texts: college admissions tests - why is "admissions" in the plural?

texts:
That's what I saw on the front cover of a textbook entitled "Grammar Essentials for Dummies" (the words are at the very bottom of the cover). I just can't understand why the word admissions ends in s. Wouldn't it be perfectly fine to have it written in the singular form like this: college admission tests? This one makes much more sense to me grammatically. But there has to be a reason why it ends in s. The problem is I don't know what that reason is. Please, help me uncover it.

Link to the book on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Essentials-Dummies-Geraldine-Woods/dp/047061837X


texts: Should we say "fruits and vegetables" or "fruit and vegetables"?

texts:
Which one of the following is correct?

  fruits and vegetables
  fruit and vegetables

Could you please explain it to me?


texts:
Imagine you are a teacher and there are some materials in different size and you ask a pupil to put them in a order by putting the smallest first and then the next bigger and then next bigger and finally the biggest one.

I would like to ask how to ask that in proper way by using this structure ? or can I say it in different way?

  Could you put the fruits in order of their size by putting the
  smallest first?

  Could you put the numbers in order of ...... ( from smallest to
  biggest )

  Could you put your friends names in order how much you love them?

These are the example sentences came to mind but I cannot figure out how to write  the part coming from after the word order properly.


texts: Word for students who follow a brighter student

texts:
There are three students - A , B and C.

A is very bright in the class.
Whatever A says, B and C just follow A, even they are not agreed with A.
Because, B and C are afraid to be beaten by A in front of the class.

Is there a word to describe a person like B and C?


texts:
My question is simple and just as the title what does "I owe you my life" mean?

I searched for the meaning of "owe" and understand sentences like "I owe you 3 dollars" or "You owe me a favor", but I cant understand this sentence.

Please give explanation.


texts: Is the use of different prepositions in this sentence interchangeable?

texts:
Can I use whichever proposition I want in this sentence? Or is there one that is better suited to use than the others and if so, why?

  A. I have waited for two hours past my appointment time.

  B. I have waited for two hours from my appointment time.

  C. I have waited for two hours since my appointment time.

  D. I have waited for two hours after my appointment time.


texts:
I want to know the most commonly understood meaning of phrases like "twice the size of" or "three times the size of" 3D objects.

If I say "this ball is twice the size of a table tennis ball", do native English speakers envision something with twice a table tennis' ball diameter? Or twice its volume? Or something else?

What about cubes?

What should I picture when someone describes an object using these kinds of descriptions?


texts:
Please tell me what the difference between the following sentences is

Tomorrow it will be ten years since we moved in.
Tomorrow it will have been ten years since we moved in.

Thank you.


texts:
hello, I know that we cannot use "of" with names,
my book says " Tina's cat" is correct but "the cat of Tina" is not correct.

but what about the screenshot?

"the army of John Sena"

or

"the ballad of Paul McCartney "


texts: Is it correct to say "A thread is dangling from the hem of your shorts. Cut it off"?

texts: Is it correct to say "A thread is dangling from the hem of your shorts. Cut it off" (see the above picture)?


texts: How can I tell my manager that I completed the work he assigned?

texts:
I am learning English and feeling very difficulty in framing sentence. I need following sentences into proper sentence please help me in this.

Yesterday my manager as assigned some work to do and today I completed that work.  I have to inform my manager that I completed the task and attached the documents regarding assignment.


texts: Why are these two titles together: Mr. President

texts:
They both are titles- Mr. and President. But, Mr. President is a valid address to Mr. Barack Obama. Is it grammatically okay?

I am also confused what if there is a lady president. How do we address her?


texts: Is this the correct phrasing? "I wasted some moments of my ever last passing."

texts:
Does this phrase make sense to describe the passing away  of  life every moment?

  I wasted some moments of my ever last passing.

If not, what would be the correct phrase to mean passing away of life every moment?


texts:
"Who killed him? You?"

  "No. Had I been able, I would have but I wasn't, so I didn't."

Is this correct and is there a construction with could with a similar meaning?


texts: Question words "Where" Can a preposition be at the end?

texts:
Where did you play basketball?

    Where did you go?

When it comes to "where", one of the question words, I know we don't put a preposition at the end because "where", I think, is a kind of adverb.
At least, I have never heard

    Where did you play basketball at?

    Where did you go to?

In other cases, like "what" or "which", we can say

    What did you do this for?

    Which boy did you play games with?

However, I encountered one strange sentence on the net and is wondering why it is correct.

    Where did you break in to?(I found it on grammar girl

Shouldn't it be "where did you break in"?

Grammar girl website(where I found the sentence):
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/in-to-or-into?page=1

    Where are you from?

Maybe I sound stupid, but I am curious about why the "from" can be there.


texts:
Do I need to say “o’clock” after each time? Tell me, please, how to pronounce the following sentence:

  From 9.00 to 10.00 - registration of conference participants

And how to say:

  From 12.00 - to 14.00


texts: What does "still on my watch" mean in this context?

texts:
I translate the dialogue from the game, I want to get its interpretation:

  I still on my watch even after hundred years.

I don't understand sense of the phrase "still on my watch". What means it in this sentence?


texts: "when we are referring to" vs. "when we refer to"

texts:
From English Grammar Today on Cambridge Dictionary

We don’t use "the" with plural nouns when we are referring to things in general ...

I guess I understand the meaning of the whole sentence above. I'd just like to know whether the following one mean the same thing?

... when we refer to things in general ...

Are both common when talking about grammar rules.


texts:
1- This case may not be quite as urgent as once thought.

Which one of the following sentences is the full version of the sentence above?

  2- This case may not be quite as urgent as it was once thought.

  3- This case may not be quite as urgent as once we thought.


texts: Should I say "what is beautiful in/at this thing"?

texts:
If I want to ask about the beauty of something, what is the correct option between the following two:

  "what is beautiful at this"?

  "what is beautiful in this"?

The meaning is like "why do you think it's nice"


texts:
all. What is more natural to use here - 'to' or 'with' ?
A: Where is Pete? What have you done to/with him?
B: He wasn't much of a help.
A: So what? You killed him?
B: That's right.


texts: Whether 'not to-infinitive' can be used after 'too + adj'

texts:
She was so angry that she tore up the letter.

Can I rewrite the sentence like the following?

  She was too angry not to tear up the letter.

In English, I'd like to know whether 'not to-infinitive' can be used after 'too + adj'.


texts: The difference between “even more surprise you” vs. “even surprise you more”

texts:
What may even surprise you more...

vs.

What may even more surprise you...

Do these two sentences have same meaning?
Is the first sentence right grammatically??


texts: What the voicing of air from a mouth called?

texts:
What the voicing of air from a mouth (without syllable) called?
For example when we say the consonant "sh"  without  a syllable. It's usually happens when you want to quiet a child  or something like that (it's almost like a whistling, but it's not exactly the same, or maybe it's a kind of whistling). In some cultures when one wonders on somethings bad or huge he may make such sound. I'm looking for the name for this sound.


texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase in bold?

  Through her courage, and by her example, she helped lay a
  foundation that could live up to its creed. [Obama]


texts: What does this clause mean in this case?

texts:
I will avenge myself upon you, delaying it, never letting it fall deep into the dregs of my memory. (from Dark Night by Grey Smith)

This man is saying to his friend, who killed his girlfriend, that he will kill him.

Does the clause after the comma mean thus: "although I delayed it. But I have never forgotten about it.?"


texts:
I saw a slogan:
NO HELP WITH BIG SUR HERE.

what's the meaning of it? I just don't understand SUR.

EDIT-01


texts: What does tribal knowledge and traumatic mean here?

texts:
This is from a column entitled The Benefits Of Enterprise Social Media, published by Forbes magazine:

  The first payoff comes when someone uses a template to avoid a mistake or to do a better job than they could without it. This is how processes get more efficient. But the bigger payoff is the creation of an institutional memory and a playbook that expands and changes as the work of the company evolves to meet new challenges. Activity templates allow tribal knowledge to be captured so that turnover is less traumatic.

What do tribal knowledge and traumatic mean in that last sentence?


texts: which one is more proper to use between anybody ... and somebody

texts:
Which one is more proper sentence?
1. Do you know anybody who can play the piano?
2. Do you know somebody who can play the piano?

What does it have difference nuance in above each sentence?


texts: "The gap we had to climb was over 2 hundred feet high. "

texts:
The gap we had to climb was over 2 hundred feet high.

My question is why it is not correct to use the word "gap" in this sentence? If "gap" is not correct in this sentence, which word will be good to use here?


texts: Three concerns on this passage. Could you just simplify the highlighted parts?

texts:
This movement is especially in evidence in those clusters where a local Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is to be established. One such, by way of example, is in Vanuatu. The friends who reside on the island of Tanna have made a supreme effort to raise consciousness of the planned House of Worship, and have already engaged no less than a third of the island’s 30,000 inhabitants in an expanding conversation about its significance in a variety of ways . The ability to sustain an elevated conversation among so many people has been refined through years of experience sharing the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and extending the reach of a vibrant training institute . Junior youth groups on the island are particularly thriving, urged on by the support of village chiefs who see how the participants are spiritually empowered. Encouraged by the unity and dedication that exist among them, these young people have not only dispelled the languor of passivity in themselves but have, through various practical projects, found means to work for the betterment of their community, and as a result, those of all ages, not least their own parents, have been galvanized into constructive action. Among the believers and the wider society, the bounty of being able to turn to a Local Spiritual Assembly for guidance and for the resolution of difficult situations is being recognized, and in turn, the decisions of the Spiritual Assemblies are increasingly characterized by wisdom and sensitivity. There is much here to indicate that, when the elements of the Plan’s framework for action are combined into a coherent whole, the impact on a population can be profound. And it is against the background of ongoing expansion and consolidation—the thirtieth cycle of the intensive programme of growth has recently concluded—that the friends are actively exploring, with the rest of the island’s inhabitants, what it means for a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, a “collective centre for men’s souls”, to be raised up in their midst.

