts: “A cold cup of tea” VS “a cup of cold tea”

texts:
A cold cup of tea or a hot cup of coffee sounds incorrect (It doesn't really mean the cup itself is cold or hot), but it can often be heard.

What's your comment about the two expressions?


texts:
I am looking for a word to describe uncombed and messed-up hair. The kind of hair you might have after waking up. I am sure it does not happen to a lot of people, but when I get up in the morning, it takes me 10-15 minutes to fix my hair.

I think scattered might fit the context, but that does not necessarily mean that your hair is really messed up.


texts: What is the meaning of word "vermilissitude"?

texts:
I am currently reading a book - Liar King (Tower of Babel #2) by Adam Elliot. Its genre is LitRPG. He used the word in the following sentence:

  All of it was nothing more than an attempt by the developer to keep impacting the vermilissitude of his game

And I am unable to find the meaning of this word in google.
Please help.


texts: What's the meaning of syndicated columnist?

texts:
John is a syndicated columnist.

what does that mean when combined? Does it mean that John works in different news channels. I know the dictionary meaning of syndicated but ....

Please approach easy-to-read method


texts: replace "more and more" by something more formal

texts:
I have the following sentence, which was said to me to be rather informal (to be used in an introduction sentence in a thesis)

  Electronic devices are getting more and more omnipresent nowadays.

What are alternatives for "getting more and more"? A standard replacement as "increasingly" seems not to be a good alternative in such a case.


texts:
Does "the virus pop" refer to "the virus population"?

sierra_iola tweeted today:

mRNA vaccines have been tested for years (it’s how we got this one up and running so fast). If you’re worried about side effects in the vax population you should REALLY be paying attention to the virus pop. As the early inflammation signs are terrifying.

Source


texts: Is it idiomatically correct to say "Her voice sounded lewd"?

texts:
I googled for this sentence, but I surprisingly found very few results. Is this sentence idiomatically wrong?

Also, is there an adjective that is related to both "thickness, oiliness" and vulgarity or sexuality, something similar to "Her oily smile" but only related to lewdness?

The context where I want to use this is the following:

  The interior was all red, and the women were all heavily made-up. Their voices were lewd.


texts: How to refer to the date and the day of the week of the past?

texts:
Jack comes to work every day and sees Olivia working at the office. Jack usually asks Olivia, "What's the date today?" and "What day is it today?" because she is good at keeping track of days while Jack is quite careless in this regard.

On September 23rd, however, Olivia must have had some negative happening to her. Jack asked her those two questions, but she didn't answer them right away. A few months later Olivia went missing.

Jack is sitting at the police office now and the detective is asking Jack when the first time was when Jack had noticed something strange in Olivia's behaviour? Jack right away recalls September 23rd.

Jack answers, "It was on September 23rd. It was the first time when she wasn't able to answer my usual questions about..."

How should I continue here?

Here I have some options:

1) "... about that day's date and day";

2) "... today's date and day on that day";

3) "... the current date and the day";

4) "... the date and the day of that day";

or what?


texts:
The boy is holding the corner of the table as shown in the above picture.
He then goes around and around, which makes the table move around and around (many rounds).
Do we say "the boy is turning the table around" or "the boy is spinning the table around"?


texts:
I find such sentence on the web, but is it correct?

  "people should invest in the development of their city"

If that's correct, can we "invest in the development" of some specific skills? (Such as intellectual skills: you would for instance donate to a school, or some of your time)

My sentence (concerning concerning social skills) would be

  "why not starting to invest in their development? "


texts: what is the meaning of " Axe me No question"

texts: I have seen it appeared in a game but not sure the meaning of it. I will appreciate it if someone coul


texts:
I've come across the word 'provocateur' several times, but mostly in the context of Eastern European politics (so, I assumed, it was a straightforward translation of 'провокатор'). Lately, I've noticed it in a WP article about Portland protests.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler turned the blame back on the president, saying Trump had “supported and energized” provocateurs who had come to the city to create chaos.

