texts: Subjects of infinitives when infinitives are used as adjectives

texts:
I recently officially learned that an infinitive can have a subject For + subject + to + verb.

For example,

  For them to browse the Web is entertaining.

  For Smith to turn down the job was a big surprise.

  For Jones to return the favor meant a lot to us.

I am wondering whether this can be applied to other structures where an infinitive is used as an adjective.
Do you think the sentences down below are correct use of subjects of infinitives?

  Harry Potter series contains books for children to understand easily. (Children are the ones understanding easily.)

  This is a touching film for me to watch, because it reminds me of my childhood.(I am the one watching the film.)

  Tomorrow is the day for us to start working on the project. (We are the ones working on the project.)


texts:
The Oxford Dictionary defines to abdicate as "fail to fulfill or undertake (a responsibility or duty)", which renders me wondering what does fulfill a responsibility mean.

I understand it (abdicate) this way: for instance, you have finished a course "How to repair TV sets" and every time your TV set breaks, you hire somebody else to repair it. In other words, there is a situation when you are supposed to do something, but you don't do it, for some reason -- you abdicate your responsibility.


texts:
The sentences:

  There wasn't much traffic in the street.
  I saw a little girl CROSS the road.

Question: Why "cross"? Why not "crossing"? Please, explain the rule or the sentence if it is correct.


texts:
Defending champions Germany have been eliminated from the World Cup at the group stage following defeat by South Korea, in one of the biggest shocks in the competition's history.

From BBC.com

I would lile to know how to understand this sentence correctly? Which is the shock and why to use a preposition 'in one of... '


texts:
Sentences:

  I feed the dog biscuits.

  I feed the dog on biscuits.

Does feed on mean to give as a regular food, and feed mean simply to give food?

Explain.

Thank you.


texts:
I had a debate with my friend (English is not our mother tongue) because I found this phrase bit wierd.

  We were almost close to booking tickets to London.

I thought using 'almost' and 'close' together is not right.
We were both confused on this part: to booking tickets.
Should we use to book or to booking?


texts: what does the phrase "where it really matters" mean?

texts:
"Your power to choose is made supreme where it really matters--the choice of health institutions and professionals."

What does "where it really matters" mean?

Is it an adverb? If so, an adverb for which part of the sentence?


texts: I'm wondering if it is  Sellotape or Cellotape, or anything else(Sello tape or cello tape). I'm talking about the general name of that roll of sticking tape.


texts: Iota of "feeling" or iota of "feelings"?

texts:
I was referring to somebody who just doesn't exhibit any emotions.
And, I was curious to know whether I should choose "feeling" over "feelings" after "iota".

I think feelings would be proper if we don't consider feelings in plural sense and rather think of it as more of a perception.
Thanks in advance.


texts:
The birds perched atop of the tower.
The birds perched atop the tower.

I definitively see the second form more often, but I am not sure if the first one is wrong. I don't see any problem with the first form, but I rarely see it. Is there a reason why?


texts:
Can anybody explain to me the use of the indefinite article in the following sentences:

She had a great zest for life.
The danger of being caught added a certain zest to the affair.

"Zest" is a non-count noun, of course.


texts:
Is it "mobilized to X" or "mobilized into X"? I am not sure what's the correct idiomatic use of the verb mobilized. I think it's the former, but I am thinking it might actually be wrong, so I am wondering what's the correct way of using it.

For example:

  The military command mobilized the amphibian unit to sea in order to
  attack the enemy by sea.


texts: Meaning of "Any life will seem dramatic if you omit mention of most of it"

texts:
You remember it differently. You remember that the cold settled in stages, that small
  curve of light was shaved from the moon night after night, until you were no longer
  surprised the sky was black, that the chipmunk ran to hide in the dark, not simply to a
  door that led to its escape. Our visitors told the same stories people always tell. One night,
  giving me a lesson in storytelling, you said, "Any life will seem dramatic if you omit
  mention of most of it."

in this sentence I don't get what the writer purpose is by " most of it"

Dose it mean: Any life would be theatrical and moving if you omit good things?

This context is from a short story named: Snow by Ann Beattie


texts:
Stumbled upon this passage reading Michael Swan's Practical English Usage (highly commendable book):

  End-weight can also affect the word order of indirect questions. Compare:
  I'm not sure what the point is.
  I'm not sure what is the point of spending hours and hours discussing this.

It seems the second sentence goes against the rule governing the word order of an indirect question (no inversion!). Any suggestions?


texts: "Do they not ever learn" or "Don't they ever learn?"

texts:
My students told me that they are supposed to write

  "Do they not ever learn"

instead of

  "Don't they ever learn".

I suspect that all of them misunderstood something in the grammar class. Or am I mistaken? Can anyone help out?


texts: Modals and Verbs for obligations and advice

texts:
must, should, need, have to,  and have got to

Are all these sentences correct to say?

We must work to earn money.
We should work to earn money.
We need to work to earn money.
We have to work to earn money.
We have got to work to earn money.


texts:
I understand that assets is in plural form but not sure about the following sentences:-

The bulk of its assets were tied in property

or

The bulk of its assets was tie in property.


texts:
I am studying preposition related to mode of transportation (English is not my first language). Despite knowing the rule for by, on, in prepositions, I still find them confusing. Can you tell how below sentences differ?

I am in a bus.
I am on a bus.

I travelled by bus.
I travelled on a bus.
I travelled in a bus.

Thank you.


texts: Meaning of "unqualified" in this sentence

texts:
I. She goes to school.
  II. She may/must go to school

  As a main clause, [I] is a characteristically used as an unqualified assertion. She may go, by contrast, indicates that the situation possibly obtains or is permitted, while […].

  (The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)

What does unqualified mean?


texts: How to tell a professor "I read your paper and I enjoyed to read it"?

texts:
When I write an email to a professor asking a question about one of his publications, what is a proper way to say that I loved the paper / enjoyed reading it?

"I enjoyed reading your paper from year X about Y"?

"I read your paper from year X about Y and it was very interesting"?


texts: He got a vote 80% that of Emmanuel Macron’s

texts:
I was reading The Economist and found this sentence whose grammar I'm not familiar with.

  Indeed, in the first round he got a vote 80% that of Emmanuel Macron’s.

I was wondering how that of works in the sentence.

"Indeed, in the first round he got a vote 80% the vote of Emmanuel Macron’s" strikes my ears as odd somehow.

Thank you.


texts: How to express the body organs in pair with exclamation?

texts:
We often express exclamation like this -

  Wow, what a car!

How do we express the body parts in pair in such way?

  Wow, what sexy legs she has! Or Wow, what a pair of sexy legs she has?

This also sounds off to me

  Look at him, what a pair of eyes he has! OR What eyes he has!


texts: When is it okay to write "childrens" or "childrens' " – language hack

texts:
Let's make a scenario in which there are two distinctively different entities which are both referenced as "child".

The first entity is a group of nodes that are named "children" from the parent node (e.g. in Computer Science). The second entity is a group of kids who are human. For some arbitrary reason, someone tries to communicate both entities as a collective whole in a sentence but with a purpose to make the distinction.

Is it correct to use the word "childrens" to refer to both the children nodes and real-life children? Please note that I'm trying to use one word to symbolize different types of "children".

I asked the question just for fun during corona time.


texts: Difference between "infected with" and "infected by"

texts:
I found both these two versions are being used

  Infected with coronavirus

  Infected by coronavirus

Cambridge Dictionary gives different definitions for them:

  to pass a disease to a person, animal, or plant

for "infected with" and

  If a place, wound, or substance is infected, it contains bacteria or other things that can cause disease

for "infected by".

However, I can't distinguish those two meanings. Could someone please give a hint?


texts: When people brag about their abilities and belittle their opponents before a battle, competition, etc

texts:
I'm writing an article about a myth in which two epic heroes facing each other before a single combat. The part I'm at now is when the two heroes start bragging about their abilities and things they've accomplished while at the same time they try to belittle their  opponent by saying things like, "now tell me boy, you think you can handle a man?" or "before you were born I had been the champion of the champions." I think this part of the battle was mainly to diminish the opponent's self-confidence.

The modern version of this can be seen when let's say you want to have street car racing and start saying things like, "let's see how fast you can be on that wreck."

My questions are simply about describing this activity that people do before a competition, but since I provided two contexts, (one out of need, and the other out of curiosity), probably two words with a formal and informal register would be excellent. However, a neutral word is good enough. My sentences are:

  The heroes started [verb]ing.

  The racers were [verb]ing for a few minutes before going down the street at full throttle.

Thanks.


texts: Meaning of "I take up my pen in the year of grace 17"

texts:
SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of
  these gentlemen having asked me to write down the
  whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the
  beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the
  bearings of the island, and that only because there is still
  treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of
  grace 17— and go back to the time when my father kept the
  Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the
  sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof.

Dose it an expression and mean:  I write about it that happened in 18th century?
or Dose it mean: in 18th century I started to write about it?

this contexet is from a novel named: treasure Island.


texts:
I found a sentence on an online English test.

  Question: More money is now spent on fuel than before.

  Answer: Not as much money was spent on fuel before as now.

I have learnt "comparative structure like "as adjective as ", "adjective than." I found as adj as, as much/many noun as. But I did not know which structures are those sentences?  I really want to know this structre "not as adj noun v as noun "


texts:
Can we use the following statement to mention the idea of leaping into the future:

  Then the story moved forward to an era which was around a century ahead that time.

My friend was describing the story of a movie and he used this statement. The complete description that he gave is as follows:

  The story revolved around the life of a princess. Then, the story moved forward to an era which was around a century ahead that time. It then discussed the story of the rebirth of that princess.


texts:
Are all the following grammatical? and which one is the most natural?

  I haven't eaten anything for 3 hours.

  I haven't eaten anything over the last 3 hours.

  The last time I ate anything was 3 hours ago.


texts:
I came across this sentence on ODO: (from the entry in the main)

  ‘It was a victory etched out in the main through a team effort and a very fine one at that.’

