texts: Is there a word for "the state of deserving something", such, as, say, "deservance"?

texts:
Italian has a word called "merito", which describes the state which a person may attain in reaching a state of deserving something. Unfortunately, bilingual dictionaries tend to do a poor job of translating this word into English. I was wondering if it is possible, in English, to use a word such as "deservance". I would say yes.

So, in general, can I use any verb, such as "deserve", and attach the suffix "ance", to create a word describing the quality of possessing the state attained by means of using such verb?

For instance, I may construct a sentence such as, "Rewards will be granted according to each person's respective deservance of such rewards."

Thanks.


texts: Is "cogitate" used appropriately in "I cogitate that success relies on hard work"?

texts:
I have been thinking about other ways to say "I believe" in an essay and I came across "cogitate". Do you think it would be appropriate to use this word in an essay's conclusion?  For instance, does this sound all right?

  In conclusion, I cogitate that success solely relies on hard work.


texts: Can "interesting" be used to show doubt when replying?

texts:
Here is an example (Comment to answer to Replacing a 32-bit loop count variable with 64-bit introduces crazy performance deviations):

  Interesting, can you add compiler version and compiler flags? The best thing is that on your machine, the results are turned around, i.e., using u64 is faster. Until now, I have never thought about which type my loop variable has, but it seems I have to think twice next time :).

I also have seen many times that people use "interesting" and guess they want to show that they doubt about or don't agree on another one's answer, just like the example above.

But, I am not sure my guess. So, can "interesting" be used to show doubt when replying?


texts: What is the difference between 'detail' and 'example'?

texts:
Sometimes I've encountered some questions which ask me to state my opinion and give details or examples to support my opinion.

I am a little confused about using details and examples. For me, as long as I make my point more specific and add more information, I would consider the point has been developed.

But I've heard of others' responses to these questions and they added a linking word such as 'for example' and I didn't see any difference between detail and an example which has been used in my response and theirs.

For example, here is the question:

  What is your favorite movie and explain why do you like it?

My answer might be:

  I like action movies, to be honest. Because I like furious scenes and I think it would be so much intensive that would attract me during the film. For example, one day I watched Dragon and Tiger with my dude in my home, I didn't even go to the bathroom after drinking a bowl of water.

In this answer, what if I delete the linking word 'for example', would it be detail or example.


texts:
I have a gap-fill exercise in which begin and start are given:

  _By the time I got to the cinema, the film (1)____.

  _ As soon as they (2)_____ to explain, other people told at them to be quiet.

The answers are (1)had started and (2)began.
Why aren’t they (1)had begun and (2)started?
Although I sense that the former is more natural, I just can’t explain why the latter is wrong.

Although there was a discussion on this, I didn’t find any suitable explanation for my case.


texts:
Imagine in a group of people who you feel shy to be too friendly with, something makes you laugh too much in the manner that you cannot control your laughter and it makes you feel shy, however you cannot avoid laughing loudly. How can one apologize at the time of laughing and what can one say in such a moment?

  I'm sorry; It made me laugh badly; I cannot stop my laughing.

I guess the above sentence would sound idiomatic in this sense, but I have no idea of it's being natural.


texts:
What does "Where am I going with this? " mean in the below paragraph?
When can we use it in English?

  Or how about the song ‘twinkle, twinkle little star’, you know,
  ‘twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are’. Well,
  we’ve all heard this song. Where am I going with this? Well, both the
  song and the story are examples of memes. And that’s what we would
  talk about, the theory of memes.


texts: What is the correct usage of the word "apply"?

texts:
I was reading an article saying

  The following general minimum safety requirements shall apply:

I thought the sentence should be

  The following general minimum safety requirements shall be applied:

because the meaning is passive to me.


texts: Pronunciation of 'pronunciation' with an intrusive T

texts: According to the dictionaries, pronunciation is pronounced pruh-nuhn-see-ey-shuhn. However, do native English speakers really say [see] instead of [tsee] even when talking fast? For instance, I hear [tsee] here but maybe I'm mishearing.


texts: 'Where are you from?' versus 'What country do you actually belong in?'

texts:
What is the difference between these two questions:

  Where are you from ?
  What country do you actually belong in ?

(Does that mean where you was born ?)


texts:
In one of my posts (What type of adverbs “ideally” is?) I said

  there are at least 10 different types of adverbs and these are manner, place, time, duration, frequency, degree, focusing, certainty/obligation, viewpoint, evaluative.

I guess the sentence above is idiomatic. How about this one

  there are at least 10 different types of adverbs, which are manner, place, time, duration, frequency, degree, focusing, certainty/obligation, viewpoint, evaluative.

and this one

  there are at least 10 different types of adverbs, of which are manner, place, time, duration, frequency, degree, focusing, certainty/obligation, viewpoint, evaluative.

I guess I am confused by genitive case. So, I learned a tutorial, here are some examples from there.

  He bought a car, the brand name of which I can't remember.

  He bought a car, which I can't remember the brand name of.

"which" is substituted for "the car" in "the brand name of the car"

I guess I've understood the rule in the car example.

