texts: What's wrong in the sentence: "I think it best to be well-prepared for the exam"

texts:
Is there a flaw in the following sentence?

  I think it best to be well-prepared for the exam.

Should it become this?

  I think that it is best to be well-prepared for the exam.

I am a bit confused because I read this in a text where the author does not appear to have any grammatical (or spelling) errors except possibly this one.


texts: meaning of "taking credit" in this extract

texts:
President Trump spoke for less than a minute, calling the 30,000 mark a "sacred number" and taking credit, congratulating "all the people within the administration that worked so hard." He closed the event without answering questions.
I looked into a dictionary and found meaning of "take credit for sth": to get good fruits to some outcome(I know it's not exactly correct). but there isn't "for sth" in upper paragraph. so it sounds like for me "Trump had all the credit to himself." but i think "Trump gave credit for  all the people within administration." is more natural in context.
which one is correct? if neither is correct, please teach me!!


texts: Present perfect and achievements: "Man has landed on the moon" but "Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook"

texts:
I'm trying to work out the logic on this one. I'm an English teacher and I've always taken for granted the fact that we use the present perfect for achievements, as in the following examples taken from the internet.

  I’ve written a book.
  I’ve won a Nobel Peace prize.
  Man has walked on the Moon.
  Scientists have split the atom.

However, today the example of "Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook" occurred to me. I know he didn't but let's say for the sake of argument that he did. So what's the difference here? We could clearly say "X has won the Nobel Peace Prize" (provided they're still alive naturally) regardless of how long ago it was and that's another third person singular. Is inventing something not an achievement? I'm getting very confused!


texts:
ROBERT CIALDINI is ...Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and
  Marketing at Arizona State University and president and CEO of
  INFLUENCE AT WORK, a global training and keynote company.

I searched the word keynote and found that it means:

  the main point in a book, system of beliefs, activity etc that
  influences everything else.

But I don't understand the meaning of "keynote company" exactly. Does it  symply mean " the main company"?

Can we reword the phrase "a global training and keynote company" to "a global and keynote company for training"?


texts:
User A is playing this game on XX defeated 5% of all gamers.

I read this from an app, and XX refers to a platform. Does the bold part apply to "this game"? Which means:

  User A is playing this game on XX, and this game has defeated 5% of
  all gamers.


texts: Mom and Dad as a phrase; Do we need articles in "I have (a) Mum and (a) Dad..."?

texts:
I am a bit confused with a correct usage of Mom and Dad and articles.
My daughter wrote a short essay starting from:

"Hello my name is ... and I am going to tell you about me. I have a Mum and Dad..."

At first she used "Mum" as she always does in school. I found that the word mum is more about sound not a person and it should be Mom instead.
Secondly she use "a" to "Mum and Dad". Shouldn't be "a Mum and a Dad" or without an article at all?


texts: Tricky questions aimed at failing a student in the exam

texts:
During an exam, an examiner can put to an ordinary student a question that may be quite difficult even for the best of the group. What if, for some reason, the examiner has a predetermined intention to fail or mark down someone no matter how good they may be on the subject? To achieve that, they  start asking  deliberately tricky, difficult questions and finally, achieve their goal.

What the examiner's approach to the student may be called (interested, biased, prejudiced?), and is there a word for the question which is supposed to fail most of the students (a stumper, a sticker?)?

What typical words and expressions, or idioms may help to describe this situation:

A. In in a conversation between close friends, one of whom flunked the exam because of very tricky questions he couldn't answer?

B. In an official complaint against the examiner? (What did he actually —  formal proceedings let aside —  do to fail the student?)


texts:
In this headline, should the word "more" be capitalized?

  "Honoring Retired Employees with Twenty or more Years of
  Commitment"


texts:
I was wondering which choice below sounds correct in AmE when you are suffering from a  deep feeling of guilt or remorse because of something wrong you have done or forgotten to do etc:

a. I have a guilt trip.
b. I'm going through a guilt trip.
c. I have a guilt complex.
d. I have a guilty conscience.

To me, the most common choices are 'a' and 'c' and have no idea whether the other two are as common as 'a' & 'c' are.
Please kindly enlighten me.


texts:
Is it implant into or onto? I am asking, because the example I have in mind seems to invite the use of the alternative wording "implant onto".

Here's the example:

  The surgeons implanted a mole onto her left cheek.

Because the mole is on the surface of the skin or slightly inside the skin, but near the surface, I am wondering if "onto" is correct.


texts:
If we have no list of choice, we say:

  What thing do you know?

If the list of choice appears, for example "of these ones", we change "what" for "which":

  Which thing of these ones do you know?

But what to do if we deal with alive nouns?

An example without the choice list:

  What person do you know?

What if we add "of them". Does "what" have a variant for the choice of list for alive nouns like "which" for not alive ones or it would be "which' anyway?

  Which person of them do you know?


texts: Construction "Create some, for exmaple, this way"

texts:
This about a tutorial in which an author tells to create some computer files if there is not any computer file in a specific computer folder. I am not sure if it is proper the sentence:
"If there are not any project files in a project directory, create some, for example, this way:"

First, can it be no noun after "some"? The noun is in one's mind.
Second, can "for example" be associated with a way of doing something? Usually, it is associated with nouns or adjectives.


texts: What's the meaning of "to previous versions"?

texts:
This Standard , which is currently designated Digital Imaging and
  Communications in Medicine(DICOM), embodies a number of major
  enhancements to previous versions of the ACR-NEMA Standard.

Does it mean "compared to previous versions "?
If so , why the word "compared" can be elided?


texts: How do you convey the effect of a poor phone connection?

texts:
Recently, I was talking on a phone which had a faulty connection, as a result of which I was only able to hear the person's voice in patches. Something like "......I think.........may.......jaguar....study.." (where "..." represents things which he said that I was not able to hear).
I tried:

  I can hear you only in patches

That sounds awkward. How do I say this to him in a natural way?


texts:
Suppose you don't know someone and you are e.g. a manager and are going to hire him; then you talk to one of the other top managers regarding that new personnel; you can probably say:

  I don't know him and his abilities and working potentials well; so I'm going to try him out to see how he does in a task.

I think the sentence above would be idiomatic. But my question is that whether it is possible to omit the word "out" from the compound verb "try out" or not.

As far as I know we only can "try something" meaning that "wear it". Am I right?


texts: Do you sometimes omit "what" in the "No matter what + noun ~" structure? I came across one, and I want to make sure the omission is acceptable.


texts: What do you call a fake abbreviation? Like saying that CNN stands for Crap News Network instead of Cable News Network. What do you call it?


texts:
On 10 December 2019, @MontereyAq tweeted the following sea otter pun:
"sea otters imply the existence of land better-nots".
The twitter account of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is famous for its way-out puns, but normally I get them. This one I don't understand at all. Can someone here enlighten me?


texts:
My own example:

  "I will get me metamorphosed in this tough life and eventually make me a man of quick parts"  "a lot of entomologist think metamorphosing these moth would take so long time"


texts: {listened/have listened} the recordings {several/too many} times

texts:
If I want to say to anyone that

  I listened the recordings several times today.

  I have listened the recordings too many times today.

Which form is the correct form of the sentence? If none, how should it be phrased correctly?


texts: Can "Tirade" be used for a *non-angry* lengthy, boring speech/text?

texts:
When looking for a word for a lengthy, tedious, boring, text*, I had the feeling that tirade could be the right one.

However I looked it up in on-line dictionaries and all of the the ones I consulted say that it's supposed to refer to an angry speech/text.

I'm not yet convinced though, I think I heard it used for what I'm looking for, in a humorous manner (and maybe the dictionaries I looked up only reported the canonical meaning).

So, can you native speakers confirm, or confute, my impression?

* I have already, unsatisfactorily, read Idiom to describe a text (or speech) which is too long.


texts: How to start talking in English in front of non-English speakers

texts:
I am living in Germany. In the university which I am working, there are some presentation events where people describe what they have done in front of different groups of professors/people. The German colleagues talk in German (I am the only one in our group which cannot talk in German). What is the best way to inform the audience that I am going to change the language from German to English?

Before, I was starting with "Let's change the language to English", and then start talking. Is that good?


texts: Grammar of Othello, Lines 442-450, Act 3, Scene 3, Othello

texts:
442 O, that the slave had forty thousand lives!
  443   One is too poor, too weak for my revenge.
  444   Now do I see 'tis true. Look here, Iago;
  445   All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven.  (This motivated this question)
  446   'Tis gone.
  447   Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell!
  448   Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne
  449   To tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, with thy fraught,
  450   For 'tis of aspics' tongues! (Source, but I haven't linked all the footnotes here)

1. Would someone please reorder the (hyperbaton) in line 445? I doubt my guess because it sounds positive to mention 'heaven', instead of hell: Thus + do I blow + all my fond love + to heaven?

2. What's the antecedent of the implicit 'it' in 450?

3. Please explain line 450? How can [the answer to #2] be of venomous snakes' tongues?


texts: capital or small letter in the first letter after a term definition double colons

texts:
If I am using double colons to define a term, shall I start the first letter after it with capital or small?

Example:

  Top-websites: Websites that are visited by more than # users each day.

Or,

  Top-websites: websites that are visited by more than # users each day.


texts:
After a long neglect of his subject, Victor was not as thoroughly
  convinced that impossibility was the best route to necessity as he
  might have been had he recently reconsidered Stolkin’s extreme case in
  which ‘scientists destroy my brain and body, and then make out of new
  matter, a replica of Greta Garbo’. How could one help agreeing with
  Stolkin that ‘there would be no connection between me and the
  resulting person’?

I don't quite understand the boldfaced part—is it a negation of 'one can't help agreeing' or what? Could anybody paraphrase it, please?


texts: "finished my work" vs. "finished with my work"

texts:
I understand the typical usage of "finish", like "I finished my work", "She finished (the concert) with a song from her first album."
From the Free Dictionary by Farlex

off from work: Finished with one's work for the day.

Assume Daniel was off from work at 6:00 pm yesterday. With the definition, could I say like this?