I can't seem to find "etch out" defined anywhere as a phrasal verb. Can a victory be "etched out"?


texts: meaning of the phrase "be huge to" in context

texts:
It is from Crash Course US history. It is right at the beginning.

  Today we are going to talk about a topic so huge to history buffs, that we can only discuss it a tiny, little fraction of it.

Does he mean the topic is very loved by the buffs or that it is literary very big to them?


texts:
Which of the following orders are grammatically correct (maybe all)? Which are the most common? Do each of them have their own usage and implication (in specific conditions)?

It is hard that I can't see you
This matter that I can't see you is hard for me
that I can't see you is hard
that I can't see you is hard for me


texts:
I just can't understand the structure and meaning of this phrase? Why he used "that" at the beginning of that sentence? And I don't get the function of "should have v3" form in that phrase.

  He looked upon aimless bodily exertion as a waste of energy, and he
  seldom bestirred himself save when there was some professional object
  to be served. Then he was absolutely untiring and indefatigable.
  That he should have kept himself in training under such circumstances is remarkable, but his diet was usually of the
  sparest, (Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes)


texts:
http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/writing-supplement

Here is the third paragraph.

  In 150 words or fewer, please briefly describe which single activity listed in the Activity section of your application are you most proud of and why.

Is this part of the sentence correct?

  describe which single activity listed in the Activity section of your application are you most proud of and why.

I have a feeling that it should be written as

  describe which single activity listed in the Activity section of your application you are most proud of and why.

Thoughts?


texts: What should follow "I'll tell you another reason..."?

texts:
Is any of these the correct form of the sentence?

"I'll tell you another reason *I will not participate"

"I'll tell you another reason why I will not participate"

"I'll tell you another reason for which I will not participate"

If not, what is it? What's the grammar behind it?


texts:
I have enough Unicoins to buy "Guaranteed answer" today.

So, instead of asking how to parse only one sentence as I should, I will ask "how to parse these following seven sentences". (Why ask one if I can ask seven! grin)

  One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.
  The horse raced past the barn fell.
  The complex houses married and single soldiers and their families.
  The rat the cat the dog chased killed ate the malt.
  Anyone who feels that if so many more students whom we haven't actually admitted are sitting in on the course than ones we have that the room had to be changed, then probably auditors will have to be excluded, is likely to agree that the curriculum needs revision.
  Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
  This exceeding trifling witling, considering ranting criticizing concerning adopting fitting wording being exhibiting transcending learning, was displaying, notwithstanding ridiculing, surpassing boasting swelling reasoning, respecting correcting erring writing, and touching detecting deceiving arguing during debating.

Sources of sentences: 1. Groucho Marx; 2. Bever (1970); 3. Wikipedia; 4. Chomsky & Miller (1963); 5. Chomsky & Miller (1963); 6. William Rapaport; 7. Goold Brown (1851). -- via: 7 Sentences That Sound Crazy But Are Still Grammatical | Mental Floss


texts: You won't have much left,you won't have enough for yourself

texts:
A person offers a bit food to his friend. So his friend says:

  Sorry I can't have it. Because if I do,you won't have much left.(/you won't have enough left).

So what sounds natural? Option 1 or option2? And is there a better and more natural alternative?


texts:
Forty-five year-old Korean-American Kenneth Bae was arrested in 2012.

I think the hyphen is wrong. It should be "Forty-five-year-old" or "45-year-old". So I wonder how to use the hyphen.


texts: what is the meaning of this sentence "In our previous examples we took n to be the number for which a given function is to be computed"

texts:
In our previous examples we took n to be the number for which a
  given function is to be computed.

I am not sure about the meaning of the above sentence because I'm confused about this part: "for which a given function is to be computed"


texts:
What "others" and "do" and "they" refer to? I can't integrate my guess to the context.

  Daryl Bem (1967) posited that, from a conceptual perspective, people learn what they believe in the same way that others do, namely, by hearing what they say. If a noncoercive context (such as counterattitudinal role play) causes them to defend a particular position, they become more committed to that position. Bem’s self-perception theory offered an alternative explanation for the large literature of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957). It is also clear that external pressure can undermine the desire to change. Brehm and Brehm (1981) adduced that an aversive state of reactance arises when people perceive a threat to their behavioral freedom. One motivational response is to intensify one’s attitudes and behaviors in opposition to the persuasion or coercion.


texts:
Can I say "I'll make my effort to not forget it"?

My doubt is on the words "to not", because I don't know if it's possible (correctly) to put adverb after preposition and I'm not used to hear it from people, but it's very needed for me a lot of times to use such sentence.


texts:
I have some difficulties with the "would not it" question grammatical form. We use it in French to ask a (fake) questions which actually suggest a clear answer.

how this one sound in English:

  Would the real development not be related to the ability to solve our
  conflicts through dialogue and the desire to
  understand the others rather than using violence?

(in French: Le véritable "développement" ne serait-il pas plutôt lié à la capacité de régler nos conflits par le dialogue et le désir de compréhension plutôt que par la violence?)


texts: meaning of a parenthetical expression : all the more

texts:
What does "all the more" mean in the following? I cannot find its definition in the dictionary.

  How does one go out on top and, all the more, do it with grace?

Here, the context is about a person who is leaving a position.


texts: Question about plural nouns modified by both a definite article and an 'of' noun phrase

texts:
I had a conversation on a topic here that I am interested in a lot but have not get a response yet to my question about it, so I have decided to address the question to the community on this site for assistance. It concerns matters when a definite article precedes a plural noun modified by 'of' noun phrase, with my impression being that a set of the things specified by a definite article invokes the meaning 'all of them' regarding the things being specified. Why I think perhaps it should be so, I would specify on the following example.

Consider the phrase the mountains of Austria, indicating the mountains that are in Austria not elsewhere, which thus are specified. It seems to me that here the connotation of all mountains (of Austria) is present in the sense of all of them that are in Austria (or at least in the sense of each of them); for otherwise, it would mean that some of them are excluded from the list of the mountains of Austria, seeming illogical.

Does such 'logic' and meaning, even at a level of connotation, are present in the phrase and in this sort of phrases generally?

I do understand that perhaps this question can be tagged a 'duplicate', but I would like, in that case, to read comments about the proposed logic-- why, for example, it could be that it does not matter at all in the phrase concerned.


texts: What does "that's saying something" mean?

texts:
“You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?”
  said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff
  another penalty for no reason at all. “It’s people they feel sorry
  for. See, there’s Potter, who’s got no parents, then there’s the
  Weasleys, who’ve got no money — you should be on the team, Longbottom,
  you’ve got no brains.”  Neville went bright red but turned in his
  seat to face Malfoy.  “I’m worth twelve of you, Malfoy,” he
  stammered.  Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but
  Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, “You tell
  him, Neville.”  “Longbottom, if brains were gold you’d be poorer
  than Weasley, and that’s saying something.”  Ron’s nerves
  were already stretched to the breaking point with anxiety about Harry.
  “I’m warning you, Malfoy — one more word—”

  “How did I get the Stone out of the mirror?”  “Ah, now, I’m glad
  you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between
  you and me, that’s saying something. You see, only one who
  wanted to find the Stone — find it, but not use it — would be able to
  get it, otherwise they’d just see themselves making gold or drinking
  Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes… Now, enough
  questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bettie
  Bott’s Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to
  come across a vomit flavored one, and since then I’m afraid I’ve
  rather lost my liking for them — but I think I’ll be safe with a nice
  toffee, don’t you?”  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Does "that's saying something" have the same meaning shown on macmillandictionary.com ("used for emphasizing that what you have said is more extreme than it seems")?


texts: Is “I, you and he have committed a crime” correct?

texts:
Could you tell me if the following sentence is correct and why?

  I, you and he have committed a serious crime.

I was giving a test which gave this solution and the explanation that 1st person pronoun comes before 2nd and 3rd. What would be the correct sentence?

Why can't it be “He, you and I”?


texts: meaing of 'of': I inquired of them the score

texts:
(1) She had done what God asked of her.
  (2) I inquired of them the score.
  (Examples are from COCA)

I can guess from NED (III.10.b) that when you use ‘ask’ or ‘inquire,’ construed with ‘of,’ you should regard that something you ask or inquire are acquired from of’s complement. For example (2), you expected the score would come out of them. But the trace, in the past you used ‘at’ instead of ‘of’ for both ask and inquire, makes you think of-complement as both your seeking orientation and whence the result comes. Is this how you think when you use ‘ask’ or ‘inquire’?


texts: I have a queston about 'pick' and 'pick up'?

texts:
I find that the combinations of verb and preposition aren't always showing a different meaning. Could you please analyze these two sentences for me?

I picked a coin on the pavement.
I picked up a coin on the pavement.

It looks like the difference of these two is so tiny that they are to be used instead of one another.


texts:
I have stumbled across the following joke in the Fallout 4 video game:

What is the best way to start a parade in South Boston?
Roll a 40 down the street.

I have no idea what roll a 40 down the street means. Can anyone explain?


texts:
What is the rule to solve doubts such as:

  International law view vs. International law's view

  Kosovo declaration of independence vs.  Kosovo's declaration of
  independence

I have many examples, so I need the rule to know when to use 's and when not.


texts: How do I know what elliptical word is in the sentence

texts:
The bills would even limit the Education Department's ability to offer states incentives to adopt strategies that have proved effective - as the Obama administration's Race to the Top program has done.

In this sentence, Obama administration's program has done what??
the program is like the bills in the sentence? so it limited the education department's ability?
Or the program is strategies that have proved effective?
How can I know what elliptical word is in the sentence??


texts:
Suppose I gave somebody one tie, then I can say

  He's wearing the tie I gave him.

But which article do I have to use if I gave somebody several ties?

  He's wearing the tie I gave him.

or

  He's wearing a tie I gave him.


texts:
Compare:

  Everybody likes his or her own child. vs Everybody likes their own child.

Are both of these sentences natural to a native speaker? I want to mean the same thing in both of them. Can I interchangeably use them or should I stick with the second sentence?


texts: Question: "Are you hungry?" Answer: "I feel like eating."

texts:
I read a conversation book in which the answer for the question "Are you hungry?" was: "I feel like eating."

