texts: What's the meaning of "learn the books backwards"?

texts:
My daughter's reading the story Dan the Dunce and there are the following paragraphs:

  Onec upon a time there was a Princess. She was bored. So she decided to get married. "But my husband must be clever and amusing," she said. "I'll test each suitor as he comes." So the news was given out by he Herald to the whole country.

  Far out in the country there lived an old Count. He had two sons who were the cleverest men for miles around. [...]

  The two clever sons decided to become suitors for the Princess, and began to prepare for the test. The first clever son read a lot of books in Latin, and learned them backwards too. He also read all the local newspapers for the past three years.

Does "learned them backwards" mean that he could recite the books word by word in the reverse order?


texts: Which of “Will you just go?” or “Can you just go?” works better?

texts:
One of my students barged into my classroom one day and was
getting on my nerves because I needed to clean up the mess he had
himself made earlier, so I wanted to ask him to leave me alone
and go away.

Which of these two possible ways of asking him to leave would
be more natural for me to use in this situation?  Do they mean
the same thing? Is one better?

  Will you just go?
  Can you just go?

If both are grammatical constructions that a native speaker would
routinely use, then which if either is preferred for this
particular circumstance and why? Is this the normal way to
express what I want to say, and if not, then what would be better?


texts: What's more accepted: "I know that" vs "I know this" & "I know it"?

texts:
What's more accepted in the spoken English:

  1) "I know that"
  2) "I know this"
  3) "I know it"?

Context:

  1) Q. "Do you know Oxford university?" A. "Yes, I know it / this / that"

  2) Q. "There are so many people here"? A. "Yes, I know it / this / that"

I'd like to get examples for using "I know this" or "I know that"


texts:
According to Collins, the meaning of the term "diverse" is "If a group or range of things is diverse, it is made up of a wide variety of things" so it seems it can be used to explain multiple things.

But I sometimes can see the use of the word like "a diverse sample" to show singular thing. Why the term "diverse" can be used in singular form?


texts:
What is the difference between "I can go swimming" and "I can swim"?
Are they the same?


texts: What does it mean "You don't need to be empathic"?

texts:
I want to know the meaning of this sentence or Idiom :

You don't need to be empathic!


texts: This is where you are vs this was where you were?

texts:
I have some troubles to correctly express myself in a certain situation so I'd appreciate any advice you can share with me.

Situation:
I'm looking for someone. After some time I walk into a room and find the person inside. Do I say 'which of the options below'?

Options:

a/ This is where you are.

b/ This is where you were.

c/ This was where you are.

d/ This was where you were.

e/ This is where you have been.

f/ This was where you have been.

(g/ some other options?)

I'm perplexed and can't figure this out. If I was to say anything it would probably be b/, d/ or present perfect (e/ or f/ both sound ok to me, which makes it even more confusing to me).

Could you please show me on some example situations when to use which of these sentences (if they are grammatically correct :-))?


texts: Is this grammatical? 'Looks like a couple of Pikachus are out of hit points'

texts:
I saw this sentence on the internet.

  Uh-oh! Looks like a couple of Pikachus are out of hit points

I wonder how two verbs (look, be) exist in one sentence.

Is the grammar in this sentence right?


texts: difference between "it" vs "this" vs "that"

texts:
Can any native speaker tell me whether I should use it, this, or that in the following context?

  John: Have you ever seen the movie "Titanic"?

  Me: Yes, It/this/that is a great movie.

To me, 'That' sounds the best and there is no place to use this here at all. What do you think, native speakers?

And I am providing one more context to be clearer.

  John: Hey subha, I've come to know that you went to a theater to watch "La La Land" last night. How is the movie?

  Me: It/that is a great movie, probably the best movie I have ever seen.


texts: I know it's a latin phrase and maybe it doesn't belong here. But two of my friends are having an argument and one of my friends, who is the head of some committee said "At least try and then complain"(try becoming the head of the committee, doing my job and then complain) to my second friend who said that she is not doing her duties well enough. A third person who is a spectator to this argument pointed out that what the first person said is an Ad-Hominem. I don't think it's an Ad-hominem, could someone weigh in on this?


texts:
I can't understand the meaning of "press book" in the sentence below:

  They could marry soon. Preparations for a wedding had been in the Royal family’s press book since she was sixteen; they could pull it out in a month if they wanted to.

Who is talking is a princess of a fairy tale, but she lives in a imaginary kingdom that seems United Kingdom.


texts:
I'm trying to write down this IBM TV commercial.
Would you please help me complete it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSNFE6eUjfY

------------ your green proposal.

Great.

It's fine, just fine.
I'm sure it'll make people feel real good about the company,
should go over --- with the tree huggers, too.
--- the folks that I report to, --------------.
Let me ask you.
Why would I sign this?

This plan could cut our energy costs by 40%.

40%.

And we spent 18 million dollars on energy last year.

Where do I sign?

Just sign here.

Remark

This is an American TV commercial made by IBM, which means that almost all educated native American English speakers are supposed to understand this well.
I understand most American TV commercials well.
However, I don't understand some parts of this one. That's why I posted this question.


texts:
Bill Gates made billions off his ideas, but those who worked for him early made millions, too.

My try: simply because of his ideas.


texts:
I have just read a report and the following phrasing is giving me difficulty.

The School are experiencing water penetration problems...

I feel as though it should be 'is' but I can also see why 'are' could be considered to be correct. In the report it is referring to the people who make up the school rather than the building/organisation itself.
Is my thinking correct and are there specific rules governing this scenario?


texts: Is there a better way than the other when it comes to denote having certain features or qualities?

texts:
In the American Heritage Dictionary, one of the definitions of the word lightweight is

  A person of little ability, intelligence, influence, or importance.

When it comes to denote having certain features or qualities, I get lost when I want to determine which way to convey it. I often find myself asking questions like "Should I say of or with or that has or a gerund: possessing?"
In the definition of the word lightweight, I have seen that almost in all other dictionaries they used the preposition of after the word person, and I was wondering why they used of instead of the following:

  A person with little ability, etc.

  A person who has little ability, etc.

  A person possessing/having little ability, etc.

  A person whose ability, etc is little

  A person who exhibits/displays little ability, etc.

And the same ways of saying the above arises when I say other things such as:

  A matter of/with/etc no importance.

  A person of/with/etc 30 years' experience.

Could please help me lessen this paradox of choice?


texts: going to do vs doing - when talking about future

texts:
"I am not coming on your show ever again", said the artist.

vs

  "I am not going to come on your show ever again", said the artist.

Which form is correct? What difference will it make to the meaning of the sentence if we change going to to will?

Also

  "I am going to become a musician when I grow up"

vs

  "I am becoming a musician when I grow up"

What form do we use when we are talking about an activity that is meant to happen not just in near future, but also may happen (lets say 20 years from now) - the going to do form or the doing form? Take the above sentence for example


texts: When to use “of” rather than “'s” to show possession?

texts:
Sometimes when writing a sentence I ask myself when to use what. For instance: "the screen of my iphone" sounds as natural to me as "my iphone's screen". Are both okay?

I do know that "the shirt of my girlfriend" is not really correct and that it should be "my girlfriend's shirt", but what are the exact rules?

To me apostrophe s is mostly the safe route when I am in doubt, would you agree?


texts: I meet any man of the group. [Why doesn't this make sense?}

texts:
You can say:

[1] You can use any pen to fill out this form.

But people say you can't say:

[2] I meet any man of the group.
[3] I met any man of the group.

I wonder why you can't. To me, with [2], you have a good intention of seeing any man that belongs to the group who wants to see me. Or, this describes your inclination. [3] is just the past version of [2]

Why can't you say the two sentences alone.


texts:
Doctor Who: The Stone Rose

  'What? It can't be that bad, can it? You've not been robbin' it or
  something? Or you been seeing one of the girls in the gift shop and
  you don't wanna tell me about it?" He frowned a no, but still looked
  sheepish. "Come on Mickey. Spit it out" Peter said. Mickey put back
  his shoulders, attempting a bit of bravado. "Well..I've been doing
  this volunteer stuff. You know, kids and that."


texts: Is the d in "lived in" flapped in American English?

texts:
I am trying to say the sentence :

how long have you lived in the US

My pronunciation of "lived in" feels so heavy handed compared to this audio recording.
I wonder, is the d flapped? It should be flapped because it is between two vowels. In the above recording, are there other sounds that are being dropped?


texts:
Which one is more acceptable?

  1. Each boy and each girl has done his duty.

  2. Each boy and each girl has done his or her duty.

  3. Each boy and each girl has done their duty.

Edit: Here is what I think.

I think (1) isn't acceptable because 'his' is in masculine gender, which doesn't fit the noun 'girl'. (3) isn't acceptable because the verb 'has' is singular but the pronoun 'their' is plural. (2) is ok but the expression "his or her" looks awkward.


texts:
Does anyone else worry about there being too much 'fantasy' in children's fiction?

Please tell what there being means. I would like to have alternative ways to rewrite the above sentence. It would be better if I got some sentences that include there being.


texts: Which is the correct version "who's side" or "whose's side"?

texts:
Which one is correct in this case?

  I need to hear both sides of the story to know who's side I'm on.

  I need to hear both sides of the story to know whose side I'm on.

I have seen both versions on the Internet but not sure which one is correct.
First example: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwzA-bJWwAEdQhR.jpg:large
Second example: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/whose-side-im-on/id252435454


texts:
Why in the sentence The dream of  the Algerians is a fountain in the house. "the" is used before house? Is house used here as the concept of house?

Everyone has his own idea of house and "the" is referring to this concept and the dream of Algerians is described using a listener's concept of house.Is this correct explanation?


texts: "Some time after", "some time afterward" or "some time later?

texts:
Tell me please if I have to use some time after, some time afterward or some time later in the following context.