Daniel finished with one's work for the day at 6:00 pm yesterday.

Daniel finished what with whose work?
I tried Ngram Viewer but didn't get any clue.


texts: How should we use negative form in optative sentence? Should it be 'may he not get sick' or 'may not he get sick'?

texts: How should we use negative form in optative sentence? Should it be 'may he not get sick' or 'may not he get sick' ?


texts: Discerning between "a public servant" and "diplomat"

texts:
Machiavelli was a product of Renaissance Florence, a city-state that was struggling for expansion and survival among a competing group of similar states. As a public servant and diplomat, Machiavelli came to understand power politics by observing the spectacle around him without any illusions.

I am wondering what is difference between these:

a public servant

diplomat

enter link description here


texts: In this sentence, is the "in" optional in colloquial US English?

texts:
In colloquial usage, is the "in" optional in a sentence like this:

Did she lose her sense of humor (in) the same place she lost her sense of fashion?


texts:
Is it better to study English without using translation to my first language?

I usually use Korean dictionary which translates English words to Korean. However one of my friends has told me that it could be worse if you study English that way because of your own language can make you confused when you're trying to speak English.

I don't know how to study English without resorting to using translation.
Is it bad to study it with my own language? If so, then how should I learn?


texts: have difficulty in understanding usage of being

texts:
I have recently encountered some sentences relating to being while reading some books. However, the sentences don't make a sense for me because I can't understand them. Could you explain me the sentences and the usage of beings.

  If the parameters to a constructor do not, in and of themselves, describe
  the object being returned, a static factory with a well-chosen name is
  easier to use and the resulting client code easier to read.

  Object-oriented programs work the other way around. They are organized
  around data, with the key principle being "data controlling access to
  code."

  The block being labeled can be a stand-alone block, or a statement that has
  a block as its target.

When I pay attention usage of the beings following past participle forms of verb comes after a name.


texts:
It seems that "Given the overhead" is the common pattern in the sentences.
In my understanding, it likely means "take too much costs to ...". But I'm afraid of misunderstanding, and look for more detailed explanation. I even can't understand the grammar of sentences which comes from googling, how to explain the "given" below:

1.

  ... Find the lowest cost schedule of the following project given the
  overhead expenses as Rs.45,000/- per day. ...

2.

  ...  Feature decorrelation is an alternative for using the full
  capacity of the models but the overfitting reduction margins are too
  narrow given the overhead it introduces.  ...


texts:
From http://www.fashionbeans.com/2013/mens-wardrobe-basics/

  The Oxford Cloth Button-Down Shirt (OCBD)

  If FashionBeans had a club strip, this would most definitely be it. A
  firm favourite across the board, it is one of the first pieces I would
  ever suggest to anyone.

What does "club strip" mean? I guess it is not "strip club"?

Thanks!


texts:
Do you like diaper changing.
Do you like a diaper change.
No diaper changing.
No diaper change.

Are these all correct and mean the same? (Do I have to either change mean to meaning or does it mean in this sentence?)


texts: "The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years."

texts:
Can one say:

The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years.

By my understanding of English, this sentence does not compute.
Perhaps 'had been prepared' works, but this construction gives me the heebie jeebies.
Living in Switzerland as a native speaker, I’ve come to accept the intermittent grammar foibles of the the non-native-well-meaning-yet-sometimes-a-bit-too-full-of-themselves English teachers at my daughter’s schools over the years.
But this time the teacher (high school) insists this sentence is grammatically and stylistically correct.


texts:
I would like to know what shape are french fries? For e.g, onion rings are circular shaped, sandwiches are triangular shaped so how would I described the shape of a french fry.

The context I want to use it is something like this,

Let's say I am cooking food with someone, I have to tell them to cut some vegetable like cucumber in the shape of a fry(fries?) basically flat, elongated. You can cut slices of cucumber circular also but I want to cut them flat,long.

how should I say that?


texts:
Scenario: You're calling the taxi to come pick you up. The taxi driver says he can come pick you up soon.

  You: How long will it take you to get here?

  Taxi driver: It'll take me about about 20 minutes.

My question: can you ask instead "How much time do have before you (can) get here?". Is that idiomatic?

I would greatly appreciate sharing other ways of asking the question!


texts:
Pro-Europeans, sensible pragmatists, people who had earned respect across parliament, abase themselves.

(link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/09/boris-johnson-tories-europeans-parliament)

I think "add" should be inserted between "pragmatists and people" as in "Pro-europeans, sensible pragmatists, and people who had..."

Is it okay not to add "and" ?

Or, perhaps,  "people" is referring to "sensible pragmatists" and "sensible pragmatists" is referring to "pro-europeans" appositively?


texts: What are phrases with these forms called?: being + adjective; preposition + being + adjective

texts:
For example:

I apologized for being rude to Paul.
Being kind is a virtue.
His being dishonest did not help him socially.

These phrases are clearly functioning as nouns but the participle (being) seems to be functioning more like a verb than a noun. Are these noun phrases or verb phrases functioning as nouns? And how should being be classified as word (PoS)? Is it a participle, a verb or a gerund? This is really just a question about syntax, I understand what these phrases mean. I'm more interested in the terms of analysis.


texts: Can't decide between simple past and present perfect

texts: I know the rules and differences like simple past is finished actions and more like story telling while present-perfect emphasizes the experience and its about actions that still continue and past-perfect is about actions finished before the past actions and such but when it comes to questions like in the picture I really cant decide which to use.Is there a  more precise way or trick to determine which to use ?


texts:
I want to know whether I can ask a question like

  Have you finished talking on the phone?

or should it be

  Have you finished talking to the phone?


texts:
I was wondering, if we want to ask someone their answer on something in this kind of context below:
A: How did you feel after graduating from high school?
B: To be honest, I felt nothing. It was not that special. What about you or how about you?


texts:
A classmate and I talked about TV series, I said

Friends is an American TV series premiered in 1994 which lasts for 10 seasons and has 236 episodes.

Is it natural and clear to say "lasts 10 seasons and has 236 episodes" to give those information to describe a TV series?


texts: Difference between Involve in, participate in, take part in, and doing something

texts:
My former teacher had been teaching biology and on her own doing research in related field  for ten years.
I wonder if the following sentences have the same meaning as the above sentence:
My former teacher had been involving in biology and related research for ten years.
My former teacher had been participating in biology and related research for ten years.
My former teacher had been taking part in biology and related research for ten years.


texts:
She was so angry that she tore the letter up.

I'd like to know whether the use of the phrase "tore the letter up" in the above sentence is correct or not, or whether it should be "tore up the letter".


texts: What is the meaning of "roe" in "roe deer"?

texts:
According to Wikipedia, a roe deer is

a small, nimble Eurasian deer with no visible tail, a white rump patch, and a reddish summer coat that turns grey in winter, the male having short three-pointed antlers (source)

Why are such deers called "roe" deers? I found that "roe" only means the eggs of fish,
the sperm of certain fish or the ovaries of certain crustaceans.


texts: "I saw him crossing the road", a semantic problem

texts:
I saw him crossing the road.

Before, I asked a question regarding the differences between certain sentences in which "cross" and "crossing" were involved.

Now, I have a new question for which I hope no one think it is a duplicate, albeit I cannot exclude for sure this case.

Problem is that there is no parallelism between gerund and participle between English and Italian, so the sentence above can be translated in two senses:

the first implies that "I" is crossing the road and, during the crossing, "I" saw "him" ("l'ho visto attraversando la strada", where "attraversando" is Italian gerund);
the second implies that "him" is crossing the road and "I" saw "him" when "him" was crossing the road ("l'ho visto che attraversava la strada", where "che attraversava"="attraversante" is, the latter, Italian participle).

Hoping of having explained the doubts I have, can anybody explain if an English-speaker sees ambigutiy in the sentence above? Or, do I imagine things, so this is a not real question?


texts: Can "as well as" be used in "A, B as well as C" structure?

texts:
The newspaper has various segments covering domestic and international
  financial news, articles analyzing major economic policies and
  business administration cases, as well as industry market information.

Can "as well as" be used in this way?
I think "as well as" can be used in structures as "A and B as well as C" and "A as well as B and C" rather than "A, B as well as C".


texts: 'Would have' used alone for unreal past situations, not in conditional

texts:
Can I use would have alone like

The situation would have been worse without his help.
The lack of anybody's cooperation would have caused us a lot of problems.

to provide the same meaning as using the third conditional (unreal past situations) like

The situation would have been worse if he hadn't helped us.

?
I've seen this use with other modal auxiliary verbs such as could have, must have in a grammar book. But I couldn't seem to find would have used alone in the book. So I would like to ensure if this is the correct use of perfect infinitives. Detailed explanation would be much appreciated.


texts: How to understand "keeping the complaining customer satisfied"?

texts:
I'm trying to understand the below sentence,
"Which sectors does he say have most problems when it comes to keeping the complaining customer satisfied?"

Especially, "keeping the complaining customer satisfied" makes me too confused.
How to separate this sentence for understanding?
it baffles me because keeping something means that something is going on continously. but it doesn't make sense.
Could you help me how to understand this ?

ADD:

I found that the script from http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-191003


texts: Help me understand a joke - "Watch out for that first step. It's a doozy!"

texts:
Source: Computer Networking First-Step by Wendell Odom (2004)

Example:

  Often, learning something new can be a chore, particularly with computer technology. In fact, because you've obviously been searching for a book long enough to at least have opened up this one, you've probably looked at a few other books as well. There's no problem finding networking books. There are tons of them but almost all of them are geared toward people who want to be networking geeks, and the books frequently get deep and technical in a hurry. They're like the old joke where one guy walks through a door with an unseen long drop to the ground below, and his buddy shouts out, "Watch out for that first step. It's a doozy!"

Could you please explain that joke to me?


texts: Difference between the expressions "at night" and "on the night"

texts:
Tell me please what is the difference between the following sentences.

  1 "Mike is going to sing at night."
  2 "Mike is going to sing on the night."