My question if this phrase of "feeling like" when talking about a normal situation in which a person is hungry, this is common in usage or is weird, because I never heard it in such context in the past before I came across these phrases in the mentioned book.


texts:
I read this and I'm confused about this sentence.

  I loved being able to play the role of somebody, even just for a short time, to try to realise what it might  be like to walk in their shoes.

Why has the writer chosen to use "might be" instead of "might have been"? I think because he is talking about a past possibility he needs "might have been". What's the difference?


texts: A question about articles- "the source of the ambiguity" Vs "source of the ambiguity"

texts:
Suppose that we have a piece of writing which is ambiguous in some parts. Now, I want to give my reason about the issue.

I want to use the noun source. (I know I can say that in many ways)

I would say:

  I guess the lack of detailed context is the source of the ambiguity.

Should I use the definite article before source? I am saying that because I am not talk about a specific source.So, if I omit the article, then how different will the sentence be?

Would it be grammatical? If so, what will change?


texts: is this sentence correct? "do you remember me like I you" or "like i do you"

texts:
Is this sentence correct? "do you remember me like I do you/ or like I you?" and what is it called in the English language?
what is the rule behind that and what is the correct structure. thank you.


texts: What does the phrase "get three assists with your player" mean here?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a football game app's description:

  In the game you will be asked to get three assists with your player.

I know the meaning of the word assist, however the meaning of the said phrase is not clear to me.

It's an app, so the players here mean the digital players who are controlled by the human player.


texts: Differences between 'as well as' and 'together with'

texts:
Now-a-days, many hotels and restaurants are being established where local foods together with western foods are being supplied.
Now-a-days, many hotels and restaurants are being established where local foods as well as western foods are being supplied.

Which words (as well as and together with) sound natural for above case? What are the differences in meaning of these two sentences?


texts: Morphological analysis of 'unlawfulness'

texts:
How would you give the internal structure of the word 'unlawfulness'?

My attempt:
un - law - ful - ness
prefix - noun - suffix - suffix

Internal structure:
law + ful > Adjective
un + law + ful > Adjective
un + law + ful + ness > Noun

Will that be correct? Should I split 'lawful' into 'law + ful' so there's four morphemes in the word or keep it as three morphemes? If 'lawful' is split, then is the -ful counted as a suffix or an infix?


texts: Some difficulties interpreting this complex sentence

texts:
Musk championed a larger systemic vision, a vision for a bottom-up emergent order of other interested parties-whether companies, individuals, or governments-to utilize the new and radically lower-cost transport infrastructure to build up a sustainable human civilization on Mars, potentially, on numerous other locations around the Solar System, by innovating and meeting the demand that such a growing venture would occasion.

I would start with second part in bold. The first part I guess just mean a group (="order") of client for Musk's companies (government, individuals...). "Bottom up emergent", I don't know what it means.

Ok, yeah that is the first part in bold. But the REAL confusion is the second part in bold. First, I understand the "civilizations are built on Mars", but I don't understand they have to add "potentially, on numerous other locations around the Solar System". I guess it would be better if they were to add "and" before "potentially". Because as is, the phrase sounds like those "locations" are on Mars.

Finally, the last part,"by innovating...". I think this describes how Musk champion the vision. By kinda confusing that it's all the way at the end.


texts: An adjective for the terms in the polynomial appearing after a given term

texts:
I want to write a math sentence about polynomials. A polynomial is, by definition,  the sum of monomials, and those monomials are often called terms. The terms are ordered by some given rules. My question is

  What is the adjective describing the terms that appear later than some fixed term?

For example, consider the following.

  The first term and second term satisfy Property (A). The third term, the four term, and so on satisfy Property (B).

What is the concise adjective describing the terms satisfying Property (B)?
The rule for ordering is not very simple, so the expressions such as higher order terms are not very good.

The expression such as all the other terms might work, but I want to emphasize that   those terms come later. What I can think of are the later terms or the higher terms. But somehow they don't sound very natural to me. Are they completely okay, or are there better expressions?


texts: What does "viewer discretion is advised" mean?

texts:
Viewer discretion is advised.

I've stumbled upon this phrase a few times (mainly at the beginning of video clips or movie trailers), but I'm still not quite sure what it really expresses. What is actually advised here? Oxford dictionary suggests that discretion is either "freedom to decide what should be done" or "the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offence or revealing confidential information".


texts: i want to know how to put 'messy place'in other ways. For example, when you go to the airport or restaurant looks dirty and is disarranged what can you say? i know these two what a mess/ it is messy.


texts:
What is the need of using the passive form, for instance:

  These lines have been taken from the poem XYZ.

and

  These lines have taken from XYZ.

What's the reason behind it?


texts:
It is perhaps one of the most famous quotes in the Jurassic Park movie:

  Dennis Nedry: Don't get cheap on me, Dodgson. That was Hammond's mistake.Source: IMDb > Dennis Nedry (Character) > Quotes[video of the scene]

Can anyone please tell me what it means exactly?


texts: What is the difference between curly braces and curly brackets?

texts: I'm really confused about it, sometimes I read something and it refers to {} as curly braces  and sometimes to curly brackets, what is the difference between those two terms? Are they referring to the same thing?


texts:
I was reading a book when i faced the sentence below.

  Our national representatives tend to be better than our local ones.

What's the meaning of "tend to be better" in this sentence?

Note 1: I get the main point of it, The local representatives (e.g. local politicians) are weaker than the national ones.
But I want to translate this sentence, And the problem is that i don't find a suitable synonym for "tend to be better".

Note 2: There is a similar question here. But the explanations the users gave are not enough for me to understand and do the translation.


texts: What is the difference between ‘a hard layer of rock’ and ‘a hard layer of rocks’?

texts:
What is the difference between ‘a hard layer of rock’ and ‘a hard layer of rocks’ ?

Because rocks are something that can be counted, I think there should be rocks, but I see ‘a hard layer of rock’ in my book.


texts:
I think I hear people mostly use the phrase "going down the street" instead of "going up the street" or "going on the street"

It is common to hear that :

  I was going down the street  when I saw her

in songs or movies.

I don't think the word down has something do to with a inclination, declination or direction.I feel  people use it even they walk on a plain road/street.What exactly does this sentence  mean?

So what is the difference between :

  I was going on the street  when I saw her

and

  I was going down the street  when I saw her

and

  I was going up the street when I saw her


texts: "You could record yourself answering these two questions", is this sentence grammatical?

texts:
The speaker is saying (https://youtu.be/nhTcuUvLGOE?t=464)

  The best way to practice is to record yourself speaking.
  You could record yourself answering these two questions.
  Then, listen to yourself.

I feel that the sentence highlighted is not grammatical, then I rewrite it as the following

  You could record yourself when your are answering these two questions.

or

  You could record your answers to these two questions.

Is my understanding right?


texts:
What does this sentence "there could be a return to near greenhouse conditions for the next generation of counter-terrorism threats" mean?

John Raine, who previously worked at a senior level in the British government, paints a pessimistic picture of where things are going: "Given not only the quantum of extremism in Afghanistan, but also the strategic advantage which external players will see in having terrorist capabilities there, there could be a return to near greenhouse conditions for the next generation of counter-terrorism threats." (source)


texts:
Oxford Dictionary gives this definition about "leftmost"

  Farthest to the left.

I guess "to" means "toward" there, something like the red arrow shown below.

I guess "farthest" might be the superlative of "far". In the direction of left, the red line is farther than the green one. In all three lines, the blue one is

  the farthest line

Typically, there would be a "the" when using superlative. Is my understanding right? If yes, why  does Oxford Dictionary omit the "the" in that definition I quoted at the beginning of this post?

Is there some difference in meaning? When would I use which?

Could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.


texts: Can I say unwind instead of take a break?

texts:
Let's suppose I'm working or studying and I want to take a break.
Is "I'm going to unwind" used in that situation or is "I'm going to take a break" a lot more common?
How about

I'm gonna take a break and unwind.

And

I'm gonna take a break to unwind.

Thanks,


texts: Can someone help me explain this sentence

texts: Although the sea level has risen by 6.5 inches since 1950, nearly half of it has occurred in only the last 20 years.


texts:
Can we use two active verbs for a sentence? For example in #1:

  Special care is taken to extract irregular borders during the modeling.
  Special care is taken when extracting irregular borders during the modeling.

Which is correct, 1 or 2?


texts: "Those books belong to him, don't they / aren't they?" – tag questions for state verbs

texts:
In the question, 'Those books belong to Rohan's brother, (question tag)?'
Can we use 'aren't they' in this instead of 'don't they' as 'belong' here is not an action verb that's why I think that we can't use any form of 'do' here. Am I right?


texts: "May I know what the status of my application is" or "May I know what is the status of my application?"

texts: Which should be the correct sentence? I think the latter is the correct one, while my friend picks the former.


texts: Can/Could have done = Can/Could it be so that

texts:
I recently saw such a phrase:

I can have done it

Can it be a contraction of

It can be so that I have done it ?

The same with

I could have done it = It could be so that I had done it

Or these contractions and, as I call them, full phrases are totally different and so is their meaning?


texts: Comma placement between two auxiliary verbs

texts:
In fact the course I did wasn’t even a pure photography one; it was one area of optional specialism within an overall Graphic Design degree course. A SUNDAY IN TEIGNMOUTH 1986

In this case, Is it better to add comma ( , ) or it to avoid put two auxiliary verbs after each other? or Is it Okay to keep it like this?


texts: can "do" use for emphasise not just before a verb?

texts:
the sentences below are written in "introduction to Linux Mint"

"Finally, software which is distributed in this way is often, by virtue of necessity, “static”.This means that not only do you need to download the program itself, but also all of the data libraries that are required for it to run."