Could you simplify this part saying in an expanding conversation about its significance in a variety of ways, please?
What do the words elevated and sustain really mean in this phrase:  ** to sustain an elevated conversation** ?
What does it mean the reach of in this phrase ? the reach of a vibrant training institute . Could you simplify it please?


texts:
Mourlevat’s narrative reveals a strong belief in the interconnectedness between people and between history and the present. Witness to almost unbelievable and heart-wrenching coincidences, the reader cannot help but succumb to the idea of fate; as young characters demonstrate the passion and pain of fighting for what they believe to be right, losing and gaining friends along the way, solidarity among the oppressed emerges as a prominent theme of the novel.

Source: https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/winters-end/

I would like to ask what kind of the grammatical structure the phrase "witness to" is. I presume that it is related to "the reader" who is the witness of coincidencies.


texts:
Shall I use:

  Of the 10% that showed one or more symptoms, there are 20.25% that ..

Or,

  Of the 10% that showed one or more symptoms, there is 20.25% that ..

Clearly, 10% of a countable thing (like devices) is plural. But shall I use is or are? I initially used are (the 10% consists of several items). But using grammarly, it suggests using is saying that the verb are does not seem to agree with the subject 10%.


texts: like amoeba -- why not "like an amoeba"?

texts:
YouTube video (just click the link and it will automatically fast-forward to the right time mark for you which is located at about 1 minute 30 seconds)

Transcript:

  Perhaps, this was the beginning of the cell as the unit of life. This cell membrane is thought to be only two large molecules thick. Nevertheless, it created an exterior and an interior and made possible the control of the environment inside the cell. The constant passage of water, nutrients and wastes keep conditions inside steady. These mechanisms allow a simple single-celled organism like amoeba to survive.

I don't understand why she left out the indefinite article that, to the best of my knowledge, absolutely must be there. We are talking about one amoeba, so it really should have been like an amoeba. Is there something I'm missing?

Post Scriptum:

And on top of that, it, of course, grammatically should be keepS conditions inside steady, not keep. Because the subject of the sentence is singular.


texts: Nuance of infinitive phrase `to stand watch` in the sentence

texts:
In the movie "The Hobbit", Erlond tells Gandalf:

  You are not the only guardian to stand watch over Middle-earth.

I'm not sure if there's any nuance with the use of the form to stand watch.
If I were to say such a sentence, I'd say:

  You are not the only guardian that is standing watch over Middle-earth.

Is there a difference in meaning between these two sentences?


texts: How to say "this number is the most frequent" in one word?

texts:
Let's say I have the next array of 9 numbers: 1, 2, 2, 4, 2, 2, 3, 2, 1.
I want to say that 2 has the highest frequency in the array. But I thought I could write this in one word. I also thought of "2 is the most frequent". Which is the best way to say that a number is the most frequent in an array?


texts: Can I write "top-notch scientists" in a presentation

texts: Can I write "top-notch scientists" or is there a better word to describe very professional employees?


texts: 'All Yours' Vs. 'All is Yours' Vs. 'Everything is Yours'

texts:
Common here is All yours. But I'm not sure whether or not it's practiced internationally. Which one is better? Or all are okay? Any grammatical error?
I am strictly talking about the scenario wherein using these phrases should only mean that the possessor is allowed to do anything to what is given to them. Kindly do not come up with other cases where the possibilities of using these phrases increases or brings perplexity.
One of the scenarios:

"Listen, the sales are down and in coming days, the situation will go from bad to worse. And I don't want this to happen to our company. It is for this reason, I'm appointing you as the manager of this region. You need to work harder for this."
"Okay. But then I need some structural changes. Also, the way field workers work here is not a professional way. And..."
"Ah, whatever. You are free to do anything. It's all yours."

Note: Instead of uttering the last sentence, I may do some gesture spreading my arms and say, "All yours." to avoid "It's."
Further interesting is if I am talking about some workers (say field guys) here.

"I know the issue of field workers. In interest of the company, you can treat them the way you want. They are all yours/They are yours/All they are yours/Everybody is yours"


texts: Difference between 'talking nonsense' and 'talking blather'?

texts:
I have encountered many people like you who talk nonsense.
I have encountered many people like you talking blather.
I have encountered many people like you talking nonsense.

Is there any difference between talking blather and talking nonsense? If there is, what is this? Which one is best choice for the above case and why? And what can be the another usage of rest choice?

Another query is- are first and third sentence same?


texts: Is it true that the word "some" can mean two things?

texts: Let's take the sentence "I ate some meat" for example. Am I correct thinking that it can mean two things, either "I ate some amount of meat", or "I ate some kind of meat, don't know which  exactly it was, but I know it was meat"


texts:
My two daughters were watching TV.

The elder girl suddenly said,

  " It's stink! Who farted?".

She looked around.
Then she looked at her little baby sister.

  ".....Are you?"

I laughed and told her that she should've said "Did you?" Instead.

I wonder if I was right.
I meant "Did you fart?", but it could be " Are you (the one)/hiding/pooping ?".

I want my kids to speak proper English, but English is my second language.


texts:
Tesla 3 stands out from any other car/cars ever made today.

As for as I know, if you use any+noun (it should be singular, right?) MOREVER, according to my sentence ''any'' was followed by ''other''-->any other.

So, should I make it singular-> any+singular noun =any other car OR
should it be any other+plural noun =anym other cars(because the ''other'' takes the plural noun.)

I have just heard a middle aged American said ''any other car ever made'' but grammatically I think this is wrong(not sure though that's why I am asking hehe)


texts:
The disease spread through the region.

  The disease spread across the region.

Explain the difference.

Thank you.


texts: The dial has been set to 10 days (future/past)

texts:
I was watching a show and I am trying to translate it.  What will be a natural way to describe the following context:

Actually there is a door with a dial that can be set to a fixed number of days in future or in the past. Then that door takes you to that place as it would be like a few days later or as it was a few days ago.

Future (10 days)

  The dial has been set to 10 days in future.

  The dial has been set to future

  The dial has been set to 10 days later.

Past:

  The dial has been set to 10 days in past.

  The dial has been set to past.

  The dial has been set to 10 days ago.


texts:
Consider the following two sentences. Are these sentences grammatically correct?

  A) If majority of the individuals in a State prosper the State itself
  would prosper.

  B) To die with honor is better than live with dishonor.

This is my attempt:

  If majority of the individuals in a State prosper the State itself
  will prosper.

  To die with honor is better than to live with dishonor.

Am I right?


texts: Does “Children under 8 years old” include “8 years old?”

texts: Is the sentence "children under 8 years old" means 0-8 or 0-7? as I understand, less than 8 does not include 8. How about "under"? I just think about "under" as similar as "less" so I just think it does not include 8. But an activity marked as "children under 8 years old cannot participate in this..." does not sell a ticket for 8. So I wonder about it.


texts:
Rousseau produced twenty-six jungle paintings in the final six years of his life.  In fact,  he had never traveled outside of France or seen a jungle.

If had never traveled would be changed into never traveled,  then how could the meaning be changed? Or there would be no difference?


texts: When practicing parallelism, do I need to include the "to" in infinitives?

texts:
For example:

He likes to eat, sleep and play.

He likes to eat, to sleep and to play.

Which of these sentences is parallel? Are they BOTH parallel?


texts: the meaning of "but neither survived her"?

texts:
What is the meaning of the following bolded expression? What is the structure of it?

  She assembled an all-female company at this time and established a
  school around 1908, but neither survived her.


texts: Does "The watch which I bought from Japan is a birthday present for my sister." need some commas?

texts:
The watch which I bought from Japan is a birthday present for my sister.

Does the sentence need some commas?


texts:
Ultrasonic

Supersonic

Would anybody explain me whether is there any difference between the followings or Not?

Ultra-

Super-


texts: Is "bring sth/sb up to do sth" grammatically correct & often used?

texts:
I came across a phrase like this in a news article some time ago:

I bring myself up to kiss her.

I want to ask about the grammatical correctness of the sentence and the frequency of the phrase/phrasal verb "bring sb/sth up to do sth"


texts: "used for showing that somebody is willing to do something," can this include 'strong determination'?

texts:
‘I will buy that radio if it's the last thing I do.” (collinsdictionary.com)

‘Will’ is “used as an auxiliary to express resolution on the part of the speaker,” says Collins and they separated this meaning from “used as an auxiliary to indicate willingness or desire.” Whereas OALD seems to put the former resolute expression into the latter sense of willingness.
But can this meaning of OALD’s for 'will', “used for showing that somebody is willing to do something,” include strong determination in the Collins’s example: I will buy that radio (even) if it’s the last thing I do? Consulting OALD’s account for ‘willing,’ “not objecting to doing something; having no reason for not doing something,” I’m not quite sure if it can.


texts:
Gabby: Susan, are you okay?

  Susan: I'm just so angry. If Mary Alice was having problems, she
  should have come to us. She should have let us help her.

  Gabby: What kind of problems could she have had? She was healthy, had
  a great home, a nice family. No, if Mary Alice was having some sort of
  crisis, we'd have known. She lives 50 feet away, for god's sake.

  Susan: Gabby, the woman killed herself. Something must have been going
  on.

TV Series: Desperate Housewives

Why Gabby didn't use "What kind of problems could she have?" because "could" can be used to express past possibility!


texts:
What is the difference between apart and separate?

From the dictonary I think that both are the opposite of together.


texts:
She was as beautiful a girl as well might be in the whole wide world. (Garden of Love) by Jeniffer Jackson

This pattern is new to me.
Usually could is used .
Is "well might" used here to have the same meaning?


texts:
Which one is the correct form?

  "parking valet" or  "valet parking"

"Valet parking" is commonly used, but it seems that "parking valet" is also correct!

What's the grammatical explanation of these two correct forms of the phrase?


texts: I can't understand the meaning of this paragraph

texts:
she wants to manipulate you into committing as she knows that you as a man want to have sex, and therefore will force you to commit to a relationship before giving you all the fun.

two consecutive "as"s makes me confusing!!

she wants to manipulate me into committing WHAT??


texts: How do you pronounce the publisher "Springer"?

texts:
From what I learned in my home country, we pronounce this publisher as /əʃpəriːngɜːr/ which I guess it has something to do with German language.

