texts:
This is an excerpt from the self help book "Pushing To The Front" by Orison Swett Marden under a chapter entitled "Dare":

As the strongest man has a weakness somewhere, so the greatest hero is a coward somewhere. Peter was courageous enough to draw his sword to defend his Master, but he could not stand the ridicule and the finger of scorn of the maidens in the high priest's hall, and he actually denied even the acquaintance of the Master he had declared he would die for.

I know this is not a grammar question, but I need to know who is 'Peter'. I'm not familiar with history of west.
Thanks


texts:
He's just to going to sell our information and me and my dad are completely screwed.

I heard a lot of these subject-object things in movies or tv shows. It should be my dad and I from what I had learned before (If I had not mistaken it), but I heard a lot like that somehow, is it correct to use me and he or he and me or me and him or him and me?


texts:
I'd like to know how to use the phrasal verb spray down

When you spray something down it means that you spray liquid over a surface using a pump or something else, correct?

Can you say this then?

  An exterminator came to my apartment and sprayed down the kitchen to kill all the roaches.

  He sprayed his body down with sunscreen.

  The plane sprayed poison down the meadow to kill the weeds.


texts: Adjective or Adverb: unconsciously vs unconscious

texts:
Position of Adjectives: An adjective nearly always appears immediately before the noun or noun phrase that they modify. The source is here.

But if you look at the following sentence, the adjective "unconscious" doesn't appear before a noun, why? The source of the 1st and 3rd are here. The source of the second is here.

  He was knocked unconscious by a fall.
  An injured motorcyclist is lying unconscious in the road.
  She was unconscious for three days after the accident.

In the 2nd sentence, why can't it be "unconsciously"? Lying is a verb, so "lying unconsciously" is valid, is itn't?


texts: Is there any difference in speaking and writing form for using "that"?

texts:
We use "that" in speaking and writing very often. I am giving some examples:

I told him that teacher is busy or
I told him that teacher was busy.
He said that he will not do the work or
He said that he would not do the work.

Which form is correct? That seems to me very confusing.
Is there any difference between speaking and  writing form?
EDIT: I am confused that which forms of verb I should use? would or will? is or was? Can you please give a guideline.


texts: Have no problem doing something and have no trouble doing something

texts:
What's the difference between the two phrases? I'm interested in nuances.

For instance.

We had no problem/ trouble finding the stolen  item/ finding her a house etc
You had no problem/trouble taking advantage of her naivety.


texts: "we are pretty close in our hearts" VS "our hearts are pretty close"

texts:
Is the following line a ill-expressed sentence?

  Even though there is a great distance between us, we are pretty close in our hearts

Certainly, the writer was intended to send out the following message:

  Even though there is a great distance between us, our hearts are pretty close.

I believe, the writer intended to say: Despite the fact we are living far away from each other, we have each other in our heart, and distance cannot separate our hearts. Can you give me more examples of such usage if the first line is rightly written?


texts:
I would like to use the abbreviation cf. to mean see, like I do all the time when writing in French. E.g. "cf. figure 8" would mean "see/refer to/check out figure 8".

I read on Wikipedia that

  While the use of cf. for "see" is widespread, The Chicago Manual of
  Style holds that it should not be used in this way but instead should
  only be used to mean "compare" or "see, by way of comparison". In
  some other languages, such as French and Italian, it is normal to use
  "cf." to mean "see".

The Chicago Manual of Style is "one of the most widely used and respected style guides in the United States". Does that mean that I should ban the use of "cf. figure 8", or is that some outdated rule that nobody cares anymore?


texts: Using a colon to introduce a proper title

texts:
Is it appropriate to use a colon to introduce a title of a book/publication/etc in the middle of a sentence? For instance, consider the following example

My hard work resulted in a book: "X" with co-authors A, B, and C.

The other way I can think of is to say

My hard work resulted in "X" with co-authors A, B, and C.

However, the reason I am hesitant of saying it the latter way is because it matters whether it is a "book" or a "publication." Hence, I need to clarify and I'm not sure how to introduce both the name of the work and the type of work it is in a smooth manner.


texts: Is it shots or shoots by "name of the photographer"

texts:
Hey I'm a young photographer and I want to create a website to display my portfoilio. I want to name it:

  shots/shoots by - followed by my name

and I don't know what term is correct here.

On the website there will be uploads of multiple photosessions as a whole and not single picture uploads


texts: Since animals are unable to express their pain in words thus I use the word 'voiceless' for animals making the sentence: animals are voiceless thus can't complaint to anyone; but another use of dumb animal once I read by one of my colleague. I don't think if it sounds good. To me, voiceless is better. Am I right?


texts: Would have past participle (a passage from Wuthering Heights)

texts:
He bid me be silent; and then, for the first time, allowed himself a glance round the room and a look at the pictures.  Having studied Mrs. Linton’s, he said—‘I shall have that home.  Not because I need it, but—’  He turned abruptly to the fire, and continued, with what, for lack of a better word, I must call a smile—‘I’ll tell you what I did yesterday!  I got the sexton, who was digging Linton’s grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I opened it.  I thought, once, I would have stayed there : when I saw her face again—it is hers yet!—he had hard work to stir me; but he said it would change if the air blew on it, and so I struck one side of the coffin loose, and covered it up: not Linton’s side, damn him!  I wish he’d been soldered in lead.  And I bribed the sexton to pull it away when I’m laid there, and slide mine out too; I’ll have it made so: and then by the time Linton gets to us he’ll not know which is which!’

  from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Background Information: Mr.Linton died recently and is soon to be buried beside his wife who died 18 years ago.

When did Heathcliff think of that? The moment when he was with the sexton or further past? At what point of time the possible 'staying' was meant?
Did he express past possibility or past wish?

What is the meaning of once? Was it just a fleeting idea? Is it in connection with thought or the following part?

I'm so confused about this sentence and the use of would have past participle. Help me, please!


texts:
Can anyone help me to get the solution for the question below?

If someone tells me "nice to meet you" and I think it was a nice meeting,
what should I reply?.


texts: "Read book about my work" or "read books for my work"?

texts:
Which preposition do I use when I want to say that I read books that help me to get better in my job: about or for? For example:

  I like reading books for my work.

  I like reading books about my work.

Can both prepositions be used? If so, then would they mean different things?
By the way, do I say books for/about my work or book for/about my job?


texts:
Can 'on the ground' mean "inside the building"?

  However we have strong grounds to believe Ukrainian forces deliberately targeted the hospital for attack as they believed—falsely—that there were insurgents on the ground.

(from here)


texts: I don't understand that sentence, even though I know conditionals well

texts:
"If David didn't give up smoking, Liza wouldn't marry him."
I only can see that sentence in the 3rd conditional (unreal past) - "If David hadn't given up smoking, Liza wouldn't have married him". But I don't understand its meaning in the 2nd conditional. Is it just me, or this sentence doesn't work in the 2nd conditional?


texts: "She managed to successfully start her car" or "She managed to start her car successfully"

texts:
Are there any rules as to the position of an adverb?
For example:

She managed to successfully start her car
She managed to start her car successfully

Can I use either of them?


texts: Difference between "spoke" and "spoken" in English grammar

texts:
I am really poor in English, especially in grammar.

What is the difference between spoke and spoken?


texts: I am not 100% sure about what he is saying

texts:
Watching and enjoying the Kee&Peele sketch, there is a line I don't understand what he is saying with full confidence even with the help of the English subtitle.
He(Malcolm X) says from 1:47

Our people have never resorted to violence, before the white man gave them no choice but to pay him back in the only currency, he understands!.

Could anyone help me figure out what he is trying to say?
Thanks.


texts: What do you call the market for a certain job?

texts:
I am not sure, but the only phrase that comes to mind is "X market" as in "janitor market", but I think it may sound odd in certain situation.

Here's an example that might help understand what I mean:

  Because the young generation don't want to do labor-intensive work,
  there was a huge lack of labor in the janitor market, which drove the
  wage for janitorial work through the roof to the point they earned
  more than most white-collar workers.


texts:
I'm listening to this giving advice on how to meet women and he says, "...you are having problems starting a conversation with girls, because you know it hasn't worked in the past and frankly you're projecting those onto other people and you think that other people think  the same way about when you do it and that has also got to do with the fact that you haven't done it successfully and maybe have done it in a bad way, in a way that never felt right for you and so underlying it all again is that you probably felt you've learned the wrong process, or you really haven't realized that's the wrong process but just didn't work for you... You felt dodgie doing it..." I've probably misspelled it. What does that mean?

Go to 7:20 on the following link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXsl1P87PD4


texts:
I'm confused about when I should use "especially" and when use the other.

For instance:

  I like fruits, ____ dragonfruits.

  We all like fruits, ____ me.

If I should use the same thing in these sentences, could you give me another example to illustrate how to use the other?


texts:
I was taught that when we want to say "produce sound on a musical instrument", we should always use the definite article before the instrument ("play the guitar/piano/violin").

I did research on this, and I got the expected results from the dictionaries I use:

  Jean plays the guitar and her brother is on percussion. Cambridge Dictionary - guitar

  He learned to play the clarinet at the age of ten. Cambridge Dictionary - play

  He taught himself to play the violin. Oxford Dictionary - play

(particularly, they all pertain to the skill these people possess)

Then I came across this thread. There, some people said "play guitar" is more common in the USA while "play the guitar" is BrE.

