texts: I don't understand what twisting words means. I've heard people say "s/he is twisting my words", but what would that mean?


texts:
Governor John Kasich of the GREAT, GREAT, GREAT State of Ohio called to congratulate me on the win. The people of Ohio were incredible!

The above recent quote comes from the president of the USA, Mr Donald Trump.

What do people actually mean when they talk about "The Great State of ..."?
I don't think they're referring to the vastness of the land.

In a court of law especially, people seem to love to use this expression!


texts: whether I would use "of" or not in this sentence

texts:
sample : The efforts of discovering new sea routes resulted in the creation (of) new maps, as well

I feel like I need to put "of" in between "creation" and "new maps".
But does it also a proper usage, if I remove "of" in between the words in the sentence?

like "in the creation new maps"


texts: is it correct to use " with me + infinitive "?

texts:
I came across this sentence:

Who'll look after you, with me stuck in the hospital like this?

I can't understand why / by what rule it goes stuck after me?
As for me there should be a gerund here(not an infinitive without to):

Who'll look after you, with me sticking in the hospital like this?

Isn't with equal to while?
That is, although I did not find such a value , but can we say that it should be so:

Who'll look after you, while i sticking in the hospital like this?


texts:
I think "to wear a pair of jeans" is the correct formal saying but I see many people use "to wear jeans" & "to wear a jeans".

So, to wear a jeans / jeans / a pair of jeans? which one is right?


texts:
Is there any definite period for the usage of the idiom "long gone" in a sentence: could it be used if the time has only passed a year?
Example: "he relies on a rental agreement which is long gone expired"
Thank you.


texts: Towel dedusting it- what is the VERB for it?

texts:
I can't get the word out on when you are "dedusting" a towel. It's like there is dust on it, and you abruptly "flap" the farthest side from you while holding the two near ends of the towel.

  What is the verb for it?


texts:
We have a situation: someone saw the boy break the window. Can I make this passive sentence?

  The boy was seen to break the window.

I use Murphy's Grammar and this structure is never discussed.


texts: How to differentiate pairs like "an occupied territory" and "unoccupied territory" in speech

texts:
The noun "territory" can be both countable and uncountable, so "an occupied territory" and "unoccupied territory" are both complete noun phrases.  The first vowels of the noun phrases are both schwa if they occur as part of normal speech.  This may pose a problem in differentiating the two phrases (in fact, when I said "XYZ is an occupied territory" to my wife, she thought that I'd said "XYZ is unoccupied territory," which resulted in a lot of confusion).

I am aware of a few tactics to avoid such confusion:

One could stress "an" or "un-", which then would have different vowels.  But I suspect if that would sound unnatural.
Alternatively, one could paraphrase the sentence so the noun phrases wouldn't occur. For instance, I could have said "XYZ is occupied by ABC."  This may not be easy or possible especially on the fly.

Is there a better way of differentiating such pairs of noun phrases?


texts:
I was watching a game and this happend.

The gameplayer got in a dialog with and another player.

Player 2 - (That said. you gotta break someone's nose, you break my nose.

There were two options for player one. He could say two things
(We can start with that if you want)
( I didn't come to break someone's nose)
Does you know what he mean.

I'm sorry my english is really bad because i'm from the netherlands if you can correct me do it so.


texts: Is it common in English to refuse to drink offered alcohol by saying "I am sorry, but I can't drink. I am behind the wheel today" meaning that today they still need to drive, so they can't drink. I've looked through different cases of "behind the wheel" given by Google and discovered that they all have slightly different connotation - they put emphasis on being in control of something ("Are you behind the wheel in this system or should I ask someone else?", "Who is the one behind the wheel here?")


texts:
I have been trying to understand the usage of "think of" and "think about" for some time and would like to know whether I got it right:

  I am thinking about/of changing a job. What do you think about/of him?

No difference in meaning.

But:

  It is broken, I need to think of a possible fault.

I think here I do not know the fault yet.

  It is broken, I need to think about the problem.

I know the problem already and I am thinking about it/fixing it.


texts: What does "open the ball" mean in this context?

texts:
“Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter,” she said coldly. “Your dance partners.”

  Harry's insides seemed to curl up and shrivel.

  “Dance partners?” He felt himself going red. “I don't dance,” he said
  quickly.

  “Oh yes, you do,” said Professor McGonagall irritably. “That's what
  I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open
  the ball.”

  Harry had a sudden mental image of himself in a top hat and tails,
  accompanied by a girl in the sort of frilly dress Aunt Petunia always
  wore to Uncle Vernon's work parties.

  “I'm not dancing,” he said. ...

I got the definition for "open the ball" from dictionaries:  To open the ball to begin the dancing, to begin operations. But I feel "begin the dancing" doesn't sound quite exactly what it means in this context. What does it suppose to mean here?


texts:
*A not unattractive girl is usually used to describe quite an attractive girl.

Not an attractive girl is definitely an unattractive girl.*

Would you tell me more about these? or how do you use these? and if they are correct?

More over, are they informal?


texts: I don't know how to express such sentence correctly

texts:
Here is the situation:

Someone made me change the content of a design just one day before deadline, but I gave him the design 2 months ago. He should let me know earlier, not the day before deadline.

So what I want to express is like: "Please don't let me change the design until the day before deadline", I don't know whether it is right, how to use this sentence correctly? Thanks.


texts:
Here’s what one of the characters says in s14e16 of The Simpsons:

  For astronomers like me this is a bigger problem even than I don't
  know, say, getting a date which is difficult for the geeky people.

Why is there a definite article before geeky people?


texts: What is the structure of this sentence? Can you explain it more?

texts:
I cannot understand the meaning of this sentence:

"Sara is as handsome as her husband is ugly."

Can somebody explain it in a clear way?


texts:
I'd like to explain the idea that I don't want to pursue only one hobby, but I'm unsure if in English there is a difference using only before or after the number.
Which one is correct and why?

  I like to find new interests and don't be stuck into one only hobby.

or

  I like to find new interests and don't be stuck into only one hobby.


texts:
I am having some questions regarding the count on and count with usages.

I believe count with should be used when I'm telling something like:

  I can count with my fingers.

And count on could be used in situations like:

  You can count on me

I've heard a sentence from a friend that sounds incorrect for me:

  It is from a friend you can always count with.

Is this sentence correct? Shouldn't it be

  It is from a friend you can always count on.

I'm unsure about it because every time I've seen the count on it has something after, as the count on me example.

Thanks a lot!


texts: "*Our old man* is going shopping to buy something *for dinner*"?

texts:
This is rather an easy question, but left me stuck with it.

Situation: I'm writing a composition about the reading we studied in our book (as a summary). It's about an illiterate senior citizen who ran into trouble when his literate wife went on a trip. He went hungry, so left home to go shopping to buy goods to make himself some dinner.

Dilemma: One of my friends used the statement in the title in his summary. Note that the use of "our" is to give the story a childish sense, and there's no problem with that. However, I argued that it's feasible for the statement above to give the implication that "the old man is buying us and himself dinner"; which will accordingly count as ambiguity and lessen the quality of the sentence. Am I correct? If not, please provide a thorough explanation of why such interpretation of sentence isn't happening.

(Since we're learners, ambiguity isn't called "the beauty of language" for us!)


texts: Why is the definite article “the” not used in this Cambridge Dictionary example?

texts:
We expect to take delivery of our new car next week.

The above is an example from the Cambridge Dictionary, I would like to know “why have we not used take the delivery?” We are talking about a specific delivery here i.e., the delivery of a new car, then why not use “the delivery” in the example?


texts: “Your face looks like my sister's friend face” or “my sister's friend”?

texts:
Which sentence should I use to show that she has the same face and should I use feature instead of face?

  "Your face looks like my sister's friend face"

or just

  "Your face looks like my sister's friend"


texts:
Conventions and recommendations adopted by the International Labour Organization in the area of collective conventions, prohibition of forced labour and child labour, defence of the rights of indigenous peoples, and equal treatment and non-discrimination in the work place;
  Source

Unfortunately I can not find the definition of "collective conventions". I know it is a special term. ِDO they have the same meaning of "collective agreements"? What does this exactly mean?


texts: Should we use 'of' when describing quantities with 'score' and 'dozen'?

texts:
There are two score of books which are lying unused in the library.

Why is  two score of books used instead of two score books?  What is the difference between them? Similarly can we use five dozen of bananas instead of five dozen bananas?

Example: He bought five dozen of bananas.


texts:
Which one is correct out of the below two? If possible, I request that you give a justification also.

1) He is going to mingle from single.

Or

2) He is going to mingle to single.


texts: How woman is so sure about the kid in this context?

texts:
Man find his wife in partying area, but wife complaining about the people to his man.

  Man: you left me, remember?

  Wife: I know, I know.But then I was hoping that you would come after
  me. It wasn't like you walked out of a bar! It was a divorce.

  Man: And why are you even at this place? Do you know this place is
  insane?

  Wife: I'm getting called names. I've been called a cougar, a black
  panther, a puma! I had to smack this one kid. That's the last time
  he'll walk up to a woman talking about cougar!

Well I didn't understand wife word's here, Is she sure about the kid's behavior in future or what ?

Instead of saying "that will be the last time for him", she says differently here.


texts:
I found the box to be empty

Does the sentence mean that the box was empty for real, does it or mean that I guessed the box was empty (i.e. I was not really sure about it but implies only a possibility of the box being empty in a few seconds when you open it).

If the given sentence means that the box was empty for real, then, it means the same as the following sentence, right?

  I found the box empty

Formulated a little differently:

  (1) I found the box empty
  (2) I found the box to be empty

Do these mean the same?


texts: What does the word "obtained" here refer to?

texts:
The findings of both studies support the further evaluation of the SCMS as a research and applied instrument, and suggest its potential current use in student and counseling settings given obtained relationships with anxiety, depression, and weight-management competencies.

