texts:
On nearly the same day last week that Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka sharply criticized the policy of the US, UK and France in Syria, American journalist Michael Bohm appeared on Russian state TV and defended his own government's actions there.

Source: http://www.fsfinalword.com/?page=archive&show=1&day=2016-12-19

Would it be possible to replace the passage in bold with "At almost the same day…"?


texts: "How could it hurt?". Does this sentence have any special meaning other than what it says?

texts:
I have been watching a good British drama (Downtown abbey) and this sentence is from that drama.

It is from a dialogue between a servant who is waiting for his dismissal and the head of the servants(Mr.Carson) after a dinner. So, the servant is worried that he will be fired and is asking questions to Mr.Carson trying to find out when -or if- he will be dismissed from his job soon.

Here is the whole of dialogue:

The servant: Mr Carson, I don't suppose there's any
more news on when you'll be serving notice?
Mr. Carson: Nobody's going to be flung into
the road, I can assure you.
The servant: No, but I mean... should I
start looking for another job?
Mr. Carson: How could it hurt?

The dialogue ends there.

And I really can't understand what does Mr. Carson means by saying "How could it hurt"?

I have searched for the sentence on the Internet thinking it might be a phrase or a proverb, etc. But it seems it is not.

Do you know what does "How could it hurt" means here?

Thank you.


texts:
Which expression is the correct one, with respect to the bolded word?

  A: That sounds as an excuse to me.
  B: That sounds like an excuse to me.

Are they both correct?  Neither?


texts: This term was used in this way, for the first time: “The oyster is a blob of glup, but a woman is a woman.” ― James Thurber, The 13 Clocks . I also saw some articles using this phrase, but I just don't get it.


texts: Simple + Simple clauses when one event interrupts another

texts:
If he had been standing near the house when the wall collapsed, it would have killed him.
If he had stood near the house when the wall collapsed, it would have killed him.

Does the second sentence sound jarring, or it is fully legitimate? Do I alway have to put one clause in the continious aspect when one event interrupts another?


texts:
I have a question about a possible poor wording in the following:

  Newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump and wife Melania Trump ended a busy Inauguration Day with a visit to three balls in Washington.
  The Liberty Ball and Freedom Ball both took place at the Washington Convention Center. The Trumps took the stage first at the Liberty Ball shortly after 9:30 p.m.
  .....
  .....
  Their first dance was to musicians performing the Frank Sinatra song "My Way."

Is the bold part poorly written?  Would a rewrite like this:

  Their first dance was to the Frank Sinatra song "My Way."

be better, since usually people dance to a song, and people do not dance to musicians performing a song?


texts:
whenever I search for both meanings I get confused:
a concept is "an abstract idea." from Oxford Dictionary
an idea is "an opinion or belief" according to Oxford Dictionary


texts:
On Jan 7, I wrote to a native speaker and wished her a great new year, but I used the capitalized form:

  I wish you a very prosperous New Year.

Now I'm in doubt if it's at all meaningful considering that the new year has actually begun.

Could anyone please advise? Was that a right form?


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to use the words one of the, in the following sentence.

"One of the, if not the worst in its category"

Or should the sentence be:

"one of the worst, if not the worst in its category.


texts:
I heard an expression in an episode of White Collar where a girl says to the butler:

  - "Seems we have a pot-kettle situation..."

I have but vague speculations on what that could be based on the context, but since I'm not at all familiar with the expression, I'd like to have it explained explicitly. What does it mean?


texts:
"Now" as an adverb of time is commonly used with present tense but can it also be used past tense?

Additionally, is the usage of "now" in the following sentence grammatically correct? Why or why not?

Our family helped us now.


texts: A customer is someone who 'buys' but what is he if there's no purchase made?

texts:
The noun customer is clear to all of us.

  customer - *a person or an organization that buys something from a shop/store or business* - OALD   customer - *someone who buys goods or services from a business.* -MW  customer - *a person who buys - Collins

And there are many more dictionaries. Note that I'm talking about the first meaning and not the other which is referred to dealing as in A cool customer.

Now the context

The Bishop mall has a large number of footfalls everyday. However, not all of them buy. Many simply enquire about the product and go away. I could use the word 'footfall' because I'm referring to the masses. But I'm talking about one person and 'he's a footfall, not a customer' does not look correct.

My question is, what are they called? They did not buy anything. Are they merely referred to enthusiasts?

In my day-to-day language, any person who enters into the shop is a customer. As being a manager, I'd ask my salesperson, "Go, attend the customer!"

This question is not nitpicking, but there has been an actual situation like this. While discussing our friend's shop's business, I got stuck while describing that person 'X' is not a customer (won't buy anything) he's just __________.

[I know the word 'window-shopper' but it won't fit here. The person is not staring at store's windows but he actually enters, enquires, might show some interest and then go away!]

Visitors is another word that I thought of but it's very casual. It does not fulfill the qualities of customer of being enthusiastic, curious or throwing some enquiry.

Is there any term for a person who does not buy anything?


texts:
A quick humorous snippet from the beginning of Iron Man (2008):

-Tony: I feel like you're driving me to court martial. This is crazy. What did I do? I feel like you're gonna pull over and snuff me...What, you're not allowed to talk? Hey, Forest...
-Soldier A: We can talk, sir.
-Tony: Oh, I see. So it's personal?
-Soldier B: No, you intimidate them.
-Tony: Dear God, you're a woman! I honestly, I couldn't have called that. I mean, I would apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here? I thought of you as a soldier first.
-Soldier B: I'm an airman.
-Tony: Well you have actually excellent bone structure there. I'm kinda... having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird? C'mon, it's OK, laugh. Hey!
-Soldier C: Sir, I have a question to ask.
-Tony: Yes, please.
-Soldier C: Is it true you went 12-for-12 with last year's Maxim cover models?
-Tony: That is an excellent question. Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict,  but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins. Anything else?

I cannot decide which meaning of call applies here. I would use identify.
Does 12-for-12 mean 12 consecutive months here? Is it an adverbial, splitting went from with? Would it be OK to say 12-out-of-12 or 12-in-12 instead?


texts: He has come to see if I was/were ok - indicative or subjunctive?

texts:
I know that the subjunctive is used in formal English in some imaginary situations, such as conditions, wishes (after "to wish", but strangely not after "to hope"), assumptions (eg after "to suppose"), suggestions, statements of necessity, etc. Examples:

If I were rich, ...
I wish the computer were working.
Suppose that I were there now.
I suggest that he implement a budget cut in March.
It is essential that she be present.

Does this apply to a condition related to a verb? Which one of the following sentences is correct?

He has come to see if I was ok. (indicative mood)
He has come to see if I were ok.  (subjunctive mood)


texts: Which preposition is correct for the answer?

texts:
"Which is your English teacher"
"The young lady ___ red over there."

A: with
B: in
C: on
D: for

The correct answer has been given as "with". I am very confused.


texts: Is the article 'the' needed in this sentence?

texts:
The use of quinine compounds provoked large amount of agricultural products by the community, particularly the farmers.

Is this sentence okay if the is omitted?


texts: Can I say "name after the first letter"?

texts:
there.

I would like you guys to answer this question.

Let s say,

I had a dog named "Camila".

After she passed away I got a new dog.
(This dog is a male.)

I want to give him a name beginning with "C" from "Camila".

In this case, can I say

"I named him "Chris" after the first letter of "Camila"."?

Thanks!


texts: Placement of floating prepositional phrases

texts:
Which of these sentences is better and why?

  Nearly 1 million dollars was allocated by corporations for purchase of devices in 2013.
  Nearly 1 million dollars was allocated for purchase of devices by corporations in 2013


texts:
What does "spray" mean in football (soccer) context?
61 | Good counter from the Millers.

Crooks sprays the ball out to Ladapo who finds Giles in the area. His cross takes a deflection off a Reading boot and is eventually cleared.


texts: Does it mean we get inspired by people in a wrong or overwhelmed way so that we get baffled

texts: People are inspiring. The lengths many of us go to for others is baffling.


texts: Which tense would be appropriate to mean that: "I've stopped doing an action that I used to do often."?

texts:
I want to write a sentence which means that:
I used to go to the gym often, but not anymore.
The sentence that I wrote was this.

"I recently go(went) to the gym often because I become interested in weight training. Now I can’t go to the gym."

I thought that the adverbs of frequency can be used with present-tense verbs, but it's not true anymore. So I'm curious about which tense should be used for the verb 'go' of the first sentence.


texts: what is the difference between "walking" and "go walking"?

texts:
"I need to go walking" Why not, "I need to take a walk."?

Are they the same or not?
Are they used in the same situations or not?


texts: Does this "born of Jove" statement mean what I think it does?

texts:
You are a man of such strength and subtlety! You could have been born of Jove!!

I wrote this, but does this mean:

  "Wow you are strong and shrewd! It wouldn't amaze me if you told me you were Jove's offspring."


texts:
I want to discuss these three sentences:

  I don't like her  I dislike her  I hate her

While 'hate' is pretty clear for its intensity/degree of 'not liking someone/thing', what about comparing all those three?

My view:

  I don't like her - polite and harmless  I dislike her - a bit impolite as compared to the above one  I hate her - offensive and rude

I am more interested in 'don't like' and 'dislike'.

If I care about culture/society, which one seems better? My vote is for 'don't like'. But I want natives' opinions on this.

By the way, 'detest' is higher than 'hate' in intensity/degree of disliking?


texts: Why does Richard Stallman refer to random strangers with feminine pronouns?

texts:
For those of you who don't know Richard Stallman, he's the founder of the Free Software Foundation and the father of the Free Software movement in general.

I read a lot of his writings, as well as watch his videos, I even had the pleasure to attend one of his speeches about a month ago. There's one thing I noticed: whenever he mentions someone else without specifying the gender, he always uses the feminine pronouns.