One trustworthy American English dictionary provided the next examples:

  Howard Roberts played guitar and Schuur sang and played a Fender Rhodes piano. vocabulary.com - guitar

  I never thought about combining it with drag, ’cause to me, well, drag queens don’t play guitar. vocabulary.com - guitar

Moreover, I generated the ngram graph and noticed that the expressions using the are way more popular than those without the article:

Now I am confused about which one is correct and whether they are both acceptable.


texts: Born to do something or born for doing something / Made for doing something or to do something

texts:
When I have to choose a preposition to talk about purpose, I found a general rule explaining that 'to + infinitive' was rather used when you're referring to verbs and 'for + noun', but it doesn't apply in the sentences below. that 'to' was preferred for verbs and 'for' for nouns. For example:

I went to the shop for milk
I went to the shop to buy milk

That being said, I was wondering if there is a difference between these 2 possibilities. In different songs I've heard:

I was born for loving you, or
Born to be wild,

A second example:

These boots are made for walking, or
These boots are made to walk

Can you please help me? Thanks in advance and greetings to all users!


texts:
"I could eat a horse" is a well-known phrase.

I wonder why the modal-verb 'could' is used.

According to this source (EnglishPage),

  "Could" is a modal verb used to express possibility or past ability as
  well as to make suggestions and requests. "Could" is also commonly
  used in conditional sentences as the conditional form of "can.

It looks like the statement ("I could eat a horse") doesn't express any of the options above. I tend to view this statement as a present ability, so perhaps 'can' is a better option?


texts: How to create a word by juxtaposing a noun with a description, where the description consists of two words?

texts: I want to write in my CV that I'm good at detecting errors, I want to humourously write that I'm an "error-detector-man". Is it correct to write it like this? "Error detector" alone is correct, but sounds like a name of a machine.


texts: the best description for a specific style of building (Central European type)

texts:
I'm looking for the best description of a particular type of apartments. I also attach a picture to illustrate what I'm trying to say.
There is a building in which there are several apartments on each story. Each apartment is formed of one or more rooms, where someone would walk from one room to another without using a connecting hallway. The hallway is part of the common space of the building, the story itself, on which everyone walks between apartments.
I need a better description for this. also, is there a particular style--as in architectural style--that best describes this specific configuration?
thanks so much for your help!


texts: Why is oak considered an adjective in 'the big oak tree'?

texts:
I have been reading grammar instructions on this website.

When I came across the bottom of the page, there was a quiz. In the quiz it was noted that the word oak in the following sentence is an adjective.

  In the spring, red roses blossom in my cute small garden. The beautiful birds also sing in the big oak tree.

Why is oak an adjective in the sentence?


texts: How do you interpret 'have' in this sentence?

texts:
It is very important to have invoices signed by two on-site managers.

In the above sentence, do you interpret 'have' as 'ownership' or 'make'?
In other words,

It is very important to have invoices that are signed by two on-site managers.

It is very important to let invoices signed by two on-site managers.

What interpretation is correct?


texts: Is it considered acceptable to write "he went through the door"?

texts:
He panicked and went through the nearest door.

Is it considered acceptable to write "went through the nearest door" to avoid taking the tension and flow out of the story by describing that he opens the door and then enters?


texts:
This is the only mammal that can fly.

We were taught that an independent clause must have a complete thought/idea.
How can "This is the only mammal" be treated as an independent clause?


texts:
The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there --- or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.

I looked up the word slug:

  a small creature with a soft body, that moves very slowly and eats garden plants

But I am quite sure if this is the exact meaning that the author was trying to convey? Or if there's some peculiar meaning that I am not aware of at all?


texts: how to use" would" along with"the present tense"?

texts:
I am wondering if the tenses of the verbs have been used correctly. In other words, I mean, for instance, why don't we say"did rather" would"?

  Why would he create you so carefully that he even knows exactly how many hairs you have on your head, and then leave you to fend for yourself?

Extracted from That Is So Me by Nancy Rue.


texts:
I didn't know that the word infamous could be used in a positive way. Do you have any comments on this?

Examples:

Mike Pence used Infamous "I Have a Dream Speech" to help ...
It was 2½ years ago, in July 2016, when King infamously said this: “This whole ‘white people’ business ...

Would it be correct to say that 'infamous' can be used for cases that have caused a debate or are controversial in any way?


texts:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3735754/

Taking care of sick patients

Why the above title is not "Taking care of patients"? I think all of patients are sick. is there any healthy patients? I guess "sick patients" are a special group of patients. If so, what kind of patients are sick patients?


texts: Explain why "Who is she playing the piano?" is incorrect

texts:
A teacher asked me this question and I am having a hard time finding a simple way to explain it for her to share with her students. I`m looking for the easiest way to explain it to her because she teaches Junior High School English in Japan.

The students were given a picture prompt and expected to answer with,

  "Who is the girl playing the piano?"

Many of the students wrote,

  "Who is she playing the piano?"

How would I explain, in a very simple way, why you cannot use she here?


texts:
Our best hope in keeping our best reporters, copy editors,
  photographers, artists - everyone - is to work harder to make sure
  they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential.

I have two different understandings of "make sure they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential"

I parse it like that:

  (1) make sure { (that) they get the help [they are demanding] to
  reach their potential }.

  "they are demanding" modifies "the help". So it means that"they get
  the help so as to reach their potential".

  (2)make sure { (that) they get the help [they are demanding to reach
  their potential ]  }.

  "they are demanding to reach their potential" modifies "the help". It just means that "they get the help."

I want to know: How to judge when to end an attributive clause?


texts:
I want to find out whether these sentences are grammatically incorrect:

  It is more better than your book

or

  It is far more better than your book


texts: advanced = who have advanced? risen = having risen?

texts:
Students advanced beyond their grade level are provided with
  appropriate curriculum needs.
  students who have advanced to a high level are provided with appropriate curriculum needs.
  There are the Pleiades, risen over the horizon. Where now is Mere, who is parted from my body?
  There are the Pleiades, having risen over the horizon. Where now is Mere, who is parted from my body?

I've been told 1) and 3) are not right constructions. Could you explain the reason, please.
Thank you.


texts: live under the same roof [as/with] a woman

texts: I take that both of them are used, but I don't understand the sentence with 'as'. Many natives said that the two sentences mean the same thing fundamentally, but I don't get it the 'as' part. They said 'as' takes the role of preposition 'like', but doesn't 'like' mean 'in the same way'? If I live a lazy life while my wife works diligently, could I still say "I live under the same roof as a woman"?


texts: Is it necessary that we use the word 'holiday' with a festival or occasion? Can we say 'Easter vacations'? Or there must be the word 'holidays', not vacations?


texts: Is saying "she was but 15 years old" grammatically correct and idiomatic?

texts:
She was but 15 years of age.

Is this grammatically correct?

For more context:

  Lavitsia sighed. As diligent as she was, she was but 15 years of age and attending to his maladies had become more than tiring for her.

The sense in which I try to use the expression "(is) but" is similar to that of "only" or "just" or "merely". As in, she was only 15 years old and all this pressure was soon becoming too much for her.

Note: For even more context, I'm trying to write a short story based on an earlier time period, hence the slightly stilted English.


texts: "H.E. Donald J. Trump" in Apec 2017 - H.E stands for?

texts: I have scratched my head and think but don't know what "H.E" stands for in this situation, I guess Host Environment?


texts:
I quoted the following paragraphs from The Guardian

  Trump indicated last week that he would fire Sessions after the midterm elections, a move some observers said might presage the firing of deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and the special counsel, Robert Mueller, whose work on links between Trump aides and Moscow has circled ever closer to Trump’s inner sanctum.

  Some senior Republicans have indicated they would accept a move against Sessions, which would echo the infamous “Saturday night massacre” carried out by Richard Nixon against top law enforcement officials during his downfall in 1973. Some have said they would not.

What does "a move" mean? Does it refer that Trump fired Sessions so that Sessions had to move his position?


texts:
I’m translating an english book in my native language and here is a metaphor I’ve never heard ; the sentence is :

My personal white whale, author Neil gaiman .

What does white whale mean here ?


texts:
In this NPR news excerpt, it says:

  But first let's turn to our critic-at-large, John Powers, who says seeing "Godzilla" again has made him nostalgic for old monster movies.

What does critic-at-large mean?


texts: How should "come" and "go" be used in the following context?

texts:
I just had an argument with my mom about the usage of "come" and "go". Last night, my aunt was at my house, and my mom and I were in the car, on the way home. I called my aunt and said "I'm coming home." After I hung up, my mom told me that I should have said "I'm going home."

If the person I am speaking to is not at my house, of course I would tell them that "I'm going home." But what if they're at my house? Does the usage of "come" and "go" depend on where the listener is, or just the speaker?


texts:
I have two example of sentence on passive forms and I know the answers according to my book but I could not get it.

The first example is that

Form 1: " It is known that John Lennon was interested in oriental religions"

Form 2: John Lennon is known to have been interested in oriental religions"

The second example is that

Form 1: It was said that he was against any changes whatsoever.

Form 2: He was said to be against any changes whatsoever.

My question is that two "form 1"s are in past tense.But Form 2 of the second question uses the verb be not have been.

I mean if I take reference the first example , isnt the form 2 of the second example supposed to be
" He was said to have been against any change whatsoever "

Thanks


texts:
I wonder what idiom, expression or set-phrase do you normally use to carry the message of spending money from pocket without earning any money (without having any business)?

Please have a look on my scenario below:

  I used to live in a very crowded city where I was born. As a doctor of medicine I had my own office, and in short, I was living a good life. But just because of the high population and also its annoying traffic noise, I decided to leave my country forever. Now, I am living in the US. But it takes several years to me to pass so many exams so that they could assess my educational certificates and documents and equalize them into an American degree. I have to use my own pocket money for two years just for a reason that doesn't sound logical to my family members and whoever knows me and my background. I could have a much better life in my own country. Everybody tells me that wasn't a logical decision a at all.


texts: I was planning on doing, I was going to do, I was supposed to do, Is there any difference?

texts:
You didn't do what you planned to do.  In this case, I can think of three different sentences:

  1) I was going to do..
  2) I was planning on doing...
  3) I was supposed to do...

I wonder if three sentences are interchangeable.  For example:

  1) I was going to meet with my friend yesterday.
  2) I was planning on meeting with my friend yesterday.
  3) I was supposed to meet with my friend yesterday.