  I bought a phone, but some time after/afterward/later, it starded to go haywire.

I feel that they are all correct, if my feeling doesn't fail me, then is there a different between the three? If there isn't any, which one is more common?


texts:
We often use "short of" as in

  We are short of cash

meaning we do not have enough cash. I wonder what is the antonym of "short of", which means "having too much of".

Actually, I expect it to have a similar structure like "* of"?

Since the antonym of "short" is "tall/long", can we say "tall of" or "long of"


texts: Where should I use "only" in my sentence?

texts:
I wonder where in a sentence I should put the word: only. For example, here are some sample sentences:

I only sell apps to the young person.
I sell only apps to the young person.
I sell apps only to the young person.
I sell apps to the young person only.

In these four sentences, is there any difference between them in meaning?
I believe that the first one puts the meaning of only on the verb, while the second puts on the noun. The fourth puts the adverb (to the young person). The third one is either the noun or adverb, likely dependent on the context.
However, as far as I have read many English sentences for my life, most people don't mind where to put only in a sentence; they just force readers to get what only points to depending on the context.
So I wonder if there is any rule in the place of only. Or maybe there is a rule but is too often broken?


texts: what does this guy mean by "Pulling on my flameproof underwear"?

texts:
There is a guy who said something strange to me https://cs.stackexchange.com/questions/24137/is-the-way-an-os-schedule-threads-related-to-parallel-computing#comment48182_24137

  Pulling on my flameproof underwear

What did he mean by that? thanks.

Btw, what is the purpose of making  underwear flameproof?


texts: Which is more formal: "My parents will reside with me and my family" or "my family and I"?

texts:
I am unsure as to which of these seems more formal.

  My parents will reside with me and my family.

or

  My parents will reside with my family and I.

Or is there a better (formal) alternative to it?


texts: I am glad to be selected vs. I am glad to have been selected

texts: When someone makes a speech about having been selected as an outstanding employee of the month, which is correct to say between "I am glad to be selected" and "I am glad to have been selected"? Thank you.


texts: Grammar behind using just participle in lieu of present continuous

texts:
I have been reading several CV and I have found a grammatical structure that I had never seen before. I think that it consists in using just the participle instead of the present continuous, for instance:

Research Experience

Undertook six-week summer placement in Centre of blah blah
Undertook tissue cultures of different cell lines such as EC and hES cells in
compliance with health and safety procedures
Observed several lab techniques and protocols including blah blah
Adhered to PPE and social distancing due to Covid-19

Is my guess correct?. What is this grammatical structure?.


texts:
[1]
Before the development of TCGA, genomic science was performed by individual institutions using single genomic platforms.

[2]
Specific types of malignancies as well as individual tumors themselves have been characterized in detail.

in [1] and [2] should "individual institutions" and "individual tumors" be replaced with "individual institution" and "individual tumor"


texts:
Ten minutes have passed. Let's wait five more.

Is using have here correct?


texts:
I have read in http://portlandenglish.edu/blog/how-to-use-being-and-having-as-gerunds/ about the use of "having".

The website describes as follows:

  Having a big house costs a lot of money. [ Having a big house = subject]
  Many people dream about having a big house. [ Having a big house = object of a preposition]
  His dream is having a big house. [ Having a big house = subject complement]

  Again, we are talking about this situation or condition of having a big house.
  To make it negative, just add “not” in front of the gerund.

  Not having servants would be difficult if your house were so big!
  Having too much work stresses him out.
  He hates having too much work.
  Not having too much work would make him so much happier!

My question:

"Having' always Implies or refers to 'possession' If we use "having" as a gerund where “having” can act as the subject or object in a sentence?


texts:
A question about using some prepositions with the noun "reach":

  The ball soared beyond the goalkeeper's reach.
  The ball soared above the goalkeeper's reach.

"Reach" in this context means the distance that one can stretch out one's hand to.  Sentence 1 is good.
But sentence 2, which could be found on google, seems weird, because "above" should be followed by some location, not some distance.  Could sentence 2 be poorly written?


texts:
I bought two dozen of mangoes.
  I bought two dozens of mangoes.
  My office buys five kilogram of paper every month.
  My office buys five kilograms of paper every month.

In 1& 2 I think 1 is correct. And hence in 3&4 I think 3 should be the correct one.

It is my exam question and in provisional answer key suggest 1 and 4 is correct. Please explain why it is so.


texts:
The platform was built in the past (say 1 week ago), and project was developed in a longer past (say 1 year ago), is the following usage of tenses correct:

  The platform that we eventually built did not exist when I developed the projects.


texts: Text, open parenthesis, text, ellipses, close parenthesis, period? (Like this…)?

texts:
I was wondering, what if write something like:

  1. There once was a black bird (it was warm, simple, etc...).

Is the sentence correct in terms of punctuation, or do I need to write four consecutive dots, as follows:

  2. There once was a black bird (it was warm, simple, etc....)

or maybe even omit the period altogether:

  3. There once was a black bird (it was warm, simple, etc...)

Also, should there be an ellipsis after the etc, or just one dot? In the case of just one dot the possible sentences would be these:

  4. There once was a black bird (it was warm, simple, etc.).

-

  5. There once was a black bird (it was warm, simple, etc..)

-

  6. There once was a black bird (it was warm, simple, etc.)

Which of these three is grammatically correct?


texts:
Under the extra-inning rules, each half inning beyond regulation is started with a runner on second base. The runner is either the ninth batter due to bat in the current inning, or a pinch-runner if the batting team so chooses.

I see this sentence in this article. "So choose" seems to be an idiom. I also found another example on this site:

  I have two free concert tickets for tomorrow. We can see the concert at 7 pm and still be home in time to catch mom and dad before they leave. If you are not into it, just let me know and I can still sell the tickets in a split second. We can still watch the concert on TV if you so choose.

It has an explanation about the phrase:

  'If you so choose" is used when a person is given an option of choosing between different things.

But with that limited explanation, I still can not get the phrase thoroughly. Can someone help to elaborate it based on the given examples above?


texts: Why can't I use "do" in "How many rooms have conditioner?"

texts:
I wonder why I can't use "do" in this question?

  How many rooms do have conditioner?

It means that all the rooms have conditioner, right?

But the question that I mentioned means some rooms don't have a conditioner.

I need an explanation why I couldn't use "do" in this question.


texts: What's the difference between two sentences in meaning?

texts:
What's the difference between these two sentences in meaning?

  I can't believe I'm meeting you at last.

vs.

  I can't believe I meet you at last.

Thank you for your answers


texts:
For example,

When i want to say

"He suggested the theory for 10 years. But he doesn't any more."

Can i use had suggested instead of suggested to indicate the action performed for the duration of time ?

Of course i understand that had pp is usually used to express the relative pass time being.
But this case is permitted too?


texts: Possessive case: cosmetic issue prevention or cosmetic issues prevention

texts:
Which is correct: cosmetic issue prevention or cosmetic issues prevention?

(That is, prevention of cosmetic issues. The context is just a title, something like: Cosmetic Issue Prevention Products.)


texts:
They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the
  black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from
  what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber,
  were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly ––
  the towering white chessmen had no faces.
      "Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.
      "It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."   Behind the white pieces they could see
  another door.   "How?" said Hermione nervously.   "I think,"
  said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."   He walked up to
  a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At
  once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the
  knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.  "Do we ––
  er –– have to join you to get across?"  The black knight
  nodded. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Is what the same as in What are those things on the table?, or does the clause have some other meanings? For example, what is not a pronoun but an adverb.


texts: "Shoes Shopping" is this the correct plural?

texts:
Is it incorrect to say "shoes shopping" when buying multiple pairs of shoes?

This is analogous to saying the plural of "attorney general" is "attorneys general".


texts: The difference between "retail" and "sell".

texts: I'm having a hard time  differentiating  the verbs "to retail" and "to sell". What's the difference between those two?


texts: make up with vs make up to vs make it up to

texts:
Is there any difference in meaning between "to make up with someone" and " to make up to someone"?
I've also heard " I'll make it up to him." in an American TV show.
What role does that "it" play in that sentence? Does it mean the same as " I'll make up with(or to) him" ?


texts: Is there a word for a limited term of employment for a specific project?

texts:
I am looking for a word or term for the concept of being employed only for a specific project.

In my native language, we have a word that just means "project employment", it is commonly used to describe the kind of employment where one has a set period of time in the contract, and where one is only expected to work on this very specific project. The contract may even not have a set end date, but instead, stipulate "until the project is done". But it is always a limited time employment.

It is commonly used as a way in on the job market, as if the circumstances allow it, one could be hired for a permanent place after the period ends.

What would the correct English term for this kind of employment for use in my resume/curriculum vitae be?


texts: Difference between "would" and "will" when talking about the future

texts:
Which option should I use here:

I often think about a big ideal house in the suburbs I will live in without noisy neighbours to disturb me.

I often think about a big ideal house in the suburbs I would live in without noisy neighbours to disturb me.

And why?
Personally, I chose "will", but in the answers there is "would".


texts:
Please explain me following sentences.

  Men will attract  girls.
  Men will be attracted to girls.

I am so confused with why the second second uses the passive form.
Is it passive ?


texts:
In an example sentence like: 'Sit down, won't you?'
What is the full form of that sentence without contraction? Is it 'Sit down, will you not?' cause we can't say 'Sit down, will not you?'


texts:
I've been told that in complex sentences one must use "that" rather than "which" to refer the whole previous subsentence or a word in it, that is not right near to the preposition.

For example I couldn't use "which" in the sentence above:

  one must use "that" to refer a word in an subsentence, that is not right near to the preposition.

Or I can't write:

  I love fish and vegetables, which (fish and vegetables) is the most common food in Japan.

Is that a correct statement? When "which" can be used as a preposition in complex sentences?


texts:
According to the following paragraph what is the difference between the first " that" and the second "that" grammatically?
Do they have the same meaning?