There are two problems. First, Lexico doesn't have such an entry. Second, the closest thing to it, 'agent provocateur' (one could suppose that 'provocateur' is just the phrase's clipping), doesn't seem to match the context. "A person who induces others to break the law so that they can be convicted," defines the expression Lexico. Longman adds that such people are "employed". While it's possible in countries like Russia and Ukraine, I doubt that in the US, the government can pay people to provoke its opponents into committing illegal acts. Therefore, I suspect that the word meant something different in the WP article. What exactly and how common and idiomatic it is?


texts: I know Who(m) you spoke to or I know to whom you spoke

texts:
1.I know Who(m) you spoke to.

2.I know who(m) it was given to.

according to above noun clauses ,Can we move the preposition 'to' before 'whom'?

e.g:1.I know to whom you spoke.

2.I know to whom it was given .


texts: "As we saw in the previous section" vs. "as we have seen in the previous section"

texts:
I am writing a report that contain several sections. At the beginning of a new section, I would like to begin with a sentence that refers to some information that was presented in the previous section. Should I use "As we saw in the previous section" or "As we have seen in the previous section"?

On Google I see that:

"as we saw in the previous section" returns 1,130,000 results
"as we have seen in the previous section" returns 4,280,000 results

so it's not clear which one to use based on empirical data. Is there any rule to decide between those two options?


texts: When your income and expenses do not add up

texts:
Edited:
Imagine someone's income is X, but they cost X+1. Then I was wondering if someone lets me know whether the verb used in the sentence below sounds natural to indicate this message or I could state it in a more natural way:

  He can't add up his business expenses and revenues.

If there is a better way to state the same this (e.g. an idiom, fixed expression etc.) I would be grateful if you let me know about it.

Added: How can I indicate that the person in our question cannot match these two (I mean (their incomes and expenses).

I'm really sorry to edit my question again!

When we say such a thing the listener can easily diagnose which one of the following two cases is the intended matter by the speaker (based on the extracted feedback from the conversation). I supposed it as a default and even didn't think about any need for any separation to clarify my meaning to you.

Well! Let me explain a bit more. Actually on second thought it can indicate two absolutely different matters according to our language:

(First)

imagine the person earns 6000 $ per month, but he buys e.g a suit for 4500 $ and yet has to pay for the house rent, grocery, commuting costs etc. so it would be not surprising that the guy will end up getting in trouble spending his money that way.

(Second)

Imagine this individual earns 2000 $ per month but he has to pay for many things. Babysitting cost, house rent, transportation costs, grocery, eating and so on. Nevertheless the person just earns 2000$ monthly, but he has to pay for all these.


texts:
I want to express that the theory "bow-wow" is one of the theories explaining the origin of language. I know the preposition "of" is mostly used here but is this sentence correct as well?

Hypotheses "bow-wow" is one of the historical theories on the origin of language.


texts: meaning of "the scale still hunched and human" and 3 other phrases

texts:
I am reading the book "Aloft" By ChangeRae Lee, and I have the questions of the following 3 phrases.

be exactly in your own skin
the scale still hunched and human
putting on a serious buzz
in a rope line of tangos

I put the phrases in bold in the following excerpt.  For #1, I looked up and found the phrase 'comfortable in your own skin' but I still do not get its meaning in this context.
As to #2, I do not know at all what this could mean.  With regard to #3, I may incorrectly interpret it. Does the #4 mean in winding way?

Could you explain the 4 phrases?

Thank you very much.

  But none of it was unpleasant or even sad, and I can tell you that I
  felt more comfortable and at ease that evening on 149th Street than in
  all the years growing up there as a not unhappy youth, because when
  you're among others and don't have to be exactly in your own skin
  it can be the strangest blessing, not to mention the added effect of
  feeling an afterglow as warm-hued as Bobby Battle's. (Perhaps this
  explains my love of travel, because when you're walking along some
  quay or piazza or allee there's an openness and possibility and that
  certain intimacy with strangers which is near impossible on an
  American street or food court, the scale still hunched and human.)
  Guys were toasting me and making sentimental speeches about Bobby's
  honey singing voice and stunning bat speed, and the ladies were the
  ones who seemed to be putting on a serious buzz,as I'd be passed
  from one to another in a rope line of tangos


texts: Should this sentence be split in two, or is my use of "all of which" grammatically correct?

texts:
Just wondering if my sentence is too long, confusing, or grammatically incorrect!
I completed two primary school placements in opposite socioeconomic areas as well as volunteer in two youth clubs, all of which occurred while I worked a part-time job and completed my school work.
Your knowledge and wisdom would be appreciated! :)


texts:
How can I understand the follow sentence

  He wears as a badge of honor the millions of dollars spent fluffing his image and importance as bulk-buyer of US weapons and like-minded strategic ally.

