texts: What does "so take it" mean in this dialogue?

texts:
Teacher: Don't interrupt.  Who's teaching in this class, you or me?
Student: You are. You are the Teacher, so take it.
Teacher: Thank you.
Does it mean "so continue" or " so do it" ?
Thank you


texts:
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe applicants are half as likely to get selected for a Ph.D.

why selected is used in above sentence why not select is used.


texts:
I helped my mother wash the dishes after dinner last night.

May I know last night is past, why wash is present?


texts:
I'm the person who like concise, and don't like the literature style stuffing in lots of irrelevant information to distract you from the main idea. So when I saw a book called "No bullshit Java", I know that's exactly the kind of writing style I prefer, both reading and writing.

However, that "No bullshit" is kind of stronger than my tolerance. Is there a better phrase that can convey the idea that I don't like those "bullshit", but not as strong?

Example usage:

  I read a very useful blog, but there are so many distraction there that it is very easy to miss a step. So I'm documenting it again in my (no-)____ style.

PS. I know I can use the word "concise", but I do want it to be more vivid than that, but not as colorful as "No bullshit". :-)


texts:
In the video on Youtube at 0:16, the speaker seemed forget to read out "and", I only hear "liked a challenging came up", rather than speak "liked a challenge and came up"?

More examples like 0:05, I only hear " dəd ventures"  rather than clear pronunciation.

I am very puzzled, the pronunciation of single word and the word in a sentence are quite different, how can native speaker tell the difference? Almost all the English language learner has this problem, how can I solve it?

My question: please analyze the examples I mentioned, and try to give us possible tips
Thanks a million！

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skM37PcZmWE


texts: A phrase to validate one's awareness (or knowledge) about some event

texts:
I am looking for a phrase to validate other person's awareness about something in a formal and polite way, like:

  "Your alarm went off and disarmed right after. Are you aware of this?"

Or:

  "Someone disabled your security system through the dashboard just now. Did this happen within your knowledge?"

I usually make calls with institutional customers and both examples sound like I am missing something.

I would be most grateful if I could find a phrase that is more suitable.


texts:
Yesterday, I received an email from Sun Jay, a sales manager of Panasonic, the leading manufacturer of robotics arm in the United Kingdom, on the status of the visit of our client to his factory.

Please comment on the article usage of above sentences -- a sales manager means that there are many sales managers in Panasonic, is it correct?


texts: I'm not feeling like VS I don't feel like

texts:
As far as I know, two phrases are accepted (I'm not feeling like OR I don't feel like), but I don't really sure about the point of difference, my guesses are:

  I'm not feeling like dancing...- now (not in general)

  I don't feel like dancing ...- in general

Question:

Are my guesses right? if they aren't, correct them please. Thanks


texts: I am wondering if the holes in flutes have a particular name. I am assuming that all wind instruments share the same name for their holes, but I am not sure what it might be.


texts: Using "since" in past and future perfect tense

texts:
As we usually say in present tense:

  It has been twenty days since I met you last.

In past tense:

  It had been twenty days since I met / had met you last.

Which tense should be used in the subordinate clause?

Now in future tense:

  It will have been twenty days since I meet / met you last.

The present is okay but please explain the past and the future.

Thanks in advance.


texts: It's nothing a little plastic surgery can't fix. <- Double Negation?

texts:
It's nothing a little (something) can't[won't] fix.

I saw this kind of sentences a lot recently but couldn't figure out how to understand those. At first thought, they seem to have meanings such as "(something)" is not gonna help at all because it's too naive, crude or improper way to do that. Am I right? Then again, if my interpretation was correct, wouldn't they violate Double Negation rule? I mean, why don't you use like "It's something a little soap and water can't fix" or "It's nothing a little soap and water can fix"?


texts: "consider something art" vs. "consider something an art"

texts:
There are two meanings of "art" in the Cambridge Dictionary related to this question.

the making of objects, images, music, etc. that are beautiful or that
express feelings
an activity through which people express particular ideas

When it goes with the former, "art" is an uncountable noun while the latter is for the countable.
The former gives this example

Can television and pop music really be considered art?

The latter gives this example

Do you regard film as entertainment or as an art?

I can't tell the difference between them.  Could someone help me on this?


texts: How to make clear the relationship among the relatives?

texts: In English we call the father's mother "grandma", and mother's mother is also called "grandma". How should I make clear the relationship? If people say 'give that present to your grandma', which side do you mean, the father's side or the mother's side?


texts: Why is this sentence correct (I would have said that there is something wrong with the tense)

texts: I am wondering why do we say "It's about time that I did something about that.", because I was expecting the present tense after "It's" and here I don't get why we say "I did".


texts:
Here is the sentence "I walk in once or twice a week, and cycle on the other days".
What does "walk in" mean?


texts: Simple past or present perfect when you are not mentioning the time of action?

texts:
http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/present-perfect/

On this website, they say to use present perfect when the precise time of the action is not important or not known.

So, in the example below, should I use present perfect tense?

I have noticed that there is a scratch on my car, so I have painted my car.

To me the sentence sounds better with the second action being in simple past painted


texts:
The latest UPS “Pain in the (Supply) Chain” survey shows that an
  environment of increasing risks, complex regulations and continuing
  cost pressures are the three key issues faced by the healthcare
  industry around the world and in Asia, where regulatory compliance or
  changing/increasing regulations are the factors that are most driving
  changes in the supply chain.

How to divide the sentence according to meaning? I think it is "The latest UPS 'Pain in the (Supply) Chain' survey //shows //that an environment of increasing risks, complex regulations and continuing cost pressures are the three key issues faced by the healthcare industry around the world /and in Asia, where regulatory compliance or changing/increasing regulations are the factors that are most driving changes in the supply chain." Am I right? I am confused with "in Asia, where regulatory compliance or changing/increasing regulations are the factors that are most driving changes in the supply chain". Is it a phrase? Or I understand the sentence wrongly.


texts: What is the word for something that is little in substance?

texts: What is the word for a movie or some product like a phone which is released/launched with a lot of promotion, or hype, but turns out to be very disappointing?


texts: "Compare with" or "Comparing with" on a title

texts:
I have a title which I am going to compare my approach with another approach namely X and highlight the advantages of my approach in the section.

Which of the following is correct for the title?

  Compare with X

  Comparing with X


texts: About the meaning of the word "groundhoggery"

texts:
The title of this article says,

  UK Prime Minister Johnson to declare Britain can end 'the groundhoggery' of Brexit

So there was no entry in the dictionary nor googling didn't help.

I suspect the word is the combination of the noun "ground" and the verb "hog", defined at 5a or b?

  transitive verb

  1
  :  to cut (a horse's mane) short :  roach

  2
  :  to clean the bottom of (a ship) with a hog

  3
  a :  to cause to arch like the back of a hog
  b :  to cause (as a ship or timber) to bow up in the middle and sag at the ends usually as a result of improper loading or supporting

  4
  a British :  to winter over (young sheep)
  b :  to utilize (an unharvested crop) by turning in hogs to feed — often used with down or off

  5
  a :  to take, grasp, or retain selfishly or in excess of one's due or need

  b :  to consume voraciously — usually used with down

  6
  :  to play (a curling stone) so as not to pass the hog score

  7
  :  to tear up or shred (bulk material) into bits with a hog

  intransitive verb
  1
  :  to become curved upward in the middle like a hog's back — used especially of a ship or its bottom or keel
  2
  :  to act like a hog especially in taking more than one's share

meaning (Johnson's going to stop) people voraciously dig into this matter too much, would it?


texts: Why aren't there any universal rules for Connected speech between consonants & vowels in English?

texts:
Ok, see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq3yfQnllfQ

At 0.:16, you will hear "A for apple" /eɪ fɔː ˈræp.l̩/ --> clearly the speaker linked /r/ & /æ/.

At 0.:18, you will hear "A for ant" /eɪ fɔːr ænt/ --> clearly the speaker did not link /r/ & /æ/.

At 0.:18, you will hear "E for egg" /iː fɔːr eɡ/ & "E for elephant" /ˈel.ɪ.fənt/--> clearly the speaker did not link /r/ & /e/.

SO, why sometimes we do link the last consonant of before word & the first vowel of after word & sometimes we don't?

Or is that because the English ability of the Kid  in the video (even though she is a native) has some limits & that is why she didn't know how to link?


texts: can I say "due to that that ..." if not why?

texts:
"we can't go there due to that that they wont be there."

why are we always to use "due to the fact" cant we just say due to that or due to that that? because sometimes it is not "fact" I give reason for but only a possibility. fact is too certain to me. isn't that so?

thanks


texts:
When his parents are out of town, my nephew has freedom. He hangs around with his friends until very late. He does all kinds of crazy things like flipping a light switch on and off for fifteen minutes and skateboarding on a highway. I am going to describe him.

(1) He is unruly and unrestrained.

(2) His behavior is unruly and unrestrained.

Am I using the right adjectives?


texts: On a sentence from "To Haydon", a poem by Keats

texts:
Here's 'Addressed to Haydon', a poem by John Keats:
High-mindedness, a jealousy for good,
 A loving-kindness for the great man's fame,
 Dwells here and there with people of no name,
 In noisome alley, and in pathless wood:
 And where we think the truth least understood,
 Oft may be found a "singleness of aim,"
 That ought to frighten into hooded shame
 A money-mongering, pitiable brood.
 How glorious this affection for the cause
 Of steadfast genius, toiling gallantly!
 What when a stout unbending champion awes
 Envy and malice to their native sty?
 Unnumbered souls breathe out a still applause,
 Proud to behold him in his country's eye.

I'm not fully sure of the meaning of these two lines:

What when a stout unbending champion awes
Envy and malice to their native sty?

Do they mean

What, for example, happens, when a stout unbending champion awes
Envy and malice to their native sty?

As an aside, I'm also curious how should one rhyme 'gallantly' and 'sty': should one end them both in [ai] or in [ee]?


texts:
If a teacher teaches a subject teaches a subject, we say "(s)he teaches X". But if a few  classes are not about  subjects like science or math, like: Sports or SL&LP (Student Leadership and Life Skills Program) etc, can take be used:

Like:

  He takes Sports (or SL&LP).

