texts: Couple of questions regarding using "of" vs "in"

texts:
1-( shrinkage in supplies/ lack of supplies )
Why not using the same preposition since both phrases mean the same thing ??
2-the country is at the cutting edge of/in this major.
Which preposition to go for ??
3- I know we say "in the summer" but what about If I'm specifying ??
Should it be "at this summer" or "in this summer"


texts: What tense is a good choice for these sentences: past simple or past perfect?

texts:
But when I saw the very thin packaging I thought that it was a miracle that the record was not broken.
But when I saw the very thin packaging I thought that it was a miracle that the record had  not been broken during the transport.
But when I saw the very thin packaging I thought that it was a miracle that the record was not broken during the transport.
Are these sentences correct which is the best(specially for the verbs in bold).
I don't think the last one is good because the transport happened before the miracle so had been broken during the transport is better.


texts:
Please have a look on the scenario below:

  We both loved each other. When we met each other for the second time, we both conveyed some messages through our looks and the way we stared at each other, we knew that we are somehow in love. But I don't ever forget; we both went red / blushed.

Does the choice between "go red" and the verb "blush" completely depend on personal preferences or are there any subtle nuances of their meanings? Which one would you go for in this context?

Although "blushing" sounds a bit girly to me, I don't see much difference between them at all. So I guess I can use them interchangeably nearly always.


texts: May I use "to have the moves" to generally mean "to have the competence in something"?

texts:
To have the moves is used to mean that somebody memorized, and gained competence in, the movements required for a dance.

Can I use it to generally mean that somebody gained competence in something that is not dance or a sport? Would that be understood, or would native English speakers be confused by what I say?


texts:
According to the book of Michael Swan Practical English Usage:

  Be +likely is often followed by infinitive. (Probable cannot be used in this way).

  I am likely to be busy tomorrow.
  Are you likely to be staying in this evening.
  Do you think it is likely to rain?
  He is unlikely to agree.

  It is not used as a preparatory subject in this structure.

  He's likely to succeed. (NOT It is likely for him to succeed.)

Could you please clarify about the last two line?
I think we are not allowed to use this format:

  'it is likely ... to ..'

but:

  'The Environment Agency has warned that it is likely to be an ongoing problem.'

As we know, 'It is likely to rain' is grammatically correct, but we used 'it' as a subject in above sentence. And it is the opposition of Michael Swan book.

Thanks.


texts: How do I understand the passitive verb "killed" without a "be"?

texts:
Khashoggi case tests Washington’s attitude to human rights

  As the US and Turkey are strengthening communication with Saudi
  Arabia, the tension over missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi,
  reportedly killed inside the consulate, is expected to abate.

I think there should be a "was" before "killed". I searhed "killed". There are many news titles just with "killed", such as,

  9 killed and 21 injured ...

I think the titles use a such short term due to the lack of space (for a full sentence.)


texts:
A chair. A table, a lamp. There's a window
  with white curtains, and the glass is shatterproof.
  But it isn't running away
  they're afraid of.
  A Handmaid wouldn't get far.
  It's those other escapes.
  The ones you can open in
  yourself given a cutting edge.
  Or a twisted sheet
  and a chandelier.
  I try not to think about
  those escapes.
  It's harder on ceremony days,
  but thinking can hurt
  your chances.
  My name is Offred.
  I had another name,
  but it's forbidden now.
  So many things are
  forbidden now.

I'm watching The Handmaid's Tale S01 E01. Does the 'escape' mean a suicide? Why did she say "a twisted sheet and a chandelier"? And what does that mean "thinking can hurt your chances"?

All in all, I'm in trouble to understand what she want to say. Please, help.


texts: Avoiding repetition; common noun, different adjectives

texts:
Let us consider the sentence

I see a green scarf and an orange scarf.

What are some possible ways to shorten this sentence while keeping the meaning? Which of the following is/are correct?

1. I see a green and orange scarf.

2. I see a green and orange scarves.

3. I see a green and an orange scarf.

4. I see a green and an orange scarves.

I think that I see green and orange scarves would be grammatically correct, however it would change the meaning because it is not clear anymore how many scarves are there.

This question may be answered elsewhere, but it is not obvious how to chose the title and therefore what search queries to try. I was not able to find anything online.


texts:
Wanted to know whether the following sentence is a compound sentence.

  These apples look very red and juicy.

Specifically, can this sentence be read as below and therefore marked as a compound sentence?

  These apples very red and these apples look very juicy


texts:
I've been placing the comma in this sentence back and forth for a while now and I'm still not sure where to best place it.

The sentence is: The worst-case scenario is that X happens.

I feel like a comma would be very fitting here, but I'm unsure where.

The worst-case scenario, is that X happens.

or

The worst-case scenario is, that X happens.


texts:
A carwash is for clean up.
A carwash is for cleaning up.

Is #1 corrct to say?
(A carwash where you take your car for clean up(cleaning up)


texts: Can "will + have + participle" be used in questions?

texts:
I know that when I want to tell somebody that I will have something done in the future with a specified time I can say:

  I will have finished doing my work by 2p.m. tomorrow.

My question is, can this pattern be used in questions?

  Will you have finished your work by 2p.m. tomorrow?/Will you have finished doing your work by 2p.m. tomorrow?

Are the above sentences correct?


texts: "Guess something" or "guess at something"

texts:
I realize I don't know the difference between "guess something" and "guess at something". I really don't understand why anyone would use "guess at something" instead of "guess something"?

1- John began to talk but she guessed at his intention and interrupted him.

2- John began to talk but she guessed his intention and interrupted him.

3- There are no photographs of him, so we can only guess at what he looked like.

4- There are no photographs of him, so we can only guess what he looked like.

5- Can you guess at his age?

6- Can you guess his age?


texts:
I am going to make up a sentence below.

(ex) John got married at a late age ( or at an old age).

Do both "late" and "old" work in my sentence?


texts: Meaning of "reciting a father's gnarled disease, his lesson" in this poem?

texts:
This is an excerpt from a poem by Stephen Spender:

  The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones, reciting a father's gnarled disease, his lesson, from his desk.

I want to ask what he (the stunted boy) was reciting. All the online sources that I have checked that tho boy was reciting just his lesson. But I think what poet meant is that the boy is showing in front of the class that he has inherited gnarled disease from his father which is lesson of his lifetime. That's why he has used "a father's gnarled disease" before his lesson. Am I right in my interpretation?


texts: Grammar check about noun clause starting with 'what'

texts:
According to the explanation in my book, number 2 'what' is grammatically incorrect, so it should be changed to 'that'. That is, it-that cleft structure

But, I think 'what' is not necessarily incorrect. What about this? This can be possible

ex) What preserved their culture legacy for descendants was the dense jungle

= It was the dense jungle what preserved their culture legacy for descendants

Is there any reason why 'what' is incorrect ?


texts:
The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iranˈs nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful.

while we have a noun phrase "the goal" connected to another noun phrase "these negotiations", why isn't of used instead of for?


texts: Why there is no article in 'I was out of town'

texts:
I have heard "Out of town" idiom when people say that they were away.

I wonder why there is no indefinite or definite article before the word 'town'?

IMO, it should be the definite article because I am talking about the particular town.


texts: "a man/woman of difficult situations", does this sound idiomatic?

texts:
If an employee, for example, has proven on multiple occasions that he/she is dependable and can handle difficult times elegantly, in my native language we call this person "a man/woman of difficult situations".
Does this phrase sound idiomatic in English? And if not, is there a phrase or expression that can be used to describe that person?


texts: Between "to" and "for" , which one is correct in the following quotations

texts:
It makes problems for our society.
and
It makes problems to our society.

I think that "for" is only used for positive things.


texts:
As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn’t help noticing
  that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about.
  People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn’t bear people who dressed in
  funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed
  this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the
  steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing
  quite close by. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Can the highlighted part be parsed as one of the following?

Noun phrase + relative clause (modifying NP) + prepositional phrase (modifying NP)
The getups is raised for emphasizing (plus, does on mean preposition #2 on Wiktionary?)


texts: Was there a specific way to ask the time in the era of the Grandfather Clock , the late 1900's

texts:
My husband says he remembers hearing the phrase "I heard the time drop"  in relation to a Grandfather Clock so this would have been used some time around the end of the 1900's I think.

Please help me if you can tell me the way the time was asked in the late 1880's.


texts:
My question is I want to primarily give the driver a choice. The secondary consideration is not being rude.

I take taxi to home. My home is in a community. I often tell taxi driver "You can stop here." when the taxi is at the gate of my community. In this way, the taxi remains on the big street, he doesn't have to drive into my community and make many turns.

If I say "Can you stop here?", it seems I am requesting him to stop here. I'm of cause happy if he want to drive to the front of my house. And my community has some exits. Who knows if one exist is convenient for the taxi's next destination.

I just want to tell him that he can stop at the gate. He can drive to the front of my house if he want.

Many of my friends tell me "You can" means I'm a master, he is my slave, I'm giving permission to him to stop here. That is not what I want.

What is the polite way to tell taxi driver that he can stop here?


texts: What is it called? a teapot or water container?

texts:
This a teapot

  a teapot: a container with a spout, a handle and a lid, used for making and
  serving tea

  She refilled the teapot with boiling water.

see the picture below

And, you often see this kind of container in Asia. It is generally used to contain water rather than tea. See the image.

What is it called? a teapot or water container or a jug?


texts:
(1a) I am holding a 2-meter flag in my hand.
(1b) I am holding a 2-meter flag with my hand.
(2a) You are holding a pack of gum in your hand.
(2b) You are holding a pack of gum with your hand.
I am not sure which preposition is correct.


texts: "She loves either me or John" vs "She either loves me or John"

texts:
1) "She loves either me or John”
  2) "She either loves me or John"

Are these two sentences interchangeable, or do I have to use the structure in "She either loves me or John" only in the sentences like "She either loves me or hates me"?


texts: Difference between " He is tall for a child." and "He is tall to a child."

texts:
As for me, the first sentence seems to mean "He is rather tall even though he is a child."  However, the second sentence seems to mean "He is taller than a child." Am I right?