Actually I thought that the preposition "at" have to be used before the word "night", but I have recently come across " on the night", so I am confused.


texts:
wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_common_words_in_English) says

  A list of 100 words that occur most frequently in written English is given below, based on an analysis of the Oxford English Corpus (a collection of texts in the English language, comprising over 2 billion running words)

What does "running" mean in "2 billion running words"?


texts: "were" and "have been" in "Altogether 23 children were have been killed..." (not: were vs have been)

texts:
"Altogether 23 children were have been killed in Lahe township and
  13 killed in Nanyun township since June because of this unknown
  disease," (Source.)

Just read the above sentence on a local "Times" newspaper.
I think the usage "were have been" is wrong.
What should be the proper usage there?


texts: What does "Then must not existence be revealed to her(the soul) in thought, if at all" mean?

texts:
The quoted passage is from Plato's Phaedo. Is it correct to group the sentence in boldface as "Then must (not existence) be revealed to her in thought, if at all?" ?

I think it means that Socrates asked, must the soul know nonexistence only by thought. Am I correct?

  Then when does the soul attain truth?-for in attempting to consider anything in company with the body she is obviously deceived.

  Yes, that is true.
  Then must not existence be revealed to her in thought, if at all?

  Yes.

  And thought is best when the mind is gathered into herself and none of these things trouble her-neither sounds nor sights nor pain nor any pleasure-when she has as little as possible to do with the body, and has no bodily sense or feeling, but is aspiring after being?


texts: Which is correct - 'Do you bought pizza last night' OR 'Did you buy pizza last night'?

texts:
Do you bought pizza last night OR Did you buy pizza last night?

When we can say "do you bought" instead of saying "did you buy"? or just a half an hour ago?


texts:
What does 'dreams are made on' mean here? Is 'made on' a phrasal verb?

  We are such stuff as dreams are made on.

  (A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle)


texts: The difference according to the existence of "to be"

texts:
The painting was declared to be a forgery.

(This sounds like a suspicious declaration or the process of declaration after investigating the painting)

  The painting was declared a forgery.

(This just sounds like a decisive declaration)

What's the difference between them?

I think there's a little difference because of "to be", because to me the 1 seems to convey a suspicious declaration that the painting might be a forgery, but on the other hand, there doesn't seem to be such a suspicious feeling in the 2 sentence but a decisive declaration that the painting is certainly a forgery.

is my thinking correct ?


texts: Can we use ' 's ' with the names of the cities or towns?

texts:
Which of these can we say?

London's people are happy.
The people of London are happy.
People are happy in London.
People in London are happy.


texts: "We shouldn't stand here" vs "We shouldn't be standing here"

texts:
We shouldn't stand here

and

  We shouldn't be standing here

What is the difference between those two?


texts:
The mayor ordered that appropriate measures would be taken  to combat the problem of swine flu.

In the answer, would was removed because sentence was in subjunctive style.


texts: Word stress in compound nouns changing their meanings

texts:
I’ve learned about word stress and felt confused with the exercise in which there are some compound nouns having the stress in two ways and I have to explain their meanings depending on the stress. For example:

  English ‘teacher: a teacher who comes from England.

  ’English teacher: a teacher who teaches English.

And there are some compound nouns that I have to explain like that, but I think that only native speakers can do because I’ve learned no rule for that. Here’s the exercise:

  ’dark room vs dark ’room

  ’sleeping baby vs sleeping ’baby
  ’leather jacket vs leather ’jacket
  ’baby bro vs baby bro


texts: What does it mean "to which they helped themselves" in the following sentence

texts:
For many years members of that office had paid for the tea or coffee to which they helped themselves during the day by dropping money into an "honesty box".

I understand the meaning of the sentence, but could someone explain the grammar behind highlighted phrase? The wording seems kind of unusual to me.


texts:
Some sentence construction with feel Like
1.Feel like +verb ing

*I feel like dancing (the speaker has a desire to dance )
Feel like something means have a desire for something. It implies desire and it's weak and passive way to express desire. I'm quite familar with this structure.
But ,
2.feel like +to +verb or
 feel like +to be

For example ,
*what would it be like to live forever ?
*what would it feel like to touch a human brain ?
*what would it feel like to climb the mount Everest ?
**what does it feel like to climb the mount Everest ?
*what does depression feel like ?

Now , I'm not understanding what 'feel like 'means in the above sentences (questions ).
 I'm also not understanding why 'would' is used there in the place of 'does ' ?
Please also explain me about "feel like +to +verb or
 feel like +to be" sentence structure?


texts:
I looked up the word "medal" in Oxford Collocations Dictionary and I could not find an example in which "medal" is used with "reach".
The dictionary says:

VERB + MEDAL     ▪ be awarded, collect, earn, get, receive, win    ▪
deserve (often figurative)
▪ She deserves a medal for putting up with him.    ▪ award (sb), give sb, present (sb with)

What I am asking is can I use reach with medal as follows?
He attended the Atlanta Olympics and reached the gold medal.


texts: Can we put the soup / water (or other liquids) on the table?

texts:
Can we put the soup / water (and other liquids) on the table while they are in vessels that hold them?

For example, if my friend brings me a plate with soup, or water bottle, could I tell him "put the soup or the water on the table please" even he doesn't really put directly the soup or the water on the table but he puts there a plate with soup or the bottle of water?


texts: Diffrence between "at the beach" & "on the beach"

texts:
She is at the beach.
She is on the beach.

My teacher once told "at" , I have my doubts if "at" is correct.


texts:
A: He tried to hang himself in his basement about a month ago.
B: What?
A: Yeah. Luckily the pipes ______(1) tied the rope to __________(2) under his weight, so nothing happened.

Which of these would you insert in the dialog for it to be natural?

(1) he / he'd
(2) broke / had broken

For me, it would make sense to use 'he'd' as he had tied the the rope before it broke. And for the second, I would guess that 'broke' would be enough.


texts: "have been here" vs. "have been being here"

texts:
Which one is correct? I know the present perfect continuous tense is for what. My question is here that we should use that tense when we want to say "I was here (a city) for ten years and now I am here as well" we must use the present perfect continuous but we use the present perfect (I've seen in the grammar books):

  I have been here for ten years.

  vs.

  I have been being here for ten years.


texts:
What's the correct alternative and why?
Example sentence:

This isn't a favor to/for me---but to/for you. (Meaning that the one benefited is the other person, not the speaker.)


texts:
Could we say "It's a gift/ present to meet you." or is this impossible to use?

Thx.


texts:
I love freckles. Just name me a thing prettier than freckles!

Would this be seen as a natural-looking sentence? What if we change it thus:

  Just name me any thing prettier than freckles!
  Just name me anything prettier than freckles!

Would these sentences equal in sense to sentence 1: "provide to me the name of a thing that is prettier than freckles"?

Or would they slide towards "change my name to a name that is prettier than Freckles", "start calling me a new name, the one that is prettier than Freckles"?


texts: This bed has not been slept in ..... ? "for a long time by anybody" vs "by anybody for a long time"

texts:
This bed has not been slept in for a long time by anybody.

  This bed has not been slept in by anybody for a long time.

Which is grammatically correct?

Or, is there a difference between the two sentences?


texts:
Just as the nation-state is a modern phenomenon, so is the explosive increase of the human population.
As Lenin claimed, Marxism is strong insofar as it is true.

I would like to ask why in the first sentence the pronoun "it" is omitted ("so [it] is the explosive…") whereas in the second one is used ("insofar it is true"). In the first example "it" would represent "modern phenomenon" as in the second one "it" represents "Marxism".


texts: $2,000 worth of items: "two thousand dollar" or "dollars"?

texts:
How do say this in words?

  A $2,000 worth of items.

If I put it into words: A two-thousand dollar/dollars worth of items.

Which is the correct way here?


texts:
What is difference between these two sentences :
sentence 1 : He has currently been a teacher
sentence 2 : He is currently a teacher


texts: Can "would" be used in affirmative for being less direct?

texts:
Can "would" be used in affirmative form for being less direct?

Situation:
I have got a request from a business counterparty.  After we agreed on the way of taking it forward, I need to pass to my peer to follow it thro.  So, I need to write to inform them and copying my peer.

Says Peter is my peer that will follow it.

Can I say

  Peter would follow it through.

I'm trying to say "Peter will follow it through" in a less direct way.  I would like to make it less direct because Peter is in the email loop.


texts: Will , going to , or something else and why?

texts:
Should i say

  Are you sure you will play the next match ?

Or

  Are you sure you are playing the next match ?


texts: "A silver dollar, find a handkerchief marked ... " - what is the "find a"?

texts:
I am readíing some tales from C.A. Smith, and found the following sentence:

A silver dollar, find a handkerchief marked with Buckingham's
initials, were also round not far from the note-book.

I do not get it, what is the function of the "find a handkerchief" part?


texts: Can a verb "secure" be used in this context?

texts:
Can "Secure your iphones" be used in the context that iphone stocks are running low at a market and one ought to purchase it as quickly as possible?

In Christmas, can a dad say a sentence like "I need to go to Walmart to secure iron man toy before it gets sold out"?


texts:
Is the following sentence correct?

    He has given me a lot of documents to read before the presentation tomorrow.

I think it should be

        He has given me a lot of documents to read before tomorrow's presentation.

Because tomorrow can not be used as an adjective


texts: What does capital 'L' signify in labour?

texts:
Source:https://www.google.co.in/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=opposite+number

  The agriculture minister and his Labour opposite number

Is that a mistake?


texts:
I have bought a car this year, too.

What does this sentence mean? "Me, too," or "I have done something else and have bought too," or "I have something else and a car too," or "this year too." And how do I emphasize one of these aspects in particular?

In my language, if I want emphasize something, I put "too" directly after it. For example, if my friend bought a car and I want to emphasize that I did too, I might say "I too have bought a car this year." If I put the word too after "bought," it means I did some action and bought too, If I put too after "a car," it means "I bought a house and a car, too," and so on.


texts:
A woman is talking on the phone with her children. She hangs up. A man has overheard her conversation and asks: How were the kids?