I want to know if it's strange to say /əʃpəriːngɜːr/?


texts:
Let's talk about how to learn English efficiently.
  Let's talk how to learn English efficiently

There is any difference in meaning?

I think that the 2 is more direct to the topic than the 1.


texts:
Two options to complete the following sentence:

Is it _____ exhaustive or not _______ exhaustive?

Options:

too
too / too
enough

According to my teacher it's "Is it too exhaustive or not enough exhaustive?", and she says that in American English it's not commonly said like that, yet in British English it is.
Is she right?


texts:
We were very busy one week because an employee had rung in saying his grandmother had died.

In the sentence, the adverbial phrase "one week" has no preposition. Is this acceptable?


texts:
To solve some problem, I want to confirm our partners whether we have any measures.
Is the following sentence grammatically wrong?

  “Please advise is there any procedures we can take?”

Since “please advise” should be followed by Subject+Verb, is

  “Please advise there is any procedures we can take.”

correct? Or

  “Please advise us of whether there is any procedures we can take.”

or

  “Please advise us that there is any procedures we can take.”.

Please advise.


texts:
In french the English word backup is often used but for various actions.

In English does "to perform a backup" mean the action to restore a system from a previous state. Or can it be also used for the action to create the system image which will be used for restoration?


texts: can "even to" be used instead of "even for"

texts:
I just had an English test where there was a text about a Swedish girl that had been an exchange student in high school. In the beginning of the text, it was stated that American girls thought that the prom dress was one of the most important things about prom. The text had word gaps we had to fill in, and, later on in the text, there was this sentence with a word gap in it.

  "___ to Julia the dress was also one of the most important things of prom."

A lot of my classmates filled the gap with "According" but to me that's wrong. The usage of "also" in the sentence makes it clear that this is to be found surprising or unthought of. I filled the gap with "even" so that it became "Even to Julia..." but my sister just said that you can't use the adverb even in such a way.
That it should have been written as "even for Julia...". But I wasn't allowed to change the "to" in the sentence.

Is it grammatically correct for me to have written "even to" or did I screw up?


texts: Why is this ungrammatical "while there are room and a need~"

texts:
The original phrase is

  While there is certainly room and a need for some manufactured plastic in our lives, we also need to make much more room for simple, natural materials.

My grammar text book quiz modified that as

  While there are certainly room and a need for....

and asked me to find the ungrammatical part.

Why is it ungrammatical when there are two things after Be verb, room and a need?
It somehow sounds like "While there is certainly room, and a need, for some~". But if it's a grammar question, shouldn't they clearly put the commas in that? Or else, shouldn't they mark 'are' as grammatical?


texts: "Of all the scientists **to** observe this remarkable healing"

texts:
I'm reading now a book which opens with the words Of all in the beginning without anything which precede the possessive of.

  Of all the scientists to observe this remarkable healing, only Zasloff was curious enough to ask the right question.

I have two questions about this sentence:

I understand that the meaning of Of all is "from all the scientists only Zasloff was curious". Is this using correct? I'm asking about it because I didn't see this style of using so far.
I see the preposition to in this sentence (Of all the scientists to observe this remarkable healing) and for me as a non-native English speaker it looks like weird. Is the meaning to say as if from all scientist who observed this remarkable healing or alternatively From all scientist who were there to observe there etc.?


texts:
In my recent question, I got this link in an answer.

Here, 'Explain like I'm five' is written. I tried to find its meaning on the Internet, but I got only an acronym ELI5.

Is 'explain like I'm five' a phrase or an idiom? What does it mean?


texts:
If I want to describe something in a sentence like:

  We believe that doing X is worthwhile.

In particular I mean can I use worthwhile without following it with a noun like endeavor or something else.


texts: Why are 'proper nouns' of body enzymes and things the like not capitalized?

texts:
Proper nouns are usually capitalized - a primary-school lesson that all of us have learned.

Let's look at a substance found in a human body.

  Arginine (/ˈɑrɡɪniːn/, abbreviated as Arg or R)1 is an α-amino acid. It was first isolated in 1886

Another one, this time a kind of poison

  Solanine - Solanine is a glycoalkaloid poison found in species of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), such as the potato (Solanum tuberosum) and the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).

Being a healthcare provider, I read several research papers, documents and webpages on enzymes or those sort of substances. They all have name, a proper name but none of those written content ever capitalize them. Why?

I also see some exceptions.

  Hemp seeds are high in Arginine, an essential amino acid known to improve heart health and protect from heart disease.

But is it due to the comma there? As the following sentence is introducing what 'Arginine' is? But then, is there any rule that if you define a proper noun in the middle of the sentence, you capitalize its first letter and if you don't, you don't! I don't think so. :)


texts: What is the grammatical function of "become indispensable summer and winter" here?

texts:
From Walden by Thoreau:

  The rest pay an annual tax for this outside garment of all, become indispensable summer and winter, which would buy a village of Indian wigwams, but now helps to keep them poor as long as they live.

I think it modifies the outside garment of all (house), but it looks awkward as a relative construction here.


texts: What is the meaning of "due within" in this passage?

texts:
CME Clearing marks open contracts to market twice daily and settles
  payment obligations once in the morning and once in the afternoon of
  each business day. Morning settlement occurs at 08:30 ET and includes
  options premiums passed from buyer to seller and initial and variation
  margin (also known as initial and maintenance performance bonds,
  respectively) deposits. CME Clearing sends payment instructions to
  each settlement bank prior to the 08:30 ET deadline and requests a
  confirmation of payment prior to the deadline. Afternoon settlement
  includes maintenance performance bond deposits, which are due within
  one hour of CME Clearing requesting payment from its clearing members.


texts:
In the Republic, poetry is condemned and the poets exiled just
  because poetry is a successful “imitation.” Imitation is bad for
  two reasons. For one thing, it is secondary, derived, not the
  real thing. In that sense it is factitious, however accurate it may
  be as a copy. A bed, for example, Plato argued, is already an
  imitation of the “idea” of a bed, the ideal paradigm from
  which each real bed is copied. A painting of a bed or a
  description of it in poetry, such as Homer’s description in the
  Odyssey of Odysseus’s nuptial bed, with its bedpost made of a
  still-rooted olive tree’s trunk, is at two removes. It is a copy of
  a copy, so who needs it?

is here "remove" as a noun.and mean: the distance between bedposts? but I don't understand "at two" here.

This passage is from a book named: On literature

This context is about Plato's opinion about poetry.

Correct me if I am wrong.


texts: Than ever before VS. than it ever has been

texts:
What is the difference between:

  Cybercrime would be up in 2020, higher than ever before

Vs.

  Cybercrime would be up in 2020, higher than it ever has been

Sentence1 is what I always use, but sentence2 seems the same(a native English speaker used this format)

Please clarify.


texts: Does "She had a brother" mean that her brother is dead?

texts:
My Friend has sent me this riddle to solve:

  "If you solve this, then you are a genius. Mr.Smith has 4
  daughters♀♀♀♀ and each daughter had a brother.  How many
  children does Mr. Smith have now?"

He said the answer is not 5, but 4 only as in the riddle it is mentioned as each daughter had a brother. So their only brother is dead.

Is he right?


texts:
In Collins Dictionary I have seen the following sentence, which gets me confused.

  Over 25 people drowned when a schoolbus tried to cross a river and flood waters swept through.

We know that the word is uncountable, so there won't be a plural form of it with -s suffix. We can't say waters, can we?

Then if the same rule applies, it must be used as "flood water" not "flood waters". But then why does the dictionary uses it "flood waters"?


texts: One of a group of things: "One of my cousin called me" or "One of my cousins called me"

texts:
Why is it incorrect to say,

  "One of my cousin called me."

instead of

  "One of my cousins called me."


texts: Are the questions of the form "A is B?" acceptable in English?

texts:
I wonder whether it would be grammatical to pose a question in the form "A is B?" in cases where it is obvious it is a question rather than a statement?

To what extent such sentences perceived incorrect by the native speakers?


texts:
I'm wondering which expression is grammatically correct or natural:

Recent advances in computer graphics
Recent advances on computer graphics

It seems that both usages appear in a dictionary, but I was not sure how to determine which one is more appropriate to use in a web article.


texts:
In the following, does "build on" mean "change"?

  Also, Bitcoin is recorded on a public blockchain that allows anyone to build on it. On the other hand, to build on many features of Libra’s blockchain, developers must seek permission from Facebook and its partners who administer it.

Source:http://fortune.com/2019/06/18/facebook-project-libra-crypto-coin-cryptocurrency-how-it-works/


texts: Why is "hanged for this" correct but not "hung"?

texts:
In one episode of the TV show Sherlock, Holmes and a prisoner has a conversation where Holmes corrected him grammatically many times. The following is just part of that.

Prisoner: (annoyed) Did it! STABBED HER! Over, and over, and over, and
I looked down and she weren't… (Sherlock just sighs) …wasn't… moving
no more… (Sherlock rolls his eyes) …anymore. (calmer) God help me, I
don't know how it happened, it was an accident, I swear! (Sherlock
gets up to leave) Hey, you gotta help me, Mr. Holmes! Everyone says
you're the best. Without you… I'll get hung for this.

Sherlock: No,
no, Mr. Bewick, not at all. (beat) Hanged, yes.

According to Cambridge Dictionary, both "hung" and "hanged" could be the participle form of "hang"

Why Sherlock insists "hanged" there?


texts: Which sentence is correct? "Do you want to know what is it about?" or "Do you want to know what it is about?"

texts:
Which sentence is correct:
"Do you want to know what it is about?"
or
"Do you want to know what is it about?"

I am having a discussion with my partner. I think it's the first one, she thinks it's the second one because we ask "what is it about?". But in my opinion those are two different structures.


texts:
Are you planning to delete this question now?

vs

  Are you planning to deleted this question now?