I'd appreciate it if any of native speakers would explain the difference between these two.

If I were right about the above two sentences,
the two sentences below might be the same as the above two sentnces.

He made a good job for a beginner.
= He made a good job even though he was a beginner.

He made a good job to a beginner.
= He made a good job toward a beginner.


texts: What is the meaning of "a second time" in "I met her a second time"?

texts: There is a sentence like "I met her a second time. or I recorded it a second time." Does "a second time" mean "for a second time"? and if so, is it possible to drop "for" like this?  Does this mean,"It was my second time meeting her, or It was my second time recording it."?  Can I also say, "I met her the first time."?


texts: So I've been taking some time off from work to _______________

texts:
I recently got divorced from my wife of ten years, so I've been taking some time off from work to ____________________

To try and recover.

To try and get back up again.

To try and get back on track.

To try and pick myself up (again).

To clear my mind.

To find myself again.

Would all my suggestions be grammatical and natural to use in this exact context? Do you prefer one of them?


texts: The number of schools is not enough / sufficient / adequate

texts:
I wanted to say

  The number of schools in the country is not enough. The government should build more schools to meet the demand and raise the quality of education.

by using the words sufficient or adequate. However, I couldn't reach any results with these words after Google search. I think these words are used to refer to the capacity of a specific school but not used to refer to the number of schools. Which words can I use to imply the meaning in my sentence instead of not enough.


texts: Asking a question about the speed of light

texts:
Light travels at a speed of 300.000 km per second.

In order to ask about the speed of light, which one/s of these is/are correct:

A. How fast does light travel?
B. What is the speed light travels at?
C. How fast is light?


texts:
I always use them reversibly since I'm not too sure about their differences.

For instance, in an email I just wrote:

  solution 1
  solution 2

  Which one of those solutions do you prefer?

I'm not too sure whether I should use these or those. In the above example I used those because it sounds cooler, maybe not the best way to choose...

Also I read that that is used appointing what is far while this is for close things. But in my example are solutions far or close?


texts:
I found this sentence in my workbook:

  If you were a king, what'd your wife be called?"

Why was the ‘second conditional’ used here? That situation is completely impossible, so I think, it should be the ‘third conditional’:

  If you had been a king, what your wife would have been called?

Another example of a sentence which I found:

  What would you do if you needed a haircut?

It's in the ‘second conditional’, so it should be an unlikely situation, but for me, it's really possible, so I would use the ‘first conditional’:

  What will you do if you need a haircut?

I don't understand that.


texts: What is correct: 'what are differences between' or/and 'what are the differences between'?

texts:
I'm confused around the sentences:

What are differences between...
What are the differences between...

For example:
What are differences between a circle and a sphere?
What are the differences between a circle and a sphere?

I know, that we use article a to speak about single countable noun, and also single countable noun mentioned for the first time, or speak about something single and countable in general. With plurals the article is omitted, as in the first excerpt.
 From the other hand, we use article 'the' with countable and uncountable nouns when we'd like to speak about something specific.
So,IMHO both of these excerpts are correct, but I always faced only the second one, and the first one almost never.
I found out the question, but it is slightly different.


texts: "I don't think I understand" vs. "I don't understand"

texts:
An ELL post (buttonholes -- meaning?) says

  I don't think I understand what kind of buttonholes they're talking about.

I found "I don't understand" is commonly used to express the unawareness of something. Google Ngram may verify that

So, what is the difference between "I don't think I understand" and "I don't understand"? Is the latter more formal than the former, therefor no published book uses the former?

Could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.

On Google, "I'm not sure I understand" got 17,300,000 hits, "I don't think I understand" got 48,500,000 hits, "I don't understand" got 162,000,000 hits.


texts: Do I need a comma before 'I guess' in this sentence?

texts:
There's always a trade-off I guess.

The sentence seems incorrect whether I add one or not; I might just have to re-word it.


texts:
I'm wondering how the usage of "robotic" differs that of "roboticized". In particular, urban dictionary says the latter means transitioned from a non-robotic to a robotic state. So, I feel if something is "robotic", a robot had been attached to it from scratch. However, if something is "roboticized", it had been initially created like a manual entity, and the robot part is latter added to it. Then, I also checked the "roboticized" entry of lexico, in which it is defined as a science fiction term. So, I am not sure whether it would be a right choice for scientific literature. Interestingly, Ngram Viewer depicts zero usage of "roboticized" after 2012.

So, the two-fold question is what the difference between these two are, and whether or not "roboticized" is obsolete.


texts: Is 'I want your sex' grammatically correct?

texts: I heard “I want your sex” on YouTube and the phrase kept bugging me. I realized George Michael had a song titled that way after googling. Is this grammatically correct? I want to laugh at it but I'm not sure...


texts: 'Will be' vs 'going to be' with future facts

texts:
I know we can use 'will be' to talk about future facts, eg.

  l will be 34 tomorrow.

But, can we use 'going to be' instead of 'will be', at least in informal situations?

  l'm going to be 34 tomorrow.


texts: Meaning of "have the Party as their surname"

texts:
China Radio International now broadcasts Beijing-friendly programs on over 30 U.S. outlets, many in major American cities. The China Global Television Network reaches more than 75 million Americans, and it gets its marching orders directly from its Communist Party masters. As China’s top leader put it during a visit to the network’s headquarters, and I quote, “The media run by the Party and the government are propaganda fronts and must have the Party as their surname.”Vice President Speech

What does "have the Party as their surname.” mean here?


texts:
What is the difference between the use of 'accepted'  and 'answered' when used with 'prayer'? Supposing, we say:

  His prayer was accepted.
  His prayer was answered.

Are the two same? I think in the one with 'answered' we get the immediate result but when we say 'accepted' we hope Lord has accepted it but the result may come soon or later. Is this so?


texts:
I was wondering which one of the following sentences is most appropriate:

I have been provided with a lot of information.
I have been provided with lots of information.


texts: Should I use past perfect or past simple in the condition clause?

texts:
Imagine the following situation: We had been on a hiking trip for 3 weeks and I suggest about having any water as a possession.

Sentences:

  If we had no water, we would die. (second conditional: an imagined situation because we have water)

OR

  If we hadn't had any water, we would die. (condition clause expressed by past perfect tense because of discussion about past events; the conclusion clause refers to a present outcome (dying) and suggestion is imagined)

Question:

  When should I use the past simple in a conditional statement? and when should I use the past perfect?


texts: What does the Daily Mail's headline “inch ahead…” and “…a Marxist in No 10” mean?

texts:
from The Daily Mail, December 14, 2017

  Just as the newly confident Tories inch ahead in the polls,11 self-consumed malcontents pull the rug from under our EU negotiators, betray their leader, party and 17.4m Brexit voters and—most damning of all—increase the possibility of a Marxist in No 10.

I am not able to understand the passage in bold. Can you help me? Just one unclarity. Marxist in No 10. I have no clue what it means.


texts:
The belief that the art of the novel can be discussed and evaluated only after its narrative techniques or ‘‘devices’’ have been identified and enumerated launches novel theory into an Adamic ecstasy of naming. The first thing to notice about the essays in this section is how many terms they coin, how the novel’s particular literary form seems to require a new literary-critical vocabulary. The aesthetics of the novel have been missed, it seems, not because the novel isn't an aesthetic form, but because critical language derived from other literary genres can't register the novel's distinguishing formal features.

Actually I don't get the meaning of the sentence in bold clearly and especially the meaning of "critical language". This is from the book The Novel: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory 1900-2000.

Does it mean: The studies that are done in other literary genre can't consider formal features of novel as aesthetic form? Correct me if I am wrong.


texts: Is there a difference between "be honest to" and "be honest with"?

texts: I have seen here that the expression "to be honest with someone" exists and means telling someone the truth. I also have seen sentences like "be honest to yourself." and "be honest to me." My question is, are both "to be honest to someone" and "to be honest with someone" correct? If so, is there a difference between the two?


texts: "lecture for a course" or "lecture of a course", which expression is more common?

texts:
The lecturer is saying

  Hello everyone. Welcome to the second lecture for CS230.

"the second lecture for CS230" or "the second lecture of CS230", which expression is more common?

please provide a authoritative link


texts:
I want to insert the content of the JSON file into the database.

which word synonm can I use for the inject or insert into in this case?

  The content of the JSON file are injected into the database at the server side.


texts: Why this dialogue relates to the "Irony" expressions?

texts:
Anne: By the way, were our wonderful guests still here when you came out and ate lunch?
Dana: I had a sandwich and …
Anne: Isn’t it so nice to have guests here?
Dana: Totally!
Anne: I just love it, you know, our housemates. They bring in the most wonderful guests in the world and they can totally relate to us.
Dana: Yes, they do.
Anne: (laughs) Like I would just love to have them here more often (laughs). so I can cook for them, I can prepare (laughs) …
Dana: to make them feel welcome?
Anne: Yeah, isn’t this great, Dana? Like today I was feeling all depressed and I came out and I saw the guests and they totally lightened up my mood. I was like the happiest person on earth.
Dana: Uh huh.
Anne: I just welcome them so much, you know, ask them if they want anything to drink or eat (laughs).

All I felt was that Anne seemed to really like her guests, and she even wants to cook for them, but why does the author say the dialogue reveals some expressions of Irony?

This conversation reveals how irony may be one of our most powerful weapons in everyday speech. Anne and Dana each employ different forms of ironic language (e.g., sarcasm, jocularity, rhetorical questions, hyperbole) to indirectly convey their mutual displeasure about the people staying as guests in their apartment. Much of the irony here is humorous, despite its implied criticism of the visitors (and the roommate who invited them).


texts: What's another word/phrase for "departure time"?

texts:
I'm asking about the departure from a school/college or an office. When my college is over (it's time to go home), what expression can I use to say about that time? I'm an Indian and in India, we say "chhutti ho gyi" in Indian language. I want to know how we can say that in English. I've tried to look it up in dictionaries and found that I could say "it's departure time." Is this said to mean that I've got free from my college now it's time to go home? I would be grateful if anyone gives some similar expressions which I can use to mean the same. Please check whether my following sentences are correct to mean the same thing:

When is your departure time?
Has your departure time passed?
When do you get free from job?
My departure time has come now.