Would that be natural? Would it be perfectly natural to use "were"?


texts: I am a Dutch author and I am writing a book about Ancient Egypt with lots of dates. My question is: can I use for instance 4,510 B.C.E. instead of 4510 B.C.E. Is there a rule for using the comma in dates?


texts:
Can I say:

There is a shop, market and pharmasy.

I have a car, house and swimming pool.

I mean, could I sometimes not duplicate articles a/an. If yes, then when?


texts:
How should I say
I found a shirt in a drawer and i remembered I put it away three years ago but I'm gonna use it from now on.

The shirt has slept in a drawer for three years.
The shirt has been sleeping in a drawer for three years.
The shirt had slept in a drawer for three years.
The shirt had been sleeping in a drawer for three years.


texts: Does "if at all" mean "if applicable" in this context?

texts:
Tell us how often, if at all, you buy these items.

I searched what "if at all" means, but couldn't find the exact meaning that fits in this context. Does "if at all" mean "if applicable"?


texts:
When Mark first showed himself at the cardinal’s door, he sloped
  up in patched boots and a canvas doublet that had belonged to a
  bigger man.

  Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

What does 'slope up" mean here?


texts: How come "tales" can get 'taller' as in “his tales are getting taller”?

texts:
“You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!” said Fudge angrily. “You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heavens sake, Dumbledore - the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too - his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them - the boy can talk to snakes. Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?”

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I'm just wondering how come 'tales' can get 'taller'? It seems to me that tales are getting longer makes more sense. How should we understand it here?


texts: What is the difference between "month, day, hour or minute after/by month, day, hour or minute"?

texts:
What is the difference between "year/month/day/minute by year/month/day/minute" and "year/month/day/minute after year/month/day/minute"?
According to my research, "year/month/day/minute after year/month/day/minute" seems to emphasize things (especially bad) happen repeatedly.
For example, "She hates doing the same work day after day.".
"year/month/day/minute after year/month/day/minute" seems to emphasize things (could be good or bad) happen a little at a time.
For example, "Day by day his condition improved.". and "Morale was sinking day by day.".


texts:
How many dialogue do we have here?

How many dialogue we have here?

As far as I'm concerned in the answer we didn't have subject we should use  auxiliary  here.


texts: What is the correct tense after "May I know"?

texts:
Which of the following is grammatically correct?

May I know how you solve it?
May I know how did you solve it?
May I know how you solved it?


texts: How to determine whether a (phrasal) verb truly needs a particle?

texts:
Source: A particle along with a verb in a phrasal verb forms a single semantic unit. Particles affect the meaning of the phrasal verb. Prepositions do not change the meanings of their preceding verbs and are independent of them.

pp 108-110  of Plain Words, 2014, by Gowers censures
'verbosity in phrasal verbs'. I want to avoid redundant particles, but how do I determine if a particle's genuinely mandatory?
Please answer in general, and NOT only for the following examples:

1. Does expound need on after? Some of ODO's example sentences use on, but others not.

2. Must jar always be followed by with? This motivated this example.
Suppose that person H thinks farro Healthy, but N thinks it Noxious.
I know that the following's perfectly right: 3. H jars with N.    But why not: 4. H and N jar. ?

Footnote: Particles and prepositions are contrasted in 1; 2;
and p 144, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, 2005, by Huddleston and Pullum.


texts:
During my English test, I wrote the following sentence:

There’re many people in the park. Some are walking; the others are flying kites.

My English teacher says that “the others” is wrong, and the correct word is “others” because “the people in the park” is too broad. Is he right? When should I use “others” instead of “the others”?


texts:
In Russian, I can put a colon before a subordinate clause that clarifies something or gives a reason to what is said in the main clause. For example, I can write something like this,

  There was a bit of a problem: John barely understood what she was trying to communicate due to her thick French accent.

(clarification)

or

  Paul had a very satisfied look on his face: he got an A for his test.

(reasoning)

We call those conjunction-less complex sentences. What do you do in English in such cases? What can I do in such cases? Can I likewise replace conjunctions (like 'because') with punctuation marks in English? (note, I want to construct a complex sentence, please don't suggest breaking it down to two sentences)


texts: What does "jerk awake to dwell on something" mean?

texts:
Harry dozed fitfully, sinking into dreams full of clammy, rotted hands and petrified pleading, jerking awake to dwell again on his mother's voice.

  Harry potter and the prisoner of Azkaban

Harry is having a nightmare of his dead mother. So I guess the part marked in bold means something similar, but don't know what exactly it means.

It's hard to understand this phrase because I don't know why "to" is used here(grammatical role of "to" maybe?), and also because of "dwell on ~".

Does this mean Harry suddenly woke up, because of her mother's voice?


texts: What does "We're all living in America" mean?

texts: Recently I've heard "We are all living in America" in the text of America from Rammstein. Does this phrase make any sense or is there "are" just to fit in the rhytm?


texts: What is the word describing a person who prefers reading on paper than on pdf?

texts:
There is a type of person who prefers reading by text page or printed page rather than pdf file or web browser. Can I ask how come we call this type of person?
Update: I have a look around and see that:
In informal English, we can combine a noun with “person” to mean “I am a person who prefers (noun)” or “My personality is compatible with (noun).”
I’m a people person.
I’m a morning person.
Are you a paper person or a digital person?
Are you a physical book person or an e-book person?
Because this is informal English, the meaning might not be immediately clear to everyone. The speaker may have to clarify their exact meaning.
So is "physical book person" normally used among English speakers and acceptable in informal cases then?


texts: "Will never write" vs "Would never write" vs "Never write"

texts:
What are the differences in meanings and usage in  the following sentences?

  I would never write "america". Because it's wrong.
  I will never write "america". Because it's wrong.
  I never write "america". Because It's wrong.

In my opinion:

No 1. means I would never write 'america' in any circumstances whether in the present or in the future because I know it's wrong. (More emphatic)

No2. means I will never write 'america' in the future because I have known that it's wrong. (Only emphasizes future)

No3. means I never write 'america', it's just a fact that I don't write 'america' (only emphasizes the present)

Am I correct here in the interpretation of these sentences? What are the differences in meanings and usage in these sentences?


texts:
I wonder if I should use are or is in the following sentence:

  The cost savings ____ 50%?

Or should I just say the cost savings percentage is 50%.
Thanks


texts:
It is from this article.

  The Portuguese forward, making his Champions League debut for Juve, appeared to grab Valencia defender Jeison Murillo's hair as they tangled off the ball midway through the first half and referee Felix Brych consulted his assistant behind the goal before showing the five-time Champions League winner a straight red card.

What confuses me there the most is the use of the preposition off there.


texts:
Please, could you tell me the difference between these sentences:

  Why weren't we informed earlier?

  Why were we not informed earlier?

I am not sure about the 2nd sentence actually.


texts:
In FIG. 1, object A is omitted for the sake of brevity. ... In FIG.
  10, as in/with FIG. 1, object A is omitted for the sake of
  brevity.

I would like to know which of as in/with is correct in the sentence above I created, although you may think the phrase "as in/with FIG. 1" is redundant and unnecessary. The result of google search I made indicates both are used almost equally.


texts: Using a verb after ‘is' or verb after 'is'

texts:
I would like to know why there are two verbs in the following sentence:

  All I watch is the weather.

Why do we use 'is' after 'watch' in this sentence? It seems strange that there are two verbs.

If anyone could explain this sentence structure I would be grateful.

Another example would be:

  All you need is love.


texts: "led" or "was leading"? -- "Raheem ____ a happy life after his retirement."

texts:
Is this sentence correct?
"Raheem was leading a happy life after his retirement."
I used past continuous tense here.Can I use past simple tense in this same sentence without changing its meaning?
Like this example -
"Raheem led a happy life after his retirement."


texts: Is the sentence "You wouldn't know if he did" grammatical/idiomatic?

texts:
Google gives you 0 results so I'm a bit skeptic.

Example sentence:

  Speaker A: "My husband has never lied to me."

  Speaker B: “You wouldn’t know if he did.”

(Meaning that Speaker A wouldn't know her husband was lying even if he lied to her. Because he wouldn't have told her.)


texts:
I have always found one of the many definitions of the verb 'cover' to be quite hard to grasp, and this happens when it is used to mean "to be enough to pay for". Besides my finding it strange how an adjective - 'enough' is used to define a verb, I have had some trouble with its usage.

Examples from multiple dictionaries show that 'cover' is used after a noun related to a sum of money, but because there are so few examples provided, I would like to ask you if the sentence below is correct usage of the word:

Please cover me this time, I'll repay you later.

This is how I used to express 'Please pay for me this time, I will return the amount I owe you later'. I have never been corrected using 'cover' in such construction, but perhaps native speakers just didn't want to risk offending me, so I am not too sure if I should continue using it that way.
If it isn't good English, can I change it into something like this:

Please bring extra money to cover the cost for me.

You see, that's the kind of problem I am having, a lot of the constructions I tried to form around 'cover' would sound akward once I try to replace it with 'to be enough to pay for'. Using the above sentence, it would be 'PLEASE BRING EXTRA MONEY TO BE ENOUGH TO PAY THE COST FOR ME.'

So I would very much appreciate it if you can offer me some advice on how to correctly use 'cover'. Also are there any alternatives to the phrase 'pay for'?

Many thanks.


texts: ‘The tears welled up in pair of her eyes.’ I don’t really know how to phrase it. It looks a bit awkward. What is another way to write it?


texts: Is the use of a verb-ing still correct after a comma when the subject is changed?

texts:
I know that usually we use verb-ing after a comma to say the action before the comma and that after the comma happen simultaneously. (e.g. The figure for bananas continued to grow, overtaking that for apples.)

But is the verb-ing still correct when there is another subject after the comma?
I saw a sentence in an IELTS writing textbook: "Most people in both years said their relationships with their supervisors and co-workers were either very good or good, the figure for very good raising from 63% to 70%."