Which is better or correct?


texts:
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find
  their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at
  all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass
  number four on the Dursleys’ front door; it crept into their living
  room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night
  when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.
  Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time
  had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of
  what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored
  bonnets (1) — but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the
  photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a
  carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being
  hugged and kissed by his mother. (2) The room held no sign at all that
  another boy lived in the house, too. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's
  Stone)

Are there photos in (1) and in (2) together or are photos in (1) not there any longer?


texts: A comparison between the world "Mo(u)ldy", "Musty", "fusty", "mildewy"

texts:
How would you normally and in everyday speech allude to the following cases:

We put all these in the same category in our language; but I have no any idea how shall I categorize them in English, while there are several words you use in English for this happening:

  mold / moldy, mustiness / musty, fusty, mildew.

First of all, I need to know which noun would you use to call all these green, gray and blue substances that form on old foods / vegetables / fruits / bread / cheese?
Do you use a specific word for an edible type (like cheese) or inedible ones (like bread) or you categorize all them in the same group?

  I.e. This food / these vegetables / these fruits / that bread / the cheese is covered with mold OR have/has mold on it!

Then, I need to know the adjective you use to attribute this quality to the foods / vegetables / fruits / bread / cheese which contain these substances on/within them.

Finally, I am curious about the verb / phrase you use to indicate this situation for all these cases in my question!
For instance, do you say:

  This food / these vegetables / this orange / this bread / this cheese
  have / has gotten moldy etc.

or you have a particular rule for it?


texts: What is the difference between 'I like cleaning up' and 'I like cleanups'?

texts:
I like clean up or cleanup. Is this a correct sentence?

How would it differ from I like cleaning up or I like cleanups?

Simple example sentences and context would be greatly helpful.


texts: "Next week she will be" vs. "Next week she is going to be"

texts:
Please read 2 examples and my description of meaning. Am I right? If you could add something, please do it.

  Next week she will be in London.

At now she decides that she will be in London next week, she must be there next week.

  Next week she is going to be in London.

She has an idea to be in London next week and she will try to do it but not obligatory if plans are changed.


texts: Does this Japanese accent need subtitles?

texts:
In this movie trailer "Paterson",
a Japanese actor said

"A bus driver in Paterson?" and "This is very poetic" with subtitiles.

Is his accent too heavy?

What about the accent of a Indian or Pakistan man with no subtitles?

What is the difference?


texts:
Are these sentences interchangeable?

  What do you think are the best/good/bad/worst sides of playing video games?

  What do you think are the best/good/bad/worst aspects of playing video games?


texts: What's the difference between "sport facilities" and "modern equipment"?

texts:
I'm reading the text about school now, please, help me to understand one of the sentences...

  "There are a lot of sport facilities and modern equipment in the gym".

What's the difference between "sport facilities" and "modern equipment" in this sentence?


texts: nature protection vs nature conservation

texts:
I have a certificate which is translated into English.
It says that I am specialised in Nature Protection.

  I am wondering.. isn't Nature Conservation a better choice to use in a Certificate?

>
Thank you for the answers!


texts: Am I right in using these adjectives as described below?

texts:
I use these adjectives to show the amount of any entity (Sorted from highest to lowest)
LIQUID/SOLID as applicable:

I need a lot of milk to drink now-a-days. (Highest in quantity)
I need a good amount of milk to drink now-a-days. (Higher than average in quantity)
Or
I need much amount of milk (oranges) to drink (eat) now-a-days. (Higher than average in quantity)
I need a fair amount of milk to drink now-a-days. (Medium quantity applicable for liquid)
Or
I need an average number of oranges to eat now-a-days. (Medium quantity applicable for solid)
I need less amount of milk to drink now-a-days. (Lesser than average in quantity)
I need a little amount of milk to drink now-a-days. (Least in quantity for liquid)
Or
I need a few oranges to eat now-a-days. (Least in quantity for solid)

These usages are entirely made up by none other than myself and I never verified these usages from somebody. I clearly mentioned on what conditions, I use what adjectives. Please suggest me if there are some mistakes in using them; the mistake can be in the very adjective used or the condition on which the adjective is used in different cases. Also if I am lacking some more frequently used adjectives, please mention them.


texts:
I wrote:

  Telegram is almost like mixing Twitter and WhatsApp, which the former is banned in Iran.

I mean just Twitter is banned.
Did I use "former" correctly? Or perhaps it is from which the former.


texts: Need help with the phrasal verb "be through" and some prepositions

texts:
I was wondering if the the sentence below is grammatically correct especially the way the phrasal verb "be through" was used?

Now that we are through on our discussion with nouns and verbs, let us continue on your activities.

I was trying to correct/ rephrase it like this:

Now that we are through with our discussion on nouns and verbs, let us continue on your activities.


texts: is the placement of the "to be" verb correct?

texts:
which is correct in terms of placing the "are":

The higher the percentage of the working-age population to total population, the larger are the private savings.
The higher the percentage of the working-age population to total population, the larger the private savings are

thank you


texts: Why isn't the verb in this sentence singular?

texts:
I have the following phrase:

  Which of the activities in the photos look the most fun?

Can you explain why it's "look" and not "looks"?


texts: Which is correct "start time" or "starting time"

texts:
I'd like to know which of the following is correct:

"start time" or "starting time".

An example is:  He runs during period [t,t+c] every afternoon, where t is the start (or starting) time.


texts:
Is there a significant difference between these two sentences? which one is more appropriate when we have to tell our kid to wash his hands before having food.

Go and wash your hands
Go and get your hands washed

How these two sentences are different?


texts:
This is a quote from the Wikipedia page for Freddie Mercury.

  [Freddie Mercury] did a commendable job of stretching into uncharted territory.

Could someone tell me what does "stretching into" mean?


texts:
Do "only a few" and "(very) few" have more or less the same meaning?

a. John has only a few coins.

b. John has (very) few coins.


texts: how to join these clauses together: "No more in your class" and "I will always be your student"

texts:
I am a student, but sometimes a bit naughty by asking too many silly questions, and my teachers have to stay with me after classes are over.
On FxxeBook, I found some people say these to their teachers:
"No more in your class" and "I will always be your student"
I tried to join the two sentences toegther:
"Even if I am no more in your class, but I will always be your student"
Does this sound good to teachers?


texts:
Days later. A week. Two. I don’t know. After Denny’s deflation, time meant little to me; he looked sickly, he had no energy, no life force, and so neither did I. At a point when my hips still bothered me––not so long as to have healed [i], not so soon that the pain was acute [ii]––we went to visit Mike and Tony.
  (Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain)

It seems like the first negation is applied on to so long (partially); the second on to so soon that the pain was acute (wholly). Is my guessing right or am I to see other ways? If mine is okay, what factor causes the difference?


texts: Can I say not else than in this context?

texts:
Context when I see someone important, I say: Wow, I saw "no else" than him.:

I saw yesterday not else than Trump!

Is it correct to use "not else than" as that?
Should I have said: "Not different than Trump" ?


texts: Social question for using titles before name

texts:
I'd like to ask about English culture.
IF an (elementary) teacher address a parent without using Mr. Or Ms., but with first and last name only on their first email , what does it mean?
Isn't this supposed to be rude, even when the parent is addressing  the teacher with a title Ms.?


texts: Is "Thanks for understanding" proper English?

texts:
I usually see this in non-English speaking countries.
Examples:

  The park is closed for maintenance. Thanks for understanding.

  I'm currently out of office, please address my backup. Thank you for understanding.

Now I know what they mean: "Thank you for understanding my situation and sorry for your inconvenience."

But is this phrase proper English? Would anyone understand it?


texts: Can an adjective implement neither attributive, nor preficative role?

texts:
good pants

Is 'good' there an attributive? Is it necessary to be attributive here?


texts: What to call someone who apologizes unnecessarily

texts:
What word or phrase can be used to describe someone who is quick to apologize even if they probably did not do do anything wrong?

It could be for different reasons:

Maybe the person immediately assumes that something which is said to them is meant as criticism, even if it's not.
Maybe the person operates under the assumption that any criticism they receive must be legitimate, even if it often isn't.
Maybe they apologize pre-emptively just in case they did something wrong, even though no one said anything.
Or any other reason which would make their apologies come across as too frequent or too easily given.


texts: This financial statements or these financial statements

texts:
When referring to a financial statements document of a company, should it be treated as a singular or plural noun phrase?

Should I say, 'This financial statements includes...' or 'These financial statements include...'?

Thank you.


texts: What does "on the clock" mean/imply here and why?

texts:
I have checked the dictionary, "on the clock" means :

1) Working or getting paid

2) Of a taxi (and by extension, its driver), currently engaged to carry a passenger and having an active meter.

3) Currently displayed on a motor vehicle's speedometer or odometer .

I'm not sure which explanation fits the context best; seems to me "working" is a choice?

In the context, I feel like when Tony said " “We’re on the clock.” , he means "We don't have enough time/ the clock is ticking/ it's urgent".

Could anyone help me to understand what exactly did Tony want to express here: working or urgent? or something else?

Here is the sentence in the context:

  “Shut it down, Dr. Selvig,” Tony said. He hovered near the machine,
  hoping Selvig wouldn’t notice the way his thrusters were hiccupping.
  He was having trouble maintaining consistent thrust.

  “It’s too late!” Selvig cried. “She can’t be stopped now! She wants to
  show us something! A new universe.”

  “Okay,” Tony said. Clearly Selvig was beyond reason.

  Tony blasted the machine with his repulsors, but it was surrounded by
  a force field of some kind. The reflected energy knocked him back and
  also sent Selvig and his computer flying across the rooftop.

  “The barrier is pure energy,” Jarvis said. “It’s unbreakable.”

  “Yeah, I got that,” Tony said. “Plan B.” He saw Loki on the walkway
  that led from the landing pad into the penthouse.

  “Sir, the Mark Seven is not ready for deployment,” Jarvis said.

  “Then skip the bells and whistles,” Tony said. “We’re on the
  clock.” He sure couldn’t take on Loki and the Chitauri, whatever
  they were, in the suit he was wearing. It was barely hanging together.

  The Avengers I


texts: 'to annoy' and 'to bother': are they synonyms?

texts: I was wondering if to annoy and to bother are synonyms, or if there could be a difference in meaning.


texts: 'I'm a big fan of your beauty' possible?

texts:
I'm a big fan of yours

simply means that I'm a fan of whatever you are known for.