I know "do" can be used for emphasis before a verb, but I wonder if it can be used for emphasis as the way mentioned. if "do" is not used for emphasis in that text, so what it can be mean? there is no question mark in the text.


texts:
Please imagine a girl that has recently gone through some emotional problems which occured between she and her boyfriend; they are about to break up now, but they have not cut ties yet! The girl feels so depressed and opens her heart to a wise friend who had experienced ups and downs of life!
In order to avoid emotional damages, the friend is fiving some advices now:

  Whereas a girl is more sensitive and emotional most of the times, it is not surprising that she depends / becomes dependent / gets dependent more quickly!

The girl accepts her friend's statement and says:

  Yes! My mom warned my: don't depend on him that much / don't become dependent on him that much / don't get dependent on him that much.

My question is that which one of the similar bold alternatives  above sound natural and idiomatic on my scenario?
I'm asking this question because when I was surfing on the Internet I couln't find any hit about it!


texts:
What are the best phrases to use to cheer up other people who are going through difficulties or frustrated by failure?

All I can think of:

  Cheer up!

Is this even right in the above context?


texts:
Given is the chart concerning the percentage of graduates working in
  different sectors of the economy in the UK in 2004.

I would like to ask whether this sentence is grammatically correct. The part of the sentence that I am concerning is "Given is the chart concerning...", which is an inversion structure. However, My knowledge about this construction is limited. I have searched and tried to learn about it but I couldn't find this structure on google (though there are many other inversion structures such as with adverbs: seldom, rarely, not until, only when... you name it).

My English teacher showed me this structure which is used to write a report in the IELST test, but I still highly doubt that, since he is not a native.

To sum up, I would like to ask if the given sentence is correct, especially the highlighted part (in bold)?


texts:
Which one seems correct?

non-xx domains (those that are not prefixed with "xx" sub-domains)

Or

non-xx domains (those that are not prefixed by "xx" sub-domains)


texts: What is the verb describing your action when you hold your breath and endeavor to do something?

texts:
Suppose you are trying to lift a very heavy thing. You hold your breath and concentrate on lifting it with all your might.
Or suppose you are trying to relieve constipation ... ;-)

Is there an English verb to describe it?

Remark:
Holding your breath is the key.


texts:
No valid account number was specified

or

  valid account number was not specified

I think both of them are correct but which one is more common? And which one is more formal?


texts:
I picked up the phrase 'attention whore' from this question at ELU. On the next day I remembered the phrase as 'attention hooker.' It transformed and this one even sounds better for me, but I guess it is idiomatically flat wrong. I don't feel the difference since hooker and whore have the same meaning.

How do you feel the difference as a native speaker? Is the difference so striking that If I use it somewhere, I will be corrected by a native speaker: "We say whore, not hooker"?


texts: Do get and give have same meaning in this context?

texts:
Do get an give have same meaning in these two expressions?

I got him the tickets of the concert.
I gave him the tickets of the concert.


texts: 'Twice as many cups' - did I say it right?

texts:
I was explaining a recipe to my girlfriend over SMS. I wanted to tell her that for each cup of rice she added to the recipe, she should pour in an additional cup of water, too.

I texted:-

  You should add twice as many cups of water as of rice.

That is, if she added, say, 4 cups of rice, she should pour 8 cups of water into the pot.

I know the sentence is comprehensible because she managed to fix the dish, but I am unsure if the sentence is correct or idiomatic.

Can someone tell me if this sentence is OK?


texts: "Someone of the opposite gender" vs "Someone from the opposite gender"

texts:
Which one of these two structures is correct? Or can they be used interchangeably?

"Someone of the opposite gender"

"Someone from the opposite gender"

What I try to mean by these phrases is, "Someone who is a member of the opposite sex".
Let me make up some example sentences to provide a better picture in your mind:

"He is always nervous when he is around someone of/from the opposite gender."

"He thinks he can't be friends with someone of/from the opposite gender."


texts: Question about "looking out ahead" & "keep eyes ahead"

texts:
The other thing is our hand position when we’re driving. It’s nice, soft hands are very important in learning to drive. We don’t want a death grip on that wheel. We want nice, soft hands, like pretty much anything that you do in sports, your hands have to be nice and soft. If your hands are soft and you’re not real tense, you’ll find that you have the ability to steer a car much, much better.
You also want to be able to get the big picture when we’re driving. We don’t want to stare at anything because when you drive, you will follow your eyes. Okay? So if you’re looking to the right or you’re looking to the left and you’re staring at that portion of the vehicle, that’s the way the vehicle will move. When people drive a car for the first time, they have a difficult ability to understand how far they are away from the vehicle to the right, and that’s because the right side of the vehicle is a little further away from you than the left. So invariably what they usually do is they stare down to the right side, and what happens when you stare to the right, your car will go to the right. So you want to pick your eyes up. You want to keep your eyes ahead of you looking out ahead and you’ll find that you follow your eyes. So if your eyes are straight ahead the car will have a better chance of going straight.

What does it mean saying ** keep your eyes ahead of you** ?

What is the difference between look ahead and as written in the passage look out ahead ?


texts: Is there a grammatical mistake in the phrase "name someone's name"?

texts:
For example, can the host of a TV show, like "Weakest link", ask a contestant such a question:

  Name the name of the 45th US president.

I think it may be some kind of tautology. I am really not good at word usage, but I suggest it would be better to say either:

  1) Tell the name of the 45th US president.

or

  2) Say the name of the 45th US president.

or

  3) Name the 45th US president.

(without the noun "name").

So is there a mistake in my initial question, and if it is, which substitution would be the best?


texts:
... the period was so far like the present period that some of...
She was so much beautiful that...
She was so beautiful that...
As far as I know the bold one is incorrect because we mustn't add another intensifier after so.
I am wondering the reason why, although there has been used another intensifier" far", the sentence is correct, isn't it?
Please feel free to ask any further question if my question in not vivd enough.
Any help would be greatly appreciated


texts:
What is your favorite Halloween character?

  My favorite Halloween character is a snake.

Or

  My favorite Halloween character is the snake.

Which is correct


texts:
Is it "I cut my hair myself" or "I cut my hair by myself" or "I cut my hair"?

Which one of the three is grammatically correct?


texts: Arab vs. Arabian vs. Arabic — what are the differences?

texts:
What are the differences between the terms "Arab," "Arabian," and "Arabic?"

For example, why do we say "Arabic language" instead of "Arab language?"


texts: Meaning of "passing surmisal" in a poem by Francis Thompson

texts:
To a Snowflake by Francis Thompson:

  What heart could have thought you? --
  Past our devisal
  (O filigree petal!)
  Fashioned so purely,
  Fragilely, surely,
  From what Paradisal
  Imagineless metal,
  Too costly for cost?
  Who hammered you, wrought you,
  From argentine vapor? --
  "God was my shaper.
  Passing surmisal,
  He hammered, He wrought me,
  From curled silver vapor,
  To lust of His mind --
  Thou could'st not have thought me!
  So purely, so palely,
  Tinily, surely,
  Mightily, frailly,
  Insculped and embossed,
  With His hammer of wind,
  And His graver of frost

Is the meaning of the bolded phrase "this is beyond our (or my) guessing"?
"You (mere people) are unable to guess how he hammered and wrought me"?

I looked up the meaning of "surmisal" in dictionaries but am not sure still.

From Wiktionary:

  Surmisal (noun): Thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.
  Reflection; thought; posit.

Could it mean "the God was passing his surmisal while he hammered and wrought me"? I mean, like a decision is passed by a court?


texts: Meaning of 'light' in " ... and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all."

texts:
What does the word ' light ' mean in this verse from Isaiah 53:6:

  " ... and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity of us all."


texts:
In this sentence:

  All of them had collected 100 different comics as of 31 July 2014.

Does this mean each one of them individually had collected 100? Or that they had done so as an aggregate?


texts: Is "I would like you to help me with understanding this." right? Then, how is it different from "I would like you to help me understand this."

texts:
Is the sentence below correct?

  I would like you to help me with understanding this.

If it is right, then how is it different from the sentence below?

  I would like you to help me understand this.

Thank you for your help very much.
Any explanations will be appreciated.


texts:
I'm struggling to understand the application of the 2 verb rule regarding the following sentences:

I kept trying.
I kept trying to leave.

In the 1st sentence, why is the verb 'to try' not in the infinitive form? As for the 2nd sentence, why is the 3rd verb, 'to leave' in infinitive form instead of the verb 'to try'?
The 2 verb rules states that the second verb following the first in a sentence is written in the infinitive form. For example: I like to sleep. So the 1st verb 'to like' is conjugated whereas the 2nd verb 'to sleep' is left in its infinitive form.


texts: "two year's " or "two years' " or "two-year"

texts:
In _____ time, criteria for enrolling into university are going to be
  quite different.

a) two year's

b) two-year

c) two years'

When it comes to me I'd pick b) or c), but the source of mine tells that a) is correct.

I want to know who is wrong and who is right here!


texts:
Does "isn't about" mean the same as "doesn't refer to" in this sentence?

  Missing someone isn't about how long it has been since you've seen them, or the length of time you talked.
  It's about that very moment when you're doing something, and you wish they were right there with you.


texts:
Forthcoming is defined by the dictionary as:

  being about to appear or to be produced or made available e.g.

  The forthcoming holidays
  your forthcoming novel
  funds are forthcoming

  responsive, outgoing e.g.

  a forthcoming and courteous man

  characterized by openness, candidness, and forthrightness, e.g.

  he was not forthcoming about his memories of medical school

Is there an antonym for "forthcoming"? I tried searching via Google, but I was unable to find an antonym that way.


texts:
Could you please tell me what is the difference between these two sentences?

  There had also been reports that rival gangs of youths had been seen
  throwing fireworks at each other near the warehouses, and this might
  also have had something to do with the fire starting.

  There were also reports that rival gangs of youths were seen throwing
  fireworks at each other near the warehouses, and this might also have
  had something to do with the fire starting.


texts: Few is/are self disciplined enough to study everyday for the CAT?

texts:
Few is/are self disciplined enough to study everyday for the CAT.

My approach:

Few means at least more than one, so I used a plural verb.