I find this sentence quite strange because I think there should be a "with" after the comma to make it grammatically correct but I am not sure.
Could someone help me with this sentence and tell me whether it is grammatically correct or incorrect? And what are the rules behind your judgement?


texts:
some verbs can be used as nouns,so what differences between verbal noun and gerund?
for example:
1.Winning is not everything. (does "win" work?)
2.Please return it after use.(does "using" work?)
3.Walking is a good form of exercise for both young and old. (does "walk" work?)

please give me the reasons,or if both work,any different meanings? thank you!


texts: "it got me back to using" or "it got me back into using"?

texts:
Which sentence makes sense?

  Quarantine got me back to using my treadmill again.
  Quarantine got me back into using my treadmill again.


texts: What's the antecedent of 'them' - '... to let them have their proverbial consequences'?

texts:
Source: Gibson v Manchester City Council [1979], judgement of Lord Diplock

  I therefore feel compelled to allow the appeal. One can sympathise with Mr Gibson's disappointment on finding that his expectations [,] that he would be able to buy his council house at 20 per cent below its market value in the autumn of 1970 [,] cannot be realised. Whether one thinks this makes it a hard case perhaps depends upon the political views that one holds about council housing policy. But hard cases offer a strong temptation to let them have their proverbial consequences. It is a temptation that the judicial mind must be vigilant to resist.

I first thought that them = hard cases but this is wrong because the disapproving connotation of 'temptation' which (the next sentence says) 'must be vigilant to resist'.

Update Dec 17 2014: Thanks. Since I didn't realise that this was a proverb, please clarify 'their proverbial consequences'? Does it mean 'bad law', as mentioned by the users below?


texts: Please explain the meaning of "it" in this sentence

texts:
I read this on someone's Facebook page, it has no relevance to me but its construction both intrigued and baffled me...

  Thank you, Lord, for letting it rain!

Please explain, if possible, what "it" refers to here.


texts:
Which is correct: "The corollary to something" or "The corollary of something"?
Or are they both correct?


texts: 'must' vs 'would have to' in indirect speech

texts:
Direct speech: He said, "If the flood gets worse we must leave the house."

Indirect speech (book answer): He said that if the flood got worse they would have to leave the house.

I think there should be must/had to instead of would have to, because I read a rule saying we change must into must/had to when we change direct speech into indirect speech.
Correct me if I am wrong?


texts: Is it idiomatic to say "I am also not sure"?

texts:
In my other post I said

  I am not sure if I did it in the right way... I am also not sure if I used the right term to refer to ...

where I put an adverb also in there.

I was trying to express my another uncertainty. And then I am worried about whether the place of the also is grammatical.

Therefor, I searched that on Google Ngram, which turns out to be not as common.

So, is it grammatical and idiomatic to say "I am also not sure"?


texts: Should I use was or were after multiple singular nouns?

texts:
The computed minimum f0 (f0Min), maximum f0 (f0Max) and mean f0 (f0Mean) of each utterance (in Hertz) within all attitude types was/were(?) standardized as follows:...

There are three things before "was/were", but everyone is singular, so, should I use "was" or "were"?


texts:
I have searched a lot on the Internet and it seems this sentence isn't a correct sentence.
Even I've searched for sentences like:

  If you want to get up at 7 tomorrow
  If you want to wake up early tomorrow

and some other variations without any success. Would someone please explain to me what is wrong with this sentence and how I can correct it?

P.S: This is the situation. One of my friends has an interview tomorrow morning and I want to advise him to get up at 7.

P.S 2: I know that there should be a main-clause after the if-clause. Something like: if you want to get up at 7 tomorrow, you should go to bed at 10 today.


texts: A more succinct way of saying "everyone you have on your Facebook friend list"?

texts:
I can't really think of a succinct way of saying this. I don't know if it's because of my small vocabulary, but I really can't think of a succinct way of saying this that would roll of the tongue.

For example:

  I sent a "Happy Thanksgiving" message to everyone I had on my Facebook
  friend list.


texts:
Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale; these, with all the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian sights and sounds, helped to sway me to my wish. With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.   —Melville, Moby-Dick

And what does this "but well to be" mean?

I would like to hear from someone who has read this book.


texts:
As I am doing my 2nd homework task for 8th grade English, I got frustrated by trying to remember the parts of speech for a few words.

Usually Google is really helpful with examples and definitions.

However, I found out today that the word 'was' is a verb!

This is weird, because the word 'was' is often used in a way that makes a verb/adjective 'belong'* to a noun:

  That was awesome!

  I was reading.

See, a verb [I think] is a word that describes an action, right?

  examples of verbs:
  Thought
  Reading
  Looking

I don't see how the word 'was' can be used as a verb. Can someone help?

*I don't really know how to explain it.


texts: "If you asked me, I would apologize and tell you I {am / was} busy"

texts: I was teaching ESL class and came across a sentence "If you asked me, I would apologize and tell you I was too busy". A student in the class asked the reason why "I was too busy" is used instead of "I am too busy".


texts: Do we need preposition "in" or "for" in a Present Perfect sentence?

texts:
Is "I haven't seen him in months" a correct English phrase?
And if it is, what's the difference (if there's any) between that and "I haven't seen him for months"?


texts: What's the meaning of "reach out for sth"?

texts:
In the song of "Four tops" band, the soloist (Levi Stubbs) says "reach out for me". Now I looked for the meaning of the idiom "reach out for" but I found "reach out to" in Cambridge dictionary. Is it the same meaning? because if it is, then I don't understand the meaning in this context. Or maybe it has a different meaning?

Some of lyrics of this song:

  Now if you feel that you can't go on

  Because all of your hope is gone,

  And your life is filled with much confusion

  Until happiness is just an illusion,

  And your world around is crumblin' down;

  Darling, reach out (come on girl, reach on out for me)

  Reach out (reach out for me.)

  I'll be there, with a love that will shelter you.

  I'll be there, with a love that will see you through.

  I'll be there to always see you through.


texts:
In any event, my question remains the same.
In any event, my question remains same.

I think that the fisrt alternative is OK. But why is the definite article used before the adjective without the noun?


texts: Is the usage of "information" in infinitive sense idiomatic?

texts:
-ation sometimes produce the meaning of infinitive.

  For example, conversation means to converse.

But information means facts about a situation, person, event, etc. (Source)

Is it idiomatic to use information in the sense of to inform?

Example:
This is not the right way for information.


texts: Outsider for people out of a set of cohorts?

texts: I'm reporting the result of a study with specified target cohorts (e.g., people born in 1985, in 1990, etc.). There are participants who don't belong to these target groups (e.g., ones born in 1986) but have participated in the study anyway. Can I refer to them as outsiders ?


texts:
I'm a little bit confused. I know that seen is the past participle of see, and that saw is the past simple. I know also that we use the past participle with the perfect tense.

In my case, I want to talk about an action in the past and so I feel the right sentence is:

  .....the one seen at the beginning is ....

However, since I'm talking about a past action, I think that the right sentence may be:

  .....the one saw at the beginning is ....

 Thank you in advance for your help :)


texts: How to describe "the state of being close to death"?

texts:
Today I heard the sentence:

  We recover stray animals from near-death.

But the use of near death seems quite awkward to me.

Can I use near-death as an adjective and make phrase like, near-death state?

How would a native speaker describe this?

Thanks in advance.


texts: "all empires will suffer the same fate should the lessons from history go unlearnt"

texts:
"The essay delves into the reasons for the rise and fall of empires and concludes that all empires will suffer the same fate should the lessons from history go unlearnt"

The bold part of the sentence seems kinda vague and the way "should" was used here just didn't feel grammatically correct to me.  I'd like to know if it feels the same for you or if not, if it's my fault not to get it right then, could you paraphrase that part for me to easliy grab?


texts: How do I choose the most proper word from several synonyms?

texts:
Please help me to find a way to find out the most proper word from several synonyms.

I mean, generally, Is there a way to understand that which word is more proper that the other ones?

For example, from the words below, which one is appropriate for using in a story book, news, and in a conversation?

Bewitching, fetching, attractive, charming,


texts: Trying to say how long it takes to go somewhere and back again

texts:
How can I say this line in shorter and better English?

  It used to take 2.5 hours  to travel from my home to University and 2.5 hous to travel home. So, it used to take a total of about 5 hours a day.

How can I say it in a more concise way using standard English expressions?


texts:
Can anyone tell me what preposition should be used after the verb 'struggle' because I've seen both versions like "struggle to" and "struggle with" ?

  A handful of other rich countries are struggling with opioid
  misuse too.

  But pharmacists from hospitals outside Lagos, the commercial capital,
  must travel there to buy morphine. Smaller hospitals struggle to
  pay for the trip.


texts: What kind is that sentence and is it correct?

texts:
Which is correct? :

  1- You do not know who you will fall in love with.

  2- You do not know who will you fall in love with

.
 and

  1- You do not know where you will live.

  2- You do not know where will you live.


texts: What does the word "that" refer to in this sentence?

texts:
Consider the following sentence:

  Certain gram positive bacteria can be associated with oil glands that play a role in acne and skin disease.

I'm wondering what does the word that refer to. Is it 'oil glands' or 'certain gram positive bacteria'?


texts: Referring to supervisors/advisors in internship (Similar to French terms "promoteur" and "maitre de stage")

texts:
I am starting to draft the writing of my internship report which I do in English. On first page, I must mention two names: the one of the professor who must have an eye on me during the intership ("promoteur" in French) and the one of the person who is responsible of me inside the company ("maitre de stage" in French).

How would you express those ideas?

Equivalent to "Promoteur": sponsor, proponent, or perhaps promoter ?

Equivalent to "Maître de stage": internship supervisor, adviser, articling supervisor, tutor ?


texts: Recently I've heard someone say "Off I go." At first it sounded a bit strange, then I've realized maybe it could be a saying. Or maybe not. So here it is my question: Are there any other sentences, or can I form sentences where it is allowed to start with a preposition?


texts: "A group of words that stand together as part of a sentence"--what does "that" refer to?

texts:
In the following sentence, do we use "stand" or "stands"? Are we referring to the phrase or to the group of words?