What is the main frame of this sentence? I thought it said he spent millions of dollars fluffing his image and importance to US?

I am confused about the usage of wears as a badge of honor the millions of dollars. Which word is the verb linking to importance?


texts: Passive vs active voice in present simple

texts:
Does the sentence below refer to visitors of a barber shop or to barbers themselves?

Bad guys shave here.

Could you explain the rule that governs such expressions ?


texts:
Teachers say we do not have to use "will" while we talking about the future event

I can't identify the differences of these expressions

1.I am going to buy a book.

2.I plan to buy a book.

3.I am about to buy a book


texts: How to express that a child must pass all grade 1 subjects to study in grade 2?

texts:
A child is not allowed to study in grade 2 if he/she has not passed all required grade-1 subjects.
Is it correct to say

you won't pass your class if you don't pass all the required subjects

or

you won't pass your grade if you don't pass all the required subjects

I heard some Americans say "pass your class" but couldn't find that phrase in dictionaries and I am not sure if British people say that too.
I am wonder if "pass your grade" is correct.
What about "move up to higher grade"?
What is the phrase to express a student who didn't pass his class? For example, "he repeated his class", "he repeated his class twice"?


texts: You can "take" a train to work, but can you "bring" the train home?

texts: I believe that the rules of usage on "take vs. bring" may be applied toward use of transportation. My friends disagree. It started when I said, "My wife takes the bus to work, but she brings the train home." They taunted me, asserting that you can't "bring" a train home. I believe that this is proper usage. Is it?


texts:
What does this mean, "few...more often than"?

  YEARS LATER, PHYSICISTS would give wistful looks when they talked
  about Lorenz's paper on those equations- that beautiful marvel of a
  paper. "By then it was talked about as if it were an ancient scroll,
  preserving secrets of eternity. In the thousands of articles that made
  up the technical literature of chaos few were cited more often
  than "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow." For years, no single object
  would inspire more illustrations,even motion pictures, than the
  mysterious curve depicted at the end, the double spiral that became
  known as the Lorenz attractor. For the first time, Lorenz's pictures
  had shown what it meant to say, "This is complicated." All the
  richness of chaos was there.


texts: How to represent things from up to down?

texts:
If I want to represent a picture with a lot of details and I want to say that I'm going to tell about the details from the upper part to the lower part of the picture, what is the alternatives to say it?

an example:
* I am going to represent it from above to down. (correct?)
* I am going to represent it from up to down. (correct?)


texts:
Let's say you are reporting a survey about British travel. Which one of these should I use?

  Britons visits (year 1999)

In France: 7500
in Spain: 400
In turkey: 200

  It is clear that the proportion of tours abroad increased. Whereas, while Britons most travelled to country was France, the least visited to nation was Turkey for citizens of the United Kingdom.

Or

  It is clear that the proportion of tours abroad increased. Whereas, while Britons most travelled country was France, the least visited nation was Turkey for citizens of the United Kingdom.

Should I use "travel to" or just "travel"? Which one is correct?


texts: "Take advantage of" and "make the most of": What is the difference?

texts:
For example, if I'm looking forward to spending a month in Spain, I could say:

  I will take advantage of the opportunity to learn Spanish.
  I will make the most of the opportunity to learn Spanish.

What could the possible difference between them be?


texts: Going up in smoke vs. going up in flames

texts: The idioms "to go up in smoke" and "to go up in flames" are very similar. They both mean burning and getting destroyed by fire. But if we use them to talk about failure, aren't there any nuances to remember? Aren't there any shades of meaning that differ?


texts: Is there a single word to describe what one does on a treadmill?

texts:
I'm a native speaker but I often have trouble communicating my ideas efficiently. On a treadmill, I may walk, run, or use the 'intervals' program, which switches back and forth between walking and running speeds. If I'm making a to-do list, how can I express my intention to use the treadmill most effectively?
Some ideas:

Exercise on the treadmill

Sounds awkward to me, and exercise more often means strength training.