  Artists tell me that for a deep and true appreciation of art one must educate the eye. One must learn from experience to weigh the merits of line, of composition, of form and color. If I had eyes, how happily would I embark upon so fascinating a study! Yet I am told that, to many of you who have eyes to see, the world of art is a dark night, unexplored and unilluminated."

Three Days to See, by Helen Keller


texts: Can anybody explain "financials have been mostly in negative territory" for me, please?

texts:
Against the backdrop of ultralow rates and a go-slow approach by the Fed,
financials have been mostly in negative territory for the year, and of the six
names mentioned in Goldman’s report, only Zions has outperformed the S&P 500 in 2016.

source:


texts: Usage of the phrasal verb "look at" when there's actually nothing to see in this particular example

texts:
I wonder whether the usage of the phrasal verb "look at" is possible and OK when there's actually nothing to see(by eyes) in this case.

  Now let's move on and look at the structure of skeletal muscle.


texts: Is this use of 'not only' rather an inversion?

texts:
I have confusion of positioning not only whether or not it should be put after/before the am/are/is.

Having said that, I went to read related topics on some grammar related sites. I found that most of the example sentences I have read put it after the am/are/is.

But I came across a sentence on cambridge dict. website that yields doubt on my side.

  The car not only is economical but also feels good to drive.

I'm pretty sure it's rather an example of inversion thus that 'is' is put after the not only. Am I correct?

Will the sentence be the same with:

  Not only is the car economical but also feels good to drive

.
Note that I'm aware some not only related questions on this site but the question is rather talking about inversion in general.


texts: A word for taking a picture by satellite

texts:
I'm looking for a countable noun for an act of taking a picture by a satellite, to say for example several "action of taking a picture". I think that word "shooting" doesn't fit here.

I want to say something like this:

  This satellite performed 10 [taking a picture acts] over the last day.

I don't want to say "took 10 pictures last day", instead I want to focus on the act itself.

another example

  we got corrupted data from the navigation system during 5th [taking a picture act].

Here corrupted data in no way relates to taking a picture. Taking a picture act here just marks a period of time when it happened.


texts: is the expression "do the needful" acceptable to native English speakers?

texts:
A professor of English from English and foreign language university corrected "do the needful" as "do what is necessary. some others say "do what needs to be done"
I hope the native speakers of English will respond to my question and talk about the acceptability of all these expressions

Edit: it is not a duplicate because I wanted to know whether the expression is acceptable to native speakers.I did not ask why such an expression is asked instead of a question


texts: How to understand the phrase "carrying ourselves whole and entire about us." in context?

texts:
How to understand the phrase in boldface?

The body being the only instrument that savage man is acquainted with, he employs it to different uses, of which ours, for want of practice, are incapable; and we may thank our industry for the loss of that strength and agility, which necessity obliges him to acquire. Had he a hatchet, would his hand so easily snap off from an oak so stout a branch? Had he a sling, would it dart a stone to so great a distance? Had he a ladder, would he run so nimbly up a tree? Had he a horse, would he with such swiftness shoot along the plain? Give civilized man but time to gather about him all his machines, and no doubt he will be an overmatch for the savage: but if you have a mind to see a contest still more unequal, place them naked and unarmed one opposite to the other; and you will soon discover the advantage there is in perpetually having all our forces at our disposal, in being constantly prepared against all events, and in always carrying ourselves, as it were, whole and entire about us.
-- from Rousseau's “Discourse on Inequality”


texts: Can't understand some places from the Magic Shop by H.G.Wells

texts:
The very first sentence of The Magic Shop by H.G.Wells, runs like this

  I had seen the Magic Shop from afar several times; I had passed it
  once or twice ...

Then right after a few moments in the same paragraph the author writes that

  I had not thought the place was there...

That's what I don't understand - how he had not thought the place was there if he had already seen The Shop several times?

The story can be accessed using the below link

(https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/wells/hg/w45tw/chapter2.html)


texts:
"Close" and "Clothes" sound the same in my ears.
Is your pronunciation different?
Did you know it through the context?
I'm curious about it.


texts: The word for people stacking up on top of each other

texts:
I remember back in boarding school, for a while whenever we would turn on our belly, in a fraction of a second we would have a human pile stacked one on top of another on our back. It was meant as a joke though, not harassment or anything like that. The one who caught you off guard suddenly jumped on you, lying flat on top and pinning you down, and called out for others to join in.

Yeah those were the days. Anyway, is there a word for this? I'm guessing if there is, it must be an informal one like wedgie.


texts: Who decides whether something is standard English or not?

texts: During a chat with a native English-speaking friend, he used the phrase "get on with it". I asked him about it, and he said it is a slang phrase. I looked it up online, and this phrase shows up on Urban Dictionary, so it seems my friend is correct in saying that it is slang. But who decides whether a word or phrase is proper English or slang?


texts: "Who takes the responsibility?" vs. "Who is responsible?"

texts:
While watching the news, I noticed a sentence in the headlines:

  Coach of passenger train derails at Kanpur central in India, Who takes the responsibility?

This is the context.

Now my question is

Who takes the responsibility?
Who is responsible?
Who is to blame?

Do the three sentences above carry the same meaning?  Can they be used interchangeably?


texts: What does "organise" mean in the following passage?

texts:
Next, the screenplay is sent to a producer. That person organises the making of the film. He or she will manage the money and hire the film crew.

[transitive] organise something to arrange for something to happen or to be provided

[transitive] organise something to arrange something or the parts of something into a particular order or structure

1 or 2? Thank you!


texts: "We walked around with Joe" or "I walked around with Joe"

texts:
I was out with a friend today (only me and him), and I told my girlfriend that "we walked around with Joe", and she asked me who else was there besides Joe. When I told her that it was only me and Joe, she said that I should have said "I walked around with Joe".

When I say "We walked around with Joe.", does it imply that there was more than one person with me?


texts: Do we say "the fire monster is lit / on fire / burning" to express its current state?

texts:
I lit the candle and now the candle is lit. "Lit" implies that it is useful because it produces light.
I set fire to the curtain and now the curtain is on fire. "On fire" implies that we destroy something.
But some fire monsters have fire on their body when they get upset

In that situation, do we say "the monster is lit / on fire / burning" to express its state?


texts: Implications of using simple past instead of present perfect

texts:
I am reading a text (a PhD thesis) which almost exclusively uses simple past tense when describing something that has happened in the past. In some cases, I feel that  the author should have used past perfect, and using simple past leaves a completely wrong impression, for example (I have changed the citations a little because I would not like the author or the topic to be identifiable -- i.e. the original was not about bubble gum):

  Research on bubble gum consumption also showed a link between chewing frequency and digestion problems (Jenkki & Orbitsdottir, 2018).

Here, the author seems to suggest that she has studied this link herself -- but she didn't, because this is her first study, and the citation at the end of the sentence makes it clear that she is referring to other people's research. My intuition (but I am not a native speaker) tells me that in this case, one should use present perfect -- is that correct? That is, the sentence should be:

  Research on bubble gum consumption has also shown a link between chewing frequency and digestion problems (Jenkki & Orbitsdottir, 2018).

Another example: at the end of a chapter, the author mentions differences in chewing gum consumption between Eastern and Western European countries, and then says:

  Several theories were proposed to explain the possible mechanism of the differences (Otros & Aliae, 1999).

My unreflected impression is that she is referring to the theories she has proposed earlier in that chapter. But there was nothing like this in the chapter, and the citation, again, makes it clear that she is referring to others' research. So I would re-write this sentence as:

  Several theories have been proposed to explain the possible mechanism of the differences (Otros & Aliae, 1999).

Is my interpretation correct?

To be clear, I am not asking about grammatical correctness -- I suppose that either tense can be used in these sentences. My question is about the nuances of meaning: is it correct that he original sentences imply that the author is talking about her own recent work, something that was just discussed on the preceding pages?


texts:
I want to know which of the sentences below is used? I'm not talking about grammar, I'm talking about slang or daily talking with your friends or families.

  When did you wake up?

(which is grammatically correct)

or

  When you woke up?


texts: word order in a sentence starting with "Not even when"

texts:
Not even when the doorbell rang could Mary rise from the bed.

Not even when the doorbell rang Mary could rise from the bed.

Are both sentences correct? If so, is there a difference in usage between the two?


texts: Can we call someone “sympathetic” to mean they are “relatable/likable”?

texts: According to dictionaries, we can call a character in a book or a movie “sympathetic” to mean they are relatable or likable. For example, “Harry Potter is a sympathetic character.” What I wonder about is, can we call a real person instead of a character “sympathetic” to mean they are relatable/likable, or do I have to use it with that meaning only if I am talking about a fictional character? For example, let’s say I am watching a documentary about a real person who has social anxiety and I find him relatable because I have social anxiety too and I feel a connection with him. Can I say, “He is a sympathetic person” or “He is sympathetic”? Or let’s say I feel a connection with a friend of mine, can I say, “He is sympathetic”?


texts: What's the meaning of phrases that include "ship", "shipping", when there is a conversation about the heroes of TV series?

texts: I saw such phrase "Fans have been shipping these two for years, and it’s easy to see why. They’re attractive, single, and they’ve got a lot in common..." in this article. What does "shipping" mean in this context?


texts:
Please let me know weather the following sentences are correct :

Jessica never told me she having a sister .
They told me to stop playing video game.
She said you guys making a trip to Canada.


texts:
Can I answer this question with "do"?

  For example,

  A: Are you living in the county now?

  B: Yes, I do.

Can we?

According to my grammar book, I think B should answer "Yes, I'm".
But I just got an answer from a native speaker that it's okay.

Is it correct to answer "do" instead of "am" informally despite grammar?


texts:
In the following sentence, which conjunction should be used?