  A phrase is a group of words that stand together as part of a sentence.

What is the difference between "that" as a subordinator and as a relative pronoun?


texts:
An ELL post says

  That doesn't mean I necessarily am going to buy a Ferrari, it's just an option. If I said "If I won a million dollars I would buy a Ferrari", I mean that I necessarily am going to buy a Ferrari. I will buy a Ferrari.

which puts "necessarily" in between "I" and "am going to".

Per Cambridge Dictionary, there are at least eight different kinds of adverbs and these are adverbs of manner, adverbs of frequency, adverbs of time and place, adverbs of relative time, adverbs of degree, adverbs of quantity, adverbs that focus, adverbs that function as attitude markers.

Although the adverb "necessarily" is not in that list, I guess I could consider it as a degree adverb, as "necessarily" has a similar meaning to "absolutely" and the latter is in that list.

Such an adverb usually appears after modal verb, which is "am going to" in the quoted example.

So, is the following version the right position of "necessarily"

  I mean that I am going to necessarily buy a Ferrari.

update: thanks to @Foogod

Google Ngram gives this plot


texts: "{which/which language} I can't understand"

texts:
He sometimes speaks Spanish, which I can't understand.

  He sometimes speaks Spanish, which language I can't understand.

Which sentence is correct? Or are all of them possible?

How about the following:

  He sometimes speaks in Spanish, which I can't understand.

  He sometimes speaks in Spanish, which language I can't understand.


texts: Is "You alright?" (without "are") acceptable?

texts:
I'm having a hard time figuring out which is the correct form of asking this kind of question. I mean speaking strictly, this doesn't sound right: You alright? or You eaten anything? compared to Are you alright? and Have you eaten anything?.
So please enlighten me. Are those both forms correct or just something which is ignored for the sake slang speakers?


texts:
A picture above two pictures shows a quadruple circle. Can I describe the two picture below the first picture 'there's half of a quadruple circle'?

this picture is additional to the original post.


texts:
In English grammar, ‘generic reference’ is used when you make a reference to all the members of a class of people or things .

So I can say "A lizard is like a dinosaur in appearance" and "Lizards are like dinosaurs in appearance" as well.

But I often see "I like bananas" in English. Can I change it to "I like a banana"?


texts: "A handful of soldiers is/are always better than a mouthful of arguments." -- which verb fits here?

texts:
Which verb to use, 'is' or 'are', in the following case?

  A handful of soldiers is/are always better than a mouthful of
  arguments.

The original sentence, that I've got uses 'is'; I wonder why, and why not 'are'?

Could we use either? One in one context, other in some other context? Please explain!

On the contrary, I've got the following cases when 'a handful of'+plural is followed by a plural verb;

Only a handful of activists are articulate in our union.
Only a handful of people know the fact.
Only a handful of men want to take childcare leave.

Edit: I think the feeling that it might take a singular verb might be coming because the sentence sounds like;

  A hand full of soldiers is always better than a mouth full of
  arguments.


texts: "Neither they nor I am going to buy lunch"

texts:
I know the verb should agrees with the closest noun (or pronoun). But I feel "are" is better with the following context.

Anyway, which one of them is correct and more common?

  Neither they nor I am going to buy lunch.
  Neither they nor I are going to buy lunch.

Update:
I know it is better to rewrite the sentence in another way to avoid this scenario.

Is the secound one grammatically correct?


texts: What is the correct preposition to use after "sign up"?

texts:
For example:

The boy faked his age to sign up in certain websites.
The boy faked his age to sign up to certain websites.
The boy faked his age to sign up for certain websites.
Which one is correct?

(Also, if there's any other mistake in the sentence or if you have any suggestion, do tell.)


texts:
I'm playing with advanced passive voice. Can you check correctness of these sentences and say what is wrong?

  ACTIVE: He has been putting it up the whole life.

  PASSIVE: It has been being put up the whole life.

  ACTIVE: We used to say it in similar situations.

  PASSIVE: It was used to be said in similar situations.


texts:
I'm travelling on/for business/work/tour/pleasure.
I don't know which preposition to use with business/work/tour/pleasure.


texts: What this photograph is of: Why does it sound weird?

texts:
I know that the following sentences are correct:

This is a photograph of me.
This is a photograph of my Brother.
This is a photograph of my new car.

But can I use this as a question? e.g.:

Can you tell what this photograph is of?
Do you know what there photographs are of?

For some reason, it sounds weird to me, but I can't explain why!
Is it just me, or it this sentence just wrong?


texts: Is this inversion? “Seldom is the weather more dramatic...”

texts:
Seldom is the weather more dramatic than when thunderstorms strike.

Is it an inverted sentence?
Or what is it?


texts: What's the natural way to express raising to the power of 2 (e.g.5²) and higher exponents (5³ and , 5⁴)?

texts:
What's the way/s that native English speakers say this number (52)  in words?
Is there a shorter way than "Five to the power of 2"?
For example:

If you take 52 (in words?) and divide it into 5 is equal to 5.


texts:
I am trying to learn how to identify noun phrases, however I am having some difficulty with the following cases.

Case 1:

  The cars were destroyed and thrown away in five days.

"were destroyed and thrown away"  seems to be post-modifier on the head noun 'cars'  and hence  it forms a noun phrase with 'The car'.  Is this correct?  With this logic, isn't 'and thrown away in five days' also a post modifier on 'cars'?

Case 2:

  The dog which John loves is dead

In this case, The noun phrase is 'The dog' only, this is because,  'which john loves'  is not saying anything about 'the dog', correct?

Case 3:

  These wounds require immediate attention by a doctor

The entire sentence is a noun phrase, because  "require immediate attention by a doctor" is a post modifier on 'wounds'?


texts: Which is the main verb in this simple sentence?

texts:
This sentence will automatically tell you that it is written in English Language.

I supposed to use it as an example in my answer, but after much considerations, I became confused.

I eliminated will because it is a modal verb. I also eliminated tell because I thought that it was not referring to this sentence which is the subject and proclaimed written as the main verb.

But then, I also thought that tell should also be able to be a main verb since it tells that it is written in English language. In other word, tells will have the biggest effect.


texts: Is "I switched off television because I had exam the very next day." correct?

texts:
I switched off television because I had exam the very next day.

Had is used for earlier action, so is it correct to use "had" here  ?


texts:
Do I have to use having or was?

  He is having blissful that he had passed exam.

or

  He was blissful that he had passed exam.


texts: If 'Go not' is improper, why 'Mention not' is proper?

texts:
The commonest answer I get after telling someone 'Thank you' is 'Mention not.'

If I answer something like this, many would turn this sentence down

  That place is so exciting, I want to go ~ Go not. There could be a snake.

But then if I answer this in a traditional way, there's no problem!

  Thank you. ~ Mention not. You can ask for such favor any time.

Note: 'Go not' is just one example. I mean all such verb to be used with not. For instance, talk not, walk not, like not, study not, sleep not instead of don't talk, don't like, don't study... and so on.


texts: "more" usage in the sentences from Longman dictionary

texts:
I looked up "more"
However, Which meaning does the under sentences have? I want to figure out it.
The sentences are from Longman dictionary.

used to say that something happens a greater number of times or for longer
used to say that something happens to a greater degree
some other meaning?

• Our future competitiveness and prosperity depend more than ever before on technology and industry.

• Visitors to the centre complained about the service more than last year.

• Anthony needs to practise more than the other students, but he gets it right in the end.


texts: "Take a flying leap": is that down or off something, to your death?

texts:
The question is about telling someone to go take a flying leap (BrE flying jump) for "tell[ing] someone who angers or annoys you to go away." (Merriam Learners). It seems the noun flyer is semantically related with a possible meaning based on the notion of flying jump/leap, as with "he took a flier off the bridge" (Dictionary.com).

Is there any ellipsis of some complement using the preposition
down/off when you say "go take a flying leap" i.e. down to hell/the drain, off the bridge/cliff?. Or is it just the leap
meaning far away+fast?
Is that going away or is there any connotation about going to
die/suicide?
How is it different from the dismissive go curl into a ball an die?
Is it more expressive than telling someone to get lost?


texts: This utopia is still off in the future somewhere - meaning of "off"?

texts:
As with most revolutions, the birth of the Web was very chaotic, and the modifications to HTML reflected that chaos. More recently, a significant effort has been made to reel in the inconsistencies of HTML and to attempt to restore some order to the language. The problem with disorder in HTML is that web browsers have to guess at how a page is to be displayed, which is not a good thing. Ideally, a web page designer should be able to define exactly how a page is to look and have it look the same regardless of what kind of browser or operating system someone is using. This utopia is still off in the future somewhere, but XML is playing a significant role in leading us toward it, and significant progress has been made.

How do you understand that off?


texts:
Today, I've started my long-term treatment. The drugs I'll be taking for the next 365 days cannot be combined with alcohol. Therefore, if I want to inform my friend about that, can I phrase my sentences as follows?

  I have to become a compulsory teetotaler for the course of the next year.

  I have to become a compulsory teetotaler for the next year.


texts: Is No issues and No problem same? If not, Which is better to use based on context?

texts:
I've seen people use no issues and no problem for the same set of question.
Which of the following is better or there is anything wrong with using it.

Example:-

Person1: I would be late for the meeting.
Person2:- No issues, you may join later.


texts:
"My mom loves dogs but not cats."
"My mom loves dogs and cats."

Why or why not should I use a comma in these sentences?


texts: "we have different rhythms" vs "we have different paces"?

texts:
I was talking to a friend (who has passed some of his years in Canada), and I said to him

  It's difficult to meet to discuss about a problem because we have different rhythms.

and he agreed by saying

  ...it is true that we have different paces.

Now, since my English level is still not good enough, or at least it isn't as good as I would like, especially in terms of the richness and rightness of my vocabulary and expressions I should use, I'm not sure if I can say what I said and, if I can, are both sentences equivalent? Is one more common than the other? Which one sounds more familiar to native English speakers? I know that this might be different from country to country, but you can simply mention your country, if you wish.