I'm not sure whether the relationships here are obtained due to "the findings of both studies" or "student and counseling settings". Help?


texts: Replacement for "man" in "Man is the only animal that can make use of fire"

texts:
Man is the only animal that can make use of fire.        (0)

I want to replace "man" with other word.

Human beings are the only animal that can make use of fire.  (1)
The human race is the only animal that can make use of fire. (2)
Human kind is the only animal that can make use of fire.     (3)

Are they grammatically correct? Are their meanings the same as (0)'s?


texts: Why can "low" become "lower" and "lowest", while "up" can't?

texts:
Why can "low" become lower (comparative) and lowest (superlative), while "up" can become only comparative (upper), rather than superlative (uppest)?

The second question is what does act as a substitute for superlative of "up"? I believe that it's needed in the language.

Editing:
After reading some answers here who claim that the word "up" is not an adjective and "upper" is not the opposite of "lower". I had to support my initial premise by Cambridge dictionary that shows that there is an adjective which is called "up". In addition in the same dictionary the word "upper" is marked as adjective and the word "lower" is marked there as a opposite. unlike the most of the answers here.

In addition, what's about "more up" is the following context "If you feel a bit depressed today, maybe your mood will tomorrow be more up." Is this not considered as a comparative adjective of "up"?


texts: Which of these terms are common in AE & BE?

texts:
I found this term in the dictionary

  to go get a breath of (fresh) air

  I found these  on the internet but not in the dictionary

  to go out for a fresh air

  to go out to take a fresh air

  to go out to take some fresh air

  to go out to take in some fresh air

  to go get some fresh air

  to go get some fresh air

  This is my personal thinking as a non-native

  to go get relaxed in the wind.


texts: The structure of "he works as an architect"

texts:
I am aware that the basic grammar pattern of a sentence is subject + predicate + object, where object is optional.

In this sentence,

  I want a cup of tea

"I" is a personal pronoun, which functions as a subject; "want" is a verb, which functions as a  predicate; "a cup of tea" is a noun phrase, which functions as an object.

So far so good.

Consider another sentence,

  He works as an architect.

"He" is a personal pronoun, which functions as a subject; "want" is a verb, which functions as a  predicate.

How about the last part? Could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.

Note: I understand the sentence conveys someone's occupation, what does he do for a living, and that is NOT what I am asking. I am asking about its grammatical function and analysis.

Similar to "subject", "predicate", what is the term (or canonical name) to describe the component of a sentence that "as an architect" functions as? Obviously, it is not an "object".


texts: What does now refer to in this sentence?

texts:
I got a message from my bank after doing an online transaction of €110

  You have now paid €110 to xxx.

Is this sentence correct?
What does now mean here?
Does it mean recently? I am confused because I have already paid the money not just now.

I know one of the definitions of now is immediate past ,very recently but I asked the same question to someone else and he said this is not what it means here

It means now; the status of the invoice now is 'paid'. The message was generated at the time 'now' that you paid it and the message remains on the record. You can search for that message ten years from now, and it will still read 'you have now paid...'

I don't even know what did he wanna say as English ain't my native language


texts:
What is the best way to say that some exercise needs needs to be done with consideration of time required for its completion. In other words, the kind of exercise when time for completion is one of the factors and someone is there with a stopwatch to control how fast you do it.
I need to say something like "This exercise is done ...." How? At speed? For speed? Considering speed?


texts:
I am writing the following sentence.

  In contrast to the object modeling, (ABC et al., 2009) present an approach for urban object recognition using shape knowledge in which a set of features describing the object shape and their spatial context are introduced in order to classify objects.

I am not sure whether I used the correct clause to get the clear meaning of the sentence. Is "in which" correct in this case?


texts: The construction : "being"+adjective=noun

texts:
Does the pattern below makes sense?

"being" + adjective  =  noun

Here are the examples that employ this pattern:

I am not afraid of being critical of any corporate division, including HR, when necessary.

Thanks to installing the antivirus software, we are not in danger of being blocked from vicious stuff.


texts: What is this word sounding like swanyey?

texts:
In this video, the narrator is saying something like the following:

  So, to be always clean and "swanyey", ..."?

What does come after "clean and"?


texts: Difference between 'in the wrong' and 'wrong'

texts:
I'd like to know the difference between
'You are in the wrong' and 'You are wrong'.

And even if they are different in meaning, can I just say 'You are wrong'? Is there much difference?


texts: is the usage of "only" to stress my point is correct in the below context?

texts:
Context: The client asked us to email him some information for the last 3 years. But there are some problems with it :
Firstly, we have information for the past eight months.
Secondly, The information was exchanged via emails. So, it is quite difficult to extract that information from emails of past 8-9 months.

  We have two major issues with the information requested.

  We only have information for the last 8 months. We do not have
  any records prior to that.

  (Is there anything I can use other than "only" to stress my point in
  the first line. )
  The information for the last eight months was exchanged via emails. There's no consolidated report that recorded the information.
  We would have to fetch that information from the emails.


texts: Tenses in 'Did I tell you what happened to me?'

texts:
Why can't we use Past Perfect in the second clause of the sentence

  'Did I tell you what happened to me?'

if the second clause happened before 'Did I tell you'

As far as I know, we use Past Perfect to say that something happened before another action in the past. Of course, sometimes we can use Simple Past instead when we have 'after', 'before' in the sentence and Past Perfect becomes optional there.

I googled 'Did I tell you what had happened to me?' in quotation marks and there was nothing on the Internet.

Could you, please, explain why we can't say that way?


texts: Is my interpretation of "would not seem so" correct?

texts:
I did not feel insensible to his condescension, and would not seem so.Source

"wouldn't seem so"

Is this interpretation legitimate?
"I didn't wanna look like I was unaware of his condescension."


texts: What is the meaning of "quite" in the sentence "You are quite from me."

texts:
What is the meaning of "quite" in the following sentence?

  "You are quite from me."

My college classmate sent me a message after a while that I didn't see and talked to him. In this message he asked me "how are you?" then I told him that I'm Ok and asked him politely the same. He answered me that he's Ok as well and then wrote me "You are quite from me."

Iv'e checked in Cambridge dictionary and I didn't understand which of the interpretations to choose. Also, based on this dictionary it is an adverb rather than adjective then I cannot understand how such sentence can be.


texts:
The aims of these three groups are entirely irreconcilable. The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim — for it is an abiding characteristic of the Low that they are too much crushed by drudgery to be more than intermittently conscious of anything outside their daily lives — is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal.

My question is that I don't understand the meaning of the sentence in which to be more than is used.


texts: What is the origin of perfect continous?

texts:
I know we use present perfect tense for past actions which have present effects. We use it for unfinished actions which started in the past and still continuing as well. I have observed that we use stative verbs like want,know to tell our unfinished positions in perfect aspect like "I have known him for 5 years." and it means I still know him,my position or state didn't change (has not changed yet) over a period of time (for 5 years).

When we want to use an action verb we started doing it in the past and we are still doing it ,we make this action stative with "be" as in " I have been working here for 2 hours ".I learned "I have worked here for 2 hours" can also be used for this sense,but it doesn't emphasize the continuity of working at least to me.

What is the origin of that why do we use "been working" and why does it imply that we are still working ? Can we consider "have been" like "have become" ? Because when we use having become something it implies that we are that thing now as in "I have become old " it conveys that I am old now. "I have become {working} " and I am still {working} now.


texts:
Phillip Morris has very strong values, although we might not agree
  with them—for instance, the value of “adult choice.”

The meanings of "adult" and "choice" are clear, but I think "adult choice" has a special meaning which I don't know.
I didn't find any definition in online dictionaries.

So, could you please explain it to me?

The fuller Text:

  Companies can hold ethically questionable values and still be very
  resilient. Consider Phillip Morris, which has demonstrated impressive
  resilience in the face of increasing unpopularity. As Jim Collins
  points out, Phillip Morris has very strong values, although we might
  not agree with them—for instance, the value of “adult choice.” But
  there’s no doubt that Phillip Morris executives believe strongly in
  its values, and the strength of their beliefs sets the company apart
  from most of the other tobacco companies. In this context, it is worth
  noting that resilience is neither ethically good nor bad. It is merely
  the skill and the capacity to be robust under conditions of enormous
  stress and change.


texts: How to distinguish between adjective and adverb used as to-infinitive?

texts:
For example,

  Both managers and staff benefit from the workshops designed by a psychological institute to improve relationships within the workplace.
  Sync Online has delivered copies of contracts to all the parties who have agreed to participate in a new venture to offer music on the Internet.

In my book's manual, to-infinitive used in 1. (to improve) is adverb, and used in 2. (to offer) is adjective. How to distinguish between adjective and adverb used as to-infinitive like these sentences?


texts:
Here are a few questions about expressions like:

Up (with) the workers!"

Are they old-fashioned?
Do they mean the same as "Viva . . ."? Could we say, e.g., "Viva the workers!"?
Should the preposition "with" be dropped? Is there dialectal variation in this regard?


texts: Where "with" is coupled with ? "make" or "session"

texts:
And then, trust the Japanese to make an opera out of what could have been a humdrum reading session with a reader, a reading lamp, and a group of people waiting for the promise to be redeemed.
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/redeem

Is this...? "Japanese to make an opera with a reader, a reading lamp, and a group of people waiting for the promise to be redeemed.(something like "I made the house with bricks") - here "with bricks" is an adverb phrase which modifies make.
or
"I made dinner out of materials with a long shelf life" - here "with a long shelf life" is an adjective phrase which modifies materials.
In other words, my question is : no. 1 or no. 2?

make something with A
something with A


texts:
My colleague was not at his desk hence I received his call and replied. After one hour he returned to his desk and now I want to tell him about that call

How do I tell him?

  Xyz had called you.

Should I refer long past?

  Xyz called you.

Should I just inform him about call?

Or

  Xyz did call you.

Should I refer recent past?


texts: To be overwhelmed by vs to be overwhelmed with

texts: Are the expressions TO BE OVERWHELMED WITH  and TO BE OVERWHELMED BY interchangeable? or is there a difference in meaning?


texts: Olympus TV series: full form and meaning of "It was all I had growing up."

texts:
I was watching "Olympus" TV series. A character says that "It was all I had growing up."

