texts: My manager used to tell me "I'm Clear" or "Clear now!" when I had asked him to give me a few minutes to talk. I believe he meant he has time to talk or he is free. But I never heard this phrase from anyone else. Is my assumption correct? Why do I never hear that from anyone else? Which one is better to say (I'm free/I have time/I'm clear)?


texts: Which is correct: "gallery for which" or "gallery for whose" or both?

texts:
According to my book this sentence is correct:

  The gallery for which I am preparing the exhibition will have to apply for a subsidy from the City council.

I am wondering whether this sentence that I have made is also correct:

  The gallery for whose I am preparing the exhibition will have to apply for a subsidy from the City council.

This is the first time I have come across that form in a sentence. I'd appreciate it if you could help me with it, because I think that the first sentence seems not to be correct, as "for which" is not possessive form(?).


texts: "I sit and watch the children play"... is that correct?

texts:
Is the phrase "I sit and watch the children play" in the Rolling Stones song "As tears go by" correct?

I mean, the correct wouldn't be to say "I sit and watch the children to play"?


texts:
In my book, I came across the phrase "some justification".

I googled for it, "justification" can be countable or uncountable, but I have never heard that people used "justifications".

When should we treat the word as a countable noun and use "justifications" (the plural form)?

I did some research here but couldn't find any examples.


texts: evaluates to be false vs evaluates to false

texts:
"The guard condition evaluates to be false"

vs

  "The guard condition evaluates to false"

Which one is grammatical?


texts:
Which one is correct?

  I had wet.
  I had got wet.
  I have wet.
  I have got wet.


texts: Which preposition to use when there are different conjuncts

texts:
I wrote:

  We particularly investigate the attitude, the degree of familiarity and the need of faculty to such a system.

I used three nouns each of which takes a different preposition:

attitude to/toward
familiarity with
need for

Now which should I use between their conjunction and the system?


texts: How shall we refer to someone who speaks with a country or ... accent in AmE?

texts:
How do the native speakers refer to a person who speaks with a regional accent:
The words which sound natural to me in this sense are:

  a) - He/she speaks with a country accent.

  b) - He/she speaks with a rural accent.

  c) - He/she speaks with a southern accent.

For me, they all work properly in this situation in AmE. (I am looking for a fixed term or something in common AmE.)

Meanwhile, please let me know how to intensify the sentence? For instance what comes to mind would be something like:

  He speaks with a severe country accent.


texts: Why "been" is necessary with "caught" when question is testing parallelism?

texts:
On my bike, I have enjoyed the beautiful weather, endured freezing cold, and have been caught in sudden cloudbursts.

A. NO CHANGE

B. caught

C. been caught

D. have caught

Here, A and D can be easily eliminated because of subject-verb agreement.
Moreover, I noticed that we need to use past tense to maintain parallelism, so I picked B. However, the correct answer is C.

Why are we using "been" here? Please explain parallelism going on with this question.


texts: what to say when internet is very fast/slow?

texts: I can obvious just say the internet is fast/slow, but I want some different expression when it is/becomes super-fast/slow . (something like the internet flies? Is there a proper way of saying that?)


texts: Does the morpheme “ative”, used as a suffix, transform the word into adjectives or nouns?

texts:
preservative, for instance, can be either used as a noun or an adjective.

  This kind of food doesn’t contain any kind of preservatives
  the preservative effect of freezing is good to keep most of vegetables last long


texts: What's the difference between "finish" and "finish up" and "finish off"?

texts:
I have looked up all three in my dictionary and found they roughly meant the same thing. They all meant completing something. How do they change in meaning by adding off or up after finish? Dictionary did not really help me to fully grasp the differences. Does finish off mean that you do it long time and finally complete it or does it involve a series of steps to finally complete that task?
  How and when do you people use finish or finish up or finish off?


texts: What does "not...differently from" mean?

texts:
The chiming repeater does not signal the minutes and the quarter hours strike differently from the minute repeater.

What does this sentence mean? Is there no difference between "the chiming repeater's signaling the minutes and the quarter hours strike" and "the minute repeater's signaling the minutes and the quarter hours strike "? Or is there little difference between the two?


texts: Parsing: a sentence from Russell's The History of Western Philosophy

texts:
The Persian satrap at Sardes represented that he intended to rebel
  against the Great King, and would pay vast sums for the help of
  Polycrates, who went to the mainland for an interview, was captured
  and crucified.

My parsing:

The Persian satrap is Subject.

Subject represented that (Clause A).

Clause A:

S intended to do sth, and (S) would do sth for the help of Polycrates, (Relative clause B), was captured and crucified.

My question: is "was captured and crucified" part of Relative clause B?


texts: What does "permitting a beauty mark to be dabbed on their faces" mean?

texts:
Older Colombians remember the days when well-dressed gentlemen sauntered beneath the windows of beautiful young women, who favored them by coming to the door and permitting a beauty mark to be dabbed on their faces.
Source

What does the last part,"permitting a beauty mark to be dabbed on their faces" mean?
Whose faces?


texts: What does "ripping" mean in the context of stock trading?

texts:
Here's a sentence I don't understand:

I buy the stock when it is ripping.

The sentence is talking about buying a stock (i.e. equity shares) when it is "ripping". What does "ripping" mean?


texts: Why not present simple in "We are taking the dog for a walk every morning"

texts:
I just failed this one in a test.
Why it is not "We take the dog for a walk every morning"?
Why continuous tense should be used?


texts: Is it necessary to use commas in lists before the conjunction?

texts:
I have seen many sentences like this:

  "Capitalism, Socialism, and Anarchism"

and this:

  "She was happy, and cheerful"

Do we have to use a comma before "and", or is it incorrect?  If it is not, then why?


texts:
"Would any baron of mine kneel to me if I
  were witless, discrowned, and alone, and Harold had my throne?"

  '"No," said Rahere. "I am the sole fool that might do it, Brother,
  unless"--he pointed at De Aquila, whom he had only met that day--"yonder
  tough Norman crab kept me company.

This is from "The Tree of Justice" in "Rewards and Faires" by Kipling.
http://www.telelib.com/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/prose/RewardsFaries/treejustice.html

I do not understand the meaning of below.

yonder tough Norman crab kept me company.

I am glad if somebody kindly teach me.


texts: Is "10 liters of gas is charged in/to the tank" correct?

texts:
The tank is charged with 10 liters of gas.

I am trying to rewrite the sentence above such that gas is the subject. My example is as follows:

  10 liters of gas is charged in/to the tank.
  The amount of gas charged in/to the tank is 10 liters.

Could anyone advise me on whether the usage "charged in/to" is correct?


texts: "Association Rules Reduction" or "Reduction of Association Rules"?

texts:
I'm writing a post about data mining and I was wondering which one of these titles sound better or more formal:

  Association Rules Reduction

or

  Reduction of Association Rules

Is there any difference or specific situation when I should use one and not another?


texts: Get there or Reach there? Which one is of more proper usage?

texts:
Is there any difference in meaning the folloing sentences convey?

How long does it take me to get there?

How long does it take me to reach there?


texts: How should we understand "boasted an amenity" in this sentence

texts:
Rasputin, the gaudy restaurant/nightclub on Coney Island Avenue, boasted an amenity that was certain to raise questions about security with even the most hardened Manhattan restaurant patron -- toilet stalls with bulletproof doors.

I think 'boast' here means 'have', but I'm not sure how "have an amenity" can make sense in the context. Why does "have an amenity" raise questions about security? Can someone help to explain what the whole sentence is trying to convey? Thanks!


texts: What's being said in this YouTube video about lifting weights?

texts: What is this guy saying at 13:34 to 13:45 in this video? I do understand about the hip, and hamstrings parts, but rest of em kinda unclear to me.


texts: which one is correct? Killing the innocence "within" or "inside"?

texts:
Killing the innocence "within" or "inside"?
When talking about inherent qualities of someone, should we use "inside" or "within"?


texts: the difference of "for myself "and "on my own behalf"

texts:
“And you are ill?” added the surgeon, compassionately, for the tone
  was that of a person in pain. “I am,” was the reply—“very ill; not
  bodily, but mentally. It is not for myself, or on my own behalf,”
  continued the stranger, “that I come to you. If I laboured under
  bodily disease, I should not be out, alone, at such an hour, or on
  such a night as this; and if I were afflicted with it, twenty-four
  hours hence, God knows how gladly I would lie down and pray to die.

What is the difference between "for myself" and "on my own behalf"?
source THE BLACK VEIL


texts:
This is your last chance. Surrender or we (will) storm the building.

Can this be said without "will", and if so would it be natural?


texts:
Are the words "binder" and "sequestrant" synonyms?
I think they are, as I'm translating a document about mycotoxin sequestrants, but I'm more arts than science, so need confirmation.


texts:
Movie: CHIPS

Context: This guy applies for a police job and is getting interviewed and asked why he wants to apply for this job.

"I learned in couples' therapy that women often marry their fathers, and her dad was a cop."

Question: Does this mean women like to marry someone like their father?


texts:
Is it:

  a spectacular movie

or it is said:

  an spectacular movie

I'm writing a book in English but I'm Latino so I might need some help with this, I'd appreciate it a lot


texts:
5.2.3 Signals and interrupts
Functions shall be implemented such that they may be interrupted at any time by a signal,
or may be called by a signal handler, or both, with no alteration to earlier, but still active,
invocations’ control flow (after the interruption), function return values, or objects with
automatic storage duration. All such objects shall be maintained outside the function
image (the instructions that compose the executable representation of a function) on a
per-invocation basis.

This is a fragment of ANSI C99 standard.
It's hard to read first sentence including highlighted part("or both ~ storage duration").In particular, I don't know nouns with no preposition(invocations' control folw, function return values, or objects with automatic storage duration) are influenced by what previous one. If you parse that sentence, I'll be really appreciated.


texts:
I was reading about Subject-Verb agreement from a grammar book I have, and I came about some of these examples:

  1.The behavior of the children were excellent. [Here were must be was in order to agree with behavior.]2.Not one of his lectures have ever been printed.[The subject is one, not lectures; therefore, have should be has.]3.By that time two weeks' salary were due.[Here again, the subject is salary, not weeks; therefore, were should be was.]4.The quality of the mangoes was (not were) good.5.The cost of all these articles has (not have) risen.6.A series of lectures has (not have) been arranged on the subject7.A variety of pleasing objects charms (not charm) the eye.