Please correct the above sentences if they're incorrect or dubious.


texts: Meaning using *if it had been* and *if it was*

texts:
Please help me to understand meaning of below sentence
When to use was and had been in conditional sentence?

a) "The station house officer said if it had been an accidental death they could file case or investigate"
b) "The station house officer said if it was an accidental death they could file case or investigate"


texts:
From Dickens:

  ‘We all believe, up at the Lodge, Rachael, that he will be freed from suspicion, sooner or later.’
  ‘The better I know it to be so believed there, my dear,’ said Rachael, ‘and the kinder I feel it that you come away from there, purposely to comfort me, and keep me company, and be seen wi’ me when I am not yet free from all suspicion myself, the more grieved I am that I should ever have spoken those mistrusting words to the young lady. And yet I— ’

We usually use should have to say that something was not done, despite being desirable. But in this example, the mistrusting words were indeed spoken (earlier in the book). How would one explain the use of the should have construction then?

Would the following be fully equivalent to the above quote:

  ‘We all believe, up at the Lodge, Rachael, that he will be freed from suspicion, sooner or later.’
  ‘The better I know it to be so believed there, my dear,’ said Rachael, ‘and the kinder I feel it that you come away from there, purposely to comfort me, and keep me company, and be seen wi’ me when I am not yet free from all suspicion myself, the more grieved I am that I have spoken those mistrusting words to the young lady. And yet I— ’


texts: What is "the" in "You will live the closer to the grace of God..."?

texts:
You will live the closer to the grace of God for your full dedication to the Bible. (George Smith)

What is this "the closer"? Why "the?"


texts:
Do we have to use the past verb in expressing imagination? Please look at this example.

  Imagine; I want to own the same expensive objects and do the same things as my friends or neighbours, because I'm worried about seeming less important socially than they are. You know, It can be called something like jealousy or envy. Well, then I'm trying hard, find a high-paying job but it's back breaking too you know I'm spending all my time trying to get more money. After a while, I get what I want. You know I am loaded with money but I got no satisfaction at all . The way I see it this psychological problem is called "affluenza".


texts: Why does the writer say "the" legal test?

texts:
I read this passage:

  The law on unfitness to plead addresses what should happen when a
  defendant facing criminal prosecution is unable to engage with the
  process because of his or her mental or physical condition. If such a
  defendant is found “unfit to plead”, there is not a trial in the usual
  way but the court adopts a different process to decide whether the
  defendant carried out the act in question. If it is found that they
  did, the court may order detention in a hospital or supervision in the
  community.

  The legal test used to decide whether a defendant is “unfit to plead”
  dates from 1836 when the science of psychiatry was in its infancy.
  Clearly, it does not adequately reflect advances in modern psychiatric
  and psychological thinking.

Why the writer says The legal test .. although he just  mentions "the legal test" for the first time in his passage ?

I mean he had to say a legal test used .... then after that he would say the legal test.

Or does that mean he mentioned the legal test before ??


texts: Grammar of two consecutive "if" constructions?

texts:
If you walk up to your husband and say, "I will never relinquish control of the household!", he'll be so kind if he only says, "Honey, relinquish is just a fancy word for give up."

Is the above sentence grammatically correct?
Can the part in boldface be replaced with to only say without loss of meaning?
Is there any other way to say this without using two if constructions?


texts:
Queen Elizabeth acceded to the throne in 1953.

Do you think that it is necessary to use the definite article before the word "throne"? In the phrase "how to deal with being in prison" there is no article. My sentence tells about becoming the queen. There is no particular throne in play.


texts: “The cat climbed the tree.” versus “The cat climbed to the tree.”

texts:
In the article Multiple case roles by D.N.S. Bhat, I came across this:

(1) The cat climbed the tree.
(2) The cat climbed to the tree.
(1) implies that the cat climbed the tree from the ground itself,
whereas (2) has no such implication. One could use (2), but not (1),
if the cat has climbed to the tree from the roof.

Neither Merriam-Webster Online nor Oxford Learner's Dictionaries hint at the connotation of the usage in (1) (exhaustiveness). How does a non-native would know such a distinction?


texts:
Sometimes I get across the word "across". And I know it means "from one side to the other". But, could you guys explain me the meaning of it, in these examples? Because they don't seem to follow this meaning:

  She sits across the aisle.

  They walked across.

  He takes off his shirt. Dots of lake water glisten in the sun across his back.

I thank you in advance


texts: I don't get the meaning of the phrase in bold clearly?

texts:
At night he went home and there was Lucile - less like a flower, but still silent, fragrant, hopeful. He said to her: "you will never have anything more than you have now, Lucile, do you realize that?" she replied: "I don't want anything more to dust and take care of!" Once he said:"When you were a girl you dreamed that you 'd have  things different, didn't you, Lucile?" she said: "my dear, all that poor girl knew how to dream was just about having things!" He cried: "What do you want most of anything in this world?" she considered and answered: " I want you to be as happy as I am."

Dose it mean that even when she was a young girl she did not care about having things?

This passage is from a short story named: "The Woman" by Zona Gale.

the name of the book which this story come from is: Discovering fiction: 1 chapter 12


texts:
What verb do you use to describe the action of making your hand into a fist? Can I use the verb curl? For example:

  He curled his hand into a fist.


texts:
I had been reading thisarticle from a BBC podcast and they are referring to a detox wing.
It's not clear what "a detox wing" is?

I have some ideas in mind but I would like to be sure about it.


texts: Is "and" or "or" better in this sentence?

texts:
When I was writing a manual, I wrote a sentence like example no.1 below. Is it natural to use an "or" like the bolded ones in the sentence? Or it is better to use "and" like example no.2?

1

  You can create or edit user profiles by filling in information in the blanks on the user-creating page or editing page.

2

  You can create and edit user profiles by filling in information in the blanks on the user-creating page and editing page.

To clarify my question, I am asking how I can avoid the meaning of and that implies "doing something together" in my example sentence. My solution was to use "or" like example no.1, but that doesn't sound right to me, so I am asking for help.

Maybe I want my "and" to have the same function in this sentence: at this beautiful tourist spot, you can swim, play basketball, and have a sunbath, which clearly doesn't meaning doing them together, rather than this: an artistic swimmer can dance and swim in the water, which indicates doing swimming and dancing together.


texts: "Tired" VS "being tired" in this context

texts:
Tired from work, he went to bed early.

  Being tired from work, he went to bed early.

The former has a past participle phrase while the latter has a present participle phrase.

But I can't make out the difference in meaning between the two sentences.

Both means:

  She was feeling tired and that made her go to bed early.

to me.

I'm sure that there are, of course, some difference that I can't make out.

Please help me get this.


texts: 'make it a point to' or 'make a point to'?

texts:
According to this previous post,

make a point to:

act purposely or intentionally
to be certain to do something

However, I can't find any explanations for make a point to in dictionaries. Instead, I found make it a point to in Merriam Webster.

Should it be make a point to or make it a point to? Or they mean the same and are interchangeable?


texts:
We use short forms for verb + not like isn't, aren't, hasn't, won't, wasn't etc. But I haven't seen any short form used for am+not. So, I want to know if any short form exists for am not.

Note: In one book I had seen that aren't can be used for am+not. Is this right?


texts: The Moore's law is an empirical law based on empirical observations. What do you call a law that's purely speculative? Is there such a thing? What kind of terms would scientists use to refer to such a thing?


texts: Why does this documentation use "or" instead of "="?

texts:
I'm reading some Perl documentation. I noticed that "=" is not expressed as "equals" but as "or". For example:

  Perl provides the typical ordinary addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operators, and so on. For example:
      2 + 3 # 2 plus 3, or 5
      5.1 – 2.4 # 5.1 minus 2.4, or 2.7
      3 * 12 # 3 times 12 = 36
      14 / 2 # 14 divided by 2, or 7

Why are they using "or" to express "equals"? Is this common in mathematics?

Note that the '#' symbol means everything after it is a comment. I'm only querying on the explanation of equal, not discussing Perl here, however if you're interested in that you may find the original e-book from here to take a deep reference: http://it-ebooks.info/book/361/


texts: More Importantly or More Important, Modifying?

texts:
What we see may mean something. And, more importantly, how we see things may mean something.

Does more importantly seem grammatically proper? Or, do you use more important?

I may not get what, more importantly, and, or, importantly may modify, here. I think an adverb, and, or, adverbial phrase modifies a verb, so, it may modify see? Or, may you use more important, and, or, important, as an adjectival phrase, to modify a sentence that comes after it?


texts:
Consider:

Sales always fall off in the winter months.
Sales always fall in the winter months.
Sales always fall down in the winter months.
Sales always fall back in the winter months.

Are these all acceptable versions? I guess the 3rd one is not. What about the others? which is preferred in common use?


texts:
Before the United States joined, half the country-specific votes condemned Israel. During the first six years the United States was a member, resolutions critical of Israel dropped to one-fifth. U.S. membership also led to a sharp decrease in the number of special sessions that focused exclusively on Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.  Washington Post

What does "country-specific votes" mean?
When I searchd for country-specific,
Cambridge says

  used to describe a product or service that is designed for a particular country, rather than for many countries Cambridge

Then does "country-specific votes" mean the votes targetting Israel,
or the votes specific countries attend?


texts: Is there a figure of speech for "illlness which passes without a special treatment"?

texts:
In German we have a figure of speech: "Das geht von selbst vorbei", which normally means that an illness will pass without the need to treat it with medicaments or something special at all.
Is there a similar figure of speech known in the English language, too?

