texts: "go to university" vs. "go to an university"

texts:
consider these

  Michael went to an American university last year

  Michael went to America to go to university last year

  Michael went to an American university to started to get a degree last year

I guess both are grammatically correct and an English native speaker told me the former sounds more natural.

However, in contrast with the latter, the former does not convey the idea that Michael is about study at university, he might work at that university.

Is my understanding right?

To convey that idea, I put some more and got the third sentence, do native speakers say it that way?


texts: Is it okay to say "There´s a picture on the fireplace" as equivalent to "There´s a picture on the mantelpiece?


texts: as only one cog in the vast machine of effort involved, ... -- I don't understand that

texts:
Source: C++ Programming for the Absolute Beginner, 2nd Edition by Mark Lee

  The amount of time and effort involved in the process of publishing a book
  is considerable, and this book is no exception. As only one cog in the vast
  machine of effort involved, it is difficult for me to fully appreciate all of the hands that have touched this edition. However, without the ambition and drive of my original co-author, Dirk Henkemans, this book would have remained an unrequited dream. His drive and perseverance taught me that seemingly impossible things, like writing a book, were not only possible, but readily attainable.

I have a real hard time following what he's trying to say there. What he's saying sounds like this to me: since there's only one cog that's involved in the vast machine of effort, it is difficult to blah blah. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Why is there only one cog involved in the vast machine of effort when people are publishing books?

Edit:
This is what I understand now:
as only one cog in the vast machine of effort involved - there are many (cogs) people that are involved in the process of writing and publishing a book and he is just one of those cogs involved in this process. All this process is a huge effort made possible by work of a great many number of people. And then he says that it is difficult for him to appreciate the contributions other people involved in the project have made. What I still don't understand is how the two clauses are connected semantically. Why, while you're being one of the huge number of people involved in doing something, is it difficult to recognize other people's equal importance in doing it?


texts: The correct position of "THERE" in a sentence, starting with a question word

texts:
We do not know what  products are there on the market.
  We do not know what products there are on the market.

I want to know whether we should change this sentence from its affirmative form when we use a question word as a noun clause.

What position for the word "THERE" is better in those sentences above?


texts: Which preposition should be used with word 'Natural'

texts:
1.It is natural to me to help her.
  2.It is natural for me to help her.


texts: Which is the correct one "You idiot" OR "you're an idiot"

texts:
"You idiot" OR "You're an idiot"

I want to know which one is correct because in the first one there is no auxiliary verb.

As I know if I wanted to say that someone is like someone/thing I'll say
"He is a hero."

So in the previous example we've used an auxiliary verb before a noun.


texts: It might be an odd question but how to handle bad English  By handle I mean: understand it and correct it. Sometimes you meet phrases that are written in very bad English. Mostly the work of poor translators. When you read these articles you can't surely know if what you've understood is what is really written. You always have to guess. There are many examples on the web.


texts:
I'm sometimes confused with the use of neither. The basic grammar with it and its counterparts (like either and nor) is clear. My question is which of the following sentences is used in certain situations, or which one is correct (if one of them is not).

I neither like it.
Neither do I like it.
I don't like it either.
I don't like it, too.

I would say the 4th one is wrong, but I hear it a lot and wanted to be sure whether I can use it or not.


texts:
I came across someone saying "printed book, kindle, and [iPad]".

Is "printed book" a natural term? Are there any better synonyms?


texts: Can you say “go picnic” in stead of “go on a picnic”?

texts: Can you say “Will you go picnic tomorrow?” In stead of “Will you go on a picnic tomorrow?”


texts: What are your favorite qualities about/of/in your dog?

texts:
Can I say all three of these interchangeably when I want to ask a person about a dog he or she owns (not a dog he or she wants to buy)?

"What are your favorite qualities about your dog?"
"What are your favorite qualities of your dog?"
"What are your favorite qualities in your dog?"


texts: Another way of saying "to almost make something"

texts: Imagine there is a certain time required to qualify for the next round in sports and someone exceeds the requirement by only a few seconds, so he almost made it. But can you express this with verbs like "fail". You could say "fail miserably" if the time was exceeded by several minutes but is there an appriopriate adverb here or is "almost making it" the best and only way of saying this?


texts: The difference between "down" and "down to"

texts:
I am confused about where to use "down" instead of "down to" ? Can we use them interchangeably ? I copied some examples to see if there is any different in meaning .

1- He first went down the mines when he was 17.

2- Would you go down to the basement and fetch me a book please?

3- Water dripped down the wall.


texts:
In Today's newspaper, I have read a sentence given below.

Can anyone please tell me, what is meaning of It is learnt that clause in the sentence or what that has been used/added in the sentence as i believe without clause it makes sense.

It is learnt that Mr. Prakash flagged the issue of autonomy of the corporation as the Ministry appointed Ms. Jain without consulting the Prasar Bharati Board.

Thanks,

Charmi


texts: The Subjunctive in Past "as If" Sentences

texts:
I'd like to know how to use the subjunctive mood (if that's how it's called) when describing an unreal situation in the past. Should I use the Past Perfect, like in the past unreal conditional, or the "normal" subjunctive?

  She looked at him as if he were a different person.
  She looked at him as if he had been a different person.

Which one is correct? I have seen a couple of similar questions to this one with contradictory answers.

  She said it with such confidence, as if she knew something they did not.
  She said it with such confidence, as if she had known something they did not.

Does sentence #3 imply that the speaker is unsure whether she actually knew something they didn't, while the sentence #4 says that she did not know; or is the first sentence used for both meanings?

I know it's possible to use the Past Perfect to describe unreal situations when it should be Past Perfect regardless of the subjunctive mood, like:

He looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Please note that I don't ask about that.


texts: What is the grammatical name/grammatical funtion of this sentence ending?

texts:
All the students sympathized with their class monitor whose father was involved in an accident

What is the grammatical name and the grammatical funtion of the highlighted part of the above?


texts:
At a few sites such as

http://sana.aalto.fi/awe/cohesion/signposts/contrast/sentence/nevertheless.html

I found the following definition of nevertheless:

  Both "nevertheless" and "nonetheless" have the same basic concessive meaning as "however": They all introduce a sentence that gives information which is unexpected or surprising in light of information given in a previous sentence. Unlike "however", which is based on a positive-to-negative ordering of information,"nevertheless" and "nonetheless" require an opposite ordering of information, negative-to-positive.

But "nevertheless" is not defined in this way at dictionary sites, such as Oxford and Merriam-Webster, which just define its meaning as: "in spite of that: however".

I am not clear which definition is correct and complete.


texts: What do you call an arched entrance to a garden? I am not sure if there's a word specifically for garden entrances, but I am willing to bet there's a word for an arched entrance like that. What do you call it?


texts:
Only adv. :as recently as : not before
Merely adv. :nothing more than

I think 1 is more like a preposition and 2 is a noun+preposition.
Both are from a Merriam Webster dictionary.


texts:
I'm a user on the puzzling site, and I love to make puzzles. There's a particular kind of puzzle which describes the intended solution (usually a single word) by riddles. The riddle is worded in such a way that it seems that the word itself speaks.

  Example

  Word: Elephant

  Riddle:

  Trees I use to walk and breathe
  Heavier than a boulder, lighter than a raven's feather.

  Line-by-line explanation:

  Elephant legs compared to trees. Elephants breathe through the trunk (the body of a tree).
  Elephants are heavy, but also light grey.

  Question:  What am I?

This type of riddle is commonly terminated by the question:

  What am I?

My puzzle is multi-layered and out-of-the-common. It consists of multiple riddles and wordplay is also involved. I want to end one of those riddles with something unique like:

  What is me?

which sounds more enigmatic and interesting. In the puzzling world, you're permitted to bend grammar to your will, if it helps make puzzles better. I've other reasons for doing this beyond ELL, so they're better left unmentioned.

The real question

How to parse

  What is me?

I know this is not usually correct. Grammatically, me should be the subject, is the be verb, and What the object, so this doesn't seem possible. But, what if me does function as the object?

When you point yourself out in the image, you say:

  That's me. There's me.

which are answers to the unusual questions---

  What's me? Where's me?

Why, in riddle format, can't "me" be the predicate for a subjective "what"?


texts: "go back" vs "come back" - why use one rather than the other?

texts:
I think these two sentences are the same. I looked up "go back" and "come back" in the dictionary, and both mean "back to". So is there a difference between them? I don't understand why the writer would choose to express the sentence one way, rather than the other. Is there a reason I am not aware of?

  He wants to go back to his wife and children, but he doesn't dare.

  He wants to come back to his wife and children, but he doesn't dare.


texts: How to elegantly express that "no money was required"

texts:
I need a catchy title for my lecture which will emphasize that no goverment money were used. I came with something like this, but it is little clumsy.

  Searching for "X" in "Y":a study which costed 0 €

Is there some better or more elegant way how write it? I would prefer a title which will contain "0 €".


texts: Is the phrase "to do a surgery on" feasible?

texts: I would like to ask if saying (figuratively) something like "We can do a surgery on this object so that ...". My question is about the phrase "to do a surgery on"; does that make sense to American native ears?


texts:
once i came across a phrase

  I have had my phone stolen

and

  I had had my ears removed

I understand the meaning, but what's the grammatical rule regulates it?
I have googled passive voice, but found only examples like "My phone was stolen",
so don't really know what to google.


texts: meet student's needs or meet student needs?

texts:
I am confused by a sentence in the preface of a writing textbook.

  This style complements our strong student-based approach to writing, and together they help create a text that genuinely meets student needs.

Should it be "meets student's needs" or "meet students' needs" here? Am I missing something or it's just a bug?


texts: Present continuous for repeated/ habitual actions

texts:
This site says that the present continuous can be used for temporary habits. for example,

He's eating a lot these days.
She's swimming every morning
You're smoking too much.
Why is he hitting the dog?

But my question is, When the present continuous is used for temporary habits, is it necessary to be doing the action at the time of speaking? (unless Can we say above examples even if he/she is not doing them at the
moment when we are talking?)


texts: What does "A is recognized over B" mean? Is it a correct expression?

texts:
I read a sentence as following:

  Effort is recognized over talent.