I understood the first three examples as there was explanation for them. In the fourth example, the subject is quality so we used singular verb. In the fifth example, cost is the subject and hence, we used singular verb again.

What I didn't get is the sixth and seventh example. Is the subject in sixth example is series? what is the subject in the seventh example?


texts:
I think this sentence is correct.

  I done something.

This is also correct.

  I have done something.

What are the involved tense? How are they different?


texts:
"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration.”
(Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Is ‘power’ a predicative adjective? There’s a usage as a modifier in Oxford - a power drill -, yet I don’t find the adjective use. What’s the part of speech in the sentence?


texts:
I know that a fact is a fact and if words are used carefully there’s no real need to remind people that your fact is actual.

Now, that a lot of famous English writers use this construction might be understandable, but that the OED Additions uses this redundancy to define some terms is beyond my comprehension unless it is an accepted redundancy.


texts:
BBC Africa editor Will Ross says it seems unlikely that the move will appease the protesters.

Is it still correct to say:

  BBC Africa editor Will Ross says it seems unlikely that the move appeases the protesters.


texts: Sentence fragment/phrase in this example

texts:
In common usage, a phrase is usually a group of words with some special idiomatic meaning or other significance, such as "kick the bucket or all rights reserved.

As a sentence:  She was going to kick the bucket.

Fragment:  hit a nerve.

As a sentence: The dentist hit a nerve.

What the difference fragment/phrase.


texts: Is the word "perusal" supposed to be here?

texts:
I read a sentence in my economics textbook which was:

  Indeed perusal of LPG policies was to a great extent a matter of economic compulsion rather than a matter of choice for the politicians of the country.

Considering how dictionaries describe the word "perusal" I don't think it should have been there. Instead, I think what was meant is "pursuance" since those policies were adopted not "read carefully". Am I right?


texts:
When you use the phrase "I just wanted to check" with the word "before," do you usually use present tense or past simple?

In the example below, I'm trying to say thank you after receiving an answer to a question.

  I just wanted to check if this outfit is acceptable before I go/went to the party.

If I'm still not at the party, which tense should I use?


texts: Is this correct to say "You are having incorrect installer"?

texts:
Which one is correct to say?

  "You are having incorrect installer."

or

  "You have incorrect installer."


texts: A word for 'pressing, releasing, pressing, releasing'.

texts:
In my native language, there's a word that describes the process of

  pressing (gently or hard) and releasing, again pressing and releasing, and so on...

on any body area.

Now, this is the most useful therapy to alleviate 'pain'. The best example I can come up with is 'headache'. Normal headaches 'can be cured' using this technique.

Not just headache, this is effective on any paining organ -say legs, calves, back, shoulder or wherever.

This is not massage.

The difference is, in massage, you 'rub' and also 'move' your palms together. Here, you don't! Take head. One will press your forehead with palms and the release, again press, then release...and so on. Rubbing will never happen in this process.

Well, if there's no word, a phrase would work.


texts:
What does it refer to in the passage? Does it refer to U.S. electoral college?

  States that are teetering between parties are called "swing states."
  In the past four election cycles, Ohio and Florida have been swing
  states, twice providing electoral votes for a Democratic candidate,
  and twice providing electoral votes for a Republican candidate. Think
  about it. Do you live in a safe state? If so, is it a Democratic or
  Republican safe state? Do you live in a swing state? Are your
  neighboring states swing or safe? Is the population in your state
  increasing or decreasing? And do not forget, when you are watching the
  electoral returns on election night every four years and the big map
  of the United States is on the screen, know that the magic number is
  270 and start adding.

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/does-your-vote-count-the-electoral-college-explained-christina-greer


texts:
We are a certain way now because we were knocked off a more fulfilling
  trajectory years ago by a primal wound.

(This is a sentence from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgUlowmSeHo at 2:12)

What does "be knocked off" mean here?
and how can a noun ( or seemingly an objective) come after a passive verb?

Thank you in advance.


texts:
Should we write:

  I am copy/pasting the text

Or:

  I am copying/pasting the text

?


texts: What is the proper word in the mentioned sentence?

texts:
I think the project is conducted for the intention X, and as a member
  I need to know if any other intention is -----.

  I think the project is conducted for the intention X, and as a member
  I need to know if there is any other intention -----.

What word/words to put in the blank. I like to use "involved" or "involved in it". Is it correct to use "involved" without "in it"? In general, which of the above sentences are prefered?


texts:
What is the meaning of 'universe' in the sentence in bold?

"Contrary to the international propaganda being disseminated by anti-India forces in collusion with their anti-national collaborators within our borders, the government of India is a staunch advocate of the right to dissent,” said a very senior official in the Ministry of Home Affairs, who did not wish to be identified or come on record or even share his phone number. He shared this information, which is classified as ‘top secret’ under the Official Secrets Act, through an intermediary from a parallel universe.

"Indian democracy: A thing of beauty" (G. Sampath, "The Hindu" 13 March 2021)
Link


texts: Threshold for starting/quitting/etc. is high / There is high bar for starting/etc

texts:
Firstly, I guess the phrases in the title are wrong, but it is difficult for me to formulate the question because I am trying to find a way to express something like in the title but I do not know how to say it correctly in English.
Let's say I have a task waiting to be started, but to do the work requires a lot of concentration and effort, so I have to be able to change the state of mind and really toughen myself, physically or mentally or both. Instead of starting, it could be also a matter of quitting, for example to resign a job that I have had for a long time, or quit smoking etc. So, I am just trying to find a generic expression like in the title that describes that there is a high threshold, or high bar, that needs to be overcome in order to do the thing.

Of course I have tried to Google the expression, but the closest thing I have found is "setting a high bar" and I feel it is not a good way to express what I want. For example, could I say "I have set myself a high bar for quitting smoking"? I feel it does not express the idea properly because I have not set bar high, the bar just is high. So, could I say "The bar/threshold for quitting smoking is high for me"? I could not find any example that would use such an expression.
If you think there is much better way to express that particular sentence, can you also apply that to "quitting a job" or "starting a new task" or "running for President" ? So, I am trying to find a generic expression for these kind of situations, not specific expressions for some particular cases.

Edit: I am asking for a generic phrase because in my native language (Finnish) there is a generic expression for this (it goes actually literally like "threshold is high for starting to do blah blah"), and I am just wondering whether there is such a phrase also in English. But if there is none, then that is the answer I am looking for. So, if you are sure there is no phrase in English for this then please give it as an answer instead of just commenting!


texts: Right Notation : Verification with / by / using public-key systems

texts:
What is the right scientific notation for the following sentence:

Is slower than a verification obtained with / obtained by / using public-key systems?


texts: "Each woven from the fabric of values" What it means?

texts:
Culture wears many different hats, each woven from the fabric of values.

In the above sentence, "the pharase woven from the fabric of values" means what? What is its gramartical position?

Thans in advance.


texts:
On the surface, this Labor Day holiday caps another dark year for
  unions and many working-class Americans. -NY Times

I found the meaning of it in the dictionary like the below but I don't know which one is correct.

1.[VERB] [usu passive] [BRIT] If a sports player is capped, they are chosen to represent their country in a team game such as football, rugby, or cricket.

2.[VERB] If the government caps an organization, council, or budget, it limits the amount of money that the organization or council is allowed to spend, or limits the size of the budget.

3.[VERB] [JOURNALISM] If someone says that a good or bad event caps a series of events, they mean it is the final event in the series, and the other events were also good or bad.

4.[VERB] [usu passive] If someone's teeth are capped, covers are fixed over them so that they look better.


texts: The title might sound a little silly, but I have this confusion: When someone says, "Join document A with document B", does it mean document A should be first or document B should be first?


texts:
I want to say something like this: If I hadn't told you esrlier, thank you for everything.

Is it correctly written (grammar I mean). The past perfect sounds weird to me, so I just want to make sure.


texts: Let's get the party started =? Let's start the party

texts: What does the sentence of "let's get the party started" mean? Or in general what does the meaning of get sth past participle?


texts:
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary

The scarf is a perfect complement to her outfit.

This pattern is easy to understand, A is complement to B
From the Collins dictionary

The green wallpaper is the perfect complement to the old pine of the dresser.

Again, the same pattern A is complement to B.
To make it easier to understand, could I say "B was missing something, A could help"?
The completeness is more about beauty, in particular, some kind of addition to existing beauty.
However, that kind of completeness is probably difficult for someone, like me, to understand. I'd never managed to distinguish my wife's scarves. So, I can't even make up what B is missing in any of those examples!
Besides, beauty is somehow a matter of opinion. Are there some other situations where the complement is easier to measure?
For example, could I call my headset a complement to my laptop, which can let me hear whatever I want to listen to without disturbing anyone else?

From the Cambridge Dictionary

We had a full complement of reporters and photographers along.

This example doesn't use the pattern A is complement to B, which makes it difficult to say B is missing what.


texts: Word for things with the same external appearance but with different inherent meanings

texts:
What word can I use for things with the same external appearance but with different inherent meanings.

For example, assume that in a social network, different users make friendships. All of the relations are thus friendship relations, a single type of relation. However, from an analytical viewpoint they may have different meanings/intents/... . For example, one may have been formed because the two persons are relative, another may have been formed because they are colleagues, and another may have been formed because one is interested in the posts the other person posts. These different meanings/intents/... may have different effects in some application.

Is modal a good word to be used in these examples: multi-modal relationships, modal-specific networks (a network in which all relations have a single meaning). What about modality? (e.g., multi-modality)


texts: What does "it" refer to and the meaning of "take up" in this context?

texts:
Pakistan said that with the support of China, it will take up India's unilateral actions in Kashmir with the U.N. Security Council and may approach the U.N. Human Rights Commission over what it says is the "genocide" of the Kashmiri people.