And what about other subjects?

  He take Science. (or any other subject)

Is the use of "take" natural?


texts: I've always thought that the phrase 'long time no see' was wrong and unacceptable, until one day I heard this phrase in an American movie. I want to know, is this phrase  right or not?


texts: grammar term to refer to a "turns" in meaning?

texts:
According to Cambridge Dictionary, "hairpin turn" means "a bend in the road that is so sharp that it almost turns back in the opposite direction" and "turning point" means "the time at which a situation starts to change in an important way".
Semantically, "having said that" is the "hairpin turn" or "turning point" in meaning in the following sentence.

He forgets most things, but having said that, he always remembers my birthday.

Is there a grammar term to refer to this kind of point implying "turns" in meaning?


texts: Does 'but' require a comma before it in this context?

texts:
From the Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation

  Adverbs are words that modify everything but nouns and pronouns.

I'm okay with this structure because I use but quite often in this way...

  I can bear anything but hunger (The hunger is the only thing I cannot bear, rest all is okay with me!).

But I remember that a native speaker did not understand this at first and when I explained, she asked me to put a comma before but. Having this said,

  I can bear anything, but hunger - makes sense and is understandable.

If that's the case, the first example from the book is my way and not the way she advised.

Your input please.


texts: 'Would take thousands of years' or 'Will take thousands of years'

texts:
Watching a video clip of youtube channel "In a netshell – Kurzgesagt", I came to have a question on the following sentence in the video.

  With our current technology, sending a human to the closest star would take thousands of years.

Obviously, it is a plain sentence. But the question is, can't it be written as the following sentence? (in which "would" is replaced by "will")

  With our current technology, sending a human to the closest star will take thousands of years.

I guess there are subtle differences in nuance of them, but I can't see it clearly. Can anyone explain them?


texts:
I could not understand this paragraph meaning.

  He might be out of jail at last, but the emotional taint of his
  shameful months of captivity clung to him with a tenacity..that no amount of bathing could banish

I am referring to this
 at last he out of jail. but he in shame of his taint.
But I am not exactly sure which meanings are correct in this context.


texts: How to interpret the noun phrase: "from employing" compared to "if it employed"

texts:
Do these sentences mean the same ?

I think the company would benefit from employing more persons.

I think the company would benefit if it employed more person.


texts: Should I use "I'ld" and the like in official documents like motivation letters or is "I would" better?


texts: What does "pass existence" mean in this context?

texts:
Primitive people, like children and animals, are simply civilized people with the lid off, so to speak — the heavy elaborate lid of manners, conventions, traditions of thought and feeling beneath which each one of us passes his or her existence.

This is a sentence from Aldous Huxley's "Sermons in Cats". I've never seen the verb "pass" used with "existence" before. How should I interpret this?


texts: "To brought" doesn't sound right but the sentence is in the past tense

texts:
I'm a non-native English speaker writing a short story and I would like to confirm if this sentence is correct or not.

"She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath to bring down
her rage."

I feel something is off in this sentence. So the narrative is mainly done in the past tense, however, making the verb 'bring' to 'brought' sounds wrong. Google doc also flags 'brought' as wrong and it wants me to change it back to 'bring'.
'to bring' seems to be a preposition + present tense form but making it to preposition + past tense, "to brought" sounds really odd even though the narrative is in the past.
May I know why "to brought" sounds odd or is it actually correct?
Thanks.


texts: What do Maxell's "XLII-S "and "MX" stand for?

texts:
Does anybody know what Maxell's "XLII-S "and "MX" stand for?

During the height of the Compact Audio Cassette's popularity, Maxell's audio cassettes were held in high regard, producing some of the finest examples of the standard available. The performance of the XLII-S (CrO2) and MX (pure metal particles) cassettes was highly regarded in the pre-digital domestic recording medium.


texts: What do "out for" and "caring" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I'm reading a book which is about salesman. The book has a sentence as follows:

  the traditional view of a salesman who is good with customers will always be that he is only out for selling his products and does not care about customers or relationships with customers (as if selling products is not caring, and as if relationships with customers do not include selling products).

It's hard for me to understand the meaning of "out for" and "caring" in this sentence. Can anyone help me? Thank!


texts: is this info in the dictionary not correct "feeling for something / somebody"?

texts:
Ok, check this dictionary

  [uncountable, plural] feeling (for somebody/something) sympathy or
  love for somebody/something

  You have no feeling for the sufferings of others.

  I still have feelings for her (= feel attracted to her in a romantic
  way).

Ok, it says "uncountable, plural" but the structure is in singular "feeling". Also, example is in singular "no feeling" not "no feelings"


texts: "There is a significant number of computers" versus "there are a significant number of computers"

texts:
I'm writing an article and I have used this sentence.

  […] although there are a significant number of computers […].

After I checked it with an online spellchecker, it said that I should use is.

Should I change the phrase as suggested?


texts:
Why wouldn't you say "tell truth", and it always comes with "the" truth?

You ask someone just to tell truth generally, not something specific. Simply be honest is the main point. Why still need "the"?


texts: “I’m reading so slowly it’s going to take me about three weeks to finish the writing.” - Where is the mistake?

texts:
I was given the following task:

  Correct the mistakes in the forum message:

  Can anyone helping (1)? I’ve just got my essay to write about personality but the articles I’ve found are too difficult for me to read. Then I realized the real problem is my poor vocabulary. When I reed (2) quickly I can’t understand the real meaning of the article and the only way I can understand it is by using my dictionary all the time. I’m reading so slowly it’s going to take me about three weeks to finish the writing (3). What can I do about my English vocabulary? I’m worried so (4).”

(1), (2) and (4) were a piece of cake:

helping – help
reed – read
worried so – so worried

But what about (3)? My teacher told that “the” should be removed (the writing – writing), because, according to her “Gerunds don’t take articles”. With this statement I find it hard to agree – take, for example, the ninth chapter of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” – “The Writing on the Wall” or the ELL question Cases of using an article before the gerund. But what is the mistake then?

The task comes from “Speakout” student’s workbook.

P.S. The book says that the correct answer to question 3 is essay/paper/assignment (type of mistake - wrong word)


texts: What's the specific 'means to our own ends'?

texts:
We must respect our own value
It applies to us too. We shouldn't treat ourselves as a means to our own ends.
And this means that we shouldn't 'end our lives' just because it seems the most effective way of putting an end to our suffering. To do that is not to respect our inherent worth.

Would someone please identify the means here? How does it make sense in this context? How is 'end[ing] our lives' a means? Isn't this the end?


texts: Can we say "The many books have included this topic."?

texts:
I tried to search in Google of the combinational expressions of 'The many things' and "the many books", and I found most of cases these expressions are followed by an attributive clause, like:

  The many things people got wrong

  Thank You for the Many Things You've Done

I suspected that "The many books have included this topic." (without modifier) is wrong, and the article 'the' is redundant here. Can anyone further explain the reason behind, or share different understandings?


texts: Spot vs slot in the context of advertising space

texts:
I am working on a website where visitors can buy a specific place on it. The places are numbered and there are only 1024 of them.
In the text of the website I am currently calling these places "spots" (e.g. "There are only 1024 spots available"), however I started wondering recently if the word "slot" wouldn't be more appropriate.
Do both "spot" and "slot" are appropriate in my context? If not, which one is correct and why?
(here is the website, if needed for additional context)


texts: What is the meaning of this sentence from the book The magic of Thinking Big?

texts:
Few people I know of any age are reaping more from life than this senior citizen who resolved not to got out to pasture.

Also what does pasture mean here.

Thank You.


texts: How should I introduce myself after I moved in to a new place I rented

texts:
Hi I was trying to speak to the super of my apartment and I was wondering how I should introduce myself.

Because I rented this place, should I say something like

  "Hi I am a tenant living in xxxx and I just moved in"

or

  "Hi I am a resident living in xxxx and I just moved in"


texts: Why does "elite" rhyme with "beet" rather than "bite"?

texts: Why is "elite" pronounced /ɪˈliːt/ (rhyming with beet) and not /ɪˈlaɪt/ (rhyming with bite)? Most words that end in ite are pronounced with /aɪ/ — lite, trite, site, etc. — but elite is quite different. Why?


texts:
This page says:

  When you make a telephone call, you ask if you can speak to someone.
  You don't ask if you can 'talk to' them.

  Hello. Could I speak to Sue, please?

But in fact, a lot of native people says

Hello. Could I talk to Sue, please?

See this English teaching video at 4:22

"Can I talk to Phil Watson, please?"

So, who is right?

"Hello. Could I speak to Sue, please?" or "Hello. Could I talk to Sue, please?"? Which one is correct?


texts: When someone substitutes for someone else

texts:
I wonder in the following sentence:

  -1- Dayton was substituted for Williams in the second half of the game. [Source]

Dayton enters the game or exits the game?

The same goes with:

  -2- The coach substituted Dayton for Williams.


texts:
So, what do you think of the application I finished yesterday? Would you correct anything?
  I support your idea, but the client would appreciate it more if it was completed by/with/using/via other software.

What is the best choice here and why?


texts: Past Simple and Past Perfect - 'Was' and 'Had Been'/Cause & Effect

texts:
Which sentence among the following the correct:

  There was always a guard at the door. It had been that way ever since the labratory was established.

My issue with this sentence is that a guard can't possibly have been posted at the door of the labratory prior to its establishment. The labratory was established first; then the guard was posted. Therefore, is it wrong to say it 'had been that way'?

Which is why my second suggestion is:

  There was always a guard at the door. It was that way ever since the labratory had been established.


texts: How do we express we take the net off the ring of a basketball net?

texts:
A simple basketball net for children includes a ring and a net. You have to put the net "on" the ring (I am not sure "on" is the correct preposition here) by sliding the rope of the net "in" or "into" the holes or gaps of the rings (I am not sure "in" or "into" is the correct preposition here)
How do we express we take the net off the ring?
For example, "slide the net out of the holes or gaps to take it off the ring"


texts: 'end up to find' or "end up finding"? Gerund vs Infinitive?

texts:
What is the reason for using "finding" in this sentence and not "to find"?
"These newcomers often end up not (to find)/(finding) the opportunities they are looking for."


texts:
They’ll go snort an eight ball of cocaine and play in traffic...