Does that mean effort is more important than talent? Is this expression correct in standard English?


texts: Short or long sentence to be fluent and formal

texts:
The following is a simple sentence, I prefer to not be wordy, but sometimes I may think a longer sentence could be more clear or fluent.

Through the application, the user can select any element of the page by moving the mouse over it and get access to its static and dynamic information.
Through the application, the user can select any element of the page by moving the mouse over it and get access to the static and dynamic information of the selected element.

Which of the sentences sound more fluent and natural? (as an example)


texts: Difference between to forsake and to give up

texts:
What is the difference between to forsake and to give up ?

I find the two following as right:

  He has been given up.

  He has been forsaken.

In which situation would you use one instead of the other.


texts: Should I use "or" or "nor" or "neither" in the following sentence?

texts:
I won't talk to my boyfriend anymore. Or/nor/neither to you.

I often get confused about this. How to make the distinction?


texts: "So happy I am today" - is it grammatical?

texts:
Is it grammatical to say:

  So happy I am today!

instead of

  I am so happy today!


texts: What is the meaning of "Except I am your dad"?

texts:
Nathan ran away from Dave & Gus because he got embarrassed by her Dad actions, Later Gus found Nathan & tells him that he is doing to get money. But Nathan didn't bother & take a walk then Gus say this words to him:

  Oh, well, I may as well not bother. Except I'm your dad.


texts:
I heard in the description of the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit:

  Donald, in devil horns, slowly opens the upright and aims a cannon at Daffy who prams.

I first thought it was "preens" or "prances," but the audio doesn't sound like it. I looked up "pram", but the word doesn't have a meaning close to what the context asks for. I am putting the audio here for reference (available through an audio sharing site Clyp). It describes Daffy swiping his hair back in a smug gesture, as shown:


texts: Meaning of "Stories, that is, of human authorship"

texts:
Do these following sentences have the same meaning?

  In songs and stories, that is, of human authorship.
  In songs and stories, that is of human authorship.

Context:

What is half-seen in this manner is quite often a specimen of the species homo sapiens, and from such half-glances may derive that "knowledge of human nature" for which human beings are famous in song and story. In songs and stories, that is, of human authorship.


texts:
On phone, Tobin is talking to Doug, who is on bus & tailing another guy.

  Tobin: Keep talking to me. What's going on? ls he carrying the
  satchel?

  Doug: OK, he's got the satchel. But l think he made me.


texts: The meaning of "as much as" in this sentence

texts:
As much as the weaponry it produced as one of the “arsenals of the United Nations,” the TVA itself was potent propaganda, an authoritative, living symbol of how a liberal world could be constructed postwar. (source)

This usage where "as much as" is followed by a noun phrase is unfamiliar to me. I am much more familiar with constructions of "as much as" followed by a clause, such as

  even though : despite the fact that
  As much as I respect him, I still have to disagree with him on this point. (source: Merriam Webster)

I can't find other sentences with similar structures to the sentence at issue at the top of this question. What does "as much as + noun phrase" mean? Despite that NP...? What does that sentence mean?


texts: Merging "does not tell" in the following sentence

texts:
I recently asked a question on this site and in that question I used "doesn't tell" twice:

I checked a similar question on this site, but that question doesn't tell the difference and doesn't tell why #1 is correct.

Can I merge "doesn't" into one and say this:

I checked a similar question on this site, but that question doesn't tell the difference and tell why #1 is correct.
?

Out of curiosity, can we merge "doesn't tell" into one and say this:

I checked a similar question on this site, but that question doesn't tell the difference and why #1 is correct.
?


texts:
In these sentences (in a book about human rights) I can't understand the meaning of the word "get":

Treat a person like a human being and you'll get a human being.
Treat people like human beings and you will get truly human beings.

I guess its meaning is "understand" but I'm not certain; that is, if you look any person before you as a human being, you may understand humans and sympathize with them.


texts: meaning of "take up a position at someone's feet"

texts:
I'm reading an article about a gruesome banquet held by Roman emperor Domitian. And it describes the scene as follows:

  Naked boys painted black flitted past like phantoms and after circling around the guests in a sinister dance took up their positions at their feet.

I don't understand what "took up their positions at their feet" mean. Does it mean the dancing boys just stood by the guests or what?


texts:
I have learned this phrase but I am not sure how to use it properly.
These are sentences I wrote.Could you check them if they were written grammatically correctly?

  1.Having a college degree only goes so far to reach your goals in a life.

  2.Having a college degree only goes so far on reaching your goals in a life.

  3.Having a college degree only goes so far for reaching your goals in a life.

  4.Average pensions only go so far meets your need of money.

  5.Even being  filhty-rich could make you happy only go so far, if you don't have real friends.

  6.Beauty/ being good-looking only goes so far ...help making new friends.

(You can rewrite my sentences too,as long as the meanings don't change much.I would be happy if you give more examples.)

Thank you


texts: Is it grammatically correct to write restrictive clauses (of the form: which ... ) in this way?

texts:
The darkness, which had felt like it would last forever, gives way to dawn.
The heavens open and light, which had seemed never to return, flows down.
I could not help be overcome by wonder as I watched all creation, which had been swallowed by the darkness, come back to life.


texts: How different, has closed VS has been closed?

texts:
The cafe has closed
The cafe has been closed

Two of the sentences have same meaning?


texts:
While reading some phrases examples I saw this:

  These are the plates I want.

Translating to Portuguese gets this way:

  Esses são os pratos que eu quero.

As you can see the word "Que" means "That", apparently in my language, the word that is more usual. I think That(?) I'm using more "that" than is needed and I can't get when to not use.

  It really feels that(?) needs an "that" here.
  ----------------------------↓
  These are the plates * I want.


texts:
Here is my sentence:

It is really a very simple change, minutes, and I want to pull it in soon, since it is an annoyance.

The second comma seems strange it me. Its ending the explanation of "very simple change," but it is also the comma for the conjunction. In my mind, is seems to conflict with the third comma.
Somehow, this sentence seems messed up.


texts:
A word or phrase meaning "training and financing him to become"?
The only thing I can think of is "build someone up into", but I am not sure it has exactly the intended meaning.

The company built him up to be a very good CEO.

The company trained and financed him up to be a very good CEO.


texts: Should I say "very praising" and "very serious"?

texts:
I have four terms, as follows:

Polite, Friendly, Serious, Praising

First question: By the method of adding prefixings, are the opposites of them:

Impolite, Unfriendly, Unserious, Unpraising

Secondly, if I want use two adverbals to define them by two levels, like "very" and "fairly" (I don't know whether they are idiomatic if put these two adverbals before them), should I say:

Very polite - fairly polite - fairly impolite - very impolite
Very friendly - fairly friendly - fairly unfriendly - very unfriendly
Very serious - fairly serious - fairly unserious - very unserious
Very praising - fairly praising - fairly unpraising - very unpraising


texts:
I'm confused that whether I can use "to bring it" or not in grammar.

because as I know, we can't use "to with verb" not "to verb+ing". for example,

  "Should I have to go back to my room to bring it?"

If I wrong. please correct to me.

update

I came across some relative sentence as the below when I googling.

  "bring the water to the boil "

I understand that sentence like someone ask to get some water to boil the water.

Is this right I understood?

what if I want to express that the what am I supposed to do?


texts:
I saw a phrase

  If everything is hunky dory, you'll hear a ...

Miss Google says it means something is fine, but I want to know the story behind it?


texts: Is "people" a countable or a non-countable noun?

texts:
I saw these sentences on the Internet:

There are three people here.

A few people didn't enjoy the play.

Now I'm not sure whether people and other collective nouns like team, family and police are countable nouns or uncountable nouns. Is there an explanation for how these words work?


texts: "It's an interesting topic for me" versus "It's interesting to me": Does it really matter?

texts:
I've just caught myself out twice by writing something down as being interesting for me!
This is a typical Italian mother-tongue error, but Italian is not my first language. It used to be English, but now I'm no longer sure.

And yet when I say the above phrase it sounds OK. I feel comfortable saying it, so am I right to use the preposition for in this way? If as a linguist said: "Grammar is about how people really speak, not about how they ought to speak."

Here is a link which nicely sums up the difference between interesting to me and interesting for me.

  Something you do is interesting for you.

  Something people do or say is interesting to you.


texts:
I wrote this sentence

  In our approach, we simulate the way a human user looks for data on a web page. We, as human, rely on the visual appearance of the page (fonts, colors, text or link density) and semantic cues or text signals within the content (titles, highlighted words, the meaning of specific phrases) to build an image of the content structure.

To differentiate between "we, as authors" and as humans, I use "we, as human", but it maybe is "we, as humans" or something else?

In general, are there more idiomatic ways to say "human"?

By the way, is "build an image of something" to mean "perceive", correct?


texts:
I would like to say something like

"One of (the)important facts in mathematics is ABC theorem."

I am wondering if I need "the" or not. The reason I am confusing is that the importance of facts is personal and could be non-definitive.

So I guess I don't need "the". Please correct me if I am wrong.


texts: students’ awareness or students awareness

texts:
I would like to write:'To increase students' awareness' but I found lots of people would write it differently, such as:

To increase student awareness
To increase students awareness
To increase student's awareness

I think 'To increase students' awareness' sounds better. Can anyone help me? thanks!!


texts:
His name translates/is translated as 'lion'.

Are these alternatives both correct?


texts: Tense usages in an imaginary situation or general discusstion

texts:
Imagine
when people are giving suggestions or ideas, discussing general ideas.
What type of tense should be used when talking about a sequence of events.(something happens first then other things happen.)

For example:

    I say
    "If people don't understand your English, they would ask you what you said".

Because it is a general thing(and clearly the verb "say" should happen earlier even if the whole thing is just a general concept), what tense should the word "said" be in? past tense or present tense?


texts:
Is it true that if we don't know what happened in the past we should make speculations using just past simple? (Even if the speculations are very unrealistic, for example abduction by aliens.)
For example George told us he would arrive today, but we don't know the exact time. We don't know what means of transportation he is using now. We can speculate:

If he took the train he will be here in 5 hours.
If he took the plain, he will be here in 1 hour.
If he was abducted by aliens, he might be here in two years.