Explicit examples are not easy to search for, I'm posting them as soon as possible:

"[...] After I sang it, someone else in the room said [...] She said, [...]"

https://www.gnu.org/music/writing-fs-song.html
"[...] I was taken to an office, introduced to a lawyer [...] She didn't really dig much [...]"

https://stallman.org/genoa-experience.html
"About half the time, the beggar accepts this offer. [...] I invite her to choose the food, [...]"

https://stallman.org/articles/responding-to-beggars.html
"She said it was a binder 3,000 pages long [...]"

https://stallman.org/articles/asked_to_lie.html
"At dinner at a Japanese restaurant, the person next to me said she wanted to work with abused children. [...]"

https://stallman.org/jokes.html
"A friend once asked me to watch a video with her that she was going to display on her computer using Netflix. [...]"

https://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html
"Another tourist in the group offered me her arm to hold on to so I could continue walking [...]"

https://stallman.org/articles/tikal.html

I thought of a few possible ways to explain it:

it's a contracted version of "he/she" or "s/he" (however he seems to be the only one who uses it)
there's some grammar construct I'm not aware of, similar to the feminine third person in Italian (again, I don't know of anybody else using it in English).

Is he just using some polite version?


texts: Is there an antonym for the adjective "edifying"?

texts:
Is there an antonym for the adjective “edifying”? The reason being, I've been trying to find a suitable translation for the Italian word "diseducativo", but so far have found none.

Dictionaries give the following translation of the word "diseducativo":

morally corrupting, negatively influencing;
contributing to bad upbringing, educationally harmful.

I know the immediate opposite of "edifying" should be "unedifying", but according to all definitions this last simply means, not having the result of improving morality, intellect, etc.

However, the word "diseducativo" evokes something worse than that. It actually counters the edifying process. It is used to refer to someone or something, like a role model or a tv show that has a bad influence on moral beliefs. Not simply "not edifying", but rather "counter-edifying"; a word that doesn't exist though.

The word "diseducativo" can also be mistaken for the opposite of the English word "educative" (or its more used synonym "educational") which is the rare word "antieducational", opposing the provision of knowledge.
The thing is, for some reason, the word "diseducativo" is not simply related to knowledge or instruction, but, as I mentioned above, to moral beliefs and upbringing.

Now, let me also add this funny thing I came across in my research. On Vocabulary.com I found the related verb "to instill" (normally positive beliefs and values on someone). And the explanation says:
"Parents work hard to develop, or instill, positive beliefs and values in their children. Interestingly, there's no corresponding word for when parents pass down their bad habits."


texts:
What would it be the difference between price and pricing on the statements as follows:

Good food, reasonable pricing
Good food, reasonable price

Looking at ngram seems that the second is the right choice but I've come across the first quite often.

Could it be a regionalism?


texts: "[...], that is, if you have it" or "[...], that is if you have it"

texts:
So yesterday I was talking to my senior who happens to be a facilitator of a committee in our college. I was asking her about the reports of my work till date, so I wrote her this message:

I would be grateful if you could send me the reports at the latest, that is, if you have them.

Do native English speakers write it in this format, that is using a comma before if you have them? I know some people will be say that punctuation is a matter of style and varies from different to different style guides. I do not usually follow any style guide at all, hence I am asking whether this looks correct while writing, or should I write in this way?

I would be grateful if you could send me the reports at the latest, that is if you have them.

It wouldn't matter much while speaking when a little pause or not won't affect the saying or the meaning I am trying to convey.
Also, I would like to know about the following case which is like an alternative statement for the above ones.

I would be grateful if you could send me the reports at the latest, provided, you have it.

Or

I would be grateful if you could send me the reports at the latest, provided you have it.


texts: Should we say 'burned to the ground' or 'was burned to the ground'?

texts:
I was reading some examples of relative pronouns on the website http://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/relative-pronouns/

There is an example.

  The store on the corner, where we usually buy all of our art supplies, burned to the ground.

How it can be correct ?. Shouldn't we use was before the burned, I think write sentence should be

  The store on the corner, where we usually buy all of our art supplies,was burned to the ground.

I just want to be sure that second sentence is right, if not i must be missing something


texts:
I guess this might be intuitive for natives but I am rather confused with dictionary definitions.
In one text about questioning subjects in a survey, there are two distinct sentences the respondent is expected to complete. As in the following, "go for a ride" and "take rides" are mentioned in two different sentences, while I assume they mean the same. Isn't it?

  Sentence stem: When you first get a car...
  Women's responses:
  . . . you can’t wait till you drive.
  . . . you would go for a ride.
  . . . you would take rides in it, naturally.
  . . . you would put gas in it and go places.


texts: How to distinguish "two previous" from"previous two"?

texts:
a. His two previous books

b. His previous two books

.............

His 2 latest previous books
His 2 previous latest books
His previous latest 2 books
His latest previous 2 books
His previous 2 latest books
His latest 2 previous books

I am wondering what is the difference could be between these in meaning?  Which one do you use? which one you don't use?  I think just especially native speakers or learned ones in English can provide the most proper answer.

Thanks


texts:
Are there certain situations where "for" and "of" may be used interchangeably and still "sound" grammatically correct? Take this for example:

  With regard to the tribe of (or for) the men that do the plaiting, the hairstyle is referred to as Masai.

Is there an explicit rule,something clear cut like the a/an situation, on when to use "of" and "for"?


texts: Should one say: "She knows much more people than me" or "many more people than me?"


texts: My girlfriend always says that I am wrong when I text her to say "I'm there". Is it correct to say "I'm here" or "I'm there" when I arrive at her house? Also why is that the correct way to state my arrival?


texts:
At first, I didn't like her because she was so quiet and so different that I thought we were not able to be friends.

In this sentence, I am curious that the role of 'that~' grammatically.

For example, 'that~' is a adverb phrase and it modifies something in the sentence. Please give me the comment like this format.


texts: I received (admission / acceptance / admittance) from

texts:
Are the following sentences different semantically:

  I received admission from UCLA.
  I received acceptance from UCLA.
  I received admittance from UCLA.

I guess the third one is used very rarely and perhaps never and the first tow sentences can be used interchangeably; do you confirm my take?


texts:
I already understand, and so ask NOT about, the definition, but instead want to dig deeper:

  if not = Perhaps even (used to introduce a more extreme term than one first mentioned)

How does (the juxtaposition of) if + not combine to mean the above,
which neither word alone means?


texts:
It was like using a watch that runs slow. (It=Egyptian calendar)

What was the Egyptian calendar similar to?

using a watch that runs slow
a watch that runs slow

Which one is correct?


texts:
I have rarely heard this phrase, is it not comman phrase ? How to use the phrase 'There being' ? I've tried to use it in the following sentences:

  There being an exam tomorrow, I'm unable to go to market.

  There being a mysterious murder of the king, the kingdom is in a deep silence.

  There being a dispute over a topic of environment, the country is to make an effective law for its sustainable development.

Could you please tell me that is it a correct way to use 'There being' ?

Or There is a different usage of it ?

I would appreciate your responses. Thank you


texts: "24 hours after mailbox activation" vs "after 24 hours of mailbox activation"

texts:
In sentences given below. Which sentence’s structure is correct?

  1) Communicator will be active 24 hours after mailbox activation.

Or

  2) Communicator will be active after 24 hours of mailbox activation.

Please give a justification, if possible.


texts:
I’ve got two questions that have been puzzling me for the last two days

He was working as a doctor when I met him
He worked as a doctor when I met him

I lived there when the war happened
I was living there while the war was happening

Are these structures correct ?
If yes, what are the differences between them?


texts: Does "redirected" mean that the LWA(Lost Wage Assistant) is a success to the FEMA(Federal Emergency Management Agency)?

texts:
Currently reading this article,
There is a line saying

On August 8, Trump signed several executive actions in an attempt to bypass stalled negotiations with Democrats about a new stimulus bill amid the coronavirus pandemic. That included the LWA funding that provided $300 to $400 in extra unemployment insurance. But the funding is limited to up to $44 billion redirected from FEMA.

I met a problem reading this word "redirected" in this sentence.
Since I didn't know much about FEMA so I checked with the site about the (firstly) LWA and FEMA.
They say,

The program(LWA) is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and applies to states, territories, or the District of Columbia, provided that entity applies by Sep. 10, 2020, and is accepted.

So am I right that the LWA is kind of a anti coronavirus stimulus package which is under?/or the successor to the FEMA? (But what connection does it have to do with Trump's memorandum? if they say The program(LWA) is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA))
Please disentangle my understanding about these programes with thanks in advance.


texts:
In "You will end up alone", is "alone" an adjective or an adverb?

I mean, one can say that "alone" modifies the verb "end up" and, therefore, it is an adverb. However, this phrase can also be understood as "You will end up being alone", in which case it would probably be an adjective.

Besides, it's not that you are performing the action of "ending up" and are doing it all by yourself (unlike, say, the action of dancing all by yourself in "You will dance alone", in which "alone" definitely modifies the verb "dance", and, thus, is an adverb); it is rather a resultant state that you finally arrive at in the process of "ending up".

Unlike in the action of dancing alone -- where you start alone, continue alone and finish alone -- in case of the action of ending up alone you may not at all being alone in the very beginning of it:

  "Jack, you are so rude with your friends, you're surely ending
  up alone!"

Jack still has some friends at this stage of the process.

So, taking this perspective, it seems logical to assume that the word "alone" in "You will end up alone" modifies not the action itself (that is, not the verb), but merely the resultant state (that is, the implied gerund "being", which is dropped off from the phrase), and, therefore, "alone" here is an adjective. However, the noun "being" is not found in that phrase. In fact, there are no nouns in that phrase at all!


texts: Should I repeat on an article twice after "or"?

texts:
Should I repeat an article after "or"?

For example:

  "It is a specific word that refers to a pronoun or (a) noun."


texts: Why is the defininte article sometimes left out after the word "of"?

texts:
I was watching a  video  where the presenter was talking about multiple meanings of some words, and then she gave an example that I am confused by, because I have no idea why the had been omitted. Here it goes:

  Current as a noun refers to the direction and speed of (the) flow of a liquid.

At first I thought it was because the word flow is not generally used with articles, but then I checked the Oxford Dictionary and saw these examples:

  ...the flow of water into the pond...