I didn't find any meaning in reliable online dictionaries.

Is this synonymous with go play in traffic?

  To go away and leave one alone because what is being done or said is
  very irritating.

Could you help me please?

The fuller text is:

  But the only thing that frees us is that truth: You and I and everyone
  we know will die, and little to nothing that we do will ever matter on
  a cosmic scale. And while some people fear that this truth will
  liberate them from all responsibility, that they’ll go snort an eight
  ball of cocaine and play in traffic, the reality is that this truth
  scares them because it liberates them to responsibility. It means that
  there’s no reason to not love ourselves and one another. That there’s
  no reason to not treat ourselves and our planet with respect. That
  there’s no reason to not live every moment of our lives as though it
  were to be lived in eternal recurrence.


texts: Is using 'prior' wrong with booking, appointment, approval etc?

texts:
I don't remember, but someone here on this site commented that you don't require to use 'prior' (or for that sake 'pre') for booking, appointment, approval, permission etc.

I thought it for a while and admit that that is true!

  "You need to have a prior appointment to meet the chief minister" ~ why prior? appointment is appointment, it's always made in advance!

So...

  prior booking = booking  prior appointment = appointment  prior approval = approval  prior permission = permission, and so on...

I want to discuss this with the natives here. Is it redundant to use 'prior' in all such cases. Also, can you come up with an example where using 'prior' does make the difference or it's mandatory?


texts:
Source: Yahoo El Nino Article

Example:

  "If [PDO] transitions back into positive, we'd see a resumption in these more rapid rates of global warming," said Gerald Meehl, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. "Having that shift in the background base state means that the peaks of the El Nino are going to be higher."

What exactly does "base state" mean?


texts: Help to understand: "the headline writer for Cleveland Cavaliers beat writer Chris Fedor’s story in The Plain Dealer did his job Thursday"

texts:
The purpose of a headline, they say in journalism school, is to draw the reader in, so the headline writer for Cleveland Cavaliers beat writer Chris Fedor’s story in The Plain Dealer did his job Thursday.

The sentence in Bold is very confusing to me. It seem to me that beat is the verb of the main clause, but what about "did his job"? Also, how come a writer(for Cleveland Cavaliers) can beat a story(writer Chris Fedor’s story)? It doesn't look logical.

So, I am wondering how to parse the sentence correctly? Maybe, it makes more sense to insert a "who":

  the headline writer for Cleveland Cavaliers [ who beat writer Chris Fedor’s story in The Plain Dealer ] did his job Thursday.

The full source.


texts:
Is the following sentence

This was providential rest and shelter until the moon rose,

which I found in an online dictionary, somehow wrong?

If possible, please show the reasons regardless of whether this sentence is correct or not.


texts: Common names for shoes, which are used in the house

texts:
I was looking in the dictionary for the name of usual indoor shoes which are used by kids in the house. I found 'slippers'. The explanation of the term is in relation to the attributes. Therefore it seems inappropriate to describe flip-flops as slippers. Flip-flops are pretty common in Germany in the house during summer.

Is there a name which includes all different kind of shoes, which are worn in the house?

What are some examples for pretty common shoes used inside the house during summer or winter?


texts: English equivalent of French "quiproquo" (bis)

texts:
This question is related to this one and this other one,
  both regarding the same matter but from distinct points of view.

After reading the above posts I remained unsatisfied because of what I see as a restriction of the scope of the question.
So let me explain how I would like to expose it again.

First of all, it's clear that the English quid pro quo and the French quiproquo are mutually false friends: briefly summarized, the first one talks about actions (exchanging things, mutual behaviour, and so on) while the latter talks about situations (confusion between two persons).
This was widely commented in the posts I quoted, and it's ok.

But the precise question "What should be a good equivalent for the French quiproquo?" didn't get a real and complete answer.
In fact all posts have only took in account its sense of mistaken identity, but implicitly talkin about people only.

I agree this is the true primary sense, directly due to the litteral translation from latin: qui stands for a person (BTW here we can notice the logical consistency: quid stands for a thing, hence the different sense for the whole formula in English).
But here is the point: in today's current French, this first sense has been widened, so it now concerns not solely persons but also events or even things, in somewhat unclear limits.

Here are some examples:

primary sense, about persons

  -On m'a dit de m'adresser à Mr Dupont. C'est bien vous ?
  -Oui mais Dupond avec un "D" : je pense que vous voulez parler à l'autre Mr Dupont, avec un "T".
  -Excusez-moi, c'est un quiproquo.

about events

  -On ne t'a pas vu à la réunion hier.
  -On m'avait dit que c'était demain : il y a eu un quiproquo !

about things

  -J'ai allumé le chauffe-eau mais il n'y a pas d'eau chaude à la douche ! Il y en a pourtant au lavabo.
  -Il y a un chauffe-eau séparé pour la douche.
  -Ah ! Si on m'avait prévenu il n'y aurait pas eu ce quiproquo.

As you can see, in French quiproquo is essentially matter of ambiguity leading to a mistake, whatever it concerns.
NOTE: French readers might criticize my comment, noting that the expansion of the concept of the person to "everything and anything" is at fault. True, but it is equally true that it is the current use!

So, again the question: is there an English equivalent which would cover this entire scope?


texts: What does the idiom 'to give someone away' mean in A Guide to Second Date Sex?

texts:
I've got trouble understanding a line from a British rom-com film titled A Guide to Second Date Sex.
Sorry, a minor spoiler alert, but there is a scene where Laura, the female protagonist tells about her past relationship to Ryan, the male protagonist. She explains that she and her ex-fiance had to break up because it turned out he was gay and Ryan asks whether she saw that coming. And this is the dialogue afterwards:
Laura: Well, looking back now I can kind of see the signs but...
Ryan: Did his boyfriend give him away?
Laura: No, that... That was such a dad joke.
What I can't understand is why Ryan's words were a dad joke. What does 'give someone away' here mean? When I looked up the idiom, all I could find was 'to reveal someone's identity' or 'to hand over a bride to a groom', which I didn't think relevant to this situation. So I'm looking for your help.
Thanks so much in advance!:)


texts: "Yours faithfully" or "faithfully yours"? Which one is the correct one?

texts:
Yours faithfully
  faithfully yours

I wanna know which one is the correct one?


texts:
Everyone learns the

  I before E except after C or as sounded like A as in neighbor and weigh.

But as an English Learner, how much trouble can you get into with this rule?
What else do you have learn to know when to apply it and how to use it profitably?


texts: Is 'in a/the/[name] street' v. ''on a/the/[name] street'' a BrE/AmE thing?

texts:
I used to think that the Brits said 'in [determiner] street' whereas the Americans use 'on [determiner] street'. I believe that's what I was taught in school. However, the other day I checked a few dictionaries and didn't found information about such a distinction but noticed both usages. So, what's the truth? Here are some example sentences from Longman.

I bought this coat at a shop on the high street. [it says it's BrE usage]

They live on Clay Street.

on the other hand

The restaurant is tucked away in a side street.

She had lived in the same street in London all her life.

(from here)


texts: " I would say ... " vs " I think that ... " , are there any differences in meaning or use between saying them

texts: Are there any differences in meaning/usage between when NAmE Speakers saying or replying with " I would say ( that ) ... " vs " I think ( that ) ... " ?


texts: If I say "My message is: you should always speak your mind.", and say another sentence after the period, will that sentence be part of my message too?

texts:
For example:

  My message is: If you want to approach someone, listen to your gut and do it. Nice people are truly hard to find and it is always worth a while to spend 5 minutes talking to them and see for yourself how they are.

This part after the first sentence is also part of "my message":

  Nice people are truly hard to find and it is always worth a while to spend 5 minutes talking to them and see for yourself how they are.

Should I put this sentence in the same sentence as "my message" to tell my readers that it is also part of my message?


texts: Does "would have submitted" (modal and past participle) have any sense of perfect aspect?

texts:
I've always thought like that 'have' between a modal and a past participle is nothing but a grammatical method of indicating the past tense of modal. But recently I saw a video saying that in the example sentence below, 'have submitted' was used not only to show the past of modal verb, but also to imply some vibes somewhat similar to the several usages of 'present perfect form' give off. I mean, such as that the act of submitting has been 'finished' or anything... Is it true?

  What happened? I thought you would've submitted it by now.


texts:
What is the difference between 'predominant' and 'predominating'? Which word would be used in this sentence:

  The opinion assigned to each community could represent the predominant/predominating opinion among the community members.


texts:
I wrote this sentence:

  Content extraction is the process of determining what parts of a web page contain the main textual content, thus ignoring irrelevant items such as headers, footers, navigation bars, advertisements, etc. It (or this ?) has application (or applications?) in indexers and text summarizers.

Should I use "this" or "it", in general when I should use "this" after a sentence?


texts: What does "Don't disperse youself!" mean?

texts:
I encountered this expression in various texts. For example in this book SelfBrand - The evolution: Turn yourself into an authentic brand!, I found the following:

  "One selling proposition". Be specific about your branding proposal. Don't disperse yourself. After all, you've selected a specific target so you need to spread out a precise message. Otherwise, you'll confuse the ideas.

In this context, I think it is an analogous way of saying that one should not deal with too many topics. After all, to disperse means to spread over a wide area/to go in different directions by definition.