Do they mean all the same?   If so, which is the most common? If different, could you explain it, please?


texts:
What is the difference between the following two sentences?

He has been absent for the past few months.

He has been absent for    past few months.


texts: What is the correct expression "it is up to you" vs "that is up to you"?

texts:
That is up to you to quit smoking
  Again, that is up to you to know your man and find out what relaxes him

Are these sentences grammatically wrong?

I think "that" in each sentence should be changed to "it" to make the sentences grammatical.

  It is up to you to quit smoking
  Again, it is up to you to know your man and find out what relaxes him

But I have seen 1 and 2 sentences quite often used by native speakers.

Perhaps, is "to quit smoking" and "to know your man and find out what relaxes him" modifying "that" ?


texts:
This text was written by coffee1054 in this question:

  You might feel that it is impossible for resistance be strictly equal to
  zero: maybe it leads to some contradiction with Ohm's law.

In the sentence above, it feels as though some word is missing, or that maybe "for" is the wrong word there. How can the sentence be changed?


texts: What part of speech is "my" in the sentence?

texts:
This is my book.

What part of speech is "my" in the sentence above?

This may be considered a silly question to ask, but I have referred to some dictionaries such as Word Master and Oxford's Advanced Dictionary. They consider it a determiner or possessive determiner.

The Wren and Martiner's grammar book considers it a possessive adjective because the word "my" qualifies the noun "book"

I have searched on Google to know which part of speech "my" is.

I here with provide the link which does not clarify my doubt.

I would like you to clarify my doubt: http://partofspeech.org/what-part-of-speech-is-my/.

Is " my" a pronoun, a determiner or an adjective in the sentence?

I think it is a pronoun.


texts: Verb for something that flies because of wind (but not flying free)?

texts:
It's flying...but not actually flying. It's waving...I'm not sure!

I want to describe when wind flows, certain things 'fly'? or 'wave'?

  If the fan is directed to Mike, his hair will _________

Likewise,

  Clothes kept on a string for drying will _____ if wind blows harder. [Note -clothes won't get OFF the string, they'll just fly/wave/???]

[In my mother tongue, it's the same word that we have for birds -fly]

My concern is something 'flying' is actually flying without any support [bird flying, aircraft flying]. When the thing is stuck to its source (a scalp for hair, and a string for clothes), does the term 'fly' fit?


texts: Can I Use 'Should' For Obligations In The Past?

texts:
For example, can I say:

  My manager said if Mr. Smith arrived late, I should call her immediately.

Clearly, I cannot use "should have called" here as it implies that I didn't call at all, which is not what I mean.

So, do I need to change "should" to "had to" or "was supposed to" or is it fine to use "should" here?

Thank you.


texts: Do we need an article before 'wife' in this sentence?

texts:
Here's a sentence from a textbook:

  You can use the word partner to describe either a husband or wife or the person that someone lives with.

Why is there no article before the word 'wife'? Is it correct English grammar?


texts:
Supposing that, a player is supposed to spend 60 minutes in a training session. He spends 57 minutes. We say:

  You have spent less minutes.

Is it right? I feel it is not, since 'less' modifies 'an uncountable noun'. But if we say:

  You have spent fewer minutes.

It gives an impression that:

The player hasn't stayed long for the training session. Such as he spent only 5 to 10 minutes.

Question is, how to describe this thing (that the player has spent less time than he was supposed to) using the word 'minutes' a countable noun?


texts:
I am trying to understand the difference between these two phrases

touch and go
hit and miss

Both apparently mean something like "almost certain to succeed", or "nearly a given", but there's some difference in usage or meaning which means they're not exactly equivalent somehow.

Some examples:

It's hit-and-miss whether Ben will pass that exam.
It's touch-and-go whether Ben will pass that exam.

Can someone explain the difference?


texts:
In the question "Could the Space Shuttle have landed on any long runway other than those specially reinforced at Kennedy (TTS), and Edwards (EDW)?" The first part of the sentence has me scratching my head with the multipart verbs (I think have landed forms a multipart verb)

The question may be rephrased without the multipart verbs as
"Could the Space Shuttle land on any long runway other than those ...?"

OR

"Could the Space Shuttle land on a long runway other than those ...?"

Similar constructs occur in daily life often enough here on the sub-continent.
For instance - "have ended", "has brought", "will be bringing", and so on

Is the construction correct as it stands? Are there any guidelines on when & how to use multipart verbs?


texts: Tense choice when reporting what someone did in the past

texts:
I told her that I like/liked her yesterday.
I told the girl that I liked/like how I feel/felt about her yesterday.

My understanding of the examples above is that if I still like the girl/woman whom I talked to yesterday, I should use the present tense, like. But if for some reason I don't like this girl/woman anymore, I should use the past tense, liked and also felt (in the second example).

Alternatively, I guess I can also say, Yesterday, I told her that I have liked her since I first saw her, if I want to emphasize the period of time during which I've liked her.

Are these distinctions correct?


texts: Meaning of "overall" in "excellent overall sportsman"

texts:
The description of what happened at Lake Geneva is given to suggest
  that Rossy is an excellent overall sportsman.

What does it mean that he is an excellent overall sportsman? Can he do many sports well?


texts:
And then, when they are home again, with all this drama and tragedy
  behind them, they will slip into old patterns, avoiding what’s
  important, carrying on the way they should.

I checked the longman dictionary[1]. There are some meanings for the verb "avoid":

to prevent something bad from happening
avoid doing something
to stay away from someone or something, or not use
to deliberately not do something, especially something wrong,
dangerous, or harmful

I think the second one is more appropriate. But I don't still understand the meaning of the phrase below:

  avoiding what’s important

So, could you please explain it to me?

The full text is here:

  Beverly follows her husband to the staircase. They’ve hastily thrown
  on some warm clothes and are on their way to the dining room. Her
  heart races in time with her quick footsteps on the stairs. Despite
  her deep pity for the dead woman, she almost feels like they have been
  saved. This crisis has sidelined their own troubles. It’s as if
  they’ve both been pulled back from the brink they’d faced last night.
  It’s awful to think so, but she’s hoping that it will prevent them
  from focusing again on their marriage in the cold, empty light of day.
  She does not want to go there, now that she knows just how precarious
  her position is. And then, when they are home again, with all this
  drama and tragedy behind them, they will slip into old patterns,
  avoiding what’s important, carrying on the way they should. The way
  they must.

An Unwanted Guest  by  Shari Lopena

[1]https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/avoid


texts: Did you hear that or Have you heard that

texts:
Could you please help me to understand which sentence sounds more correct (and explain why), or suggest your own version?

Did you hear that John has made a fortune with his new business?
Have you heard that John made a fortune with his new business?


texts:
Please help with clarifying which phrase would be better if both are correct:

'The port in use by the web-server.'
'The port used by the web-server.'

This is a standalone sentence without further context (written in text at least). The phrase is used as an description of a parameter (named 'port') in a web-site which runs some software on-demand. This phrase means that there is another program that is currently configured in a such way that it expects to receive a specific value from the application run by this web-site. This application reads the value from this parameter.
So the questions are:

are both phrases correct?
what's the difference between the two phrases if any?
which one suits better in this case?

I feel that the first one should be better as it means 'the port (currently) being used by web-server', but I'm not absolutely sure. (See https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ru/%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C/%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9/in-use)


texts: What is it called when at university there are two subjects being held at the same time?

texts:
For example, I need to enroll in two different courses at university, but there is a schedule in which both are held.
Is it an 'overlapped schedule' or something similar?
Is there a proper expression for this purpose?


texts: Time frame of past perfect passive in this sentence

texts:
Can somebody explain to me the time frame of this sentence.

Archeological sites in the remote locations are not likely to have been previously identified.

I also tried to simplify it

Archeological sites are unlikely to have been previously identified.

What is confusing me is that both are
and have been are used in the sentence. It looks like a mixture of active and passive. Please explain.

Archeological sites are unlikely to be found.

This seems quite understandable.


texts: Meaning - 'I forget you get baptized pretty quickly in this business'

texts:
He was patient as we reviewed the key points. But in the end, he
  indicated he would vote against staying the execution. I decided to
  reiterate what I thought was the petitioner’s strongest argument.

  “No,” he said firmly, and thanked me for the call. I apologized for
  waking him and hung up. It was a fairly gentle exchange, but I was at
  a loss, equally unsure whether I’d been wrong for pushing, or whether
  I’d failed in making the case.

  The justice came to my desk first thing the next morning. Before I
  could say anything, he apologized, saying he hoped he hadn’t been too
  short with me. “I forget you get baptized pretty quickly in this
  business,” he said, shaking his head.

  It struck me as a remarkable act of empathy from a man who’d already
  been plenty patient with a rookie clerk and who had been, it later was
  clear to me, correct on the merits. But this was par for the course
  for Justice Stevens: deeply empathetic, and on the law almost always
  right.

  — DEBORAH N.
  PEARLSTEIN,
  visiting associate professor at the Georgetown University Law Center
  and clerk from 1999 to 2000

Does this figurative use relate to the idiom a baptism of fire? Is Justice Stevens saying: he forgot that law clerks are introduced too soon in the business, and thus may insist and persevere on something wrong?


texts:
I'm writing a paper to describe my methods that are borrowed from other's models.

I think both the past and present tense are possible.

I can use present tense as I'm explaining it now.

  However, we use only programming languages and programming paradigms for selecting programming model examples. Specifically, we choose two ...

Also, I can use the past tense as I've already used and chose something before writing the paper.

  However, we used only programming languages and programming paradigms for selecting programming model examples. Specifically, we chose two ...

Which is correct or better?

ADDED

I chose to use the present tense in my paper as the sentences are in an introduction to describe details later.