"It was all I had (when I was) growing up."
Is that the completed sentence of it? If so, when and how can we omit words in speaking? What are the rules of omitting?


texts: Why use "reds and oranges" not "red and orange"?

texts:
For example, a simple black and white color scheme may cause IQ to
  become low, while the good use of reds and oranges may raise it
  as much as 15 points.


texts: What is the word for mud on road which becomes wet due to rain? / What is keechad called in English?

texts:
After the heavy rain falls, the mud becomes so wet that it sticks to your feet if you walk over it.

In Hindi it is called Keechad. What is the word for it in English?


texts:
Is it correct to say so? For instance,

  I like to pursue my goals wholeheartedly

Or maybe reach my goals would be better?


texts: Do American people pronounce "mutter" like "mudder"?

texts:
I heard "muttering" when I was practicing my listening.

I couldn't figure it out even I knew the meaning in the sentence. It sounded like "muddering". I searched "muder" in search engine, it gave me "murder". Finally, I gave it up, then watched the answer, it was a "muttering".

When I hear a word which I don't know, How do I find it out?


texts: Ask a few questions about the following sentence

texts:
‘He stares soulfully past the camera, on toward a catering truck where
  sushi rolls and ham sandwiches dwell side by side in harmony.’

what's the usage of on in the sentence? pls help me with the analysis of the whole sentence.


texts: Formal way to phrase "as my background tells"

texts:
I am currently writing a cover letter and I wanted to say "As my (work and education) background tells, I am tech savvy."

However, I feel like the phrase "As my background tells" is a bit awkward and need an advice as to how to amend this phrase.


texts:
Does it mean "They continuously infused that at home"?

  People ask me – I’m in music, he’s in business – is he disappointed? I tell them we do the same thing, what we love. And that’s what he infused as we grew up, and my mother did as well. Find something you love, that’s the key. And they really hammered that home, and in so many different ways. So it couldn’t have been easier, really, to be his son.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2017/04/18/peter-buffett-warrens-youngest-son-says-growing-up-buffett-was-nothing-fancy/2/#385e01ff39c5


texts: Is the word "dairy" in "dairy farmer" being used as a noun or adjective?


texts: How should I punctuate a list of predicates which all have the same subject?

texts:
I'm writing a list for responsibilities of reviewers. All sentences in the list start with "Reviewers should/must/who/...".

Is there a punctuation rule that fits this situation and allows me to omit repeating "Reviewers ..."?


texts: Why is it correct to say, "Summer is the golden season," but not necessary to use "the" when saying, "Winter is exercise season"?


texts:
I read most of the questions about an and a here, but still I'm not quite sure since I found that uniform should be "prefixed" with a instead of an (read in a comment here). So I totally lost the string here.

  A US navy aircraft is helping with the search for debris, he says.

Is this correct or should it be An US navy aircraft...?


texts: Changing subjects in a sentence: treated to, adsorbed with?

texts:
Can I change the first sentence to the following sentence?

1) The cells were treated with enzyme A.
->  The enzyme A was treated to the cells.

2) The protein was adsorbed to the nanoparticle.
-> The nanoparticle was adsorbed with the protein.


texts: What word should I use to tell someone to look straight when they are looking down while driving or while walking around? Would "look up" be okay? What would it be if they are looking right or left?


texts: What adjective is used to describe something that's used, but that's not intended to be used in a particular way or for a particular purpose?

texts:
I am looking for a word that describes something, like a tool or any object that can be used to do something, in a way that's not intended or optimal. For example, using a dictionary to hammer down a nail.

For example:

  The Frostbite engine was used to make a RPG, because it was ___ it led
  to several problems during the development cycle.


texts:
I would like to use have been in my sentence in order to explain that a specific method has been done. However, I do not know whether I used "has been" correctly or not?

Here is my sentence:

  Later, several works have been introduced this model into a finite mixture model.


texts: When to use "is" and "are" if the noun is singular but referring to a group or multiple things?

texts:
I am not sure sure I phrased the question properly. However, consider the following example:

The roundness of the shapes are strange.
The roundness of the shapes is strange.

In this scenario, I think "is" is correct because if I remove "of the shapes" the proper word to use is "is". Right? My reasoning is roundness is not plural.
However, using "are" sounds/feels correct instead of using "is". I know "feel" is not necessarily a good method for determining grammar, but this is making me unsure.
Edit: I will add more context.
I chose the word "roundness" for a specific purpose. If the shapes have similar roundness or different roundness, the word "roundness" will still be used. However, if I replace roundness with colors, depending on if I am grouping all the colors together or if I am considering the colors distinctly seems to matter. Consider another example:

The colors of the shapes are strange.
The color of the shapes are strange. (not correct)
The colors of the shapes is strange. (not correct)
The color of the shapes is strange.

This correct answer to this case seems more obvious than the previous as we don't have a plural form of roundness. So, what word is proper for the first example? Does the context matter?


texts: Why is "bought" used instead of "buy" when the main clause has "will"?

texts:
I just met a sentence, that is

  If someone bought it already, then that item will not show up.

It obviously refers to future, but why is bought used instead of buy?

I consider this same as AFTER, and After you took/after you take? says  "You will do this, after you do that,".

I am so confused about this two. Both refer to the future, why is one in the past and the other is in the present?


texts: "on" or "with" ? Which preposition to use?

texts:
Which preposition can be used in this sentence?

  the curtains are hanging ...... the hooks.

with or on? which preposition is right to use here. And how would each change the meaning of the sentence?


texts:
Are the sentences below equally transfer the same meaning?

The application is compatible with the devices.
The application works/acts/operates on the devices.
We adapted the application/made the application adaptable to the devices.


texts: How do I know that some verbs have gerund or "tion" noun? And when to use which one?

texts:
So I would like to know that which verbs have gerund and which ones have nouns that end with "tion". I don't know how to explain it but see the examples below:
Provide = providing but NOT providation
Love = Loving but NOT lovation
Urinate = urinating but ALSO urination
Irritate = irritating but ALSO irritation
How do I know which verbs have gerunds and which ones have "tion" form? And when should I use which one?
Thank you.


texts: I'm afraid I don't understand these lines, can you please help me

texts:
When I happened to be reading this article,
I encountered 2 phrases ( or probably 4 words ) which I don't understand correctly.

It saying,

  Once again Oliver delivered a charming, brief acceptance speech, noting he’s brought his entire staff to the Emmy ceremony as they hollered from the nose-bleed seats, ( A ) and asked to be played off. ( B )

  After which Kimmel and Colbert – both ( C ) nommed in the category this year

I scraped the line and marked as ( A ) ( B ) ( C ) so that it could look clearer.

And my question is..

( A ) Am I correct that the ( A ) means the Kimmel's staff were grumbling or
      murmuring from expensive seats or some kind of that sort?

( B ) What does the phrase "play off" mean here?

( C ) Am I correct to understand that ( C ) denoted Kimmel and Colbert were
      nominated ( I am afraid I was not able to find any proper entry in the
      dictionaries. )

Again, thank you so much for the help

Thank you.

Sincerely


texts: What context has the verb "help" been used in here?

texts:
I read a sentence in a chapter named "The Rattrap" which was:

The men with the rattraps said not a word; he only sat down and helped himself to the food

I think "helped himself to the food" just implies that he ate the food but I haven't seen "help" being used in this way. So is this usage of "help" correct?


texts:
Is the following sentence natural in passive? If not, please explain  to me what the reason is.

  Some of the dreams can be controlled by certain people.


texts:
afterburner engaged!

I found this sentence in modern family S1. I was thinking the meaning of 'engage' was like 'involve with' or 'busy with' but in this case, it seems that 'engage' means 'to activate'. so I looked up English dictionary, I've not found this sort of meaning.
what does 'engage' mean in this sentence?


texts:
Here's from The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1953)

  The first time I laid eyes on Terry Lennox he was drunk in a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith
  outside the terrace of The Dancers. The parking lot attendant had brought the car out
  and he was still holding the door open because Terry Lennox's left foot was still
  dangling outside, as if he had forgotten he had one. He had a young-looking face
  but his hair was bone white. You could tell by his eyes that he was plastered to the hairline,
  but otherwise he looked like any other nice young guy in a dinner jacket
  who had been spending too much money in a joint that exists for that purpose and for no other.

I wonder what exactly "You could tell by his eyes that he was plastered to the hairline,
but otherwise he looked like any other nice young guy in a dinner jacket
who had been spending too much money in a joint that exists for that purpose and for no other."
means. What do "by his eyes", "plastered to the hairline", "that purpose", etc. mean?
Thanks.


texts: Popular shows feature artists designing ...

texts:
Popular television shows feature artists designing everything from new clothes to delicious food dishes.

Why don't use "who design" in the sentence?


texts: "There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil"

texts:
It is a quote I read in a Wikipedia article entitled "half truth"

What is "it"refering to in this quote

  It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-truth


texts: What does "via time stamping between sensors" mean?

texts:
I want to know how to understand the part "via time stamping between sensors" in the following sentence:

  The ZR300 supports Google Project Tango spec for feature tracking and synchronization via time stamping between sensors.

I know the sentence means ZR300 is very useful in the Google project Tango but I don't understand the detail of it.


texts: America's top general, is this a specific one or one of top generals?

texts:
America's top general has signalled US troops could engage Islamic State militants on the battlefield, in spite of president Barack Obama's repeated assurance they will not. (Aussie ABC)

From the auxiliary, has, I can tell that ‘an American general’ must have told that, as in this sentence of VOA: “Today, a top general in the interior ministry (Ibrahim Khamas) was killed in a drive-by shooting.” And wondering why do they not use ‘an’ in the sentence, I got this idea: maybe determiner ‘a/an’ could be dropped when the NP explicitly denote that it is any single person.
But after I found out that ‘top general’ may be the top single one general who presides the general staffs, I got perplexed. Why isn’t there ‘an’ in the example?


texts: Is "We do not gather any private nor personal details" a correct use of "nor"?

texts:
When should I use "nor"? For example, in this sentence:

We do not gather any private nor personal details.