While/when/as John was reading, Peter was listening to music.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
And the huge minnies were throwing old limbs out of No Man's Land into
  the frontline trench, and shells were rasping down through the air
  that seemed to resist them until it was torn to pieces:

This is from a novel about Great War.
Does "old limbs" means human body?

Thank you for your advice.

Mood Indigo


texts: Why the word "ride" is used in this sentence?

texts: "Ride a bike", for every vehicle the word 'drive' is used.For example drive car, drive a bus etc.But for a particular vehicle 'bike' why is the word drive not used,and instead of drive the word ride is used in sentences.


texts: Which words to use when adding another people to the "To" list of the email conversation

texts:
I would have tried "Added Angela and Peter to the conversation", but that does not refer the the fact that this conversation is over the email, and "Added Angela and Peter to the loop", but that would be only appropriate in a informal/corporate email types.

Is there a more standard way and preferably shorter way to express the fact of adding other people to the email recipient list?


texts: Is the past simple tense used correctly here?

texts:
Look at this sentence: Before the twentieth century, more than a thousand people tried to reach the pole.
Is the present simple tense used correctly there? It seems (to me) that the past perfect tense should be used instead. If I'm wrong, please, give me an explanation. I'm really confused.


texts:
This is one of the verses in the song How deep is your love by Bee Gees.

  I believe in you
  You know the door to my very soul
  You're the light in my deepest, darkest hour
  You're my savior when I fall

In the third line, what does it mean to describe the hour as deep?


texts: Is it "go on a rampage" or "go on the rampage"?

texts:
I read a headline in "The Hindu" which was:

Pant goes on the Rampage as Capitals crush Mumbai

We use article "the" before a noun which we've talked about or mentioned earlier or before a particular thing. But then on googling this phrase I saw a lot of dictionaries (Cambridge dictionary, Free dictionaries) using only "the" before "rampage". Why is it so?


texts:
SOURCE    (Google books search)

What is the exact meaning of the following text? It is an excerpt from a political text with a special shortened style. The word "elsewhere" is specially problematic.

  During recent months he has been repeatedly accused of having “sold out” to US. He is clearly worried lest an agreement involving prices lower than he has been willing publicly to accept elsewhere.

Thanks very much.


texts: How would a native speaker understand "Time flies like an arrow"?

texts:
“Time flies like an arrow” is often cited to illustrate problems with computer aided language processing. It is also an example of how ambiguous English can be.

But is it really so ambiguous? How would it be understood by a native speaker?


texts:
"It would be well for us to admire what is worthy of admiration in such a people,
  rather than to carp about their errors."

what is meant by in such a people? Is it (in such a people) a phrase or a clause and of which kind?

Reference-Wren and Martin English Grammar and Composition Exercise in composition 91,Question no 25,page 144.


texts:
My friend: I am sorry, I did a mistake.

  Me: This is a normal way to learn things. Just don't repeat (on?) it again.

My question is if I can use the word "again" after "repeat" or it isn't logical. In addition I'd like to know if the preposition "on" is needed here or it's needless.


texts: You get approximately 5-6 questions in this task; for which it is advised that you spend 2 minutes per question. As there is no negative marking, choose the answer if you are confident else you can let go the question.


texts: "Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air"

texts:
Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. (Philippians 2:14-15)

The second sentence seems to be an imperative. Uncorrupted and a breath of fresh air seem to be predicatives to the listeners, and the former the cause and the latter result. Is this right parsing?


texts: Second conditional or "be to do something" in an if clause?

texts:
Is there any difference between these sentences?

"If anything happened to her, I would help her."

"If anything was to happen to her, I would help her."

"If anything is to happen to her, I will help her."

To me sound like the third sentence conveys that it is more likely to happen something to the girl than in the second or first sentence. But I can't see the difference between the first and the second sentence, besides the second one being somewhat more formal.


texts:
The love may begin from here.

  The love may begins from here.

after "love" and "may" which form of begin we should use? "begin" or "begins"?


texts: "The crowd demonstrated outside the theatre". Is the verb 'demostrate" transitive or intransitive?

texts:
Laughed is an intransitive verb. It has no direct object.

  The crowd demonstrated outside the theatre.
    The event happened at 6 o'clock.

Are demostrate/happened-intransitive verbs and why ?

What would be an example of 'demostrate' being used intransitively too.


texts: Is the word 'lousy' offensive to use informally?

texts:
As far as i know this word appears many times in newspapers in magazine. So officially it couldn't be that offensive. But if I use this word describing an individual like

I left my job because i had a lousy boss.
Don't invite that lousy friend of yours to the party.
She had cooked lousy food for dinner.

Do these sentence sound offensive ?

I've come across this word few times in movies where it's been used when the character is in a negative state of mind. So i am not conviced that it is not an offensive word despite it is not listed in leading dictionaries as offensive.

Is it okay to use this without taking the risk to offend someone ? Could you help ?


texts: What if I use would have rather than would be in this sentence?

texts:
CONTEXT:

  If not for you, my sky would fall.

This is a part of lyrics from "not for you" song. So, can I use " would have fallen" in place of simply "would"? Would the meaning be same or not if I do this replacement?


texts: "Such" as a pronoun and "Reduction Transformations"

texts:
I just ran into this in the novel "Pride and Prejudice"

  -"Ah! you do not know what I suffer."
  -"But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood.''
  -``It will be no use to us if twenty such should come, since you will not visit them.''

The occurrence of "such" here is interesting to me. Is it a pronoun here which is brought instead of "young men of four thousand a year"?
What is the deep structure of the noun phrase of the if-clause? the surface structure is "twenty such". Is the deep structure "twenty young men who are of 4 thousand a year"?
When a Reduction Transformation is possible which is better to be used? for example, is it better to say "a man who is of large fortune" or "a man of large fortune"? Any links elaborating on the Reduction Transformations in English would be truly appreciated. As far as I know, there are six RTs. But I need a trustworthy reference for my further studying.


texts:
(If you’re a data junkie and feel like drinking in some advanced analytics wizardry, check out Avinash Kaushik’s bad-ass blog post on cLTV here.)

what does "drinking in some advanced analytics wizardry" mean?


texts:
Excerpted from chronicle.com

    True stories of straight female academics: A scholar of Continental political theory briefly drives around the West with an Italian in his Alfa Romeo then divorces her husband; a novelist debates breast reduction or adoption and chooses the latter; an artist pursues her female collaborator, but the project — and their relationship (though not the artist’s marriage) — falls apart; a poet moves to Europe in pursuit of a married lawyer yet ultimately returns home to her family; a feminist professor dreams up scenarios to run off with two of her male students, but nothing happens; an archivist considers dumping husband and children but decides on Prozac instead.

If my understanding is right, Prozac is a kind of drug to cure depression, so the archivist mentioned above is in depression, and decides to take Prozac to cure it.

But my understanding is obtain via logic deduction(at least to me), not the nature of the sentence, to me, the first impression is she decides to be in depression herself, since she decides to take drug to cure it.

Is my intuition right? Is it better to write "an archivist considers dumping husband and children but ends up taking Prozac instead."?


texts: Does "outside" as a preposition also mean "besides"?

texts:
I read this line in an online article:

  And, outside a minor paunch and a rapidly expanding billfold, there's nothing heavy about him.

Outside here appears to mean "besides". Does it have this meaning as a preposition?

I looked through ODO and MW, and there is no definition related to "apart from". MW does list "except", but there's no example sentences. I find this usage of outside unfamiliar to me, as it is not literal or physical, but figurative and less common than its physical meanings.


texts: Proper terminology for the edition and version/printing of a book

texts:
On the inside of the cover of a typical book you'll find the small print about the book. Stuff like copyright notices, place of print, authors, editors and alike.

Also, you'll find information about the edition and version or printing for this particular publication. I am looking for the proper phrasing of that, along the lines of:

  3rd version/printing, 1st edition

This above example looks like what I would see in a book of my native (Danish) language, which would be something like:

  udgave, 1. oplag

The translations of

udgave into version or printing and of
oplag into edition

are the best suggestions I could find from looking through the dictionary. I'd appreciate some final guidance for the proper terms and proper phrasing and structure of this inside-cover line.


texts: Is there a word for speaking of something made-up as if it were real? Like a character from a novel or movie?


texts: Is there a word you can use to mean "changing something to fit another purpose"?

texts:
I am thinking repurposing, but that's not really a word, and it doesn't seem to be appropriate when talking about a company, so is there a way to say it a little better?

For example:

  Disney wanted to repurpose Pixar into a game development company.


texts: "I made my username John95'" vs "I made 'John95' my username"

texts:
Are these two sentences interchangeable?

I made my username "John95"
I made "John95" my user name.

Context: Let's say I created an account on ell.stackexchange.com for the first time in my life (so I didn't have a username here before), and I chose "John95" as my username, and I am letting the person listening to me know that.


texts: Noun phrase type: Subject verb adverbial phrase,

texts:
My brother laughed when his sister burped at the dinner table, a
  common occurrence when root beer was served.

What does the phrase in bold modify above? And what is called?

To my mind, burping is the common occurrence, so does the phrase in bold modify "when his sister ... served"? But if so, what type of phrase is it, i.e. the common occurrence?

Is it an appositive phrase because the phrase might be paraphrased into the following?

  His sister burping at the dinner table, a
  common occurrence when root beer was served, my brother laughed, .


texts: Watch a movie from the middle of it from the start

texts:
If I want to specify when I started watching a movie (a scene)

  I watched the movie from the start.

  I watched the movie from the scene where they _______.

  I watched the movie from the middle of it.

  I watched the whole movie; from the start to the end.

Do these sentences sound natural?


texts:
"I'm sorry, I got held up."

Is "got held up" a phrasal verb, or "got" is a normal verb and only the "held up" part is the phrasal one?


texts:
I have a homework, I have to complete the text and there is a sentence

  She still ________ to be a Russian hero.