Edit:

Because I'm trying to translate a joke I will share it with you, too. Perhaps you could figure out a better way of translation (I doubt that it would be worth to be a question of its own):

Two planets chat:
"How are you?"
"Not so good; feelin' miserable!"
"Oh? What's up?"
"I have Homo sapiens..."
"Nah, don't worry: it will run its course!"


texts:
I'm curious to know what people think are their biggest problems when learning English. Let's answer these questions.

What is your biggest problem as an English language learner?
How would it make a difference if there was a good solution to your problem?
How difficult is it currently to find a good solution to your problem?


texts: Which one is more grammatically correct: "three pairs of shoes" or "three pair of shoes"?


texts: Use of "that of " and "that [in/ on/...etc]"

texts:
I know "that of" can be used to avoid a repeat in a sentence in this ways :

  the weight of a Lion is the same as that of a tiger.

But in some other cases, it sounds weird for me to use "that of" (please see examples below).

In formal writing, can I use "that in",  "that on" or etc, instead of "that of" in some specific cases?

Let me give you some actual examples.

I have read the following phrase in formal writing :

  (0)The money spent on food by women in the UK in 1990.

Then, I'm sure about the variation of this phrase by replacing a noun like followings :

  (1)The money spent on leisure by women in the UK in 1990

  (2)The money spent on food by men in the UK in 1990

  (3)The money spent on food by women in Japan in 1990

  (4)The money spent on food by women in the UK in 2000

When I compare (0) and (4), I can write them explicitly.

The money spent on food by women in the UK in 1990 is greater than the money spent on food by women in the UK in 2000.

The Thing is that I'm not sure if I can reduce that sentence to
"The money spent on food by women in the UK in 1990 is greater than that in 2000",instead of using "that of",

because the only difference between phrases is "2000" and preposition "in" should be used before the year.

"That of 2000" sounds so weird to me.

In the same vein, when I compare (0) and (1), Can I make the sentence like the following one? :

  The money spent on food by women in the UK in 1990 is greater than that on leisure.

Can you reply me with proper answers comparing sentence between (0) and (1),(2),(3) and (4)?


texts: What verb to choose: "DO all you do is sit here?" or "IS all you do is sit here?"

texts:
Is all you do is sit here?
Do all you do is sit here?

Which of the two is correct? From my opinion it's the first one but it's still awkward. However, the second one also seems to make sense.


texts: "The cats drinks its milk" or "Cats drinks their milk"?

texts:
"The cats drinks its milk"

  "Cats drinks their milk"?

I don't if these sentences are grammarly correct. I  have to use "its", "their", or both?


texts:
______, Tran, Maya, and their four children left much behind, including their family restaurant. (From ACT test)

Why I can't fill the blank with "after immigrating", but have to be "as immigrants"?


texts: The meaning of "through your benches coming alongside"

texts:
'Luck of the Gods,' he said. 'Five--four--years ago I might have been
  waiting for you anywhere in the Long Puddle with fifty River men--and
  no moon.' Baeticus lifted a moist eye to the slip-hooks on his
  yardarm, that could hoist and drop weights at a sign. 'You might have
  had a pig or two of ballast through your benches coming alongside,' he
  said dreamily. 'And where would my overhead-nettings have been?' the
  other chuckled. 'Blazing--at fifty yards. What are firearrows for?'
  'To fizzle and stink on my wet sea-weed blindages.

I do not understand the meaning of "send round my kit."
I am glad if some one would  kindly teach me.

This is from "The Manner of Men" by Rudyard Kipling.
https://www.telelib.com/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/prose/LimitsRenewals/mannermen.html

I do not understand the meaning of
 through your benches coming alongside,

I am glad if some one kindly teach me.


texts:
Below is a paragraph from the article from The Prospect Magazine: Revisiting John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (URL: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/liberalism-john-rawls-jesse-norman-katrina-forrester-theory-of-justice-andrius-galisanka)

Better still, all could find points of disagreement. There were papers to be written, refutations to be published, careers to be made. The book was presented as an idealisation of human choice, purged of the contingent, the morally accidental and idiosyncratic. As such, it paid little apparent attention to the outside world—including the specific realities of being poor, and the particular experiences of women and people of colour, or of the infirm or other vulnerable groups whose status and wellbeing the difference principle was intended to protect. And it seemed to display a high-constitutional understanding of politics keyed to established political institutions, rather than to the informal, raucous and rapidly fragmenting reality of its time.

What does “a high-constitutional understanding” mean?
Is it a newly coined word? I looked up this word online but I couldn’t find any entry. Perhaps does that mean “highly constitutional?” But I don’t think that makes sense.


texts: I don't understand grammar and meaning 'to hate did not back down'

texts:
I don't understand grammar 'to hate did not back down' and meaning of whole sentence. Is it special style of the news?

  President Trump’s favorite news outlet to hate did not back down from
  the commander-in-tweet’s recent attack on its reporting.


texts:
Today in our exam I saw this multiple choice question

We......(go) to Egypt in 2016

1-We will go to Egypt in 2016
2-We went to Egypt in 2016
3-We are going to Egypt in 2016
4-We go to Egypt in 2016

Which one is correct ?
I told my friends that the answer Can be the first and the second , if we don't care about which year we are
but if the sentence completed with other words like we saw many things in egypt the answer will be the second choice ... which one from us are correct because they said the answer is second choice


texts: These are they/them or this is they/them

texts:
Which one is correct?

I have heard that people tend to say:
This is them/they.

But according to grammar rules it should be:
These are them/they.


texts:
When do we use One's / their ?

  One must keep one's promise.
  I know this is correct as it is a well known phrase / quote.

But what about this sentence ?

  One should exercise their right to vote.

Will we use one's here too ?

Is it that if subject is One then the pronoun will be always one's or it can be their too ?


texts: What is the difference between "People who live ..." or "People living ..."

texts:
Are there any differences between the following sentences?

People who live on their own are often feeling lonely.
People living on their own are often feeling lonely.

Other examples:

Those who go to the gym many times a week feel invigorated at work.
Those going to the gym many times a week feel invigorated at work.


texts: Grammaticality: 'Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something'

texts:
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something — Plato

I didn't understand this quote. How do you understand this? Shouldn't there be a verb after 'fools'? I checked many sources and all write exactly the same.


texts: Thank you for helping me (out) VS Thank you for being of help

texts:
Could you please help me to find out how the sentences below differ in meaning?

  Thank you for helping me.
  Thank you for helping me out. [It strikes me as an informal way of saying just "thank you for helping me, but I'm not sure]
  Thank you for being of help. [to me it sounds awkward, but I see people use this form]

I wonder if you also let me know about my taking on each case.

Thank you.


texts:
The point of the question is that I want "of mine" to indicate "inattention".
Where should "of mine" be in the sentence below? This is the fault of the inattention of mine.

This is the inattention's fault.

If I add "of mine" at the end of the sentence, then, Do I indicate "the fault" not "inattention" or what?

This is the inattention's fault of mine.


texts: Is it ok to say "play well ok boy!" when you want your child to play with his toys comfortably and quietly without bothering you?

texts:
well: 1 SATISFACTORILY in a successful or satisfactory way

  Did you sleep well?

  James reads quite well for his age.

  All the team played very well today.

  Simon doesn’t work well under pressure.

  The festival was very well organized.

  The concert went very well.

Normally, we say "A sport team plays well", "he slept well", "he reads and writes well", "he studies well".

But, say, a boy is playing with his toys comfortably and quietly without bothering you. And we don't mean he is very skillful at playing some specific difficult toys such as lego for example.

When I literally translated that idea from my mother tongue into English, it'll be "play well and let me do my things ok boy!".

And, in some other situations, I say "eat well, ok boy" to mean "the boy eats up all the food in an obeyable way without throwing it or spit it out or ruin the meal"

Could we say "eat well" and "play well" like that?


texts: What do you call the sanitary equipment?

texts: Is there a word for things that include w.c. pan, washbowl, bath tub, shower cabin etc?


texts: Is there a rule of thumb for when to use thin and when to use tenuous?

texts: I am trying to figure out when to use thin and when to use tenuous. It seems to me that the usage of tenuous is more limited, for example I would say "thin atmosphere" or "tenuous atmosphere", but only "thin man". It also seems to me that tenuous is more used in the sense of "delicate, slight" or "insecure" as in "tenuous position". Is there something like a rule of thumb, or is this a matter of language use that you simply have to get used to and learn?


texts:
"France have won their second World Cup title."
Why is it have and not has? France isn't plural, right?


texts: (UK English?)How do I have to understand the meaning of 'house' in 'Prior(priory) of London house'?

texts:
What would be the synonym for 'house' in 'Prior(y) of London house'?
(I haven't known there are such various ways to interpret the word 'house'...)

edit : "However, in November of that year, he was elected Prior of the London house, to which he returned."


texts: What is the difference between 'seemed disappointed' and 'seemed to be disappointed'?

texts:
Do they both mean the same thing with former having 'disappointed'  as a noun while the latter, as a verb.Or the latter may refer seeing a person becoming disappointed and the former, a person already in a disappointed state.

There's another statement:

  He seemed to becoming disappointed.

But I believe this's incorrect.


texts: What is the word for "the text of a question/problem/exercise"?

texts:
Is there a single word that means "the text of a question/problem/exercise"?

The actual sentence where I'd like to use it is:

  The XXX of the problem is too long to fit in a single page.


texts: facilitated in 2007 the reconciliation -- is that grammatically fine?

texts:
Example with a context (Putin's Holy War And The Disintegration Of The 'Russian World'):

  Vladimir Yakunin, one of Putin’s inner circle and a devout member of the ROC, facilitated in 2007 the reconciliation of the ROC with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (which had separated itself from the Moscow Patriarchate early in the Soviet era so as not to be co-opted by the new Bolshevik state), which reconciliation greatly increased Kirill’s influence and authority outside of Russia.