  The spiral wave inhibits normal waves, just as eddies in a stream inhibit the smooth flow of water.

So what would be correct if I put the in the first sentence? And if not, then why?


texts: “ate an animal raw” or “ate a raw animal”

texts:
To Kill a Mockingbird

“if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.”

I want to know the difference between

  I ate a raw animal ...               and
  I ate an animal raw.


texts: What is the passive voice of this sentence?

texts: I want to know the passive voice of this sentence "     ".


texts:
My question is that which of the followings is correct?

My question is [...]
My question is that [...]

for example should I use that in the first sentence of this post or not?


texts: While I was washing utensils in the kitchen, my mother relaxed/was relaxing

texts:
While I was washing utensils in the kitchen, my mother ________(relaxed/was relaxing) on the sofa.
Which one is correct relaxed or was relaxing?
Is it okay to combine past continuous tense (was washing) with a simple past tense (relaxed) or must the whole sentence be in past continuous tense?


texts:
Are both "I have been reading an hour already" and "I have been reading for an hour already" correct?

Or "I have been working here 3 years" and "I have been working here for 3 years"?


texts:
Finally we found someone who can do the job.
Finally we‘ve found someone who can do the job.

Do these two sentences mean the same thing?


texts:
I want to email my friend to tell her that my lab simulation data proved my conjecture but I need more work by saying:

"The lab simulation shows me promising but the proof of this Theorem can not be adapted from the old proof"...

I feel wired by saying "shows me promising"... is there something wrong? How may I make it better?

Thank you!


texts: Which one would be preferable here, Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous?

texts:
Sentences:

  Here you're! We have just talked about you.
  Here you're! We have just been talking about you.

I think I made a little mistake when I chose to use Present Perfect instead of Present Perfect Continuos. Boiling down to the rules the have no meaningfull diference except for emphasis on number (Present Perfect) and emphasis on duration (Present Perfect Continuos) IN GENERAL. I'm not talking about experience, personal changes, annoyance, and so forth.

But in this case we have past action of some duration which took place before the object of the conversation came. So the second one is more preferable, isn't it?


texts:
I have a question about this 2 options...I was talking with 2 friends about healthy and one of them said "You ´re are fitter than I am" .So my other friend said" No, it has to be than me not than I am"
I was very confused,so i wonder if you can explain me with this sentence...thank you :3


texts: Can "however" and "but" be used interchangeably?

texts: Can they be used interchangeably? If not, in which situations should I use the former and the latter?


texts: Indirect objects in relative clauses - where to put the preposition?

texts:
I've found this example for point here:

  Carol looked to see what her finger was pointing at.

Can we rephrase the sentence as shown below?

  Carol looked to see at what her finger was pointing.

Why or why not?


texts:
I came across the sentence "The person folded the school". A dictionary say the usage of "fold" in this meaning is intransitive like " The school folded" but this "fold" is used as transitive.

So Is "The person folded the school" wrong ? Or "fold" can be used as transitive like this?

In addition I guess "The person folded the school" means "The person closed the English school."

And Is "The person folded the company" correct? Does it means "The person closed the company."? A dictionary only say "The company fold."


texts:
Danny moved eagerly toward the box of beer, but Mark stopped him and
went to it himself.

Hi. I wrote this sentence and thought it sounded OK, but then I did a search on Google and found out that "went to it himself" only had 6 hits, so my question is if it's not correct and natural or maybe it's just the construction of the sentence that is unusual? Hope you can help me.


texts: Should we put the definite article before 'morning'?

texts:
My father and I go for a walk in morning in a park close to our home.

Should there be a 'the' before 'morning' here?


texts:
Example sentence:

  She cried on her boyfriend's chest. It wasn't until she had dried (out) and drenched his shirt, that she began explaining.

Does it make a difference if you include the out in situations like these? Why or why not?


texts:
What is the correct preposition when you say:

  Sometimes, people need a personal driver to drop them off at/to their work

Is it to coz' it makes more sense to me as your are going to work, BUT the at maybe too... emphasizing specificity.


texts: When a group of people (a community / a society or even a nation) always see the negative side of a matter

texts:
Please imagine there is a group of people, a community, a society or even a nation of a country who do not think in an proper and acceptable manner and always think about evil things and as the saying goes they just see the negative part of everything.

For example they see a young couple and have no idea who they are and what they are going to do and they have no idea about their relationship. However they judge them and their relationship in the worst manner. What is the best way to describe such a quality? Do the following self-made sentences work in natural English?

  Their thoughts are poisoned.
  Their thoughts are ill / sick / patient.

If not, then please let me know how shall I indicate the above sentences in a manner it could seem natural?


texts:
What does the Audit manager mean, in this cartoon?

  The rainbow was on your property, Mr. o’toole, so technically, you are responsible for claiming the gold as personal income.

Source: Cartoon in RD magazine (under the cartoon: luck of the IRS).


texts: Everyone turns their attention toward/Everyone's attention turns toward

texts:
There's a party. Yelling can be heard from a bathroom.

Everyone turns their attention toward the bathroom. Just then, the door bursts open and Fred comes storming out, followed by Selma.

Everyone's attention turns toward the bathroom. Just then, the door bursts open and Fred comes storming out, followed by Selma.

Are either okay?


texts: Is "thug" in "Why We Thugs" a noun or a verb?

texts:
Does "Why We Thugs" mean "Why Are We Thugs?" or is thug meant to be a verb (I was able to find this word only in Irish) and it should be "Why We Thug?" without the "s"?

Is "thug" in this case a noun or a verb?

If it's OK in everyday English and it's not Ebonics, could you, please, show me some example with different words than "thugs"?

Excerpt for the lyrics:

They give us guns and drugs
Then wonder why in the fuck we thugs
They wanna count the slugs
Then come around here and fuck with us (Uh huh)
They give us guns and drugs
Then wonder why in the fuck we thugs
They wanna count the slugs
Then come around here and fuck with us

Here is the whole song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRZ3TdpEn-o


texts: 'Until 17th January' includes 17th or doesn't include?

texts:
When preceding the word 'until' before a date, does it include this date or it excludes this date?

For example:

  The first semester classes will be from 1st September Until 17th January.

Does it include classes on 17th or the last class is on 16th?


texts: "I never get to have any fun" What does it mean?

texts:
Insertion of the word "never" and the verb "get" confuses me a little bit. I'm not sure if he's saying I'm not having fun right now (in the present tense) or I will not have fun anymore (I'll never have fun - future). For me, it sounds like it means I'll no longer have fun but I'd like to confirm that.

Why is the verb "get" used?


texts: Wondering if my perception of the following highlighted terms is correct

texts:
"An Garda Síochána is determined to protect communities from the potentially devastating impact of these drugs and firearms"
  The senior officer said the operation had been "highly targeted" and had involved "close co-operation" with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
  (source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27087586)

Based on my perception, the word communities has to do with small groups in a society, such as youngsters at schools or on the streets, or even could refer to street kids.
Highly targeted has to with targeting the most important figures in charge of an event.
And in the last one, although I know the meaning of cooperation, I cannot understand why the writer has written it in a way as if it is an adjective!


texts: What does "It carried messages I had never expected were there." mean in this context?

texts:
I would like to know what "It carried messages I had never expected were there." means in the following sentences:

‘What is this?’ I asked.
Hania looked around the group, everyone smiling at my question.
‘Zupa,’ she said, meaningfully. ‘Poppy-stem soup. It will send you
flying.’
Her black eyes gleamed. You were sitting next to her and nodded at me
encouragingly. She served me the first cup and handed it across the
table. All eyes were on me. I held the cup to my lips and downed it in
its entirety, pouring it into myself like medicine. I wanted to
dissolve with it. There was a dark-brown taste to it, bitter,
unforgiving. They smiled at me and followed my lead, all drinking too.
We sat around looking at each other, Hania rubbing my hand across the
table, giggling. You held her hand, and Maksio’s hand. We all took
each other’s hands and formed a chain. And moments later – or was it
more than that – we were all sitting on the couches, spread out,
joyous. My body was weightless. There was nothing on my mind, nothing
at all; it was so light it floated. I saw you sitting near me and all
I felt was love. I closed my eyes and saw fields, and flowers and the
lake, the lake from that summer, and everything was there for me, only
for me, and I loved myself – all of it, every atom – like I never had
before. The music that was playing was the most beautiful thing I’d
ever heard. Every word of it – it was Serge Gainsbourg singing in
French – I understood. It carried messages I had never expected were
there. And we danced. You and me, Hania and you, me and her. Agata
and Maksio. All of us together.

Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark, Chapter 6

In this novel which is set in the 1980's in Poland under the socialist regime, where homosexuality was socially unacceptable, the protagonist Ludwik left Poland in 1981 to live in the United States of America. And he remembers what it was like back then in Poland, where, one day, he went to the country house of his rich friend named Hania. At the country house, he and Hania and all of their friends drank Zupa, Polish heroin. After drinking the drugged soup, he felt weightlessness.
In this part, I am confused about the structure of the sentence.
Does it mean "It carried messages [that] were there (in the music), and I had never expected those messages"?
In short, I wonder whether it would be right to understand that "I had never expected" is merely inserted between "messages" and "[that] were there."


texts:
Imagine a celebrity who is going to donate to charity big money. Actually their inmost feelings are not to gain points with God, but just to demagogically demonstrate a more pleasant character. Prior to the inaugural ceremony of the big charity, the celebrity's coordinator tells them:

  You will gain a lot of credibility by this action.
  You will gain a lot of reputation by this action.
  You will gain a lot of acclaim by this action.

For me, all the three words above mean the same so far, but looking at their meanings on Cambridge Dictionary, caused doubt in my mind if they mean the same yet. I was wondering if you could clarify how these three sentences are different in meaning.


texts: What does the phrase "slice your timeline" mean here?

texts:
Does the word "slice" simply mean "cut" in the following sentence?

The new tool palette includes cursor modes—Hand, Zoom, Blade, and Track Select—that enable you to quickly zoom in, move, and even slice your timeline.