Walk and/or run on the treadmill

Precise, but highly inefficient.

Use the treadmill

Efficient, but imprecise.


texts: Can I write this context in single sentence?

texts:
Thomas gave his son a newspaper clipping and he(Son here) saw dont'stop
  looking was marked on newspaper & he(Son here) turn the newspaper & saw
  Black's phone number also marked.

I tried writing in single sentence, I don't know whether it is correct or wrong.


texts: "Every ball has quite a different colour *from each other*"

texts:
Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

  Every ball has quite a different colour from each other.


texts: Hope + future tense (will) / Hope + present tense

texts:
I have been told that I can't say "I hope I get this job (for example)", instead of it I should say "I hope I will get this job".
Here's my question: does it make difference (cuz I feel like it does); and if yes, what is it?


texts: Death, taxes and depending on You for absolutely nothing

texts:
Death, taxes and depending on (someone / something) for absolutely nothing.

what does it means? (for absolutely nothing)


texts: Choice of tenses (Present Perfect - "has been" VS Present Simple - "is")

texts:
To carry out the task I should fill up the blanks with a correct verb form.
Take a look at the given sentences:

  "They feel sure they (arrest) the rest of the gang by the end of the
  month. This (is) the biggest art theft operation to be uncovered since
  1974 when police (catch) a gang which (steal) over a million pounds
  worth of paintings from galleries all over the country."

There have been a lot of similar posts so far. I can't make up my mind which variant would be better to put down, though.

Would you mind to making sure if I have done it in a proper way?

  "They feel sure they will have arrested (this task will be already
  done when there is the end of the month) the rest of the gang by the
  end of the month. This is (the operation is taking place at this time; different preparation are being made to catch the mobsters) / has been (we're talking about the experience of police since the stated year) the biggest art theft operation to be uncovered since 1974 when police
  caught (it's clear) a gang which had stolen (by 1974) over a million
  pounds worth of paintings from galleries all over the country."

I have doubts about ("is"/"has been"), but the whole passage needs to be looked through as well.


texts: If we remove 'the' in "Gone with the Wind"

texts:
I was talking to a native speaker some time ago, she was a young adult. And when I mentioned the movie Gone with the Wind, she corrected me, saying that the right title was Gone with Wind. But we know that it is not true.

I was pondering it and arrived at the conclusion that when you use wind without the definite article, it has a literal meaning—movements of bodies of air. But in the title, I think, it has a figurative meaning; maybe the wind is the civil war, some other circumstances, or the passage of time.

Am I right that if you remove the from the wind, it becomes difficult to attach any figurative meaning to it, and it simply becomes wind as a physical phenomenon?


texts: conditional constructions and harmony of tenses

texts:
I have two sentences concerning the usage of the 2nd conditional with present tense verbs, and I'm concerned whether they convey what I want them to convey.

  If I came over to your place tomorrow and saw that the front door is locked, I would never come to your house again.

  If I came over to your place tomorrow and saw that the front door was locked, I would never come to your house again.

second sentence:

  Would it be okay if I called you when I get home.

  Would it be okay if I called you when I got home.

Are both the sentences in sentence 1 and 2 grammatically correct?
Are there any differences in their meanings?
Is it okay in these cases to not keep the tenses in harmony?


texts: Does "much" imply "a great thing" in this sentence?

texts:
She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though
  hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went
  on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems
  to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I
  suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"  "It certainly seems so,"
  said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care
  for a lemon drop?" (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Is much implying ‘a great thing’ and indicating the previous ‘he really has gone’?


texts: Difference between Past Perfect and Pluperfect tense

texts:
Is there any difference between the past perfect and pluperfect tense?

Please help me understand using the example below:

As I got replies, I have modified my answers as "C". Let me know if it is correct

Conversation 1

  A) You need to call him
  B) I had called him.
  c) I had called him. But he didn't pick up my phone.

Conversation 2

  A) Why are you so upset?
  B) I had ordered this dress online. But this is not the same which I had ordered.
  C) I had ordered this dress online 2 days back. But yesterday when I opened the box I realized that this is not same which I had ordered.

Are the replies given by B) correct?