I don't know, but I have trouble following the part in bold grammatically. 2007 seems to be completely out of place. Also, the phrasing one of Putin’s inner circle sounds weird to me. It is as though Putin had a couple of inner circles, which are groups of people whom he maintains close business relationships with and goes to for advice, and that guy was one entire circle, like he himself is a group of people. You know what I mean?

So, what can you say?


texts: Word for a process that looks for solutions?

texts:
I am looking for a word that describe an approach or process that deals with problems and finding solutions. Somehow opposite of a 'purly creative' endeavor.

Example:

  As creative as art is, it is not a .......... process like science that looks for solutions to actual problems.


texts:
Is there some kind of program/app like Duolingo for learning pronunciation of the English language?

With consistent use of English as a written medium, you cannot not get better (in most cases), but how to improve pronunciation without studying/reading phonetic notation?


texts: "I was working for a long time before..." vs. "I had been working for a long time before..."

texts:
Could you tell me if there is any difference in meaning between I was working for a long time before... and I had been working for a long time before...? For example:

I was working for a long time before I could buy a house.
I had been working for a long time before I could buy a house.

I thought it was logical to use the Past Perfect, but I've heard people use the Past Continuous in similar sentences.


texts: What should be there in the blank - "altruistic" or "altruist"?

texts:
I was to fill in a blank with proper word alongside its definition which was:

  Unselfish, more interested in the welfare of others than in one's own.

The answer given in the key was - altruistic. But I don't know why I am feeling that there should be "altruist" instead of "altruistic" as the answer because "altruistic" are "tendencies, behaviour". So, "altruistic" can't be used as a noun.


texts:
He has a runny nose.

He pointed his nose and said,

"See, my nose is running."

Can running use as above? Or there is another way to say the situation above.


texts: What does this phrase "The chance of being wrecked" mean?

texts:
"This is a serious thing," said the doctor to me.' The island is still
  in the grip of that wretched current flowing southward. We will have
  to look into this tomorrow. If nothing can be done about it, the
  Indians had better take to canoes and leave the island. The chance of
  being wrecked will be better than getting frozen to death in the
  ice-floes of the Antarctick."

This is from a novel "The Voyages Of Doctor Dolittle".
I couldn't understand the meaning of this phrase "The chance of being wrecked". What does this phrase mean?


texts:
A dictionary describes factual as using or consisting of facts.
But there are few examples. So I was interested if it correct to ask a question like

"Is your opinion factual?"

meaning

"Did you form your judgment based on facts?"

For instance, if you discuss political or historical things and your opponent gives you some reasons, so you'd like to make sure if they are just his/her guesses and speculations or they are based on facts.


texts:
In this sentence:

  The sometimes patronizing, often demeaning portrayal of women—even supposedly liberated women—remained, though often clandestine or packaged in the language of liberation.

I think the sometimes is in the position of adjective, but in dictionary I couldn't find sometimes as adjective. what is the meaning of sometimes in this sentence as adjective?

or

An adverb can emerge in the noun phrase as same as this sentence?

The downloadable document is here. (page 51, first paragaraph)


texts: Can a gerundial noun take an article before it?

texts:
Can a gerundial noun take an article before it, and what differences does having an article  make?
If so would this be the case: "I chose it for it had not been chosen, though the choosing it would make it to have been chosen."


texts: What do you call the act of answering a question in a unsatisfactory way so that the we're compelled to ask another question? Is there an idiom or word associated with the action?


texts: Which word is better: "finances" or "economy"?

texts:
If you have a section in a document, where you describe matters to do with an organisation's finances – for instance which departments are on budget; what projects will get extra funding; which activities will be funded how, and so on – which would be the better heading: Finances or Economy? Or should it be something else entirely, such as Financial matters, Economic aspects or...?
I'd greatly appreciate any help I can get here :)


texts: A fill in the blank question about "as ... as"

texts:
Choose the best answer that.

  He is a very hardworking student. He studies English .... Arabic.

  as soon as
  as long as
  as well as
  as well

The book which the test comes from said that the answer is 1 and as soon as means "in addition to". I didn't hear this meaning before and I think this answer is not correct. So what is the answer? What does each one mean? I know that 4 is definitely out.


texts: In the sentence, "I don't know why, but …", is "why" a noun?

texts:
I don't know why, but there's something I don't like about that woman.

In this sentence, is "why" a noun? If not, what is it? I can understand the meaning, but I am confused about the use of "why".


texts:
Could you transcribe "Burj Al Arab" with English phonetic symbols?  /bɜːdʒ  ˈæl ˈær.əb/?

Hotel Burj Al Arab is where the idea of a seven-star hotel came to life

Source:  SkyScanner


texts:
The optimism of such lyrics as “Tyrant Man shall be o’erthrown” and “Riches more than mind can picture” galvanizes the animals’ agitation.

Are the words in bold reversed in sequence? Are they actually meant to be lyrics such as? If it is so, please explain why it is in such sequence; and if not, please explain too, on how I should interpret the sentence.


texts: "...the study carried out" or "...the carried out study"

texts:
I could not find a plausible explanation since there is a lot of examples of both variants.
What should I write:

In the case of the carried out study,...
or
In the case of the study carried out,...

May I use both versions interchangeably?
Thank you very much in advance.


texts:
the other day: a few days ago:

  Didn't I see you in the post office the other day?

  the other night: on one evening recently:

  I saw Naomi at the gym the other night.

My question is:

is "the first night" an adverbial of time?

Eg: See This Conversation

  James: Are you ready for the business trip?

  Paul: Yeah. I'm a little nervous.

  James: Is this your first business trip?

  Paul: No. I just don't know any of these people. Do you have any
  advice for me?

  James: Just socialize. Get to know them. Go out for drinks one night.

  Paul: Actually, two of our clients are taking me out for drinks the
  first night.

Note: Please give a referenced source for your answer?


texts: what does "Evidence-based monitoring" mean in the following passage?

texts:
Research on Research

the European Research Commission now plans to launch a set of studies designed to further develop an evidence-based monitoring system on progress towards the European Research Area (ERA). In particular, the studies should serve as an evidence base for analysis of the contribution of research to economic growth, as well as the impact of research policies and programmes on the competitiveness of Europe.Six research themes were selected: investments in joint research programmes; internationalisation of business investments in R&D; structural changes in sectors affected by R&D investment; patent costs; knowledge transfer, assessed by patent and licensing data; and bibliometric indicators. Although the six studies will be fully independent of each other, they are defined to be consistent in terms of their methodology and geographical coverage, allowing the results to be combined to provide a broad overview.

What do they mean as evidence base for monitoring or what kind system is evidence-based monitoring system?


texts:
My friend presented his research topic in front of my professor. He was asked a question about it, but he had difficulty in answering it and was upset for a while.  Then my professor (translated):

  "Whenever I see a researcher who's upset with a question, I think I could spit on him.  Well, I'm not talking about you."

Needless to say that he was actually talking about my friend.

In my country one rarely talks about spitting on somebody.  He has some work experience in North America, which he always boasts, so I believe his usage of the phrase is influenced in that in North America.  While I know the phrase expresses some degree of dishonor, I have no idea how rude it actually is to "spit" on somebody.

If spitting on somebody is what people casually talk about in North America, probably I shouldn't take my experience seriously.  If the phrase indicates strong dishonor, well, I don't know.

So what degree of dishonor does the phrase signify?


texts: Present or Past in "They said they are/were breaking up"

texts:
This single includes two killer songs recording in Portland, OR while embarking on their first (and, sadly, last) US tour, that are the perfect follow up to a their self-titled LP we released last year .The band just completed a European tour and announced that they are breaking up. And while this is unfortunate, we're happy to have had the opportunity to bring the majority of their catalog to the US.

I know that past simple can sometimes go with "just" as it is the case in this sentence. But why did the author choose past simple instead of present perfect?
Does it change the meaning of it ?
And why is it  not written:

The band  just completed a European tour and announced that they were breaking up

because all actions belong to the past?


texts: one each -- is this grammatically an okay phrase?

texts:
Example with a context:

  No matter what kind of value you are working within Java, you can typically output that value as a string, simply by concatenating it to some other value. To demonstrate this, I have declared eight variables, one each of the primitive data types, character, Boolean, byte and so on. Each of these is using a literal value as its initial value. Now I'll place the cursor after the declarations and use System.out.println and first I'll output the character. I'll save and run the application and I get the letter z, that's pretty expected.

Why not simply say I have declared eight variables, each of the primitive data types? The phrase one each grammatically sounds a little bit off to me. That means that there's probably something I don't understand. What do you think?


texts: Had Andrew a little patient... - error in the example sentence?

texts:
At https://www.learngrammar.net/a/examples-of-inversion-used-in-conditional-sentences there's one example which I think has an error in it. Specifically

Had Andrew a little patient, he could have done the task.

I think I understand how "Have Andrew had a little..." collapses to "Had Andrew a little...". But "patient"? Shouldn't it be "patience"?


texts:
Is the following sentence natural?

  I made it to work by underground today.


texts:
Of all these things Republican leaders made full and vigorous use, sometimes ascribing to the party, in accordance with ancient political usage, merits and achievements not wholly its own.

  From History of The United States by Charles A. and Mary R. Beard

I have trouble analyzing the structure of this, even the subject and verb out of my understanding.


texts: What is the correct way to say month in the past

texts:
I need to mention for things that only happened on the last month and 2 months before, but excluding this current month. My intend is to write a terms and conditions which mention that a reward only for someone who made a purchase in the last 2 months but exclude current month. So if current date is April 6, the reward only for someone who purchased in February and March. It is not possible for me to say month by name because it could be in any month.

Is this correct ?
Last month and the last two months.

Thank you.


texts: 'high blood pressure' vs 'a high blood pressure'

texts:
What is the difference between these two sentences:

  I have high blood pressure.

and

  I have a high blood pressure.

I can only guess that the first one mean that I have high blood pressure all the time. Meanwhile, the second one mean that I measured blood pressure a couple of times and one of those times the blood pressure was high. Is that correct?


texts:
I was wondering if the two sentences below have the same meaning or a slight difference in meaning:

Do you mind my asking a question?
Do you mind if I ask a question?