I have to add the word CONSIDER in correct form. I thought it's She is still considered....
but I cannot change the order of the words, so I have no idea what to do. Thanks for helping me


texts: How to say meeting is about my questions?

texts:
I want to ask my supervisor for a meeting. I want to say meeting is about my questions about the approach. Can I use discuss for asking questions?

  I would be grateful for a meeting, at your convenience, to discuss my questions.


texts: what the meaning of "glide through" in this context?

texts:
I don't understand the meaning of this verb (glide through) in the sentence:

  As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray and walked away with a quick graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible.

If anybody could help.


texts:
In this picture there are three groups of English plural forms:

Some examples from this picture include:

singular - plural      singular - plural       singular - plural
book - books           child - children        stratum - strata

What makes such differences in English plural forms of nouns? Why don't they all follow the same pattern?


texts: Meaning of "Don't be abrasive" vs "Don't be insulting"

texts:
Let's imagine in a quarrel between two people, one uses bad curses and words and a common friend of them comes to mediate between them. He wants to ask the friend who used bad words, "don't insult him (the other friend)".

Based on lots of dictionaries as below the adjectives "insulting" and "abrasive" have some conceptual overlaps which made me think they can be used interchangeably:

Insulting Vs Abrasive
Meanwhile, I searched the sentence in my question in Ngram, but I didn't see any result for Don't be abrasive
whereas I found the sentence "Don't be insulting" as commonplace. Don't be insulting.

So please let me know if the sentences bellow mean the same or not:

  Don't be insulting.
  Don't be abrasive.


texts: Can the word "suspect" be applied to someone who hasn't committed a crime yet?

texts:
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines suspect as: one that is suspected (especially a person suspected of a crime).

Say, you're writing a novel. The murderer hasn't committed the crime yet, but the detective knows he'll commit it soon.

Can person be called a "suspect"? If not, what's a more appropriate word?


texts:
I want to know which structure is right when forming past perfect tense?

  "She was very sad because she hadn't got the package."

or

  "She was very sad because she hadn't gotten the package."

As far as I know, including Had + past participle is a must when forming past perfect tense. So basically the "She had gotten" must be the right choice but my English guide book suggests the "She had got" is right and I asked from a few of friends and they said that the "She had got" is ok and normal in British English. I don't which one should I go with and it is so important for me to know the difference since I deal with academic lessons and writings.


texts: for proximity, preference is given to the verb or the noun

texts:
Which of the following 2 sentences is correct?

a) They left the hotel by car where they had been staying.

b) They left the hotel where they had been staying by car.

I think it should be b) because where should be close to the hotel.

But the answer is given as a). And now I am having second thoughts. Because I guess by car too should be close to left.

So it keeps me wondering to whom shall we give preference for the proximity: noun or the verb?


texts: Is it grammatically correct to say "the baby can't eat himself" meaning that the baby can't eat without help?

texts: I really think that I should use "the baby can't eat BY himself" to make it clear, but my friend argues that the first phrase would still be correct and mean the same thing as the second phrase. But I am still not sure, "can't eat himself" just sounds wrong to me. By the way, me and my friend are not native english speakers.


texts:
John stopped drinking beer.

In one grammar book there is something written about this sentence.

  "If the clause can be added to stop in the form of an ing-clause, the sentence is atelic."

I am not able to find out this sentence atelic given the fact I have read about the differences between atelic and telic verbs.

  "The telicity is the property of a verb or verb phrase that presents an action or event as being complete in some sense".

The exemplary sentence semantically suggests that John quit drinking beer once and for all. It is a completed decision.

So why atelic sentence? Is it so because "stop" is not action verb?


texts: What is the term for "participant(s) registering by their own and not sent by a company"?

texts: I'm thinking of "standalone participant" but that feels weird. "Participator" also word that comes to my mind, but I feel it's uncommon to be heard, and also does not have distinguishing marks from participants that are sent by company. Btw, while we're at it, is there also probably a better term for participants that do register under a company? Thanks.


texts: I went on a walk in "the" forest in my backyard

texts:
In a moment of desperate need to feel God’s presence and listen to what He needed to tell me, I went on a walk in the forest in my backyard… blog post

The above is first mentioned of the word "forest" within the article. but the writer used the definite article.

Do we use the with forest? or Does she use it because there is one forest on the area? or because the forest connected with her backyard?


texts: What does "than before" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I read a newspaper and found a title as follows:

  We're finally better off than before the recession: Average household now has £24,300 in disposable income each year.

  Only about half of Americans think they’re better off than before Obama took office.

What does "than before" mean in these sentence? Does it mean, for instance, "before Obama took office, half of Americans think they are not better off"?


texts:
I put the word out to the witnesses against me to be stand-up, that I wasn't going to rat anybody out.

What does the 'to be stand-up' mean here?


texts:
In Italian, letters can be referred to using their noun. For example, when speaking of the letter M, I could say La lettera emme è l'undicesima lettera dell'alfabeto italiano. (that is, "M is the 11th letter of the Italian alphabet"), or simply Emme è l'undicesima lettera dell'alfabeto italiano.

What is the equivalent way to refer to a letter in English?


texts:
Could you please help me to find out the meaning of this phrase?
(dove in slow motion)

I wrote 90 pages over 72 hours, pulling not one but two all-nighters, sprinted across campus, dove in slow motion, and got it in just at the deadline.


texts: Photo Vs. Picture Vs. Image : What is the difference between them?

texts:
Sometimes I hear people say 'Photos' and some time I hear them say 'Pictures'. In addition, I sometimes encounter the word 'Image'. In my understanding I feel that all of them are the same but I'm not sure about this. So what is the difference between them?

When should I use 'Photo'?

When should I use 'Picture'?

When should I use 'Image'?


texts:
Which preposition should we use with posted?

  A new question is posted to Stack Overflow every 12 seconds.
  A new question is posted at Stack Overflow every 12 seconds.
  A new question is posted on Stack Overflow every 12 seconds.

Some examples from news websites:

  The Supreme Court in Brisbane heard Lorang-Goubran met Mr Spencer through an online sex ad posted to website Craigslist and planned to rob him of drugs with a male accomplice. ABC News

  In one photograph posted on the website, Mr. Roof is shown posing with wax figures of slaves. The New York Times

  Notice of such cancellation, modification, or suspension will be posted at Website. NBC Connecticut

Google books - Ngram

Google Tend:


texts: What does it mean when the sentence take the form of '~ , meaning ~'?

texts:
I often see sentences that take the form of ". . . , doing . . . ".
I'm not sure what exactly it means.
I want to do some research for this sentence pattern, but I even don't know  the keyword to search.

I researched in a corpus to find some examples, here are some example I found.

  A majority of the revenue is still " dedicated " to this purpose , meaning it goes directly to the federal Highway Trust Fund.

  As they did so, the teacher listened in on their conversations , providing hints as they interacted.

So what does this pattern means? And if I want some more information, what is the correct keyword to research?

Thanks!!


texts: What does "element of original sin" mean here?

texts:
This is a part of the text about virtual machines in computers.

What does "an element of original sin" mean here?

Is it referring to the game "original sin" ?

  I love virtual machines (VMs) and I have done for a long time. If that
  makes me “sad” or an “anorak”, so be it. I love them because they are
  so much fun, as well as being so useful. They have an element of
  original sin (writing assembly programs and being in control of an
  entire machine), while still being able to claim that one is being a
  respectable member of the community (being structured, modular,
  high-level, object-oriented, and so on).


texts: "makes everyone feel" or "make everyone feels"

texts:
https://www.lingq.com/lesson/lesson-26-giving-a-speech-431421/

"Talking about milestones and achievements makes everyone feel involved and positive, and it also shows how hard you worked for the company without making you seem arrogant."

Why at the above context there is "makes everyone feel" and there is not "make everyone feels"


texts: Should I use "in" or "at" in the following case?

texts:
We trekked up Jin Mountain in New Taipei City.

  We trekked up Jin Mountain at New Taipei City.

What's the correct choice, and why?


texts: Does "was" has a meaning of "was thought to"?

texts:
In the pantheon of classic modern buildings, Utzon's creation has the status of myth. The myth states that the unknown architect, then in his early thirties, submitted rough sketches to the competition judges, that he ignored most of the rules, that his design was only selected after being plucked at the last moment from the reject pile by one of the judges, and that the design was unbuildable.

Utzon is a great Danish architect who designed the Sydney Opera House. Notice the last sentence:

  and that the design was unbuildable

The passage is on my book, and there is a translation after the paragraph, it says the meaning of the last sentence is that "the design was thought to be unbuildable. Truely, the design is surely only thought to be unbuildable, because the Sydney Opera House is right in Australia. The translation is correct. But how can I interpret the passage? Regardless the truth that the Sydney Opera House is really complete, I can only translate the last sentence as "the design was really fanciful and unbuildable". I think the sentence should add thought to after the word "was", just as followed:

  and that the design was thought to be unbuildable.

But why is there only a "was" in the sentence? Is the sentence incorrect?


texts: Can the preposition “in” be omitted , in sentence, “you expect to rule the city the way you rule other city.”

texts:
I have a question in below sentence.

  You expect to rule the city the way you rule other city.

I think the correct sentence is

  You expect to rule the city in the way you rule other city.

why can the preposition "in" be omitted?

if possible, the grammatical explanation is better for me to understand.


texts: Should I say "What's that mean" or "What does it mean"?

texts:
I've been listening this expression from movies and it seems that native speakers used to say "What's that mean" when they want to ask about the meaning of something.

Is this expression right for informal speaking or is it just my misunderstanding?


texts:
I know when you address a group of people, you may use "Ladies and Gentlemen".  But if you need to address a woman that you don't know her name, is it OK to address her "Lady"?

For example, can I say "Lady, is this seat taken?"