So, if you are Serena W, I'm talking about your mastery on tennis. If you are Justin, I'm fan of your art of singing.

Now, imagine a beautiful actress who knows little about acting. While she looks gorgeous, her acting falls below expectation. I admire her beauty and not her acting. May I say...

  I'm a big fan of her beauty (no sarcasm intended)

Can we be a fan of such abstract nouns, human qualities/characteristics?

A few more examples:

  I'm a big fan of your intelligence  I'm a big fan of your anger (- yeah, goes true in case of Hulk!)  I'm a big fan of your romance  I'm a big fan of your confidence

and so on...


texts: Which preposition should I use after “The figures”?

texts:
I have a question about which preposition should I use in this sentence:

The figures ____ (for/of) train and bicycle use reveal a steady drop in these types of transport.

I think of should be used. But the answer is for. Can anyone suggest me why for is the correct answer here?


texts: Is "to have one's head in the sky" a valid English idiom?

texts:
Is "to have one's head in the sky" a valid English idiom like "to have one's head in the clouds"?

It took me too long remember this. Or rather, to become conscious of it. In the future, I shouldn't

  Why did it take me so much time to remember this? Or rather, to become
  conscious of it? Perhaps because I always had my head in the sky.


texts: What are the possible common meanings of "have a good one"?

texts:
I was wondering if there is some sort of complete list of what "have a good one" can commonly mean. As the answers to this question imply, it can mean "have a good day!" or "have a nice weekend!", always as a form of saying goodbye to someone.

But would it also be acceptable for longer time ranges? For example, if someone says "Happy New Year!", can I reply "Thanks! You too, have a good one!" or simply say to someone off on vacations "have a good one!"?

Merriam-Webster says:

  Definition of have a good one
  US, informal
  —used to say one hopes the
  person spoken to will have an enjoyable day

So, my question is: Does "have a good one" need to be restricted to a single day, as in "have a good day!"? Or can it be used for longer periods? (the answers here also suggest that it should be confined to a single day)

EDIT: Thank you for the answers! But I'm having a hard time picking the definitive one, since they rather contradict each other. Maybe different regions use it differently and there's no single answer? (I'm also curious to know what people from other native speaking countries, like England or Canada, would think of this)


texts:
I have a question about the interchangeability of "receive" and "be given" in this context:

  He received substantial playing time in the game.
  He was given substantial playing time in the game.

It is well known that the active voice is preferred over the passive voice.  So, sentence 1 seems to be better than sentence 2.  But it seems that sentence 1 sounds (to my limited experience) weird compared to sentence 2.  What do native speakers think?  Should I use "receive" (active) or "be given" (passive)?


texts:
I'm a little bit confused about using the word 'not' with verbs in some situations. I'd been trying to find any specific information, but I've failed. I would like to receive any help with the following:
Is it possible to use 'not' like this?

  You can either do something or not (to?) do something else?
  You can either learn how to swim or simply not go with us.

I know, that it's possible to use 'not to' in the sentences like 'I want you not to kill me'. Is there any kind of sentence where the usage of 'not' + infinitive is possible (except the one I've asked about)?

Also, feel free to point me to any mistakes I've made so far.


texts:
He said that no steam train 13)....has/had passed...(pass) through that station for years, and that thelast one 14).....had crashed...(crash), killing everyone on board.

I am just wondering if instead of had crashed  crashed would be ok as the last one refers to a specific train as in the expression  the last time I went to Paris. I know past perfect is better as it happened a long timr before the verb in past simple said but....

https://fr.scribd.com/doc/112456062/10-Texts-to-Revise-Mixed-Tenses-With-Key


texts: The preposition for the verb (avenge) - avenge sb/sth (on OR from) sb

texts:
Please comsider the following example:
Imagine a mother whose husband has been murdered. She is talking to the killer regarding the revenge! She says:

One day my son will be grown up and avenge his fathers death ... you! (The mother says to the killer)

  a) from
  b) on

Which one of the abovementioned choices would be more natural in this sense?

The structure on most of the dictionaries is just "avenge sb/sth", but I need to know how a native would say the rest!

Please note that I am asking this question because I have my doubts if in English people use the verb avenge in the same way as we use and I want to make sure in this respect!


texts: Rewriting short sentences to full sentences

texts:
Michael Swan in his book Practical English Usage (page 1) writes:

Some styles of writing and speech have their own grammatical rules, often because of the need to save space and time.
Informal notes, diary entries etc follow similar rules:
1) Gone to hairdresser. Back 12:30

2) Book tickets
Phone Ann
See Joe 11:00
Meeting Sue lunch
The same style may be used in postcards and short informal letters:
Dear Gran
Watching tennis on TV. A good book. Three meals a day. No washing-up. Clean sheets every day.Everything done for me. Yes, you've guessed -
in hospital.
Only went to doctor for cold - landed up in hospital with pneumonia!! If you have time please tell the others - would kove some letters to
cher me up.
Hope to see you.
Love, Pam

I am trying to decipher all of the above:

I have gone to a hairdresser. I will be back at 12:30
I have to book tickets
I have to phone Ann
I have to see Joe 11:00
I have to meet Sue at lunch
Dear Gran
I am watching tennis on TV. I am reading a good book. I have three meals a day. I have no washing-up. I am getting clean sheets every
day. I am getting everything done for me. Yes, you've guessed - I am
in a hospital.
I only used to go to a doctor for a cold but now I have landed up in th hospital with a pneumonia!! If you have time. please. tell the
others - I would love to get some letters to cheer me up.
Hope to see you.
Love, Pam.

Have I written the short sentences full right?


texts: To study english with Sherlock Holmes movie is fine?

texts:
I am studying english with movies Notting Hill and Sherlock Holmes, but the Sherlock Holmes movie (Robert John Downey Jr) is based in 100 years ago.

Do you think it is good to study?


texts: They have taken everything out of the cupboards and THREW it on the floor (?)

texts:
George and Joan LIVE (live) in a small house in London. Right now they ARE STANDING (stand) in the sitting room of their house. They HAVE JUST COME (just come) back from a holiday in the country . They ARRIVED ( arrive) at the house five minutes ago.

  "What HAS HAPPENED (happen)?" said Joan, as she LOOKED (look) round at the untidy room. "Someone HAS BEEN (be) in the house. They HAVE TAKEN (take) everything out of the cupboards and THREW (throw) it on the floor.  Look, George, they HAVE BROKEN (break) all those glasse

Why is it "threw" instead of "thrown"; why was the past simple used instead of present perfect, I think it would be logical to be present perfect, she is discovering what happened it is more present than past.

http://www.english-grammar.at/online_exercises/tenses/all_tenses3.htm
This comes from   T026-Back from the holidays - All Tenses


texts: Meaning of "to have been stifled by the stand he'd taken"

texts:
She it was, Heloise insisted, who drew attention to the house, but her
husband doubted it. He reminded her that what had been attempted at
Lahardane was part of a pattern that was repeated all over Ireland. The
nature of the house, the possession of land even though it had dwindled,
the family’s army connection, would have been enough to bring that
trouble in the night. And he had to admit that the urge to cause destruction,
whatever its origin, could not be assumed to have been stifled by the stand
he’d taken. For some time afterwards Everard Gault slept in the afternoon
and watched by night; and although no one disturbed his vigil, this concern
with protection, and his wife’s apprehension, created in the household
further depths of disquiet, a nerviness that affected everyone, including in
the end the household’s child.

Dose "stand" in this phrase mean: his position as a captain
and the whole phrase mean: he could not come the trouble to an end by his position?
Source: The Story of Lucy gault by william trevor


texts:
Example with a context (Yahoo news article "Families of Charleston 9 forgive shooting suspect in court"):

  Roof, who faces nine counts of murder, was ordered held on $1 million bond on a separate gun charge.

I'm not really following that grammatically.


texts: "I suddenly realized" or "I've suddenly realized"?

texts:
Okay, so I know the textbook rules when to use present perfect and past simple but for some reason I can't decide between these two:

  I suddenly realized something.

  I've suddenly realized something.

In both cases I mean that my realization happened at this moment. And even though "at this moment" is a time expression so present perfect should not be correct with it, I don't use that in the sentence, and I feel present perfect is usable but I don't know if that's actually correct. I also have a vague memory about reading somewhere that present perfect can be used to emphasize things in certain situations but I may remember wrong, I couldn't find examples of such usage while I was googling for answers.

Also, if this was not "at this moment" but in the past at an unspecified time, would the adverb suddenly indicate a specific time?


texts: to be present in any field or sphere. context

texts:
Variety is present also in the fild of/ at / in sphere of touching experiences,  that are rough, hard, smooth and soft, and these combinations give an extra dimension to the collection.

What use better? in the field or sphere or something different?


texts:
The American Heritage Dictionary gives three definitions of target language:,

  1) The language into which a text written in another language is to be translated.
  2) A language that a nonnative speaker is in the process of learning.
  3)  Computers The computer language, often a machine language, into which a document written in another computer language is to be translated.
  In all senses also called object language.

Dictionary.com  gives two definitions and compares it with source language:

  1) the language into which a text is to be translated from another language.
  Compare source language
  2) a language, especially a foreign language, that one is in the process of learning.
  Compare source language.

According to Ngrm the expression "target language" is from the '50s.