Is "nor" here correct? Is using "or" also correct?


texts:
I have no idea about where she is.
Vs
I have no idea where she is .

He really needs to learn a lot of things.
Vs
He really needs to learn about a lot of things.

I don't know where she lives.
Vs
I don't know about where she lives.

I literally want to know how they came here.
Vs
I literally want to know about how they  came here.

Could anyone please explain to me, when to use about and when not to? When is the use of About necessary and when it is futile ?


texts: meaning of the phrase "of outside" in context

texts:
I have happened upon the sentence with the phrase of outside that I cannot understand in Crash Course Anatomy & Phisiology. It is at around 4 minut and 36 second. Here it goes:

  Your digestive tract is really one unbroken, insulated tunnel of outside that just happens to run through your body.

It seem that the word outside was used there as an adverb,and not a noun because there is no article. Could you please rephrase the sentence for me?


texts: Is it more common to put the street that runs north and south first when referring to an intersection?

texts:
Consider the intersection shown below

To refer the intersection, should I say

  the intersection of H St NW and 17th St NW

or

  the intersection of 17th St NW and H St NW

Even though I searched by "H St NW and 17th St NW", Google Map put "17th St NW" first, is there some kind of rule?

Is it more common to put the street that runs north and south first?


texts:
Does the phrase "for singles to meet organically" mean "for single persons to meet naturally"?

New York Times tweeted:
With television shows like “Million Dollar Matchmaker” and “Indian Matchmaking,” and a pandemic that has made it harder for singles to meet organically, matchmaking is hot again.


texts: "Why didn't you buy some [or any] cheese?"

texts:
As I know some is used for positive sentences and any for negative as well as question forms.
But what about negative questions?

  Why didn't you buy any cheese?

or

  Why didn't you buy some cheese?


texts: Is the following sentence correct? 'The time when the church dates back to is the 13th.' *

texts:
The question is about the relative pronoun 'when' used instead of 'in which', 'at which', 'on which', 'from which', 'to which', etc.

  The church dates back to the 13th century.

Putting emphasis on the time…

  The time to which the church dates back is the 13th century. (formal)

  The time which the church dates back is the 13th century.

  The time [relative pronoun left out] the church dates back to is the 13th century.

Are the following relative clauses correct?

  ? 1) The time when the church dates is the 13th century.

  ? 2) The time when the church dates back is the 13th century.

  ? 3) The time when the church dates back to is the 13th century.


texts: How do I say it when I would like to talk to someone on the internet by word of mouth?

texts: Let's say I am using skype, but I cannot video call someone because my camera will not work. Is it correct to say it like: I can only voice call you? Tell me please the most common and natural way native speakers would say it.


texts:
This air conditioning controls the room temperature to be equal to a
  temperature five degrees higher than the outside temperature.

I think "adjust" is better than "control" in this sentence, but would like to know whether the usage of "control" is acceptable.


texts: Verb + gerundive or Verb + infinitive, what is preferable?

texts:
What is preferable to use: verb + gerundive or verb + infinitive?

For example:

I tried checking it

or

I tried to check it

if both are possible then what's the difference? Are there any specific use cases for both gerundive and infinitive in such a construction?

Thank you.


texts: what does it mean by "used to" in the context below?

texts:
CONTEXT:

  We love life, not because we are "used to living" but because we are "used to loving".

As far as I know it is used to state the activity that a person does not do now but used to do in past. But in this what does it mean?


texts:
The definition of see someone off is the following:

  to accompany one to the point of departure for a trip and say good-bye
  upon departure.

However, that begs the question what does "see himself off" mean? Does it mean "accompany himself to the point of departure for a trip and say goodbye to himself"? That doesn't really make any sense, but I have heard the expression a dozen of time.


texts: How to understand "with two minutes to go to the bell" in this context?

texts:
“After the lesson,” Snape snapped.

  Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if he'd poured
  out enough armadillo bile, Harry sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair
  of them. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.

  Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double
  period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the
  end of class. Keen to hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Harry
  deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two
  minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down
  behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved
  noisily toward the door.

The scene is in Snape's Potion class. I don't understand "with two
minutes to go to the bell". I think "the bell" is supposed to ring for the class dismissal here. But what does "go to the bell" mean? And "with two minutes" is confusing too. What does it mean exactly in this context?

-- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


texts:
Which placement of "from above" is correct in this sentence?

1) The o-ring is pressed onto the sample from above.

or

2) The o-ring is pressed from above onto the sample.

I feel that the first sentence, 1), is correct, but mostly due to the fact that 2) seems to be translated from German too literally. I also feel that I have heard the 1) formulation more often.

Given that "feel" is not a good way to be sure about grammar I would be happy to learn why one of the sentences is correct.

PS: I called "from above" an adverb here for lack of better knowledge ;-)


texts:
Is there a word that means "talking while your mouth is full of liquid"? Like, for instance, you can speak while you are drowning in your own blood making it hard to make out what you are saying. I am wondering if there's a word for that.

For example:

  He ____ "I love you" while he was drowning in his blood.


texts: Is it actually correct to say "They felt themselves quieter"?

texts:
I read many times that one shouldn't say: "I feel myself well/badly" etc, because it's incorrect and the native speakers think that you're saying about touching yourself or masturbating.

But recently I've read this kind of phrase: "Scarcely had they left Moscow when they felt themselves quieter immediately"

Is it an erroneous phrase? If not, when can one say "I feel myself" or "They feel themselves"?


texts: Is "join a group of people to do [something]" grammaticaly correct?

texts:
I've used the "join a group of people to do [something]" structure in the following sentence:

  I was invited to join a team of three other engineers to develop a knowledge-based system for neuromuscular disorders.

Is the sentence grammatically correct? What I mean is that I was invited to join a team of three other engineers and our task was to develop a knowledge-based system for neuromuscular disorders.


texts: Why not use 'because', but use 'but' when the sentence expresses the meaning of turning?

texts:
I read these two paragraphs:

I am writing to you about the talk I agreed to give at the local library in two weeks' time.

I regret I have to cancel this talk. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I am being sent abroad by my firm and will be away for three weeks.

I am curious that why not use because instead of but in the sentence above?


texts: Should I use which one as a name of a restaurant promotion? In the menu we offer a range of Asian cuisine dishes.


texts:
The original sentence is

  Default minimum placing amount is 1 credit, and maximum placing
  credits amount is none, the game creators can adjust which to a
  positive integer.

The sentence is used to describe some parameters when a website member creates a betting game for other players to participate in.

Can I shorten the sentence to

  Default minimum and maximum placing amount are 1 credit and none,
  the creators can adjust which to a positive integer.

And if yes, should I use “is” or “are”?

Thanks in advance for your worthy knowledge.


texts: is "start with the 10 minute recap" grammatical and idiomatic in a lecture?

texts:
The lecturer is saying

  we'll start with the 10 minute recap on what you've seen in the first
  week about neural networks,  so as you know you can think of machine
  learning, deep learning in general as modeling a function ...

the "recap" shows up for the first time at this time point.

in this context, is it grammatical and idiomatic to use "the" before "recap"?

is "a recap" more grammatical?


texts: Which one is correct? as referred by /as referred to by

texts:
I am contacting you as referred by Salim/
I am contacting you as referred to by Salim.
Which one is grammatically correct?


texts: Please keep calm and wait for the right time until

texts:
Which of the following sentence is grammatically correct?

1. Wait for the right time until the experiments are done.

2.  Wait for the right time until the experiments will be done.


texts: "Through" vs "from" when referencing the abstract

texts:
At work, some proofreaders and I were going over a set of chapters when I came across the following sentence:

Identify whether the item in each number is a legend, superstition, or
a song passed down by oral tradition.

To me, it was apparent that the preposition by was being used incorrectly in this sentence so I made the necessary corrections and changed by to from.

One proofreader contested my claim and changed from to through. The argument is that if we use from it makes the assumption that legends, superstitions, or songs are passed on directly from oral tradition instead of people. I stated that if we interpreted it that way then through would also be incorrect in that sense because it denotes movement and legends, superstitions, or songs don't pass through oral tradition in the literal sense (granted it passes through orally when spoken but still by people). Does it not already imply that people pass down these "products of oral tradition"?

In this situation, would it be better to use the preposition through or from? Or to clear up any confusion would it be better to reword the sentence to something like, "Identify whether the item in each number is a legend, superstition, or oral tradition passed down from generation to generation by making use of oral tradition.".


texts:
I want to know if these sentences means he is still a teacher or not. Here, is been being used as a past participle?

He has been a teacher.
He has been a plumber.


texts: Is it ok to say "Improved the RBT's deletion operation's implementation"?

texts:
I've had this question more than once, and that is, when I'm referring to "something which belongs to something which belongs to something else".

For example, in the following phrase I'm referring to the implementation of the "delete" operation or function of the RBT (red-black tree):

  improved the RBT's deletion operation's implementation

Is is correct to use double apostrophe 's? If it is, does it sound good? If not, how would you say it to make it sound better? If instead it's not correct English, why is it the case?

Examples of different situations are as usual welcome.


texts: I couldn't understand the sentence mentioned down below, the highlighted part from the memoir of Barack Obama. Can anyone please help me?

texts: I have uploaded the image down below to make you well known about the trouble i am experiencing understanding the highlighted part down below. I really would love to hear from you.


texts:
From Cambridge Dictionary

ever: at any time

If ever there was a cause for celebration, this peace treaty was it.

Could I interpret "at any time" as "in any situation" or "for any situation"? If yes, which one should I go with?


texts: I was reading a novel and came across this line "Magnus was all for staying here" . What does it mean here?


texts: A phrase equal to "ignoring a person on purpose to make him/her mad"

texts:
Is there any expression or phrase to mean:

  Not showing any reaction to one's insults,noises,accuses,provocative actions,comments and silly behaviors on purpose and make him/her mad.