As per my understanding, the past perfect tense is used to tell 'past of past' and the pluperfect tense is used to tell completed action in the past irrespective of another action.


texts:
We would like you to buy the tickets for us.
We would rather you bought the tickets for us.
We would rather you buy the tickets for us.

1=2 or 1=3, and why?


texts: what is it called in English a driver who violates the traffic rules?

texts: There are drivers who violate traffic rules. what are they called in English? Is "traffic offender" a right option?


texts: Recently I heard about this phrase "get real work done", and I am wondering what are the major (THREE examples is good enough) contexts where one says "get real work done"?


texts: How do you describe a person's actions which don't demonstrate creativity?

texts: 'Uningenious' doesn't seem to be a common word. What could I use instead? 'Unimaginative', I guess? What else? How do you describe a person's actions which don't demonstrate creativity, the ability to solve problems using clever, as opposed to the most obvious, methods?


texts:
"Where's your mummy?" I asked.

  "She's preparing up my breakfast."

he said.

In dictionary, up is preposition that towards a higher value.

According to the context above, what does it mean?


texts: Error correction : Our office building comprises seven floors and a restaurant at the top in an area of about eight hundred sq. meters

texts:
Our office building comprises (A)/ seven floors and a restaurant at the top in an (B)/ area of about eight hundred sq. metres.(C)/ No error

I took an exam which had English comprehension as one of its section, today its provisional key came out. I marked the answer of above sentence as  No error but as per key the answer is B part. Can anyone tell me what's wrong in part B ? I think the answer of key is wrong, if it is I can submit representation for it.


texts: What do StackExchange "beta" and "meta" mean?

texts:
I checked beta in a dictionary and it says beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet, so does the beta mean second-class?

I can't understand the explanation in a dictionary about meta. Could you teach me?


texts: Can the use of the present progressive with the adverb "still" convey annoyance or surprise?

texts:
Can the use of the present progressive with the adverb still feel like an expression of annoyance or surprise? For example:

  I started teaching three years ago, and I am still teaching.

If it conveys none of that, than what would be the difference between the original sentence and the following?

  I started teaching three years ago, and I still teach.


texts:
I am confused about using "of" with numbers. When do numbers come before or after the "of"?

  After the "of"

  A bill of £42.50

  A height of 10 metres

  A weight of 225 kilograms

  Before the "of"

  2 kilograms of apples

  Millions of insects

  12-mile stretch of fine sand

So, I wonder which of the following examples are true ?

1- 5 inch screen

2- 5 inch of screen

3- A screen of 5 inch

1'- 2 kilograms dumbbell

2'- 2 kilograms of dumbbell

3'- A dumbbell of 2 kilograms


texts:
I'm want to ask about something I heard in the last part of the movie staring Russell Crowe (Robin Hood) and Oscar Isaac (king John).
When the king John is trying to convince people to join forces against the French attack and Robin is approaching there is this dialog:

Robin: I want to speak.
People screaming: Let him speak, let him speak.
King John: Speak if you must.

So what's the meaning of the "Must" in this sentence "Speak if you must"? Looks awkward say this instead if "Speak if you want", "Speak if you need"?


texts:
what is the difference between:

  "How to create a file that contains a list of names"

and

  "How to create a file containing a list of names"

And what is the type of the word "containing" here?


texts:
I've heard the use of 'but a' like this:

I am but a common man.
He is but a clever dog.

I'd expected something like this:
3. I am anything but not a common man
4. He is nothing but a common dog.
(Side question, what are the words anything, nothing in the sentence called?)
In the absence of words like anything, nothing, I'm unable to make sense of the sentences. Does it imply that he is a common man or not? Same for the dog, clever or not. What does the phrase but a imply here? Please tell me about it's usage.


texts:
...and there’s a bill for £300, and an actual human shit in the
  ashtray. Well, I think it’s a shit. I’m standing up and freaking out –
  totally freaking out – and shouting “This is a shit! This is an actual
  human shit!”