I am assuming that the word "timeline" is used with all three action words, i.e. zoom in, move and slice. However, I am wondering if one can slice the timeline. Or is the phrase "clips on your timeline" implied here?

The quoted sentence describes a function of the video editing and screencast tool, ScreenFlow.


texts: "does not mean" + "however" in a single sentence

texts:
using "does not mean" and "however" in the following sentence make me confused in translation.

  The apparent resilience of the current setup does not mean, however, that there is no room for these schemes to improve without compromising sustainability.

Does it mean that the  1st part (the apparent ...) does not necessarily lead to the 2nd part (there is no room ...) however it leads in this case?


texts:
What does the following sentence mean in this video at 01.14.

Suicide is now the number one cause for teenagers from 12 to 18.

And he adds:

It hurts everyone inside, but they're not doing something.

Is it clear for you whom he refers by "they"?
Cause can mean a long-term belief like your values and you can fight for it or it can mean a reason of something. However, either usage does not makes a sense for me for this sentence.


texts:
Should I use the definite article referring to a number of specific things whose quantity is given with a cardinal number?
Like so:

  The twelve survivors of the car accident


texts: describing the degree of unexpectedness of a change in a person's behavior

texts:
By the end of this school year, he has become especially active in
  different science projects - a change that was really hard to
  expect in him in the very beginning.

Is "a change that was really hard to expect" good English?

Should it be better like:

1) a change that was really hard to be expected

2) a change that was really difficult to expect

3) a change that was really difficult to be expected

4) a change that was not to expect

5) a change that was not to be expected

6) a change that was barely to be expected

7) a change that was hardly to be expected

or something else?


texts: Past tense. He watched / has watched / had watched?

texts:
I don't understand. Is it okay to use HAD + ED ?

He watched is fine for me. He has/had watched is weird, I don't get it.


texts: Conjunction of two possessives with different prepositions

texts:
Consider this sentence:

  In our work, they are mainly textual elements within the content, which serve as the starting point [ of a data region ] or distinctive features within a data region.

I left out "of a data region" as it is in the second part of conjunction, however in that part it has "within" preposition. Is yet my sentence grammatical and natural?

How about:

  In our work, they are mainly textual elements within the content, which serve as the starting point of a data region or distinctive features within them.

is it "them" or "it"?


texts: Add something in, into or on Google Docs?

texts:
What preposition is most suitable referring to the verb add and the object Google Docs?

I've just added an essay in, into or on Google Docs?


texts: Should I call it a pedestrian overpass or pedestrian footbridge?

texts: It's a bridge that allows people to cross a road. How can I call it? Can it be a pedestrian overpass or pedestrian footbridge?


texts: "It is black, it is not blue" or "It is black. It is not blue"?

texts:
I am not sure if I have to add capital letter and a period (full stop) in the following sentence. Obviously, I am talking about cases where I say them continuously, and in that case I'm not sure if they are considered as one or two sentences.

  It is not green , it is blue.

or

  It is not green . It is blue.


texts: I want to state the fact based on the data I have

texts:
I have recorded the variation in the prices for a particular snack
in the supermarket nearby.   Here are some data:

  6 Jan: 2.15
  12 March: 2.21
  25 June: 2.35

I will check the new price in August, now I am trying to guess the new price based on the above data, and I have written this sentence:

  The variation in the prices for my favourite snack is not steady. I guess the new price for the snack will be bounded by 2.5 by the early August.

This is my first time trying to write a sentence this way. Is my sentence completely understandable?


texts:
During a conversation,

It was a pleasure meeting you, thanks for chatting

and

It is a pleasure meeting you, thanks for chatting

Which one is grammatical?


texts: Which one of these are correct? Usage of plural

texts:
Please help me clear my confusion regarding the following sentences and correct me if i am wrong.

My proficiency level(s) of both the english language and the French language (are/is) about the same. Second question, can i only use language once at the back. For example, English and French language.

I am equally proficient in both the english and French language(s).


texts:
This question's about the use of "into" here. Actually it's 8:20 pm and my favourite program would have started at 8:00pm. I know it's not natural to say:

Two minutes of my show's over.( Well, someone told me.)

But is the use of:
It's 20 minutes already into the show.
Natural?

Thank you:)


texts:
The counselor recommended that he go to a community college.

I found the above example here. What is the context and why not goes after he?


texts:
How common is the use of the word "tee" for T-shirt in the UK or the US?

I'm asking it because I saw it firstly on the site of a chain of clothing in the UK (see attached picture)

I found on Oxford dictionary that it is in informal use (see definition No. 3). But still it's interesting to know how common it is in use. I'm afraid also to say to someone that I bought for him "tee" and he will think that I'm talking about tea...


texts: "population in China" vs "population of China"

texts:
From a post

China urban population for 2018 was 823,827,650 ...

Which seems grammatically incorrect, at least not as common.
According to Ngram Viewer, "urban population in China" are more common while "China urban population" is shown as "Ngrams not found".

question 1
Regarding the use in question, is the following sentence more natural than other alternatives?

The urban population in China for 2018 was 823,827,650 ...

From the Cambridge Dictionary

In the past eight years, the elephant population in Africa has been halved.

In 1992 the population of Cairo was approximately 6,500,000.

Which seem to demonstrate the usage of prepositions with "population", "in" and "of".
Ngram Viewer also shows the use of them

I am aware that "Chinese population" is much more common, though I'd just like to know the difference between "population in China" and "population of China".
question 2
Does it involve nationality, citizenship or something else?
Why is "in" more natural than "of" for question 1?


texts:
Can I skip the questioning part in a question tag sentence, for example, instead of saying

  Oh, you have watched it, haven't you?

to

  Oh, you have watched it?

with a high raising pitch in the end to make it as a question or a wondering expression and skip the "haven't you" part completely.

Is the ok in colloquial English?


texts:
I am big fan of Sherlock Holmes and I watched all Tv series and movies. Also I want to read all Sherlock Holmes stories in English. I need to improve my reading skills and expand my vocabulary.

So I need an effective technique for memorize vocabulary.


texts: What does mean? "Are you on any sort of medication?"

texts:
I'm an English learner. I faced with a sentence that I don't meaning it.
Here is the question I don't understand but I see its answer.

Question: Are you on any sort of medication?
Answer: I need a sick note.

https://7esl.com/answers-to-common-english-questions/
So, I don't know Question meaning.
Please help.


texts: Does "visits" mean number of times or number of people?

texts:
500,000

  patient visits by 2020

It is a text in an infographic, and the position is exactly as above. The number is located above, and the rest is located below. I think "visits" mean number of times, but I want to be sure if there is any possibility that "visits" could mean "visitors". Is it "500,000 times of visit" or "500,000 visitors"?


texts: How do people normally pronounce it (VAT)?

texts:
How do people normally pronounce the abbreviation VAT (Value added tax)?

Which of the two chices is more common?

  To read each letter seperately (V.A.T)
  To read it as a word (vat)


texts: What do you call the container where you extract cow milk into?

texts:
I am not sure why, but I forgot the word. I know there's a general word for it, more specific than container, but I would also like to know is there's an even more specific word for it too.

For example:

  The farmer put a ___ under the cow and started extracting milk by
  milking the cow.


texts: What did Glenn Close mean with "really sublimated herself to my father"?

texts:
In her Golden Globes speech she said:

  I'm thinking of my mom, who really sublimated herself to my father,
  her whole life. And in her 80's she said to me: I feel like I haven't
  accomplished anything.

What would be a better substitute for sublimated? Something more like dedicated or more like subordinated?


texts: Is there any difference between the terms 'define' and 'qualify'?

texts: I have looked up their etymologies but cannot come to a nuanced demarcation between the terms. I know both generally imply limiting of a concept; in the case of 'qualify', extending to general statements as well. 'Define' etymologically means to end or finish completely. Ironically, I cannot seem to qualify/define 'qualify'.


texts:
What's the difference between reaching out to help and reaching out for help?

  Kirk shrugged, and he knew that the look of disgust was returning to
  his face, but he was  sick of it.  He’d tried to reach out for
  help — and reach out to help, on some level — and got sand in his eye.
  Screw it.

Context: Kirk asks his teacher who is obsessed with ghosts for help, because he discovered the girl he likes is curious about them. The teacher, who knows Kirk doesn't like ghosts and doesn't like him, thinks Kirk is doing something to mock him and declines.

Thanks!


texts:
I know "No, thank you" means rejection.

Me: Hey, Bob. You want some drink?
Bob: No, thank you.

But I was involved with this kind of conversation

Me: Thanks, Mr Jordan for teaching me.
Mr.Jordan: No! Thank you!

Did he reject my thanks? Does this mean that it's something like No Problem, or is he trying to say that I'm the one who should thank you!. Or has he had enough of me? He has taught me for 5 years, so we have a good relationship (I hope).


texts: When can 'alongside' be used to express parallelism between objects?

texts:
Are the cars depicted in the first two scenes below parked alongside the wall?

If yes, let's suppose that all cars except one have gone away. Are the cars depicted in the scenes below still parked alongside the wall?

If not, what preposition do you use to describe the last two situations? And, is there a minimum number of cars under which you no longer use alongside?


texts: Does part of a sentence starting with "For why else" need question mark?

texts:
Death must be an evil — and the gods agree; for why else would they
  live for ever ?

Source: Sappho (c. 600 B.C.). Poetarum Lesbiorum Fragmenta, ed. Edgar Lobel and Denys Page. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955, no. 201.

  Alan likes Juli, for why else should he buy her all those presents ?

Do the above sentences need question mark or point at the end?


texts: "one of the things which is ..." or "one of the things which are ..."?

texts:
The question is simple: Which sentence is correct?

  This is one of the things which is really important to her.

or

  This is one of the things which are really important to her.