Could you tell me if that is correct? Thank you!


texts: Would you say "don't put the foot in the barrier" or "don't put the foot on the barrier" depending on different kinds of barriers?

texts:
There are many types of barriers. Some have very small holes that only a human foot may fit in, some have quite large gaps between the posts  (see the picture)
If a person put his foot in a hole of the barrier with small holes and rest the foot on the bottom surface as shown in the above picture, can we say "don't put the foot in the barrier, please!"?
If a person put his foot on the rail of the barrier with large gaps between the posts and rest the foot on the bottom surface as shown in the above picture, can we say "don't put the foot on the barrier, please!"?


texts: Which is the best choice? You must try to run ( ) as you can on the limited food and water that you have

texts:
You must try to run ( ) as you can on the limited food and water that you have.

  a) as wide
  b) as long
  c) as far
  d) as possible

I deem b.c.d are all right. Which is the best one?


texts: Are fulfilling and rewarding interchangeable in this context?

texts:
A: I'm sorry I couldn't make your job seem just a little but fulfilling/rewarding.
Can "fulfilling" and "rewarding" be used interchangeably here?


texts:
Convincing the CFO often requires speaking the same
  language—an area of growth for most CIOs. Driving change will
  partially rely on being able to sell to your primary investors (CFO,
  CEO, COO, and Board). Get the pitch down. Practice and refine.

I think it means fail and then stand. is it true.


texts: Can 'get stuffed' be used in a more literal way, instead of 'stuff oneself' (with food, for example)?

texts: 'I'm starving! I'm going to go to Chick-fil-A and get stuffed', does it sound okay to a native's ear? British people would use it in a whole different sense but maybe a literal usage of that phrase would be fine with Americans, wouldn't it?


texts:
Is the use of "as was validated" in the following sentence correct grammatically and conceptually? If it is not , kindly suggest ways to make it clearer.

  Fig. 6 displays the comparison between the present numerical results
  (CTB) with the experimental results of Curran and Gato [11] and
  numerical results [12-14], as was validated by other authors [12-14].

Comparsion=Validation


texts: Can I say "Please alter the color on the wall." instead of "Please change the color on the wall."

texts:
As a non-native English speaker, I am often confused about the difference between "alter" and "change".

I know that the following sentence is very natural and correct.

  Please change the color on the wall.

Can I also say as follows? If then, what is the difference?

  Please alter the color on the wall.


texts: What does "a double" mean when connects to alcohol?

texts:
I noticed a line in an episode of the American drama Manifest:

  "If you needed a double to get over it, I'm guessing the hearing
  didn't go that well."

said by a man's colleague, while he was sitting beside the bar table, drinking one glass of wine.

So what does "a double" mean here? Since what he held was just one glass of wine.


texts: Is "well" an adjective or an adverb in "I am well"?

texts: Is "well" an adjective or an adverb in the sentence"I am well"?


texts:
A couple of days ago, I used:

I'd call you

At the end of my conversation, and my teacher noticed that's wrong! Is it technically wrong? I meant to say that I would call you (if I need your help)


texts:
Does a singular noun after the word "between" need an article?

For example in the following interrogative sentence:

  What is the difference between a word to sentence?

I am not sure if I need to put here an article (where I emphasized)


texts:
Today I had an English exam (Egyptian GSEC English exam)

There was a passage about science fiction writing that said:

  Association with real-life events helps the author maintain the suspension of disbelief without which, the story becomes unrealistic....

So here what does the word which refer to? Does it refer to the suspension of belief or to the association with real-life events?


texts: Why “desert” in the following examples are used as uncountable?

texts:
Below are some dictionary examples in which the noun desert is used as an uncountable:

  this area of the country is mostly desert (Longman)

  drought and deforestation are turning fragile grasslands into desert (Oxford)

desert in the sense of a particular arid area is countable. I am wondering why it is uncountable in the examples aforequoted. Is there any subtle change in meaning when it is used as uncountable?


texts:
I just came across a passage that says:

  Occasionally, in certain expressions, when the noun has a gradeable meaning, the indefinite article is dropped:

    'Such lovely countryside (around here)!'
    'Such awful weather (these days)!'
     'We had such fun at Henry's party!'
    'I don't know how you have such patience (when dealing with such awkward customers)

So does such ( without indefinite article) function as very here?


texts:
if I went to ask what are some of the sources of education where a person get knowledge from, how can I say this in a more formal way? I'm not native native English speaker, still learning so I still don't know what are the proper words in this case.
The phase is:

What are some other sources of education that you have done?

so possible answers would be: "I taught myself since age X", "online courses", "I participated of K community" and so on. I'd like to replace "that you have done" by something more formal but feel free to rewrite the whole phase, if you want to do so. Any help is appreciated.


texts: Why isn't "Those wanting to be famous are likely who have been made to feel extremely insignificant" correct?

texts:
So the question was to arrange words to make a sentence and what I wrote  was,

  Those wanting to be famous are likely who have been made to feel extremely insignificant.

and the only problem with this (as I think) is that I didn't use the words as themselves (I changed "are likely to" to "are likely"). Which my teacher didn't see this as that big of a problem.

Like I said my English teacher said this can never be right and explained (I live in Korea and I have no idea what she said) but I am not convinced.

I am pretty confident that what I wrote has no grammar errors but I may be wrong. So can you please tell me if what I wrote is right or wrong? The reasons for it will be very helpful.

Just for comparison, the right answer was

  Those who have been made to feel extremely insignificant are likely to want to be famous.

I feel like this sentence doesn't sound right as well but I don't know why (if you can tell me why that would be helpful too).


texts:
Today I encountered a sentence:

"At night, we would lie on the porch in the sleeping bags my grandmother had bought, drink cocoa, and listen to the chorus of crickets"

Let take a look at the first part of this sentence:

"we would lie on the porch in the sleeping bags my grandmother had bought"

We can re-write without any change of meaning:

"we would lie on the porch in the sleeping bags which my grandmother had bought"

But I believe that the information "my grandmother had bought" is just additional information so it should be non-defining clause. I think this sentence should be written like this:

"we would lie on the porch in the sleeping bags, which my grandmother had bought"

Then I place this part in the first sentence then the sentence look weird to me:

"At night, we would lie on the porch in the sleeping bags, which my grandmother had bought, drink cocoa, and listen to the chorus of crickets"

Could someone please explain which part of this process is wrong.

Thank in advance


texts: An informal equivalent for "reveal something"

texts:
I wonder what is the informal substitute for "reveal" in my following similar examples:

Scenario 1)

  As he said to me, he was the only witness to the murder of Frank's brother. He was the only one who knew where they had hid. And I bet he revealed their hiding place to the police.

Scenario 2)

  Once, they used to be close friends until they entered into manufacturing and selling  methamphetamine partnership. They earned a lot of money soon, but when it came to their biggest trade ever, their rival revealed them to the police.

Note: in my second case, I mean not their "hiding place" or "where they manufactured drugs", but "their business and their illegal actions".]


texts: What do you call the walls of a dome? Let's say that a building is literally shaped like a semi-sphere. What would you call the wall in such a building? I am asking the question because the wall and the roof are indistinguishable in such a building since there's nothing to separate them. Is there a specific word for walls in such buildings?


texts: When can the determiner 'any' be omitted?

texts:
Can I omit any in the following sentence? If I do so, Do they sound natural and grammatical?

Yesterday I had my camera with me, but I did not take any photos.

Many grammar books say it is not essential to use any. But I don't quite understand it. Can any teacher or expert please answer this?


texts:
What is the meaning of "as" which isn't placed on both sides of an adjective/adverb, as + adjective/adverb + as, but placed just before an adjective/adverb like the sentence below?

  ~, since we could as  easily have begun with ~.

In the case below I think that "as" before he is conjunction and means because and "as" before B is adverb and means like. Is this correct? And is "as" before capable interpreted as the case above?

  Clearly, A agrees with this, as he is just as capable of looking at clock dials as B is.

These sentences are  brought from this book, p. 19 in the first and last paragraph respectively.


texts: What do you call different types of politicians' ratings?

texts: This is a quite specific question. There are approval ratings ("Do you approve or disapprove of [the name of a politician]"), electoral ratings ("If elections were held this weekend, whom would you vote for?"), and... what do you call the third type: is it trust rating, credibility rating or anything else? ("Which of the following politicians do you trust?" or "Do you trust [the name of a politician]?")


texts:
to enter a school/college/university (OALD)

question #1
It’s not clear that examples above mean whether (i) or (ii) below.
(i) to enter a school; to enter a college; to enter a university
(ii) to enter a school; to enter college; to enter university

Seeing this: “Our son will be entering college next year (Meriam-Webster's)”, I can guess it would be (ii). But this shows the possibility of (i) as well.

questions #2
(iii) enter a law school
(iv) enter law school

(iii) seems to be used rarely. When there is a determiner before school (in this case, 'law'), don’t we usually use ‘a’ before the noun phrase?


texts: idiomatic phrase to describe the fact that the whole family was having lunch

texts:
What would be the most idiomatic phrase here to describe the fact that the whole family was having lunch?

Last Friday we were having lunch at a new eatery by the whole family.

Last Friday we were having lunch at a new eatery as a whole family.

Last Friday we were having lunch at a new eatery with the whole family.

?


texts: Are the two brackets participial construction or gerund?

texts:
"The experience has to be formulated in order to be communicated. To formulate requires getting outside of it, (seeing) it as another would see it, (considering) what points of contact it has with the life of another so that it may be got into such form that he can appreciate its meaning." (Source: Democracy and Education by John Dewey)

How should I understand the two brackets, seeing and considering? Are they participial construction? If so, which one do they mean when, while or and?
Or, are they gerund in the place of an object of the verb requires like "getting outside of it"? If so, why is not there a conjunction "and" between it and considering?

Could you help me clarify it? Thank you.


texts:
I have a manual with a lot of examples, some examples have comments inside them, like so:

Don't use Abc for Xyz.
[comment] This is because <...>.

There is a warning in the very beginning of the document that comments are just comments; they are not a part of the examples themselves.

Comments are not a part of the examples themselves.

Is it grammatically correct? Does it sound right? I suspect both answers are "no", so how would you say it?


texts: I know that going in - meaning in context

texts:
I watched Seinfeld yesterday and I couldn't understand one of the responses of Jerry (A punch line). He says:

"I know that going in."

Who is going in where? Why the present simple?