But then George's mother call us and says that her son took the train. Now we can't use past simple, we are obliged to use past perfect:

If he had taken the plain, he would be here in one hour.
If he had been abducted by aliens, he would ...


texts:
I think I couldn't understand what would it mean/imply if I change tenses in this sentence..

Does they make any sense   or are they grammatically correct?

"The earth was believed to be flat "

"The earth was believed to was flat "

"The earth was believed to have been flat "

"The earth is believed to be flat " (People think the Eath is still flat? )

"The earth is believed to was flat "

"The earth is believed to have been flat "

Thanks


texts:
Which one of in, from and of should I use to say I like the music [in/from/of] movie, if the music is

Already known, such as Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata?
Original (made for the movie)?

Or are there other distinctions that entail with the use of each word?


texts: "But both men interviewed separately." vs "But both men were interviewed separately."

texts:
I know we can say "He took the book" and "The book was taken" but when it comes to some sentences it makes me confused.

I just don't understand why would someone say:

  But both men interviewed separately

Wouldn't it be more correct to say the following?

  But both men were interviewed separately.


texts:
In the following three which one is incorrect?

TV channel is relayed.
TV channel is aired.
TV channel is telecast.

Is a channel 'relayed'or its programs are relayed?


texts: There's no dessert like this vs. There's no such dessert as this

texts:
I was wondering if the following statements mean the same:
There's no dessert like this.
There's no such dessert as this.
It seems pretty obvious that the second one means "There's no such thing as this in the world of desserts or I've never seen it in the world of desserts".
The first one, however, sounds ambiguous  because it could not only mean the same as the other, but also mean "This is the best dessert I've ever enjoyed".
Would my understanding be correct?


texts:
When Jack entered the room, I had not recognized him because he lost so much weight.

For above sentence,I use past perfect tense(had not recognized),because there were two situations in the past.

But the real answer is

  When Jack entered the room, I did not recognize him because he lost so much weight.

So, why did they use simple past (did not recognize) although there were 2 situations in the past?


texts: I want to say "size of vectors" but instead of using "of" I want to use something like "vector size" but in the plural form what should I say? Is "vector sizes" right form?


texts: "achieve [a] work-life balance" or "achieve work-life balance"?

texts:
In my vocabulary booklet for an EAL test, it has 'can achieve a work-life balance' in the booklet.

I don't think the 'a' should be there because I think 'balance' is not countable.

However, there are a few search results shown for 'can achieve a work-life balance', for example: https://www.carecareers.com.au/achieve-work-life-balance/

Are these people making mistakes or is it can be written in either way?

Thank you!


texts:
I would like to know the difference between the following two sentences

  Has he finished reading the book?

and

  Is he finished reading the book?

Appreciate any insight.


texts: Can an object "go by", meaning that it vanishes? (example)

texts:
Reading another story from C.A. Smith, I found the following sentence:

Of my birth, my youth, and the appelation by which I was known and
perhaps renowned among men, it would now be bootless to speak: for
those days are one in remoteness with the reign of Al Raschid, they
have gone by like the Afrit-builded halls of Suleiman.

I am not sure about the meaning here, as the phrase using "go by" does not make much sense to me. Probably if the halls were extremely large and one was moving along them, maybe this would make more sense, but as it is, I do not really know.


texts:
I want to know about the making question sentence form.

Are these sentences correct?
What post-it do you have?
What post-it are you having?

As I know, above sentences are the same. But are there any difference them?


texts: “Will [arming/armed] teachers make schools safer?”

texts:
"Will arming teachers make schools safer?"

I think that the author should have used armed teachers in this sentence.

If it is grammatically correct, what is the difference between the two usages, concerning the means.

Here is the news link;
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/06/25/534230962/colorado-teachers-get-gun-training-as-first-responders


texts:
"I wish I had a new car."

Does this mean I wish I had a new car but my current car is old?
Is it an impossible wish or not?


texts:
I would like to know the meaning of the following expresion:Keep left.
Does it mean maintain left hand in a road or do not enter?


texts:
Two Briton rock musicians are visiting Japan.
  Two briton rock musicians are visiting Japan. (Lowercase 'b').
  Two British rock musicians are visiting Japan.

Out of the three, which are correct?


texts:
I'm reading the novel "The Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin, and I found this sentence:

  Royce replied. “Never believe anything you hear at a woman's tit."

Does the sentence mean that: never trust a women when you were younger?

Well, the word tits usually refers to a female breast in a rude way, sexual way... I don't think it so far-fetched to interpret this sentence that way.

i found also that the "tit" can also refer teeth!, unfortunately, it is a common practice among some "western".


texts:
In the book Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely, I found the following expression in bold letters:

  In the case of the Economist, I may not have known whether the Internet-only subscription at $59 was a better deal than the print-only option at $125. But I certainly knew that the print-and-Internet option for $125 was better than the print-only option at $125. In fact, you could reasonably deduce that in the combination package the Internet subscription is free! "It's a bloody steal—go for it, governor!" I could almost hear them shout from the riverbanks of the Thames. And I have to admit, if I had been inclined to subscribe I probably would have taken the package deal myself. (Later, when I tested the offer on a large number of participants, the vast majority preferred the Internet-and-print deal.)

What does "It's a bloody steal—go for it, governor!" mean?

I know "steal" means bargain in this context, but why "governor"? Is this some idiom or some reference to something I'm not aware of?


texts:
Just over three years ago, François Fillon was the favourite to become France’s next president. The case that wrecked the candidate’s chances—known, after his wife, as Penelopegate—went to trial on February 26th and is due to end today. The Republican ex-prime minister, who served under Nicolas Sarkozy, is primarily charged with misuse of public funds. He put his wife on the parliamentary payroll between 1998 and 2013 to the tune of over €1m ($1.1m) for work that prosecutors say she never did. He has denied wrongdoing, and claims to be the victim of a “trial by media”. Mrs Fillon and Marc Joulaud, his political associate, are also in the dock. The outcome will be closely watched, if mostly as a symbolic end to an era. Mr Fillon has already retired from politics. And shortly after his election Emmanuel Macron introduced a law that bans members of parliament from employing family members.

What does the sentence mean?
Just in case it becomes a symbolic end to an era, the outcome need to be closely watched.


texts:
Imagine you by some stuff in wholesaling basis. How would you say you bought them. I have listed a structure with separated prepositions. Please let me know which one sounds natural:

  I purchased all this stuff by wholesale.
  I purchased all this stuff in wholesale.
  I purchased all this stuff at wholesale.

I searched on google, but I didn't find useful information.

Please let me know how a native speaker would say it if no one of my suggested sentences sounds natural here.


texts:
Is "to close her eyes" a one-off action or a prolong one?
I think there are some verbs used to express some actions that can not be prolonged.
For example, "I have been finishing the homework for 1 hour" because when you finish it, it just happens right away.
When we say "she closes her eyes", it's hard to say but I think "She has been closing her eyes for 1 hour" sounds wrong because that closing-eyes action only takes about 1 sec to complete it.
Do you say "She has been closing her eyes for 1 hour" or "Her eyes have been closed for 1 hour"?
And "She is closing her eyes now so I don't see them" or "Her eyes are closed now so I don't see them"?


texts: What's the meaning of "crash on international shores"?

texts:
Zhou Haohui, the latest author to catch the wave of Chinese crime
  fiction crashing on international shores, had an unsatisfying job
  teaching engineering at a university outside of Beijing in 2007 when
  he began publishing —,  online —,  the novels that would earn him a
  cultlike following in China.

Source


texts: Positions of reporting verb in direct/indirect speech

texts:
This is the sentence: our coach said that our captain was good at making decisions.

Can I use for direct speech: Said our coach, "our captain is good at making decision."

Is it correct?


texts: If something is scheduled for, say, December, and you're speaking in March, how do you phrase it? 'Scheduled in several months', is it ok?


texts: Is "as is the ___ so is her ___" valid in English?

texts:
I heard from someone:

They are both jealous, as is the mother so is her daughter.

Another example relating to it reads as:

As is the question so is the answer.

Googling it  didn't provide anything helpful result.
Is it natural to the ears of a native speaker?


texts: "1.5 hours" are "One hour and half" or "One and half hour"?

texts:
1.5 hours are "One hour and half" or "One and half hours"?

Examples:

  He will be there in 1.5 hours.

  I spend there 1.5 hours.


texts: How to parse "foreign policy moves from the U.N." in this sentence?

texts:
I am having difficulty parsing this sentence

  With cable news chyrons flashing breathless updates about both Beltway dramas, news of Trump's foreign policy moves from the U.N., led by a new trade deal with South Korea, struggled to break through. (source)

Is the word "moves" a noun in this sentence and the head of the noun phrase "foreign policy moves"? What exactly is the function of "from"? I am not sure if it is the news from the U.N. or moves from the U.N.


texts: What is the meaning of this compliment: "Your name suits you to a T"?

texts: I find this sentence in a post about "100 compliments..." but can not guess what it means. Thank you


texts: The French EAT or EATS (nationality-verb)

texts:
As for 'nationality-verb agreement' (subject-verb agreement) why is that the answer is wrong?

Is this equal to Frenchmen= The French?


texts: what is difference between "to" and "from" in the following sentences?

texts:
What is difference between following two sentences.

It is 200 miles to New York.
It is 200 miles from New York.


texts:
I went into the elevator and pushed/pressed the button for the fourth floor.

Are these equally natural in this context? Does one of them sound more forceful than the other?


texts:
The following sentence is given (M. Swan - Practical English Usage):

  It's been a good time while it's lasted.

I can't get the point of the sentence. Why can we use the present perfect in the subordiante clause at all? I thought the past progiressive more suitable.

  It's been a good time while it was lasting.


texts: Women's clothes or women clothes in a department store?

texts:
Many native English speakers would say that it is "women's clothes".  However, when I asked non-native English speakers, they say that "women clothes" would be preferred by them.