To be honest, I used the term rhythm because it's also used in my mother language (of course translated). I didn't even know about pace.


texts: How to ask people to sit closer together in order to make a room for somebody else

texts:
Imagine you are going to sit on a bench where two persons have sit in the way that you would be short of room. How shall you ask them to sit closer in the manner that you could sit too? Does my self-made sentence bellow sound natural to you? If not please let me know what a native speaker would say in such a moment:

  Could you please sit a little closer together?

Added: I doubt if using "a little" in the way I used is natural.


texts: "Words are always getting in my way", what does that mean?

texts:
A friend quoted some lines from a lyric of a song.
link to lyric

It goes like this
"But I haven't got a paragraph
Words are always getting in my way"

I wonder, if words are in my way, that means I can pick up the words and use them to make a paragraph.

Wouldn't it be clearer if it written like this "but I haven.t ... Words never show up" ?

Thank you


texts: Using "have" as a causative verb: have someone fooled

texts:
I know that in the following sentences, the actions are most likely not done by the subjects but by someone else:

I had my hair cut last week.
Paul had his car fixed yesterday.

But I'm not sure about this one:

He had all of us fooled.

Does it mean it's someone else that fooled us by his request/order? Is there any difference if I put it this way:

He fooled all of us.

Are there any rules by which we can judge how exactly this kind of usage really means?


texts:
Most honey sold in the market is mixed/diluted with sugar.
Almost all honey sold in the markets is mixed/diluted with sugar.

Which one should be used to express the large amount of honey (up to 90%)?

the observation found only 10% that can be classified as pure honey.


texts:
From BBC news,

  The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Mr Musk of breaching a court order to not share information which could impact the financial markets, without pre-approval.

Is the to here the equivalent of in order to?

Or does the entire infinitive phrase adds information to order , telling us what kind of order was breached.


texts:
In making the link between gaming and work, the economists point to compelling data.

Here, why " in making" is said? Why not only " making"?


texts:
I found two dictionary definitions for this phrase:

Everyone or everything except those mentioned. All but the weakest plants survived the hot weather.
Almost. In some places, bus service has all but disappeared.

However, how can one figure out what is meant in the following examples?

  Society is all but rude, to this delicious solitude.

Does that mean that Society is almost rude,  or Society is anything except rude?

  It is all but impossible.

Does that mean that It is almost impossible or It is anything except impossible?

  He was all but dead when we found him.

Was he almost dead, or definitely not dead?


texts: What does "cycling through" mean when talk about compare and choose from a set of candidates?

texts:
In the middle of a PCA algorithm course, the lecturer is comparing a set of candidates.

It sounds like the lecturer is saying

  ... here I'm plotting the original data set with their corresponding
  projections on two one-dimensional subspaces and I'm cycling through a
  couple of options of subspaces ...

What does "cycling through" mean in this case?


texts:
From episode 1 of the television series The Walking Dead:

Context: Police chase a car with three criminals inside. A bunch of them some distance away place a spike strip across the road. The car runs over it, starts swerving, turns over a couple of times. The three dudes come out of the car and start shooting at the police officers. One of them takes a bullet but the vest he's wearing saves him.

  — Rick!
  — I'm all right!
  — I saw you get tagged, man. That scared the hell out of me.
  — Me too.

What does that expression really mean? Is this slang? Something to describe a situation when someone gets shot?


texts: Is there any rules of adding "please" in making requests?

texts:
There are some expressions that can be used in making requests, but I'm a bit confused about adding "please". Is the use of 'please' only possible if the sentences use modal "can and could"? and would it be possible to add "please" in  the following sentences?

Is it OK if I use your phone for a minute, please?
Would you mind if I borrowed your new camera, please?
I was wondering if I could borrow your novel, please.


texts: Is it correct to say "I am in the wrong"?

texts: as in "I assume to have good knowledge on his biography (example). But now I realize I am in the wrong."


texts:
Are my sentences correct? Can I use them instead of "Do you exercise?"
1."Do you do any exercise?"
2."Do you do exercise?"
3."Do you do any exercises?"
4."Do you do exercises?"
I am asking about BrE.


texts: Is there something odd about this phrase: "these problems"?

texts:
I wrote this sentence:

  Beside the main content, a web page may comprise of distracting parts such as ads, animations, logos, that can degrade the readability of the main content and pose difficulties to readers.  In addition to these factors, colour contrast, font style, letter spacing, layout, line height and length of the content are among of the other factors that affect the readability of a web page. These problems could be more serious for specific population such as older adults, visually impaired users, non-native readers (those reading a page in a non-native language).

I guess the bold phrase should be common when someone want to say, the problem is more serious for specific group. but I wonder the Google results for it is just 2 case.

Are there better alternatives for my purpose?

Update: As I searched more "the problem could be more serious" (119000) and "the problem is more serious" (about 8 million results). I am convinced that I'd better use the latter phrase, but why so much difference? is "these problems" that odd?


texts: what does "all he likes "mean in this sentence

texts:
I'm quite puzzled by  "all he likes" in the following sentences. What does it mean ?

But were the protests to start to spread from the far east, Mr Putin would face a similar calculus. He can arrest and intimidate the elites all he likes. source


texts:
I would like to use the verbs like " to participate" or " involve" without an object in a clause because I already mentioned what people will participate in preceding clause in a sentence. Should I add the word "in" at the end of the sentence in this case?

For Example:

  There will be various activities during the fair and teachers will
  encourage students to participate/ be involved.
  There will be various activities during the fair and teachers will
  encourage students to participate in / to be involved in.


texts: pronounce 'have': thirty nations [have] gathered

texts:
Thirty nations, including China and Russia, have gathered in Paris for talks about the threat posed by the terrorist group Islamic State.  (Aussie ABC; original)

Is the ‘have’ pronounced? It seems like there’s no sound at all about ‘have’, or it sounds like RUSSIA’VE [rʌ́ʃə(v)]. I don’t want to know how to pronounce like him but how he is pronouncing now. Which way does he pronounce?


texts:
What are the different meanings of ''promise'' in past simple and present perfect?
I think they are not different when translating to my language, but it must be different right?
There are two examples
1. The college principal promised to look into the matter.
2.The government has promised a full investigation into the disaster.


texts: Is "Next time try something in a script file should be more precise." a valid sentence?

texts:
Give the sentence

  Next time try something in a script file should be more precise.

It looks like "try something in a script file" is the subject. But why can it be a subject?

I use all the grammar analysis tools I can find online to check this sentence. They all think this is valid.

Edit

The context is that:

  Someone was trying to do something in a specific way.

  I tell him that this is not precise, he should try something in a script file, this action should be more precise than that specific way.

So I am confused about the comments, is this sentence valid or not grammarly?


texts: How can I ask a question about the timing of a meeting so that the audience understands that they do not have to accept it?

texts:
How can I ask a question about the timing of a meeting so that assumes there is a possibility to not accept it?

For example, I'm scheduled an appointment for Monday. Something has happened and it would be better if I postponed it to Tuesday but it is still possible on Monday.

Is that correct to say:

  "I had only a question regarding timing of our appointment and please feel free to answer; Is that also possible that we meet on Tuesday?"


texts: Could "She didn’t want to cook because it was her birthday" be interpreted in two different ways?

texts:
She didn’t want to cook because it was her birthday.

I think above sentence could be interpreted in these two different ways.

She wanted not to cook, because it was her birthday.
She wanted to cook, not because it was her birthday.

Are both these right?


texts: What does the phrase "down in the mud" mean here?

texts:
It would be a great help if you could make the meaning of the phrase "down in the mud" clear to me in the following text:

Right, he’s got a long way to go. He’s a bounty hunter, so he’s down there in the mud. Much like westerns and samurai films, the show is about characters who are surviving while surrounded by people who aren’t necessarily the nicest – and dealing with situations that threaten to compromise their integrity. Watching them grow is baked into the western tradition.

The text is from the description of the show The Mandalorian, which is the first-ever Star Wars live-action TV series.

Thank you for your time.


texts:
Is it possible to ask about the part after "that" ?

  What are you sorry that you couldn't do?

  Where are you happy that you will go?

  What friend of yours are you happy will come to visit you?


texts:
In a sentence like "The topic has to be interesting for you" "is to be" can be used instead of "has to be"?
Is it correct, is it sometimes used or neither?


texts: The babysitter read we/us a story about mermaids

texts:
Is the answer we or us?

The babysitter read we a story about mermaids.

or

The babysitter read us a story about mermaids.


texts: "discuss certain matter" is there any mistake in this sentence?

texts:
Find the mistake .. :
We said we were discussing certain matter then.

so what about this answer:

We said we were discussing a certain matter then.

do you think the question is wrong and there's no mistakes in the sentence? and what about the answer?


texts: Is "deep" an adverb in "They dug the well deep." or something else?

texts:
They dug the well deep.

What is "deep" in that sentence? I think its adverb but I stood wrong, help me someone!


texts:
The Henna tree has two special qualities: decomposing due to its warm watery essence, and constipating due to the cold earthly essence it contains.
Healing with The Medicine of The Prophets

I don't understand the meaning of "constipating here".
There are only two definitions of 'constipate' in Merriam-Webster:

Definition of constipate
transitive verb
1: to cause constipation in
2: to make immobile, inactive, or dull : STULTIFY
so much clutter … will tend to constipate the novel's working order
— The Times Literary Supplement (London)

I think both definitions aren't suitable for this context, but I'm not very sure. The word "decomposing" is also weird here. I don't think a tree decomposes just because of its essence.


texts:
I was thinking, "wielding a bow skill" is called "archery", "forging better swords, bows, armor and stuff" is called "smithing", but what about "wielding a sword" or "wielding a crossbow" or "wielding armor"?

Are there names for other skills including these I've asked about?

P.s. I want to classify different skills into categories. Like for instance "wielding a magic staff" and "mastering using scrolls" as well as "skills in stealing" and those I have mentioned earlier.


texts: Is it ok to say "The actor Tom Cruise's face shape is square"?

texts:
Ok, I often hear

  I am Teacher Tom.