What do these its refer to and what does take up mean in this context?


texts:
I am reading a translation book and it says that it is wrong to say "He is of weak character." because there is an adjective before "character", so an indefinite article is needed: "He is of a weak character."

But I have found sentences like "It is a sign of weak character" without an indefinite article before "character". Could someone please elaborate?


texts:
Michael Pearson says to Matthew about a crowded place to store his weed:

  Michael: The problem with land in this country is there's not much of
  it... and there's public access even when it's supposed to be private.
  And the public have rights: dog walkers......footpaths, right to roam,
  bimblers, ramblers, badger lovers...and any other busy c_nt with
  enough time on his hands to sniff the green tweed of England.

What does it mean, "sniff the green tweed of England"?

I have a feeling that it doesn't mean what it means.

I find these lines in The Gentlemen 2019


texts:
My friend asked me a question and I couldn't answer.

His question was as follows:

is it grammatical to say "The dog next door barks all the night. I hate it."?

Notice that "next door" is an adverb. it must describe a verb and there is no verb before "next door" in the sentence.


texts: Why did Constantinople get the works? -- what exactly does that mean?

texts:
From the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople):

  So take me back to Constantinople
  No, you can't go back to Constantinople
  Been a long time gone, Constantinople
  Why did Constantinople get the works?
  That's nobody's business but the Turks

What do they mean by get the works?


texts:
Lara Trump on Kamala Harris pick: It's still 'old slow Joe at the top of that ticket'

I know that 'ticket' means a list of candidates for an election. Because the candidate selection of the Democratic was completed, the 'ticket' would have no meaning now.
If so, what does the latter sentence mean? Does 'the top of the ticket' have an extended meaning of 'president' and does Lara think that picking Harris have made him a president already? But in this undertanding, 'stiil' doesn't make sense.


texts:
Does "be late for the green light" look natural? (I'm talking about a traffic light.)

I ask because though it looks good to me, Google doesn't find many search results (just 5, to be accurate) if I search for the exact phrase "late for the green light" (in quotes to search an exact phrase).

That makes me think that it isn't used in this way. How to say it then?


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct? "With brains come senses, to detect whether the world is good or bad, and a memory."

texts:
With brains come senses, to detect whether the world is good or bad,
  and a memory.

Does it briefly mean "Brain, senses and memory come together ..."?

If so, is this grammatically correct?

Would you please explain it to me?

The fuller text:

  With brains come senses, to detect whether the world is good or bad,
  and a memory. Together, these let the animal monitor in real time
  whether things are getting better or worse. This in turn allows a
  simple system of prediction and reward. Even animals with really
  simple brains – insects, slugs or flatworms – can use their
  experiences to predict what might be the best thing to do or eat next,
  and have a system of reward that reinforces good choices.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9951-top-10-lifes-greatest-inventions/#faq3


texts: How to parse "There is no way + clause"?

texts:
I have read the following sentence in Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3:

  There was no way I was going to break my honest streak over something as dumb as this.

Is "There was no way..." an existential sentence? How to parse this sentence construction?


texts: Past/present tense when something happened in the past but is still the case

texts:
Where was the photo taken?

  Where is the photo taken?

Something happened in the past but is still true. Which one is correct? What is the difference?


texts: is it correct to use "completely" at the end of a sentence

texts:
I got my ankle completely dislocated.

OR

I got my ankle dislocated completely.

Is the second sentence grammatically incorrect. If not, then which one should be preferred?


texts: Can the present continuous tense be used for emphasising things?

texts:
Why am I not buying any present to my girlfriend this year
Title of an article

I ve seen this sentence and I am wondering why the present continuous is used. Is it to emphasise the act of non buying or is it a kind of fixed plan because usually we buy present at Christmas


texts: What is the difference between "had better do something" and "had better be doing something"?

texts:
What is the difference between had better do something and had better be doing something? For example:

  It's 8 AM, so I had better leave for work if don't want to be late.

  It's 8 AM, so I had better be leaving for work if don't want to be late.

Does the use of had better be leaving implies that it's not really important to me wheter I will be late or not. If I mistaken, then what do native English speakers mean by using the had better be doing structure instead of had better do one?


texts: Compound subject with or without conjunction?

texts: 1) John, Mary, and Sam are best friends. 2)  John, Mary, Sam are best friends. In sentence 1, the compound subject used the conjunction "and"(John, Mary, and Sam) and in sentence 2, without conjunction (John, Mary, Sam). Here my doubt is can we use the compound subject without conjunction or it must be necessary for compound subject?


texts:
I'm looking meaning of 'F' word. So,
What are the meanings of following sentences with 'fuck':

1.what the fuck are you doing ?

2.Let's get the fuck out of here!

3.I'm fucking sick of this fucking rain!

4.He's a fucking good player.

I have been told that the word 'fuck' is swear word that many people find offensive. But I often hear this word people saying in Film and in informal way.so, could you please tell me when do we use the F word  and please tell me the meanings of the sentences I've mentioned above.�

Actually,I already looked up in the dictionery about'F' word before posting here and came to know that it's used to express anger,surprise,annoyence and used as a intencifier.But I didn't know exactly it's contextual meanings (in which situation we use 'fuck' word to imply which emotion) due to its various different meanings.I need contextual examples to Learn weather 'Fuck' has been used to express intencifier ? surprise? anger ? or annoyence?


texts:
Please check the sentences and let me know, if they are correct or not.

  I had tea in the morning.

  I had a cup of tea in the morning.

  I took tea in the morning.

  I took a cup of tea in the morning.

  I drank tea in the morning.

  I drank a cup of tea in the morning.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Do I need "had" in the following example?

texts:
She told me they found him hanging in his parent's house. He (had) used
  his climbing rope, tied so that he could pull himself up from the
  floor.

Do I need that had? Why or why not?


texts: What's the best option between the articles?

texts:
Please tell me which option would be the best to go with
(imagine that I'm wiriting a requirment for the software to be developed):

  Any client who wants to make a support request should fill out the form №1 first.
  The client who wants to make a support request should fill out the form №1 first.

For me, the meaning of the first sentence is "Any clinet who wants to make a support request..." and the meaning of the second is "The one who wants to make a support request...". Or should we use the definite article here beacuse the client means shared knowledge? Is that correct? And which one is better.

P.S. Could you please correct me if I have made any mistakes.


texts: If only, with would in two clauses (if only, would + infinitive, would + infinitive )

texts:
In Swan's Practical English Usage section 265 on (if only) item (b) would + infinitive (without to) to talk about the future, he gives the following example:

  If only it would stop raining, we could go out

I was wondering if we could use (would) in the main clause too. I googled up but all the pages I have seen aren't any different than Swan's. Here's an example I made it up:

  If only he would sell me his car this week, I would give him $1000 more.


texts:
Would you please tell me if the following mean the same? if so, which one do native speakers use more?

  Get to know VS. come to know

I am sure there is some subtle difference between these.

I am confused a little bit, as my profs. has already told me the following:

  Providing your sentence has not agent, you could use get to know that is, some thing like the following, couldn't we?

I heard about it.


texts:
What's the different between "tie on" and "tie to"? for example when one says:

  He tied the string to the trolley.

and

  He tied the string on a firm place.

Both are correct? what's the clue?


texts: Can I put "it's" before "no wonder" when I make a kind of conclusion?

texts:
Can I put "it's" before "no wonder" when I make a kind of conclusion (having presented some facts about why my conclusion shouldn't be surprising)? Or it will sound awkward?:

  James studied karate in the second grade and judo in the third grade.
  Besides he is very much into weightlifting and boxing. So, it's no
  wonder that he is considered the strongest boy in this class.


texts:
I wrote the following sentence and then immediately I understood that it's apperently incorrect. Now I'm not sure what is the natural way which native English speaker would say this thing.

  "Does anyone could open this file and read it?"

It is a file which we got from our college and there is a problem to open it and read it. Then I asked my classmate if it they could open it. How should I build for my case an interrogative sentence - correctly?


texts:
which of these two sentences is correct?

This product will stand up to ten years use.
This product will stand up to ten years of use.

In addition, I cannot understand the meaning of the following:

ten years use.
ten years of use.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Confusion regarding "I suppose" or "I supposed."

texts:
I'm having a little confusion while writing this sentence. In informal English we often say "I suppose" to mean "I assume" or "I guess." In the sentence below, should I choose "I supposed" or "I suppose"? Am I right in thinking that it should be "I suppose" here?

  In the end I supposed I just couldn't let go of that letter.


texts: Are there any differences between "a slew of" and "a lot of"?

texts:
I looked them up in the dictionary and it seems they both means a large number of something. Somebody on the Internet says that a slew of can only be used to refer a lot of people, which I don't agree with. I want to know are there any differences between them? Can you hear this usage in daily life?
My English is too plain, and I plan to use a slew of more in the future to make my English more interesting if they have the same meaning.


texts:
I think I understand the meaning of this structure with noun "as is + noun" but I don't really understand when it used with adjective "as is + adjective".

  1- But she’s also finding that the acting industry she left behind is
  very different now. As is New York City. (The acting industry is
  different as New York is different now)

  2- Parties are a regular feature of life at Seaside. As is bad
  news. (The parties are a regular feature as bad news are a regular
  feature)

  3- The decline in this structure leads, as is typical in such
  situations, to a change in its associated meanings


texts:
Is 'analyze A into B' grammatically right?

For example, if I say

"I am trying to analyze that movie into two different parts"

Is the sentence grammatically right?


texts:
I got this sentence while reading a book:

The steps we refer to are not purely computational or, in a wider
sense, ‘practical’ (although in the book we deal with quite of few of
these).

I'm confused if the 'not' applies to the computational and the practical at the same time.
Among two interpretations,

(not computational) or (practical)
(not computational) or (not practical)

What is correct?


texts: What does the phrase "That'll do it" mean? And what is the grammar behind that?

texts:
The quote is:

— Do you have any hobbies?
— Uh, not really. I used to sing in church choir, but then I realized I can't sing.
— Right.
— And I stopped believing in God.
— That'll do it.
— So... yeah.


texts: "for the next few days" or "for a few days"

texts:
I would like to know if the following sentence makes sense.