In the UK many department stores advertise that they sell women's clothes, men's clothes and children's clothes.  However, we need to decide if “women('s)” in “women('s) clothes” is a possessive noun or a nominal premodifier or attributive noun functioning as an adjective, “women”, whose head is “clothes”. A Wikipedia page states that fluent English speakers will regard the use of "women clothes" as solecistic (=grammatically incorrect) in this context.

It seems that, when asked, native English speakers will prefer reading “women's clothes” in a department store while non-native English speakers will prefer “women clothes”.  Whilst native English speakers seem to process “women's” as a possessive noun establishing a relationship between “women” and “clothes”, non-native speakers believe that the clitic would be omitted in “women's” as “women” is considered by them a premodifying attributive noun functioning as an adjective – e.g. “clothes which have been designed for women”.  There are other constructions which seem to be problematic such as “women's range”, “women's clothing”, “women's clothes magazine”.

The question is: if the clothes have been designed for women and they do not belong to them yet, could we say "women's clothes"? Wouldn't "women clothes" be more suitable here? If not, why?

In "Find out what women's clothes were like in the 19th century", I believe "women's clothes" is the right construction here as those were the clothes worn or used by women in the 19th century. Any thoughts on this?


texts: Using across/across from/through to mean "on the other side of it"

texts:
Can I use across or through to mean "on the other side of something"? Which preposition is appropriate in such situations ?

  1- There was a bird across the window. (There was a bird on the other
  side of the window.)

  2- There was a bird across from the window.

  3- There was a bird through the window.

  4- There was a little girl across the table. (There was a little girl on the other side of the table.)

  5- There was a little girl across from the table.

  6- There was a little girl through the table.


texts: Understanding about the grazing paddock in context

texts:
Please take a look at the following quote:

  I do not want to see a transient serfdom of European peoples in which every serf competes in a race towards the bottom. Being in the EU gives the illusion of opportunity when in reality all it does is make one's grazing paddock slightly bigger.

I don't understand what would be wrong with a slightly bigger grazing paddock that might be the reality of being in the EU. After all, we all or at least most of us would want something bigger. What's wrong with the reality then? The fact that's only slightly bigger? Or is there something else that I can't figure out?


texts: Can "leaf" be used to mean "sheet" or "page"?

texts:
I have recently stumbled upon somebody saying:

  I have decided to turn over a new leaf.

I was already aware of a similar expression with "page" instead. I have also heard of "leaflet" meaning (as far as I can tell) "flyer" or somesuch.

So can a leaf mean a page? In Finnish they can be interchanged in some rare cases. I had never heard of this in English though.

"Leaf" seems to be defined here as a double-sided page from a piece of paper folded vertically (courtesy of a quick bit of Googling):

http://www.indiana.edu/~libpres/manual/treatments/glospages/folio.html

Can the words be interchanged in general usage?


texts: time interpretaton: I forgot meeting him

texts:
(1) I forgot to meet him. [matrix time = event time]
(2) I forget to meet him. [matrix time < event time]
(3) I forget meeting him. [matrix time > event time]
(4) I forgot meeting him. [matrix time ? event time]

The temporal interpretations (1)~(3) I’ve written at the end of each sentence after consulting CGEL p.160. But I’m not sure if (4) has any possible meaning at all aside from the time interpretation. Can you tell me about if (4) can have any meaning and what the time interpretation would be?


texts: Whose phone number is the one referred at "We will call you at "?

texts: I just got an interview and the email said "We will call you at [a phone number that doesn't belong to me]". Does the phone number here refer to to their phone number, or they just got my phone number wrong?


texts: The right verb for when we want others' trust for a longer time?

texts:
What is the right verb for when we want others' trust for a longer time. Do we want to keep their trust, to retain their trust, to preserve their trust, ... ?

Example:

  By saying only the truth I can ... their trust far longer.


texts:
I was working on a song, and my friend pointed out this lyric to me while I played it for her.

  "I should have let you known that i'm a runner"

My friend thinks it should be

  "I should have let you know that i'm a runner"

Which one is correct?


texts: We (have been) are working on this for last two days: the difference between tenses

texts:
What is the difference between these two sentences:

1) We have been working on this for last two days.

2) We are working on this for last two days

Please explain it to me.


texts: Pronunciation of adjectives ending with "ous" or "cious"

texts:
I would like to ask about a pronunciation rule that looks universal. There are (at least) 1201 words in English ending with "ous" and the majority of them are adjectives (http://www.morewords.com/ends-with/ous/). A random check shows that adjectives ending with "ous" are pronounced with "əs" at the end.

There are as well at least 68 words ending with "cious", like conscious, and apparently they are pronounced with "ʃəs" at the end (ˈkɒnʃəs).

Question. Do these two rules hold universally for adjectives? If yes then how such rules can be explained? (we know all that in English there are few pronunciation rules). Are there further rules of a similar nature?


texts: Usage of "no other" with "comparative" and "positive" degree

texts:
I have a question regarding no other. I have given two examples using no other. One in comparative degree and the other in positive degree.

Here are the examples:

1- No other poet in the world is more renowned than William Wordsworth.

I think I shouldn't use no other in sentences using comparative degree. I should use No because no other here means "William Wordsworth is more renowned than William Wordsworth." Am i right? But I have seen people use no other  and no interchangeably in this case?

2- No other poet in the world is as renowned as William Wordsworth.

I think If I use positive degree both no other and no seems natural. What do you think?


texts:
As good as the English voice cast is, though, it’s a shame that Sucker Punch wasn’t able to find a way to have the performance capture match the Japanese voice acting as well.

What does "as good as'' mean in the sentence?


texts:
Patients are held for observation following a medical procedure.

I am having trouble figuring out which event comes first. Does observation happen before medical procedure or medical procedure comes before observation?


texts: What if + past simple or past participle

texts:
I always come across this kind of sentences. What kind of conditonal should I use when I want to talk about the "possible result of an imagined situation in the past".

I don't understand why we don't use past perfect in these sentences since these sentences questioning something that was might or might not have been in the past. These questions refer to the past.

As far as I understand American speakers don't usually use "past perfect" in conditional sentences, even though those sentences refer to the past. They just use past simple. Am I right?

  1-What if she did find a life at that convent ? (The subject doesn't
  know if she found a life at that convent or not . This action of
  "finding a life" happened or didn't happen in the past so the subject
  is just curious about it right now . Because the subject is
  investigating a crime right now )

  2-What if they wanted to protect her ? (The subject doesn't know if
  they wanted to protect her or not in the past. The subject is just
  curious about it right now . Because the subject is investigating a
  crime right now. )

I think these sentences should be like this:

  1'- What if she had found a life at that convent?

  2'- What if they had wanted to protect her?


texts: Why does "the then chairman" contain "the then" at the same time?

texts:
A special court for CBI cases on Monday framed charges against the then chairman and managing director, executive director and senior vice-president of the erstwhile Global Trust Bank and representatives of a private firm in connection with a multi-crore scam.

Why is 'the then' used at the same time, and what does that mean?


texts: If curriculum already implies academic, is it redundant to say I have equipped myself with a diverse academic curriculum? Also, is curriculum plural (is "a curriculum" appropriate)?


texts:
There is a sentence below.

  I don't know what to do.

In Korea, we are taught that in this sentence, "what to do" means "what I should do".

Is that right? I think that we may use "will" instead of "should" in this sentence, like this

  I don't know what I will do.

May I change " I don't know what to do" into " I don't know I will do."?


texts: How to refer to link? (open, see, check etc.)

texts:
If I want to refer to link (on internet, computed documents etc.), for example, when I want to send someone to read something that the link in the PDF that I gave him, links to it. Then what is the correct way or the most common way to refer to it?

My options now are: open the link, check the link, see the link. Maybe you have different alternatives, but anyway I would like to know the common one/s.

N.b. in my native language we say "enter the link".


texts:
Please look at the statement which I correct. I searched for duplicates about "none" and found that in fact those might be both correct.

Please let me know if my assumptions are right.

She has none cigarettes.

And

She has no cigarettes.


texts:
Can I say that I am wicked sick in my job if I am too good at it.
I heard that in dota2 “wicked sick” but in google did not find any meaning so I translate it that should be similar to ownage!


texts: Would it sound natural if instead of saying  "I can't come to tomorrow's class" I say "I can't come to my/our class"?


texts:
I can't find one in the dictionary.

There is a word "disimprove" so "disimprove on" is a catachresis waiting to happen. I think it would be easily understood. But I'm looking for an existing word.

The question presupposes an understanding of the difference between "improve" and "improve on." Here are two examples I feel are correct:

I want to improve my GPA.
I want to improve on my last year's GPA.

In both examples I am comparing my current GPA to my previous GPA. But "improve" is used for the thing being compared (current GPA) and "improve on" for the thing being compared to (previous GPA).

If the difference is between the subject of a comparison and the object of one, it seems to me that "improve" has multiple antonyms but "improve on" doesn't have even one.


texts: Grammar question: I'm not sure how "knocked" worked here. Pls give some explanations about this usage

texts:
In my own opinion, knocked and waited are two different verbs. They share the same subject, which makes me confused about why two verbs can be joined by a comma. I think knocking is more appropriate or add "and" where comma has been used.

This is a excerpt from A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

  They called a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen. A deputation
  waited upon her，knocked at the door through which no visitor had
  passed since she ceased giving china-painting lessons eight or ten
  years earlier.


texts:
I don't like _____ eating.

What will be better to use, them or their.
I want to say  their way of eating .But, i want to cut it short, according to context.
Can I use the sentence this way, using 'them or their.


texts: "system and device such as that disclosed in U.S. Patent No." — what does "that" refer to?

texts:
The bioassay aspect of the present invention herein may be carried out in a testing subunit or test cartridge designed for use with a bench-top or portable testing system and device such as that disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 9,023,640, which is incorporated by reference herein, in its entirety.

What does "that" refer to in the paragraph above? The device? The system and device as a single unit?


texts: Should I use a question mark or a period here?

texts:
"Why don't you come over here? Then we could talk."