Thanks in advance.


texts: Stressing a quality of an object in comparisons

texts:
If I am not wrong, stressing a quality of an object right before the object is permissible in English with the word "quite":

  He is quite naughty a boy.

  She is quite beautiful a girl.

  It is quite difficult a task.

If I am right here, would it also be okay in English to do the same while comparing an object to another one on the point of that quality that is being stressed?

  The release of the album was quite more important an event than
  the Grammy award giving that came half a year later and was merely a
  logical response to that event.

In the example above, the first object is "event", second object is "the Grammy award giving", the quality being stressed is importance (expressed by the adjective "important")


texts: Is there a difference between the pronunciation of 'use' as a verb and a noun?

texts:
Is there a difference between how we pronounce:

The verb "use"

and

The noun 'use"

In other words, the transcription for the verb use is /ju:z/; is the transcription of the noun "use" also /ju:z/?


texts: How do you use the word "minuscule" in a sentence?

texts:
I do not know how to use the word minuscule in a sentence. I want to know what to say when I find an apple at the marketplace and do not want it because it is smaller than other apples there. I tried to say this to my teacher but she said it wasn't right but I don't know why.

  This apple is a such a minuscule and I do not want to buy it.

What am I doing wrong?


texts:
What is the question tag for the two sentences below?

  There would be.

  There will be.

I got confused by the modal verbs and the exception of "there is/are".

  A) There would be, wouldn't it?

  B) There would be, isn't there?

  C) There will be, won't it?

  D) There will be, isn't there?


texts: The difference between "wait up here" & "wait here"

texts:
The cars that are going straight have the right of way. Which means we have to wait for them before we make our left turn. Where do you wait? The rule of thumb, if the light is green we want to wait up here in the intersection. As soon as this line clears and we have enough gap then we’re able to execute our left turn safely.

In this context, what is the difference between "wait up here" & "wait here"? Do I need to include the word up in this passage?


texts: Is "cool" appropriate or offensive to use in IMs?

texts:
Today I learned a new word "Nive". When I google search, I found on urbandictionary it says nive "means cool. without actually having to say cool. cuz cool is an ugly word."

My question is that - is cool an ugly word? When should I use nive instead?


texts:
[Using all of the profane German I had ever heard], I ordered him to come out.

I was watching an English grammar video which stated that the the above sentence contains a non-finite clause in the square brackets. It states that Using is the head verb and hence a gerund participle.

What I am confused about here is that, to me, I had ever heard is surely tensed? As such would this not make it a finite clause?


texts: What does it mean when you do or say something ''forward''?

texts: I don't really know what it means but does it have something to do with being rude or something like that?


texts: "Am I a must when you are bored?" Does this sound natural?

texts:
Never assume that someone likes you by their sweetness. Sometimes you are just an option when they are bored.

That sentence comes from a native English speaker. So I was wondering if it's natural to say to someone "Am I an option when you are bored?" and if it's natural to say "Am I a must when you are bored?" Can that person understand me?


texts: What is the grammar of: "You being the fish"?

texts:
Source: The Big Bang Theory transcript season 2, episode 1

I found it weird when I heard it in a tv series. 'Being' is not preceded by a 'to be verb' and also comes after a subject.

How is it possible?
Shouldn't it be "You are being a fish"?

  Leonard: Okay, so, she said she wants to slow things down. It’s like saying “I’m really enjoying this meal, I’m going to slow down and savour it.”
  Howard: No, it’s like “this fish tastes bad, so I’m going to slow down and spit it out.”
  Raj: You being the fish.
  Leonard:  I'm not the fish.


texts:
From an online article:

  Like any holiday, it is episodic and suffers from repetition but this is gag-for-gag the funniest film of the summer and a fitting end to a much-loved series.

A gag is a joke. But what is "gag-for-gag" and what is this construction?


texts: 'Will be' vs 'will have been done' by [deadline]

texts:
I don't think there is any difference, either in choice of grammar or meaning, between, e.g.,

  'Everything will be done by Tuesday.'
  'Everything will have been done by Tuesday.'

except for the second one being more formal/grammatically rigorous. Is there?


texts: What does 'the way a thing turns out' mean?

texts: outcome is defined as "the way a thing turns out" by "Google: define outcome". What does "the way" mean here? What does "turn out" mean here?


texts: "Our content is all about geography quizzes" or "our content are all about geography quizzes"?

texts:
"Our content is all about geography articles" or "our content are all about geography articles"?

Which one is correct?

I thought the second one is but when I type it, the Grammarly tells me it's wrong and should change are to is, but why? How can is + articles works?


texts:
Which sentence is correct or more natural

If it matches any of the items, the item is selected
If it matches any of the items, the matching item is selected
If it matches any of the items, the matched item is selected
If it matches any of the items, the item which is matched is selected


texts: Which is correct, "Humans haven't walked" or "didn't walk"?

texts:
Is it right?

  'Humans haven't walked on Neptune but maybe, in the twenty first century, it might happen.'

Alternatively, should I say "Humans didn't walk.."


texts: Why "there is to know" when "you know everything else"?

texts:
I have trouble figuring out the exact meaning of the sentence. I could get that the person says this because he is cross with the girl for making decision without even the courtesy to consult him first.

But I am so so confused by the sentence structure and words order: why use "else" here? why not just say "everything"? why "there is to know" but not "knowing already"? So they lead me to several versions of my own understanding/guess:

You have already known everything about me.
You know everything about me, and there are even things that I don't know about myself, but you know it already. ( you know me better even than I do)
There are things you should and shouldn't know about me, but anyway you know them all.

Here is the sentence:

      ‘Well, you know everything else there is to know about me. You
      tell me.’

  Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

The context is :

The girl took the man on a day out to a see horse racing without telling him first, which later turned out to be a disaster, and the man said the above sentence to the girl after they were back from the race. He then told her that he had never liked horse racing and she should have asked him first.

Could anyone shed light on this please?


texts: Which is correct, only ours or ours only?

texts:
There's a sentence :

  I feel like this place is ours.

but the speaker actually felt the place was "only" for them, so I want to include the word in the sentence but don't know where to put it. (The place wasn't actually made for them, but he felt like it since there was no one else.)

  (I) Feel like this place is only ours.

  (I) Feel like this place is ours only.

Then which one is correct?
I've googled it and I found both "only ours" and "ours only" are used, so I'm not sure which one I should use. I already saw this one, but I'm still confused.

Or is it better to just say "this place is only for us"?


texts: "An avid user of social media to discuss the case"

texts:
An avid user of social media to discuss the case, Zellner's use of the tweet could be viewed as a statement of fact that witnesses are coming forward.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/making-a-murderer-lawyer-new-witnesses-2016-9

Don't you think that there is the preposition "for" before "An avid user…" omitted? Without the preposition the sentence seems to me being weird. The clause would be for me meaningful being tranformed in this way: (a) For an avid user of social media who discusses the case, Zellner's use…, (b) An avid user of social media to discuss the case could view Zellner's use…


texts:
I'm looking for a word that means "to move slowly though a process or system." I was writing an email and I used the word "matriculate", but it clearly is not the word for which I'm looking (football announcers non-withstanding). Is there a word that sounds like matriculate that means what I want here or am I way off base? I wonder if the fact that it sounds like "trickle" is what has me wrong?
Thanks!


texts: What is the meaning of "make of" in this context?

texts:
"Normans' ambition was to make of England a trilingual country."

What is the meaning of phrasal verb "make of."


texts:
What adjective would be used to describe an attitude where one is not too demanding about something (like the food they eat, the clothes they wear, etc.).

I'm looking for a word that sounds fairly informal or colloquial.


texts:
I'm a software engineer. One of my friends, Daniel is an ophthalmology surgeon. For me, ophthalmology is more professional while eye is more common and easier to understand.
Is it clear and natural to say it like this?

I'm a layman for/to ophthalmology field, in contrast, Daniel is profession (technical guy) in that field.


texts:
Should there be a comma in this case?

Example sentence:

  He covered her mouth with one hand(,) while with the other he pressed
  the gun against her temple.

If you search on Google Books, you get both versions.

But I suspect only one is correct.


texts:
As a non-native speaker, I grew up using does/do in forming questions in English. Such as this:

  how much oxygen does he have?

Whereas, native English speakers usually form sentences in this way:

  how much oxygen has he had?

Why is that? Do they have any differences?


texts:
If I was to write:
I will be sitting all day on open space
would that be correct
or should I say
I will be sitting all day at open space
or otherwise. By openspace I mean the typical corporate space where employees sit and work


texts:
By moving the word "usually" does its emphasis change?

"Usually I have dinner at 12." (Now I am having dinner at two)

"Usually I don't have dinner at two".

"I don't have dinner at two usually."

"I don't usually have dinner at two."

"I have dinner at 12 usually."

"I usually don't have dinner at two."


texts: Is "by a many" the same thing as "by many"?

texts:
I found this on a The Guardian article:

  John ClareJohn Clare was steeped in nature. There is no literary
  sightseeing here: he writes from inside the landscape. “Young Lambs”
  could almost be a farmer talking: “The spring is coming by a many
  signs.”

Is "by a many" the same thing as "by many". It looks like the "a" was added for stylistic purpose. Also, is this expression still used or archaic?


texts: What does the conjunction "or" mean in the following sentence?

texts:
He caught Harry's eye and Harry knew at once that Snape's feelings toward him hadn't changed one jot. This didn't worry Harry. It seemed as though life would be back to normal next year, or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts.
  (Harry Potter)

What does the conjunction or mean in the following sentence?


texts:
Can something break under your weight whether you stand on it or hang under it?
Does this example make sense:
The man tried to hang himself, but apparently the beam he had tied the rope around broke under his weight.
?


texts:
What does "the whole picture" mean? Thanks.

  A, an assistant of B, director in a publishing house.

    A: You've got mail. I'm gonna go back to work now.