I've got a stomachache. I should not drink coffee for the next few days.

I'm not saying that a stomachache has anything to do with drinking too much coffee. That is just an example sentence my teacher gave me.
I was wondering if I could say the following as well.

I've got a stomach ache. I should not drink coffee for a few days.

Do the sentences make sense?
Thanks in advance.


texts: Doing something to take the regret away or reduce it

texts: Is there a phrase or idiom in English to mean that you are engaging in something to make yourself not feel as bad about having done or not done something?


texts: Does the usage of "let know" makes sense?

texts:
I've read the message:

  Kindly let know about the pay per product descripton

I'm in doubt if it is ok to use let know without a pronoun like let me know,does this sound natural or can be used in any context?


texts: Use of Modal Verbs 'Must' and 'Will' to Express Certainty

texts:
When I see examples of 'must' or 'will' showing certainty, I find that the main verb is either a stative verb or a present participle preceded by 'be'. How different are the two sentences in the following pairs:

He will be coming. VS He will come.
He must be working. VS He must work.


texts:
I'd like to tell my friends that I've made a call and no one answered. Which of the following sentence should I use?

  I called them, but no one answered.
  I called to them, but no one answered.
  I called them up, but no one answered.

Should I use "no one has answered" instead of "no one answered" ?


texts: Where is the antecedent in this sentence?

texts:
No way of life has emerged of which the foundations were not laid communally.

In this sentence, what does the ‘which’ refer to?

Where is the antecedent?


texts: what does "crafting" mean in this sentence?

texts:
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(band)

  Later when Nirvana recorded Bleach, Cobain felt he had to fit the
  expectations of the Sub Pop grunge sound to build a fanbase, and hence
  suppressed his arty and pop songwriting traits while crafting the
  record in favor of a more rocking sound.

Can someone explain the bold part?


texts:
Are both of these sentences correct?

  They hoped that he would finish his book by the end of the month.
  They hoped that he would have finished his book by the end of the month.

I think that the first one is correct, but my teacher said that the secod one is correct. I do not understand why this is the case.


texts: Is "It would be great?" used appropriately in my sentence.

texts:
I want to send an email to a hiring manger. Is my sentence appropriate?

It would be great If I have an opportunity to work with your Company.


texts:
I wanted to ask if my teacher came today or not. What would be the correct way to ask that question?

  Has teacher came?

or

  Did teacher came?


texts: It it true that some transitive verbs are only followed by a noun or a clause as its direct object, not infinitive or gerund

texts:
As I looked at my dictionary, "confirm" is a transitive verb and it's followed by a noun (e.g I confirm my attendance) or that clause (e.g I confirm (that) I will join the meeting) as its direct object. However, I do not find gerund or to infinitive as its direct clause.

Is what i said correct? and are there any other verbs like that?

Thanks for your replies!


texts: "Greater part" versus "Best part" describing duration?

texts:
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected.

  — Harry Potter

Does the meaning of greater part of a duration the same as best part of a duration?
which both means the most part of a duration? Will the meaning change if the above quote is changed into "best part of this year"?


texts: What is the meaning of across up in this sentence?

texts: This area is thought to contain more uncontacted tribes than anywhere else on the planet, with an estimated 2,000 individuals across up to 20 isolated groups


texts: Tense after "at the time of this writing"

texts:
Suppose someone is writing a recommendation letter.

At the time of this writing, he is/was doing another independent research project in applied mathematics.

Which tense should I use here?

From the viewpoint of the writer, it should be the present tense as it is happening at the same as he is writing the letter.
From the viewpoint of readers( Admissions officers), who will read it months later, it should be the past tense because it is in the past.


texts: Antonym of "having a sense of self-entitlement "

texts:
My understanding of "having a sense of self-entitlement" is, in layman's terms: "feel like everything I get, I deserve it. And if anything goes wrong in my life, it certainly isn't my fault"
I have the opposite attitude. "I don't deserve anything if I don't earn it. And if anything goes wrong in my life, it is most likely my fault.
So, what is the antonym of having a sense of self-entitlement?
It can't be as simple as "having no sense of self-entitlement" or "don't have a sense of self-entitlement", or it can?


texts: Why does the schwa sounds like an 'e' in some words?

texts: I've noticed that in some words the schwa sounds more like an 'e' and not 'ə', for exmaple: environment(.mənt), is with a schwa, but sounds like 'e'. Also in a word like 'substance'(.stəns) doesn't sound like it has a schwa but it has.


texts:
I am learning English recently. Here is a sentence I am confused of:

Before going to bed, she assure herself that the door was locked.

May I ask what the part of speech is for "before" here? I think it's a preposition because it connects gerund, "going". I am not sure if my thought is right.


texts: "Hear something used" or "hear something being used"?

texts:
Tell me please if the use being is optional in the following sentence?

  I never hear the word (being) used in day to day conversations.

If it's optional, then do people tend to drop in casual conversations?


texts: How the AmE speakers call a building's apartment

texts:
What do the AmE speakers call the apartment number 13 in a building which has e.g. 20 apartments when they are mentioning to their postal address:
Apartment / unit 13 - No 10 - Harvard street - Massachusetts - United states

1) Apartment 13
2) Unit 13


texts: How to say "person who invites another person" with one word?

texts: For example, we can simplify "a person who is invited by somebody" as "invitee". And does a short form exist for "a person who invites another person"?


texts: on Present Perfect in "genomes provide data that can be used as a source of features that have revealed relationships indicative of HGT"

texts:
There's a kind of a convoluted sentence in this text and it interested me. I became curious why the Present Perfect is used here.

Deriving a parsimonious evolutionary scenario is based on the premise that over time, genetic change is relentless, such that distant relatives are expected to have fewer features in common than close relatives (Koonin et al., 2001). Therefore, the presence of some distinguishing genetic signal in a distant relative but absent from more closely related organisms contradicts this expectation. The most common causes of these anomalies are loss of the genetic signal in close relatives or gene acquisition in a distant relative.
In practice, genomes provide a wealth of data that can be used as a source of distinctive features that have revealed unexpected relationships indicative of HGT. Some of these features include biochemical/biological properties (Pierce et al., 2003; Wenzl et al., 2005), recombination signals in closely related organisms (EscobarPáramo et al., 2004; Hakenbeck et al., 2001), presence of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) or viral sequences (Burrus and Waldor, 2004; Paulsen et al., 2003; Welch et al., 2002), gene content pattern (Hall et al., 2005; Hao and Golding, 2004; Homma et al., 2007; Hong et al., 2004; Korbel et al., 2002), presence/absence of genomic features (Gupta and Griffiths, 2002; Kroll et al., 1998; Snyder et al., 2007), database searches for nearest relatives (Aravind et al., 1998; Parkinson and Blaxter, 2003; Ragan and Charlebois, 2002) and unequal rates of genetic divergence (Bromham and Penny, 2003; Novichkov et al., 2004).

(From "Risks from GMOs due to Horizontal Gene Transfer", by Paul Keese)
Does the sentence with the bolded part mean

Genomes provide a wealth of data. This data has been sifted through by scientists looking for some new genomic features allowing to detect horisontal gene transfer (HGT) events. You can also sift this data through, and maybe you'll find a previously undescribed distinctive feature associated with HGT. Such a feature will reveal some new unexpected relationship, which you as a phylogenetics expert will know cannot be there if not for a past HGT event.

I mean, does the author use the Present Perfect in order to stress that this array of known distinctive features is not yet complete, and that genomes serve as a source for mining for new "distinctive features"?
Otherwhise, I would see no reason for not simplifying the sentence to

In practice, genomes provide a wealth of data that can be used as a source of distinctive features that speak of unexpected relationships indicative of HGT.

If the meaning would remain largely the same, then why make a convoluted sentence convolutier by introducing Present Perfect?

Or maybe the meaning is not "you can look for new distinctive features" but "you can look for features that have already been described"..


texts: What is an "opposite" to "biological conservation worker"

texts:
The topic of the debate will be: Maintaining at least proportion of old trees within managed forest stands as roost for animals (not to cut them down).

I need to properly express the names of two groups in a debate.

May it be:
             (FOR) = Conservationist
             (AGAINST)  = (forest) practicioners?

P.S. I know that people responsible for forest management may be pro-conservation also, so please do not stone me!


texts:
which one is correct and why

please alight me at the school, driver.
please drop me off at the school, driver.
please drop me at the school, driver.


texts:
The sentence is more or less like this:

  You notice the poor screenwriter with cheap clothes and bloodshot eyes, eating alone at the corner of the room. Your eyes meet. You nod at him with respect. He nods soberly back at you.

I’m confused with the word “soberly” here because I’m not under any impression that the screenwriter is drunk or high. What does “nod soberly” here means?


texts: what preposition should be used after the verb "part"?

texts:
I came across this sentence in a ....

  Radha parted with her mother

But it sounds weird to my ears. I think it should Rather be

  Radha parted from.

I was wondering which sounds grammatical to use after the verb part.


texts:
Just look how many poor people are there.

or

  Just look at how many poor people are there.

Which is correct or what's the difference?


texts:
We have just interviewed an applicant who the committee believes is best qualified for the position.

  We have just interviewed an applicant whom the committee believes is best qualified for the position.

Which is grammatically correct and what is difference between them?

When and how to use who and whom in this type of sentences? Please explain to me.


texts: Difference between "a beautiful girl" and "a girl who is beautiful"

texts:
Are there any difference between the following sentences in meaning?

  I met a beautiful girl.

In comparison to:

  I met a girl who is beautiful.

Are the both grammatically correct and which one is better in writing?


texts: "... you have ever made" or "... you ever made"?

texts:
These sentences have made me confused. What is the correct answer to say, as an example:

  What is the biggest mistake...

... you ever made?
... you have ever made?