Questions:

Is "target language" a colloquial or a formal/technical expression?
For instance, could  a foreign student say that English is their target language meaning that they are studying English as a foreign language?
In which context is the expression most commonly used today?
When and in what context was the expression originally used?


texts: Seek better sentence to describe that I worked with a team most of whom had PhDs

texts:
As title, I am trying to write a self-motivation letter, but I think one of the sentences in there is not good enough, but I am not sure how to make it better. The original sentence is

  It was a challenging and exciting opportunity to collaborate with a
  team almost consisting of PhDs when I just graduated from university.


texts:
You know, for example, when you upload at a site a music you think good(not for the purpose of learning English but just for its own fun sake there is no such site at SE unfortunately, PLEASE UNDERSTAND), when there is a reply saying,

♪My scrotum♪

What would he mean? When I googled by "scrotum", that part of male's reproductive organ appeared, but I have no idea what he would try to mean. Can I take it literally? You SE people might think that I should ask at the ESL site of the site this question, but I look stupid.(Since people at the site always check what I am doing at the background.) So I am waiting for kind people's help.
If some (limited) kind people who can save me really need what kind of situation it really is, please check at this site. user(the op) u/universexf6 is me.


texts:
Why saying:

  "It is equivalent to saying that"

is true rather than:

  "It is equivalent to say that"

I always get confused about using the word after "to" because when I was learning English I was told that after to we have to use simple verb. Could you elaborate this for me?


texts: How can I tell what "that" refers to in this sentence?

texts:
"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have a human on
  your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"
      "Do you realize who this is?" said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the better."
      "What have you been telling him?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have
  we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"
      Ronan pawed the ground nervously. "I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he said in his gloomy voice.
      Bane kicked his back legs in anger.
      "For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run
  around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"
      Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger, so that Harry had to grab his shoulders to stay on.
      "Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in
  on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest,
  Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."  (Harry Potter and the
  Sorcerer's Stone)

How can I figure out what that refers to in this sentence?


texts:
...or are you enjoying the early bird period...

What is the meaning of this phrase?

I understand the following phrase generally, but can't work out the meaning of "early bird period" specifically.

  Whether you are a beginner enjoying the early bird period or an experienced
  trader on the run for the best investment opportunities...


texts: what does "have a little mercy" mean in the following sentence?

texts:
what does have a little mercy mean in the following sentence?

  To get there, you need some mechanism to fool people -- for workers to see their wage rise, but not realize that other wages and prices are also rising; for companies to see their prices rise, but not realize that wages, costs, and competitors' prices are also rising. You need some mechanism to convert a rise in all prices and wages to a false perception that everyone's relative prices and wages are rising. There are lots of these mechanisms, and that's what economic theory of the Phillips curve is all about. The point today: it is not nearly as obvious as newspaper accounts point out. And if central bankers are a bit befuddled by the utter disappearance of the Phillips curve -- no discernible relationship, or actually now a relationship of the wrong sign, between inflation and unemployment, well, have a little mercy. Inflation is hard.

https://johnhcochrane.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/how-does-inflation-work-anyway.html#more


texts: Twice as short, twice as cheap, twice as slow?

texts:
Is it grammatically correct to say:

  This book is twice as expensive as that one.

  That book is twice as cheap as this one.

  This rope is twice as long as that one.

  That rope is twice as short as this one.

I was studying comparatives and on some forum I found a discussion about expressions like "twice as few" and "twice as little". On that forum native English speakers all have agreed that such expressions sounded weird to them, and made no sense, because "twice" means multiplication and is opposite in meaning to being smaller. For example, it is incorrect to say: "I have twice as few books as he." And so I was wondering if "twice" is also opposite to being shorter, cheaper and slower, etc. Could anybody please elaborate on how "twice as few" is incorrect while "twice as short" is correct?


texts:
He will look at the city which is within him, and take heed that no
  disorder occur in it, such as might arise either from superfluity
  or from want; and upon this principle he will regulate his property
  and gain or spend according to his means. The Republic by Plato

I know that "should" is omitted here, but "take heed" doesn't sound similar to verbs often cited in the grammar section in question, such as "demand," "suggest," "order," etc.

What's going on here?


texts:
Is a comma required in the two places in the following example?

  He asked me(,) “Blah blah?“
  My reply was(,) "Blah blah.”

Thanks!


texts: What do you call somebody who eats a lot?

texts: I had read that "glutton" is used for somebody who eats a lot. Is it used commonly or are there  any other words that are more common?


texts: Meaning of "legitimate" in Carl Jung's quote "Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering."

texts:
Does legitimate in Carl's quote:

  Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering.

mean due suffering ?


texts:
"Will Mr. Collins be affected by the previous news on stocks INCREASE?"

Is increase a verb or a noun in this sentence? thank you very much


texts:
An online Desk Review will be conducted which will start from 1st August and will remain continue/continued till 31st October.

Please assist me with this sentence. Thank you.


texts:
Could anyone possibly simply  tell me which of the following would be correct?

Tell her she needn't work tonight.
Tell her she doesn't need to work tonight.


texts: Is it OK or proper to ask someone "how late are you going to be open"?

texts:
Suppose you enter an office that you don't know of their working hours.

Then, you turn and ask,

  Excuse me, how late are you going to be open?

To ask the working hour. I haven't said this myself yet, but I was wondering if that's OK to use the pronoun "you" there? I mean, I am asking about the office hours not them. Is that a proper sentence?


texts: What's so interesting behind the "delete your account" meme?

texts: I mean, I just recently know that Hillary Clinton sent a meme to Donald Trump to delete his account. And I've read an article about this on knowyourmeme.com, that this meme has been around since 2008, but gained momentum around 2015. But I still can't get why this is such an interesting meme. I don't find it particularly interesting at all. It feels like just an empty and very, very ordinary words to me. Unlike some of other memes like "Shut up and take my money!". Well, maybe if the meme was "Shut up and delete your account!" I may find it funny or at least interesting. Can you explain from your perspective, why this "delete your account" sentence is funny or interesting enough to be a meme?


texts: Should I use "moved" or "moving" in this sentence?

texts:
We were able to walk along the brown and golden sand beaches, and moved/moving among the fur seals, without bothering them.

In this sentence, which is right, one of them or both of them? I think only moved is right, but someone argues that moving is also right.


texts: Why have commas been used there in these sentences? Which rule of commas does it refer?

texts:
His ambition, twinned with desperation, resonates with any teenager who wants to journey off to college or move states away for work{,} in a bid to escape youthful boundaries. Poverty made Gatsby ravenously desperate for difference{,} for possibility.

Jay Gatsby book review from The New York times


texts: Is it okay to use the word "launch" when talking about public transportation?

texts:
I always hear "to launch an app" or "to launch a campaign."

Can "launch" be used in a situation like this?

  In 2010, Tokyo Metro launched the women-only passenger cars.

I have doubts because I think I've never heard the word being used in public transportation. Also, when I asked a native English speaker, he chose the term to put into operation.


texts: "The books arrived TO you" or "The books arrived AT you"?

texts:
Which preposition is considered to be natural in the following context?

The books arrived TO you.

or

The books arrived AT you.

My choice was the preposition 'to' in this context, but my corrector is now marking it as an error and suggesting me to replace it with 'at', and I'm not sure about it.


texts:
I just attended to a study project in abroad and I don't know if I'm correct at calling people and professors.

Is it possible to call a professor just only "professor"?

I mean, is it possible to not use any first name or last name. For example, when I see one of my professor, I say him " Hello professor" and don't greet him as " Hello professor Thompson".

Is this appropriate and normal?

Thanks


texts: "This will be displayed when the device is next switched on" or "It will be displayed when the device is next switched on"

texts:
When the device is switched off, the memory will store the mode that last appeared on the screen. This (It?) will be displayed when the device is next switched on.

Which is better, this or it, in this sentence? Or are both equally good?
I feel like the pronoun it is better because with the determiner (or also pronoun?) this, we seem to omit the word "mode" and have to restore it mentally:

This mode will be displayed..


texts: Does the phrase "fix a schedule" sound natural, if does, then what is its exact meaning?

texts:
When I want choose a date for, say, a party, does it sound natural to say the following?

  Let's fix a schedule for the party.

If that sounds ok, then could I change fix for set?


texts:
Should I repeat on the pronoun "I" in the following sentence:

  "I hope and (I) wish that the rest of the staff will be like you."

Or is it enough to mention the pronoun in this case one time in the beginning?


texts: skip mailing labels -- what does that mean?

texts:
Example:

  As the title implies, this book is about using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to enhance the power of Access databases. If you want Access to print words on a check, skip mailing labels that you’ve already used, or manipulate data behind the scenes, you have to write VBA code.

First of all, what are mailing labels? And secondly, what does skip mailing labels mean exactly?


texts: what does the words "a different shade" mean?

texts:
my guess of the  sentence :
"I" want to dye or change the color of our blue badges so as to getting into the balcony, but since we are easy to be noticed so I gave up the idea.
if my guess is right (or not), then "to color a different shade" meaning to "dye or color it"?? why the word "shade" used here? what does "shade" have to do with color? why not just say "change the color of our blue badges" or just "color it"?

here is the sentence:

  They wore little badges on red thread, marking them out as special. I wondered briefly if it was possible to colour our blue ones a different shade, but decided that being the only people with a wheelchair would probably make us a little conspicuous.

here is the context:

"they" are someone in the balcony, wearing red premier badges, while "we" are wearing blue badges on the stands watching races in the rain, freezing cold.


texts:
if I say

I told you to wait until he came back.
I told you to wait until he comes back.

which one is correct? if both sounds nothing wrong to you, what's the  difference?


texts:
In a certain film, America was at the brink of war at sea against Soviet Union.
And then a fleet commander says

  "Stand by to fire. On my count, Five Four, Three..."

On the other hand, in a plane, someone says to one who at the brink of a drop from the plane,

  "On my mark three two one go!"

Does "On my count" have same meaning as "On my mark"?
And what does it mean exactly?
I mean, I want to know the meaning of "ON" in this sorts of sentences.

Someone answered me

  Hmm, On my count or On my mark is a fixed expression. You normally say it like:
  "On your mark, get set, go."
  Its usually said in the beginning of the race.

But in the film, they said "my" not "your".


texts: When I was speaking, I said, "There is so much of administration to do." Someone said to me that I have to say it as "There is so much administration to do." Is she correct? Why can't I say, "so much of". I've always been saying that and so do many people.


texts: "Are you asking about...?" vs "Did you mean...?"

texts:
How do you reply to someone if you are confused about their question?

Eg: someone mailed me "How are you ensuring that the box is there?".