Hi. I can't figure out whether it is correct to use a question mark where I have or if it should be a period instead. What is correct? Is it optional? Thank you.


texts: I still get confused with "prefer to have O + (to) V" grammar

texts:
What kind of grammar (the name of grammar) am I getting confused in the following sentences? And which one is the correct one?

I prefer to have my wife does the homework by herself.
I prefer to have my wife do the homework by herself.
I prefer to have my wife to do the homework by herself.


texts: Could anyone please explain the sentence

texts:
I saw the sentence in a dictionary.I couldn't understand what he did, even though I understood what the verb meant which was to be unable to move.

  He jammed the window open with a piece of wood.

Thank you


texts: how to render the plural of "looks like one"

texts:
He saw the creatures in the distance were actually dogs or at least looked like ones/some/such.

Normally I find this kind of sentence with a singular object, ergo my question. Are the three words in bold all correct in this case?


texts: Which is the correct tense to use with 'by'?

texts:
I gave him the money by 6 PM.
  I had given him the money by 6 PM.

I can't spot the difference between them and both seem right, but I was told the first one is wrong. Can anyone say, why?

Here is a another set of sentences with the same issue:

  By 5 PM I gave him the book.
  By 5 PM I had given him the book.

In both the sentences the book was given before 5 PM and no later than 5 PM. But I can't understand then what the difference between them is.

Is it right to use simple past with 'by' at all? If yes, then why and if not, then why is it incorrect to use simple past with 'by'?


texts: to delve into vs to scrutinize vs to immerse

texts:
Even though dictionaries dont bring up as a synonym delve into with scrutinize
I can see a overlap.

As far as I know for example we can scrutinize an art paint in order to find out if it is geniue or we can scrutinize in order to understand its deep meaning by deciphering every symbol on it.Another example I learned a mum can scrunitize her children's clothing to make sure they were dressed properly for school.

Can we do them with the verb delve into ?

Or delve into implies more like to trying find out something clandestine.

And I added the word immerse because I'd like to ask if we can scrutinize or devel into a book or movie which has engrossing and intricate plot in the sense of immerse.


texts:
At a Bank
Man: "Hi. I'd like to open up a bank account, please."
Teller: "Well, let me help you. There're three basic types of accounts."
Man: "Right."
Teller: "Checking, savings and checking-savings."
Man: "I think I'd like something that I can write checks on."
Teller: "OK. Then let's go with the checking-savings account."
Man: "Good."
Teller: "OK. Here's the application and you can show me two pieces of identification."

What does "let's go with the checking-savings account" mean?
Does it mean "let's choose the checking-savings account?"


texts:
"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying ––"
      "Bet you could," Ron muttered.
      "––and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're
  bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."
      "And it's really none of your business," said Harry.
      "Good-bye," said Ron.
       All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean
  and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital
  wing).

  –– Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

[i] Is the highlighted part a fused relative (or free relative)?
I guess what in ‘what you’d call Ø the perfect end to the day’ is a fused relative. But there being a dummy it, I’m not sure.

[ii] Is ‘as’ a conjunction for saying the reason of aforesaid words?

[iii] Is 'to the day' an idiom, meaning 'exactly"?


texts:
In the previous question  I was told that these sentences are clumsy and their meanings are confusing:

Being taken to the hospital, he survived.
Being beaten by the snow, he died.

Can I convert these sentence into meaningfull sentences as follows:

  Being taken to the hospital, he died.

(To mean: while he was being taken to the hospital, he died)

  Being beaten by mother to her son, the father arrived.

(To mean: While the son was being beaten by his mother, the father arrived)

and,

Do I have to use "while" in front of "being+past participle in above sentences to imply those intended meanings?


texts: Does 'some shoes' mean both a pair of shoes and two or more of them?

texts:
I need some new shoes.

  -- Essential Grammar in Use

Do they use the sentence to get both a pair of shoes and two or more of them?

(When I’m going to buy just a pair of shoes, can I say “I need some new shoes?”
And when I’m going to buy two or more pairs of shoes, can I also say “I need some new shows?”)


texts:
I have a very confused question that has always haunted in my mind, I've intended several time to check it out when it poped out from someone's mouth in the television.

The question is that why people claim "I loved her/him" rather than "I love her/him" given that the one they refer to is already dead. Is't it the LOVE supposed to be an emotion or affection for someone to another. And as I have been told that the past tense should be something which is not  meant to be appeared at the present. This is to say, the speaker won't love the dead one anymore which is seemingly inappropriate in the context of Chinese.

In Chinese, for example, if a couple love each other, and then one of them died (no particular things occur like divorce or fighting), we do not tend to say I loved her/him. This, in Chinese context, is "I used love her/him, and I do not love anymore." Put it simply, no matter how far the one has gone, we still love her/him. There is no past tense. Love always maintains, in our memory.


texts: What word/term describes someone in the following scenario?

texts:
So the scenario would be such as this:

William is in a hurry to get his medicine from a pharmacy in Walmart, which is about to close. Worried that the pharmacy would close before he gets there, he parks in the disabled parking spot. A stranger watches him do that and tells him

  Stranger: "You can't park there, man, it is for disabled parking only.

  William: I know, but it won't take more than a minute and I am in a hurry.

  Stranger: No, you gotta take your car off from the disabled parking
  spot"

  William: "You are a cop? Or you are a vigilante or who are you to tell me
  not to park there and not understand my urgency here?"

So my question here. If William wants to negatively describe him with a word, what would he say?


texts:
"Ready as I'll ever be." Does this mean ready or not? Is this "I'm completely ready" or "I'm not ready but I have to"?

Master Yao: No! Po! The secrets are too powerful! You're not ready!
Po: Ready as I'll ever be.


texts: How different values of .. affect/affects?

texts:
May I know which one is grammatical?

  We will investigate on how different values of V affects the behaviour of the program.

  We will investigate on how different values of V affect the behaviour of the program.


texts: Preposition confusion - Do you learn somthing 'at' school OR 'in' school?

texts:
I know that we use the preposition at to describe a place. I learned French at school is one of the examples I can think of.

I came across two examples that use the preposition 'in' with 'schools' in the context of 'learning'.

Example #1 from the Business Illinois website:

  Eleven things that you will never learn in school.

Example #2 from The WorldBank Blog

  Do you think the skills you learn in school will help you get the job you want?

The use that I had in my mind is here on the New York Times

  Should Parents Control What Kids Learn at School?


texts: This question is related to present perfect tense and the uses of never in it

texts:
They have never returned from that city.
This is a single time event ,can we use never in this sentence.
Instead of this can we use
They have not returned from that city


texts:
What's the passive voice of "get rid of"? I want to change below sentences into passive voice but seems I can't make it properly..... Or any other alternative words can be used, Thanks!

1) Mary got rid of the stalker.
(Passive voice should be: The stalker............ Mary.????)

2) Messi gets rid of the defenders easily and scores with his weak foot.
(The defenders were.....????)


texts:
Please explain the difference between these sentences.

  The door is quite heavy.
  The door itself is quite heavy.

When do we use itself?


texts: "I'll carve into your ribs and leave you crying for a kiss" (Tessa Violet - Haze) - literal or metaphoric?

texts:
Haze by Tessa Violet is a deep pop-folk piece that combines the struggle of someone who tries to honestly share their internal desires in a shallow society and the struggle to actually fully percieve the world with your all senses.

It starts with a quick retrospection on the apparently full life she lead before

  I used to be

  Overwhelmed by every little thing

  Torn apart, unraveled at the seams

  I think it rooted in the way I breathe

and continues describing the depressing circle of hedonism she fell into after that

  And I get drunk

  On a boy who asks me if I'm up

  Tells me he can't understand his luck

  To know me

  To love me

  To hold me

  Show up

and the mask of a perfect woman she can afford to wear with her popularity

  I'll be your empathetic savior

  Call me up, I'll meet you later

  You canpraise me for the way I always know just what to say

  I'll carve into your ribs and leave you crying for a kiss

  Just for kicks

Now, is she actually saying she would carve into your ribs (like a wood) or is there an idiom "carve in" I would imagine to mean something like "to dive in and root there"?

We have this idiom in Czech but I wasn't able to find it in any dictionary. Is there an idiom with this meaning? Thank you!


texts:
What do following phrases goofing it up and got herself up mean and what is the function of up here?

  When she tried to be a person she came pretty close to goofing it up.
  There was never anybody on land or sea like Mrs Whatsit the way she
  got herself up.’

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle


texts:
Could you explain it's possible to use the Past Simple with key word "recently" or must always be the Present Perfect?

I have two sentences. Is the first sentence wrong? If I use the Past Simple I can write "Did you have a holiday last time?", but not "Did you have a holiday recently?", is it?

Did you have a holiday recently?

vs

Have you had a holiday recently?

Thanks.


texts: What do you call these problems including those can be seen on some knitted clothes?

texts:
I'm sure that you have seen such problems on some of your clothing items, specially one made from light twisted yarns or the ones that have been knitted loosely.

Sometimes they are in the form of raised stuff on your garment (picture 1), while in other cases they may form fine threads/ fibers (picture 2). Sometmes they are formed on the surface of carpets or rugs (picture 3) too. These problem are so common that even some tools are avaiable for removing them from the surface of the clothes, fabrics, or even carpets (like the ones shown in the pictures 3 and 4).

My question:

  What do you call each type of these problems (shown in the first three pictures below)? Or how do you describe them (if there is no single word for them)?

I want to use them in sentences like these:

  Don't wash this knitted sweater by hand, or it might form/ have ____ on it. Bythe way, you'd better use some liquid (fabric) softener at the end too.

  Oh, look! There are so many ____ have formed on the surface of this newly-bought carpet. I need to hoover it now.


texts:
I'm Ten, and my father is a Chinese, and my mother is a Japanese. I'm the second-generation Japanese or the mixed-race Japanese and raised between a Chinese father (from Shenzhen) and a Japanese mother in Tokyo.

Which one should I say if I introduce myself to somebody in the United States?