Some examples taken from the web

1.

What is the biggest mistake you ever made in gaming? source
What is the biggest mistake you ever made? source
What is the biggest mistake you ever made as an entrepreneur? source

2.

What is the biggest mistake you have ever made in your life? source
What's the biggest mistake you have ever made? source
What's The Biggest Mistake You Have Ever Made? source

Which one is correct? Because I often hear that people say both of them, what is the difference?

Also can we say you ever make as present indication? Can you please provide the basic rule of these issues?


texts: I know the meaning of the phrase "from the bottom up". I am wondering if there is any "antonym" (quotation mark is used because using the word "antonym" here is not standard) for the phrase in question such as "from the top down". In the Internet I have found "from the top down" not established.


texts:
I don't get the meaning of phrasal verb "lose out". Lets consider this example:

  The deal will ensure that shareholders do not lose/ lose out financially.

In this context are they have any difference?

Or can I at least freely use lose instead of lose out?


texts:
When referring to the taste of products which contain chili peppers (like chips, kebabs or other dishes etc.) or contains other spices which cause to this painful taste in the tongue, then as a non native English speaker I have a big confusion regarding to the term that I have to describe them.

I found a lot of choices and I'm afraid that maybe in practical English some of them more and less common.

Then what is the common leader term that I should go with, and which always relevant to this taste?

In my vocabulary there are these ones:

Hot

Pungent

piquant

spicy

n.b. If it was up to me then I would prefer other term than "hot", because it can cause confusion with the term hot which refers to the temperature.


texts: What is the function of ‘before clause’ in the sentence？

texts:
When I was reading the book The Giver， I read the following sentences.

  There was a time, actually—you’ll see this in the memories later—when
  flesh was many different colors. That was before we went to Sameness.
  Today flesh is all the same, and what you saw was the red tones.

As for the bald sentence, I am not sure the function of the 'before clause'. The structure of the sentence, according to my understanding, is 'Subject+be+completment'. But when I'm googling， I found that before clause is used as adverbial clause.


texts: Do we need to put comma in between the position / occupation and name or not?

texts:
School of foundation studies dean, Dr.Wise said.....

  School of foundation studies dean Dr.Wise said.....

Which sentence with comma is correct and why?


texts:
What is the difference between "will not" and "will never"?

Ex) We'll not get in. / We'll never get in.

Ex) I'll not get in. / I'll never get in.


texts:
Based on all my researches and what I know myself, the words: "contrary to" and "opposite to" are not exactly the same like many other English synonyms! Opposite is when a word or thing means exactly different from another word. So "big" and "little" are opposites and so are "light" and "dark", etc. Contrary is similar to opposite but it is used often when things don't line up.. For example, you could say, "Contrary to popular belief, fast food is dangerous."

Now, I wonder if in the following made-up example the two are interchangeable:

  Today, many scientists in genetic laboratories are doing their best to change human genes to change the next generation in the way they want. It can sound good to many people. Nevertheless, I believe that ...................... to the nature's process. Also, for some reason, I think it is .................... to the moral principles.

The first blank:
a. contrary
b. opposite

The second blank:
a. contrary
b. opposite


texts: Do you have any idea how condescending THAT JUST WAS(tense/phrase)

texts:
Let's say there is a teacher discussing something negative about farmers to students. One of the students reacted instantly, because his parents are farmers, and he said:

  Student: Do you have any idea how condescending that just was! (this happened right after his teacher finished the sentence).

Does the bold letters exist, to mean something that has just happened?


texts:
Why is -ing used in this sentence in the word Playing and participating?. The tense in this sentence is not present continuous,so why use -ing?

  Our youngest kids needed athletic shoes for playing outside and for participating in gym class at school.


texts:
On https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/65018 there is a discussion about the order of prepositions. I'd like to extend on that question to cover the ordering of prepositional sentences.

As a native Portuguese speaker, I don't expect any specific ordering whatsoever. The Portuguese language has a grammatical category called "aposto" which is basically the license to put the prepositional phrase anywhere, as long as you put it between commas.

I just had a conversation with my son's 2nd grade teacher (I live in the US now) about the following sentence:

I want to, after work, play on the computer

His teacher said that this is not proper, and she corrected the sentence as:

After work I want to play on the computer

My question is: is she being excessive in this correction because she expects a specific form of writing, or is it the case that out of order prepositional phrases are not acceptable in English?


texts: "Beyond" as an adverb VS. "Beyond" as a preposition

texts:
The original sentence:

  A. It was my business to cross the bridge, explore the bridgehead beyond and find out to what point the enemy had advanced.

Source: “The Old Man at the Bridge” by Ernest Hemingway

My rephrased one:

  B. It was my business to cross the bridge, explore beyond the bridgehead and find out to what point the enemy had advanced.

Would you help me find whether there is any difference semantically between the two sentences?

Thank you very much.


texts: What is the difference between "in the sciences", "in sciences" and "in science"?

texts:
Is there any difference between "in the sciences", "in sciences" and "in science"?

Examples in today's news:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/09/21/umass-lowell-gets-grant-work-promoting-women-faculty-sciences/es4WeQjq6VcxUNMCtt9pcJ/story.htm:

  UMass Lowell receives $3.5m grant to work on promoting women faculty in the sciences.

http://www.nature.com/news/socio-economic-inequality-in-science-is-on-the-rise-1.20654 :

  Socio-economic inequality in science is on the rise.

I also ran across "in sciences", example https://arxiv.org/abs/1512.01420:

  A Comparative Study of Interdisciplinarity in Sciences in Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, and USA.


texts:
From https://www.businessinsider.sg/ceos-from-these-6-universities-led-most-ipos-this-year-2019-10/?r=US&IR=T

  2019 has been filled with some notable initial public offerings, but
  rarely do we stop to consider which universities the executives of
  these companies hail from – or if they attended college at all.

Is the do we here grammatical and idiomatic? My impression is that do we is always used within a question.


texts: I and we think why Should India not be able to make such a huge expenditure?

texts:
I asked a question:

  I and we think,  Why  should India not be able to make such a huge expenditure for a region, which is urgently needed?

Is the sentence grammatically correct? Does the question mark make difference in meaning?

The poor region is full of criminals and under international sanctions.I and we think why  should India be able after persuading international community?. If India succeeds,I and we think "Why  should India not be able to..."                           The "word"should" used with I and We to express a polite request,opinion or hope.[source-Compact Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus].
                                                                               [1]I and we think why India should be able to make such huge expenditure[2]I and we think why India should not be able to make such a huge expenditure.Sentences[1] and[2] are also grammatically correct,but meanings are different.


texts:
Here are my questions
Should it be

V+ing + something + simple past / past participle ?

or should it be

V+ing + something + to simple present?/ or + simple present ?

Or rather there never had

V+ing + anything above ?

My example sentence:

Considering so many reasons pushed me to watch this movie, I finally bought the ticket.

My options:

Considering so many reasons have pushed me to watch this movie , I.........

Considering so many reasons push me to watch this movie , I...............

Considering so many reasons to push me (to watch? / watch? / watching?) this movie, I.....

Please tell me which of those are correct, and thank you!


texts:
"A straggle of gossamer wool shreds shorn off from the pearly mass"

What image does this mean?
It is talking about clouds in the sky at dusk.

It is too poetic to understand.
Is this even viable English?


texts: What is the word for when you beep an item on a cashier?

texts: I was always wondering what is the word for when you beep an item on a cashier. I thought it was check out but I'm not sure. I hope you know what I'm talking about.


texts: Is "Her maiden name is not either Atkins or Perkins." correct?

texts:
I have some doubts with either, could you check with I am saying the sentence bellow correctly ?

Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

  "I think you are mistaken, sir. Her maiden name is not either Atkins or Perkins. I am absolutely sure of that. "

I don't know if I can "is not either..." or if I should say: Her maiden name is not Atkins either Perkins.


texts: The right preposition before the word "rest"

texts:
After the illness I am at rest, now my eldest son is doing all the managements.

This was said my a non-native English speaker in an interview.

Online dictionaries says at rest generally means two things:

1. Not moving

2. Relating to death.

Should he have said: after the illness I am resting ....?

Do the person's words make sense?

What are the most natural ways to mean taking bed rest?

Thanks in advance.


texts: Should I use "with" or "as" in place of X in "The derivative can be approximated X a finite-difference scheme"?

texts:
Which of the two examples is more appropriate?

  The derivative can be approximated with a finite-difference scheme.
  The derivative can be approximated as a finite-difference scheme.

I believe that the most appropriate preposition to use is "with", given that "as" should intuitively be followed by a formula (at least, this sounds better to me).

For example

  The derivative can be approximated as f(x+1) - f(x).


texts: How to construct this sentence: "The manager of the representative"?

texts:
How can I construct this sentence "The manager of the representative"?
I mean about something like this: "representative's manager"

The full sentence is:

  The manager of the representative said to us "Now, We are going to new way".


texts:
Imagine a country keeps attacking another country and kills all the people living in different parts of that land; I was wondering if you could let me know which one of the following self-made sentences sounds more natural to you:

  As a human being, I condemn that country for its attacks on the civilians.
  As a human being, I condemn that country for its attacks on the nonmilitary personnel.

Bringing up this question, although,I know "civilians" and "non-military personnel" are identical concepts, I need to find out of they are interchangeable in this sense or not.


texts:
I saw the following sentence on Memrise website:

SINISTER forces once UNLEASHED are extremely hard to control.

The thing I can't get my head around is why we use "unleashed" in this sentence, shouldn't it be "have unleashed" or "are unleashed"

english is not my native language so can anybody explain it  Thanks in advance


texts: The fundamental difference in usage between 'what' and 'who'

texts:
I know that 'What' can be used as a pronoun in place of 'the thing(s) that', for example:

You are what made me strong = You are the thing that made me strong.

Can 'Who' be used in a similar way to mean 'the person/people that' in the above sentence? Or is it more of a question word? For example:

You are who made me strong = You are the person who made me strong.