  However, we use only programming languages and programming paradigms for selecting programming model examples. Specifically, we choose two programming languages--Lisp and Forth--and two programming paradigms--Object Oriented and Functional--as examples of successful programming models. We analyze them to understand what elements enable these languages or paradigms, passing the test of time to be used widely and solving problems in many domains.

I assume that present tense is possible as this is a CS paper, if this is a Chemistry paper that explains my or other's past experiments, I kinda feel I need to write in the past tense.


texts:
I am well aware that this is quite rare, but how do you normally imply there is no water available either due to some internal piping issues in a bulding or because the whole municipal water system is down?

a. The water is cut off.
b. The water is out. (As we say: "the electricity / power is out.")

PS. I know that we can say: "someone has turned / switched off the water," but here, the lack of water is not due to a deliberate action; but it has happened due to some urban / internal problems.


texts:
I come across this in todays New Yorker:

Birkenstocks, like an iPad, or an eight-dollar bottle of cold-pressed juice, are the covetable answer to a need that hadn’t existed before they came along.

Isn't this just a past tense and shouldn't be written as: Didn't existed ?
Would that be wrong?


texts:
So I've always pronounced this as "ay thousand" (as in day) instead of "ah thousand" (as in data). Yesterday I was talking to a friend (not native english speaker also), and he thought I was saying "eight" instead of one thousand, which made me realize how close it sounds.

Are both ways actually correct by native standards (at least somewhere)?


texts: Forwarding mails with FYI tag was my normal practice. I got a mail from my lead with a line as " For your kind information ". Which is correct, For your information or for your kind information?


texts: What part of speech is "lend a hand"? I know it is not an idiom or a metaphor because it is literal not symbolic.


texts: What is the difference in meaning between "careful to" and "careful of"?

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between "careful to" and "careful of" in the following sentences?

  Be careful to keep her shoes clean.

  Be careful of keeping her shoes clean.

Does "Be careful to keep her shoes clean" mean "You should keep her shoes clean" ?

Does "Be careful of keeping her shoes clean" mean "You should not keep her shoes clean" ?


texts: what is the most common English word you hear when you talk with others

texts:
I would like to know,
what is the most common word you hear when you talk with others?


texts: In the backdrop of vs against the backdrop of

texts:
I have generally seen backdrop in the following form: "against the backdrop of"

However, in an article I found the following sentence:

    It is the story of a complex relationship and clashing ideologies between a father and son set in the backdrop of the kidnapping industry.

Is it the right way to use backdrop in this form: "in the backdrop of"?


texts: He said the tv would be on when I wake up or woke up

texts:
What exactly is the correct from out of these:

  He said the tv would be on when I wake up

or

  He said the tv would be on when I woke up


texts: How to express the size of an army correctly?

texts:
I made up sentences down below. Which of them is/are incorrect?

I defeated an army of ten thousand men/troops.
I defeated a ten thousand men/troops army.
I defeated an army of ten thousand strong.
We were ten thousand strong in the battle.
We were ten thousand troops/men in the battle.
My army was ten thousand strong.
His army was over half a million strong.

Is "my forces defeated that army numbering ten thousand troops" correct? If so, does it mean my army or my enemy's army numbered that much troops?


texts: Is the phrase "practice makes perfect" (three words) a nonstandard but popular variation of "practice makes it perfect" (four words)?


texts: "welcoming of someone" vs "welcoming to someone"

texts:
Tell me please if can use the preposition to after the preposition welcoming in the following sentence.

  The Abbasids kept the idea of a hereditary monarchy, but they moved the capital of the empire to Baghdad, and they were much more welcoming (to) of other non-Arab muslims in positions of power.

This is from Crash Course World History. It is at 5 minute and 12 second. The use of the preposition of sounds strange to me. I have looked it up the adjective in a few dictionaries, and I have not find the examples of it used with of. Would it not be better to use the preposition to.


texts: "And her air of intently, secretly listening, bordered, I felt, upon the uncanny" - how to replace "air" here?

texts:
Reading an old story, I am trying to figure out the meaning of "air"in the following sentence:

But ‘mother’ listened the whole time—not to me. Her thoughts were all
elsewhere. And her air of intently, secretly listening, bordered, I
felt, upon the uncanny.

I read the dictionary entries but still cannot really understand the meaning in this context. What would be the best re-phrasing?


texts: Understanding a passage in relation with 'Clauses' and 'Phrases'

texts:
Below is the screenshot of a passage from 'Oxford Guide to English Grammar by John Eastwood'.

The passage says A clause has a subject and a verb.  Subject and Verb are the elements of a sentence or a clause. However, in the clause Our flight time will be approximately forty-five minutes there is another 'sentence element' which is complement which is other than the 'Subject' and 'Verb'. However, the passage says that 'there can be other phrases, too.' What is meant by 'other phrases, too' here? Does it mean other sentence elements, like complement? Or does it mean the types of phrases other than 'noun phrase' and 'verb phrase'. My main question is: In the examples of the clauses given in the passage, the clauses contain more than a 'subject' and 'verb'. They also have 'complement parts'. The 'complement' and 'verb' part of the example clauses have been shown to be separate or distinct. My second question is: Does the author clarify further in the passage that 'complement' can be part of a clause?

Wikipedia on this issue says:

  In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. A typical clause consists of a subject and a predicate, where the predicate is typically a verb phrase – a verb together with any objects and other modifiers.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clause

The above definition of the clause includes objects  or complements in 'verb phrase'.


texts: The meaning of the word "ever" in a certain context

texts:
What does the word "ever" mean in this context?

  If you were to head out into the cosmos, traveling ever farther, would you find that space goes on indefinitely, or that it abruptly ends?

Does it mean something like "always"?


texts: "Such other people as are willing to do..." Sentence pattern

texts:
In a 20th century speech I found the sentence:

  We are helping the people of our country and such other people as are our neighbors as well as such other people as are willing to receive help from us.

Here,

  such..... as....

Sentence pattern is new to me and I didn't find any information on this on internet.

Is the pattern outdated or too formal to use use in daily life?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
Which one is grammatically correct?

  "In the last year, I had the opportunity to.."

or

  " In the last year, I have had the opportunity to.."

That's because I've read you can't use past simple with "In the last year"


texts: The word for the place like library without books!

texts: You're probably wondering what kind of library that is, but I mean a place that is very quiet and people usually read books, or newspapers or do academic work, but there are no books or librarians there, it's just a peaceful place to read books. What's the word for that ?


texts: Is gerund after "lead + object pronoun + to" possible

texts:
Is it correct to say:

John's interest in animals led him to becoming a vet.

Or is this the only correct form:

John's interest in animals led him to become a vet.

Thank you in advance.


texts: "would have had to pay" vs "have to pay"

texts:
If you are willing to start a business or move your existing business
  to Russia, you may be able to obtain Russian citizenship within three
  years by merely paying taxes you would have had to pay anyway.

Why the writer does not simply says "by merely paying taxes you have to pay anyway" ? why he uses present perfect here not just the simple present form?

Also, Why does he uses would ? Is it because he imagines if-situation here (paying taxes) ?


texts: Which sentence is it? Causative or imperative?

texts:
"Let not thine eyes be blind", my son.
I think it is imperative because it is just an advice to her son to take care of himself.


texts:
I often use singular they to keep my sentences gender neutral. Many of my friends (none of them are native speakers), however, consider this to be grammatically incorrect, and suggest me not to use it in formal English exams.

My questions are:

Is singular they widely accepted in English speaking countries such as America and Britain?
Is it formal enough to be used in formal situations, such as a public speech?
Is it casual enough to be used in informal situations, such as gossiping among friends?


texts:
Excerpted from : link to article

I am wondering what practice could mean there:

  The field of business requires multifaceted practices for real-world problems as much as or more than any other field.
  A business school expects that application skills and knowledge available to MBA graduates will be comparable to
  the skills and knowledge possessed by business professionals. Creating learning situations where knowledge can be
  acquired, organized, and applied, then, is a vital consideration for business educators. Case-based learning facilitates
  learning transfer and real-world applicability, which is the main concern in the teaching philosophy of business
  education


texts:
Which one is syntactically correct and why?

  God is us.

  God is we.


texts: Subject-verb agreement (communications and processing occur or occurs?)

texts:
I'm having an issue with subjects agreeing with a verb in a sentence. "Communications" sounds like a plural noun, while "processing" is singular, and the verb, "occur," doesn't seem to agree with "processing."
Which of the following is the most correct?

All communications and processing in the software occur through TLS security.

All communication and processing in the software occur through TLS security.

Or should I rearrange the sentence so it reads better, like so:

All processing and communications in the software occur through TLS security.

Thank you!


texts:
In order to compare them, I wrote below sentences:

  Reading books is the solution not watching TV [a moral advice].
  Reading books is the solution no watching TV [a moral advice].
  I considered not going to that party.
  I considered no going to that party

I know that no is used with noun phrases and we must use not in the other situations. The question is that a gerund (phrase) acts as a noun (phrase), but I do not think the second and fourth sentences are correct. Perhaps, because my ears are more familiar with the not+verb+ing due to the fact that I see negative present progressive more often. I am not sure, would you help me

Added Information: In order to be more specific, I changed gerunds to gerund phrases and noun to noun phrase.


texts: When to include the word "the" before a noun?

texts:
I'm helping an ESL student from China, and she wrote a sentence like this (part of a larger essay):

  "by having the awareness of the things that he did in dark"

Now when reading it I began to explain how she doesn't need the word "the" in front of "awareness" in this context, and assumed that was true for most nouns that were collective or something (I'm not sure what to call it, it just seems like to me "awareness" is a collective noun as you "have awareness" of things, not "an awareness" or "the awareness").

Then again, you can certainly say "I lacked the awareness of a simple explanation". What's the rigorous, grammatical difference between these two usages of the word "awareness"? Why does one require a "the" whereas the other doesn't, and swapping it sounds awkward?