I've heard "a second-generation " meaning is immigration.
foreign people moved to a particular country and lived there permanently, or born in a country to which they moved. foreign people who immigrated to another country aren't on specific genes.


texts: What does it mean “ It is hard to hate up close “

texts: The whole sentence is “ It is hard to hate up close, and the FBI could bring people up close.”


texts:
"Buses moving along/ahead between the repeated stops in front of the terminals."

Context. A street in front of an airport, with several bus stops, for each terminal following. Imagine LAX World Way from Terminal 4 to Terminal 8.

Question. I want to describe a bus moving from one stop to the other, in a way that depicts the action of stopping for each terminal, not passing by them.

For this I might use between stops.
However, I don't want to sound as if the bus is moving back and forth between the stops.
I hope I am comprehensible enough for you with my explanation.

I don't know how grammatically accurate it is using: moving along/ahead/further between...

Thanks.


texts:
One article today said that Trump could win even if had less votes.

I search in google and I see that "less votes" is common.

Is it correct?

As vote is countable, it should be fewer votes...

Addition from the OP's comment:

I also found an article on the web that says Less Women. Should that be fewer women?


texts:
Clue #2: He’s making 10 sales a month. Even if I wrote pants-droppingly good copy for him and increased his sales by 200% — a % lift any CRO expert would blog & tweet about — this would only generate an extra $200 per month for his business:

what does "pants-droppingly" mean?


texts:
I just read this in a novel, and the sentence goes something like this

  Perhaps she did have asthma


texts: Can both present perfect and present perfect continuous be correct?

texts:
My English book has the following exercise:

Which is correct?

I've been working here since 1999.
I've worked here since 1999.

I said that only the first one is correct, but the answer key says that both are correct. I've read the theory and it says that (present perfect + since/for) is for non-action verbs and (present perfect continuous + for/since) is for action verbs.
"To work" is an action verb, hence saying "I've worked here since 1999" should be wrong, isn't it?


texts: What does "her arms tighten about his neck in gratitude" mean?

texts:
her arms tighten about his neck in gratitude

The sentence comes from Collins dictionary. What is my confusion is that why use "tighten about his neck" rather than "tighten his neck".

Besides, I also want to know what the meaning of 'in gratitude' is. Is HE has a gratitude for her or Is SHE has a gratitude for him?


texts: Which preposition is best for investments? On or from?

texts:
10000 = the money you have to invest

  I made 200 dollars on 10000 in 2 months.
  I made 200 dollars from 10000 in 2 months

Which preposition should I use: on or from?


texts:
What does "cracked" mean in the following example sentence?

A shot cracked across the ridge.

Does the "cracked" mean making a sudden explosive sound or doing so while moving?


texts: trust me on that score -- what does that mean?

texts:
Source: CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, 9th Edition (Exam 220-901 & 220-902) by Mike Meyers (2016)

Example:

  Every company has some form of dress code for techs. Figure 2-2 shows
  Ford dressed in a fairly typical example, with a company polo shirt, khaki pants, and dark shoes (trust me on that score).

What does that expression mean?


texts: What does "on non-bad debt and open balance accounts" mean here?

texts:
This sentence is from a policy of an organization I found on a leaflet. Can anybody please explain or paraphrase it for me? "on...debt" and "open balance accounts" are confusing me.

"If the patient is approved for financial assistance their coverage is valid for 240 days prior on non-bad debt and open balance accounts and 240 days post their application signature date."


texts: What is the correct usage of definite/indefinite articles here?

texts:
Bob is a boy. Alice is [a/the] boy's friend.

There is a dilemma to me: I know that the should be used to specify a specific boy (Bob), but at the same, should a be used there to be applied to friend to convey that friend is a noun?

P.S. I've read this and it says that a possessive does not cancel the requirement to use articles, so the question remains.


texts: What are some polite ways to respond to the people who call your name but you don't know them

texts:
I was waiting for the elevator to arrive at the ground floor and a man
called my name.   I turned to him and saw him looking at me but I could not recognize him.  I was surprised because I did not know him.  I stayed calm and tried to smile, and then pretended to be very busy typing words on my phone.

I know there should be some polite ways to respond to him, please teach me some.

Is this one ok?

  Hi, have we met somewhere before?


texts: "a ten years old boy" or "a ten year old boy"

texts:
1) a ten years old boy is sitting on the couch.

  2) a ten year old boy is sitting on the couch.

  3) a ten-years old boy is sitting on the couch.

  4) a ten-year old boy is sitting on the couch.

Which is correct?


texts: Difference in meaning between "He wanted her to buy the book" and "He hoped her buy the book"?

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between "He wanted her to buy the book" and
"He hoped her buy the book"?

Can "He wanted her to buy the book" be used in the situation, "She did not intend to buy the book. He asked her to buy the book"?

Can "He hoped her buy the book" be used in the situation, "She tried to buy the book. He cheered for her to buy the book"?

Can "He hoped her to buy the book" be used in the situation, "She did not intend to buy the book. He cheered for her to buy the book"?


texts: Is there a rule for when the suffix -ian is one syllable long, when two?

texts:
A question from my student:

  I'm rather confused how many syllables in the words with suffix -ian? Some words like 'e-lec-tri-cian, mu-si-cian, A-sian' have only one syllable while ' veg-e-tar-i-an, co-me-di-an, his-to-ri-an' have two. Is there any rule for this or just memorize them?

In her examples, the first set is stressed on the second-to-last syllable, the second set on the third-to-last.  But how can we know the difference?


texts:
Could help to explain below sentence structure?

  "The insect repellent that prevents bug bites has its shortcomings."

Because I saw "The insect repellent" to be the subject and "the prevents bug bites" be the clause, but next coming " has its shortcomings", so it confused me.

Thanks,


texts: The word "doooooooor" often girlishly said, what is the actual spelling?

texts:
Boy: May I know you're name please?
  Girl: I'm not telling, doooooor!

I know I'm spelling it like a 'door' but that's actually how it sounds. Is it an English word and what's the right spelling.


texts: What sentence is more correct? I go to a dancing class to improve my skills or I go to dancing classes

texts:
I go to a dancing class to improve my skills.

Or

I go to dancing classes to improve my dance skill.


texts: Plural form of noun before noun for the title of position in organizations

texts:
For naming job tile or position in organizations, I found that sometimes we use plural form of noun for describing another noun. For example

  Corporate Communications Supervisor

and

  Corporate Communication Supervisor

I used NGram and found that Communications Supervisor is used more widely than Communication Supervisor

NGram

Is there any rule for when to make the noun ,that is describing another noun, plural or singular?


texts: "a couple OF times" or "couple times"? "a couple of minutes" or "couple minutes"?

texts:
What's the idiomatic way to refer to times and minutes with the adverb couple?

  He did it a couple of times.

or

  He already did it couple times in past.

The same with minutes:

  I have to go a couple of minutes and I'll be back.

or

  I saw him in couple minutes ago.


texts: Is 'If to do something, we should...' grammatically correct?

texts:
For instance, it is correct to say that 'To avoid using more space, we should increase the running time'.

Then, is it correct to say 'If to avoid using more space, we should increase the running time'. I add 'if' to show that avoiding using more space is just a choice.


texts: What's the meaning of the word 'wordstruck?'

texts:
I found this term reading a novel, Presumed Innocent:

“We’ve made some decisions here,” Raymond says. He turns to Della Guardia. Silence. Delay, in his first assignment as P.A., is wordstruck. “Well, perhaps I should explain this first part,” Raymond says. He is extremely grim.

I found that it's being used sometimes, but there's no definition anywhere.


texts:
Context: I'm compiling a list of curiosities about numbers. Tone is more colloquial than academic.

I'm not sure if I can use both "Next such..." and "The next such...".

Example:

The first blue number. The next such number is 88464.

The first blue number. Next such number is 88464.

Omitting the "The" would be good for brevity.

I'm similarly dubious about using "The next ones are 353 and 55235" and/or "Next ones are 511 and 5331".

Thanks.


texts: a ... quantity of + plural countable nouns

texts:
I learned that "a ... quantity of ..." is typically followed by uncountable nouns.

I'd like to know whether there are restrictions on it when it is followed by plural nouns.

For example:

  a large quantity of clothes / drugs / groceries / seeds

sounds okay. How about the following?

  a sufficient quantity of Porta Potties / apartment buildings

I'd appreciate your help.


texts: Can we invent English words based on similar usage? Ex, "can you eat a mouse" or ".. eat mouse"?

texts:
Now, if you study dictionaries, you see that an animal or poultry is a countable noun when you refer to a living thing.
For Example,

  fish [countable] a creature that lives in water, breathes through
  gills, and uses fins and a tail for swimming

  They caught several fish.

but an animal or poultry is an uncountable noun when you refer to its flesh as food

  fish [uncountable] the flesh of fish eaten as food

  I like frozen/smoked/fresh fish

However, we don't have this pair "count - uncount noun" for all animals in English because English people don't eat these kinds of animal. But people in other countries do.

For example,

  mouse(n): a small animal that is covered in fur and has a long
  thin tail. Mice live in fields, in people’s houses or where food is
  stored.

  a field mouse

We have no "mouse" as an uncountable noun that refers to its flesh as food.

So, Can we invent English words based on similar usage?

We can invent a new word "mouse" as an uncountable noun that refers to its flesh as food.

  Eg, which one is correct?

  can you eat a mouse? (this sounds like you eat it raw???)

  can you eat mouse?

I don't want to mean we eat it raw. I mean we can cook it before eating it (ie, we see it as a kind of food like fish or chicken).

Note:  I noticed that people often put "meat" before these not-considered-for-eating animals. For example, "dog meat", "cat meat".....

DO you think that it is safer to put "meat" before these not-considered-for-eating animals?

Extra question:

I am not sure if it is wrong to say:

"I eat 2 chickens & 3 fish" since chicken or fish is considered as an uncountable noun when we see it as a kind of food.


texts: How is "try out" used when referring to something already mentioned?

texts:
I wrote:

  I can say without a single doubt that both games are worth trying them out.