We have some expressions in Persian to describe this reaction but I couldn't find in English dictionaries unless ignoring or neglecting which are too general.


texts: Can I just say "Watch" instead of "Watch where you are going"?

texts:
Can we just say "Watch." instead of "Watch where you are going."?

Example Context: Let's say somebody hit me on the sidewalk.

Note: I know that it can be rude to say these sentences. You don't need to tell me that. :)


texts: What is the difference between "do you know where" and "where is"?

texts:
I cannot understand the difference between these two sentences about the communication between two people.

  1) Do you know where my son is?

  2) Where is my son?

What is the difference?


texts: Are there any expressions equivalent to or synonymous with "knock (it) out of the park"?

texts:
I just heard "he knocked it out of the park" in Jon Stewart's Daily Show.

I googled and have got an explanation on it:

  to do a stellar job. Term is from baseball.

So I got the meaning and I can play the scenario out in my mind a baseball being hit so hard that it flies out of the park. That means a nice batting.

But I have some questions.

Firstly, can I also say "knock it out of the court/field/diamond/ring..."? Is baseball "park" an informal name for the baseball ground?

Secondly, Are there any expressions (slangs or idioms) equivalent to or synonymous with "knock (it) out of the park"?


texts: "at risk of" What verb is this phrase connected with?

texts:
I would be happy if you could choose form of transport so that my parcel would not be put [?] at the risk of damage .

I am not sure about using verb "put" with the phrase "at the risk of". Maybe there should be "be" only. I would be grateful if you could check also tenses :)


texts:
When should I put "the" in front of "public" ?

  (The) public threatened the security guy in order to go across the restricted area.

what is the role of "the" here ?

Thanks.


texts:
I've seen some cases like

  "He want back to working"

  "He decided returned to playing soccer"

  "Mexico went from exporting just coffee and oil to exporting: cars,
  tv, engines, laptops, etc.

Why ?

English teachers always say there are to options "to-infinitive" and gerund but I have never heard about a gerund with "to" before


texts:
Your son is sitting on the bed with his legs straightened, which occupies quite a lot of space, and you want him to bend or fold his legs towards his belly to give space.
Is it correct to say "could you bend your legs in/back to give us more room?"?
Some native speakers suggest to say "tuck your legs in", but "tuck" is used more for the edge of a piece of cloth or paper and I am not sure if it can be used for legs and arms.


texts: When do we use tell+infinitive with to ? (Not tell + object + to)

texts:
I'm looking for an example of using 'tell + infinitive with to'.
My book said 'tell' can be used with infinitive to, but didn't give me an example. I think that it generally comes 'tell+object+infinitive to'.
Can I say it as following?

  She told to go there.

Or

  She was told to go there.

Please give me any reasonable example.


texts:
I have received an invitation to visit a research lab for "several hours" in a well-known institution for potential hiring. I have provided them with my availability but I followed that with this sentence:

  If it possible and if you have a designated lab meeting day, I would be most interested in coming during that time.

>

Q1: Can I use two ifs in the same sentence as in the above one?

Q2: I know this is maybe not the place to ask this question, but does this sound like a reasonable request to ask during the hiring process?

I have found this (Two if clauses in one sentence) but it does not answer my question because of the use of different clauses and conditions.


texts: Present perfect or Past simple with "again"?

texts:
I need your help and explanation.

Which of these sentences is correct?

  Have you forgotten it again?

  or

  Did you forget it again?

I think the first sentence is correct, since the situation has been repeated several times and it is happening right now.

Am I right?


texts: It didn't have to be that good but it was/ it is?

texts:
I saw a really good video a couple of hours ago and if I were to describe it to someone would I use 'it didn't have to be that good but it is or it didn't have to be that good but it was'?
Also can someone tell me if what I wrote is correct.


texts:
Is the noun used "differently" in "worth the effort" vs. "worth the efforts" ?

According to Merriam-Webster, effort has the following 5 definitions -

  conscious exertion of power : hard work
  a serious attempt : TRY
  something produced by exertion or trying
  effective force as distinguished from the possible resistance called into action by such a force
  the total work done to achieve a particular end

it appears that other than definition 1 (and maybe also 5), which should be uncountable, definitions 2-4 (or 2-5) are countable nouns.

If the interpretation of the 5 definitions is correct, does the term "worth the effort" use the "uncountable" definition (e.g. worth the hard work) while "worth the efforts" uses the "countable" definition (e.g. worth the attempts) ?


texts: How should I understand this use of past and present tense in the same sentence?

texts:
'Cause, baby, now we got bad blood
  You know it used to be mad love
  So take a look what you've done
  'Cause, baby, now we got bad blood
  BY TAYLOR SWIFT


texts: What is the difference between 'hear' and 'listen'?

texts: Is there a difference between 'hear' and 'listen' in Standard English?


texts: Should I use at, in or on here: "[At/In/On] the time line you can find"?

texts:
Which prepositions goes better in the below statement?

  [at/in/on] the time line you can find all info about latest events [in/on] our system.

The time line is area on website, and I want add description about it.


texts: In this entry, is the American pronunciation (as written) correct? Is there any difference between British and American pronunciations?


texts: Meeting is scheduled for tomorrow. Why 'for' here?

texts:
1) The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.

2) The meeting is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

I feel 'for' is redundant in this context. I even feel 'for' is used in a wrong way as it literally means the meeting is scheduled for 'tomorrow' as if 'tomorrow' is a person and 'tomorrow' has something to do with the meeting.
I feel the 2nd sentence is a right one.


texts:
I know that we can use to-infinitives in a noun phrase outside a dependent clause, but can we use another type of infinitives, such as a bare infinitive? I can't think of any example for bare infinitives in noun phrases outside dependent clauses.

  Cars we see daily are not very special.

does not count because "see" is inside a dependent clause, "we see daily" with the "which omitted".

So is it possible?

==== EDIT ====

According to britishcouncil, which is more specific than wikipedia, the infinitive part of the noun phrase, if any, is a to-infinitive. No other option is given. However, I am not sure if it is over-simplifying it.


texts: Best acronym/abbreviation for the word "template"

texts:
What would be the proper way to shorten the word "template" down to maximum of 3 symbols for use in busy diagrams and schemes in (bio)chemical context?

From here and there I only found TPL and TML examples to be more or less suitable. Also, just T is often used in the specialized literature, but I find it rather improper as it could easily be confused with "temperature". So which one is correct?


texts: A question regarding the conjunction : neither...nor

texts:
I have a question in regards to the usage of neither..nor.

I know that the typical and correct structure is:

(1) He is neither fat nor thin.

But what about this:

(2) He is neither fatter nor thinner than his brother.

Is (2) grammatically correct?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I've come across it in the 15th episode of the 8th season the Walking Dead. Here is the context:

Eugene: If Negan needs bullets to end this war,
then, by ginger, he's gonna get 'em.
All of 'em.


texts: Is "in" the correct preposition in "a resesrve in"?

texts:
Besides, Nain Singh and Mani Singh carried quicksilver in an empty coconut shell and a reserve in cowrie shells closed with wax. (source)

I thought "reserve" should go with "of". Cambridge Dictionary has a number of example sentences with "a reserve of", but not a single instance of "a reserve in." Google Books also show similar results. Is the usage in the sentence correct?


texts: I'd like to know which tense is correct in sentences using "schedule and reschedule"

texts:
I have two sentences, using "schedule" and "reschedule" but I don't know which tense to use in each case.

The festival is scheduled to take place next Sunday.

Is is scheduled correct, or should it be the festival has been scheduled to / the festival was scheduled to / the festival will be scheduled to...

Today's lesson is rescheduled to next Monday.
Today's lesson has been rescheduled to / Today's lesson was rescheduled to /  Today's lesson will be rescheduled to

In both cases, all the tenses seem to work for me, but maybe it shouldn't be.   Could you tell me which to use?


texts:
Hurry up!The programme will start/is about to start.

My Approach:

Here also I think both can be used in reference that the programme will start in future and they will miss

Or

The programme is about to start indicating very recent action.

But the Ans given  (is about to start)

Am I right in my approach.Please correct me if I am wrong?


texts: What is the difference between "benefited" and "was benefited"?

texts:
What is the difference between

  The company was benefited from xyz

and

  The company benefited from xyz

and which is better?


texts: "almost lovingly apart" meaning in this context

texts:
He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached them: Dudley was curled up on the ground, his arms clamped over his face. A second Dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prising them slowly, almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head towards Dudley's face as though about to kiss him....

  [Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K.Rowling]

As I understand, 'apart' means 'separated', and 'lovingly' means "with fondness; with love". It seems strange when they put together "lovingly apart" in this context. I don't know what it's supposed to mean. How should we understand it?


texts: Meaning of “No simplicity of mind, no obscurity of station, can escape the universal duty of questioning all that we believe”

texts:
No simplicity of mind, no obscurity of station, can escape the universal duty of questioning all that we believe

How do understand this sentence?


texts: past perfect in a paragraph that is set in the present simple tense

texts:
"A Festival for the Dead is  held once a year in Japan. This festival is a cheerful occasion, for on this day, the dead are said to return to their homes and they are welcomed by the living. As they are expected to be hungry after their long journey, food is laid out for them. Specially-made lanterns are hung outside each house to help the dead to find their way. All night long, people dance and sing. In the early morning, the food that had been laid out for the dead is thrown into a river or into the sea as it is considered unlucky for anyone living to ear it. In towns that are near the sea, the tiny lanterns which had been hung in the streets the night before, are placed into the water when the festival is over. Thousands of lanterns slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world. This is a moving spectacle, for crowds of people stand on the shore watching the lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more."