Is my approach right according to subject verb agreement rules? Please correct me if i am wrong?


texts:
Is it ok to use "increased to a peak" instead of "reached a peak" with regard to the following sentence?

"Viewing figures for the 9:30 news increased to a peak of 3.8 million in May"


texts:
I would like to use the phrase "Have you had time to look at my draft?" in American English, and I'm wondering if I need to use "the" before time.

I couldn't found an explicit answer to my question.

I found this discussion: enter link description here


texts:
It seems that for  verbs that allow the following sentence structure:

  a-type: "He [verb in past particle] that supplies were running low."

passive extraposition is possible, leading to:

  b-type:  "It was [verb in past particle] that supplies were running low."

The verb "think" could be used in both a-type and b-type sentences:

  1a: "He thought that supplies were running low."
  1b: "It was thought that supplies were running low."

Now, the verb "worry" could be, in the spirit of 1a, used like this:

  2a: "He worried that supplies were running low."

But for some reason, "worry" doesn't seem to work in a type-b sentence (passive extraposition):

  2b "It was worried that supplies were running low."

What do native speakers think?  Is there a way to pick out all the verbs that can be used in an a-type sentence but cannot be used in b-type sentences?


texts: What does "I have studied" mean exactly?

texts:
I have a question about the exact meaning of "to study". I'd like to know if I
am correct.

If I have studied French in school, it means I have spent time trying to gain
knowledge about French. It
doesn't mean I can speak French now.

If I can speak French now, if I know French, I have learnt French.

If I have studied French at university, does it mean I have a degree in
French? Or can that fact only
be conveyed by "I have a degree in French"?


texts: its or their when talking about body parts

texts:
This is a command for a preschool class in which I'm not sure if I need to use its or their. The command as follows:

"Point to each part of the body and say its name."

The idea is basically that the preschool children point to a part of their body and say the name of that part of the body. Example: Point to head and say "head".


texts: When you are going to compliment a lovely place

texts:
Imagine you and your love get into a posh and romantic restaurant. You feel amazing and you want to compliment the restaurant. Does the following self-made sentence work here:

  What a poetical environment.
  What a poetical atmosphere.

If yes is it natural and if not what would a native speaker say instead to convey the same message?


texts:
I temporarily pronounce it as "prescription" because Rx. stands for a doctor's prescription.

NEJM tweeted:
Covid-19 Rx: Your task is to gather data, develop a differential diagnosis, order additional diagnostic tests, and treat the patient. (Optimized for desktop PCs and most tablets.)


texts:
Does anyone knows how to identify between  have pp / have been pp?
I have confused until now.
For example, "i have known" , "i have been known"

Which one is wrong? And why?


texts:
can someone explain this sentence for me? I'm not english.

"he had taken in the opening act for one of his band's gigs-the Sex Pistols"

from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_clash


texts: Can I say "be in someone else's custody"?

texts:
I feel some responsibility for not telling her the truth that she will be in her father's custody.

I did some research and it seems the common phrase is "remain in someone else's custody". I am not sure "be in someone else's custody" is right.


texts:
Could anyone please explain the differences between the following sentences and tell me whether they are correct or not.

sb. requests that sth. is done
sb. requests sth. be done
sb. requests sth. is done
sb. requests sth. is to be done
sb. requests sth. to be done

Example sentence without variables:

The account manager requests that the account is locked.
The account manager requests the account be locked.
The account manager requests the account is locked.
The account manager requests the account is to be locked.
The account manager requests the account to be locked.


texts: Is "they" singular or plural in this context?

texts:
Hypothetically, in the context of

  -What's your favorite restaurant to eat food

  -If they have food, I'll eat it" was said.

Would "they" be singular or plural?


texts:
Which of the following 3 options is correct, assuming that she doesn't work anymore (and of course she doesn't drink tea before work anymore as she doesn't work anymore):

She used to drink tea and then started her job.
She used to drink tea and then start her job.
She used to drink tea before starting her job.


texts: Should "Organization" here be preceded by "The?"

texts:
To put or not to put "The"...

In my made up examples below, do I keep the "The" or not? Why? Does it even make a difference?

  The results speak to the organization the infrastructure lacks.
  The results speak to the lack of organization the infrastructure has.

in #2 I would lean towards leaving "The" out because I believe it would sound more native, but not sure why.

Leaving "The" out in #1 would sound a little odd to my ear and as if something's missing.


texts: I have dialed vs I must have dialed the wrong number

texts:
Let's say you dialed a telephone number, and then a person who picked the phone said "sorry there is no person who goes by that name" your correct response should be:

  Oh, I'm sorry I must have dialed the wrong number.

OR

  Oh, I'm sorry I have dialed the wrong number.

Which is correct?


texts:
Which quote is proper?

  "I believe in love at first sight because I've loved my mom since I opened my eyes."

or

  "I believe in love at first sight because I love my mom since I opened my eyes."


texts: Help me decode a word: coptchat? cotchrat?

texts:
A man in a documentary Beyond good and evil says:

  Noone could fulfill that task and without suggesting crudely or simplistically that he coptrchat into madness, I do think that some such escape was inevitable.

What is this coptrchat?


texts: How do you call someone who is looking for the job? As a hustler person

texts: Need to know this cause it's disturbing my brain


texts:
It would be greatly appreciated if somebody throw a light on whether or not there is any difference between these?

clerical work

office work

secretarial work


texts:
I can not understand the meaning of the sentence below:

  More recently, we’ve looked at the bind that women executives face:...

I think my problem especially refers to the meaning of the word "bind".
The Oxford dictionary suggests some meaning for bind as a noun:

A problematical situation.
formal A statutory constraint.
another term for tie
another term for bine

But I still don't understand meaning of the sentence.
So, could you tell me please what it means?

The fuller text is:

  More recently, we’ve looked at the bind that women executives face: If
  they act in strong, stereotypically masculine ways, they’re seen as
  bitchy, but if they act feminine, they’re seen as weak and not
  leadership material. So we asked two groups of women to give
  persuasive speeches. One group was told to act masculine, the other to
  act feminine. Then half of each group was instructed to give their
  speech mindfully, and we found that audiences preferred the mindful
  speakers, regardless of what gender role they were playing out.


texts:
As you know the verb "to replace somebody / something" means "to take the place of somebody / something" or "to supersede somebody / something." I was wondering what form is correct in the following sentences? If both are correct, then what is the meaning of each sentence if I want to paraphrase them?

Example 1:

The previous teacher is a little old and cannot manage to come to the school on a daily basis and now:

  1.a. I'm being replaced with him.
  1.b. I am replacing with him.

For more clarification, let me bring up another example:

Example 1:

  2.a. In modern life, email has been replaced the traditional business letter.
  2.b. In modern life, email has replaced the traditional business letter.

Note: as we know, the verb "replace" is a transitive verb. So it cannot be used in a passive tone. These all are confusing me a little! Maybe I am missing something here!


texts: Is this quote correct? Can one live in enjoyment or be heartful?

texts:
I just came across this quote;

  Your heart is the only one that can show you how to live in
  fulfillment and enjoyment. It's time to become heartful.

Is it even possible to 'live in enjoyment'? Or to 'become heartful'?

These were the definitions I found of both the noun and adjective of heartful:

Noun: As much as the heart can hold or contain; as much as a person wants or can endure.
Objective: Characterized by deep emotion or sincerity of expression; genuine, sincere, heartfelt. Of an emotion: deeply or acutely felt; intense.

Are there any more definitions? It seems to me that it does not fit in the sentence at all this way.


texts: both + [plural NP] + and + [singular NP]

texts:
Is it OK to use both followed by [plural NP] + and + [singular NP]?

Example:

  This solution requires both computer skills and time commitment that many users don't have.


texts: I am without an article? (with regard to a job title)

texts:
Is it grammatically okay to say

  I am [..]

instead of

  I am [article] [...]

Example

  I am software developer

Programming tag since my question actually is can I say 'I am developer'?

I would love to upvote all your answers and comments since you are very helpful + polite¹. Unfortunately I can't since I dont have enough rep.
¹ very uncommon for the bigger stackenchinge networks - IMHO


texts:
A:..Then I sent you a message from the cafe to to say where I was
     last night.

  B:  I didn't get any texts from you yesterday! I tried to phone
     you but there was no answer.

I have two questions:

1)Can I use here past continuous to emphasise continuous action(several attempts to get through)? (because, as I feel, past simple doesn't emphasise the process itself):

  I was trying to phone you but there was no answer.

2)What is the meaning of past simple in this context:

Person B was struggling to get through and it was continuous action

OR

Tried only the once and it was a single action?


texts:
In one of my posts ("demanded" vs. "needed") an answerer said

  We say that something is in demand rather than demanded.

Cambridge Dictionary gives this

  Good teachers are always in demand (= needed)

Google Ngram shows that "demanded" is a bit more commonly used that "in demand", and of course, "needed" is the most commonly used.

with modifiers, things change, "in great demand" is indeed the most commonly used.

So, "in demand" and "demanded", which would I use?


texts: The correct grammar to express "this part was forgot to be modified"?

texts:
I would like to express

We are having a problem because

"this part was forgot to be modified" or
  "this part was missed to be modified"?

Do those two sentences make sense?

Thanks a lot


texts: What is the grammatical name for "deserve should [verb]"

texts:
So only complex commands deserve | should use | merit command helper functions.

Is the highlighted word (any one of the three) the verb in this sentence?  Is it a form of Catenative Verb? Can Catenative Verb use auxiliary Verbs?  Or is it some kind of Inversion?


texts:
Why can I use "much" in a sentence like:

  Much has changed here recently.

I've seen a lot in the literature about "nothing/not much" being used, but not without negation or in interrogatives.


texts:
I come from a different culture than her/she does.

  I come from a different culture from her.

Are these sentences grammatically correct?


texts:
What do you call a subcategory of a subcategory?

Is there any particular term that can be used or should I use any other words such as group, set, collection etc.?