Here is the full portion so you will get the context (The sentence is at the end of it):

  KRAMER: Jerry. This is great cantaloupe.

  JERRY: Alright.. (tastes it)

  KRAMER: Ah, huh. It's good?

  JERRY: It's very good.

  KRAMER: Good, huh?

  JERRY: Good.

  KRAMER: I got it at Joe's.

  JERRY: Uh-Huh.

  KRAMER: Forty-nine cents a pound. That's practically half than what
  you're paying at the supermarket. I don't know why you don't go to
  Joe's.

  JERRY: It's too far.

  KRAMER: It's three blocks further. You can use my shopping cart..

  JERRY: I'm not pulling a shopping cart. What am I suppose to wear? A
  kerchief? Put stockings on and roll 'em down below my knee?

  KRAMER: See, the other thing is, if you don't like anything, he takes
  it right back.

  JERRY: I don't return fruit. Fruit is a gamble. I know that going
  in.


texts: What does this sentence mean at all, "She made some very explicit references to my personal life."?

texts:
What does the below sentence mean exactly?
That sentence is from Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
I tried to find out the exact meaning of it by looking up several words in it, but I am confused about what exact meaning it has.

What exactly does 'explicit references' mean in the sentence?

  She made some very explicit references to my personal life.


texts: Word for mood or (facial) expression if awaiting laughs on a commentary / rhetoric question?

texts:
Imagine the following (chat) conversation:

  John: Can you name all the presidents?
  Marry: I thought they already had names ^_^

The text smiley ^_^ - or alternatively ;) - indicates irony. There are multiple ways to put that answer in spoken language (+countenance):

dead pan, monotone voice (tends to be sarcastic, may also be an angry, serious answer - no winking smiley in that case)
slightly grinning, dynamic voice (reply indicates kindly meant joke)
exaggerated intonation, ending at a high pitch like a (rhetoric) question, with mouth and eyes wide open to indicate that a joyful reaction is expected (and possibly kept until the others get the joke)

Is there a word for the latter? How is this expression or feeling called, waiting for the reaction to the funny answer?

This smiley expresses it quite well:


texts:
I am confused about the number of the verb. Below is the example:

One of the ablest scientists who has attacked this problem...
One of the ablest scientists who have attacked this problem...

None of us is perfect.
None of us are perfect.

Two questions are left:

(1) Are the sentences right?
(2) More importantly, do they have the same meaning?


texts: What's the meaning of "inner core" in this context?

texts:
This is a passage from an article on a study that shows involvement in a romantic relationship comes at the cost of close friends:

Oxford University researchers asked people about their inner core of friendships and how this number changed when romance entered the equation.

What does inner core in this passage mean? Is this a figurative usage?


texts:
Which one of:

In which cases

In what cases

is correct, more common when we want to ask a question about when something is the case?


texts: What is the difference between a secluded beach and a deserted beach?

texts:
Does the meaning of word “deserted” include a sense of being dangerous?

Does “secluded” imply that a place is peaceful and not so dangerous?

Can you give me examples from which I would be able to differentiate between the connotations of these two words?

I’m specifically interested in the movie Eden Lake (2008). Would you call the lake in that movie a secluded place or a deserted place?

  Nursery teacher Jenny and her boyfriend Steve, escape for a romantic weekend away. Steve, planning to propose, has found an idyllic setting: a remote lake enclosed by woodlands and seemingly deserted.Source: IMDb, Eden Lake (2008) – Storyline


texts: Which one is correct: 'escaped' or 'escaped from'?

texts:
I have two sub-questions regarding escape v/s escape from.

Escaping from a place:

  He (escaped / escaped from) prison.

  I can guess that He escaped from prison. is correct, but is He escaped prison. also correct?

Escaping from a person:

  He (escaped / escaped from) Agent Hanratty.

  Here, both "feel" wrong! Is either or both of these correct? If not, then what is the correct phrase to express this?


texts: What does "I'm obligated to pick you up. Is seven ok?" mean?

texts:
I saw this joke somewhere and couldn't get.

I searched the words smooth seven and everything on urban dictionary but still couldn't figure out!


texts:
I see a sentence:

  She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.

The unclear part for me is "she was gone". I have two ways to understand this sentence:

She hugged me -> I got on the plane ==> I saw her leaving from the plane window
She hugged me -> she left while I was getting on the plane ==> I couldn't see her anymore from the plane window


texts:
I searched for the meaning of "take in", and the dictionary showed me several meanings.

to understand
to receive into one's house in exchange for payment
to accept

But the sentence below which shows 'take in one's sign' form and I guess that is a kind of phrase, but I don't know what that means.
Here is the part, which is from 'Baker's blue-jay yarn' by Mark Twain.

  A jay can cry, a jay can laugh, a jay can feel shame, a jay can reason and plan and discuss, a jay likes gossip and scandal, a jay has got a sense of humor, a jay knows when he is an ass just as well as you do - maybe better. If jay ain't human, he better take in his sign, that's all.


texts: Difference between 'have been' and 'would have been'

texts: Can anybody please explain me the difference between have been and would have been? Please explain me with simple examples. Thanks in advance.


texts:
From NPR: The Beatles' Yearlong Journey To 'The Ed Sullivan Show'

"She Loves You" wound up being released by the tiny Swan label out of Philadelphia in September, 1963. Bruce Spizer says the label tried to get Dick Clark to spin it. "American Bandstand" was broadcast nationally out of Philadelphia.

"She loves you" is a song of The Beatles.
What's the meaning of "spin" here? I even cannot find a proper meaning in the dictionary.


texts: a passing police man vs a policeman passing

texts:
Please tell me the difference in nuance between the following two sentences.

It was lucky for her that a passing policeman heard her cries for help
and was able to rescue her from the canal.
It was lucky for her that a policeman passing heard her cries for help
and was able to rescue her from the canal.


texts: How to idiomatically say that you are late for your appointment with someone?

texts:
I had this question in a speaking test "Do you think it's important to be on time?" In the following answer, What is the idiomatic way to say the latest expression in British English?

  Answer: Yes of course, it is important to be on time especially in the
  business world because you would probably lose a client if you

  were late on him
  were late for your meeting with them
  made him wait


texts:
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of
  Sodom, compassed the house around, both old and young, all the people
  from every quarter. (Genesis 19: 4)

What does "even" mean here? Is it adverb or adjective?


texts: Which one is correct word? People or People's

texts:
Which word is correct and what is the difference between these words?

People
People's

I heard somebody say, "People's does not work in a sentence. People means a group of humans. Why would you make the word plural again?"


texts:
Daphne is talking on a phone:

Daphne: We sure do take contributions. We've got high-priced lawyers.

William, who is lawyer for Daphne's team, was mocking joke at Daphne:

William: High-priced lawyers are working for free. It's the support
staff.

What does "It's the support staff" mean? Does it mean support staff are not
working for free?
Source: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)


texts: Cut down or take down (instead of reduce)

texts:
A guy is hired for a day,and his performance was not very satisfactory(even for one day). There are two employers. So one of them sats(jokingly) says:

  Let's cut down (or take down) his pay a bit.(let's give him lesser pay [though it was for one day])

So what should be used(of course other than the one in the circular brackets): take down/cut down?


texts: Why does this sentence need a prepositon [in]?

texts:
Whatever is wholly deprived of light is in complete darkness.

Why not 'wholly deprived of light is complete darkness' ?


texts: Tense problem: What is the difference in meaning?

texts:
1) Schools could ensure that motivated students participated.

2) Teachers could ensure that children gain more from working together.

Sentence 1 is about a hypothetical scenario in the future. This is why we have "could ensure" and "participated", but I saw sentence 2. It has "could ensure" but with the verb "gain".

Why is this?
What is the difference in the meaning?
If it not a hypothetical scenario in the future , why did the writer bring "could ensure"?


texts:
I didn't pay attention to that twinge of (a) thought of losing what I hadn't lost yet.

Should there be an article in this phrase?


texts:
What is the right word to use when we talk about withering flowers?
Is it faded or fade-off or fade away?
eg: The flowers faded-off/faded away/faded


texts: Is it correct to say "sometimes things broken" instead of "sometimes things are broken"?

texts:
Is it grammatically correct to say "sometimes things broken" instead of "sometimes things are broken"?

According to what I know, when using passive voice of word it requires "to be" auxiliary verb before. That's why I think that it's not correct to say "sometimes things broken" (instead of "sometimes things are broken"). But recently I could notice in the spoken English when talking to people or even while watching television, that the using of the passive form without auxiliary verb is pretty common. What is the explanation for that?

n.b. I know already about "reduced relative clause" that its issue is pretty close to my question, but the difference is that my question is not about relative cluase but it is auxiliary verb.


texts: Why the words count in English is still increasing?

texts:
We all know that English is the longest of all the languages with 170,000+ words and the count is still increasing.

Nowadays, people are experimenting to use lots of uncommon words in their sentences making it difficult to understand by a common man.

Is there any solution for understanding those sentences?
Why this language is still increasing? Are there not enough words to
express the things?
How do we understand the meaning of a sentence having words that we
are not familiar with?


texts: Got any more of them pixels? Is this sentence grammatical?

texts:
Got any more of them pixels? (from a meme)

and

  Now hand me them scissors.

I don't remember the sources, but I find this pattern of sentence used in movies and blogs. Being a non-native speaker, I can't tell if it is grammatically correct or just used for comic effect.

I'm asking because I think them + noun carries a slightly different nuance than those + noun. And I was hoping to use it in an article I'm writing for the college magazine (which will be read by non-native speakers).

tl;dr How correct is the pattern ... + them + noun + ... when used instead of ... + those + noun + ...?


texts: "He won't (likely) be... so much... as for..." How can I paraphrase it?

texts:
He won't likely be remembered so much for his accomplishments as for his character.

Is this sentence similar to the following?

  He will be remembered for his character rather than for his accomplishments.


texts: what does this 'that' mean in this sentence?

texts:
I'd like to ask a question about the 'that' in the following sentence.