When I think about it, the second sentence seems correct because 'things' and 'are' are both plural and so in agreement. But, I may unconsciously use the first one when I'm writing, say, a letter to a friend. Is my unconscious mind really wrong here?!


texts:
Although there has been explained, in fact, I cannot yet get why the bold part has been used. And, I am wondering if a and b mean the same thing,if so when? when not?
In addition, what are them? are they considered as conjunction?
a. let alone: used for saying that something is even less likely to happen than another unlikely thing: I hardly have time to think these days, let alone relax.
b. still/much/even less: used after a negative statement in order to emphasize that it applies even more to what you say next: I am no one's spokesman, much less his.
You could make the case that let alone and much less are synonymous, since you could substitute one for the other:

I am no one's spokesman, let alone his.
I hardly have time to think these days, much less relax.

Thanks


texts:
The contest is not supposed to be political but Russia’s entry was booed – nothing to do with its teenage twin contestants and everything to do with its policies on Ukraine and gay rights.
  There was again disappointment for Britain and Molly Smitten-Downes who came 17th – and especially for France who finished last.
  But the night belonged to Conchita Wurst – whose triumph gives Austria its first Eurovision victory since 1966.

Finished last? Does it simply mean became last winner ?


texts:
Could somebody explain it to me: where is an 'are' in the sentence

  "You doing ok?"

I find this example in some American cartoon, along with the other examples where auxiliary verb is not in place.


texts:
Consider we have two expressions A, and B.

If we have C = A + B, we can say (I have seen this multiple times in academic papers):

  C can be written as a sum of two expressions.

Now the question is, what can we say if we have:

C = A - B

Please, note that I am looking for a very technical word. for example, we cannot use the words "addition" , "plus" in the first sentence. I have never seen such sentences with these synonyms.
Thanks

More Details:


texts:
What is the difference between exceptions and special cases?

Example:

  Determiner placement is largely determined by [X, Y and Z], however many exceptions and special cases play a role.


texts: Which would be the English idiom for the Spanish expression "nadie tira piedras contra su propio tejado"?

texts:
It would literally translate as "nobody throws stones against his own roof", the expression means that one person or in general any entity composed of persons, no matter what, is not going to make something that might cause damage, loss or, in general, any negative condition, to himself in a way he's aware of.

An example would be:

  He's not going to lend that money to you, as he may need it later, and obviously [desired expression].


texts: What does "doorknob" mean in this context?

texts:
In Lowell's answer in his interview what doorkonb means?

  INTERVIEWER

  Don’t you think a large part of it is getting the right details, symbolic or not, around which to wind the poem tight and tighter?

  LOWELL

  Some bit of scenery or something you’ve felt. Almost the whole problem of writing poetry is to bring it back to what you    really feel, and that takes an awful lot of maneuvering. You may feel the doorknob more strongly than some big personal event, and the doorknob will open into something that you can use as your own. A lot of poetry seems to me very good in the tradition but just doesn’t    move me very much because it doesn’t have personal vibrance to it. I    probably exaggerate the value of it, but it’s precious to me. Some    little image, some detail you’ve noticed—you’re writing about a    little country shop, just describing it, and your poem ends up with    an existentialist account of your experience. But it’s the shop that    started it off. You didn’t know why it meant a lot to you. Often    images and often the sense of the beginning and end of a poem are all    you have—some journey to be gone through between those things; you    know that, but you don’t know the details. And that’s marvelous; then    you feel the poem will come out. It’s a terrible struggle, because    what you really feel hasn’t got the form, it’s not what you can put    down in a poem. And the poem you’re equipped to write concerns    nothing that you care very much about or have much to say on. Then    the great moment comes when there’s enough resolution of your    technical equipment, your way of constructing things, and what you    can make a poem out of, to hit something you really want to say. You    may not know you have it to say.

Here is the link of interview:
    https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4664/robert-lowell-the-art-of-poetry-no-3-robert-lowell


texts:
Psychiatrist: Here are the pills. You should be aware of the possible side effects. I can imagine the worst one being that you will have to continue coming to see me once a week.

The psychiatrist is trying to be funny. Does the piece of dialogue work well? Or can sessions at the psychiatrist not be considered a side effect?


texts: what does someone mean when they say " something passed beyond the limits?"

texts:
I have seen a poem translater of a language but I couldn't get what he translated;
for example:

  the Indifference passed beyond the limits--Nurturer,  how long will I narrate the state of the heart,  and you will say" what's that?


texts: Which possessive should I use when referring to the car of a friend?

texts:
Is this sentence correct?

This is John's car, a friend of mine.

Or do I need to say this?

This is John, my friend's car.


texts: Is it grammatically correct to remove "The" from the beginning of a photo title?

texts:
For example in a photo there is a river. Can we title it "River" and not "The River"? Or there are some women who are sitting and standing on the ground. Can we title the photo "Sitting & Standing Women" or "The Sitting & Standing Women"?

And what about capitalizing all words?

In my native language there is no The and capitalizing.


texts: What is the meaning of "flung their hands up" in this context?

texts:
This is the context:

  the multiverse is just an example of a bad theory. The
  multiverse theory can predict nothing. But can it accommodate anything? Oh yes. It can accommodate
  everything because it is a multiverse and one can find the right place in the multiverse. It’s a remarkably
  imprecise theory. The amazing thing is that people have welcomed it. They should have flung their
  hands up.

I searched on the internet and just found one explanation from the Cambridge dictionary:

  to show that you are very shocked or frightened.

Is this definition applies here?


texts: surprising vs. evident in a multiple choice question

texts:
I read the following in a TOEIC book:

  To: Heather Conner
  From: Martin Drysdale
  Subject: Your short story submission
  Date: May 2

  Dear Ms. Conner,

  Thank you for your submission to this year’s Francis P. Scott Literary Competition. As you may be aware, Ms. Grace Oberlin was selected as the winner for her short story Never Far, and an awards ceremony, to which you are cordially invited, will be held in her honor on June 18.

  As for your submission, it is ________ that you possess both a great deal of talent and potential. After all, of the numerous manuscripts we received this year, our judges deemed your short story Alienation to be in the top five. Consequently, we would like to include your work in our upcoming publication. …

  Thank you very much.

  Martin Drysdale
  Chairman of Francis P. Scott Literary Foundation Awards Committee

  (A) unlikely
  (B) convenient
  (C) surprising
  (D) evident

  ((Hacker’s TOEIC, New TOEIC Edition))

Which one do you think is correct?

I think ‘(C) surprising’ is the best answer, but my friend says ‘(D) evident’ is the correct answer.


texts: Does "fighter's chin" have a meaning other than the figurative one?

texts:
A character in the novel that I'm reading is described to have a fighter's chin. According to Wikipedia, it's a figurative term referring "to an ability to tolerate physical trauma to the chin or jaw without being knocked unconscious."

The way she's described makes it doubtful that it's being used for the figurative meaning. But I cannot find anything else on Google.

Can it mean a certain shape of a chin?

Here's the passage:

  There was also fun in her, however. Her grey hair was gathered in a bun behind her, but there remained one sprightly forelock that flopped over her brow to the rhythm of her waddle. A hardy humour lit her brown eyes. Her mouth, set above a fighter's chin, seemed ready, given half a reason, to smile at any time.


texts:
On no account should the house be left unlocked.

'account' has many meanings, but I think its meaning here is reason.
Do you agree or disagree with me?


texts:
Somebody has given his opinion to me on a particular subject. I think about it which raises some questions about that subject matter.

So, I want to say it using the Idioms "give some thought to something"

Is the following sentence correct?

  After given some thought to it (your reply) raises some questions.

How can I say it in more natural / native way.

Thanks


texts:
In the below example what we should use with while to represent the target image moving while similarity estimate in each step.

  To find the ideal alignment, the method required an X function
  represent the similarity of the overlap area between a fixed and
  target images while the target image [is] translating.

OR

  To find the ideal alignment, the method required an X function
  represent the similarity of the overlap area between a fixed and
  target images while the target image translation.

Why do you decide to use it?


texts: Nature has been attributed with approved human values and ideals to validate and raise above debate particualr visions and ideologies

texts:
Nature has been attributed with approved human values and ideals to validate and raise above debate particular visions and ideologies. (Coates, "Nature: Western Attitudes Since Ancient Times, page 5)

I am confused, please explain this sentence. The language is bit complicated.


texts: Is "for the purpose that" grammatically correct?

texts:
I have googled and rarely found the example of usage.  Instead I found "for the purpose of" is more common. My English teacher, who is not English-native speaker, showed me one but I rather disagree with her.
For example: The spy dyed his hair (,since/,so/;hence,/for the purpose that) he wouldn't be recognized.
Her answer is "for the purpose that". I thought  "so" or "hence" is more suitable.


texts:
Google defines exert as

  apply or bring to bear (a force, influence, or quality)

The dictionary has a example sentence:

  the moon exerts a force on the Earth

Can I paraphrase it as "the moon bring the Earth to bear a force"?


texts: Birthday / congrats - plain integer 37 or ordinal 37th?

texts:
Writing a birthday card to an important person, I want to write something like this:

  Congratulations on your 35-anniversary!...well, 37 tops ;-)

Should I use 37th instead of just 37?

Thanks a lot in advance!

P.S: The guy is actually turning 49, but looks really no older than 35))


texts: Is there a difference in meaning between "hit somene's leg", "hit someone on the leg" and "hit someone in the leg"?

texts:
Is there a difference in meaning between hit somene's leg, hit someone on the leg and hit someone in the leg? For example:

When I was a child, my dad accidentally hit my leg with a bat.
When I was a child, my dad accidentally hit me on the leg with a bat.
When I was a child, my dad accidentally hit me in the leg with a bat.


texts: What do you call an emotional, sensitive person's character?

texts:
Is there any fixed term which can describe an emotional person who is very gentle, kind, sensitive, and can be easily upset?

I think a construction of "gentle," "delicate," and "tender" plus "morale" or possible "character" can work; although, this is only a simple guess and rooted from the quality that we use in our language; i.e.

  He has a tender morale/character.
  He has a gentle morale/character.
  He has a delicate morale/character.

Please let me know how would you refer to such an individual.