The paragraph describes the festival in simple present tense except in the phrases "had been laid out" and "had been hung". Why the past perfect here? What are the reference times for these two events? Can we say "were laid out" and "were hung", or, "have been laid out" and "have been hung", or, "are laid out" and "are hung"?


texts:
Which one is correct ? Explain me.
a  ( or )  b

a/ Walking is good exercise.
b/ Walking is a good exercise.


texts: what's the meaning of the sentence in the novel "the haunted-house"?

texts:
I read the Charles Dickens's short novel " the haunted-house" ,and ran across a paragraph

  I was travelling towards London out of the North, intending to stop by the way, to look at the house. My health required a temporary residence in the country; and a friend of mine who knew that, and who had happened to drive past the house, had written to me to suggest it as a likely place. I had got into the train at midnight, and had fallen asleep, and had woke up and had sat looking out of window at the brilliant Northern Lights in the sky, and had fallen asleep again, and had woke up again to find the night gone, with the usual discontented conviction on me that I hadn't been to sleep at all;--upon which question, in the first imbecility of that condition, I am ashamed to believe that I would have done wager by battle with the man who sat opposite me. That opposite man had had, through the night--as that opposite man always has--several legs too many, and all of them too long. In addition to this unreasonable conduct (which was only to be expected of him), he had had a pencil and a pocket-book, and had been perpetually listening and taking notes. It had appeared to me that these aggravating notes related to the jolts and bumps of the carriage, and I should have resigned myself to his taking them, under a general supposition that he was in the civil-engineering way of life, if he had not sat staring straight over my head whenever he listened. He was a goggle-eyed gentleman of a perplexed aspect, and his demeanour became unbearable.

I didn't understand this: I am ashamed to believe that I would have done wager by battle with the man who sat opposite me. Can someone explain it for me?


texts:
The sentence from an article(link):

  While most public health studies focus on current behaviors and diets, we took a novel approach and looked at how the diets we consumed in our childhood affect obesity levels now that we are adults.

The meaning of now that from different dictionaries:

cambridge: We can use now that as a conjunction to refer to something and its result(s)

macmillian: as a result of something, used when you are saying that something happens as a result of something else

oxford: because the thing mentioned is happening or has just happened

In the sentence above from the article, I think, now that does not convey the result of being adult. Therefore, it means when instead of because to me. Can we say now that can convey same meaning as when does?


texts: Is Future Tense for If Conditional Necessary in Mathematical Context?

texts:
We use a future tense for a conditional sentence.

If you rest, you will feel better.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Must one follow this rule in mathematical contexts such as explaining Y=2X?

Y will increase by 2 if X increases by 1.

A number is in B if it is in A.

I am checking, in Wikipedia, If and only if and Conditional sentence but seeing both present and future tenses together.


texts: Saying "You and I might be happy together" as an answer to the question "Why do you want to date me?"

texts:
Let's say a guy asked a girl out, and the girl said "Why do you want to date me?".
In that case to mean that it is possible that they are going to be happy together in the future, the guy can say "You and I can be happy together.". What about "You and I might be happy together." I know that we can use "might" to refer to a future possibility, but somehow in the sentence and context I gave, it sounds somewhat unnatural to me. Does it sound unnatural to you as well, or is it ok to say "You and I might be happy together" to mean it is possible that they're going to be happy together in the future?

Note: I know that "might" indicates a lower possibility than "can".


texts: "The Jesus who said" - why is there a definite article before the proper name "Jesus"?

texts:
The system doesn't seem to be providing for the well-being of all the people, and that's what makes it, almost in its very nature, something contrary to the Jesus who said, "Blessed are the poor. Woe to the rich." (source: a documentary film)

Since normally proper names are not preceded by the definite article, I don't know why in a film a person said "the Jesus". I hear the definite article before Jesus, and the subtitles also confirm that, but I don't know if I heard it wrong, so here is a link to a YouTube video starting at that part of the film.

Why is the definite article used here? My hunch is it is to emphasize a particular version, if you will, among different versions of Jesus that preached on the poor and the rich. Are there other examples of the definite article being used before proper names/nouns?


texts: Phonetic Transcription of Spoken "Whose is it?"

texts:
I do not know how native English speakers colloquially pronounce the question "Whose is it?". What would the IPA of the sentence be like?
An IPA keyboard is here

Update: you could record the sentence in Forvo if you want to provide a great service to the world! You'll need to open up a free account; it takes just seconds if my memory services me right.

By the way, are American and UK pronunciation the same in this case? I know that in the case of "is n't it?" are different.


texts: What would be a correct word for describing that something has a duration (in contrast to non-timable things)? Could e.g. temporal be an option?


texts: 'Do you have books' vs 'Do you have any books'

texts:
Is it mandatory to use any in questions and negative sentences when using plural nouns? I have found a site that says it is not necessary. If I omit any will that be grammatical?

Here are some examples:

Hey Peter, do you have 'any' books?
Last month, I visited a rain forest. I did not see 'any' animals there.

Can anyone please explain?


texts: Is "I know" appropriate or rude in conversation?

texts:
Sometimes, during a conversation, someone tells me some fact or shares some knowledge and I reply by saying "I know". Would that be a rude thing to say? I feel very awkward when I say this and want to avoid as I fear the other person may just not go in depth into the topic hearing this.

Is there a better word or other way to deal with this awkwardness during a conversation?


texts: Is "bit of oil" countable or uncountable?

texts:
If it is countable why do we say

  a little bit of oil

and can  I say the following?

  a little quantity of seeds


texts: What does "people who heard voices were definitely in the bottom ten" convey in this context?

texts:
‘All dark,’ Dudley said hoarsely, shuddering. ‘Everything dark. And then I h-heard ... things. Inside m-my head...’

  Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia exchanged looks of utter horror. If
  their least favourite thing in the world was magic, closely followed
  by neighbours who cheated more than they did on the hosepipe ban,
  people who heard voices were definitely in the bottom ten. They
  obviously thought Dudley was losing his mind.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

As I understand, "people who heard voices were definitely in the bottom ten" is saying that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia disliked people who heard voices(because it's in the bottom ten of their favourite list). But I'm not sure how it's relevant to the context. Maybe, they thought Dudley was losing his mind because he heard voices? What's the sense of it here?


texts: I decided / have decided that I wanted a change from central London

texts:
The exercise below comes from my English textbook:

  Source: http://gymn1.baranovichi.edu.by/ru/main.aspx?guid=32441

  Decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits each space.

  Dear Linda,

  I’m sorry I haven't written to you for so long, but I have been very
  busy lately. All last month I had exams, and I haven't done anything
  else but study for ages. Anyway, I have stopped studying now., and I
  am waiting for my exam results.

  As you can see from the letter, I have changed my address and live in
  Corydon now. I __________ that I wanted a change from central London because
  it has become so expensive. A friend of mine told me about this flat,
  and I moved here about two months ago.

  When you come to London this summer, please visit me. I am staying
  here until the middle of August. Then I am going on holiday to
  Scotland.

  Please write soon,

  Margaret

  A. decided

  B. have decided

  C. was deciding

  D. decide

The given answer key is B (have decided). I think the author uses the present perfect in order to suggest that the decision made in the past is still of importance in the present.

Is it possible for me to choose A (decided) - the simple past tense? If so, is there any difference in the meaning between option A & B in this case?


texts:
I have read all the threads on it and am still confusing with this case

Photographer's work is 24/7

or

Photographer work is 24/7

it answers "whose?" question. The work of a photographer.
Still which way to write it is correct?

Thanx a lot


texts: We had a lot of difficulty in finding or to find the house

texts:
Which one to choose and is there any rule which I can go through:

  We had a lot of difficulty in finding the house.
  We had a lot of difficulty to find the house.

Suggestions please.


texts:
Which of these are more common / correct in soccer terminology? Or is it something else?

Shot to the post.
Shot on the post.
Shot on the woodwork.
Shot to the woodwork.


texts: What does "Your Skeetage may vary" joke(?) work in this comment?

texts:
I was reading a meta.SE post about Community user.
 https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/184485/301070

The last comment against this question post was "Your Skeetage may vary", and it received 4 upvotes.

The context of the discussion is as follows; to control the uncontrollable Community user bot, members suggested praying to Jon Skeet (probably the most famous member of StackOverflow); the discussion continued on about the methodology of such praying.  At the end of such discussion, this comment was made.

Now, I could understand the word 'Skeetage' refers to some sort of methodological attitude toward praying to, Jon Skeet.  What I don't understand is how does the Skeetage connotate such meaning and make sense as a joke (I think this comment is a joke, but not for sure.)

Question

In the discussion of the meta post, how does 'Your Skeetage may vary' joke(?) work?

The exerpt of discussion

I fear the team lost control over that bot! :P – Shadow Wizard Jun 14 '13 at 20:16
@Undo: I can suspend it, but I'll get yelled at if I do it :P – Manishearth Jun 14 '13 at 20:18
@ShaWizDowArd they never had control. Control is an illusion, created by Community. The only one with control now is... Mr. Skeet! – Richard J. Ross III Jun 14 '13 at 20:29
@RichardJ.RossIII: Ha! How do we pray to the Skeet again? – Manishearth Jun 14 '13 at 20:36
@Manishearth first, you chant his name 3 times... then, you spin around twice, light 5 candles, do the skeet-u-flect, and drink a bowl of milk, because that sounds like fun. There, you've successfully prayed to our god, Mr. Skeet. – Richard J. Ross III Jun 14 '13 at 20:38
@Richard I think that just buying one of his books would suffice. ;) – Shadow Wizard Jun 14 '13 at 20:44
@ShaWizDowArd that's like paying a tithe or something, not prayer. – Richard J. Ross III Jun 14 '13 at 20:55
@Richard OK, but doing what you said before while holding a book of Him would greatly increase chances for response, right? :D – Shadow Wizard Jun 14 '13 at 20:57
@ShaWizDowArd Our god does not offer guarantees of any kind on his prayers, and is not responsible for any jobs lost due to performing the prayer rituals at work. – Richard J. Ross III Jun 14 '13 at 21:00
@Sha Your Skeetage may vary. – Undo Jun 14 '13 at 21:05


texts:
She said to him, "Would you like a pizza today?"