The first one sounds to me as if someone keeps asking questions all the time.


texts: Exact word for specific pain in muscles after exercise

texts:
I'm looking for the native English word for a particular sensation that one commonly associates with exercise fatigue. Let me give some background information first:

I've been looking to extend my walking distance, so for the last few days, I've been seeing how much I can walk before I need to sit down. At the end of the walk, I get this sensation: my thigh muscles start feeling as if they've been turned to wood, and a specific kind of ache develops the longer the muscle is under the stress of standing/walking. This subsides within seconds of sitting down.

I have gone to the gym before and I know how DOMS(delayed onset muscle soreness) feels like, so I don't think this is DOMS, 'cause it's different and it comes and goes instantly.

Also this doesn't feel like cramps either, since cramps are caused under different circumstances(more sudden, usually caused due to deficiencies, etc).

What could it be?

P.S. For any Marathi speakers out there, I think the most common synonym for this particular sensation is गोळे येणे.


texts: Which is correct, "differently than" or "differently from", or neither?

texts: Which is correct, "sort compares strings differently from awk", or "sort compares strings differently than awk", or both are bad, and I should rephrase it?


texts:
While English seems one of the languages most rigid in word order, there are many types of inversion. I know some patterns into which they can be categorized; interrogative sentence, subjunctive mood, negative word comes initial, place comes initial with an indefinite subject, etc. But I don't know why you choose to use inversion when the standard word order is available. It's hard for learners to get it. G rammatical inversions aren't now what I'm asking.

Today I found an inverted sentence I haven't ever seen: "Together can we make our nation come true." This is from https://asgardia.space/en/elections-districts/Japanese and it first looked an influence from Swedish language, which is maybe her native language. How do you get this inversion?
 Natural? Commonplace expression? Would you tell me what's the difference of the nuances from that of the standard word order, though it could be elusive to get the nuance of expression into words?


texts:
Is this two sentences equal in the meaning?

the champions heading into the match
the champions going into the match

What does "heading into" mean?
Thanks.


texts:
I am trying to explain what I enjoy doing in my free time

I cannot find a proper phrase to express this.

I want to cover multiple types of activities.

In this case I want to say that I like to swimming, working out, playing football, camping, riding a bicycle, fishing .....

I have found Active pursuits but not sure if it is possible to use it.

Here are some sentences where I am want to use this phrase.

Besides my work I enjoy spending my time working out, as well as any other active pursuit.
In my spare time I am working out and spend time in active pursuits.

Both of the sentences look inaccurate to me.

Please suggest the best way to express the idea, it can be quite other sentence.

Thanks


texts: Pronunciation of -s after th with Plural Nouns

texts:
I found that rule on one of the sites related to learning English and I would like to know whether the information is correct. The source is not in English so I will try to translate it.
If a noun ending with -th has a long vowel sound or a diphthong before this ending,we have the following changes in the plural:
 [θ] is changed for [ ð], and –s is pronounced like [z]: a path [pɑːθ] – paths [pɑː ðz]; a mouth [mauθ] – mouths [mau ðz].

Is it always true or can we also  use a general rule with such words and pronounce -s voicelessly?


texts: Why use "where" in a legal document instead of "when" or "in cases where"?

texts:
Where in legal parlance, e.g.:

  where a defendant has committed a crime, he or she shall.....

Can it replace in cases where?


texts:
The following situation is given:

  You have got a camera. You bought it ten years ago.

"have got", this is Simple Past, isn't it? Does the simple past tell, that it is not sure whether "you" still have the camera or not? Otherwise would you use present perfect (because you still have it) or remain simple present (fact)?

In addition, we have to rewrite this sentence starting with "I have", so I wrote:

  I have got a camera for ten years.

My intuition told me to do so, but I don't understand the reason for using simple past ...


texts:
Is use of "lead to maintain" in the following sentences correct grammatically and conceptually?

  As shown in Fig. 2, the existence of symmetrical blades lead to maintain the direction of the tangential force (Fu) acting on the blade during the bidirectional air flow.


texts:
Here it goes:

  But what about when you are in public and there isn't a bathroom around? Enter the chemical toilet also known as the porta-potty.

I have looked up all the meaning of the word, but still cannot get how someone can enter something.


texts: Speakers like to use "hopefully" at the end of a lecture, which literally does not make any sense, why?

texts:
I've heard lots of speakers use "hopefully" at the end of their lectures.

Consider this example

  We have learned that Britain’s weather is very changeable and hopefully we have learned
  how to describe the weather in more detail using phrases and expressions.
  Thanks very much for watching!

where "hopefully" is used to describe "have learned ...", which does not make any sense.

"learn" is an action, which had already happened before the speaker say that.

Cambridge Dictionary gives these definitions about "hopefully"

  used, often at the start of a sentence, to express what you would like to happen

  in a hopeful way

why does the speakers express they would like the action of learning to happen after the action had happened?


texts: While talking about a program or a macro already performed, use `run` or `played`?

texts:
I need to translate some technical text, specifically about Photoshop actions. This answer explains very well the use of "run" or "execute".

What about the past, when the process is already done? It seems that "run" is changed for "played" as is written in this comment. I would like to know the formal way of writing this.


texts: Why is "lately" usually used in a perfect tense sentence?

texts:
When you look up "lately tense", google gives the top result from oxfordlearnersdictionaries.

  I haven't heard from him lately.

  Lately is usually used with a perfect tense of the verb.Look also at
  the idioms be too late (at the adjective) and too late (at the
  adverb).

But I want to know why?


texts: When it is cold outside, parents inform their children that they should "bundle up" to dress properly for the cold. What is the warm-weather analogue to this phrase, that would be used to inform their children that they should dress properly for the heat?


texts: What is the English word for a “map indicator"?

texts:
See this:

What is the English word for the red markers with a letter on them?
Google itself seem to use, well, marker, but I wonder if that’s too technology-related (like, say, pointer?).

I need a word that applies to red markers on the map above, but also  to the real world object, like this: in other words, something with a pin that is literally placed on a map to indicate a point.

Thought about pin itself, pinpoint, but I am not sure about which is the best.


texts: Usage of articles: getting flu / getting a flu

texts:
Should we say, "You are getting a flu." or "You are getting flu." ?

In an exercise in a grammar book, the answer is given as the latter case.
However, we normally say, "I have a headache," which involves using "a" here.
Why don't we say "getting a flu" instead of "getting flu"?


texts: "He --------- to the reunion because he was sick": why "hasn't gone" is a wrong choice?

texts:
I am studying the present perfect tense and I'm trying to do the following exercise:

  Complete the sentence with the verbs: didn't go, hasn't gone.
  He  --------- to the reunion because he was sick.

According to my professor, the correct verb to fill in that sentence is didn't go. Why is it not possible to fill in the other (hasn't gone)?


texts:
I'm a little bit confused by the way Mick used the indefinite article a in his comment:

  You could say that the child is playing at basketball, or playing with a basketball.

Why the phrase at basketball hasn't got any article whereas the phrase with a basketball has got the indefinite article a?

My guess would be that the key point here is the preposition (at) that in the first case prevents its use whereas, in the second case the preposition (with) calls for its use, but I'm not sure either whether there's such a thing in English as the preposition to be decisive in the indefinite article use or what other rule may govern this situation.


texts: Which is more natural?; "Why can't I plug in." vs. "Why isn't it plugged in."

texts:
Last night when I had trouble with plugging the charger into my smartphone, suddenly I was curious about how can I grumble at it naturally in English. I could come up with these two ways.

  A. Why can't I plug in it?
  B. Why isn't it plugged in?

B is far more natural in my mother tongue, but as far as I remember, I usually heard "Why can't I..." rather than "Why isn't it" in English. Could anyone suggest a more natural form and explain why it is, if possible?


texts: "the corner of his next speech" meaning in this context?

texts:
... "You're - you're not a hoax, then?"

  It had been his last, desperate hope.

  "No," said Fudge gently. "No, I'm afraid I'm not. Look."

  And he had turned the Prime Minister's teacup into a gerbil.

  "But," said the Prime Minister breathlessly, watching his teacup chewing on the corner of his next speech, "but why - why has nobody told me - ?"

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I'm not quite sure what "the corner of his next speech" means exactly. Any ideas?


texts: Is the use of the past perfect tense correct here?

texts: At that moment a bus arrived but, by the time my brother was helping the old lady back across the road, it was too late. The bus has gone.


texts: Are the references in my articles with disclaimers also my own, logically?

texts:
Concerning that some of the opinions I post on social media, like Twitter, Quora, and StackExchange may get me in trouble, I want to add a disclaimer on my profile. I have searched and found the following ones:

Opinions are my own.
Opinions expressed here are mine alone.
Posts/typos are personal views

Often I may cite others' opinions, like papers and blogs and I am not on any side actually, then I am wondering if the disclaimers above would mislead the readers to think that I am the owner of those opinions or views or that I am declaring something that is actually not mine.
Am I just overthinking or there are better expressions?


texts:
Not one letter he sent her, let alone to give her a phone call.

Is this grammatically correct? What about idiomatically?

P.S.: The reason why I would prefer using it, regardless of how unidiomatic might sound is to emphasize the affirmation. In context it looks a little better.


texts: Which is correct? A book by publisher XYZ, or a book from publisher XYZ?

texts:
I want to talk about a book from XYZ publisher.

or

I want to talk about a book by XYZ publisher.

or maybe they both wrong?


texts:
Under which circumstances would you use "much more" instead of "many more" ? For example would this be correct:

  I have much more money.

Thanks in advance!


texts:
If someone is both a singer and a writer, I would normally say "a singer and writer". When I say "a singer and a writer", it should mean that there are two persons, one is a singer and the other is a writer.

I'm trying to figure out how to introduce two or more people, all of which are singers and writers at the same time. How should I properly express this without confusion or ambiguity? I'm finding "singers and writers" potentially meaning "some singers and some other writers" and thus ambiguous.


texts:
I wound up the watch and listened to it tick.