I am confused whether he meant Box A or Box B. How would I reply asking for clarifying the same? Which of the two expressions − "Are you asking about...?" and "Did you mean...?" − should be used?


texts:
Suppose that we are at home now. You are doing something. I say: "I can help you"

How should I say this sentence tomorrow? Should I say: "I could help you"

Is the latter sentence past continuous? If so, what is the past simple of "can"? And how should we recognize them?


texts:
What article should I use right after "the enigma of"? Should it be "the enigma of the" or "the enigma of a(n)"?

  Please, look at these pictures. Can you guess what all these pictures
  are about? Rain? Well, not only rain. Storm? Well, it's closer, but
  still not fully there yet. What? Right - ball lightning. The enigma
  of ball lightning has bothered scientists for centuries. On one
  hand, it is known that it is nothing else than a big bunch of energy,
  but on the other hand, it can easily change its size - from a big ball
  by the size of a zeppelin or a hot air balloon to a small ball by the
  size of an egg or even a marble...


texts:
I was wondering about the meaning of giggily. Could it be a typo. Even so, what does it mean as used in the definition below? I have looked it up to no avail, and subbing it with giggly does not make sense to me.

  woo-la

  The point at when a person is up in the middle of the night and cannot
  think right/is all giggily about everything.
  Yeah..we were sitting up about 3am..I don't remember what she said because I was all woo-la

http://www.diclib.com/woo-la/show/en/amslang/W/465/360/0/0/11175#ixzz4CY9vGVWb


texts:
Suppose an IELTS examiner asks me

  "Do you live in the town or a city?"

If I answer

  I have been living in a city for over 30 years.

and then talk a lot about cuisines, must-see places in my home town

Is the second part (cuisines, must-see places ) a little bit of off-topic?

by "off-topic", I mean

  not relevant to the subject under discussion


texts: Using "because" at the beginning of a sentence

texts:
In Standard English, the word because can be used to introduce a clause (subordinating conjunction) or paired with of to form a compound preposition. Recently, because has been used in non-standard English to introduce a noun phrase (because noun), as such, behaves like a preposition.
source: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/because-as-a-preposition

Subordinating conjunction

  Jack got a raise because he did a good job.

Compound preposition

  Jack got a raise because of his good performance.

Because noun

  Jack got a raise, because efficiency.

(Adding a bit of emphasis on because and a pause - half a beat, almost like stopping before a comma, before the word efficiency)

Consider the following sentence.

Because Jack does the job so well, he can expect a raise.

Following Standard English, is the because in the sentence above considered a subordinating conjunction despite sentence order?


texts: Could someone please explain to me what is the difference in meaning between heritage and inheritance and give an example of each? Thank you


texts:
If the telephone interview wasn’t all that, a polite rejection email is sent. Otherwise, both a tech interview and financial negotiation should happen.

(Spring.io blog)

What exactly "all that" in previous paragraph means? It almost seems to me like there is a word missing. What are the rules for using the phrase this way?


texts:
Walking back home is gonna take longer than I presumed
Walking back home is gonna take shorter than I presumed

I'm a bit confused here, is sentence #2 valid?
It certainly doesn't sound right.

If sentence #2 is invalid, how could i rephrase it?


texts: When responding to "Who sees the hammer?" When the person who sees the hammer answers the questions. Should they use "me" or "I do"?


texts: What are the differences between: "has/have + [got] to have been" & "had [got] to be" & "had [got] to have been"?

texts:
Considering the modal verbs "Have to" and "Have got to" to express in certainty the state of someone/something. Are the following forms syntactically correct:

Present:
sub + has/have + [got] to be + [complement]
Ex: That has [got] to be the right restaurant.

Past (A):
sub + has/have + [got] to have been + [complement]
Ex: That has [got] to have been the right restaurant.

Past (B):
sub + had [got] to be + [complement]
Ex: That had [got] to be the right restaurant.

Past (C):
sub + had [got] to have been + [complement]
Ex: That had [got] to have been the right restaurant.

[got] means to switch between Have to & Have got to

[complement] can be any valid complement to the sentence; "object", "adjective"..etc

Considering the past forms. Are past (A), (B) & (C) correct?, and if so, are they equivalent?
If "Yes"; are there any differences?
If "No"; what are the differences?


texts: Meaning of "up" in "clean up after yourself"

texts:
What does the adverb up in the idiom:

  Clean up after yourself.

mean ?


texts:
What does "The Hercules play comes in there" mean?
On April 8, 1907, the alleged spirit of Myers, through Mrs. Piper, said to
Mrs. Sidgwick:
"Do you remember Euripides? Do you remember Spirit and Angel? I gave
both... Nearly all the words I have written to-day are with reference to
messages I am trying to give through Mrs. V."
Mrs. Verrall had, on March 7, in the course of an automatic script, the
words "Hercules Furens" and "Euripides." And on March 25 Mrs.
Verrall had written:
The Hercules play comes in there and the clue is in the Euripides play, if
you could only see it...
This certainly seems beyond coincidence.
" The History of Spiritualism," by Arthur Conan Doyle


texts:
I have hard time understanding the meaning of one phrase.
I understand that this might be an open-ended question, but still maybe
native speakers could make it a bit more clear.

This phrase is included in the guideline of a design contest
(Morisawa type design competition).

Here is the exact phrase :

  All of the characters shown on the sample Sheet A for the Latin
  category  are to be regarded as the character set assigned for the
  Latin category entry.

Exact contents of "Sheet A" (just in case you ask):

  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ&abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890*!?.,:;‘’“”-

What I am trying to understand specifically:

Does this rule tell me that it is mandatory to submit the design of ALL of the presented characters?
How should I interpret this rule if I want to design only a subset of this set? For example if I submit my design, but omit punctuation marks, would that go against this rule or not, or is it actually not clear from this rule?

Note that there is no other mentions about character set at all in the guideline, this is the one and only phrase that addresses the character set.


texts:
I've noticed that adjectives are often placed loosely in sentences in English, that is, sometimes I find it hard to locate the word that they modify. Farlex Grammar provides some clues on the order of adverbs in English sentences, but adds right away that "there is a great deal of flexibility in where the adverbs may appear in the sentence".

What's the difference between "Then it really got stormy" and "Then it got really stormy"?

Are these two completely same in meaning or there are some subtle hues?


texts:
I was thinking, couldn’t “I didn’t do it on purpose” take on two meanings or be interpreted two ways?

The act was unintentional, I did not mean for it to happen.

I specifically chose not to do it, it was a conscious decision.

I feel like number two isn’t as idiomatic as number one, is that right? But otherwise how do you determine which meaning is intended?


texts:
By the time this quarter is over, you will have learnt much, and you WILL BE/ WILL HAVE BEEN one step closer your dream.

Could anybody readily and kindly tell me which one and why?

Thanks in advanced


texts:
I am currently a bit confused about the difference between these 3 phrases:

I have never thought of that. (present perfect)
I had never thought of that. (past perfect)
I never thought of that. (past simple)

Imagine this situation: Someone has just told me they are going to London next week. They ask me if I ever want to visit that city as well. After they've said that to me a) I start thinking about London and if I really want to go there etc. b) I don't think about my future plans regarding London at all even after hearing what my friend has told me.

What tense would I use as my reply in a) and in b)? 1., 2. or 3. ?

What would be the most natural/fastest reaction for a native?

Thanks for any help.


texts:
During reading the book I happend to see shark bite . Is shark bite  spoken ecpressio  or idiom ? If I say shark bitten does it sound weird or wrong ?
Thanks in advance :)


texts:
A man said that "the doubleplus military made me smile."

I searched it in dictionary but I couldn't find out it. Please teach me the meaning of the word "doubleplus".


texts: Without using the word "tall", we can say "I am five nine". Can I say "I am five nine tall" as well, or do I have to say "I am five feet nine inches tall" if I'm using the word "tall"?


texts: What is the difference between “advise” and “advice”


texts: What does 'a dazzling array of outfits' mean?

texts:
Does it mean 'a large number of very impressive outfits'?

This is the couple's first official visit to Scotland, and Kate made
sure to bring a dazzling array of outfits that not only gave
nods to their hosts, but managed the unpredictable weather perfectly.
With our own weather going haywire this week, we're pulling all the
inspiration we can get from her looks.

Kate Middleton steps out in monochrome ensemble


texts: I'm sorry I don't have any context. But I'm just wondering if there's a difference between 'first grader' and 'first year student'.


texts: A proverb that is used to imply that you have unexpectedly faced a big problem

texts:
What would you say when unexpectedly finding yourself in big trouble while everything itself is not going very well and an irrevocable, unpleasant happening takes place suddenly in the manner that you immediately notice that a big problem / a series of problems are about to begin. Please consider my self-made scenario below:

  Son) There is a long distance between my apartment and the university where the conference would be held!
  I must leave at 2 to make a good time to the conference; it's 1 o'clock and I'm running out of time!
  Mother) So, whats wrong? Come on son! Move right now!
  Son) Oh, ..........................
  Mother) Why?! What's the matter again?
  Son) I just noticed that my car is broken!

In our language, there is a proverb to be used to fill in the blank which says:

  My cow gave birth.

Even sometimes, in order to exagerate the situation we say:

  "My cow has given birth to twin calves"!

Here is the outcome of my researches in this regard, which I have no any ideas whether using each one sounds natural and idiomatic in this sense! Meanwhile, I don't know if they are considered as old-fashioned expressions these days or somehow, some translated versions of a similar foreign saying:

  That's the pretty kettle of fish!
  That fat in the fire!
  Here comes the trouble!
  Our goose is cooked!
  That crowns it all.
  That's the end.

I would be appreciative if you could help me to find the closest idiom/expression/proverb for this case.


texts:
Why you think 'need' is more suitable here?

A: How long will it ( ) you to finish you work?
B: Give me ten more minutes

need→×
take→○


texts:
A: Who was the man we saw with Anna yesterday.

  B: He was her brother.

Is the above "he was her brother" grammatically correct? can we use "is" instead "was"? because it is fact that he is her brother. and still he is.


texts:
Context:

Just days after the fall of Paris, General Charles de Gaulle, In one of the most important speeches in French history, told his fellow countrymen:

'Believe me...nothing is lost for France. The same means that over came us can bring us victory one day. For France is not alone! She is not alone! She is not alone! She has a vast empire behind her.She can align with the British Empire that holds the sea and continues the fight...