Is it me or does the  second sentence sound so much more awkward with 'who' instead of 'what'. And I couldn't find many similar examples either. Is it because 'who' is mainly used as a relative pronoun that follows a subject/object? Overall, which sentence would a native speaker use?

Many thanks.


texts:
What does 'placement' mean in context and how it's connected with next sentense 'They were told the Obamas had seen the movie a few days earlier.

  Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert said they learned of the
  Obamas' interest in the film as they were discussing placement of
  American Factory with Netflix. They were told the Obamas had seen the
  movie a few days earlier.


texts:
Source: Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD, 2nd Edition by Michael W. Lucas (2008)

Example:

  host.deny This value is used for rlogin and rsh. Avoid it like fuzzy green meat.

The author is apparently making a joke, but I don't think I understand it. What exactly is fuzzy green meat?


texts:
Which sentence is right?

  She had lung cancer for 6 months and the imaging studies showed a left lung mass.

  She was having left lung cancer for 6 months and the imaging studies showed a left lung mass.


texts: "despite never having learned" vs "despite never learning"

texts:
I'm wondering if this sentence is correct:

I'm good at this, despite never learning it.

Or is this form preferred:

I'm good at this, despite never having learned it.


texts:
In Cambridge Dictionary the word formally means officially.

Does it mean that I can use those two words interchangeably in the following sentence:

World Water Day was first formally/officially proposed in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference.


texts:
"Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom,

  lead thou me on;

  the night is dark, and I am far from home;

  lead thou me on.

  Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

  the distant scene; one step enough for me......"

  From "Lead, Kindly Light" a hymn written in 1833 by John Henry Newman

  The hymn can be read here.
  https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/lead-kindly-light/

What is the difference between “kind” and “kindly” as adjectives?  Can I replace “kindly” (the part in bold) with “kind” here?

  Kind:

  : having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help others
  :wanting

  and liking to do good things and to bring happiness to others

  http://learnersdictionary.com/definition/kind#ld_entry_v2_jumplink_kind_2

  Kindly:

  [also more kindly; most kindly]

  : having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help others :

  http://learnersdictionary.com/definition/kindly


texts:
What is the difference between these two sentences? I guess the first one is correct but what about the second one? In what circumstances can we use it?

"Speaking English is not so easy."
"To speak English is not so easy."


texts: Is “She takes herself to be very beautiful” idiomatic

texts:
A girl in my school is very arrogant and she feels that she's very beautiful. So someone says:

  Yeah! She takes herself to be very beautiful.

Is the use of "take herself to be" natural?


texts: PLease, dear native English speakers, help me to understand the meaning of the expression "a year on" within the context "The reality is that, a year on, a true 4K standard is still very much a work in progress..." Thank you a lot!


texts: Difference between 'career aspirations' and 'career goals'

texts:
Is there any difference between 'career aspirations' and 'career
  goals'?

If these two are almost the same, which one is better when writing an essay?


texts:
Sail to discover those magic islands

Sail - here it means, travel by ship on or across (a sea).

How grammatical the use of the word "sail" here? (even if we think little poetically)


texts:
What is the difference between these sentences?

  You tried

and

  You did try

I have always used tried but then I heard did try in some film.
I have tried to find something about it, but I am still not sure.
Thank you in advance.


texts:
Is it better to have "become" in "make somebody (become) more mature"?
For example,

  The mathematical courses have made me (become) more mathematically mature.

Thanks!


texts:
Google says snippet is a small piece or brief extract.
"snippets of information about the war"

I would like to know if it is used for things and objects? Or some examples of its usage.


texts: "He has a car but yesterday he ______ by cab"

texts:
Example: He has a car but yesterday he ______ by cab

Was leaving
Left

Could I use both options? And which one sounds better?


texts: so many means of "for" how to distinguish?

texts:
There's so many meanings for "for"
If somebody uses a short sentence and you also don't have the context how do you understand?

Example, when you say "jump for joy", how do you distinguish:

  "jump if you want joy" (commanding)

from

  "I got so excited so I jumped" (voluntarily jumped)


texts: Could anyone help me parse this sentence, please?

texts:
At the time Malthus was writing, the world's population was under a
  billion, but the onset of the Industrial Revolution set in train a
  remarkable swelling of human numbers to more than 3 billion by the
  1960s -- with no sign of any global Malthusian catastrophe.

In the above paragraph, I can't parse the sentence "but the onset of the Industrial Revolution set in train a remarkable swelling of human numbers to more than 3 billion by the 1960s". Which is the subject and which is the verb? And what does that sentence mean?


texts: "are of particular interest" or "are of a particular interest"

texts:
Verbal expressions are of particular interest.

Is the above sentence correct or we should add an a before particular?

  Verbal expressions are of a particular interest.


texts:
Can an informal Letter end as:

1) Yours Loving,
John

OR

2) Yours Lovingly,
John

OR

3) Your Loving Son,
John

I guess the 2nd and the 3rd ones are okay; I'm not sure about the 1st one, please help.


texts:
Are there any other expressions to say "I have a lot of guts"?
The situation is you want to express that you have enough courage and conviction in a job interview.


texts: What is the meaning of "if" in "If aspirins can cure it, I'll take a couple tonight."?

texts: what means "if" in Zero conditional sentence "If aspirins will cure it, I'll take a couple tonight"? can we replace "if" with "because" or "since" in the sentence?


texts: The definite article with a modified noun

texts:
I am very perplexed. I saw this in an article:

1)

"Fairuza plays Stacia, a tough young woman who's the passenger on a bus that breaks down on the way to Spokane."

I thought saing this means she is the only passenger, but it it obviously not the case.

Duty to the passenger on a bus, adult or child, begins when the person boards that vehicle.

Why "the" here? It is obviously not the only possible passenger on a bus.

2) Talking generally:

"It will cause harm the passengers on a bus"

Well, passengers can be used with "the" because we do have specific passengers in mind - those on a general bus, BUT - does it specify the quantity of passengers I talk about? Can it mean that I talk about some of them?

"It will cause harm the passenger on a bus"

As we are talking about any passenger that is specific because he is a passenger of a bus, can we use "the passenger" talking generally? And does it say anything whether it is the only passenger who is traveling on a bus? Can it mean one of them?

Please, help.


texts:
Example with a context:

  Suspension is a common practice in the workplace for being in violation of an organization's policy, or major breaches of policy. Work suspensions occur when a business manager or supervisor deems an action of an employee, whether intentional or unintentional, to be a violation of policy that should result in a course of punishment, and when the employee's absence during the suspension period does not affect the company.

I was just wondering what this expression might really mean and how to correctly understand it. Any ideas?


texts:
In Germany, a shop made commercials with the slogan "Come in and found out."

There were many jokes about the meaning of the slogan in Germany.
Often it was interpreted as Komm rein und finde wieder raus ("Come in, and find the way out again").

Find out is translated to German as herausfinden. The German herausfinden has two meanings: to get out, to detect, but also to find a way.

Has to find out also a geographical meaning as in "we were in a labyrinth, but find out our way." or is it a German false friend?


texts: What is the correct position of the preposition "before" in the sentence?

texts:
Which position of the preposition before in the following sentences is correct?

  Please be at the venue at least before 10 minutes.

or

  Please be at the venue at least 10 minutes before meeting start.


texts: Can I write the passive of this sentence by using "got"?

texts:
Context: This drug has affected me a lot.

  Passive: I have got affected by this drug a lot.

I have not used "have been", so is it correct?


texts: "Different fields of study" or "studies"

texts:
Which one is correct?

  Different fields of study

or

  Different fields of studies


texts:
a. Bill alone cannot solve this problem. He needs help.
b. Bill alone cannot solve this problem. Everyone else in the class can.
Are both of the above grammatically correct?
Are they correctly punctuated?
In which case does one have to set off 'alone' with commas?
c. Bill, alone, cannot solve this problem.


texts: How can visual learners learn pronunciation in English?

texts:
As a visual learner, I have struggled and am still struggling with the pronunciation of English words, because I can't most of the time rely on their spelling. I would even say that their spelling, which I memorise easily, misleads me when trying to pronounce them correctly. Letters pop up into my head and prevent me from pronouncing correctly. Thus, I am looking for a learning method that helps me to memorize visually the pronunciation, for example by allocating a certain colour to a sound. Does anyone know such a method or other methods?

I would also like to know whether anyone has the same issue as me.


texts: Using articles in front of the word "dawn"

texts: I came across the following phrase in www.oxforddictionaries.com : "he set off at dawn". At the same time in this dictionary it is not stated that "dawn" is a mass noun. I would like to ask therefore, why there is no article in front of dawn in the phrase?


texts: How do you call a component that saves current state and then restores it?

texts:
We have a software component with the following responsibility: it saves the name of a selected visual element before executing an action and after the action finishes (with success or with failure) it selects back that visual element.
What name should we give this component?
We've discussed the options

SelectionManager (too general)
SelectionRestorer (sounds odd)
Memoizer (can we use it in this context??)

Can you suggest a strong name?


texts:
I read this sentence in my workbook:

  Regaining the former glory as a port town in the Middle Ages, it is now a prosperous town.

I've tried to simplify this below:

  I regained the innocence as a boy.

What is the function of as here? Does this mean "I regained the innocence I had when I was a boy?


texts: There are 4 zeros in front of this number

texts:
In this number:0.000023, what will be a natural way to express the idea of the number of zeros placed to the left of the number

  This number has  zeros in front of it.

And what about this sentence to tell a little kid:

  Write a number with 4 zeros in front of it.

Is the use of "in front of" natural?

P.S. Corrected the error


texts: "go to the bathroom one time", is it idiomatic to say that?

texts:
To describe How I was busy, I could say

  I worked the whole day.

to emphasize the non stop work, I guess I could add more

  I worked the whole day, I didn't even go to the bathroom one time.

or

  I worked the whole day, I didn't even go to the bathroom, not even one time.

My concern is the part one time, is it idiomatic to say that?


texts: "My parents didn't buy me a laptop until my 20" (I mean: 20 years)

texts:
Is this statement grammatically correct?

  My parents didn't buy me a laptop until my 20.