Furthermore, she goes on to say "he did in dark". What explains why you need to say "in the dark" here? Is it the same logic as above, or does this have a different explanation?


texts:
I wrote :

  This program uses the master ruleset, which contains some basic and general rules. Some of these rules will be presented later as necessary.

I used "as necessary" to say when it was necessary we may discuss some of the rules. Did I used it correctly?  Is it normal to combine it with "later"?


texts: What do "close up" and "discount" mean here?

texts:
Does it mean that the euro's gains will become smaller when the potential for Le Pen to close the sizeable gap with Macron becomes less?

"Kingsley Jones, chief investment officer at investment advisory Jevons Global, told CNBC's "The Rundown" on Monday that he expected the Euro would "close up" some of its gains as it discounted the potential for Le Pen to close the sizeable gap with Macron."

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/23/why-the-euro-is-walking-back-its-post-french-election-spike.html


texts: Are the words "firmware" and "embedded software" interchangeable? It seems that some people use them to mean the same thing. However, there are people who also seem to use it to mean different things. What would be the difference between the two if there's any?


texts: Should I choose "increasingly" or "increasing"?

texts:
An increasingly/increasing large number of people are using online travel sites rather than travel agents.

Increasingly is a adverb , increasing is adjective.

So Which should I choose?


texts: Question about a sentence construction has/have

texts:
I know that I should say"

He/She/It has something,

and

I/We/You/They have something.

I get confused with sentences such as:

  he was having a good time
  he is having a good time

In these two sentences, why do we use a variation of have instead of a variation of has?


texts: better understand vs better understanding

texts:
I'm looking for a category title. This category will list some articles about personal development. Which one would be the best option:

better understand personal development
or
better understanding personal development

Notice that I want to avoid "understand personal development" since we can only "better understand" it (its a complex matter we can't yet fully understand).


texts:
In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels.

It's from A Farewell To Arms.
I know what the river bed is. I can't understand how can dry pebbles and boulders be in the river bed.
Does bed include shore? I can't find that meaning in English dictionaries.


texts: I cannot make up my mind: "at the moment" has the same meaning than "At this moment"?

texts: Example: The police arrived and the police chief says: I want to know if there is anybody in the house at the moment!! or..at this moment?


texts: Is “Discriminating” a Correct Definition of “Subtle”?

texts:
I have a list of words and their meanings. The word "subtle" is defined here as "discriminating." I have been looking for their common definition for a long time, but didn't find anything worthy. In the site http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/refined, it is stated that the 2nd definition of "refined" is "subtle; discriminating," but, anyway, I still can't understand what they do have in common.

Actually, two more dictionaries (not only reverso) use the definition "subtle; discriminating" together like synonyms: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/refined and even well-known Collins English Dictionary! https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/refined
That's why, there must probably be something common between them.


texts: What do you call the nephew of your adoptive father? Is there a specific word for it? I forgot how we call them, would it be half-nephew? Because I thought half-nephew is used if your mother divorced your dad, and another dad came in and had a nephew.


texts: Where is the verb between "as" and "unless" in this example?

texts:
Mother:
- On no account should you take my credit card it for shopping!

Ann:
-Take it easy mum,as credit card holder unless you sign for me,l cannot use your card anyhow.


texts: Is there a simpler way to express "turn out to be" in this context?

texts:
My brand new car turned out to be a piece of junk.

How do you simplify "turn out to be" and "junk" in simple easy English?

I know how to use a dictionary, but I need to teach this to my mother and I need to gain some exprience doing that in working order.


texts: "Queen thanks public as milestone passed" what the part of speech of "as" here? Does it equal "Queen thanks public although milestone passed"?


texts: My house was doored and windowed yesterday?

texts:
My house was doored and windowed yesterday

One student unknowingly said the sentence in a class and the teacher said that sentence was wrong.

One professor I know said that the sentence was correct.

Can door and window be used as verbs?

If the sentence is grammatically wrong , how it can be corrected?


texts:
'any change that ~' is usually heard. What about 'any + noun + relative pronoun which'?

For example, in the following sentence "Any product that includes more than 15 per cent of the daily recommended intake of each ingredient will get a label."  Is it acceptable to replace that with which?


texts:
Everyone abruptly stops dancing and the music is turned off.

Is "the music is turned off" the natural choice or will it sound like the music is already turned off?

Would one of these work better:
The music gets turned off.
The music turns off.
The music stops.


texts:
Q.the cellphone.....(not work) if it.....(not)have battery
1.the cellphone will not work if it doesn’t have battery
2.the cellphone doesn’t work if it doesn’t have battery
We had to fill the missing words, most of my classmates answered the second answer, the teacher said it was correct, when I told her the first one was actually the correct one she said no we have to use the present simple(or something like that) after that I asked some of the people that are better in English and told me my answer was right
(Just to let you know I’m from Saudi Arabia and some school don’t start teaching English until you become 4th grade but I did learn English earlier since my dad always talk in English)


texts: Starting a sentence with "as" intended as a synonym for "Because", "Due to..."

texts:
I've noticed that my group-members (Dutch) start a lot of their written sentences with "As" when they are giving an explanation or a reason.

Example:

  As the library exists has existed for several years now, it should be obvious that a lot has changed.

Is this usage of "As" here correct? To me it seems using "Because" or "Due to the fact that ..." would be a lot better.


texts:
After spending some time on the English SE, I noticed that everytime someone referred to ELL, they always did so by saying "our sister-site ELL".

As I understand, there is no grammatical gender in English. For example, dictionaries do not specify any gender, even for nouns clearly gender related like woman.

Someone said in an answer "We divide things into male people, female people, and everything else.". A website is in the "everything else" category. How come the word that is used before site is sister, and not brother or a mix of both or even a gender-neutral word?

Related links:
Does the English language have a grammatical gender? (ELL)
Grammatical gender of the word “child” (ELL)
Does standard English support gendered forms of nouns and verbs? (ELL)
Nouns and gender (Cambridge)


texts: WILL or continuous forms for habits - which is more common?

texts:
Which of the following is more common in everyday speech:

  She is always mumbling to herself when she's reading.
  She WILL always mumble to herself when she reads.

Is that the emphatic WILL (denoting annoyance) or the Present Continuous construction that you are most likely to hear in a day-to-day conversation? Which is more bookish and which is more conversational?


texts: Prepositional Phrases as Subjects - Subject-verb agreement

texts:
http://www.softschools.com/examples/grammar/functioning_as_a_noun_examples/97/

From this page above, I found some examples showing prepositional phrases as subjects, but the predicate nouns are all singular like the ones below. So their verbs are, of course, singular.

    1) On a boat is where I want to be.

    2) Beyond the backyard is marshland.

    3) Under the couch is an abyss where toys are lost.

When we use prepositional phrases as subjects, is there the subject-verb agreement rule to follow?

If the predicate nouns are plural, which verb form should I use? Singular form or Plural form?

For example:

    1) Behind me is/are cute puppies.

    2) Behind the man stands/stand two tall buildings.

What if there are two prepositional phrases functioning as the subject?

    3) Before me and under the sky is/are a scenic view.


texts: On the meaning of 'such' in "The historical roots of this concept extended to such non-numeric applications as legal evidence."

texts:
What similar expression could be used to replace such in

  The historical roots of this concept extended to such non-numeric applications as legal evidence.

? I've looked up some meanings of such but wasn't able to find one that could be used as a substitute in the context above.

Source: The second bullet point under the 'Alternative views' section of this article.


texts: What were modal verbs in third person singular in archaic English?

texts:
I know that modal verbs back in time were always the same (not changeable) with some exeptions - e.g.:
thou shalt, thou hast, thou dost, thou canst. Hence my question is: how to transform modal verbs in third person singular? How to say for example: she shall, she has, she does, she can, in archaic English?


texts: If this heat wave "persist" or "persists",we will have an early summer break

texts:
Question:

I need to choose the correct form of the verb given in the brackets.

  If this heat wave ----- ,we will have an early summer break(persist).

My approach:

Ans is 'persists'. I have searched its meaning and found that 'persists' can be used with 3rd person but probably there is no 3rd person in the subordinate clause.

I have confusion whether I can say "If this heat wave persist or persistS, we will have have an early summer break".

Please Correct me if I am wrong. Could you provide me with other examples?


texts: What does "the tassels on the latter bristling" mean?

texts:
The same face: the very same. Marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his head.

I can't get the 'the tassels on the latter bristling' part. Please try to help me to get this.


texts:
you might run that comb through your hair so you will look
  presentable.

Why does the writer use so  instead  of so that?


texts: Difference between 'aged 11-17' and 'aged 11 to 17 years'

texts:
Which one is formal or widely used in writing? 'aged 11-17' or 'aged
  11 to 17 years' or 'aged 11 to 17'

The complete phrase is 'students aged 11 to 17'


texts: How to use the word abuse as a countable noun?

texts:
Holding animals in captivity is considered abuse.

or

  Holding animals in captivity is considered an abuse.

I am confused about having an article or no article before the word abuse. I am confused about how to recognise and use nouns that are both countable and uncountable.


texts: Can I put "cause" with "you embarrassment"?

texts:
When these fears begin to ____ you embarrassment or you feel that your life is being disrupted then you would be wise to seek treatment for what could potentially be a phobia.

A) cause
B) make
C) create
D) give

I understood answer B (make) is not appropriate this sentence grammatically, but why is the answer A? As I know, "to cause" have to put with "someone + to verb" or only "noun"  but above these sentence it's not.
can you explain it for me?


texts:
I read a comment on StackOverflow about "What is depending typing?". And the poster complained about Wikipedia's hard-to-read article about dependent typing. The exact comment is:

Well, the article opens with lambda cubes, which sound like some type of sheep meat to me. Then it goes on to discuss λΠ2 systems, and as I don't speak alien I skipped that section. Then I read about the calculus of inductive constructions, which incidentally seems to have little to do with calculus, heat transfer, or construction. After giving a language comparison table, the article ends, and I am left more confused than when I got to the page

What does "some type of sheep meat" mean? It seems to be "familiar stuff" since the sentence is supposed to introduce what OP can understand and then give the contrasting obtuse stuff next to it.


texts:
In this fun corner, I would like to share with you some of my passions, inspirations and also where I get my kicks from.