Added:

In order to avoid any further misunderstanding, I guess I have to explain a little more! As you see in Cambridge Dictionary, the adjective "delicate" means: needing careful treatment, especially because easily damaged. Also, the word "tender" has a very close meaning where it explains it as: easily hurt; therefore, I think I can say: he has a "delicate character" OR he has a "tender character" in a figurative way; but the question is that do these sentences make sense when they stand alone or they require to be in a context to be understood or they are kind of confusing statements and sound odd and unnatural?


texts:
Which sentence is correct? I know simple past should be used for a specific time in the past and when the time is over.

  "When I was 11 years old, I had had a car accident." (wrong)

  "When I had been 11 years old, I had a car accident." (wrong)

  "When I was 11 years old, I had a car accident." (right)

But what about these sentences:

  "When I was young, I had had a car accident."

  "When I was younger, I had had a car accident.'

  "When I was younger, I had wanted to be a doctor."

  "When I was young, I had wanted to be a doctor."

Past perfect is used when one action happens before another in the past.  but is "When I was young" an action?  I am really confused about this and the past perfect tense.  If it is not considered an action, why not?

Are these two sentences correct too?

  "I had gone to the store."

  "I went to the store."  (clearly right)

but can you say the first sentence?  Am I the only one confused about the perfect tense?  Any help or links would help:)


texts:
Check these sentences with their context -

  Today, you got an interview and the interviewers may ask about their company and some questions about the current affairs ~ Yes I know. Don't worry, I'll come prepared.   (A cop to another cop) There's some illegal activity going on in Dawn's Street and tonight, we have to fix that ~ Sure, sir! I'll come armed.

Now, is this possible that way?

  We'll be back by evening but then remember, that place is very far and no food is available ~ Dont' worry, I'll come eaten.

"...come eaten" - possible this way? If not, how do I say it in that format without changing the sentence completely?


texts:
What is it called when people/society expect you to be something because of your gender/nationality? Like when people expect you to be smart because you're Asian, etc. We had to make a persuasive speech and I think that this is an uncommon but important topic but I can't make up a name for it.

My speech:

  We all tried to fit in the society’s standards, but no matter how perfect we are and how noble our personality is, society will always throw shade at you. All of the boys are expected to be sporty. All of the girl are expected to be smart. All of the teachers are expected to be perfect. We all are humans and we deserve to be unlabelled.


texts: Any difference between "I need to go home" and "I need going home"?

texts:
I need to go home - I need going home

I heard both but don't know if "need going" is correct and if there is any difference?


texts: I find the words 'uses' and 'usage' confusing. Most of the times, I fail to use them correctly. Can someone please tell me when to use them. Thank you.


texts: Question regarding the use of "let me" followed by two verbs

texts:
Well, I have a question regarding these two phrases listed below:

let me go make sure
let me come see you

I have read some texts using these phrases. I thought the right solution was:

let me go to make sure
let me come  to see you

Is it grammatically correct to miss the "to" before the following verb?
Can I just say: "let me go make sure" and avoid the second version of the phrase?


texts:
I was reading a book and came across the following piece of text:

each new affiliate that joined after the attack was, to a greater or lesser extent, mounting an insurgency in its home region, and each was allocating far greater resources to such battles than to striking international targets.

So, what’s the meaning of the ”than to”? What are the rules for using it? Does it mean the same as ”...and each was allocating far greater resources to such battles rather than striking international targets.”
Or is it correct to say ”I would rather end this on good terms than to fight and hate each other”


texts: Avoiding the repetition in this sentence

texts:
Related to: How to avoid the repetition of "of"?

The post above recommends rearranging the sentence to avoid such repetition but it is difficult for me to do this.

  Speaking from the perspective of the majority of the population...

One that I have come up with is:

  Speaking from the majority of the population's perspective...

But then it sounds weird to me with the repetition of the.

I am not a native speaker, so can someone verify if my sentence is correct or come up with a better suggestion?


texts: Why is the verb “buys” used with a plural noun “dollars”?

texts:
I came across one sentence in the book: “$200 buys you 181 Swiss Francs”.
Could you please explain why the verb takes -s if the noun is plural. And what is the meaning of the sentence?


texts:
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
      But don't judge on what you see,
      I'll eat myself if you can find
      A smarter hat than me.
      You can keep your bowlers black,
      Your top hats sleek and tall,
      For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
      And I can cap them all.
      There's nothing hidden in your head
      The Sorting Hat can't see,
      So try me on and I will tell you
      Where you ought to be.
       (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)

At first I thought, in the highlighted part, ‘black’ is a modifier and changed its place from ‘black bowlers’, for being sound rhythmical. But it seems like ‘keep something + adjective’ construction; and then the comma after sleek and tall has the meaning of but.
Entering into the idea, I got curious as to if the phrase ‘keep your bowlers black’ is a traditional saying or the writer’s invention to denote a dandy style. Knowing not British tradition, it leaves me the vague idea. Would you tell me about the sentence and its background?


texts:
The person who wins gets the prize

  The person who wins will get the prize

  The person who will win gets the prize

  The person who will win will get the prize

Which of the above are correct please?


texts: "We will have it by 2018 year" - does it mean before 2018 year or somewhere in this year?


texts: Commonness of active relative clauses vs. passive relative clauses

texts:
I wrote:

  I have a dependency treebank including 100 structures, which I divide into a training set and a test set.

Should I say which I divide it into ....? or
that I divide it into...?

cause in its current form sounds weird to my ears! I used to passive relative clauses like "which is divided into...", then using an active relative clause was a bit weird!! are they common as passive relative clauses?!

for example was it better to rephrase it as ...

"... which is divided into ...."


texts:
The idiom "Bring something/someone to light" means according to the Free Dictionary:

  To reveal something, often something inappropriate or illegal.

I want to use it for something completely appropriate and legal, so I have looked for examples that use the idiom, as there is often in the definition, and found some which are about politics and controversial matters.

And I want to use it in the following scenario:

  Someone answered a question that brought another question to light to
  the asker.

Is my usage of it suitable? If not, what is the alternative? (I need an idiom if possible)


texts: Is "the following" always necessary when using a colon?

texts:
My hobby includes the following: watching TV; listening music; and
driving.

I would like to know whether the following in the sentence above I created can be omitted as follow:

My hobby includes: watching TV; listening music; and
driving.

I remembered that someone had said that it could not be omitted, but I found lots of sentences on the Internet that omit "the following".


texts:
Which one is more correct in the following context: 'it' or 'this' ?

  John‚ have you heard that the government has decided to cut fifty four thousand trees for a new project? Is [it / this] a correct decision? What do you think?


texts: FIGS. 1 to 5 or FIGS. 1 through 5, which is better?

texts:
I googled to search for how to collectively refer to multiple drawings, and found that there are two ways:

  FIGS. 1 to 5 show ...
  FIGS. 1 through 5 show ...

I would like to know which is better.


texts:
I talk to my coworkers on Skype and they always say "anytimes," "of course," or "no problem" when I thank them for helping me.

Today, I googled "anytimes" and Google suggested that it should be "anytime" without an s. So, I am curious if "anytimes" is the correct word to say in this context.

P.S. my coworkers are American.


texts:
would you please take a look at the following sentence:

Matches are played "alternatively" in odd-positon rounds and in
even-position rounds.

I was troubled by this sentence because I thought it can mean either
Matches are played, firstly, in many odd-positon rounds and, then, in many even-position rounds; so on and so forth.
or
Matches are played, firstly, in an odd-positon round and, then, in an even-position round; so on and so forth.
Could you please explain which of the above is the right one? Thank you so much.


texts: Why do native speakers say "chew on your food" and "suck on your thumb" instead of "chew your food" and "suck your thumb"?

texts:
In dictionaries, "chew on your food" and "chew your food" are the same. "Suck on your thumb" and "suck your thumb" are the same.
But I notice that American people often say "chew on your food" and "suck on your thumb" instead of "chew your food" and "suck your thumb"?
I think "chew your food" and "suck your thumb" are more obvious, why do they use "on"?
Is there any subtle intention here?


texts:
I had been eating before I visited you.
I had eaten before I visited you.

How do you know when to use either of them?


texts: When we use both "present perfect" and "past" in a sentence

texts:
I remember that I met a girl in a club and she was more beautiful than any of the girls that I've ever met. And her name is Jina.

Here, any of the girls that I've ever met can refer to both the girls that I'd met before I met Jina in the club and the girls that I met after I'd met Jina in the club, because present perfect refer to a unspecific time, which could be before or after an specific event. Am I right ?


texts: Have arachnophobia or had arachnophobia?

texts:
I wrote this question:

Why hadn’t you said to me that you have arachnophobia before we went there?

Now I’m worried I should have used this version instead:

Why hadn’t you said to me that you had arachnophobia before we went there?

Which version is grammatically correct? Or they correct both and it’s simply the matter of what I intended to say?


texts: Can someone explain to me what's the difference between 'Below' and 'Beneath'?

texts:
It's quite confusing for me to understand the difference between these two words. The sentences:

  Read below all the information that you may need.

  Read beneath all the information that you may need.

Is that correct?


texts: meaning of a sentence which formed with to-infinitive or gerund

texts:
I saw a whole lot of feet and shoes beginning to enter the room.

Do this sentence mean a lot of feet and shoes not yet enter the room, and will enter the room or are ready to enter the room?
Could this to-infinitive replace to gerund like a sentence below?

  I saw a whole lot of feet and shoes beginning entering the room.

So, do this means a lot of feet and shoes are entering at the same time I saw them?


texts:
the passage's from Frankenstein play. it's a part of the opening song. What do draft and swine mean?
Come gather ye
feast on our Empire's riches

New heaven on Earth
shall to all ages rise

Those ravenous dogs
singing sweet hallelujah

The angels will feed on the draft and the swine.


texts: How to use the word 'suitable' properly?

texts:
Let's say, I'm exlaining a meaning of some words to someone giving specific situations as an example. And I want to say one of these sentences.
"This word is more suitable to this situation."
"This word is more suitable in this situation."
"This word is more suitable for this situation."
I'd like to know which one is correct.
And could you correct them if there is any mistakes I made in this thread? I'm not sure if I'm writing correctly.
Thank you in advance. :)


texts: A term similar to "typography", "paragraph" or something else that improves the readability of written language

texts:
I suggested this modification(improvement) to a post, though I don't know the term/expression to refer to this kind of modification.