I mean by 20 years, or is the following sentence better?

  My parents had not bought me a laptop before I became 20 years old.


texts: When refer something immediately after it, should I use "a" or "the"?

texts:
I guess I understand the basic rules of "A/an and the" in Cambridge Dictionary grammar tutorial.

However, I have no idea which rule in that tutorial fits the following situation.

A post use article "the" in this way

  A research paper uses the term "proxy data sets" in this way

where "the term" refers to "proxy data sets" immediately after it. In this situation, should I use "a" or "the"?

Could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.


texts: Is a sentence an independent clause even if it doesn't make sense without the previous sentence?

texts:
Example:

  In the past six years I’ve written twenty short stories, and about
  half of those have since been accepted to literary magazines or
  paperback anthologies.

This seems to be an independent clause. It has the same structure as:

  "Half of my short stories have since been accepted to literary
  magazines or paperback anthologies."

However, it doesn't quite make sense without the previous sentence. (E.g. since when?)

Is it still an independent clause?


texts: "If you ask my favourite activity, I would say it is eating."  Is it correct or I should use "will" instead of would or another thing


texts: What does "the well of the Senate" mean in this sentence and why does it go on to talk about "babies"?

texts:
Those magnificent generations of civil servants who have come before, many with those same robes, are waiting on you now. They are waiting because the generation of Americans who will deliver on that boldest promise of all will not do it at the point of a gun, they will not do it with the crack of a gavel, not with a speech from the well of the Senate, they will do it with a book on a beanbag chair with our babies. It is only there that America will finally find its greatest dream of itself, delivered by her proudest and most passionate patriots – the American teacher. The right to know, the power to act, the will to love: lead us there.

what's 'well' in the sentence above? I looked up dictionary and there aren't any definitions of 'well' as a noun that help me understand 'the well of the senate'..

And what's the meaning of the following phrase 'they will do it with a book on a beanbag chair with our babies.' ? I mean, I understand this sentence itself word by word but I don't understand the sentence in the context. Why does that baby sentence just showed up here?


texts: English joke in the "Dodger's Guide to London" by Terry Pratchett

texts:
The book "Dodger's Guide to London" has two jokes on page 103.

Why is the City of Rome* like a candle wick?... Because it's in the middle of Greece.
A horse has ten legs: he has two forelegs and two hind ones. Two fores are eight, and two others are ten!

Second joke is clear and funny. But what does first mean? It also has a footnote:

*He would have it Rome

I think it refers to former capital of Roman empire and current capital of Italy, but this city has nothing to do with Greece.


texts: what is the structure details of this sentence?

texts:
Old people are told they are "young" when really what is meant is that they are healthy .

I think it can be rearrange to

  When old people are told ( that ) they are "young" what is really meant is that they are healthy.

But I am not sure whether that is correct.

I tried to deconstruct it, I thought the core is:

  What they are young  is really meant is that they are healthy

But that does not seem to be right.

Thank you.


texts: What does Conan O'Brien say at 1:28 in this clip of the Conan show

texts:
At 1:28 in this clip of the Conan show, Conan O'Brien says something I can't understand. I believe listening comprehension is a crucial part of learning the English language, but I'm just not picking up what's said there.

What does Conan O'Brien say at that time?


texts: What is the British term for the place where people change clothes at the gym?

texts:
What is the common British term for the place where people change the clothes at the gym?

In my dictionary I found that there are three results for my language word: wardrobe, cloakroom, checkroom. and I'm not sure what one of them is appropriate for BrE.

I checked the term "cloakroom" on Cambridge dictionary and I'm not sure that this is the word that I'm looking for since its definition is:

  "a room in a public building such as a restaurant, theatre, etc. where coats, bags, and other personal things can be left while their owners are in the building"

While I'm talking about the place where people change their clothes, such as in the gym, swimming pool, beach, sports hall etc.


texts:
There is an online English class room which has an increasing number of teachers, most of whom I don't know at all.

I have to book a room by time, e.g. 8 pm Wednesday, to attend class. I don't know who will be assigned to that classroom before I booked a room successfully.

To convey the same idea, should I say

  I don't know which teacher will be assigned to me

  I don't know what teacher will be assigned to me


texts: A verb following 'than' without a subject

texts:
'Previous studies have found that children living on farms have a wider range of microbial exposures than occurs in the reference groups'

Is the verb directly following 'than' without a subject grammatically correct?
Are there any words possibly omitted between 'than' and 'occurs'?
Is there any other examples of conjunctions after which a subject can be omitted?


texts:
All the field intensities vanish.

Rephrase sentence:

  The field intensities all vanish.

Are they both grammatical and imply the same thing?


texts:
This excerpt come from Landmarks of English Literature by H. J. Nicoll:

  It is not to the credit of England that the only full survey of its
  literature possessing any high merit from a purely literary point of
  view should be the work of a Frenchman. We have among us not a few
  writers, any one of whom, if they would abandon for a few years the
  practice, now unhappily too prevalent, of writing merely Review
  articles and brief monographs, could produce a work on the subject
  worthy of so great a theme.

I am not sure why "not a few" is used, because it could mean "a lot of" or the exact opposite "not a single". Does "not a few" always mean "a lot of"? Can you provide some examples and explanation?


texts: This book is comparatively cheap/cheaper than that one

texts: I am confused at the usage of (comparatively+than). Please guide.


texts: What's the difference between "flicker" and "twinkle"? By dictionary definition, they are almost identical.


texts:
I looked it up online and found a sentence:

She began urging him towards the front door.

So we have “urge somebody towards”.

I’m wondering if I can say:

He’s urging towards the bus.

Or do I have to say:

He’s urging himself towards the bus.


texts: What does the phrase "starter pack" mean in the context of programming?

texts:
Source: http://rhuno.com/flashblog/2013/12/08/video-tutorial-tetris-with-html5-and-js/

  In this tutorial you will learn how to create a simple Tetris clone using HTML5 and Javascript. In addition to keyboard control, you will implement touch interaction so that the game can be played on mobile devices such as the iPhone and Android phones.
  It's a doozy, so you may want to break it up into multiple viewing sessions or make sure you've got time to spare.
  You can download the starter pack to follow along, or download the completed project.

I looked up the word in Wikipedia but I'm still not sure what it means in this context.


texts:
What is the difference between two sentences below

The expression would not sound scientific
The expression would not sound as scientific

I wonder the difference when using as in front of adjective


texts: What is the difference between adjectives "different" and "differing"

texts:
Do "different" and "differing" mean the same thing? Here are some sentences they were used in:

  "Bill and Mike have different views."
  "Bill and Mike have differing views."


texts: The TH sound seems to be silent just after the S sound

texts:
When enjoying this beautiful song, I can't help but ask a question just like why the TH sound of that seems silent when used after the S sound. In my brain, the sound formed itself "recklessat" just as if there was no TH sound. I'm not sure how this combination pronounces and wonder whether my ears have got any problems or it's just about Taylor Swift who enjoys performing this  melody in this particular way.

This is about a excerpt from a lyrics of Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift.

  The way you move is like a full on rainstorm And I'm a house of cards
  You're the kinda reckless that should send me running  But I kinda know
  that I won't get far And you stood there in front of me just Close
  enough to touch Close enough to hope you couldn't See what I was
  thinking of


texts: Would "roommates, peacefully asleep" be better as "roommates, who were peacefully asleep"?

texts:
She looked enviously at roommates, peacefully asleep with their stomachs full.

I find the sentence kind of strange. Is it 100% correct? I know there are sentences like：

  I think he is a man suitable for the job.

and

  She has many pencils, blue and red.

But as to the first sentence, I would rather use an attributive clause, which would make it like:

  She looked enviously at roommates, who were peacefully asleep with their stomachs full.

What do you say?


texts: The definite article with an indefinite abstract

texts:
The definite article is used for specific things. In the following sentence the noun "disappearance" is not specific (no one is missing):
The disappearance of a person cannot go unnoticed .
Why is the definite article used here?


texts: Is the past perfect continuous really necessary?

texts:
I've come across the following sentences in one grammar book. I wonder if it's really necessary to use the past perfect continuous in them?
The original sentences:

It had been raining for several days before the heat came.
I had been waiting for a bus for 20 minutes before it arrived.
We had been repairing our new flat for about 3 months before we moved.
How long had you been living in London before you moved to Paris?
How long had your grandpa been smoking before he gave up?
How long had he been taking this medicine before he got better?

I think they would be totally fine grammar and understandable if re-written in this way:

It rained for several days before the heat came.
I waited for a bus for 20 minutes before it arrived.
We repaired our new flat for about 3 months before we moved.
How long did you live in London before you moved to Paris?
How long did your grandpa smoke before he gave up?
How long did he take this medicine before he got better?

or

It was raining for several days before the heat came.
I was waiting for a bus for 20 minutes before it arrived.
We were repairing our new flat for about 3 months before we moved.
How long were you living in London before you moved to Paris?
How long was your grandpa smoking before he gave up?
How long was he taking this medicine before he got better?

or

It had been raining for several days when the heat came.
I had been waiting for a bus for 20 minutes when it arrived.
We had been repairing our new flat for about 3 months when we moved.
How long had you been living in London when you moved to Paris?
How long had your grandpa been smoking when he gave up?
How long had he been taking this medicine when he got better?

How do average native speakers really speak in general?


texts:
I came across the bold sentence from an American TV show, Weird loners, S1E1. In the case of my question, why the dialogue is using future + to be, not either of them? Thanks.

According to google dictionary ,

"to be" means of the future.
Example : "my bride-to-be"

Beside, I also came across another example, lawyer-to-be from an English advanced speaker.

Here are the dialogues:

  Stosh: So, Howard, the boys (Howard's sons) must be pretty excited about their future
  step-mom to be, huh? Uh It's a bit of a work in progress at the
  moment.

  Howard: Milton has some - Pretty violent tantrums. But I'm sure he's gonna be fine once Caryn (Howard's fiancée) moves in, and he sees what a beautiful person she is.


texts: "How much are those jeans?" "which one/ones?"

texts:
The question

  How much are those jeans?