In the above text what does "fun corner" mean?
Is it an English expression?
Thank you.


texts: What is the word could be used instead of "have"?

texts:
What does the verb "have" mean in the following sentences? What does each use imply or what is the synonym of "have" in each instance?

Have mercy on me.
Have fun.
Let's have a legendary celebration for
you.


texts: Is there any word in English to ask for "whichth"?

texts:
In my native language, and most Indian languages that I know, there is a way to ask for "whichth", but I don't seem to have found anything similar in English. Let me explain below.

What question would you need to ask to obtain the following answers?

  In terms of geographical area, Australia is the sixth largest country.
  John is his father's third son.
  Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system.

The only way I can think of is use of roundabout legalese-like sentence structure, which makes it sound laughable. For example:

  If countries are arranged in order of their geographical area, then at what number is Australia?
  Among the sons of John's father, if you arrange them in the order of birth, then at what number does John appear?
  At what position is Mars in the solar system, in terms of distance from the Sun?

If there is such a word as "whichth", one could ask, for example:

  Australia is "whichth" largest country in terms of geographical area?


texts: Is it correct to say this, when it is frozen water. Not frozen ice, because it sounds weird.  but is there such thing as frozen ice.  It's frozen water.


texts: "a comparison between A and B" or "a comparison of A and B"?

texts: When I have to compare two things A and B, can I say "a comparison between A and B" or "a comparison of A and B". Which is best ?


texts:
I wrote

  These wrappers can be generated automatically by a wrapper induction method or semi-automatically by the aid of the user visually or in a programming language.

There are multiple adverbs in the second clause that may overlap each other. How can I write such a sentence?


texts: Is there a word that describe both parents of me and my spouse?

texts:
Is there a word that could describe both my parents and my spouse's parents, instead of saying "my parents and my spouse parents"?
For example,

My parents and my spouse parents (Replacement??) are going together for this pilgrimage tour.


texts: Is it right to say “I keep telling my mom even though she is sleep”?

texts:
Is it right to say:

  I keep telling my mom even though she  is sleep

I don’t know if it soun weird or unnatural to say it by the grammarical structure


texts:
I wonder if it's correct to say:

  We'll be having a great time.

at the end of this letter.

Shouldn't it be:

  We'll have a great time.


texts: When can you use a contraction, and when can you not? What are some examples of longer contractions?

texts:
For example is
but I don't see how's that relevant
grammatical?
As for longer contractions, many of the ones that I've found on the internet don't seem to be legitimate. For example:
mustn't've
clearly exists, but I cannot say the same for
how'on't


texts: Which one of these parents' children is/are you?

texts:
It seems to me that the two are correct.

1 Which one of these parents’ children is you?

(My interlocuter is looking at a picture with parents and children and wants to know which one is me.)

2 Which one of these parents’ child are you?

You are these parents' child. - Which parents' child are you? - Which one of these parents' child are you?
Am I correct or wrong on all this?


texts: The links do/does provide useful information(article)

texts:
This is about article usage+do

  "The links do/does provide useful information.''

As you can see, I have just used 'the'(article) followed by 'links'(plural) and then what's next?

  Should I use 'does' from using 'the', OR

  'does' from using 'links'(plural noun)


texts: Usage of "would expect / would have expected"

texts:
Consider:

  The conclusion is contrary to what you expected.
  The conclusion is contrary to what you would expect.
  The conclusion is contrary to what you would have expected.
  Who would have expected such a counterintuitive conclusion?

In coloquial register, I would think Examples 2, 3 and 4 mean the same, right?

But in a more formal register, can I say that Example 2 refers to an present real expectation and Example 3 and 4 refer to a past real expectation?

Are there any implicit conditionals implied in Examples 2, 3 and 4? Say, if you were told or given some clue, you would expect such-and-such.. If it is true that there are any, then Examples 2, 3 and 4 refer to irrealis expectations, right?


texts: My mom has been strict in this matter or have been strict?

texts:
Which is more preferable in this sentence, "has been" or "have been"?

  My mom {has/have} been strict in this matter.


texts: Discerning "now unfolding themselves into limbless monsters of pain.", verb phrase?

texts:
“And I still have other smothered memories, now unfolding themselves into limbless monsters of pain." ― Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

What is the grammatical structure and function of this phrase? Do you consider it a verb phrase? It seems to provide additional information for what smothered memories (which I'm guessing is a noun phrase) do? I'm not sure I understand the grammatical function of now.


texts:
It has been a long chain of email with the person, who I will be meeting with, for an interview and the person emphasizes something twice in the email, so I am responding to him.

  Noted! And yes my original plan is/was to arrive early for direction and security purposes, so I do appreciate the reminder.

Q is it correct to use is/was here and does the sentence follow right


texts: Understanding how to construct an Infinitival Relative Clause

texts:
The best place from which to set out is Aberdin (Pullum) - correct

There is one wood in the entire town in which to find wood peckers - wrong

Jellyfish tentacles are barbed venomous stingers not to be touched -  wrong

That’s a magnificent waterfall spot at which to have a good time. - wrong

This year Antarctica saw the highest ever temperature to have been recorded by researchers. - ???

The basic principle I used in constructing the sentences (2-5 ) is identical to the one in Pullum's example. (wh-type/ non-wh, guess, doesn't make any difference).
Why the 1st sentence is correct and the others, built on the same principle, are not?
Is Infinitival RC used in Superlative constructions only?
How about

This is one of the problems to be solved.

Here’s a very interesting item for you to read (+for)

Would very much appreciate any help, because I am so much confused.


texts: What's the meaning of "can only be recounted in Latin"?

texts:
What's the meaning of "can only be recounted in Latin" in the context of the following passage? Of course, I know its lexical meaning but I guess it's some kind of allusion or in some historical context that I do not know.

people in parts of Asia who carry their sick outside and leave them to die, a tribe in Peru that fattens and eats children, and a Saracen holy man whose way with goats can only be recounted in Latin.

This passage is from Anthony Gottlieb's The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy.


texts:
I've came across with this grammar in Cambridge Dictionary in section No or Not a/an?

Google search gives only adjective instead of gradable and ungradable noun

  It’s no secret that we are interested. (= It’s not a secret. A secret is gradable. Something can be more of a secret than something else.)

I agree with sentence above, but in this site fruit is considered as ungradable noun, but for me fruits could be sweet, sour, salty and be defined in different levels as gradable nouns

The question is how to distinguish gradable and ungradable nouns?


texts: Correct english for Sleeping on an issue or Closed eyes for something

texts:
I want to say that media is (sleeping on),(have closed eyes on),(unconscious) about particular issue. How will i say that correctly.
Please share phrasal verbs and actual words that have same meaning. Thank you


texts: why can we say "faster than necessary" but not "closer than safe"

texts:
These crazy motorists were driving faster than necessary. grammatical

  And these a-holes were tailgating, getting much closer than safe, risking our lives. ungrammatical

Why is "closer than safe" ungrammatical and yet "faster than necessary" is OK?


texts: How to apologize for not having followed a conversation

texts:
Suppose at some point during a meeting or even a casual conversation your mind wandered off and you stopped listening. Then suddenly someone asks you a question. You want to let them know you've been thinking about something else for a moment and haven't been following, really.

I would say something like "sorry, I was/got lost in thought" but it seems too formal and even awkward.

What are the options (and is the one proposed above valid)?


texts: What's the difference between these answers in this example?

texts:
___________, the meeting began.
A. All of us seated
B. All of us had taken the seats
C. All of us have been seated
D. All of us having seated

The answer according to the book is A but I still don't understand the difference between them, please kindly explain it to me.


texts: Correct use of passive and active gerund

texts:
Please consider the question from a grammar test.
I don't mind ______ that I'm wrong.

being told
telling
to tell
to be told

The test says (1) option is correct. My point is that both (1) and (2) options are correct:

I don't mind being told that I'm wrong. (= I have nothing against the fact that someone tells me I'm wrong. Either I don't care about it or use it to make myself better.)
I don't mind telling that I'm wrong. (= I am able to confess that I am/was wrong at something. e.g. I told my boss that I was wrong in a conversation with a client. )

Thank you!


texts: Use of 'having' as experience vs. possession

texts:
Look at the example below:

The manager is having his problems (A)/ but we have (B)/ ours as well. (C)/ No error (D)

The site that I am following says:

  The verb "have" can work as continuous and non-continuous verb depending upon its meaning. When we use it to mean as "experience", we can use it in continuous form. For example, I am having great fun now.

  When we mean it to possess something, we cannot use it in continuous form. For example: I have a car. In this case, we cannot write it like I am having a car.

  In the given sentence, "have" is used to means to possess the problems. So, it cannot be used as "having" and should be written as "have". So, the error is in part (A) of the sentence.

But how does someone possess a problem? We experience a problem as far as I know. Is it the phrase 'his problems' that gives a meaning of possession?


texts: Articles and Concepts of Specific & General in the relative clause

texts:
Which one of these options is grammatically correct?

Parents try to prepare children for school where their literacy skills are further developed.
Parents try to prepare children for school, where their literacy skills are further developed.
Parents try to prepare children for the school where their literacy skills are further developed.

According to grammar books, I believe that the first one is wrong while other two options are both correct, and the reason is that in the second sentence, where clause is none-identifying and therefore school does not need article "the", but in the third sentence "the" is needed as the where clause is identifying and we are talking about specific schools.


texts:
What's the difference between the two? Example:

I conjured a random number.

I conjured up a random number.


texts:
should I give "s" to the verb "get" in the sentence below?