So I can deduce that I can say

  I am actor Tom.

Then, my question is that:

Can I say

  The actor Tom Cruise's face shape is square?

I feel it a bit awkward. But I don't want to say a long sentence like this

  Tom Cruise is an actor whose face shape is square.


texts: "Government-issued" vs. "issued by the government"

texts:
I have a sentence improvement question :

  For a week last month, the team's 20 players were stranded because the  government-issued passport is not up to international standards.

I am confused between these two options:

  A) government-issued passports were not up to international standards.
  B) the passports issued by the government were not up to international standards.

For me both sentences convey same meaning but my book says option B is better.
How is B better than A ?


texts: using two passive verbs with a same subject

texts:
I have problem with the statements like the following:
-These two parameters are selected and changed ...
-These two parameters are selected and are changed ...
which one is correct?


texts:
The following sentence is from my discrete mathematics textbook:

Each rational number has as inﬁnitely many representations as a ratio.

Is this correct? Are there various degrees of infinitely many, or am I misunderstanding?


texts:
I was thinking about talking about (something)

Is this structure correct? It does seem awkward but I don't see anything in this sentence for it to be grammatically wrong. And how about this:

I was talking about talking about (something)

If I was talking about a specific thing one week ago and I just talked about how and what I was talking that day yesterday, so now I am telling one of my friends that yesterday I was talking about talking about (that thing). Is this grammatically correct?
For example;

1st.December.2020- A famous group was talking about disbanding(within themselves)
7th.December.2020- They revealed it to the public that they were talking about disbanding.(They didn't actually as they decided not to)
10th.December.2020- I see someone rewatching the video of them of 7th.December and I asked him "3. Isn't it where the band was talking about talking about disbandment" because in that video itself they are not talking about disbanding they just said they were talking about it.


texts: Is it okay to use emphatic "do" right before "am"?

texts:
Is it okay to use emphatic "do" right before "am" or is it a nonsense in English?
Does this text, for example, sound unnatural in English?

In my posting here I am not trying to be on Beth's or on Jack's side,
but what I do am trying is to stay objective.


texts: Should I use "gives" or "give" in the following statement?

texts: The results gives us the operating frequency and range.


texts: 'Or the best place I've ever lived?' Or maybe 'The best plave I've ever lived in?'  I'm not sure, thanks.


texts: "So as to make difficult the test" or "So as to make the test difficult"

texts:
Can one use (a) instead of (b)?

a. We changed the questions so as to make difficult the test.
b. We changed the questions so as to make the test difficult.

Or can one use (c) instead of (d)?

c. We changed the questions so as to make more difficult the test.
d. We changed the questions so as to make the test more difficult.


texts: What does “an inch or two off in the back” mean at a hair salon?

texts:
Context : Mom and her daughter went together to the hair salon. and Mom is telling hair dresser her requirements about daughter's haircut.

Mom : I would like to see some layers around her face to accentuate that fabulous bone structure.
Maybe an inch or two off in the back, but leave the length, followed by some honey-blonde lowlights all around.

In this conversation,
what does the part in bold mean? Could you turn the sentence into more easier detailed sentence?
In this sentence, how does 'off' work and mean?


texts:
He was after tuition. He was picking him up to home.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

  "I am sending you home."

I told him as I will go to work after that.

Can send use on person? We usually say send for things. How about person?


texts: Present perfect continuous and finished (or not) actions

texts:
I'm a little bit confiusing about actions in present perfect contiunuos senteces.
I would like to understand if the actions are finished or not, for exampre if I say:

Tom have been playing football
Tom has been playing football

What are the differences between the above sentences?
Does Tom playing football rigth now or he has just finished?
Thank you.


texts: What does "is a factor of" mean in this sentence?

texts:
Image quality is a factor of screen size, dot pitch, width of viewing angle, response rate, resolution, and color depth. (from New Perspective on Computer Concepts 2018, P136)

Does it mean "is determined by"? If so, why?


texts: Some questions about "sign onto carve a canal"

texts:
From NPR
It's the very first words of the article.

Finally, this hour, a Chinese company has signed onto carve a canal across Nicaragua creating an alternative to the Panama Canal.

I think "sign" here means to make an agreement with another, right? But I feel somewhat odd about the word "onto". I don't encounter the word too much comparing to "to". So there any difference if I change "onto" to "to" here?

Is "carve a canal" a habitual expression? From the dictionary, I know that carve means to make an object or pattern by cutting a piece of wood or stone, using it in a canal makes me feel strange, how about dig a canal?


texts:
Consider:

  1.A He is a good teacher.

  1.B He is a fine teacher.

  1.C He is a nice teacher.

  2.A It's a pair of good shoes.

  2.B It's a pair of fine shoes.

  2.C It's a pair of nice shoes.

I'm wondering which word is strongest in tone when these words are applied to a person or a thing.

What emphasis does each of them have?


texts: Sport teams classifications based on age

texts:
How do you usually classify different sport teams based on age?

In my country, we always for all sports have four and sometimes five classes which would be determined by players' minimum and maximum age:

  1) Children team
  2) Adolescents team
  3) Youth team (which its players are older than the previous one)
  4) Adults team (usually the oldest and/or most experienced players of a club)

I wonder if you could let me know about your standards too and explain them in a manner that I was able to equalize these standards of ours and yours.

Thank you in advance.


texts: It was a long, long drop -- meaning of "drop" here

texts:
He didn't want her watching him as he jumped off. So long as no one was watching he would be able to say afterwards that he had slipped and fallen by accident. He peered over the side of the ship. It was a long, long drop.

Source: Roald Dahl: Dip in the Pool

I do not fully understand the last sentence of my excerpt. None of the meanings of the word "drop" make sense to me here. Given the context (the man is preparing to jump off the ship) the only explanation is that the sentence describes the protagonist's assessment regarding the height from the side of the ship to the surface of the sea. Am I right?


texts: Got with present perfect tense and possessions

texts:
"We got a dispute already open for that trade."

(An automated response to me trying to "re-open" an already opened dispute)

Is it an appropriate usage of got (past tense) with the present perfect tense "already" and "open" in the response? The sender of the response does not own the trade but they do own the dispute.

Is this mainly an AE expression? If so, how can I make it a more of a broad English response?


texts: Help understanding a sentence from "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis

texts:
The trouble about argument is that it moves the whole struggle onto the Enemy's own ground. He can argue too; whereas in really practical propaganda of the kind I am suggesting He has been shown for centuries to be greatly the inferior of Our Father Below.

The first sentence makes perfect sense, it says that arguing will make the "Enemy" more defensive(of that nature). The second part: " whereas in really practical propaganda of the kind I am suggesting He has been shown for centuries to be greatly inferior", does not make sense.


texts:
I know 'user' is a countable noun and 'users' is plural. So my logic is that it should be 'equal' but I see many instances that people use 'equals' instead. Are people using it incorrectly or is there some usage I am not aware of?

  More users equals more profit, as simple as that.

  More users equal more profit, as simple as that.


texts: Word-usage - May, might and Could (For if clauses and Non-if clauses)

texts:
I've been searching about this for a long time, but the answer is not clear. Is there a difference between May, might and could?  And, even further - Is there a difference when they are in a conditional sentence?

When I saw some posts on the internet, I just saw that the three are for possibilities. But, at school (and in some posts, too), I saw that may is different from might (might expresses a low possibility and may expresses a higher one). But , posts in which includes Could  , there's no degree saying which shows a high possibility or a low one.

See these examples:

  If I go to Brazil, I may eat Brazilians' food.

  If I go to Brazil, I might eat Brazilians'food.

  If I go to Brazil , I could eat Brazilians'food.

Is there any difference? Thanks in advance


texts: Do we call the tiny part running from the knot to the open-end of a balloon "the stem of the balloon"?

texts:
After blowing up a balloon, in order to prevent the air coming out you have to tie its open-end as shown in the picture.
Do we call the tiny part running from the knot to the open-end of the balloon "the stem of the balloon", e.g., "hold the balloon by its stem"?


texts: Using right form of the verbs in sentences

texts:
What is the difference between "We are decided" and "We decide".

Thanks in Advance.


texts: Are words asterisked because they're vulgar, or because of the concept being referred to?

texts:
Some words get asterisked. For example, it's not uncommon to see "f***" or "sh*t".

But is it because of the vulgar word being used, or is it because of the concept being referred to? For example, would the word "dick" be equally, or more likely, to be asterisked than "penis"?


texts: why we use "to be" and "to be + past participle"?

texts:
The children were to be driven.
Nicholas was not to be of the party.

I could not understand what are the meanings of these sentences? why these sentences have been used "to be driven" and "to be" in two sentences respectively.
Please help me to understand this. Sometimes I feel like this is like a passive voice, but I have a clue.


texts:
Which word is more idiomatic with a problem, to do or to make?

  I don't like to do/make problems for people.


texts: What is the difference between "tell me" and "I am told"?

texts:
What is the difference between "they/people tell me" and "I am told"?
or Do they similarly indicate a passive meaning?


texts: What is the expression that is less harsh than "lost my hope"?

texts:
Consider the following scenario:

  The service centre of a very popular product X is very bad in every aspect of customer satisfaction; in fact, just once, I submitted my product for fixation, they took almost 2 moths to return it to me and finally when it reached my hand the transportation had made it even more worse. The experience of only that time has made my pivot of belief feeble (or) my faith weak upon the product. If this happens one more time, I would surely loose my hope on them.

I don't feel the bolded parts are the right way to express this feeling. It's like, I still did not lose my hope, but if the same thing happens one more time, I surely will.


texts: The phone case is black with silver... - which sentence is correct?

texts:
The phone case is black with silver additions.

  The phone case is black with silver decorations.

  The phone case is black with silver additives.

  The phone case is black with silver ornaments.

  The phone case is black with silver accessories.

The picture is something like this:

Which sentences are correct? What's the difference between ornaments and decorations?