Question: Why do we use feminine pronoun for countries? Is it mandatory in English to use feminine pronoun for all countries and states or in some cases masculine pronoun"he" can also be used?


texts:
The dictionary says ‘conscience’ can be both countable and uncountable noun. Then when it should be written with article ‘a’?

“The best equipment ... is a conscience, common sense and health. ... Concience makes us ...”


texts: 'Plural' or 'the + single': 'challenges the installer faces' VS 'challenges installers faces'

texts:
We know what materials and technologies work for various applications, and what challenges the installer faces.
  We know what materials and technologies work for various applications, and what challenges installers face.
  We know what materials and technologies work for various applications, and what challenges the installers face.
  We know what materials and technologies work for various applications, and what challenges an installer faces.

(1) is recommended, but I thought there is no specification here (elliminate the use of the), and there are of course many installers here, so I will go with (2). Am I right?

I also thought of possibilites (3) and (4). Are they good?


texts: Is there anything wrong with saying "I was feeling amazing at the party with all my friends around"? Is it grammatically incorrect? Should this be said some other way?


texts:
Is the highlighted part natural in the context?
Woman - Is he going to be okay?
Veterinarian - Yes, your dog will be fine.
Woman - Are you sure?
Veterinarian - Yes. Trust me, miss, I do have a certain experience with this.


texts: Is the following sentence grammatically correct? -- "The only problem is where do we start looking?"

texts:
I just came across the sentence given above in the question, and think that it isn't grammatically correct such that the correct one would have to be as follows;

  The only problem is where we start looking?

OR as follows;

  The only problem is "Where do we start looking?".

Another sentence that is quite similar in structure to the original sentence is;

  The main secret of thoughts is where do they come from?

I'm interested more in knowing the structure of the valid 'where' clause in the sentence.

Is the original sentence similar to eg: "I do not know where do we start looking?"?


texts: "It's a bit terrifying doing something" vs "It's a bit terrifying to do something"

texts:
I am wondering which one of the following is grammatically correct? Or maybe both are grammatically correct but they mean different things?

  It is terrifying to explore the world, not knowing where one will end up.

  It is terrifying exploring the world, not knowing where one will end up.


texts:
Suppose the context is a cable TV company and an end user having trouble watching cable TV.  This phrase:

  A technician will be out to your house.

is very common.  The phrase "will be out to your house" is also common in the context of water companies and electrical power companies, but not so in standard writing.  In standard writing, "will be out to your house" seems to be replaced with "will go out to your house".  Am I wrong?


texts:
I've got a slight confusion while using them.
I believe "a bit" is used in the case when we are thinking from an "a little" perspective.
ex- he is a bit too late.
When shall we use "bit"?
As per the articles, we should not use indefinite articles for noncountable nouns.
Could anyone provide a little clarity on this?


texts: Meaning of the preposition "of" in following sentence

texts:
I read a sentence in a english-korean dictionary, " How to make a friend of an enemy".

I'm confused why preposition 'of' is used in the sentence.

Does "How to make a friend of an enemy" mean " How to Turn an enemy into a friend " ?

What is the exact meaning of  the preposition "of" in the sentence?


texts: graduate from high school / graduate high school / finish high school

texts:
Look at these sentences.
(a) I graduated from high school last year.
(b) I graduated high school last year.
(C) I finished high school last year.
Which one would you use?
Most native speakers I know said they use (c). However, high school textbooks use (a). COCA says that (a) has 355 examples, (b) has 239 examples, and (c) has 355 examples.
Are these three used interchangeably?
Considering that students who graduate from the university are called graduate students, I think what is graduated from should be the university, not high school.
Do you have any ideas?


texts:
I just found these questions in a test on the internet:

  'Heavy rains has caused flooding in several parts of the south west.'

Is this sentence right or wrong? Also:

2) 'Today's news are all about the approaching hurricane.'

Is this sentence right or wrong?

The answer key say that both are wrong. Maybe for (1), the lowercase letters for "south west" are the error, I'm not sure. I don't understand what could be wrong with (2).


texts:
I want to make a sentence like

  I feel like I am on pins and needles.

Then, am I right to write like

  I feel on pins and needles.

Can I write the sentence without “like” part?


texts: 'The good of the people' & 'follow in everything the general will'

texts:
The first and most important rule of legitimate or popular government, that is to say, of government whose object is the good of the people, is therefore, as I have observed, to follow in everything the general will
Source: a sample passage for interpretation

Would you tell me what the following mean?

The good of the people
follow in everything the general will

In addition, what does will mean here?


texts: When introducing myself, which should I use: "my name is" or "I am"?

texts: It was raining and our extra classes were held after studying there was still some time left so I was talking to a girl I asked her what should we answere when someone ask us what's your name ?she told my name is but I told I am which is the right one


texts: On the difference bewteen present perfect simple and continuous

texts:
I've done a quiz here to check my understanding of the difference between the present perfect simple and continuous. I made two mistakes and I don't understand why I'm wrong.

What I answered:

  Q5: I  have drunk more water recently, and I feel better.

  Q12: Iona is exhausted these days. She has worked too hard recently.

The correction given:

  Q5: I  have been drinking more water recently, and I feel better.

  Q12: Iona is exhausted these days. She has been working too hard recently.

I'm far from being a beginner in English and I have to admit that I answered the quiz without thinking it over that much as it sounded good to me.

However, I checked the grammar book I used to use "Cambridge, English Grammar in Use, Raymond Murphy" and he says in unit 8 and 10 that we use the present perfect when using "recently" and I would say it makes sense to me as "recently" refers (to me) as something already done and so we are speaking about a consequence, in those cases, "I feel better" is the consequence of "I have drunk more water recently" and "Iona is exhausted" is the consequence of "she has worked too hard recently".

In the grammar book, he also adds in unit 10 that when speaking about the result of an action one should use the present perfect simple.

I would be glad to understand why I'm wrong, thank you in advance.


texts: Meaning of "Don't look down upon your own kind"

texts:
What is the meaning of "Don't look down upon your own kind"?

This sentence has been used when one person is upset or frustrated about something.

Can anyone explain a little bit about this.


texts: Is there a grammatical rule impeding the presence of 'for' in "I have lived here 'for' all my life"?

texts:
I have lived here all my life.
  I have lived here for all my life.

Yes, 1 is perfectly 'standard' English, but I wonder why one cannot add for to 1  before 'all my life'?

Is there a grammatical rule governing this matter? If so, can anybody explain such rule?

I'm asking because in my language, as far as I know, both 1 and 2 are acceptable, with and without for (per).


texts:
I was studying the use of "there's" and "there is". I summarised their use. Is everything correct?
"There's" informal but it is preferred. In #3, #4, and #5 "there 's" but not "there is" is used because, "there's" is preferred.
In each of these most native speakers would use either "there's" or "there are" but not "there is".
A singular noun with a singular noun:

"There is a hammer and a screwdriver in the car."

A singular noun with plural nouns:

"There is a hammer and two screwdrivers in the car."

Plural nouns with a singular noun:

"There are two screwdrivers and a hammer in the car."

Plural nouns with plural nouns:

"There are computers and two desks in my room."

Plural noun with singular nouns:

"There are two computers, a desk, and a sofa in my room."


texts: what's the meaning of "and they are only that"

texts:
what is the meaning of and they are only that in this sentence:

  These intuitions, and they are only that, are based on Roemer


texts: How do I attribute adjectives to a brush?

texts:
Simple question - say I have a paint brush and I want to state the color that the brush will use for painting, do I say

  The brush's color is red

or

  The brushes color is red

My reasoning is:

  Brush = singular (I have a brush)

  Brushes = plural (I have many brushes)

  Brush's = a property of the brush (the Brush's color is red)

Is my reasoning correct?


texts:
Does "Where does the other end of the line lead?" mean "to what place does the other end of the line lead to?"

New York Times tweeted just now:
Every year, tens of millions of Americans collectively lose billions of dollars to scam callers. Where does the other end of the line lead?


texts: Does a "scholastic record" include research papers, or only reflect how well the student did in classes (~GPA)?

texts:
I am being asked to judge a master's student for some research program (Ph.D.). Amongst other questions, I am being asked this question:

Do you have any reason to believe that the applicant's scholastic record, as you know it, is not an accurate index of his or her scholastic ability? If so, please explain.

Does a "scholastic record" include research papers the student may have published? Or does a "scholastic record" only reflect how well the student did in classes (~GPA)?


texts:
Which sentence is the correct one?

A) ...University has an excellent medicine program with competence to all countries in the EU.

B) ...University has an excellent medicine program with competence in all countries of the EU.

I personally believe that option B sounds better, but not sure if it is formally correct.


texts:
Which of these would it make sense for me to say?

My baby was born with a weight of 5kg
My baby was born at 5kg
My baby was born weighing 5kg

Thank you.


texts: Past tense in the sentence 'If you don't, you failed.'

texts:
This is the sentence from a TED Speech.

You could watch it at 1:52.

  . . . if you do that everything will fall into place and if you don’t you failed.

Why is she saying 'failed'?
Isn't it supposed to be just 'will fail'?
 Is she trying to show something different nuance?


texts:
I can not sense this English word, Co-occurrence.

I'm thinking :

Pilot, while co-pilot is the second pilot (in the sense of helper or pilot subtitution)

According to wikipedia :

  Co-occurrence or cooccurrence is a linguistics term that can either
  mean concurrence / coincidence or, in a more specific sense, the
  above-chance frequent occurrence of two terms from a text corpus
  alongside each other in a certain order

I'm thinking occurrence as frequency of an event .But co-occurrence ?

This is the text fragment I'm reading on, some terms may not be sound familiar, just ignore them, perhaps It can help you (to help me) sense the word.

  RAKE uses stop words and phrase delimiters to partition the document
  text into candidate keywords, which are sequences of content words as
  they occur in the text. Co-occurrences of words within these candidate
  keywords are meaningful and allow us to identify word cooccurrence
  without the application of an arbitrarily sized sliding window.

Please help me to understand this (perhaps an example). Thanks