  "if one makes sure that they are rich and then get married, they will be happy"


texts: What illnesses are used with the indefinite article and how often do people in real life follow the rule?

texts:
The teacher's guide to the coursebook 'New Total English' pre-intermediate suggests using backache, earache, stomachache and toothache without the indefinite article since these are uncountable nouns. I am somehow certain that I have come across these words without any articles in other textbooks.

My question is how stringent/rigid the rule is?


texts: I know in the English the words of aunt and uncle are used to address our parent's brother and sister. But, I want to know whether there exists a specific lexical item for our (mother/father)'s brother and also for (mother/father)'s sister. For example, when one says my uncle has two sons, I promptly ask whether he is your mother's brother or father's. There is a way to distinguish between them?


texts:
I have a question about the usage of the verb "identify" here:

  Caleb Brown, who identifies as half-black, said he went to elementary and middle school with Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old accused of killing nine people inside Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday.

I checked several dictionaries and the closest usage pattern that fits the current example is "identify oneself as".  The pattern "identify as" could not be found.  So, is the example sentence in the article wrong?


texts:
Shall I say

Would you like this book to be signed by the author?

Would you like this book signed by the author?

If both are correct, any differences in their meaning


texts: Which verb defines the tense of a sentence?

texts:
I need to categorise an assortment of statements based on their tense and a few of them I am struggling to categorise.
Take the following sentence:

John needs to make a slight improvement to achieve the grade he was aiming for in Mathematics

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe there are three verbs tenses in this sentence:
needs to - future present tense
achieve - present tense
was aiming for - past tense
Which verb in this sentence defines what tense it is? Is there a simple set of rules one can follow to define the tense of a sentence?
Thank you.


texts:
I am not a native speaker. I found that it is easier for me to say this to my daughter when we go out "Sweetie, please put on your top / bottoms" than "Sweetie, please put on your Tshirt / shirt / tank top / pants / shorts..." because I don't have to think what specific kinds of tops and bottoms she should put on & it is up to her to choose what to put on.

are "put on your top / bottoms" more common than "put on your Tshirt / shirt / tank top / pants / shorts ..." in English in casual daily situations?

In Ngram, "put on your shirt" is much more common than "put on your top"


texts: Methods to determine if "as of" means starting date or ending date in a sentence

texts: According to the dictionary, the phrase "as of" means "a time at which something begins or ends" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/as%20of). As a result, I find it difficult to determine whether the date following "as of" is the starting date of the ending date. For example, the phrase, "takes effect as of July 1", seems to me that July 1 could be both the ending date at which something takes effect or the starting date. I wonder if there is a way to identify which of the 2 meanings apply in sentences?


texts: What is the difference between "how long ago" and "when"?

texts:
I am really interested to know the difference between these two phrases

  How long ago did you ... ?

and

  When did you... ?

I wonder if they both are similar or different or are used rarely or common. Would you mind explaining to me this please?


texts:
I read this sentence in the book Revolution 2020:

  We proceeded to Mughal Sarai to meet a retired chemical professor.

In this sentence, it seems like proceeded means "went", but I'm not sure.  When I looked up the word in a dictionary, there were several meanings listed. Cambridge, for example, lists three:

  to continue as planned : His lawyers have decided not to proceed with the case.
  to do something after you have done something else : She sat down and proceeded to tell me about her skiing holiday.
  formal to move forward or travel in a particular direction : Passengers for Madrid should proceed to gate 26 for boarding.

The closest meaning seems to be the third one, but the author of the book isn't using this in a formal context, so I'm wondering if my assumptions are right.

Is this correct? Can proceeded be used to mean "went", even outside of a formal setting?


texts: Is there any difference between “go through” and “read” a book?

texts:
Consider these two expressions:

Once I am done with my assignment, I will go through the Calculus book.
Once I am done with my assignment, I will read the Calculus book.

Is there any difference in the meaning of these two expressions?


texts:
Please can you help explain the difference between:

"I would rather you did not" and "I would rather you do not".

Which is correct and why?


texts:
I have some difficulties understanding when to use the -ing form rather than "to+verb", because often it seems to me that both are correct.

For example:
John was in favour of visiting the museum.

I would describe this situation with both:

  John thought it would be a good idea going to the museum.

and

  John thought it would be a good idea to go to the museum.

A rule says I should use "to+verb" with adjectives, but I'm not completely sure that apply here, furthermore I find them both to be correct.

Is there any difference in meaning between the two?
Is one wrong?
Am I correctly assuming that "good idea" is an adjective?


texts: What's meaning "would" in this sentence?

texts:
What's the usage and meaning of "would" in this sentence:

He (Sherlock Holmes) would undoubtedly have been baffled by the way the crime was
committed.

In this sentence, why is “have” used instead of “has”?

What are the differences between the above sentence and the ones below?
Can I remove would and replace “have” with “has”?
Do these adjustments change the meaning of the sentence?

He undoubtedly has been baffled by the way the crime was
committed.

Is this sentence a passive voice of the Present Perfect tense?

I appreciate so much and It's be great if you offer an equivalent
structure and give more common examples of daily routine conversation.

I read this sentence in "504 absolutely essential word" book lesson 21, word 12, sentence 3/C, Due to it I'm sure the sentence is correct grammatically and it's written by a professional author.


texts:
Dabbling too deep into the theoretical grammar, I found myself in front of an unexpected obstacle. Logically speaking, if the present simple tense is mostly focused on habitual events, then when I'm reporting something that was said just a while ago, should I go with:

Lucy says she wants to play World of Warcraft now.

Or

Lucy is saying she wants to play World of Warcraft now.

Personally, I'd choose the first option, though I'm not convinced that the second one is incorrect.
On the other hand, I feel that dropping the word "now" would make the sentence ambiguous, changing the possible meaning to something like "She said that she wants to play it someday". In this case I'm even more doubtful about the correctness of the present continues option. I feel the same about:

Lucy tells me she wants to see Florida.
Lucy is telling me she wants to see Florida.


texts:
If we compare these two sentences:

  I just done
  I just finished

The first one doesn't make sense I think while the second one does. However, if we were to remove just, then:

  I done
  I finished

Both would seem to make sense? I think. Why is this the case?

Let's take an example sentence:

  I just done dinner
  I just finished dinner

Done and finished are both verbs but why can't done be used in the same way as finished?


texts: What do you call a merging of two franchises?

texts:
I thought the word was "crossover", but I tried to google for "lego and lord of the rings crossover", but couldn't find anything, so I am wondering if there's a more suitable word for it.

Let's take this sentence as an example:

  Lego Lord of the Rings, the video game is a Lego and Lord of the Rings
  ___.


texts:
Here's the full statement:

  Keyless SSL was interesting and if I recall correctly it came off the
  back of financial institutions not being able to disclose their keys.

Is it okay to use came from instead?


texts: "Multiplayer/Singleplayer" vs "The multiplayer/The singleplayer"

texts:
In my experience, when we talk about a mode in a video game, we don't use the definite article, "the." I wonder if it is correct to use the definite article before game modes. Do you think the versions with and without the definite article are interchangeable in the sentences below?

I play multiplayer/the multiplayer of Modern Warfare.

I play singleplayer/the singleplayer of Modern Warfare.

Do you play multiplayer/the multiplayer in Modern Warfare?

Do you play singleplayer/the singleplayer in Modern Warfare?


texts: What are these called? a pillar and a wooden bed?

texts:
Look at the picture. This is a room in a high-sky building for children to play. It was designed like in the picture.

There is a wooden platform for people to sit or lie on. Should we call it "a wooden bed" or "a wooden stage" ?

Also, there are many wooden supporting sticks. Should we call it "a pillar"

  pillar: a large round stone, metal or wooden post that is used to support a bridge, the roof of a building, etc., especially
  when it is also decorative

  Two white marble pillars stood on either side of the entrance.


texts: What definition is adjusted to the word 'commit' in this context?

texts:
This tawdry tableau, which I’m not proud to commit to the page, goes a
  long way toward explaining the unlikely spot I find myself in at the
  moment. (from here)

Which definition is adjusted to the word commit in this context?

I tried to find a reasonable definition for this context - in two dictionaries but I am not sure. (See Cambridge and Oxford for this word)


texts: What does "ducked into an arched doorway heading for the subway - and got lost..." mean in this passage?

texts:
I turned into Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue, and went down the steps to the first level, where you take trains like the Twentieth Century. Then I walked down another flight to the second level, where the suburban trains leave from, ducked into an arched doorway heading for the subway --- and got lost. That's easy to do. I've been in and out of Grand Central hundreds of times but I'm always bumping into new doorways and stairs and corridors.

This sentence referred to the man or trains?! I don't get the meaning clearly. If it referred to the man why he got lost if that is easy to do?! as mentioned in the bold sentence.

The context is from the short story named "The Third Level" by Jack Finny.


texts: What does "salt to what you’re spouting off." mean?

texts:
You must show your readers through dialogue, pictures and facts. No matter how great your opinion is or how knowledgeable you are, you still need to show your readers there’s salt to what you’re spouting off.

What does "salt to what you’re spouting off." mean in above sentence?


texts: Can I simplify "It would appear to be the case that ..." to "It would appear that ..."

texts:
The sentence I'm looking at is:

  From the similarities and differences discussed above, it would appear to be the case that many people prefer travelling by car for reasons of comfort and safety.`

And I'd like to change it to:

  From the similarities and differences discussed above, it would appear that many people prefer travelling by car for reasons of comfort and safety.`

The phrase "to be the case" in the first sentence seems a little redundant to me, because it doesn't say anything new. But I'm not sure if I can use "appear" that way in the second sentence.


texts: What does it mean to have a long breath? (metaphorically)

texts:
Here is a sentence:

  ". . . For Friml. Romberg. Victor Herbert. Maybe a little Mozart, too, where you have to have the long breath, but not the heavy stuff. The truth is, I did what I could with what I had. Not what I wanted, maybe, but what I could. I didn't have a penny when I landed here, after I ran away from Warsaw. I only knew that I had to change Czaferski to Safer. And a lucky thing, too, for all of us that I knew to do that. I thought I was a goner when I came to America."