Edit:
For Example if A is a category, B is a subcategory of A and C is a subcategory of B, what do you call C with respect to A?


texts: What does "quite" mean before an adjective?

texts:
I've not found a clear answer to my question below. Everything I found on the internet was too fuzzy and vague, so I hope this is not a duplicate.

In which way does the word "quite" in front of an adjective strengthen or weaken the corresponding adjective?

Some examples:

Consider: "I'm quite good at school."

Does this mean I am very good at school, or like "good, but also not one of the best students" or even only considerably good?

The same for this: "I can run quite fast."

I've read, that this means that I can run not very fast, and I've also read that it means that I can run "very very fast, but not like Usain Bolt".


texts: Use of a preposition of a indirect verb with more than one object

texts:
I would like to know the correct use of a preposition of a indirect verb when there is more than one object. Do I need to repeat the preposition in that case? For exemple:

  To get the result we resort to Sperner's lemma, to Brouwer's fixed-point theorem
  and to some results of topology and analysis of functions.

Sorry if the question is trivial. Thanks in advance!


texts: Can we add the phrase "do you think" in an interrogative sentence and not reverse the subject-verb order?

texts:
I was chatting with my friend and I asked him this question. But, then I was not sure if it was grammatically correct because I had never used the phrase "do you think" with an interrogative sentence.

Here is the simple interrogative sentence:

Which day should I tell him to drop the package?

Now, if we add the phrase "do you think" in this sentence, does it change the subject- verb order (as in 1)or does it remain the same as before (as in 2) ?

1) Which day do you think I should tell him to drop the package?

2) Which day do you think should I tell him to drop the package?


texts: What's the word for roads on top of roads?

texts:
Suppose you are driving on the freeway and there is a road that is built on top of the road that you are currently driving on. For example, a transit that takes cars up to their exit or maybe it's just a regular road that was built on top of the freeway. Is there a specific name for such roads? Could I refer to such roads as a "bridge"?

Would it be acceptable to say, "A car was parked underneath the bridge" in such a situation or is there another word for such roads?


texts:
What's the word or phrase for sending an image telepathically?

I was thinking "project an image into someone's mind", but after looking at the definition the best match I could find were:

  (tr) to send forth or transport in the imagination: to project oneself into the future.
  (tr) to cause (an image) to appear on a surface

But none of them really seems to mean what I want, especially the second one. The first one I am not sure, because the example seem to suggest it's one's own imagination.


texts: Ghee is used to cook the curry in.Ghee is used to make curry

texts:
Ghee is used to cook the curry in.

Ghee is used to make curry.

Which sentence is correct?


texts: Questions without reordering the sentence

texts:
In Persian, when we want to make a question we put some words in front of the sentence (How, Why) but the sentence remains the same, if it is a normal question such is it red, in formal sentences we put a specific word like "Aya it is red", otherwise we simply say "it is red?" (by the way I should say Persian is a SOV language)
Then I have this bad habit in English and many times I tend to say:

It is red?
Then you mean how it works?
Why you don't say him? Why you say these to me?
Why I should bother?
How I can fix this problem?

I would like to know, do natives also use such format for their questions? if yes, in which situations or for which type of questions?


texts:
In the sentence:

  The camera is at / on the right settings.

Being a learner I suppose it should be at since we use at to refer to specific points on a scale.

But I heard someone using on in this context.

What is the opinion of a native speaker?


texts: What is the difference between 'duality' and 'dichotomy'?

texts:
What is the difference between duality and dichotomy?
They sound very much alike to me, but there is a subtle difference between them. I'm not sure what this difference is, however.


texts: Is replying with just "whatever" considered rude?

texts:
Suppose that two people are talking about an event to which they participated together, and one of them says something not exact; the other person makes him notice that, but he thinks to be correct. At the end, the other person convinces him, who replies with "whatever."

Is replying with just "whatever" considered a rude way of answering to a person?


texts: What kind of people falls on this category of "who master a hard lot with their heads held high"?

texts:
I didn't get this because of my poor comprehension in English. Please help me.
“Austrian public-opinion pollsters recently reported that those held in highest esteem by most of the people interviewed are neither the great artists nor the great scientists, neither the great statesmen nor the great sports figures, but those who master a hard lot with their heads held high.”


texts: Present participle phrase used non restrictively modifying its preceding noun

texts:
I have learnt that past participle phrase can be used non-restrictively, set off by commas, as in 1 and 2, but cannot only present participle phrase be used non-restrictively? If context is clear as in 3, isn't it a sure thing that "threatening people on the streets" modifies "the criminals"?

  I will go through the tunnel, located across the street.
  Pharmacists utilize a sophisticated computer system, designed to create more streamed lined workflow.
  The cctv captured the criminals, threatening people on the street.
  The cctv captured the criminals threatening people on the street.

So my questions are

Q1) Like in 1 and 2, can past participle phrase be used non-restrictively? As far as I know, past participle phrase at least can.

Q2) Like in 3, if context is clear enough for people to see "threatening people on the streets" as modifying the criminals, is it grammatically possible to use present participle phrase non-restrictively with commas in order to express the meaning that all the criminals captured on the cctv threatened people on the street? If not, could you give any reason why?

Q3) Is there a difference in meaning between 3 and 4? I think there is, To me, 4 sounds like not all of the criminals, but some of them threatened people on the street, and 3 sounds like all the criminals threatened people because of the comma. This is the main reason why I think of this question as important and am asking on and on.

Q4) Haven't you ever seen any sentences where present participle phrase is used non-restrictively as in 3?

Q5) When is it possible to use present participle phrase non-restrictively? Is it possible only in this case when the phrase can be seen only modifying the subject as in "Students, planning to study nursing, must first meet with the dean" ?

(I'm asking about present participle phrase that is set off by commas and is modifying not the subject, but the its preceding noun, as in example 3)

The point is that I want to know whether it's impossible to use non-restrictively present participle phrase to modify its preceding noun, not the subject in a sentence and if possible, when it's possible or not.


texts: Why is it "weight was", and "thighs were"?

texts:
I'm just working on a website, to do with tracking body measurements, which measures weight, hips, thighs, biceps, chest and waist.

I've noticed when dealing with past data, I write weight/waist/chest as "Your weight/waist/chest was x", but all the other are written "Your thighs were x, your hips were x etc".

What's the reason for needing to use both were and was?


texts: Use 'Could not' and 'Nor' in the same sentence

texts:
I have a question about using 'Could not' and 'nor' in the same sentence.
Can I say or write:

I could not find at A nor B

Is this the right grammar? Can I use both 'could not' and 'nor' in the one sentence?


texts:
I just got an english message like this:

  Mr. Miller would like to recall the message, "<subject-of-email>"

Now I searched for translations of "recall", a word I only know from Hoodwinked!.

I understand that recall can mean that the message is revoked/removed/made undone, or that it can mean that he enquires me to answer to that mail.

These are kind of diametrically opposites, but which one is it?


texts:
What article if any should I use in the sentences below?

I have -/a/the dog Rex.
I have -/a/the brother Sam.

I surmise that in the second case there is no need for an article.
Thank you for your help in advance!


texts: "Tea drinking" vs. "tea drunk" in this context

texts:
Which of these two is preferred?

  A: Tea drinking is a British custom

  B: Tea drunk is a British custom

P.S. What is it called when we say tea drinking instead of drinking tea?

Also, can we say the "tea drunk" sentence without beginning with "the"?


texts: "the same" or "same" in "Are they pronounced «»?"?

texts:
In the following sentence:

  These two words sound the same to me. Are they pronounced the same?

I wonder if I should write them as the same or same. I think it may be safer to write in the same way but sounds that it is a bit redundant.

So should I use the definite article or not?


texts:
While I find it pretty intuitive with non-conditional sentences, I can't wrap my head around the proper sequence of tenses in utterances that utilize conditionals.

  I'll make sure you will be/are safe.

I'm pretty sure that second will is redundant, yet I've heard such sentences being spoken that way numerous times, and eventually it left me baffled. Personally I'd opt for the "are" option.

  Imagine you are a famous actor invited to Academy Awards Ceremony. You would surely do your best to make people remember you and not cause any scandal. You would take care of your hair, invest in a stunning suit and even rent an unextraordinary limo so that people would be dazzled.

I'm not 100% positive whether these sentences are comprehensible and correct. If I make longer predictions using "would", is the single use of that modal verb enough, or should I somehow repeat it with separated verbs a few times throughout the utterance, to make it all more viable? Or perhaps the last part could well go away with "so that people ARE dazzled"?

  If you were trapped in a cell not unlike the one known from The Pit and the Pendulum, where your ankles were/are being constantly bitten by the army of hungry rats, what would you do to escape?

I guess this example puzzles me the most. Again, I'm imagining an unreal situation, but I want my description to be robust, yet confined within one sentence. Should I stick to the past tense because of the conditional, or do the rats take a lively part in my vision and thus are animated with the present tense?


texts:
Is there any word for a paper bag with a handle?

What I mean by 'a paper bag with a handle' is that the bag has a part to grip on top of it so you can carry it.


texts: What are other ways to describe second-last?

texts:
Actually, I'm not even sure if the "second-last" is the correct term. Here is how I would use it:

  Go down the hallway, it's the second-last door on your right.

which I want to describe the door that is immediately next to the last door.

What are other ways to describe it?
Can I say, e.g., next-last?

Also, how about the one that next to second-last? Can I say third-last?

EDIT: broadening the usage, can I say "this is the next-best choice"? Are there any other ways to express it?

Thanks


texts: Why is "... goes to university in car" incorrect?

texts:
My father always goes to university ______ car (by/ in/ on).

My teacher said that the answer is 'in'. But I think it should be 'by' because after 'by' we don't use articles, but I am not sure about that.

So, please can anyone help me?


texts:
In exam (Egyptian GSEC English exam) today

  Liverpool's players are known to be skilled. They (will win - are going to win) the match easily.

This question was in my exam, I already answered it "will win", because it's not an evidence, skill doesn't mean that I'm going to win, but I'm not sure about that.