    B: No, stay. This is going to be a real treat for you.

    A: It's for me?

    B: God, no, it's for me. But you get to be the first to see it. It's Judith Leiber, made to order. Just cobra and stingray with antiqued gold hardware.
    Hematite, Austrian crystal, and onyx stone inlay.

    A: It's gorgeous.

    B: I just wish men appreciated bags as much as women.

    A: Men are visual. They respond to the whole picture, even if they don't know why. I'm telling you, men are gonna love that purse without even realizing they saw it.


texts:
I wrote this sentence in my essay

  Not only such institutes provide physical support but the elderly also get emotional support from their fellows and caretakers.

I want to say that old age homes (institutes) not only provide physical support (help in completing their daily chores) but they also provide emotional support as the fellows and caretakers provide love and respect to older people.

What is the mistake in this sentence. From what i have looked online, we have to use same kind of word after not only and but also. That is if we are using a verb after not only then we have to use the verb after but also.
Is there any other mistake in this sentence? How can i possibly rewrite the sentence using same structure?


texts:
You don't study very much.

  Can I write this sentence as "You study a little"?
  I think "not--very much" is the same with  "a little".


texts: Negation of gapping coordination - some doubts related to "or" and negation

texts:
Please refer to page no. 791 of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.

Both in chapter 15 and in this snippet it says or implies that either one or some of the coordinated elements are true. And in light of that, sentence 17(a) should read like that:
Either Kim wasn't at work on Monday or Pat wasn't at work on Tuesday is to be true to make sentence 17(a) true. Right?
If that be the case, then the claim But for [17a] to be true, both of [18i-ii] must be false should not hold. Why both, why not any one of them at minimum based on the logic stated above?


texts:
It is scientific writing. To do A, we have a smart way than the brute force way. Namely, we can do B first and then do C, in the end A is done.

How to describe this scenario?

We can do it in a round way?


texts: What does "pull the ground" mean, and what may "sickle" and "scythe" symbolize?

texts:
This is a passage from "The Mowing of a Field" by Hilaire Belloc. In the essay, he describes in detail the right way to make hay.

  Many think that hay is best made when the grass is thickest; and so they delay until it is rank and in flower, and has already heavily pulled the ground. And there is another false reason for delay, which is wet weather. For very few will understand (though it comes year after year) that we have rain always in South England between the sickle and the scythe, or say just after the weeks of east wind are over.

1) has ... pulled the ground

Does this mean that the grass roots are deep in the soil strongly grasping?

2) between the sickle and the scythe

My best guess is that each of them symbolizes a time when certain crops should be harvested. In the essay, a scythe is used to cut the grass to make hay. So I assume the scythe may mean the appropriate time for grass to be cut, but I'm not sure.


texts: Reflexive pronoun in a prepositional phrase modifying a noun

texts:
I recently saw the sentence

  She knew what he was talking about because of a previous conversation between themselves.

Why is the reflexive pronoun themselves used instead of them? Would

  She knew what he was talking about because of a previous conversation between them.

be incorrect?


texts: *Slowing* gaining strength_ What part of speech is 'slowing' in the phrases below?

texts:
I thought the authors misused the word 'slowing', because it seems that 'slowly' as an adverb should be used. However, there are multiple examples using slowing + gaining + something(noun). Really appreciate if you can help explain the use of 'slowing' in these examples.

  Offering a more optimistic view, several Federal Reserve officials gave separate speeches yesterday arguing that the economy was slowing gaining strength.
  -The New York Times

  ... the season standings by finishing no lower than second 10 times.Hamilton chased Rosberg for 23 laps, steadily keeping up the pressure and slowing gaining on him. Hamilton finally made his move on lap 24, squeezing inside Rosberg's …
  -Los Angeles Times

  ... on February 13, the JTWC upgraded Feliska into a tropical storm as it turned north.While slowing gaining strength, Feliska turned east. By 0000 UTC February 16, MFR declared that Feliska attained peak intensity. …
  -Wikipedia


texts:
I was reading an article on Wikipedia and found this

  Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White and The Moonstone as well as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. She wrote her own detective novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles featuring Hercule Poirot, a former Belgian police officer noted for his twirly large "magnificent moustaches" and egg-shaped head. Poirot had taken refuge in Britain after Germany had invaded Belgium. Christie's inspiration for this stemmed from real Belgian refugees who were living in Torquay.

I want to know why the past perfect is used twice? Should it be "Poirot had taken refuge in Britain after Germany invaded Belgium."?


texts:
I work in an aerospace corporation in China and I have gone through lots of business negotiations with officials and executives from abroad. Most of them are impressed with my pronunciation, but I still want to get better.

I wonder if a native speaker can easily hear the difference between ŋ and n. I always pronounce ŋ the same way with n.


texts:
Does this sentence make sense?

  Do you want to go mummy there?

When you and your kid are in room A, and his mummy is in room B, can we say "Do you want to go mummy there?" to your kid to ask him whether he wants to go to his mother's room?

Preposition question: do I need to add "to" after go?


texts: There are 4 friends (F1, F2, F3, F4) talking about some random stuff and ended talking on a topic about a politician (Let's call him C). Among the four, one guy is a huge fan of C and ended up saying that C is a great person, so now the rest of three start saying that C is a great person in a passive tone. The last three spoke like that because, speaking in a negative tone about C will hurt the feelings of the others but in reality except for the first guy nobody likes C. Just because the first guy spoke positively the rest of three followed up. What do we call this phenomenon? How to describe this kind of situation?


texts: The use of article before the names of exercises

texts:
Tell me please which article I have to use in the following sentence.

  Today I am going to train my chest by doing the/a bench press and the*/**a inclined dumbbell bench press.

I have definitely heard English native speakers trainers use both the definite and indefinite article, and even zero one. Is there a rule as to which articles one has to use before the names of exercises, or is it optional?


texts:
I want to ask someone about what he want me to do. which one of the mentioned below is better and grammatically correct?

What would you rather I did?
What would you rather I do?
What would you rather?

The 1st looks the best to me.

If I'm thinking about what someone want to do, what should I say while thinking?
Can I say:

What would he rather do?


texts: What is difference between "Hate" and "Detest"?

texts:
What is difference between hate and detest?
and which word is stronger.

For example:

  I hate you.
  I detest you.


texts: Correct meaning of 'astute' in the sentence given

texts:
I have never heard of or use the word 'astute', and I couldn't quite understand the correct meaning of it in the sentence below.

  I manage resources under my control with astute efficiency, and lead the way with the highest level of competence.

The sentence is referred from U.S. Air Force's creed.

Most of the dictionaries describe the meaning of 'astute' as 'clever' or 'smart' in the context of politics or business.

The word seems to have an expression of negative connotation, which, if true, would not be appropriate in the sentence above.

Could you please explain the meaning of 'astute' and its connotation?


texts:
I'm wondering whether the boldaced phrase in the following should be "make a machine of a smaller size," "make the machine in a smaller size," or "make the machine of a smaller size."
If all these options are okay, what are their differences?

So I began the project of constructing my own helicopter. However, as parts for the regular size were hard to obtain, I decided to make the machine of a smaller size.


texts:
I want to know what type of sentence the sentence below is and why we use two past participles in it.I took this sentence from a chemistry book; chemistry is my subject.

1) Concentration of CO2 and water vapour absorb infrared radiation emitted by earth surface.


texts:
a. If you examine enough of our lawyers' files, you'll get a pretty good idea of how the legal system works.
b. If you examine enough lawyers' files, you'll get a pretty good idea of how the legal system works.
In the above sentences does 'enough' modify 'lawyers' or 'files'?

The files of a sufficient number of lawyers

or

A sufficient number of files belonging to lawyers


texts:
can anyone who has good kknowledge in the language please correct my writing and tell me which tense I should use in the following context?

Nowadays people are smarter. They can't be fooled by false information and data. In today's world of technology and education, they are smarter than they ever were/have ever been.


texts:
Which of these is correct?

  Could you tell me when the results will be posted exactly?

  Could you tell me when the results exactly will be posted?


texts: Shall I write, I am going to buy or I have bought?

texts:
I have just asked a new question about coconut oil in lifehack on stackexchange.
In the question, I said this

  I have not bought any coconut oil before...
  I am wondering how it's possible for me to test if the coconut oil
  (options) from a supermarket is poisonous?

The options between "I am going to buy" and "I have bought" have confused me.

Can you tell me which one of it is the better please?


texts:
I read  https://english.stackexchange.com/q/103230/50720 and understand the grammatical differences, but their usage still confuses me. Answerer Cereberus writes:

  It is slightly old fashioned. Except in negative sentences and questions, I don't think you will see it much in modern writing, except in certain fixed expressions

If I disregard 'old fashioned', then when are the modal and regular 'need' interchangeable, and not? For example, while I understand and thus do not question the Regular uses (indicated by the green checkmarks) here, why are the Modal uses (accompanied by red exmarks) wrong? I don't replicate that Wordreference post because I seek a general answer here.


texts:
Do we say 'the store' or 'a store' to mean any store? For example:

In my opinion a gift bought from the/a store can never be as special as one made personally by the person giving it.
You have to pick them up from the/a store.


texts:
I have problems with definite and zero articles in the following sentences:

"I met a man you were talking about over THE telephone yesterday."
"The wounded were examined by THE doctor and sent to PRISON."

These examples are from my textbook. The textbook says that these articles should be set this way. I don't understand why. Namely:

Why in the first sentence we use "the telephone" while in the second "prison" with zero article? Why are they different?
Is it grammatically correct to say "The wounded were examined by DOCTOR and sent to THE prison?" For example, in case the prison is before the eyes of a speaker.

I am looking for a strong grammatical reference. Simple rules-of-the-thumb proved to be inadequate, I cannot answer my doubts.


texts: present simple or present perfect in this case

texts:
Shall I say

  I have tried to send you the money but it has not worked.
  I have tried to send you the money but it does not work.