I said the following to suggest an answerer do something like above

  How about having the answer in a good paragraph?

and got the response

  A paragraph denotes a change of emphasis.

Obviously, I didn't express my suggestion clearly. That's why I'd like to know that term.

I googled a bit and got some hits, e.g. "typography", "typographic design", some of those look like font design which is not what I want either.

Could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.


texts: 'The equation reads' or 'the equation reads as'?

texts:
In many physics and mathematics texts equations are introduced using the verb 'to read'. For example, in an article on electrodynamics you might find one of these three phrases:

Maxwell's equations read [equations].
Maxwell's equations read as [equations].
Maxwell's equations read as follows: [equations].

To me (not a native speaker), the first version looks perfectly fine, as does the third. The second one, however, strikes me as incorrect (possibly a literal translation of a similar expression in another language?).
This is in line with the definitions I found in various dictionaries (see meaning 7 in the Oxford dictionary or meaning 6 in the Collins dictionary), although their examples generally concern signs or documents rather than equations.
This does not definitively confirm my suspicion, of course, so I would like to know whether the second version ('read(s) as') is just as correct as the others, unidiomatic or completely wrong.


texts: ed forms of Adjectives for intransitive verbs

texts: Why there are no adjectives(-ed form)for intransitive verbs, for example, words like happened (It was happened), occurred (It was occurred), etc, While transitive verbs having the adjectives ending with "ed"?


texts: "I am a student studying my master's degree in Major A at University A, with achievement of a bachelor's degree in Major B at University B."

texts:
After looking up the dictionary and searching keywords on Google I failed to find the exact thing I want to express. I made this sentence up. I am not sure if I can use the phrase "with achievement of" in this manner. Google hits do not appear to be relevant to my context.
I asked on WordReference and some people there suggest I use "having obtained my degree" or "after obtaining my degree". But I still wonder if it sounds natural with the usage of "achievement" in a sentence introducing my academic background in an internship cover letter?

I am a student studying my master's degree in Major A at University A, with the achievement of a bachelor's degree in Major B at University B?


texts: another two sentences or other two sentences

texts:
another two sentences

other two sentences

another of two sentences

We need other three chairs

We need another three chairs

Would you please show me if they are correct  and if their meaning is the same or introduce me a site or source so that I could get it?

Many thanks


texts: Is it okay to drop had/ the past perfect if it's already been used in the previous line(s)?

texts:
Example sentence:

  Mark, unlike Mary's previous exes, had suggested they only meet on weekends. “Everything in moderation," were his words.

As you can see the had/perfect past has been dropped in the second sentence. Instead of had been his words, there's were his words.

Is it okay to drop had/the past perfect if it's already been defined in the previous sentences?


texts: A word for "Of or pertaining to lunchtime"?

texts:
As far as I understand, "jentacular" means "of or pertaining to breakfast" and "crepuscular" means "active during the twilight hours" which could be stretched to mean "of or pertaining to supper".

Is there a word that means "of or pertaining to lunchtime"? If not lunchtime, then noon, midday or something similar.

Thanks


texts: Please tell me what is wrong with saying "explain about"?

texts:
I recently had to translate an official interview for a respected magazine in my country, and I wrote the following:

  "John Smith, the founder and CEO of the project explains about the future strategy, investors, and, of course, development of the industry."

I am not an ultra-good at translating business English, but I was told that my text, and this sentence, in particular, had some unacceptable mistakes. The mistake appears to be "explain about." I mean?.. I quickly googled, and it turns out a ton of people use the expression this way.
Moreover, I was told that this is completely wrong, and not a debatable issue, like "we is" level wrong.

So, please tell me what is wrong. The one thing I managed to find is that the word "explain" already implies the "about part," but I wouldn't attribute that to a grave mistake.

Sorry for the long rant, waiting for your explanations!


texts:
is there any difference between

"Ben has been utterly concentrated only on his work for several months" and "Ben has utterly been concentrated only on his work for several months"

"Tom has answered literally all the questions correctly" and "Tom has literally answered all the questions correctly"

because the first sentence of each pair has been marked as incorrect on my English test. As far as I am concerned, the only difference is where you put the emphasis, or is there any kind of grammatical rule that I am not aware of?


texts:
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/metro/public-services/More-security-measures-put-in-place-at-Shanghais-2-airports-over-terrorism-fears/shdaily.shtml

More security measures put in place at Shanghai's 2 airports over terrorism fears

What is the meaning of "put in place" in the above context. What can be used instead of "put in place" there.


texts: Verbs that can give a sentence passive like construction or meaning

texts:
They turn out to cost more than they originally seemed to.

I think the above sentence is in passive voice, though it does not follow the rules which the other passive constructions follow, i.e there is no subject followed by auxiliary verb and past participle form of verbs. I think, they originally seemed means other people thought that they would have cost less than they actually did. Am I right? Please name the list of verbs that express the idea/thinking/feelings in the way passive construction of a sentence expresses. It seems to me that turn out is also such kind of verb which works in the way passive construction works. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I would appreciate it if anybody suggest me a better way of rewriting the sentences which I have written above to explain my query, if he/she think that my sentences are awkward, unnatural, and they should be improved.


texts: Please check the mnemonic rhyme for adjectives

texts:
According to the English grammar, the adjectives between article and noun should be in order:

opinion
size
shape
condition
age
color
pattern
origin
material
purpose

In order to remember this, I build an English mnemonic rhyme by myself:

  a lovely small thin sex-hungry 21-year-old girl'red striped Japanese silk sleeping underwear.

Don't laugh at me, I just want to memorize it well. Is it okay?
If possible, would you give me a good example which includes all the adjectives and is more easily to remember?


texts: Is my sentence correct in this situation?

texts:
Suppose, I am cooking meal, and my daughter is doing homework.

Then my daughter asked me, "is the food ready?"

I answered: "it will be ready by the time you will complete your homework."

Is my answer is grammatically correct?
Tell me the alternatives.


texts: "Study background" vs "study experience"

texts:
I am writing essay and I need to write there about study background and study, work experience.

Is there any difference between them? If yes could you explain me that?


texts: Can you use the past continuous in my sentences?

texts:
I am going to make up four sentences.

(1) Four weeks ago, I was writing a short story for two days.

(2) Two weeks ago, I was working in my father's restaurant.

(3) Throughout the class, the teacher was discussing classical poems with his pupils.

(4) During his stay in the hotel, he was complaining a lot about its customer service.

Does the past progressive work in these sentences?


texts: "Its harder than you make it look (like)."

texts: Adding like to the above sentence is wrong isnt it? I am not entirely surely so I have to ask.


texts: Does this sentence sound natural, 'We read to the children from books in the library'?

texts: If it does, how about paraphrasing the sentence into 'We read books in the library to the children.'?


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to say :

  The sun will not rise before an hour.

Or it should be

  The sun will not rise in an hour.

In my opinion both sentences are correct with a subtle difference in meaning .


texts:
Source: Computer Networking First-Step by Wendell Odom (2004)

Example:

  Depending on where you work, you might have a lot of different people working on the network. In some companies, one person is responsible for all parts of the network. In other companies, the responsibilities are divided among lots of different people. In some cases, you simply need different skills to perform different tasks. In other cases, one job might reside in a different department for organizational reasons. Union personnel often run the cables.

I assume, but I'm not one hundred percent sure though, that union personnel means employees of a trade union. If that's what it means, here's what I don't understand: why would people from a trade union run your cables for you? It sounds as though union personnel are people from another department within the same company.


texts:
While chatting with somebody, I first used haven't eaten, then I thought that it was wrong, and switched to haven't ate.

Apparently, haven't ate is the one which is wrong.

Can someone explain the logic behind this? Verb tenses are still something I confuse a lot.


texts:
Here's part of a script I'm writing:
(Two men are talking)
Phil: You think I'm the owner of this place? I just clean the place, that's all.
This/That information seems to disarm the man.
I'm pretty sure it should be "this", is that correct?


texts:
1)
Let's imagine there is a group of producers who are dealing with manufacturing various products, and able to produce lots of high copy e.g clothing (a false copy of an original product with an acceptable quality and lesser price. Shoes, jeans, perfumes, sunglasses and etc.) A person who is going to achieve some information about that group, asks a worker who works for one of that group's factories. Which one of the following sentences sounds natural in this sense:

  They can counterfeit everything. (here any type of clothing)
  They can forge everything.

2) My second question is that if there is a fixed verb for e.g. manufacturing copy (not original) of computer devices such as Flash memory etc.


texts: Why is it "crouching tiger hidden dragon" but not "crouching tiger hiding dragon"?

texts:
Why is the movie named

"crouching tiger hidden dragon"?

This is mainly a question about present and past participle.
Why can't it be "crouching tiger hiding dragon"?  Since the dragon must've been hiding voluntarily, instead of being hidden by others, I think "hiding"is more appropriate.

As the first answer presents, dragons, meaning talent people, don't take a deliberate action to hide, so "hidden" is more proper; However, tigers here are also indicating talent people, so why would they deliberately hide/crouch? (though it may have something to do with "crouch" being intransitive)

As the second answer points out, Why not "crouched tiger, hidden dragon" then?

Another question, which is asked by a user under the second answer, is  isn't "crouched" the same formation as "hidden", while "crouching" is the same formation as "hiding". I also think they have -ing and -ed each has the same formation, but they would mean different things when one verb takes the -ing form while the other takes the -ed form?


texts: Should I use "street" or "road" in this case?

texts:
Suppose that somebody asks me how to reach a place when I am at my cousin's. I don't live there, but I know the place enough to give indications. Suppose that I tell that person to follow the street he is on for half a mile, and then take another road in direction of a specific town.

I always used street to mean a public road in a city/town, but what should I use when I am not sure if the road is still in the town territory?

I imagine that if I say street and the person notices he is already outside the town, he would think he went too ahead, and missed the one I was talking of. If I say road when the road is still in the town territory, he could think he is supposed to go further ahead (and probably I was not precise when I said half of a mile).