What's the correct answer?


texts: "A determinative factor", "A determinant" and "A decisive factor"

texts:
To me, and based on dictionary definitions a "determinative factor", a "determinant" and a "decisive factor", imply a truely "crucial factor" which can lead you to make a decision about something.

Also, I think I can use the noun "determinant" instead of "a determinative factor":

Determinant:

  Something that controls or affects what happens in a particular situation:

Soil and climate are the main determinants of how land is used.

Determinative:

  able to or serving to settle or determine; deciding

  a factor, circumstance, etc. that settles or determines

A determinative factor influences that are determinative of future behavior.

Added;
Decisive:

  If a fact, action, or event is decisive, it makes it certain that there will be a "particular result". "Strongly affecting" how a situation will progress or end. An action, event etc that is decisive has "a big effect on the way that something develops"; a "decisive factor"/effect/influence etc.

The economy is regarded as the decisive factor which will determine the outcome of the general election.

Note: for all these terms, we have only one single term in our language which encapsulates all of these meanings.

I wonder if you could tell me more about these three terms.


texts: What does a superscript 'r' in IPA mean?

texts:
I am aware of the pronunciation of the IPA /ɔː/ and /ɔːr/.

Cambridge dictionary gives this IPA. What does the superscript 'r' pointed out by red arrow mean?


texts:
You look very tired,......?

What's the correct tag question here, aren't you?, or don't you?

When we say 'someone looks tired', it means either 'they appear to be tired', or 'they are tired'. In the former sense, the tag question shoul be don't they? and in the latter sense, it should be aren't they?
But, I am confused. I would like to have an expert opinion.


texts: What do you call the motor that fuels the movement of a robotic arm? Is there a word that applies to all robots and not just some of them. I can't remember the word that was used. I am also talking about all movements or anything that requires energy including maintaining the robotic arm's position.


texts:
Sometimes, I heard or saw sentences with “left”.
For example:

Be left

A: How many windows are left?

B: There are two windows left.

I wonder what “left” is.

Is that the past participle of verb to “leave”?
Are the above sentences passive voice?

Left with other verbs

A: How many tickets do you have left?

B: I have two tickets left.

I also wonder what “left” is here. Is that adverb?

How can we use and put “left” in a sentence for this meaning?

Should we always put” left” at the end of a sentence?

Would you explain it to me, please?


texts: Is the word 'prey' applicable when humans(civilized) hunt/slaughter for food?

texts: If a human catches a fish, will it be considered his prey? Is the word 'prey' applicable in the context in which a human catches a fish(recreation) or hunts a deer/foal from the jungle or slaughters a hen/cow from his farm for food.


texts: Can ''when'' be used instead of ''what days''?

texts:
Here is the question:

  "When do you work?"

Which of the following answers are possible:

  I work on Mondays and Tuesdays.
  I work from 2 to 7.
  I work twice a week from 2 to 7.

I'm not sure if "when" can be used for asking about "days" or how often we do something.


texts: "Pieces of equipment" vs. "equipment pieces"

texts:
In the sentence: The detonator for a nuclear device may be made of_____:

A) two pieces of equipment
B) two equipment pieces

I strongly feel that the correct option is A. But why? When should I use of; and when should I omit it?


texts:
Can "I'm sorry if you think so" be used in the context where someone is looking down on me or expressing that they don't have a good opinion of me. Like, "I think your recent work is not good" "I'm sorry if you think so"

Does this sound natural to you? Or what should I say when someone is expressing disapproval of me?

Thanks


texts:
Am I glad to see you!

It's my first time I've met this expression, but I don't completely understand why "Am" is placed before "I" and thought it would have derived from its interrogative form because it's the rule to place "Am" before a subject when to make a question, but interestingly, there's an answer on Quora that it has nothing to do with the interrogative but just an exclamatory expression.

I think such a structure can be explainable to think in this way that it's permitted to write such that when a speaker wants to emphasize a current situation "Am" but am not sure it'd be a reasonable thinking.

To add, I would like you to bring such examples as many as possible.


texts: Do tenses agree in: ""I don't understand why the service was so slow.."

texts:
My friend was like

  "I don't understand why the service was so slow.."

Why I can find no tense consistency here? Is it grammatically correct ? or it is just acceptable in spoken english rather than writing?


texts: What does "our pass the popcorn moment" mean?

texts:
Here is from Paul Krugman's blog.

  So, over the weekend we were told that our pass the popcorn moment
  — I mean, our long national nightmare — was over: Donald Trump would
  implode now that he had dared to question John McCain’s heroism.

(source)

I wonder what "our pass the popcorn moment" means.
I know he meant by it "our long national nightmare", but I don't know what the "nightmare" has to do with "pass the popcorn".


texts:
Take a look at the fifth paragraph of this article, it says the following:

  To test the effect, physicists needed to compare two clocks - one that is stationary and one that moves.

Why is it moves instead of is moving? What justifies the use of the present simple here?


texts: What does "within two years of the date" exactly mean

texts:
The following is from Oxford's Application Guide webpage. It's talking about the English proficiency test that one must take:

  The University only accepts certain standardised test results – IELTS, TOEFL iBT, Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) and Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE). The English language test must have been taken within two years of the date your programme will commence.

I can't figure it out.  Would this mean two years BEFORE the date of the programme commencement or AFTER?


texts:
Which of the following is correct?

Put these sunglasses on – then it would look more realistic.
Put these sunglasses on – then it will look more realistic.


texts: Is "in" redundant in the phrase "in during"?

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

  The number of civilian security personnel deaths from Islamist terrorism in India, excluding Jammu and Kashmir, was 926 in during 2000 to 2018.

I don't see any difference if I used just "during" in place of "in during" in the sentence. Am I right in thinking so?


texts: What word should I use to describe something is not carefully made?

texts:
E.g. I read a book teaching people how to cook. The first chapter is written   great(carefully made) while the latter are bad. (bad and so-so would be too generic I think)

"The first chapter is great while the latter are ______."

rough? crude?


texts: Is it natural to say “one of the paradise places”?

texts:
Would a native English speaker say something like this?

  Vatican Garden is one of the paradise places.

or

  Vatican Garden is one of paradise places.

For my native language it seems quite odd.


texts: Is this sentence correct - I hope I wasted as much of your time as you did mine

texts:
I have got this sentence

  I hope I wasted as much of your time as you did mine.

In this sentence using word I hope here I am confused, why because I hope is kind of positive word but the sentence is negative. Or it is correct


texts: Do I need "about" in the following sentence?

texts:
No, it couldn't be. Then investigating (about) those murderers had been useless?

Do I need about in this case? Why or why not?


texts:
Roam about/around
Wander about/around
Turn about/around

Which one is correct? Or are all of them correct? Can about and around be used interchangeably?


texts: "...will fix it..." vs. "...would fix it..."

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

  Should there be any problems with your new computer, our store's technicians
  will fix it free of charge.
  Should there be any problems with your new computer, our store's technicians
  would fix it free of charge.


texts:
I have a question about the usage of "take".  In this dictionary, definition 1 for "take" reads:

  to move something or someone from one place to another

In the same entry, definition 7 for "take" reads:

  to reach out and get something, especially with your hand

Then, on google, there is this sentence:

  He then led the victim out the back door of the apartment, telling her not to tell anyone what had happened.   Finally, he took her by the arm to a nearby wooded area.   When she screamed Carter killed her.

The usage in the example seems to compress the two senses of "take" into a single phrase.  Could it be nonstandard?


texts: When someone is just looking for his/her own profit/benefit

texts:
What shall I say in natural English to convey that someone is just looking for his own benefit/profit in everything (i.e. business, personal relationships, social connections etc.)

The term which can be used in this aense in my view is:

Self-interest which as an uncount noun means:

  the act of considering the advantage to yourself when making decisions, and deciding to do what is best for you:

The company's donation was surely motivated by self-interest, as it attracted a lot of media attention.

We say something like:

  He just looks for his self-interest. [direct translation]

But I don't know what would you say instead in natural English? Does my made-up sentence sound natural to you?
I wonder if you could let me know about it.


texts:
The following quote is from a book that teaches assembly language. My question is about the "when it's three ayem".

  Assembly-time warnings are the assembler acting as experienced
  consultant, and hinting that something in your source code is a little
  dicey. This something may not be serious enough to cause the assembler
  to stop assembling the file, but it may be serious enough for you to
  take note and investigate. For example, NASM will flag a warning if
  you define a named label but put no instruction after it. That may not
  be an error, but it’s probably an omission on your part, and you
  should take a close look at that line and try to remember what you
  were thinking when you wrote it. (This may not always be easy, when
  it’s three ayem or three weeks after you originally wrote the line in
  question.)

From what I have gathered from Google I suppose that "three ayem" is slang for "three a.m.", and that here in the context it means "when it's late in the day (and you thus might have problems concentrating)". Is my assumption correct?


texts: The "tech backlash": type of modifier, comparison with phrase with preposition, meaning?

texts:
I've seen the expression tech backlash in the press (for instance NYT, G&M, WEF, VF) and from context I can guess it's about concerns with, or a negative reaction to, shortcomings or impacts from (using) technology. When I look at the word backlash in dictionaries (Dictionary.com, Wiktionary, AHDotEL), there's great variety with the preposition you can use (of/from/against...) to introduce what the backlash is related to or who is reacting to what. But when I compare tech backlash with something like public backlash against [something] it seems both the real subject and object (public, tech) can be used as modifiers... yet it's not the backlash which is technological or is it? It doesn't feel to me like it's modifying in the way I expected, yet I find it "works"? So I want to make sure I understand what it means and how (come) it works...

Is there a precise definition for what is a/the tech backlash?
How does the word tech modify backlash with this sort of collocation; what is their relationship, is this some kind of elliptical construction; is this (a short form for) the same as a phrase with backlash followed by one of the prepositions (of/from/against...); can you compare with some other expression/construction to show that it's (a)typical?


texts:
I have a problem about the use of tense of a verb.

On the TOEFL test, there is a sentence mixed the past with the present. It it possible to use the past and the present in one sentence? When we can use and can not use these tenses in a sentence?