Does it mean how much are those pairs of jeans? or how much is this pair of jeans? or possibly both?

And when someone flatters me:

  I like your jeans

Does it mean they like the very pair I'm wearing, or does it mean all my pairs of jeans? or possibly both depending on context?


texts: Gadgets such as the smartphone vs Gadgets such as a smartphone

texts:
"Electronic gadgets such as the smartphone, the laptop, and the 3D printer have drastically increased work productivity."

Why does the sentence use the not a if it wants to speak generally about smartphones or laptops ?

Does the sentence use the here because it speaks about three distinctive groups of gadgets ?

Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj7yVGVUc-w

Thank you


texts:
I can't resist not to eat apples.

  I can't resist to see you.

Actually, in the first sentence I want to say that I really love apples and I can't stop myself eating apples when I see them.

In the second, I want to say that I can't stop myself looking at my friend.

Are these uses grammatically correct?


texts: Difference in the meaning of appealed and attracted to

texts:
I have a question about the differences and correct use of appeal and attracted to. I know that attracted is usually used in a physical manner. But if I want to say, that a particular thing has always fascinated me, is then appealed the right choice?

Example The complexity of economics has always appealed to me.

Or should I even use fascinated me?


texts: Feeling sarcastic and rude when I write "please" (in emails)

texts:
Maybe I've watched too much television where everyone is sarcastic and upset about each other, but I feel like when I say please to ask for something, as in "Could you please change that ?", or "Please try doing this instead.", I'm doing the opposite of being polite.

I can't help but read it in a judgemental, condescending voice, does it feel the same for a native ?

For now it feels better without the please : "Could you change that ?" "Try doing that instead". What should I say ?


texts:
I know that Company name should not be translated, but LTD or Ltd. should be translated?
Just for example, Apple Ltd.


texts: Difference between "far too much" and "far to much"?

texts:
I was writing a sentence recently and had to Google this because I didn't know if I should have used "to much" or "too much".

sentence:

  Too much of an undertaking at the moment, and far too much code that needs to be rewritten.


texts: If : second conditional or third conditional

texts:
PEU. 256 and 426 says that

  In most subordinate clauses, we use  past tenses to express 'unreal' or conditional ideas:

    If you asked me nicely, I might get you a drink.(second conditional)

But why not "If you had asked me nicely, I would have got you a drink."?(third conditional) It seems like one asked the other in the past. And what is the difference between those two sentences?


texts: Difference between cause of/for and reason for/of

texts:
The question is a multiple choice

  I don't think you have any real cause _____ complaint.

Choices are ( of / for / with / on)

Clearly it's either of or for. In my model answer it should be "for"

  "Revenge was the main _____ the fire.

Choices ( reason for / cause of / reason of )

It should be "reason for".

There must be a difference between cause and reason in their usages
and also prepositions ?


texts: What do "gives a damn" and "sucker of that slime" mean in these song lyrics?

texts:
Oh who said life was easy
  who said life was fair
  who said nobody gives a damn and nobody even cares
  The way you’re acting now like you left that all behind
  You've given up, you've given in
  Another sucker of that slime

My intuition is that the word "damn" here has to do with "condemn" or "criticizing".

I have drawn a blank trying to define what the expression "sucker of slime" means here.

Complete lyrics here.


texts: What verb would you recommend with 'interest' to mean "increase"?

texts:
What verb would you recommend with 'interest' to mean "increase" so that it sounds idiomatic? Like 'fuel' or 'intensify'. As in

The pandemic [verb] the people's interest in epidemiology.


texts: Both "Cats drink milk" and "Cat drinks milk" indicate generality, but is there any difference between them? Or when there is preference to one than the other?


texts:
What is the difference between:

  You were like animal when you play football.

  You was like animal when you play football.


texts: What is the difference between "control" and "inspect"?

texts:
Can I use "inspect" in this sentence instead of "control"?

  The police controlled the crowd.

And also, can I use "control" in this sentence instead of "inspect"?

  Police inspected the scene.

Are they synonyms or not?


texts: Present perfect + ago for events in the past

texts:
If eating starts at 7:00 AM and finishes at 7:30 AM, and the time is now 7:40 AM.

What should I say：

Now I have eaten for 40 minutes.
10 minutes ago I have eaten for 30 minutes.


texts:
I need a break tomorrow. What should I say to my boss?

Sir, I need a leave tomorrow.
Sir, I need a leave for tomorrow.

Please help me out.


texts: Do we need article “the” with "Wonder Woman" and other superheroes?

texts:
She wants to be like Wonder Woman when she grows up.

Can we use article “the” in this sentence, if not, then why?


texts:
Can it be said like this or Is the second one correct only?

  Look out outside the window

  Look outside the window


texts:
Suppose in a house there are two children. One day one of them broke a glass. Then their mother arrived in the house. If the mother wants to know who broke the glass, which question should she ask her children:

  Who broke the glass?

or

  Who has broken the glass?

Can both the questions be asked in this kind of context? Which one do you prefer?

It's a self-made question.


texts:
Hands-off killing can be just as bad or worse. But, as one of the first great writers in English to document Stalin’s crimes, Robert Conquest, who had exposed the massive death tolls from Stalin’s purges and starvations, said to me, “Hitler’s just feels worse.” After reading Snyder’s Bloodlands, one acolyte of Conquest said to me that it still “feels” a little worse, but by a little less.

Source: http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/hitler-continued-afterword-updated-edition-explaining-hitler-search-origins-evil

I would like to ask for the explaination of the sentence "Hitler’s just feels worse". I suppose that I  understand the meaning (in a nutshell, despite Stalin's horrible crimes, it is Hitler who arouses more negative reactinos and emotions). But what does exactly the sentence mean? There is used the possessive noun but the second particular noun is not expressed (Hitler's criminal behaviour or what)…


texts: What is the meaning of "a story of coy ill"?

texts:
I don't understand what "coy ill" means in this sentence : "a story of coy ill will that fooled no one" (about Kevin Spacey).

Thanks for your help,


texts:
Please tell me if the following sentences are the same or not?

It is ten o’clock. They could have arrived now.
It is ten o’clock. They could have arrived by now.

Are they same? If not, then please tell me what the difference between them is.

Thank you.


texts:
What punctuation should I use in a question that offers alternatives?

  What do you like, cheese or bacon?

  What do you like? Cheese or bacon?


texts: How do you describe "x > y > 5 ", inequality or inequalities?

texts:
x > y > 5   ... (1)

This is a combination of two inequalities; x > y and y > 5 , so should this be described as "inequalities" not "inequality"? For example, which of the following is suitable?

  Solve the inequality (1)
  Solve the inequalities (1)


texts:
I googled it but could not find any definition.

  "As part of the opening measures, China pledged to lift foreign ownership in mutual fund management and futures firms to 51 percent by June and remove any limit in three years. Given the massive investment pool, if foreign firms can squeeze just a 6 percent share by 2030, that would give them $1.8 trillion in assets under management."

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-06/global-finance-titans-ready-for-china-s-chance-of-a-lifetime


texts: Past tense substitute for "current" or "actual"

texts:
How writing in the past could I refer to the current wife of a man who had been married twice?

Could I simply use current, because it's understandable that I am not referring to the date of the writer but the date of the character...?

Should I use "latter", the antonym for "former", instead?

  E.g. Jim had been married twice. His former wife was a school teacher,
  and the latter was a nurse.

Does it sound right?


texts: The choice of verb when you are doing something for someone as in "I'm feeding the kid"

texts:
Check out these sentences:

  "What are you doing, honey?" ~ "Nothing, just feeding the kid!" - correct but   "What are you doing, honey?" ~ "Nothing, just sleeping the kid!" - incorrect (it takes putting the kid to sleep).

We cannot simply count the number of verbs as they are many. But then how to decide what proper verb it takes when you are doing something for someone?

Check this more...

  "What are you doing, honey?" ~ "Nothing, just readying the kid for the party!" or  "What are you doing, honey?" ~ "Nothing, just getting the kid ready for the party!"

Even more...

  "What are you doing, honey?" ~ "Nothing, just bathing the kid!" or  "What are you doing, honey?" ~ "Nothing, just giving the kid a bath!"

So, the question:

There are many verbs and thus, how to decide which action takes which verb? For instance, in that sentence, it took feeding but there, sleeping does not work. Maybe, what J.R. says, it's about transitive/intransitive verbs.


texts: Why does my spelling checker mark these contractions as incorrect?

texts:
I'm confused why there is a red underline when I shorten certain words.

Words which are OK:

  I've, You've, We've

Words which have a red underline, meaning they're wrong:

  Should've, Will've, Shall've

Why are the above words wrong?


texts: Does “need protecting” have exactly the same meaning as “need to be protected”？

texts: For instance，when I say “the bear cubs need to be protected”，can I also say “need protecting” instead of "need to be protected"？


texts: words for people whose academic backgrounds are far more than required

texts:
Hot summer is coming and I need some money for new skirts.  So, I applied for a part-time babysitting job to earn the money last month.

They scheduled me for an interview for  yesterday evening. While I was waiting for my turn to be interviewed, I spoke very softly with other interviewees sitting next to me.
I was very shocked on hearing their academic backgrounds.

The job requirement for a babysitter required applicants to have completed their high schools, that's it. But the interviewees told me that they are master's and doctorate graduates. And I was like "oh my..."

I would like to ask if there are any words to describe people whose academic or technical backgrounds are far more than enough or than required by their prospective employers? Is it over-killed? Or over-quality?


texts:
That's all the homework UNTIL July 28th

When we say until July 28th , do we count day 28 as well? or does it say all assignments were marked before day 28?

While we are it , do we say day 28th or day 28?


texts:
Should the word " bonus " in the following sentence be written as possessive " bonuses' "?

  Each element's value is a set of X,Y coordinate pairs of bonuses'
  location

which means I have a field where bonuses are allocated:

and the set I'm talking about contains X,Y coordinate pairs of each circle:
{(30,30),(30,90),...}