How to change this to indirect speech?
Is it She asked him if he would have liked a pizza that day.?


texts:
I was wondering if you could let me know in each one of the following sets, which sentence sounds idiomatic and then natural. If a sentence doesn't work, how I should write it. (From my point of view, all of the sentences in each group mean exactly the same.)

A)

  I didn't mean to take liberty.
  I didn't mean to take liberties.
  I didn't mean to venture.

B)

  I took the liberty of using your umbrella when you were absent. I hope you don’t mind.
  I took the liberties of using your umbrella when you were absent. I hope you don’t mind.
  I ventured and used your umbrella when you were absent. I hope you don’t mind.


texts: "Acted as if he didn't know me" vs "Acted as if he hadn't known me

texts:
First, here's a material that made me keep thinking about this issue in the first place.

http://www.grammaring.com/as-if-as-though

  She acted as if she didn't know me.

It was the first time that I'd seen her since I was in elemantary school.(and now I'm 26). A couple of days ago, when I met her, she acted as if she didn't know me. I think she didn't remember me.

  She acted as if she hadn't known me.

I broke up with her a couple of weeks ago, and when I met her yesterday, she acted as if she hadn't known me. She definitely knew who I am, but pretended as if he hadn't known me because she didn't want to talk to me.

Is it right that I make a situation like that with each sentence? I hope this try will be concerned not only for me, but also for other English learners.


texts:
He will go bananas if you so much as scratch the car.
Can you please explain to me the meaning of the phrase "so much as" in the context of the sentence? Does it mean that s/he is so cautious about the car that in case you scratch it, s/he will go mad?


texts: Which Verb form shall we use to describe completed / Finished Action referring to Present tense

texts:
Scenario,

I Change the date of program and wanted to inform to my friends. Which Tense Should I use?

........That is why I change this date.

Is the above sentence construction is correct to describe present tense?

This because I want to describe changes are pertains to Present situation. Thought at the time of saying date changes are already done by me.

Still can we use Present tense or shall we use Past Tense.

That is why I changed this date.

I got this confusion because of Sentence like.

I Like It very much. ( Present Tense )

I Liked it very much. ( Past Tense)


texts: Should I use "you welcome" every time for "thanks" or does it depend on context?

texts:
What is exactly use of "you welcome"?

Suppose there are two scenario:

If someone come to me for help and I did then he might say "thanks". In this scenario I will reply "you welcome".
If I go to shop and buy something and paid bill then shopkeeper said "thanks".

In scenario 2 what do I need to reply him? As I gone there to buy something I can't reply him as "you welcome", right? So, how to reply in that case and what are different ways to reply for thanks as per different scenario?


texts:
My friend planned to start morning walk. And for the first day, he planned for 10km. I, impressively, said, "That's gonna be some head start!" And he returned, "Head start over whom?"

I first didn't get him. Later I checked that head start is used mostly for comparison with somebody. But then from the wikipedia entry last para, I inferred that this word may be used absolutely, without any comparison. But I am not sure. But just to avoid confusion for future, I was wondering for an alternative and I thought about jump start but Oxford is listing it just as verb. So I wonder how I could improve on my original sentence.


texts: How to interpret a "... of..." structure: "protest of CEOs"?

texts:
When Americans notice business and politics mingling in other countries they often see it as a sign of institutional
decay, crony capitalism or authoritarianism. Today the mixing of government and corporations is happening in America.
Sometimes that is in pursuit of honourable causes, as in the
protest of CEOs over new laws restricting voting in Georgia and
other states.  (From the Economist)

Can I interpret "protest of CEOs" in two different ways: one being that people protest CEOs, the other being that CEOs initiate the protest themselves?
Based on the context, I think it's better to interpret it the second way, as new laws restrict them from voting.
However, in most cases, I think " the protest of XXX" almost always means to protest against someone/sth, as in my first interpretation.
In the corpus, I found most sentence, if not all, at least from what I have looked through, bear the meaning of "protest against someone/sth."
Just to give one example:

After four students from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University were refused service at the lunch counter at Woolworth department store in Greensboro, North Carolina, Dellums led a boycott and protest of Kress and Woolworth stores in the Bay Area. (from The Liberary Community)

Also, It seems that "protest by" will better fit the context to mean "protest initiated by XXX," as demonstrated by the Corpus. An example sentence is:

The defeat of the Charlottetown Accord was interpreted as a protest by Canadians against the country’s “political class” (mainly the deeply unpopular Mulroney government), and as a vote against the Accord itself. (from thecanadianencyclopedia)

I am not interested in the Georgia law, and all I want to know is whether I can understand this "of" structure in two ways and I have to choose one meaning over the other based on contextual clues. And why I think "protest of" is not the best option here.  Thank you!


texts:
What does "political space" mean in this context?

  Of course we are mindful that there is no guarantee that our current diplomatic efforts will succeed where others failed, but with the president’s direction and strong support we are committed to try through diplomacy to do more, not less. Over the past year we have been able to sustain political space and momentum at home with bipartisan agreement that diplomacy remains the best course.
  Remarks on DPRK at Michigan University

I found the following definition but am not sure if it works above.

  Political space is
  an arena in which input from citizens is continually being received
  and taken into account by the governing authorities.Wikija


texts: When do we pronounce Z as "zed" and not "zi:"

texts:
When we learned the ABC song and English alphabet, we pronounced Z as [zed]. But in the practical usage, I never heard people say [zed], but they always say [zi:]

So when shall we say [zed]?

Or such pronunciation is totally archaic and not used in the modern English.


texts:
Is "restaurant I ordered from" idiomatic? I am not sure if it's correct, but I see a lot of people saying it, but I don't think it's grammatically correct. Don't you "order food at a restaurant"? However, I see "order from a restaurant" more often on Google than "order at a restaurant".

For example:

  The restaurant I ordered from was just a few miles away from my
  apartment.


texts: I've used an expression "core competency" for years and recently found out that it is correct to say "core competence", as in "growing vegetables is my core competence". Now I'm in doubt so I'm asking here. What is the right way to say about what I'm most competent at?


texts:
I'm not a native speaker of English. I'm trying to teach English learners positive and negative words.

I found this word in students' textbook, which only gives me the choice between positive and negative. I doubt the correctness of the textbook. Is the word 'expensive' negative or neutral?


texts:
The situation : A repaired all music instrument waiting B. And B comes back with a piano.

 A: I just finished my repairs... And I was about to tackle the piano, though that might hurt.

B: hahaha I suppose it would!

What's the meaning of this?
Is it some kind of joke?


texts: Does 'responsible' in 'responsible for' function as a verb or an adverb?

texts: In the sentence "you are responsible for his demise", does 'responsible' function as a verb with object his demise, or does it function as an adverb modifying 'are'?


texts: I once read that “The beauty of life is its change” and that “the act of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings

texts:
In this sentence "I once read that 'The beauty of life is its change' and that 'the act of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings', can I omit the two "that"?

Thank you very much!


texts: The number of apples, the number of oranges, the numbers of apples and oranges?

texts:
When we count objects, we can say

The number of apples is two.
The number of oranges is three.

I am wondering how to combine these two sentences.

Can I say that:

The number(s) of apples and oranges is five.

I want to know if I need "s" in numbers (because I am talking two different numbers).

Or can I say:

The number(s) of apples and oranges are different.

The number(s) of apples and oranges are two and three.


texts: Do I need to place a comma before "then"?

texts:
Example:

  "The helicopter will land in a minute or two
  ."

  "Why can't we see it, then?

Do I need that comma before the then? Why and why not?

I got both versions on Google:

  ...wouldn't they be in the way then?

  ...wouldn't they be dead, then?


texts: How do you know the exact implication of 'may'?

texts:
How do you differentiate these two meanings of this sentence:

  You may slurp your soup loudly.

1. You should be careful when drinking soup, otherwise you might slurp and be impolite.

2. You are given permission to slurp your soup.

Is there a way to tell the exact implication of "may?"


texts: What's the structure of the clause in Italic?

texts:
if you look forward to the future you're going to see even more jobs in the United States today created because of if need for us to meet that growing demand we're seeing in China

FYI, the whole sentence is

  That's what you see happening, that's why we're exporting so much to China already, and that's why our exports are growing so rapidly and that's why we're so confident that if you look forward to the future you're going to see even more jobs in the United States today created because of if need for us to meet that growing demand we're seeing in China.

What I cannot understand is only the finial part, showing in Italic.

The source: https://charlierose.com/videos/14139

around 24:00

A tip: this site has a transcript.

"United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Vice Premier of China Wang Qishan discuss their recent meetings regarding U.S.-Chinese diplomatic relations"


texts:
I've been reading this question. I have also been reading this pdf. From these two sources it appears that there is no difference between Present-perfect-tense and Simple-past-tense.

I myself thought up two sentences:

  The children played in the sandbox.
  The children have played in the sandbox.

The only difference that I am able to recognize is that in the 2nd sentence we are putting some emphasis on the fact that children (have) finished the play. If I translate "have" into my language then it is giving the emphasis that children finished the job. On the other hand the 1st sentence is just telling that children played there some time ago. The 1st sentence is giving no emphasis on the fact that they have finished the play.

Please explain me what is the difference between Present-perfect-tense and Simple-past-tense.


texts: The way for a captain of an airplane to address passengers without mentioning his name

texts:
What's the usual way for a captain of an airplane to address passengers?

Is it like "Hello, captain [family name] is speaking"?

Is it possible to do the same, but without mention the name?


texts:
He took me under his wing/wings and taught me everything I know.

Are both wing and wings proper usage?


texts: Shall I use simple present or present perfect tense for the sentence about my friend's upcoming birthday

texts:
I have bought some special present for my friend's birthday (29th June).

Now I am writing some sentences about the moment when she sees my present
 (it has not happened yet, I am imagining).

Sentence 1:

  I think she will be very happy when she sees this present.