It's a short excerpt from a book by a British writer.  As far as I know, ‘shit’ in the sense of solid body waste is an uncountable word. Of course there are idiomatic expressions like take a shit/have a shit, but it's not the case here. So can anybody explain why the author uses a/an with ‘shit’?


texts: Is the sentence correct and also can someone let me know the correct tense

texts:
It was supposed to be released this year
It was supposed to get released this year

Also supposed is past tense but the word "released" is also used as past. Why is that? The event didn't happen.


texts:
Sometimes all you could hear were the flat, hard, packing sounds
  over the yelling. (A line from Fight Club)

What does "over" mean here?


texts: Slight nuance between 'fat', 'obese' and 'overweight'

texts:
Could someone please tell me about the nuances of the adjectives:

Fat

Obese

Overweight

The only difference which comes to my mind is their formality degree, where 'fat' is the most informal and 'overweight' is the most formal and at the mid position stays 'obese'; do you confirm me?


texts:
We form negative declarative clauses with not after be (she is not talking), after modal verbs (they must not go) and after auxiliary verbs do and have (we did not like it; they have not eaten). Cambridge Dictionary

And I found the following sentence in Oxford Dictionary:

  perhaps not surprisingly, he was cautious about committing himself.

But perhaps is not a helping verb. So, Can we use "not" without helping verb?

Update:

  The Negation Rule: In English, in order to claim that something is not true, you form a negative sentence by adding the word not after the first auxiliary verb in the positive sentence. If there is no auxiliary verb in the positive sentence, as in the Present Simple and Past Simple tenses, then you add one (in both these cases, the auxiliary verb do). White Smoke

  We make negatives by putting not after the first part of the verb. British Council

Another example of using not without an auxiliary verb:

  I can think of a hundred reasons not to come.

is the above negative clauses? if yes, What is the rule to use not without auxiliary verb?  if no, what is the part of speech of not in the above sentence?


texts:
I saw this sentence in my book:

We ofen read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been conceled from stangers for years.

I think it should be some terrible secrets. Am I right?


texts: "proves" vs "is proved" vs "has been proved"

texts:
The question from the test:

  The atmosphere ___________ to extend several hundred kilometers above the Earth.
  a. proves
  b. has been proved
  c. is proved

Sentences with the blank filled with each option can be found using Google in various materials for learning English, so maybe all of them are possible. However this answer https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/6513/10667 says:

  The perfect version is used when you're talking about something proved in the past.

So I've chosen (b) and it was the wrong answer. What is the correct one?


texts:
Have I changed the direct speech into indirect correctly?

Direct:

  He said,"If I had a pen,I could write the answer."

Indirect:

  He said if he had had a pen,he could have written the answer."

The part that says "he could have written the answer" implies an impossible case however "could write" is improbable not impossible, so we have changed an improbable case into in an impossible and it doesn't make sense to me!
However, I'm not that sure,could you help please.
Thanks.


texts: Is it correct to say, "This dress attracts me the most?"

texts:
Is it right to say, "This dress attracts me the most"?

If this sentence is wrong, with what words it will be right?
When should I use the word 'the most'?


texts: Meaning of but in the following sentence

texts:
What is the meaning of the following sentence, I am not able to understand due to but

Biometric authentication failures are but expected of a large scale and technology-intensive project such as the UID.


texts: Difference between "won't" and "will not"

texts:
What's the differences between won't and will not? Do they have the exact same meaning in all contexts?

If not, I would really appreciate some examples.


texts: Is there a word for the landscape you see from the top of a mountain? Or is there a phrase? The only word or phrase I can think of is "stretching view of a landscape". I am wondering if there's a better phrase or word for this.


texts: Okay. Okay. I am just going to get up, go to work and not think about him all day. Or else I'm just gonna get up and go to work.


texts: Email formal way to express that you are ready to share information

texts:
I am requested some explanations on some topic in professional email exchanges, and I don't know if I can end the mail with :
"Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information".
Actually I am French and I use here a kind of translated expression often used in French.
I would like to know if it sounds good enough for a professional email in English, or is there a better way to express this idea that I am ready to provide more explanations if it is needed.


texts: How do you substantiate article "a" after the plural verb "are" in this sentence?

texts: There are a confirmed 16 trees in the world that produce 40 types of fruit each year.


texts:
Action verbs used with "keep" sound normal, like "keep doing," "keep smiling," etc., but "being" sounds weird with it.

For example, this:

  I won't talk to you if you keep being rude.