Here is the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/08/books/books-of-the-times-revolt-in-the-synagogue-unrest-in-the-choir.html


texts: Is there a word such that it is the version of "anachronism" when "time" is replaced with "occasion"?

texts:
I wonder if there is single word in English that is the version of "anachronism" with "time" replaced with "occasion". I recall that I saw such a word somewhere; but I am not really sure.

To supplement,
as far as I can tell the word "anachronism" describes (roughly speaking) occurrences in a wrong time. I would like to know a word that describes occurrences in a wrong occasion. For example, one wears a suit to sleep.


texts: Why do native speakers sometimes use “dispel with something” instead of using "dispel something"?

texts:
Dispel is defined as a transitive verb in dictionaries. But I notice native speakers sometimes use "dispel with something" instead of using "dispel something".

I just came across this sentence said by presidential candidate Sen.Marco Rubio,

  Let’s dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

I've also googled and got some other examples,

  Let's please dispel with the notion that opposing women in direct combat and conscription is sexist.

  What myths are you trying to dispel with this book and who is the audience?

I consulted dictionaries but didn't find any examples of such usage with a preposition "with". Then why do native speakers sometimes use “dispel with something” instead of using "dispel something"? Is it grammatically correct?


texts:
I was talking to an american friend who is a Spanish teacher (I used to be an English teacher). At a certain point she said something and my answer was

"We all teachers do the same",

then, she replied "I'd say ... all us teachers do the same",

but right after that, she also said she was not completely sure if her sentence was grammatically right. What do you think? Do both sentences, hers and mine, work?


texts: Outstanding in **outstanding** references to them

texts:
I reading a book "fluent python" which states the garbage collection as the following:

  In CPython, the primary algorithm for garbage collection is reference counting. Es‐ sentially, each object keeps count of how many references point to it. As soon as that refcount reaches zero, the object is immediately destroyed: CPython calls the __del__ method on the object (if defined) and then frees the memory allocated to the object. In CPython 2.0, a generational garbage collection algorithm was added to detect groups of objects involved in reference cycles—which may be unreachable even with outstanding references to them, when all the mutual references are contained within the group. Other implementations of Python have more sophisticated garbage collectors that do not rely on reference counting, which means the __del__ method may not be called immediately when there are no more references to the object. See “PyPy, Garbage Col‐ lection, and a Deadlock” by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis for discussion of improper and proper use of __del__.

As for the "outstanding reference", I am very confused.

I looked up outstanding in Oxford Dictionary:

1. Exceptionally good.
2. Not yet paid, resolved, or dealt with.

What does it mean here? it seems not make sense to take it as "exceptionally good"


texts: What is the meaning of promise/premise in the sentence?

texts:
I'm reading a running/racewalking memoir by Lawrence Block. In the book, he said that in the beginning he had no intention of participating in Marathon. But then the idea entered his mind, and he noted:

  "I appreciated the fact that running would take off weight... this alone seemed reason enough to put on my shorts and shoes and get out there. Still, the phrase echoed, and began to do its subtle damage. Not the promise so much as the premise. The one word, really. Marathon."

What does "Not the promise so much as the premise" mean?


texts: infinitive or gerund: two most important keys to succeed

texts:
In the following sentence, should "two" be preceded by "the"? And is "succeed" correct?

  Diligence and intelligence are two most important keys to succeed.


texts: 'be used to' as a passive form to express a purpose

texts:
I know be used to (used not as a tense form) means be accustomed to. I wonder if I can use it (but this time as a passive form of use) to express a purpose. For example,

  The keyboard is used to type words.

I also know that as an alternative I can say,

  The keyboard is used for typing words.

Is the first sentence grammatically correct or should I avoid it for some reason? Is it perfect English or does it sounds off to native ears?


texts:
I need to make an analysis of this sentence:

  ....and we can use them to help you to buy the best product.

or

  ....and we can use them to help you buy the best product.

We - subject,
can use - verbs, them - indirect subject, to help you buy the best product - direct subject.

Am I right?

I'm not sure if to use to buy or just buy and if it is the part of subject or another sentence.


texts:
We can say

  I prefer going to the cinema.

and

  I prefer to go to the cinema.

But can we say

  I would prefer to go to the cinema

and

  I would prefer going to the cinema
  ?


texts: Simple past vs past progressive in as/while-clauses

texts:
As/while I was walking along the beach, I saw a UFO.

In that sentence, what difference does it make if the past progressive verb is replaced with a simple past?

  As/while I walked along the beach, I saw a UFO.


texts:
"in presence of" vs "in the presence of"

Should we use "in presence of" or "in the presence of" in the following sentence?

"We should show more respect in the presence of the elders."
"We should show more respect in presence of the elders."


texts:
They used to get paid on Wednesdays, but the factory had recently altered the schedule, and the shoemakers – the skivers, vampers, cutters, and stitchers; the trimmers, turn lasters, cementers, and assemblers – were  looking forward to having more money in their pockets at the end of the day.

(Source: In Search of Sacco and Vanzetti by Susan Tejada)

I have the problems with the list of professions within the dashes in my sentence. In my opinion all the jobs there should be the ones that are related to shoemaking which are only the four of them. I think that it would be more logical if the sentence would have this form:

They used to get paid on Wednesdays, but the factory had recently altered the schedule, and the shoemakers – the skivers, vampers, cutters, and stitchers – , as well as the trimmers, turn lasters, cementers, and assemblers were looking forward to having more money in their pockets at the end of the day.

PS: I am not able to find out what a turn laster does.


texts:
Help me please choose right preposition:

Place in container.
Place at container.

When you need to place something inside the container.

I aways have problems with prepositions, can you explain me please, how to use it correctly?


texts: "... while / when processing large volumes of data" - which is correct?

texts:
Which one does more sense and is more natural?

  Database performance was analyzed while / when processing large
  volumes of data.

What I want to say is that the database performance was measured while the database was under heavy workload (the higher workload = the higher performance).


texts: Can I start a sentence with "Besides" just followed by a comma?

texts:
I think I need something after "Besides", like in "Besides this fact,....". But I am not so sure.

I also have the same question with "Beside" (without ending 's').


texts: What are some synonyms for 'seat' in a political context? For example, if you describe the results of an election, it doesn't sound good when you repeatedly say 'party A won X seats, party B won Y seats, etc.' I would like to hear some alternatives. I believe I've already asked this question somewhere, but I haven't found it here.


texts: What is the difference between to think of/about

texts:
I have seen many answers but they are not similar.
What is the difference
I always think of/about her.
I think of/about being asleep at home
when I am at school.
I am thinking of/about buying a car.
After 2 answers, I still don’t understand the difference.
I would like to read much more information than I have done


texts: Do people really use "like to do" when talking about hobbies in everyday speaking?

texts:
This post is different to another one (When to use infinitive and when to use present participle of a same word?), which is discussing pure grammar.
Note: This post focuses on more practical scenarios.

I've got a sense that "like doing" is used when talking about hobbies, such as "like swimming"; and "would like to do", "gonna do" or "wanna do" are used when talking about an idea or plan.

  A: "Are you doing anything tonight?" B: "I'm gonna go swimming"

According to Google Ngram, "like swimming" is much more common than "like to swim".

Based on above, I guess there are more people use "like doing" than the guys use "like to do" when talking about hobbies. There are 2 comments prepared, please vote up correspondingly.


texts: Not understanding the sentences with the formula 'word + out '

texts:
Exist a pattern that I already do not know to decipher each phrase with the formula word + out?
Work Out = Excercise
Deck Out = Decorate
Force out = Compel to leave
How does adding out is related to the definition?
How do native people have the skill to know the nuanced meanings of the myriad of phrases with the formula word + out, and how I can have that skill? Or they memorize them all?


texts: What is a word or an idiom for "an act that makes alive something inanimate"?

texts:
I am seeking after either a word or a phrase or an idiom to convey that an act brings alive something inanimate. Is there such thing in English?

Much appreciated for every suggestion.

I think about another closely related question: How to describe in a word or in an idiom that a stroke, when added on an animal drawn on a painting, makes the animal more vivid?


texts:
I'm writing a request to a school and I'm trying to politely state my request. However, I can't find the correct phrase to use. I've gone with 'could please' but that doesn't sound right.
Here is the whole sentence:

I was wondering if I could please retake the test for transition into year 9 and if so, when and where?

Is this right? If not what would be the best phrase to use?


texts: What do we call a privately software developer in general?

texts:
I want to refer to a developer who works only for me. What do we call such a developer in general?

My guess is:

  an individual developer or a personal developer or a private developer


texts: Does "hatcheries" mean "a farm where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish or poultry"?

texts:
Ok, so

  A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial
  conditions, especially those of fish or poultry - Source (Wikipedia)

But I often see people use terms like "Fish hatcheries" or "Poultry hatcheries".

I am wondering why people use the plural "hatcheries" in this case.

So, does "hatcheries" mean "a hatchering farm where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish or poultry"?

And of course, it is "a hatchering farm" because "it has many facilities where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish or poultry"

The online dictionary only has the definition of the singular "hatchery", no definition of the plural "hatcheries".

Also, what is the word fitting to the meaning of "a hatchering farm where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish or poultry" ?


texts: What words mean ''you inadvertently said something inappropriate, embarrassing, tactless, etc"?

texts: In situations when someone has said something that he/she didn't realize was inappropriate, embarrassing, tactless, what word should I use to describe it?


texts:
I have a sentence as follows:

  Architectural analysis is an initial step in defining the system components and their relationships.

Can I use "its relationships" instead of "their relationships"?