Sentence 2:

  I think she will be very happy after she has seen this present.

I want to pick sentence 1, but I think sentence 2 is also correct.  I don't know which is the better.


texts: use of appropriate preposition 'in' or 'of' after decline

texts:
The decline of her morale was fascinating.

The decline in her morale was fascinating.

Which one is correct? Additionally please tell me if the use of 'in' or 'of' after 'decline' is a use of appropriate preposition or contextual-based.


texts:
Three-stone weakling

From Wikipedia, stone is defined as a unit：

  The stone or stone weight (abbreviation: st.) is an English and
  imperial unit of weight or mass now equal to 14 avoirdupois pounds
  (6.35029318 kg).

One stone is 14 pounds; Three stone would be 42 pounds.

A weakling is a person or animal that is physically weak and frail.

What does "three-stone weakling" mean? A weak person whose weights 42 pounds?

There is another phrase about three-stone: three-stone ring. Does "three-stone"  in this phrase mean 42 pounds too? It is quite heavy!


texts: Explain affirmative to interrogative in Present Simple

texts:
I am trying to find a good, correct explanation for how to change the sentence from an affirmative to an interrogative in the Present Simple tense, for instance:

I am a boy. = Am I a boy?
He eats meat. = Does he eat meat?
We sleep at night. = Do we sleep at night?
You are his friend. = Are you his friend?

Why in some cases it is "to be" and in others the modal verb "do"?

I know how it works, but I can't explain.


texts:
My question is about the -wh question words usage in a negative question (in bold below).

Why he doesn't open the lights?
Why doesn't he open the lights?

Is there a difference in meaning? If not which one is grammatically correct? I have searched "why he doesn't" and "why doesn't he" on Google and both came up with equal amount of results. Which one I should use to simply ask the reason of a negative action?

When I read the questions above I feel like there is a difference. In the first one, I just ask the reason. Why? I don't expect anything from him and I don't wonder about any motives. I simply ask the reason. Why? Reason can be as simple as "because he is lazy".

When I read the second sentence, it feels like I am annoyed because he doesn't open the lights and I expect him to open the lights.


texts: A word meaning that something is "believed to be true by the majority, but most likely not true"

texts: I am looking for a single word to describe something that is "believed to be true by the majority, but most likely not true". How could I say this?


texts: Too many "the"s here. Should I delete some?

texts:
I have a sentence:

  The Theorem states the properties of the solution of the
  model.

Too many "the" here... Is there anything wrong in grammar?


texts: Is there an english adjective meaning "obtained by cutting or by breaking it off something"?

texts:
I'm trying to translate a native word.

For example:

  I got this piece of wood by breaking it off from a branch.
  I got this twine from that ball of string.

So, what I'm looking for is a  'to be' verb or adjective. But in my language to be verbs and adjectives are sometimes the same.

How do I say that the twine was obtained by cutting it from the ball of string? Or the piece of wood was broken off from a branch?

I'm looking for an adjective similar to stolen in stolen goods. Or like plucked but instead it was broken off or cut. I understand it doesn't always translate but what is the closest word I could use.


texts: Yours or you... which pronoun should be used here?

texts:
"Happiness is.. Having friends with the same mental disorders as yours."

I was just wondering if this sentace is grammatical or should it be "you" at the end?

Either way; it's very funny!

Thanks


texts:
On the Internet, my friend found this picture:

My question is how natural the expression "super clean cockpit" sounds to native speakers. What do you think?

My friend thinks this expression is awkward as the primary meaning of the word "clean" is "free from dirt, marks, or stains". I don't necessarily agree with him. Another meaning, is "simple/smooth" and here the word indicates something similar to the one in a phrase like "modern design with clean lines and a bright appearance".

The picture is made by a manufacturer in Switzerland for their fundraising campaign and a possibility is that their English is not perfectly natural.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-one-world-s-lightest-electric-folding-bike?utm_source=UCB%20Website%20DE&utm_medium=referral#/


texts: Is there a standard technique for practicing the "th" phonemes?

texts:
My son is still young enough to be practicing his pronunciation.  He has trouble (not surprisingly) with th in particular.  I have modeled the correct mouth shape for him but it still takes him a lot of effort to get the sound right. In regular speech, he just slurs the sounds into f or s depending on the word.

With his l sounds, we had a lot of success by singing "Skip to My Lou" a lot. I can't think of any children's songs that have frequent th sounds though.

Is there a current, accepted, standard technique to help him practice both the voiced and unvoiced th (which preferably don't involve sitting and saying "th, th, th" for a long time)?


texts: Why using "component part" to talk about a component or a part?

texts:
I was trying to learn some new definitions when I came across this definition which disturbed me:

parse: Resolve (a sentence) into its component parts and describe their syntactic roles.

I actually have no problem with the definition of "parse" anymore, but I wondered why one would talk about "component parts" instead of "components" or "parts"... "component parts" sounds like a pleonasm to me. Can someone explain me the difference? Thanks in advance.


texts:
I can't understand the meaning of "have far to go" in the sentence:

My heart rushes into my throat and although I know I don’t have far to go, I feel an overwhelming urge to look down on the city.


texts: When to use “tomato” and when to use “tomatoes”?

texts:
In my scientific article manuscript, I used tomato to refer
to the plant in general. But after I sent the manuscript to the
Elsevier English Correction Service, they changed all tomato
into tomatoes. For example this sentence:

This suggests that an interaction among many genes is
associated with the mechanism in tomatoes.

I am quite conflicted about this. I only want to refer to the
tomato plant in general, not to emphasize different types of
tomatoes. What is the correct choice in this case? When should I
use tomato and when tomatoes?


texts:
I saw a post on Reddit, I knew every meaning of words but I can't get what process of action they were describing. Below is the post they put.

  I had to call my boss for help with a machine that would not cooperate. We are talking as I am tightening a bolt and my slips. I split my knuckle open and called the machine every 4-letter word.

Specifically, the problem for me to understand is in what is bolt and slips and splitting knuckle open.


texts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorting_algorithm, line 2.

  it is also often useful for canonicalizing data and for producing
  human-readable output

what's the "canonicalizing data" ? Could you give me some examples?


texts: word for act of keeping a knife in front of throat to threaten

texts:
What is word I can use to describe the act of keeping a knife in front of throat to threaten. Can use the word "keep" as in the below sentence?

  She takes a knife and keeps the knife close to Christina's throat.


texts: admissions (school, university) = another word for "secretary’s office"?

texts: In its "education" chapter, a pictorial ENG-GER dictionary I own translates "admissions" into "Sekretariat" (secretary’s office (of a school or university)), but several online dictionaries give me the meanings "the procedure for admitting students to study at a college, university, or school" and "the students admitted to an institution". Is the translation of my pictorial dictionary correct, maybe as a secondary meaning? I should add that there are instances where the pictorial dictionary features Indian English words, most likely because the book was produced there.


texts:
Is the phrase "agent for receipt of legal correspondence" proper in English? Why not just "agent for legal correspondence"?

Shell companies may be registered to the address of a company that provides a service setting up shell companies, and which may act as the agent for receipt of legal correspondence (such as an accountant or lawyer). The company may serve as a vehicle for business transactions without itself having any significant assets or operations.

Source: Wikipedia


texts:
I made up the following sentences. Which version is correct?

 I prefer being by myself and not depend on others.
I prefer being by myself and don't depend on others.
I prefer being by myself and not depending on others.

The first version looks to me a nice version to hear it. But negation of the verb seems to me wrong.

The senond one looks pretty grammatical.Due to we negate a verb with auxiliary verb do

The third one uses gerund. It doesn't nice to hear. But it make sense because it combines the sentence in a good structure: Subject+Verb(Gerund + Gerund)


texts:
I'm buried under a sobbing carpet, and all of a sudden even death and dying rank right down there with plastic flowers on video as a non-event.

Source: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

What is it, "dying rank" ?


texts: What does "...yet has been trailed..." mean in this sentence?

texts:
No one has felt the pressure more than White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who was christened as the man "in charge" by the President mere weeks ago yet has been trailed ever since by snipers regarding his aptitude and longevity for the job.

Does the yet has been trailed mean he's never been targeted? Or is it otherwise?

http://time.com/4672974/donald-trump-white-house-chaos/


texts: Present tense passive (The moon is made of the same material as earth.)

texts:
The moon is made of the same material as earth.

I got this sentence from a grammar book as an example of present tense. However, the past participle made is confusing to me. Is this also an example of passive voice? Or made of the same material as earth is a participial adjective phrase?


texts: When do you use Get or Be in the passive voice?

texts:
When do you use get or be in the passive voice?

I have seen both used for passive voice. Sometimes they seem interchangeable and sometimes not. Is there a rule for which one to use?

Examples where both works

  I was paid for my work.

  I got paid for my work.

Example where got doesn't work

  It is believed to be true.


texts:
So i have an answer here, but i need to know how to ask question for that answer:

  ans:he is his 3rd son.

  que: which son is he to him??

Is that question framing correct? Thanks.


texts: How Americans bring up a reference to a particular subject in a formal letter?

texts:
Do the following structures mean the same in the beginning of an AmE formal letter:

With reference to your letter of 17 March, I am pleased to inform you...

Reference to your letter of 17 March, I am pleased to inform you...

Pursuant to your letter of 17 March, I am pleased to inform you...

Following your letter of 17 March, I am pleased to inform you...

OR

With reference to our previous discussions...

Reference to  our previous discussions...

Pursuant to  our previous discussions...

Following  our previous discussions...


texts:
yesterday I played basketball by myself and a foreign girl asked me if she could join me. I liked teaching her. it was something that I've dreamed of experiencing, playing basketball with a girl. And Jina, you could learn from a guy you like.

It can be a strategic way of making him have a good feeling about you.

It can be a strategic way (that) you make him have a good feeling about you.

It can be a strategic way to make him have a good feeling about you.

I'd like to get used to using the word 'way' can I use whichever I want among them?