My teacher crossed "them" out. Now I need to know why my sentence was wrong.


texts: Why not a preposition + a noun instead of "beginning on Monday"?

texts:
What does "beginning" mean in the following sentence?

  She will be in Canada next week for the Global Hepatitis Summit. Her
  patients won't be able to consult with her beginning on Monday, as
  she will be traveling by then.

Does it mean " Her patients won't be able to consult with her from beginning on Monday" or "Her patients won't be able to consult with her at beginning on Monday" or "Her patients won't be able to consult with her because of beginning on Monday"?

Why is the present participle "beginning" written, not a preposition + a noun(from or at or because of + beginning)?


texts: Enforcing distributed and one-to-one meaning

texts:
Does the object of the plural subjects in the following sentences also need to be plural?

  1a. The kids need to complete their personal collage for homework.

  1b. The student drivers couldn't figure out how to start their car.

or

  2a. The kids need to complete their personal collages for homework.

  2b. The student drivers couldn't figure out how to start their cars.

All of the above sentences are ambiguous. The subjects from the first pair could all be sharing the same object, the personal collage or car, and the subjects from the second pair could each have more than one of the object. Im wondering how I could construct a sentence where it's clear that each subject has just one of the object and is not open to misinterpretation.


texts: I got upset [ with / from ] the phone call

texts: I've quite seen a lot of both cases but I couldn't tell what's the difference here. Please help.


texts: Tense and Conditional sentences: If/Once

texts:
(a) If it began snowing, the coaches decided to cancel the game.

  (b) Once it began snowing, the coaches decided to cancel the game.

Which one makes sense?

I usually use If to express a future situation.
If the situation happens, it will bring the corresponding events.

I use simple present tense in the adverbial clause.
As for the events, I use Will/Would to express the future tone explicitly.

According to the above description, I make some sentences.

  (1) If it rains tomorrow, I will not go see a movie.

  (2) If my brother passes that exam, we will give a party.

  (3) If you could turn it down, I would appreciate it.

Back to my original question, I think it's perfect if I make one or two minor modifications.

  If it begins snowing, the coaches will decide to cancel the game.

I'm not sure whether once has the similar usage of the tense.

I have no idea about the precise bearing of the original sentence.
It uses the past tense! In what situations do such kind of past tense appear?

My question might be not loud and clear, but much appreciate if any one come up with good answers.


texts:
What does the following sentence mean?

  Don't worry. It couldn't ever happen.

Does could refer to present/future or past?

Can we use ever in the negative sentences?

Does it mean :

It cannot happen. (It cannot be true.)
It will definitely not happen.
It has never happened before.


texts: Whats the formal expression for picking up an exam ticket?

texts: "May i take a ticket please ? " Or "May you allow me to pick up a ticket? " or whats the best suitable expression for this matter ?


texts:
Have can be a state of being verb. And a state of being verb is a linking verb. Why is have not a linking verb? Look at the following examples:

"He has a degree in linguistics" is the same as "he is a linguistics degree holder";

"He has 2 legs" is the same as "He is of 2 legs".


texts:
This is an sentence from OED.

  Patrick looked utterly untouched by the previous night’s debauch.

What does untouched mean here? Does it mean that the debauch did not change his appearance? But in this case the adverb 'utterly' confuses me, you usually use 'utterly' when a substancial change has taken place. I would use 'virtually'.


texts: Can I use a past simple and a past perfect in the same sentence? If so, what logic does it follow?

texts:
"I didn't consider the possibility of someone asking me a question after I had crossed them off my list."

Or,

  "I didn't consider the possibility of someone asking me a question after I crossed them off my list."

Which sentence is grammatically correct, and why?


texts: "All there is to it is" or "all there is to it are"?

texts:
I am wondering if it's always singular. In this particular set phrase, we use the singular, but if "all there is" is actually a plural thing I wonder if we then use "are" instead of "is".

Example:

  All there is to it are these fundamental rules no one want to talk
  about.


texts:
Is there a way saying a file doesn't have a lot of bytes?

If I want to say: "The smallest app", when small is regarding file size, how would i say that?


texts: Is there a technique that’ll help me in writings

texts:
my question is vividly clear in above.

My current technique is, If I see that the word does sound right from my perspective or from my previous readings, I write it down.
And sometimes I pronounce the word rightly because it come to me a lot and I write it down easily.

But It doesn’t work all the time.

I really appreciate it If someone could help me here or direct me to a link or a book, that will also help a lot

How can I minimize my misspellings & writing mistakes? because I believe if I spell the word right, I’ll write it without any mistakes.
think of me like a kid that he is bad in writing and you want to help him out.


texts: Are longer sentences supposed to be harder to read?

texts:
I ask only about Modern English  here, but maybe Early Modern English can be discussed also.
I ask NOT about Old or Middle English or dialects of English which require special training.

This answer proves that longer sentences were normal erstwhile, but I find them more laborious to read. I need to reread them at least thrice. I also reference this, but I'm asking here in the main, and not merely about users 'debased' by IT.

1. What are some strategies or tips on determining their meaning more efficiently?

2. What about readers bygone? Did they read and understand the denser sentences more quickly?

From pp 174-175, Letters to a Law Student (1st ed.) by Nicholas McBride states:

  Shortly before he died, Hugh Trevor-Roper, the famous historian, said: ‘My cardinal rule for myself is that no one should ever have to read a sentence of mine twice in order to understand it. If they do – then I am at fault.’ Too many students fail to follow this rule. They fall into the trap of identifying complexity with cleverness. They think that the harder your essays are to understand, the cleverer you will appear. (Many philosophers make the same error.) The opposite is true: the more twisted and complicated your essay, the less it will appear that you actually understand anything about the subject of your essay.


texts: How to understand "and treat food nicely" in this sentence

texts:
We should respect food and think about the people who don’t have what we have here and treat food nicely.

How should I understand "and treat food nicely"? Does it modify "the people"?


texts: Is there any difference between "go over" and "go down" in the sense of being perceived in some way?

texts:
Could you tell me if there is any difference between go over well and go down well in the sense of being perceived in some way? For example:

The director's latest movie went over really well with the audience.
The director's latest movie went down really well with the audience.


texts: Is it correct to say you are talking “to Skype”?

texts:
Let's say you receive a message from someone but cannot talk to them because you are on a Skype call.
Which is the correct preposition to use for saying that you are busy using Skype?
"Sorry, I am talking to Skype at the moment"? or "talking at Skype"?
Also, "talking via Skype" sounds a bit too formal to me.
What would be the common way for saying this?


texts:
Youtube video: Time: 2:32 (my elbow are in)

What does "elbows in" and "elbows out" mean?

Elbows in vs. out

Why I couldn't find in the dictionary? Is this a short form?


texts: Word for an amount of money that is possible to pay but is not reasonable

texts:
Suppose that paying k$ for something (e.g., a house) is possible for me (I have that amount of money), but considering other factors (e.g., I may be able to spend it in a better way), I think it is not reasonable to pay that. Assume that the price is not high, but when considering all factors, I think that spending that amount of money somewhere else may be a better decision

If I say that "It is not possible for me to pay it", the listener may think that I do not have that amount of money.

How can I say such a sentence so that the reader knows that I think paying that money is not reasonable for me? Can I use the word reasonable itself: "It is not reasonable for me to pay it"? Is there a better word?


texts: Is the second "they" facultative in expressions like "What they do is they..."?

texts:
In the internet  I have found a lot of sentences like "Basically what they do is give you a free gift", see, in particular,
"All they do is (to) get groceries"  here. I'm in doubt, however - wouldn't they sound better with "they": "Basically what they do is they give you a free gift"? Or this depends?


texts:
Between the seen and unseen, the seeming and the being, lies the gulf of ignorance - Bruscius Longus

I saw it on message boards on IMDb as a signature of a user. I don't understand what this quote means or is implying.


texts: In that sentence 'That's how you showed up?' "That's how" is some kind of exclamation? Give me a definition of this structure.


texts:
Here it goes:

  Person 1 - How can I get my partner to respect me?

  Person 2 - Model what that looks like by respecting yourself.

I suspect it might mean copy something, but then, as the Oxford Dictionary says, it should be copy oneself on.


texts: At the beginning of a chapter or an article , is "we provide" or "we'll provide" better, or no difference?

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

  Abstract Computerized algorithms and solutions in processing and
  diagnosis mammography X-ray, cardiovascular CT/MRI scans, and
  microscopy image play an important role in disease detection and
  computer-aided decision-making. Machine learning techniques have
  powered many aspects in medical investigations and clini- cal
  practice. Recently, deep learning is emerging a leading machine
  learning tool in computer vision and begins attracting considerable
  attentions in medical imaging. In this chapter, we provide a snapshot
  of this fast growing field specifically for mammography,
  cardiovascular, and microscopy image analysis.

this is beginning of the chapter 2 of that book, to give the outline of this chapter, which expression is better

expression_1:

  In this chapter, we provide a snapshot of this fast growing field
  specifically for mammography

expression_2

  In this chapter, we'll provide a snapshot of this fast growing field
  specifically for mammography


texts:
We're creating a small web development company. On our site there's an about us page which has a section highlighting our services and portfolio. So there's a lot of text but in a nice organized way.

The about page has a lot of we, for example

  We maintain your project with great care and passion. We stay with you
  for as long as you need us. We provide long-term support. You can
  contact us whenever you want and we’ll be there for you.

And that's just one paragraph. I could substitute we by our team, our company, our experts, company name, etc. But I want to know if there's a better way to do it without having to rewrite every paragraph, without changing the structure of every sentence.

Plus I'd like to keep the sentences humble, I don't want to throw in fancy words like company, experts, professionals.

We are experts, but we're just getting started and since we were independent freelancers we wanted to form a friendly relationship with our clients, now that we're trying to start a company, we want to keep it that way, the reader should not feel like we're bragging or anything like that. That's why there's a lot of we, it's more friendly than the words mentioned above.

And also, I'd like to use something easy to understand, since our clients aren't native English speakers.


texts:
In the phrase:

  The stock scandal was extremely damaging to his company's reputation.