I saw the sentence in the dictionary in my cellphone. I don't understand the grammar of the phrase "listened to it tick". It sounds natural to my non-native ear, but it doesn't seem to be grammatically correct when I thought it over. I think 'to' is a prep, 'it' a pronoun and 'tick' a verb. So, I can't see how it makes grammatical sense.
How should we understand it grammatically?


texts: What does "if any details about him" mean?

texts:
However, just searching the website would not give many, if any
  details about him and would not include any personal information she
  could use to impersonate the target.

The above sentence seems incomplete because of the bold part. Does this sentence mean:

  However, just searching the website would not give many information,
  even if there is any details about him. And searching the website
  would not include ...


texts:
It’s clear that we can say we’re, they’re, he’s, she’s. However, when the subjects are not subject pronouns, can we use short forms of be? For example, can we say:

  My dad’s washing the car.
  Jane and Kate’re eating.
  Their children’re running

.


texts:
"Brexit, Grexit, with the possibility of Spexit"

What are they called in linguistic?

Is the form of those blend words the same as pangry and hangry?


texts: What does "lifeline" mean in football context?

texts:
What does "lifeline" mean in football/soccer context?
Early drama at Ewood Park.
We're barely 20 seconds into the game and Sam Mcallums has just delivered a cross into the box but it skims across the top of the bar!
Lifeline for Rovers.


texts: I can't make sense out of this line from A CHRISTMAS CAROL

texts:
Man, if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered what the surplus is, and where it is.

what is the meaning of 'man you be in heart'?

what is the meaning of 'forbear that wicked cant'?


texts:
I know that Simple Past implies completeness.

  I read the book. (past)

This sentence means that I completely read the book in the past.

α) Is it the same for Future Simple?

  I will read the book.

What does this sentence mean (I will start reading it or read it completely)?

β) What if specify time periods?

  I will read the book by September 2013.

  I will read the book after Wednesday.

What do you infer from these sentences?


texts: Is this a "color" or "colored" background?

texts:
color could be an adjective.

  color

  showing things in all their colors, not just black and

  white color photos

I also see colored things, e.g. a rainbow colored background

Is it still idiomatic if I substitute "color" for "colored"?

  a rainbow color background


texts:
Right now we see organisations splitting departments into smaller groups that work from different offices, or through alternating work from home (WFH) schedules in a bid to do their part in the COVID-19 battle.

Does the sentence mean "groups either work from different offices or work through WFH", but that doesn't sound right to me?

I would think it as departments either splitted into groups or departments work through WFH.


texts:
I found these sayings in the film "Between Two Ferns The Movie 2019"

  Waiter: Can I get you some honey gushers to start?

  The customer: What are honey gushers?

  Waiter: It's just lemonade.

it seems like "lemonade" here is an adjective. I also heard a lot of Australian people use "lemonade" as an adjective.

But in the dictionary, lemonade is a noun

  lem‧on‧ade /ˌleməˈneɪd◂/ ●●○ noun [countable, uncountable]

  1 British English a sweet fizzy drink that tastes of lemons

  a glass of lemonade

  Would you like a lemonade?

  2 a drink made from lemons, sugar, and water

But we have the adjective "lemony"

  lem‧on‧y /ˈleməni/ adjective

  smelling or tasting of lemons

  a lovely lemony flavour

But it seems like not many people use the adjective "lemony". Most would say "it is lemonade"

can "lemonade" be an adjective?


texts: Do we say the first generation of computers were or was invented? if the answer is (were), then why do we say the room of my brothers was built? generation is one thing.


texts:
In Nietzsche's Genealogy on Morals, I found the expression corrosive skepticism.

  But it was against precisely these instincts that there spoke from me
  an ever more fundamental mistrust, an ever more corrosive
  skepticism!

Is it referred to an old skepticism? Does it have any other meaning?


texts: She gave up her ..[contact, connection, estabishment or attachment].. to feminist ideas?

texts:
This question is in an exercises book in vocabulary section .. in fact I put this question because I'm not sure about the answer. My teacher told me it's "attachment" the book says it's "connection" but I still don't understand this sentence so what do you think this sentence mean? and what do you choose from the brackets?

She gave up her ..[contact, connection, estabishment or attachment].. to feminist ideas


texts: Improving "the leading cause of her suicide is putatively X"

texts:
Discouraged by failures in the bar exams, a law school graduate
  recently committed a suicide, and the leading cause of her suicide is
  putatively frustration by failures in the bar exams.

I'm having a hard time finding the right expressions for the second half of my sentence.

The candidates are like the below.

1) She is assumed to commit a suicide due to frustration by her failures in the bar exams
2) the putative cause of suicide is failures in her bar exams.
3) the leading cause of her suicide is putatively frustration by failures in the bar exams.

Does an expression "the leading cause of her suicide is putatively X" sound natural? If not, I need your advice.

Thank you in advance.


texts:
I found an entry in a dictionary, but it only says "teach by drills and repetition" without providing any example. Now, my question is if we can say "drill yourself in X".

For example:

  You can drill yourself in advanced dribbling skills by practicing with
  our dribbling coach during the team drills.


texts: The meaning of "not the better for it" in the following sentence

texts:
SOURCE

  His assessment of Bloom—like his praise of other scholars and critics—is intensely personal, including jibes about his physical girth and style of delivery ("Bloom/Boom") and not the better for it.

I googled the meaning of it and got the explanation for "all the better for" is "improved as a result of". I wonder if it is correct to interpret the meaning of and is not the better for it in this sentence as

  (The writer) doesn't gain anything/improve himself (by jibing at the critic).


texts:
Could anybody clear it to me whether these two sentence are grammatically equal? If not, what is the difference?

  1) They must use some methods...
  2) They are to use some methods...


texts: "Have never done before" vs "never did before"

texts:
in American English,  Are both the following tenses interchangeable in the given context?

  "That was a fun flight. I never did that before. It was my first flight."

  "That was a fun flight. I have never done that before. It was my first flight."


texts:
A B.C. Supreme Court judge rejected an application Wednesday to stay the recent convictions in the high-profile Surrey Six mass murder case. ('Surrey Six mass murder convictions upheld' CBC Nov. 19 2014)

Is 'to stay' modifies 'an application' meaning 'to postpone'?


texts: What is a positive adjective that describes a person who follows a routine?

texts: I’m writing a character’s description, and I’m stuck on my hero’s “greatest strength”. He is very routine, and organized (which manifests more as he’s responsible and less as stubborn inflexibility). The word also need to have a positive connotation of course, and need to imply he goes through with promised commitments- his yes means yes and his no means no.


texts:
What's the best word or expression to claim that your given example is not fictitious and it's true?
In our word quizes we have to write part of speechs, definitions and also give an example for each word. As an example:

  Word Quiz
  ...

  ...
  Profit-sharing bonus (noun) an extra payment made to workers when the company has made a profit

  (Here when I want to give an example to illustrate the point, are there any ways to declare that the following example is not fictitious and that I didn't make that up?)

  e.g. The largest profit-sharing bonus at Ford came for the year 1999, when workers received an average of $8,000.

  ...


texts:
Say you are carrying a girl behind you on your motorbike. She can only look at your back.
If she wants to clearly look at things that are in front of the motorbike, she has to "stick her head out / over".
Another example, these people are standing behind a tree and if they want to see things in front of the tree, they have to "stick their heads out / over" as shown in this picture.

Is it natural to say "she stuck her head out to see the front" or "she stuck her head over to see the front"?


texts: Confusion about the usage of 'by the time' with past perfect

texts:
By the time I reached home, he had arrived.

Does this mean he was there when I reached home or it doesn't specify that and probably he may have left moments before my reaching home? It is only the context that may tell us what was true at the moment of my reaching there. He could have left also, but, 'by the time' does not say that. Am I right?

Does the following sentence make sense? Is it correct to use it this way?

  By the time I went home, he had left for school, but had also arrived moments earlier than I reached home.


texts: Need help with a list of quantifiers please

texts:
I'm trying to figure out if this list of quantifiers is countable, uncountable or both.

I have marked them as either:  C (COUNTABLE), UC (UNCOUNTABLE) or B (BOTH).

I use the following simple (silly?) test:

CARS
TRAFFIC

For example:

A LOT OF: CARS -> OK

A LOT OF: TRAFFIC -> OK

So "A LOT OF" is BOTH

I've marked the following. Anyone care to double-check for me?  There are a couple that I dont know.

a large amount (of) - B

a little - UN

a lot of - B

a small amount (of) - B

a small number (of) - C
few - C

fewer - C

fewer and fewer - C

less - B

less and less - B

many - C

more - B

most - B

much - UN

no - B

none of - DONT KNOW...C?

several - C

the majority of - DONT KNOW...B?


texts: Difference between "could come" and "could've come"

texts:
E.g

  "i wish i could come to the party"
  "I wish i could have come to the party"

What is the difference between these two sentences? I heard a girl talking to other girl "wish you could come" but what she was talking about some party that was in the past, so my question is, shouldnt she have said, wish you could've come to the party?


texts: "learn to" vs "learn how to" and "teach to" or "teach how to"

texts:
Which sounds better:

learn to or learn how to?
teach to or teach how to?

I'll make the question clearer with examples.

a. He taught me to solve sums.
b. He taught me how to solve sums.

c. I learned to drive a car.
d. I learned how to drive a car.


texts: "I will be..." or "I am free the rest of today"?

texts:
This is a two part question.

Firstly, I would like to ask which of the following two sentences is the correct construction.

  I am free for the rest of the day
  I will be free for the rest of the day

Personally, I believe it's more logical to say "will be" as it's not in the present. Then again, number one is also quite common.

For the second part of my question, I would like to know if I can replace "the day" with another word like "today" or "yesterday":

  I will be free for the rest of today.
  After that, I was free the rest of yesterday.