Is there any way to avoid this kind of ambiguity, or isn't there any ambiguity at all?


texts: Can "never" be put inside an infinitive ("to never do")

texts:
"George vows never to buy Elaine lunch again."

I have two questions:

never to do — Is it proper grammar? I know I can say not to do.
to never do — Since the 60's the popularity of this structure is rapidly increasing. What confuses me is that never is put between to and verb, when to verb is the rigid infinitive construction.


texts:
I know that these sentences are right:

Where is it?
How are you?
How big is it?
Where are you from?

But I am confused about these sentences... so I want you to tell me which one is right. If the other one is wrong, please let me know the reason.

I know the place where is good.
I know where is a good place.
I know where a good place is.

I know the person who is kind.
I know who is kind.

I know when is the best time for you.
I know when the best time for you.

When is good for you?
When is the best time for you?

Where is good for you?
Where is the best place for you?

I don't know which is good.
I don't know which place is good.

Who is kind?
Who is better?
What is good for you?


texts: How to reconcile [Justice Stevens] 'had lost faith' vs 'had not changed' ?

texts:
We drove back with the death warrant. Justice Marshall was waiting for
  us when we got there. He signed the stay, and the court dissolved it
  in the morning. Spenkelink was executed.

  Years later, I talked about that night with Justice Stevens. He had
  lost faith in the fairness of the death penalty, because no one paid
  the kind of attention that he had, and Justice Stewart had, and
  Justice Marshall had, that night long ago. When I asked him why he had
  changed, he told me that on this, as on so many questions, he had not
  changed at all. The court had.

  — SUSAN ESTRICH, lawyer in Los Angeles and clerk from 1978 to 1979

Would someone please clarify the meaning or implication? A literal interpretation is wrong, because Justice Stevens says that 'he had not changed at all' but Ms Estrich said that he had lost faith, which means that Justice Stevens did change? Is there a contradiction here?


texts: How should you respond to the apology from someone with a higher social status

texts:
When a teacher wrote this in an email to me:

  "Sorry for the late reply!"

I want to tell her that I do not mind it even though it is the email that I have been eagerly waiting for a few days.

I understand it. Thank you. And stop.
You are welcome. Not, I don't mind!
Your suggestions

I used 2 for friends, but I am not sure if 1 is appropriate for someone with a higher social status, such principal, professors.


texts: Question about articles: Why is "before the train came" correct?

texts:
Example sentence:

  I had a little time before the train came.

Would you please explain to me why it is correct to use "the" before "train"? My teacher told me that "the" is used before objects well-known to both speakers and that if a noun is used for the first time we shoud use "a".

But in this example the speaker uses "train" for the first time. Moreover we don't know about this train, so we must use "a train", not "the train". But it was a native speaker who said it; what exactly did he mean to say?


texts: Why did they write "reason behind HIM getting married" instead of "reason behind HIS getting married"?

texts:
I read the following sentence in a magazine:

  Amitabh Bachchan's Zanjeer's success was the reason behind him getting married to Jaya.

I am confused about why "behind him getting married," not "behind his getting married," is written.
Can anyone explain it to me?


texts: A phrase for 'something that happens rarely'

texts:
Is there a phrase or idiom to describe a situation which happens rarely?

I want to use that phrase in these sentences:

  You have rarely beaten me in wrestling.
  Crimes used to happen rarely in Indiana.


texts: 'Is your English getting better?' or 'Does your English get better?'

texts:
I want to know difference between the following sentences.

  Is your English getting better?
  Does your English get better?

I am not sure about the nuance of each.
Also my book says "We use the present continuous when we talk about changes happening around now". But I'm not sure what this means.

UPDATED:
In brief, If I want to use be-ing form sentence, this sentence does not need any other expression.
But if I want to use do/does, it needs to supplement.
Right?
Then which one is sentence correct of the following.
1.What is he studying?
2.What does he study?


texts:
Should I use the past tense with did? For example, I was to say:

  The important question is: Did they knew what it means or not?

Or should I say:

  The important question is: Did they know what it means or not?

In other words: Should I use past tense with did?

I looked at this:

Explanation of "did was [verb]" structure

but it didn't really answer my question.


texts: Do words such as "could have", "should have", or "might have" represent the past possibilities of the past?

texts:
We know that words such as could have, should have, or might have mean past possibilities.
When they are used in a noun clause following a verb, do they represent the past possibilities of the past?
Examples I came up with:

(1) I thought he might have gone to gym.

=> Does it mean "go to gym" happened earlier than "I think"?

(2) I told her that her sister could have gone on a date with a boy.

=> Does it mean "go on a date with a boy" happened earlier than "I tell her"?

If they represent the past of a past time, can I add time verbs?

(a) I told her yesterday that her sister could have gone on a date with a boy on July 24th, 2020.


texts: Trying to understand small text from novel dracula?

texts:
I have just started reading novel 'dracula' but having difficulty in understanding what this piece of text mean?

  3  May.  Bistritz.—Left  Munich  at  8:35  P.M.,  on  1st  May, arriving  at  Vienna  early  next  morning;  should  have  arrived at  6:46,  but  train  was  an  hour  late.  Buda-Pesth  seems  a  wonderful  place,  from  the  glimpse  which  I  got  of  it  from the train

as I understand the first part "3 may. Bristritz." refer to the date and place author is writing journal then it starts with telling that he left Munich at 8:35 P.M. on 1st may (2 days before) was ariving at Vienna. I don't understand he left Munich at 8:35 P.M and reaching Vienna next morning so does that mean it takes that much time from Munich to Veinna or I am misunderstanding it?


texts:
What is the difference :

While I cleaned the car, my wife was preparing lunch.
While I was cleaning the car, my wife was preparing lunch.

The first example come from :http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv294.shtml

The second example come from my mind .


texts: how to discuss about two incongruous issues?

texts:
I want to imply something cannot happen if we must obey something else or be loyal to a rule, restriction, etc.. For example, consider the relation between power consumption and performance of a electronic device. We have some constraints on power called power budget that we cannot violate it.
I have written down below sentences:

The high performance requirement cannot be satisfied while being loyal to the power budget.

The high performance requirement cannot be satisfied by following the power budget.

It is impossible to meet high performance requirement and be loyal to the power budget simultaneously.

It is impossible to satisfy the high performance requirement without violating the power budget.

I think there is perfect word describing: "something happening is not feasible if something else must be happened".

Q1: Which sentence do you prefer ?
Q2 : Is there any special or well-known structure used to discuss about such issues?
I would be happy to have your comments.
Regards


texts: Can we say that go-getter is associated with risk taking!

texts: If a person is someone who is taking risks in his life can we say he is go-getter one. What I mean - if you change jobs, and invest in different stocks, companies etc. can we say that person is go-getter?


texts:
Why do we use "a" in the first sentence?

  Kevin works in a hospital. He operates on people.

  Sarah looks after patients in hospital.

Note: the two examples from the same book: English Grammar in Use


texts: Could this 'the way (that)' be replaced by 'how' without semantic change?

texts:
They were in civilian clothes, and I thought, Cops––until I saw the
  baseball bat and started to turn, hearing, "Hey, you!"   I
  hesitated.   "What's in that brief case?" they said, and if
  they'd asked me anything else I might have stood still. But at the
  question a wave of shame and outrage shook me and I ran, still heading
  for Jack. But I was in strange territory now and someone, for some
  reason, had removed the manhole cover and I felt myself plunge down,
  down; a long drop that ended upon a load of coal that sent up a cloud
  of dust, and I lay in the black dark upon the black coal no longer
  running, hiding or concerned, hearing the shifting of the coal, as
  from somewhere above their voices came floating down.   "You see
  the way he went down, zoom! I was just fixing to slug the bastard." (Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man)

Wiktionary says ‘how’ has a meaning of ‘the way that.’ And I guess this could be applied on the example and ‘the way’ could be replaced by ‘how.’ I want to know if this is possible. And if yes, isn’t there any semantic difference?


texts: announced that . . . shed/has shed light

texts:
In the following sentence, should "shed" or "has shed" be used?

Scientists announced on Wednesday that the drug shed/has shed new light on the treatment of amnesia.


texts:
Everybody likes eating.

What is eating in this sentence? Is it object or the part of the verb likes?

And what if I would change the sentence:

  Everybody likes eating the food.

The food is object and eating?


texts:
Today I read the below sentence:

  The employment rate has continued to rise in big cities thanks to the efforts of the local governments to increase it.

Why is there a "to" used before word "increase"? It reads strangely to me. Is this sentence wrong? Is the "thanks to" in this sentence wrong?


texts: After "could not", is it "help but notice" or "help noticing"?

texts:
I have read and heard examples of both "could not help but notice" and "could not help noticing".

Hello, penguins. I could not help
but notice that you have a hat
that magically brings things.
— The Penguins of Madagascar: Happy King Julien Day! (2009)

Again,

Well, I'm sorry to have to put
this to you, but I could not help
noticing that you were miming.
— A Bit of Fry and Laurie: S02E01 (1990)

We hear and read both versions. Which one is grammatical—are they both? Please mention the nuance of each.


texts: Why is "locked unto" instead of "locked onto" used here?

texts:
This is because the phone is locked unto to AT&T network and as such
will not work on any other network. Yes, you can use the prepaid SIM
card on the phone

https://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/34411/phones/why_are_some_phones_locked_and_unlocked.html

When used as prepositions, onto means upon, whereas unto means up to,
indicating a motion towards a thing and then stopping at it.

I am not sure how locked until or locked up to the network makes any sense here. Shouldn't it be locked onto?


texts:
Imagine a shed crammed with junk. Suddenly a chair leg breaks maybe and everything comes crashing down. Can I describe the sound of that as a crash or is there a better word?
From a dictionary - a sudden loud noise as of something breaking or hitting another object.
This is the context:

Jenny was enjoying a quiet time when suddenly a loud crash sounded. She immediately looked towards the shed.

Also, the sound would probably be more than just one crash, maybe several over a few seconds, in that case is there a word I could add before crash that might tell that?