I think first version is the best because all my essay did not work.


texts: Any difference? "I am happy being single" and "I am happy that I am single"

texts:
Today, it is St valentine's day and I heard a lady on TV saying "I am happy being single".

I thought about what we are taught at school for creating this meaning. We were taught to give this meaning by means of a sentence like this: "I am happy that I am single.". Because, there are two separate sentences in this long sentence: 1) I am happy. 2) I am single, so it feels we should use "that" to combine those two separate sentences, shouldn't we?.

However, the lady's sentence seems to be shorter and more practical. I thought I could use it if her way of combining two separate sentences this way is completely the same and correct.

So, I wonder is there any difference between the following sentences:

I am happy that I am single.
I am happy being single.

And if they are all the same in meaning, can we combine any two such separate  sentences without having to use "that"?


texts: The exact meaning of "may not have to do something"

texts:
I heard this conversation from native speakers:

  "Are you going to spend the weekend at your in-law's house?"
  "I may not have to spend the weekend at my in-law's house."

Could we say "I will probably not have to spend the weekend at my in-law's house" instead? If so or not, what is the difference in meaning?


texts: Is there any difference in meanings between “Become a reality” and “In real life”?

texts:
Having become a reality/in real life, he dosen’t come to me, so what?
I am grateful for even his arrival in dreams!

I mean to say I am glad even with his arrival in dreams. I don’t care that he doesn’t come to me in real life.


texts:
For both experiments, method A has increased the number of correct
  solutions found for 72.33% and 75%, compared to method B.

vs

  For both experiments, method A has increased the number of correct
  solutions found by 72.33% and 75%, compared to method B.

may I know which one is grammatical?


texts: What’s the grammatical gender of the noun ”the past” in English?

texts:
I’m translating Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “The Past” (into Russian).  The text is a bit confusing because of this quatrain:

  I will betake me to the Past,
  And she shall make my love at last;
  I will find my home in her tarrying-place —
  I will gaze all day on her deathly face!

For the right translation I need to know the gender of the word “Past” as a noun. Can it be feminine?


texts: Usage of “worth” as both adjective and noun in question sentence

texts:
I am not sure whether i use “worth” correctly in two qurstiom below. Please correct me if those are wrong .

  How much money worth of car did you buy ? ( used as noun)

  How much money worth car did you buy ? ( used as adjective )


texts:
Which of these two sentence form is more accurate and why:

Ramiro is anything but professional.
Ramiro is anything but not professional.

These both sentences conveys the same message about Ramiro being anything except professional. But which sentence should be used.
I would really feel grateful if one explains the answer.

Ps.
Hi, English is not my native language and this is my first question here so please be kind.
Thanks. ✌


texts: What is correct "in various subjects" or "on various subjects"?

texts:
They offer classes on various subjects.

  They offer classes in various subjects.

Which is correct?

Searching google for "classes in/on various subjects" shows that both variants are used frequently.

But after changing "subjects" to e.g. "chemistry",

  They offer classes on chemistry.

  They offer classes in chemistry.

1st variant sounds a bit wrong to me.
Is it not?

So what is the pattern here? Does "in" and "on" are equivalent here, or maybe be they have a slight difference in meaning, or something else?


texts:
"Comes at a very big price" or "comes at a very big effort"?

Which one is better for describing an action that is really hard for someone to perform? For example:

  He seems to have a problem talking to people. And this one is more of
  a psychological nature, rather than merely of his character. Judging
  by his facial expressions I can tell that he inderstands almost
  everything that is being talked about but producing things comes at
  a very big price for him or sometimes doesn't come at all.


texts: "the depth of his reaction to the latter's"

texts:
Reading Scholem's  historical writings along with his letters to Benjamin, we begin to understand  the depth of his reaction to the latter's leftward turn.

Could you please clarify to me why there is an apostrophe in the word "latter". Does this mean the same as to his (Benjamin's) latter leftward turn? To tell the truth I am not familiar with the usage of the apostrophe in adjectives. Is it standard in English? Based on the same pattern we can write/tell: John broke the window. I am really upset by terrible's behaviour (by his bad behaviour) which is probably nonsense.


texts: I am puzzled by the two sentences. I want to know which is correct grammatically

texts:
1.Everything external is subject to life and death. Only the vigorous life force transcends that. 2.Everything external is subject to life and death. Only the vigorous life force transcends both.

The first part of both sentences says "...life and death." If "life and death" is considered to be two separate things, then "...transcend both" in the last part of the second sentence is correct. But if "Everything external is subject to life and death" is considered as the object that "the vigorous life force transcends",the first sentence is correct. I am not sure which one is correct.


texts: I don't understand these simple sentences. Please help me

texts:
What do these sentences mean:

  Please note that this is not proof that the abovementioned amount has been credited to your account on the action date reflected above.
  Payment may take up to three business days to be reflected on your account.

I'm not a native English speaker. I cannot understand, especially 'action date' and 'to be reflected on your account'. Action date means sort of deadline?


texts: How can get along the “uncertainty” with the “certainty” in the same context

texts:
Let’s consider the following quote from “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens

  ”Now, if, during this brief period, Oliver had been surrounded by careful grandmothers, anxious aunts, experienced nurses, and doctors of profound wisdom, he would most inevitably and indubitably have been killed in no time.”

The facts they are based on are the opposite of what is expressed and they refer to an unreal past condition and its probable past result. So the facts are hypothetical in the past.

The way of how most inevitably and indubitably, which expresses a certainty, can get along with the hypothetical (uncertain) facts, in the same context, puzzles me.

I’m hundred percent sure that the quote is flawless and even I can imagine a similar example:

  If I had been aboard that plane then I would certainly have been killed.

There might be an explanation but I’m not hundred percent sure which is why I posted the question here.


texts: What is the difference between cheating and plagiarizing?

texts:
I need to know the difference between cheating and plagiarizing.

For example if I was a student doing a test and I copied my classmate would I say:

  I was cheating on the test.

or

  I was plagiarizing on the test.

Any additional information would be helpful!


texts: Convert a direct imperative sentence into indirect speech

texts:
Can someone please help me converting this sentence into indirect speech?

  "Go on, have another sweet, Michael" urged Sam.

Update: I was thinking along the lines of "Micheal was ordered by Sam to go on and have some sweets"

Please accept my apologies as I am new to this community.


texts:
What’s the difference between too and as well at the end of the phrase?
E.g. I like cycling too vs I like cycling as well.


texts: Verb to be and measurement and dimensions

texts: Any chances of using the verb to be to refer to weight; I mean, as a synonym for "weigh" eg: The baby was 5 pounds. If it is ok please let me know how frequently natives use it.


texts:
My first language is not English, though I read/write and talk (sort of), more than average fluency, I am not able to recall exact word on time. I really get no idea which word to use and I end up with long unavoidable pause.

How can I get rid of this problem?


texts:
is ''the curtains are on the window'' correct in British English?

The preposition ''by'' sounds weird to me when talking about curtains. I'd say '' in front of'' or ''next to''.


texts:
(1a) The box has a different pattern on each side.

(1b) The box has a different pattern on all the sides.

Do both sentences have the same meaning?


texts:
While surfing the internet, I came across this sentence and I wonder what it really means:

  We Americans sometimes seem to view Canada as a kind of Legoland version of our own country ...

I searched the web and found meaning of Legoland in the web page below.

But my real problem is the meaning of the expression square edges .
Could you simplify the meaning of  both legoland and square edges, please?

  slang - A place characterised by square edges and extreme regularity.1997, Mark McCrum, No worries: a journey through Australia ...three hundred yards back from that, behind a legoland of hotels and apartment blocks...
  Source: http://www.wordsense.eu/Legoland/


texts:
The verb optimize isn't intransitive therefore isn't ergative, so how could we use it like below? By the way, as far as I know using transitive verbs intransitively is not grammatical/possible.

The string has to do more things. It is harder to optimize.

I think it should at least be:
The string has to do more things. It is harder to be optimized.

What are your ideas, guys?


texts: The act of making questions for exams and assignmets?

texts:
and also what is the person designing questions called ?
I need it to answer a question about my role as a teacher assistant which was designing assignments.

in my language (Persian) it can be called Designing questions and question Designer. I wonder if these words have a meaning in English and can be used or not.

Thank you.


texts: Past perfect, and how different they are to simple tense

texts:
In the evening, the children told their father what they had seen at the zoo.

In the evening, the children told their father what they saw at the zoo.

Now i understand both the sentences are grammatically correct.
What i want to know is, what's the point of using the past perfect tense there?
I mean, it does make it more clear that the kids went to the zoo first, and told their father what they had seen there second.
Is there any other reason why we should use the past perfect there?

And

When Jane had seen the elephants, she wanted to see the giraffes. (second action happened after the first action had been completed)

Could we not mean the same by saying "After jane saw the elephants, she wanted to see the giraffes?


texts: Do we say "the children are playing on/in the field"?

texts:
According to my study,
A field could be "an open area of land without trees or buildings". In this case we say "they're playing in the field"
But, a field could also be "an area of land that is used for sports". In this case we say "they're playing on the field"
Do we say "the children are playing on/in the field" depending the kind of area of land that they are playing in/on?


texts: Meaning of a slang word found in a Tweet

texts:
What does deadass mean in

  MY MOM DEADASS SENT THE OBAMAS A WEDDING INVITATION ...

?

I searched on the web. Deadass can mean:

a fool/idiot
to be completely serious

The first one is not quite likely, as she wouldn't call her mon a fool/idiot. The second one seems to be the usage as an adjective. So, what is the exact meaning of deadass in the context?


texts: The use of the word you as opposed to your in the same sentance

texts: What is the difference between: “I object to you making payments” and “I object to your making payments”?