Logically, there doesn't seem to be a problem with either, but since English is very much based on usage and rules, I can't confidently use them without some opinions/answers from native speakers.


texts:
A girl was looking for her notebook.  Someone had stolen it.  So the teacher was searching everyone's bags.  So the notebook was found in a girl's notebook.  She replied:

  I don't know how her notebook is in my bag.

Does it sound natural?  Are there more natural ways of expressing this?


texts: How to respond to a bad situation in business English?

texts:
What does a native speaker say when someone asks you a favor, and you did something for them, but in the end, it didn't work out well. The person you helped said: "I'm sorry. I’m sure this is frustrating."

What is an appropriate response to say? "I understand your situation, it's okay." in business English?


texts:
I'm wondering how to parse the term "cream of chicken soup."

Should it be cream [of chicken soup] or [cream of chicken] soup? Either way, it doesn't seem to make sense.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
It is from this video. It is at 6 minute and 12 second. Here is the context:

  Dosage is incredibly important. I guess cancer patients would know that dosage is important because when you are getting irradiated in order to target something like tumour, you are not getting enough radiation to be harmful to your entire body.

I am confused because there are no any conditional sentences, but would was still used. Does the speaker mean the paients probably know or that they probably will know that...?


texts: Wondering what the expression "as far as they were concerned" really means here

texts:
They went to a poetry reading, but they got bored and restless. As far as they were concerned, it was for the birds. They left.

As far as I am concerned, the expression really means “based on my knowledge”, but in the sentence above it does not seem to mean this, does it?

I’m also wondering if this expression is used when not talking about humans. I have heard things like “as far as their economy is concerned” and so forth.


texts: You can either go by bus or by taxi. OR You can go either by bus or by taxi

texts:
You can either go by bus or by taxi.

You can go either by bus or by taxi.

I think the first is wrong and the second is right, for there is parallel struction.
Am I right?


texts:
In the sentence below, what is the meaning of automatic red flag?
Please let me know if you know.

  Is it an automatic red flag if I take the home office deduction?


texts: Is it appropriate to say "part of the results in my master thesis..."?

texts:
I read in the free dictionary http://www.thefreedictionary.com/part the following rules:

  You use part of or a part of in front of the singular form of a countable noun, or in front of an uncountable noun. ... Don't use 'part of' or 'a part of' in front of a plural noun phrase. Don't say, for example, 'Part of the students have no books'. Say 'Some of the students have no books'. Don't say 'A large part of the houses have flat roofs'. Say 'Many of the houses have flat roofs'.

But in a subsequent section of the same page it gives the example:

  A large part of his earnings went on repaying the bank loan.

I am confused. Isn't 'earnings' a plural noun? (I did check in the same online dictionary that 'earnings' is treated as a plural noun.) So why does it put 'A large part of' in front of 'his earnings'?

And in the section 'References in classic literature' of the same page, I also see the example:

  Although he still hungered for the presence of the boy, who was the medium through which he expressed his love of man, the hunger became again a part of his loneliness and his waiting.

Shouldn't 'his loneliness and his waiting' as whole be treated as a plural noun? So why is 'a part of' put in front of `his loneliness and his waiting'?

So can I say "This work includes part of the results in my master thesis" and "...leading to my master thesis ... (the title of my thesis), with parts of its results being published in ...(a journal's name)"  ? If not, how should I say? Change 'part' into 'some' or what?


texts: he was teaching the same course at the weekends - for future

texts:
I would be grateful if you would give me permission to be absent for the week beginning 25th May. Mr. Garcia said the other day that he was teaching the same course at the weekends.

In the above sentence, it is used "was". Would it be correct to write below?

Mr. Garcia said the other day that he will be teaching the same course at the weekends.


texts: Is it right to say "While I was back on my way home"

texts:
Is it right to say, "While I was back on my way home, ..."?

I think it is a bit awkward!


texts: 1. Request for What's the difference in meaning between (Write how you would teach the difference in meaning to the students):

texts:
She wears a dress to work.

  She's wearing a dress to work.

please explain the difference in meaning and how it can be taught to students in a way that clarifies their meanings


texts:
While conversing with my friend I got confused between these two sentences:

It depends upon the context.
It depends on context.

Which one is more apt in usage and why?


texts:
Maintain a faster walking speed than is natural for you.

(This sentence is quoted from the book "Thinking, fast and slow", p. 22., by Daniel Kahneman.)

Is what is omitted in "than (what) is natural for you."?
Is this kind of omission common in English?


texts: be like somebody in looks, by looks, with looks

texts:
Someone meant to say: "She's a lot like her, though she doesn't look like her, but the way she thinks".

So can it be put this way:

  She's a lot like her, not in looks, but  in the way she thinks.

  She's a lot like her, not with her looks, but  in the way she thinks.

  She's a lot like her, not by her looks, but  in the way she thinks.

So what should be used "in looks", "with her looks" or "by her looks"?

Actually I made these up myself, so I was just wondering if they sounds natural.....


texts: Is it correct to use an expression "we denote something by x"?

texts:
Consider the following two sentences.

  (1) We denote the set of natural numbers by N.

  (2) N denotes the set of natural numbers.

Both expressions are very common in math papers. According to the Oxford dictionary, the second expression is correct. See http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/denote.

However, I prefer the first expression because of the following. To use the second expression, the symbol N should have appeared before without definition.
Instead, I could use an expression such as

  We let N denote the set of natural numbers.

But if I use this expression many times, somehow I feel I make duplications.

Now I am afraid if the first expression is incorrect. I googled and found some answers in the following links, but they are not very convincing to me.

http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/we-denote-by-n-an-integer-instead-of-n-denotes.2379959/

http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/topics/going-against-convention-while-writing-in-your-field-denote-by/


texts:
See this Baa Baa Black Sheep song

  Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
  Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
  One for the master,
  And one for the dame,
  One for the little boy
  Who lives down the lane
  Baa, baa, black sheep,
  Have you any wool?
  Yes sir, yes sir,
  Three bags full...
  Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
  Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!

Why do they say "Have you any wool?"? why not "Have you had any wool?"?

Is it ungrammatical to say "Have you any wool?" in everyday conversation?


texts:
I have heard many people say:

  He is a London-return doctor.

Is -return as a suffix valid, meaning to have returned from some important place?

Thanks in advance.


texts: Difference between 'it fits something' and 'it is fit for something' -- "The key fits the lock" vs. "The key is fit for the lock"

texts:
The word fit as a verb has sometimes the same meaning as an adjective. For example:

the key fits the lock
the key is fit for the lock

Can I use it both ways or there is some difference I should consider ?


texts: 'Me' vs 'my' [pronunciation] in British English

texts:
I noticed that British people sometimes use me instead of my. For example, Liam Gallagher does it quite often.
Example:

The wind was strong I have nearly lost me pants

What is a story behind this alteration? Is it appropriate in formal language? Do people really speak like that? Or is this a dialect rather than a widely spread manner?


texts: "Thank you for coming" or "thank you for coming in"?

texts: Let's say I have a problem with a computer, so I ask a friend to come to my place to help me fix it, which he does. Do I say thank you for coming or thank you for coming in. Is there any difference between come and come in in the context?


texts: Is it natural to say "You think it's going that bad"?

texts:
A: I think I'm just gonna go.
B: You think it's going that bad, huh?
A: Yes, I do.
I tried searching "You think it's going that bad" on Google but it had no hits. Is it not natural at all?


texts:
In a sentence like:

  I teach programming to first-years.

What’s the correct spelling for the last plural? first-years, first-year’s, ...?

I don’t know how to pluralize, hyphenate, and/or apostrophize.


texts:
Here is simple test with Google:

Search "virtualization of hardware" (with quotes) - it will be 73600 results.
"virtualization of a hardware" (with quotes) - 75 results
"virtualization of the hardware" (with quotes) - 445 results

So, it seems that the first option is the most popular and something like "more correct". But why?


texts: Placement of "to-infinitive" before an object

texts:
David wants to bring Jack some books.
David wants Jack to bring some books.

I cannot understand the meanings of these sentences. What do they mean? Are both same?

Thanks!


texts: What is the meaning of "She is right about that!"?

texts:
What is the meaning of "She is right about that!" in the following sentence (Source: PHONICS PC COMICS Volume 3 Issue 1),

  Mom stomps downstairs to the kitchen.

  Quick, Zak! Where are the GROW buttons on our super shrinker belts?

  I cannot find them, Zane! Shhh! Mom is coming back! Oooo!

  This is gross!

  She is right about that!


texts:
The waiter: "Hello sir, what would you like to drink?"

Sir James: "I'll have a brandy"

Is still correct/common in English if Sir James answers:

  "I have a brandy" (without "will")

I know I can say: "I have a brandy every saturday night".


texts: What is the difference between 'suck', 'suck at', and 'suck on'?

texts:
Can those be used interchangeably? These are three examples from the Longman dictionary. I see no essential difference between the cases so I assume you can use any option you like without any reservations (no preposition, 'at', or 'on'). Am I right?

  a baby sucking at its mother’s breast

  Don’t suck your thumb, dear.

  a picture of Lara sucking on a lollipop


texts:
I was having a discussion with someone in regards to these two terms. I like to sew and I watch/read a lot of tutorials from which I have learned all sorts of terms and I was wondering if someone could explain if there is much difference between using "lining" and "padding".
I use lining when it's about clothes, such as dress. Let's say I want to make a satin dress and I choose another fabric as the lining (the one that is on the inside of the dress).
For padding however, I think it's more used when a bulkier material is used. I know of "padded envelopes", or "padded bras" for examples and I think even with furniture such as sofas, in regards to the interior structure, they could have a foam padding.

  To pad (often as adjective padded) Fill or cover (something) with a soft material in order to protect or shape it or to make it more comfortable.
  That's one of the definitions that I have found which I understand and how I also define padding, that it involves a thicker material. Goose-down padded jacket for example, it would mean that it's a filling material, right?
  These terms might be similar but I would like to hear more opinions, because in my language we have one word for the notion of "lining" and I want to differentiate when I translate texts into English.Thank you!