There are various phony research institutes dedicated to convincing people that global warming is a myth, which were set up by major companies likely to be adversely affected by policies to prevent global warming. Despite losing the media battle, they and their corporate sponsors managed to delay action for a lost decade that the next generation should never forgive them for.

Does  this 'that' equal to  'so that'?


texts:
I want to make use of alliteration while writing the heading for an article on Transportation (describing what the future transportation has in store for us etc.) i.e
"Transportation T______"  OR "T______ Transportation" either way.
While searching, I came across this word,

Telewag - An old English dialect word for a telegram

I want to know whether the following headings,

Telewagging Transportation or
Transport Telewag

will convey the right meaning to the reader?


texts: Term for a small businessman who is exempt from paying VAT

texts: In Israel there is a special term "Osek Patur" for a business-owner who is exempt from paying taxes because his annual income is small. What is a parallel term in English? "Exempt businessman"? "Exempt businessowner"? Some other term?


texts: Why is "I've read this book for two hours" wrong?

texts:
A grammar book that I've been using showed this sentence as incorrect.

  I've read this book for two hours.

This sentence is apparently incorrect in present perfect. Why is this sentence wrong? If so then is this sentence also wrong?

  I've cooked for two hours.

What is the rule for knowing what's right and what's wrong in this sentence structure?

Thanks for any help!

Edit: Grammar Sense 4, Page 5


texts:
Consider this sentence of mine, please:
1) I will run as fast as I can.
The past tense version of 1) would be:
2) I ran as fast as I could.

Can we use "could have" in place of "could" in 2)?
3) I ran as fast as I could have.
What is the difference between could and could have?


texts:
In one of my posts (How do I say "a bottle of water" in the colloquial way?), a nice contributor ask me

  Why would you think this is not everyday English? Why are you asking about this phrase and not another one?

I answered

  Because when I searched "bottles of water" I got lots of water bottles.

By those words, I was trying to describe and emphasize a fact, that is, most of the results for that searching is about bottles rather than water.

I guess my answer is grammatical though, I am not sure whether it is idiomatic. I am also not sure I put the right order to emphasize that fact. Is the following version better?

  Because I got lots of water bottles when I searched "bottles of water".

Are there other expressions more appropriate? Could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.


texts: Indefinite interviewers and mostly definite children

texts:
An excerpt from The Economist's article on bedtime regime's correlation with IQ scores.
Here I've committed two kinds of mismatches, putting THE before the second mention of "interviewers" and using THE before both instances of "children" which in the original text have zero articles. Below I'll try to explain how I see the newspaper's article usage choices.

The bedtime information they used was collected during four visits
interviewers made to the homes of those participating in the study.
These happened when the children were nine months, three years, five
years and seven years of age. Besides asking whether the children had
set bedtimes on weekdays and if they always, usually, sometimes or
never made them, interviewers collected information about family
routines, economic circumstances and other matters—including whether
children were read to before they went to sleep and whether they had a
television in their bedroom. The children in question were also asked,
at the ages of three, five and seven, to take standardised reading,
mathematical and spatial-awareness tests, from which their IQs could
be estimated.
Dr Kelly’s report, just published in the Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health, shows that by the time children had
reached the age of seven, not having had a regular bedtime did seem to
affect their cognition ...

"Interviewers" seem to take zero articles because they could've been different persons each time, since information gathering took 7 years. An almost generic reference.

The first use of the zero article (Ø) with "children" is aimed at omitting repetition in lookalike structures "whether X had .." in one sentence.

The second use of "Ø children" seems to comply with snailboat's comprehensive answer to my previous question. In the text's shared conceptual space, "children" means not all kids generically but those taking part in the study. Using THE would make it seem (to a native speaker), in combination with "not having had", that they all suffered (or enjoyed) irregular bedtime regimes. Using the zero article would put "children" in "specific indefinite" reference, and the combination with "not having had" would now be comprehended as "some had regular, some irregular bedtimes".

Am I right?


texts: Can "pace" be used as a synonym of "walk" in this case?

texts:
Example sentence with context:

  He put down his phone on the desk, paced to the refrigerator, and pulled out a beer.

Usually, paced is used when you're walking restlessly around the room. But sometimes I see the usage that I describe above. Is that usage correct?


texts:
I cannot find my black shoes so these will have to do.

Does it mean I can accept other color shoes?


texts:
Having missed breakfast we turned eagerly to lunch,breaking out peanut butter sandwiches, apples, and cookies.

There are two phrases I don't understand clearly.

(1) Does the phrase breaking out mean taking out and ate?

(2) What does the phrase turned to lunch mean? Does it mean we ran to the cafeteria, we started our lunch time or we took out the lunch box? Could you help me clarify it? Thanks.


texts: help to understand "Not the long-molared Mudblood?" in this context

texts:
“Hermione - who are you going to the ball with?” said Ron.

  He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a
  response by asking it when she least expected it. However, Hermione
  merely frowned and said, “I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of
  me.”

  “You're joking, Weasley!” said Malfoy, behind them. “You're not
  telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared
  Mudblood?”

I don't quite get what Malfoy truly means here. I think "that" in "asked that to the ball" refers to Hermione. But I'm not sure how to understand "Not the long-molared Mudblood?" correctly. I think "the long-molared Mudblood" also refers to Hermione, but I'm confused what it conveys exactly?


texts: How to understand **what does he know about it** in this context?

texts:
"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's.

  "—— and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in ——"

  "Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd know who yeh were -- he's grown up knowing' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles -- look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"

I'm not sure what "what does he know about it" in this sentence is trying to convey. It's not a question, but with a structure of questioning. How should we understand it in this case? How should we relate it to the later context: "some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles..."?


texts:
Can we say he was convicted the hung? Is it grammatically right or just an informal sentence?
I've seen sentences like 'Sentenced to hang'. But i don't have any idea about this.


texts: Using Present Perfect tense after "when" to reference the future

texts:
Imagine I registered on a web store and bought a subscription in order to sell some stuff. I want to ask what happens to the items I have listed on the store when my subscription expires.
I made up this sentence:

  If the subscription expires, when some of my products still aren't sold, will they be automatically removed from the store?

but was told it would be better if I used Present Perfect:

  If the subscription expires, when some of my products still haven't
  been sold yet, will they be automatically removed from the store?

I wonder if the first sentence is still correct and if it is, then what's the differences between these two sentences? I also would like to know in what cases I should prefer using Present Perfect instead of Present Simple in time clauses.


texts:
That show is something I can never get tired of watching.

That show is something I can never get tired watching.

Are both the sentences grammatically correct? I've never really heard anyone use tired in similar contexts and leave out the of, so I was just wondering if the second sentence is okay too.


texts: Not always I understand what she's saying vs. what she says

texts:
Is there a difference between:

  "Not always I understand what she is saying".(present continuous).

Vs.

  "Not always I understand what she says". (present simple)

I would tend to use the present simple structure, but many times I see people who use the present continuous, and that caused me to ponder maybe I'm wrong with my assumption.

N.b. please,  note the words "Not always" at the beginning of the sentence.  Without them the diffrence between present simple & continuous is understood well to me.  My qiestion is about sentences starting with words such as,  often,  sometimes  always etc.


texts: What are the rules that describe the usage of 'em' dash and 'en' dash?

texts:
I'm clear about using one hyphen while typing a sentence.

  I met a 24-year-old girl. She was pretty.

But in many sentences I observe a longer dash (--). Probably they are two in number. Microsoft Word automatically does this at times.

My question:

  In typing, is there any rule of putting more than one dash (-) other than describing two words as adjectives (as in above-mentioned case)?

Is it just a typing style or has to do anything with grammar?


texts:
Can someone give me the words to describe what is wrong with the use of 'evolving' in this sentence? I know how to make it sound better, but I don't know how to explain to my writer what is wrong.

  A new frontier of data collection is evolving how we interact with our world...'

In this context "A new frontier of data collection" is marketing-speak describing the birth of a data collection industry based around the use of innovative digital tools/techniques that didn't exist a few years ago. So while that part of the sentence also looks odd, it makes sense in the broader context in which it is being used.

My main question is - is the use of the word "evolving" here ungrammatical, or is it just unusual?


texts: Difference in meaning between "good of" and "good for" and "good to"?

texts:
What is the exact difference in meaning between "It's good of you to say that" and "It's good for you to say that" and "It's good to you to say that"?

Does "It's good of you to say that" mean "If you say that, it is good" ?

Does "It's good for you to say that" mean "If you say that, it is good not for me but for you" ?

Does "It's good to you to say that" mean " If you say that, you will have good thing" ?


texts:
I wrote:

  You can’t hear such slogans from the current government of Rohani, nor from the reformists leading by Khatami.

I didn't see the preposition for "hear" pointing to the source of something you hear. Is it "from"? is it common to use it?


texts:
Which is the correct form of the sentence?

  There has been many instances of outbreaks in vaccinated populations

vs.

  There have been many instances of outbreaks in vaccinated populations?

The question that this is supposed to be a duplicate of does not mention there has or there have. We have many learners here who are not going to be able to deduce much of anything from it.


texts: A Complicated, Challenging Sentence which includes "If Clause", a Conjunction and Noun Clause- Need to be explained

texts:
I was reading An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke and came across a really strange sentece. Here is the sentence:

We shall not have much reason to complain of the narrowness of our
minds, if we will but employ them about what may be of use to us; for
of that they are very capable.

I didn't understand two points:
Firstly, after "If we will.." why there is a "but"? What does it mean but here? Is it different usage?
Secondly, I have understood nothing from the part "for of that they are very capable" both in terms of grammar and meaning. Because ıt looks interesting putting "of" after "for". Also, where is "for" linked to?
Finally, if you summary the general meaning it would be useful for me.
Thanks for your time
By the way, for these who want to see the context of the text I am putting whole the paragraph:

Men may find matter sufficient to busy their heads, and employ their
hands with variety, delight, and satisfaction, if they will not boldly
quarrel with their own constitution, and throw away the blessings
their hands are filled with, because they are not big enough to grasp
everything. We shall not have much reason to complain of the
narrowness of our minds, if we will but employ them about what may be
of use to us; for of that they are very capable. And it will be an
unpardonable, as well as childish peevishness, if we undervalue the
advantages of our knowledge, and neglect to improve it to the ends for
which it was given us, because there are some things that are set out
of the reach of it.