How about these sentences, are these correct or incorrect? And why?

When  I was child, he always goes to the circus.
Last semester he reads seven books and wrote five papers.
Steves wakes up early every morning because he went to work early.


texts:
I did well.
I did good.

Which one is a correct sentence?
Please explain it with reasons.
Can you please define them?


texts:
How to combine two sentences into one sentence with relative clauses?
Also is this written naturally?

The man is carrying a bag.
It's very heavy.

1+2= the man is carrying a bag that very heavy.


texts: I'll explain the phrase I am looking for using this example. Imagine that I put on the T-shirt, jeans and jacket. I'm going to walk with my friend. and suddenly she says: "your sleeves look scruffy, "fix" them". so I'm looking for a term which means something like "to remove a position of any piece of clothing in the previous one, also make it look tidy and attractive again"...


texts: Does “within 24 hours of leaving” mean 24 hour after leaving?

texts:
Please help! If someone asks you to call them within 24 hours of leaving a place, does it mean 24 hours after leaving? For example, if you are still at home and call an hour before you leave home, does it still count as “within 24 hours of leaving home?”

My understanding is that “within 24 hours of leaving” includes at least some time before actually leaving (while you are getting ready to leave, for example). Or does “within 24 hours of leaving” only include the time AFTER leaving?


texts:
Please forgive me if this question is so silly, I understand the whole text except the bold part:

  Freddie Mercury moved out of the flat they shared together and into
  12 Stafford Terrace in Kensington, and bought Austin a place of her
  own nearby.

Also, what is that "12"?
-- Thanks


texts: Pass by the front of the house(phrasal verb)

texts:
Let's say there is a 'haunted house' in a town and its neighbors are terrified by it every time they pass by, and you say it like this:

  The haunted house's neighbors are terrified every time these people pass by the front of the house.

Is it pass by the front of the house or pass by in front of the house?


texts: Do we use a plural or singular verb with "respectively"?

texts:
I need to know whether we should use singular or plural verb when we use "respectively".

Example:

  Bob and Alice has BMW and Lexus car, respectively.
  Bob and Alice have BMW and Lexus car, respectively.

Question: Which one of the above sentences is correct ?


texts: Is ''Somebody will be a different proposition from'' grammatically correct?

texts:
However, there is also the possibility that “president Trump” will be a different proposition from “presidential candidate Trump,” as he will have to learn how to form an effective team and work with other Republican, if not Democratic, politicians.

Cited from Taipei Times, penultimate paragraph

Is the sentence in bold correct?
Why can someone "be" a proposition?


texts: What is the grammatical facts of this sentence？

texts:
We must forgive those we feel have wronged us, not because they deserve to be forgiven, but because we love ourselves so much we don't
  want to keep paying for the injustice.

The above sentence is from the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

When I read this sentence in the book, I'm a little confused by the sentence, which is bold and italic.

I know that 'we feel have wronged us' is an attributive clause, but I'm not very sure the function of 'we feel'. I have the following two understandings.

'We feel' is a parenthesis, and the relative pronoun 'who', the subject of the clause, is omitted. But I did not find any grammar rule to prove this possibility. However, I found a similar sentence structure from John 9:19 'Is this the one you say was born blind?'. So Is the phrase 'we feel' a parenthesis here?
I think the relative pronoun which is omitted is 'whom', and it serves as the object of 'feel' in the clause. the structure of the clause is 'someone feels someone do something. But it seems not that all right, since the meaning of 'feel someone/something do something' is to notice something that is touching you or something that is happening to your body.

So, please help.


texts: "More likely than not" - (1) How likely is it for you in percentage terms? (2) Any phrase describing exactly the opposite?

texts:
I feel the phrase "more likely than not" is often seen or heard here and there, sometimes in a sentence, other times just the phrase alone like the following ones.

"More likely than not" a COVID-19 vaccine is possible, Fauci tells Senate
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/05/fauci-adequate-response-needed-to-reduce-deaths-from-covid-19-rebound/

More Likely Than Not? This is Scientific? https://www.econlib.org/archives/2013/12/more_likely_tha.html

I am now curious about:

How likely is it for you in percentage terms? (My perception is somewhere between 51% and 55%)

Is there any phrase describing exactly the opposite, which implies a probability level of around 46% to 49%, for example? Any such phrase especially in a similar word combination like "less likely than xxxxx", if any?


texts:
He took a pen and wanted to play the socket.

  "Don't play the socket. You'll get a shocked."

  "Don't play the socket. You'll electric yourself."

How do I say the dangerous of the electric?


texts: Why do we write "original 13 colonies" rather than "13 original colonies"?

texts:
Unfortunately, English is not my native language. So I decided to ask a question; I think it's always better to ask one than to remain an ignoramus for the rest of life.

Why do we say and write "original 13 colonies" rather than "13 original colonies"? It's a very popular Google research; for instance, here you can follow a link provided by Google: https://www.landofthebrave.info/american-history-of-13-colonies.htm

But we say "three wise monkeys" rather than "wise three monkeys", don't we?


texts: Meaning of "I will not kill you due to your talent"

texts:
What is the meaning of:

  I will not kill you due to your talent.

Does that mean:

[I will not kill you] [due to your talent].
Because you are talented, I will not kill you.
[I will not] [kill you due to your talent].
If I kill you, that's not because you are talented.


texts:
(At The Police Station)
Cop: Witness said his name was John.
Boy: Witness?
Cop: Yes, you're the witness. You witnessed something. You saw something happened, an emergency, an accident. Isn't that right?
Boy: Well, yes, but you see I was just over and ...
Cop: Just give me the facts, sir, please, just the facts. Address?
Boy: The facts? The address?
Cop: Yes. Where did you witness this accident?

What does "Just give me the facts" mean?
Does it mean "Just tell me the facts"?


texts:
Out of the three, which is the best option and with which grammatical rule:

  I have four dozens of mango.
  I have four dozen of mangoes.
  I have four dozens of mangoes.


texts: "It’s not perfectly clear to me what it is you’re trying to say" vs. "It’s not perfectly clear what it is you’re trying to say"

texts:
It’s not perfectly clear to me what it is you’re trying to say.

It’s not perfectly clear what it is you’re trying to say.

What, if any, is the difference between (1) and (2)?
Anyway, does to me add a bit of arrogance in (1)?


texts: Using a verb with -ing after "rather than"

texts:
Can I put 'creating' in place of 'create' in this sentence?

  Robots are expected to eliminate jobs rather than create them.

  Robots are expected to eliminate jobs rather than creating them.

Dictionaries define 'rather than' is at times a conjunction, at others a compound preposition. And I've checked out the similar case in this site. But I'm not quite sure of this specific sentence being grammatically right.


texts:
The following paragraph is from Chapter 15 of The Lives of the Great Composers by Harold C. Schoenberg.
It goes:
...
Everywhere he went he was envied, feted, admired. He became corpulent, worked up some interesting ailments, was one of Europe's most famous gourmets (tournedos Rossini are one of his bequests to humanity), and when William Tell was performed at the Paris Opera in 1829 the adulation was all but hysterical.
work up ailments - does it mean he caught (or was diagnosed with or suffered from) those diseases? Maybe developed ones?
Dictionaries say that work-up could mean detailed medical examination, but that's a noun.
Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.


texts: difference between 'beneath' and 'under'

texts:
And finally (since he had started looking at the inadequacies of his life, why not make a comprehensive survey?) there was his recent weight gain; a full stone and a half, so that he not only felt fat and unfit, but was putting unnecessary additional strain on the prosthetic lower leg he was now resting on the brass bar beneath the table.......
  He returned to the bar to buy a third pint. Back at his table beneath the cupola, he drew out his mobile phone and called a friend in the Metropolitan Police whose friendship, though of only a few years’ duration, had been forged under exceptional conditions.
  (The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith)

The chart that a grammar text has drawn says that ‘beneath’ is under a position, making contact with underneath of something; and ‘under’ is lower than that. But it seems not like that way when I look up Merriam-Webster’s examples below and the above example from Galbraith's story book. I rather say that 'under' and 'beneath' are used with the same meaning.

  We had a picnic beneath a large tree.
  We sat under a tree and rested a while.

  the ground beneath [=underneath] her feet
  I'm wearing a sweater under my jacket.

Does the chart deliver wrong message or was it making sense in the past - the text was written in 1967 ?


texts: Would it be possible to change past perfect into simple past

texts:
She invited me to dinner. But it _____ two years since I _____ to her house. So I lost my way.

The answer is "was", "had gone" but would it be possible to change "had gone" into "went" because if he  lost his way, may be he only went to her house only one time and "went" refers to a single event.

https://www.englishtestsonline.com/mixed-tenses-advanced-level-test-quiz-online-exercise-with-answers-2/


texts: "units of measure" vs "units of measurement"

texts:
I sense that there is a subtle difference between units of measure and units of measurement.

I'm writing an English application manual and now arrived at a chapter about units by which users can choose to enter or display their data (hectares, miles, meters, etc.). Which of the two phrases should I use?


texts:
While artificial photosynthesis works in the lab, it's not ready, however, for mass consumption.
Replicating what happens naturally in green plants is not a simple task. Research in artificial
photosynthesis is progressing, but it won't be leaving the lab any time soon. It'll be at least 10 years
before this type of system is a reality. And that's an exceedingly optimistic estimate. Some people aren't
sure it'll ever happen. Still, who can resist hoping for artificial plants that behave like the real thing?

can anybody please explain me this passage? especially the first two lines and the last once.
Also what does "who can resist hoping for artificial plants that behave like real thing?" mean and imply?


texts: Is there any other expression for 'I’m here on business'?

texts:
When you go to foreign country and was asked by someone 'what brought you here?',

Is there any other form of answer which has same meaning with 'I’m here on business'?


texts: Please help me remember the expression, 'make a [noun] [to do something]'

texts: Please help me remember the expression. It means do something in an open and determined fashion, and I believe it starts with 'make a [noun] [to do something]'