What is the verb tense? I think "was damaging" is past continuous and "extremely" is an adverb modifying "damaging". But is "damaging" actually an adjective? And then, the verb tense is past?


texts: how to use a noun phrase or verb phrase after "of"?

texts:
the effects of the spraying of Matacil
the effects of spraying of Matacil

I know you usually use the former, however, I wonder what is your opinion as to the latter!
Thanks


texts:
In a noun phrase “billions of dollars’ worth of satellites”
Is “billions of dollars’ worth of” an adjective phrase that modifies ‘satellites’?


texts:
They started off. In keeping his self made promise going fast and not  stopping, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river.

promise going fast and not stopping
=promise (which was) to go fast and not stop
=promise (which was) going fast and not stopping
=promise going fast and not stop

Or

In keeping his self made promise as he went fast and not stopped, the hare took off.
= In keeping his self made promise going fast and not stopping, the hare took off.

The original text (which is the source of the problem of the exam - textbook) was

  They started off. In keeping his self made promise to go fast and not stop, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came
  to a broad river.

But if analyzing this part in these two ways (above), I think 'going fast and not stop' is also correct.
Is 'promise going fast and not stopping' gramatically incorrect?


texts: Stress in the question Do you want some coffee?

texts: when we pronounce the question: "Do you want some coffee?" we usually only stress the words "want" and "coffee". Am I right? As far as I know the determiner "some" is unstressed as long as the stress is not shifted for special emphasis. Am I right? Any suggestion is appreciated. Thank you!


texts: Does my sentence (run-in list) need a semicolon to separate two items with internal commas?

texts:
A native English user suggested me to use the run-in list format to put across this information. While the numbering makes it easier to read than without, I have some questions.

  The UI program provides temporary income support to (1) eligible unemployed workers while they actively seek new employment or obtain vocational training; and to (2) those who take time off from work due to sickness, pregnancy, childbirth, or to provide care to a critically ill child or a sick family member with a significant risk of death.

Can a list have two items? I looked for examples everywhere, but I could not find a sentence similar to mine that has two items(the minimum seems to be 3). Here are some examples from Chicago Manual Style.

Chicago says: The items are separated by commas unless any of the items requires internal commas, in which case all the items will usually need to be separated by semicolons.

My questions is, in the case where there are two items (but those items have internal commas) is it still the rule to put in a semicolon before "and"?


texts:
"I said you chose books and i chose looks," Mrs Wormwood said. "And who's finished up the better off?
Me, of course. I'm sitting pretty in a nice house with a successful businessman and you're left slaving
away teaching a lot of nasty little children the ABC."
these sentences come from the novel Matilda.
and my question is ,  in this sentence "And who's finished up the better off?"
who's =  'who is'  or 'who has'  ??


texts: What happened first in this sentence: "Journalists informed police who planted an undercover detective to trap Smith."

texts:
Journalists informed police who planted an undercover detective to trap Smith.

Is it possible to make out what happened first in the sentence?

Does it mean

  The police had planted an undercover detective to trap Smith, and then the journalists informed the police

or

  The journalist had informed the police, and then police planted an undercover detective to trap Smith

collins dictionary


texts: What is the meaning of the highlighted line down below ? It is from the book of Barack Obama, Dreams From My Father?

texts: Stripped of language, stripped of work and routine—stripped even of the racial obsessions to which I'd become so accustomed and which I had taken(perversely) as a sign of my own maturation—I had been forced to look inside myself and had found only a great emptiness there."


texts: Sentence structure and hyphen usage ("comfortable-to-use") of a description

texts:
I have written the following sentence describing an application we wrote:

  This intranet application provides a comfortable-to-use option for managerial staff to create and remove access permissions.

However, I'm not sure about my grammar here at all and if this conveys the right meaning.

What I want to say is that managerial staff can (using this application) comfortably create and remove access permissions.

My related question is: Did I use the hyphens in "comfortable-to-use" correctly, or should I omit them? My feeling says that they're correct, but I'm not a native speaker so I don't trust it :)

I'm mainly interested in American English, but anything else is fine as well, as the difference between those "dialects" is very interesting to me.


texts: Is there a difference between "slanted eyes" and "almond eyes"?

texts:
I see many people saying that there is no difference and that almond eyes
it is a non-offensive alternative to slanted eyes, but I also see many saying that the two are totally different from each other.

I'm sorry if are errors, my English isn't good.


texts: cannot clarify the structure of a sentence

texts:
From VOA Special English:

  Problems getting visas, corruption and high transportation costs are some of the barriers companies face when they attempt to trade within the continent.

How to explain the position of the word Problems? Does it refer to only one barrier or all the three barriers? And according to my sense of language, I think that it should have a preposition after the word Problems, just as follows:

  Problems of getting visas, corruption and high transportation costs are some of the barriers companies face when they attempt to trade within the continent.

So How to explain the original sentence?


texts: "Screws vs. Nails: When Do You Use One or the Other"

texts:
Screws vs. Nails: When Do You Use One or the Other?

This is a real heading from lifehacker.com.
It is confusing to me that the first part uses the plural number while the second one uses the singular. Is it grammatical at all? And maybe it would be better to change it to

Screws vs. Nails: When to use which ones?


texts:
Human beings are social animals, linked together by shared beliefs and values. This is both a weakness and a strength. Brands use this fact against us by tapping into the pulsing collective mass of our shared fears, hopes, desires and anxieties and the consumer blind spots which offer the greatest opportunity for exploitation are related to the murky area of emotions and feelings.

Source: https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/how-to-survive-christmas-463410.html

I am not sure how to understand the passage in bold, especially "the consumer blind spot". Can it be rewritten as "the consumer ignorance" or "the consumer Achilles heel"?


texts: What is the meaning of using have/had been?

texts:
What is the meaning of the below sentences?

a) Robin said it appeared that the intention of Lubitz had been "to destroy the aircraft".

b) The prosecutor said that this action could only have been "voluntary".

and if I say

a) Robin said it appeared that the intention of Lubitz was "to destroy the aircraft".

b) The prosecutor said that this action could only be "voluntary".


texts:
I give you a sentence below.

  She retained her tennis title for the third year.
  (OALD)

'for' is a period of time and third is a ordinal number seeming plural, by the way 'year' is singlar form.

Is there any reason why it doesn't become 'years'?


texts:
Lee said, “St. Paul says to the Hebrews that Abel had faith.”
  (Mr.Hamilton) “There’s no reference to it in Genesis,” Samuel said.
  “No faith or lack of faith. Only a hint of Cain’s temper.”  Lee
  asked, “How does Mrs. Hamilton feel about the paradoxes of the
  Bible?”  “Why, she does not feel anything because she does not
  admit they are there.”  “But-“  “Hush, man. Ask her. And
  you’ll come out of it older but not less confused.”  Adam said,
  “You two have studied this. I only got it through my skin and not much
  of it stuck. Then Cain was driven out for murder?”  “That’s
  right-for murder.”  “And God branded him?”  “Did you listen?
  Cain bore the mark not to destroy him but to save him. And there’s a
  curse called down on any man who shall kill him. It was a preserving
  mark.”  Adam said, “I can’t get over a feeling that Cain got the
  dirty end of the stick.”  (Samuel, East of Eden)

The sentence has passive voice and modality at the same time, I’m very confused. Would you improve my understanding about the sentence?


texts: Error spotting: The ten captains (A)/ had each an (B)/ achievement of (C)/ his own. (D)/ No Error (E)

texts:
Given answer in book is (E) "No Error".
But there is a rule in textbook that we can't use article before the noun which comes after "Each / Every / Each and Every / Either / Neither".
Can anybody help in understanding the answer?


texts: "What time" vs "At what time" ... something is supposed to happen

texts:
Based on a bit of internet research, apparently, both options are correct.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/298592/what-time-vs-at-what-time
http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/correct-grammar-usage-of-at.html

But seems like most native English speakers will go with "What time", which to me sounds kind of incomplete.

And not trying to stir the pot even more, but in the comments section of the second link there's even a guy saying that certain uses of "at" sound ghetto... Is that true?

  Peron 1: is it acceptable to say "this is where it's at" when reading a map in search of a specific location.

  Person 2: No!! The whord WHERE took care of it, using the word at in this instance is a run on and repetitive!! Ex:
  Where ( Location ) you at?? Sounds very ghetto and is dreadfully grammatically incorrect!!

I know that's probably a much worst usage of "at" than what I'm mentioning in the title, but is the "at" in "At what time" redundant? Does it sound that bad? Would you right away say; "not a native Engish speaker".

The thing is, as a native Spanish speaker, we'll say "A que hora" == "At what time", if we remove the "A" which would be like the "At" it just doesn't make sense anymore ("que hora"), so to me it feels much more natural to say "At what time". But I don't want to sound like the grammatically correct guy that sounds weird at the same time.


texts: What do "staying outside the personal space" and "assume rapport" mean in this text?

texts:
Personal space is the invisible bubble that surrounds each of us. It is the space around us that we consider our own. Most people feel uncomfortable or even threatened if someone moves inside and invades their personal space by getting too close too fast. [....]Complete strangers usually keep their distance with a good margin, often staying outside the personal space, and a person is normally never that close to someone unless he/she has known that person for a while, which means that you nonverbally assume rapport when you move in closer faster.

The writer make some confusing expressions with me here. Does "staying outside the personal space" mean "keep their distance from my personal space"? and "assume rapport" mean "have a good relationship"? but i don't believe in my opinion. Can you help me?


texts:
Is there any difference between ´I have´ and ´I have got´? I heard that ´have´ and ´have got´ have the same meaning when we talk about appearance. e.g. I have (got) a beard. But what about relationships or possession?
Thanks for answers.


texts: Is it grammatically correct to use the word "how" twice in one sentence?

texts:
How did you figure out how to solve these difficult physics problems?

Is it awkward to use "how" twice in the same question?


texts: What's the difference between "That's a monument for the soldiers that died in the war" and "That's a monument to the soldiers that died in the war"

texts:
What's the difference between:

1That's a monument for the soldiers that died in the war

2 That's a monument to the soldiers that died in the war