(Because of being understood easily by everyone I've put the whole paragraph and make the sentence that I didn't understand bold):


texts: Can I omit "is" in the following way of presenting list items?

texts:
The first item I drop into my shopping basket is a mayonnaise tuna
  rice ball. The second (is) a cup of instant noodles. The third (is) a
  can of dry beer.

Can I drop the two last isses? Why or why not?


texts: How can I explain this "Who" question simply to my student?

texts:
I'm having trouble explaining to my student why you can't use "do/did" in the following sentence:

  Who taught you how to play the guitar?

He thinks that it's strange there is no "do/does" in the sentence. The grammar in that sentence feels strange to him.

I said that we can't say "Who does/did taught you how to play the guitar?", but he doesn't seem to understand.

I told him that "Who did you teach play the guitar?"(he made this sentence and asked if it has the same meaning) and "Who taught you how to play the guitar?" have a different meaning, but he doesn't understand.

Can anyone help out? :(


texts: "Where have you been" vs "Where have you gone"

texts:
Is it possible at all to use the sentence "where have you gone" in a situation in which your friend has just come back home.

For example:

  A. Sorry, I am late.

  B. Where  have you   gone or gone to or been or been to

  A. To the shop


texts: Is there a term for nouns used as adjectives?

texts:
I know that a verb used as a noun is called a gerund. An example (from American baseball) is a "run," or a "home run," where a "run" across the plate scores a point. "Run" is the gerund.

In the term "home run," home is a noun used as an adjective for the gerund run. Is there a grammatical term that describes "home" in this context, i.e. a noun used as an adjective?


texts: "...instead of below / beneath / underneath / under / lower it."

texts:
First off, I would like to say that I know that there's a similar thread posted here and I have read all the answers over there but mine is a bit bit different than that one because it is asking for the word after "instead of" and how should it be grammaticaly. And it has a different context too so please don't mark it as duplicate. Please.

So When referring to the position of a "floating" (meaning this is not on a page / notebook rather it is on a packaging's surface, where there are no lines to write on) sentence (a slogan) in relation to the position of a floating word (the product's name) and both are on the same front surface / face / side of the packaging of the product, which one would be correct and which ones are plainly wrong to say? (state in AE and BE if there's a difference)

1) "The name should be above the slogan instead of below it."

2) "The name should be above the slogan instead of underneath it."

3) "The name should be above the slogan instead of beneath it."

4) "The name should be above the slogan instead of under it."

5) "The name should be above the slogan instead of lower it."

The meaning intended here is that the name of the product in a packaging should be written first then the slogan after (below) it.

Note that the word "above" here is clearly specifying direction which is "up" and not implying "in front of". So the use of the word "behind" here is clearly also out of context.

Regards


texts: Are still alive/ just dragging the life/ just starving correct?

texts:
When someone says ' how are you?' and we want say that we are not fine at all. So in this situation how to respond?

Can I say: just dragging the life/ just starving/ still alive?
If I can't, what are natural ways to respond?


texts: Do I understand this sentence correctly?

texts:
A man feared his wife was not hearing as well as she used to, and he
  thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach
  her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem.

I'm talking about the first sentence. I can not understand its meaning and its structure (grammar).
There are two verbs in the sentence without adding -ing to the second one (feard, was). So, I think the word "that" is removed from the sentence. The original sentence is:

  A man feared that his wife was not hearing as well as she used to.

That's what I think but I'm not so sure.. Is that correct?

After adding the word "that", I still don't understand the usage of the word "feared". For me, It does not make sense. Why the man is afraid? I think it's better to say:

"A man thought that ..." or "a man believed that ..."

So, what's the usage of the word "feared" ?


texts: How to describe the following scenario in English without referring to any figure?

texts:
Consider the following figures. The figure A shows a front view of a motorcycle parked on an inclined floor using its side stand while the figure B shows a side view of it but using its center stand.

I can make an instruction banner accompanied with those figures as follows.

  When you park a motorcycle on an inclined floor as shown in figure A, please use the side stand. But if you park the motor cycle on an inclined as shown in the figure B, please use the center stand.

Question

If I don't want to  attach the figures to the instruction banner, how do I have to rewrite the instruction in clear and understandable sentences? (As printing figures on the banner take more space and make the cost higher)


texts: Is the sentence 'I've never known anyone as dishonest' correct?

texts:
I've never known anyone as dishonest.

I am wondering if 'as' is preposition or conjunction.

'dishonest' is  adjective, so I don't think it can be an preposition.

But even if 'as' is conjunction, I don't understand it exactly.

I think the meaning of the sentence would be 'I've never seen anyone dishonest like you.

But I'm not sure.


texts: Opposite expression to 'A plane takes off."

texts:
When it comes to a noun, I learned 'landing' is an opposite vocabulary to 'take-off' in an airplane context.

But what about the verbs?

Do you say 'A plane is touching down' or 'A plane is landing' in US/UK?

I'm not sure.


texts:
Active Voice:

  I remember them taking me to the zoo.

My answers:

  I remember being taken to the zoo.( this sentence doesn't make any sense to me)
  They are remembered taking me to the zoo.( Because I think them is object of verb  remember)

i don't know why but both answer seems incorrect.

but there is another case where i take 'them taking me to the zoo' as a single unit object. then if we make passive it looks like Them taking to me the zoo is remembered by me. this is completely wrong.

I contradict myself. I am confused. what should be the Passive of given sentence.


texts: How to distinguish the meaning of the word "before" in different texts?

texts:
I know "before" could be used meaning "not after or present" or "in front of". how can I distinguish these two meanings?

As an example, what does before mean in the novel "Me before you" by Jojo Moyes?


texts:
From https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Tilde-Expansion.html

  If a word begins with an unquoted tilde character (‘~’), all of the characters up to the first unquoted slash (or all characters, if there is no unquoted slash) are considered a tilde-prefix.

From my experience or intuition (I am not sure which), "up to" means the following is included. But I am not sure if that is correct when reading the quote. So generally speaking does "up to" mean the following is included or not?


texts: Placement of "now" in negative sentences

texts:
I have no trouble with the placement of "now" in positive sentences. However, I am struggling with its placement in negative statements. I am going to make up three sentences with it.

  I am not now cooking lunch for anyone.
  I am not doing now what you want me to do.
  I am not now singing to my friends my favorite songs written by my uncle.

Without "not", the sentences sound OK to me. However, the "not" tends to make them sound odd to me. Is "now" correctly placed in my sentences?
Please explain this.


texts:
Accepting all sorts of challenges that life offers is a pleasure ___ the brave.

Which is the correct preposition to be used to fill the blank in above sentence ? Is it to or for ? I am confused between these two preposition as both sound fine to my ears.


texts: Correctness of Justice Alito's oral question, in Young v. United Parcel Service (2014) ?

texts:
Source: p 2 of 2, 'Heavy Lifting', by Dahlia Lithwick BA JD.

  Even [Justice Samuel] Alito seems to start to worry that the facts here have not been developed at trial, asking Bagenstos in rebuttal: “You really think that you could prove at trial that if somebody is injured in a recreational activity over the weekend, that they get light duty but a pregnant women does not, maybe?” [Professor of Law Samuel] Bagenstos says yes. Bagenstos concludes as follows: “You have to treat pregnant workers as just as valued employees as anybody else, and if you think it’s valuable to keep these employees on the job who are injured on the job because they keep valuable knowledge within the company, do that for pregnant women.”

1. Is something wrong with Justice Alito's bolded question? What of the relative clause that I greyed? Should it be:
2.  'that [THEN] they [SHOULD] get light duty but a pregnant women does [SHOULD] not?

3. What does the adverb 'maybe' at the end modify; it sounds isolated?


texts: "..a humanity that has come of age" - why there's an indefinite article before a noncount abstract noun?

texts:
The individual, the institutions, and the community—the three protagonists in the Divine Plan—are being shaped under the direct influence of His Revelation, and a new conception of each, appropriate for a humanity that has come of age , is emerging.

I went and checked on the OALD site, and found three entries as uncountable, and one pl. None of them suggest to use "a humanity". I have checked with google too, and found some uses like "psychology is consider a humanity." something, which means a subject of science. But I looked into the wikipedia, and didn't see any indefinite article used before humanity.

Is it all right to use such a phrase?


texts:
I’d like to ask if I have to give up my meagre listening practice and listening understanding. I put up a goal to understand what the actors in a radio drama, the Archers of BBC, talk. But I mainly use my time, a couple of hours, for reading, so I can’t spare much for listening. The latter is less than a half hour mostly. So for intensive practice for only a short time, I write down listening a sentence from an Aussie news a day.
But now I begin to be skeptical if I could understand the program someday. For even a linguist, Stephen Krashen, who emphasizes reading very much, also doesn’t miss to mention listening. In his words,

  “We think that you acquire language in one way, not by studying grammar, not by doing flash cards, not by memorizing vocabulary, you get it by listening and understating, reading and understanding. And be interested in meaning.” (fnn.co.kr)

Is my expectation that reading and understanding process, even though without listening much when the sounds between English and my language is quite different, would finally get me into the listening and understanding phase, reasonable?
(FYI: Except for the reading and less than a half hour listening, there’s none input or output of English but for asking and getting replies on learning websites.)


texts: in double numbers 'round -- how do you understand that?

texts:
From a song called The Battle of Quebec:

  Brave Wolfe drew up his men in a line so pretty
  On the Plains of Abraham, before the city
  The French came marching down
  Arrayed to meet them
  In double numbers 'round, resolved to beat them.

In double numbers obviously means that they were twice as many French soldiers as there were British soldiers. But how do you understand the 'round part?


texts: Interpretation of the meaning "by rain or water..."

texts:
I'm confused with the meaning of the following sentence which is extracted from an insurance wording:

"damage by water or rain other than by water or rain entering the building through openings made in its fabric by the direct force of the storm or tempest"

From my point of view, the above sentence is susceptible of two different interpretations:

By water or rain (entering the building through openings made in its fabric) by the direct force of the storm or tempest
=> It means that water or rain here are caused by the effects of storm or tempest
by water or rain entering the building (through openings made in its fabric by the direct force of the storm or tempest)
=> It means that the openings are made by the effects of storm or tempest.

Can you tell me which one is correct?

Thank you.


texts: "results' statistics" vs. "results statistics"

texts:
How should I write this. There are many results.

  we remove them them from our results' statistics

vs.

  we remove them from our results statistics

vs.

  we remove them from our result statistics


texts:
Today I've come across an expression in a magazine article which is not quite clear to me:

  Today, amid confected rows about "fake news", reporters who unearthed a new Watergate would start with roughly half the country ready to disbelieve them. Finally, the Nixon museum shows how the symbolic power of the presidency can cow dissent, even in this skeptical age.

Source: Remembering an accomplished but fatally flawed president from The Economist

Could you please help me understand the words in bold type? Perhaps, there is a typo in the sentence, and the right expression should be "can sow dissent".


texts:
Can you tell me which of following sentence is correct and please explain to me.

I meet a person who has been a programmer for 2 years and ask

Why do you want to be a programmer?
Why did you want to be a programmer?


texts:
It may would be tough.

The placement of "would" after "may" when we refer it for future, is it appropriate?


texts: Which one is correct: have happened or had happened?

texts:
Which of these sentences is correct?

So, which one have happened yesterday? You went for a walk or stay here?

or

So which one had happened? You went for a walk or stay here?

Or maybe "which one had happen"?


texts:
Which expression is right?

Overall, the journey by a train is comfortable, cost-effective and safe.
Overall, the journey by a train is comfortable, affordable and safe.

I got this after searching on Google Something being cost-effective is not the same as being affordable. But I cannot find a good explanation with some examples.

What is the difference between cost-effective and affordable?

Thank you in advance


texts: How do you read these words with numbers?

texts:
June 22, 1911 (1)

  On the day King George V (2) was crowned at Westminster Abbey in
  London, Billy  Williams went down the pit in Aberowen, South Wales.
   (Ken Follett, Fall of Giants)

  It’s 16 March. (3) (Essential Grammar in Use)

How do you read those three parts with numbers?


texts:
I've searched on Cambridge, Merriam-Webster and Oxford.

Only Oxford says "distance" is countable.

Assume there are 3 points in a 2d Euclidean space, point A=(A,A); point  B=(B,B); point C=(C,C). Consider 2 line segments—AB and AC—is it appropriate to say:

  there are 2 distances: AB, AC

Actually this question comes from this post, where point B and point C are in a group (matrix). That's why I need to use "distances" to describe point A to the group of point B and C.


texts: Why is this kind of adjective called "positive"?

texts:
According to many sites and books, adjectives are classified into three groups:

positive
comparative
superlative

While I understand well why the last two are called "comparative" and "superlative" I don't understand at all why the other form is called positive (while in fact it can be as well as negative such as bad etc)


texts: What is exactly the difference between "all" and "any"?

texts:
I have problems understanding this two sentences:

There are no entailment relations for any of an omnipotent, omniscient being‘s
allowances of evils E1…En between his allowances of those evils and greater
(possible) goods.
There are not entailment relations for all of an omnipotent, omniscient being‘s
allowances of evils E1…En between his allowances of those evils and greater
(possible) goods.


texts: Can we say "He divorced" instead of "He got divorced"?

texts:
I know that if the subject consists of a couple that got divorced, we don't have to use the word "got", so we can say "John and Jennifer divorced", "His parents divorced", "They divorced" etc. This is an example of it from the Cambridge dictionary: "My parents separated when I was six and divorced a couple of years later." I have seen examples of it in other dictionaries as well.

So, my question is, can we also say

"He divorced."
"My sister divorced last year."
"John needs to divorce."
"Just divorce."
"He might regret it if he divorces." etc.

to mean "He got divorced.", "My sister got divorced last year.", "John needs to get divorced.", "Just get divorced.", "He might regret it if he gets divorced." etc? These sentences have only one person as the subbject as you can see, and in these kind of cases, "get divorced" sounds more familiar to me than "divorce".


texts: apply my knowledge to "improve" or "improving" something?

texts:
Which one should I use, improve or improving, in the following example:

  I would like to apply my knowledge to (improve or improving) something?

Thanks!


texts: Which version is the most appropriate for the name of an institution?

texts:
It is a question of conversion or translation from Chinese into English.

Recently in China, there are many vocational institutions now which are sponsored by the government and offer higher or tertiary education to students who fail to get admitted into the traditional academic institutions (colleges or universities).

But they meet the same problem, that is, they have different versions for the same name in Chinese.

For example, there are such schools in the field of transport across China, with names in Chinese nearly the same, but with different translated names in English.

Guangxi Vocational and Technical College of Communications

Hebei Jiaotong Vocational and Technical College

Shanghai Communications Polytechnic

Zhejiang Institute of Communications

Shanxi Traffic Vocational and Technical College

Ningxia Polytechnic

Shaanxi College of Communication Technology**

Note: The above names in Chinese are the same, except the italic part indicating the place where this institute is located

So, which version is the most appropriate? Or is there other version?


texts: Put the words in the correct order to make sentence

texts:
the words are the following
cat's / operated/this/My/ being/on/afternoon
I construct this sentence by this way
My cat's being operated on this afternoon.
I am not 100% sure this is correct and this kind of constructions seems strange to me, but that is the only option I could make up.
Could you please take a look and provide second opinion.


texts: Quiver with fear or in fear (preposition)

texts:
The question is about prepostion

  The lightning stikes make townspeople quiver in fear.

Vs.

  The lightning stikes make townspeople quiver with fear.

The first sentence is taken from an online game, which I think the aforementioned "dependent preposition" is used by a native Englishman. Moreover, I believe this is wrong, and the second sentence (from my research) is more correct.

Is there by any chance "quiver in fear” (as set phrase) can be used? Or should it only be "quiver with fear"?


texts:
Tea is served in a- sugard-added state in this cafe.

  Tea is served with sugar added in this cafe.

  Tea is served as sugar-added in this cafe.

Which way is better to describe this situation? I wonder if especially first and third sentences correct or not .


texts:
Is using in which in the following sentence correct?

“ Although instances occur in which partners start their relationship by telling everything about themselves to each other, such instances are rare”

”In which” can change “where” ! However , I think location of occur is weird

Sentence I write below is right ??

“Although instances in which partners start their relationship by telling everything about themselves to each other occur , such instances are rare“


texts: What the proper word order in the sentence?

texts:
Sentence:

  How can I translate their two examples

  How can I translate two their examples

What the proper word order for the sentence?


texts: Difference in meaning of these two sentences?

texts:
John insisted that I should attend the meeting with the companies since he really want them as a client.

  John insisted that I should attend the meeting with the companies since he really want them as clients.

If I understand this right,

The first sentence means that John(as a client) want the companies for some reason.

The second sentence means that John want the companies to be his clients.

Am I understanding this right? The reason why I am asking this is because I read a translated sentence written like the first sentence above but real
meaning was the second sentence.

Thank you!


texts:
Which statement is correct?

I want to recreate her look to as nearly possible as I can.
I want to recreate as nearly as possible as I can her look.


texts: Does "I have had this cough for a month" mean I still have the cough?

texts:
What about, "I got a cough about one month back." Should this be qualified with "and I still have it" to mean that I have still got the cough? Is it right to call the cough, "a cough"?

In the sentence "I've had this cough for sometime now", what does the word 'now' do? Would the sentence say the same thing if the word 'now' was absent?


texts: The more common pronunciation of "buoyancy"

texts:
Which is more common pronunciation of "buoyancy" in AmE?http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/buoyancy?q=buoyancy
In the dictionary above, there are two pronunciations. One  is /ˈbɔɪənsi/ and the other is /ˈbuːjənsi/. Which one is more common in AmE?


texts: What's the meaning of the word 'bias' in this context?

texts:
Here's the context:

  This assumes that when a pair particle-antiparticle is created, a bias towards antiparticles being captured and particles escaping must exist.

  Otherwise, the mass of the black hole might fluctuate, but in average for big numbers of pairs, equal percentage of particles and antiparticles would be captured/escape.

  So, is there really a bias needed for the black hole to loose mass, or is it something wrong about my understanding of Hawking radiation?

What is a bias in this context?
Could you give me examples of expressions using the word 'bias'?
My interpretation of this text is that a particle or an anti-particle do some sort of wrong action towards each other that should not be acceptable, but that doesn't make much sense because they are not persons nor they have capacity to judge. So what am I missing?


texts:
Most people expect there __________ another financial crisis in the next year.

a. to be

b. being

According to the attached picture, both a & b are okay, but some native speakers of English say only "to be" is correct.
Is that true?


texts: Can I use "there" twice in the same sentence?

texts:
There is many food there.

  There is are many food foods there.

Is the above sentence correct ?


texts:
Experience teaches me that whatever a fellow-guest may have of power
  to instruct or to amuse when he is sitting in a chair, or standing on
  a hearth-rug, quickly leaves him when he takes one out for a walk. The
  ideas that come so thick and fast to him in any room, where are they
  now ? Where that encyclopedic knowledge which he bore so lightly?
  Where the kindling fancy that played like summer lightning over any
  topic that was started?

Is "bore" here a poetic way to say "dig the encyclopedic knowledge" or the past tense of "bear", or something else?


texts: negation difference: I like not much / I don't like much / I dislike

texts:
I have a question about negative sentences with "much" in English.

I don't much like it. I like it not much.    - as I understand it means "I like it, but not very much".

I don't like it.    - it may be possible that I neither like nor dislike it.

I don't like it much.    - does this mean that the person likes the thing but not much or the person dislikes the thing? What do we negate here "liking something" or "liking something much"?