However, I still don't know the answer to types-of-adverbs question, could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.


texts: The necessity of Past Perfect in combination with "distant past" time expressions

texts:
Many grammar books claim that the word before  makes using the Past Perfect optional. For istance, the following example sentence:

  I had visited John in 2010 before I moved to England in 2015

might be expressed by using just the Past Simple:

  I visited John in 2010 before I moved to England in 2015

My question is: Can we use the same rule for the time expressions conveying the idea of something happening in the distant past? Take, for example ages ago

  During my studies I learned that our ancestors had lived in Africa
  ages ago.

Can we write this sentence withouth the Past Perfect?

  During my studies I learned that our ancestors lived in Africa ages
  ago.

Plus: If we can do this, do we leave the sentence's meaning the same by doing so?


texts:
If we are in the middle of the week and I want to refer to a day just passed in the same week, such as the case in the title, would I still say, for example, last Tuesday? Or would that mean the Tuesday before the one I mean?

I guess same question would apply for next.


texts:
Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
"A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you’ll know the debt is paid."
I understand the context but I don't quite understand the grammar rule here. These examples are not clauses (like If you call, I will come), but the author used present simple in both cases after future tense. Can anyone post some previous threads or links to grammar sites so I can learn more about it?
Thanks in advance


texts: Is it wrong to say "You are smarter than me"?

texts:
You are smarter than me.
You are smarter than I am.

Is there any difference between these two? One of my friends told me first sentence is wrong, but the second one is correct. But he could not explain me the reason. So is it true? Iff so, why?


texts:
Here is the context:

  When you are on stage and make people operate just for a few seconds on your time while they pay rapt attention waiting for you to say something, it creates an air of anticipation.

I have checked all the meaning of operate, but only have a vague idea of what that could mean.


texts: Why don't we use "the" before "third gear"?

texts:
Or fifth, fourth, whatever. Omitting the article would make sense if it were "gear five". But with gear being a countable noun, I'm totally stumped.

For example,

  Whenever I start my car I switch from neutral to first gear


texts: I'd like to be more polite in this situation: say 'I will go for sure'

texts:
I am an international student who just came to this country. I always worried about writing emails to my professors, because I think my English is rude. I would like to be more polite, for example,
I wrote to a professor for auditing a class, the professor wrote me back and told me the course schedule, he said if I am free at that time, I could certainly audit it. I think the professor is very kind and want to thank him, so I am about to write:

Dear Professor XXX,

Thank you for your kindness! I think for sure I will go!

Yours sincerely,
XXX

My question is: Am I being rude? How can that email be more polite?


texts: What are the differences between this two forms of future

texts:
Our return date will be depending on the cost of airline ticket.

Probably not what you want. Maybe use this if you know that your return date will depend on the cost in the future, but you haven't chosen a tentative return date yet.

  Our return date will depend on the cost of airline ticket.

This is probably what you want. This implies the return date is in the future, and not yet certain.

Can somebody  explain the difference between these two, I don't see any differences both are in the future and will depend on the cost of airline tickets  may be will be depending is less sure


texts: How would you interpret this sentence from Shakespeare's the Tempest?

texts:
I read a sentence in "The Tempest" by Shakespeare which was:

  O, my heart bleeds
  To think o' th' teen  that I have turn'd you to, which is from my remembrance. Please you, farther.

And the translation of it was:

  Oh, it breaks my heart to think about how sad it must make you to be reminded of these events that I don’t remember! Please, though, continue.

How can "o' th' teen  that I have turn'd you to, which is from my remembrance" mean anything like what in the translation is? And is there anything I can do to better understand the play because the language used is archaic and the short forms and forms of addresses are incomprehensible to me.


texts:
I have spoken of the rich years when the rainfall was plentiful. But
  there were dry years too, and they put a terror on the valley. The
  water came in a thirty-year cycle. There would be five or six wet and
  wonderful years when there might be nineteen to twenty-five inches of
  rain, and the land would shout with grass. Then would come six or
  seven pretty good years of twelve to sixteen inches of rain. And then
  the dry years would come, and sometimes there would be only seven or
  eight inches of rain. The land dried up and the grasses headed out
  miserably a few inches high and great bare scabby places appeared in
  the valley. The live oaks got a crusty look and the sage-brush was
  gray. The land cracked and the springs dried up and the cattle
  listlessly nibbled dry twigs. Then the farmers and the ranchers would
  be filled with disgust for the Salinas Valley. The cows would grow
  thin and sometimes starve to death. People would have to haul
  water in barrels to their farms just for drinking. Some families would
  sell out for nearly nothing and move away. And it never failed that
  during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and
  during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was
  always that way. (John Steinbeck, East of Eden)

Does the highlighted part mean
(1) ‘starved and so they died,’ (to death is a [predictive or resultative] complement)
or (2) ‘starved extremely’? (to death is an adjunct denoting degreee)


texts: Proper verb form usage after preposition

texts:
Which of these are correct and what tenses are they in?
I have a feeling that the second one is the correct usage but if both of them are correct, What are the different meanings each have?

  Was it heated before testing?

  Was it heated before test?

Also a side question: When I tried these in Grammarly, it suggested adding a the to the second sentence(but not the first one). Is this necessary here when the listener knows what test we are talking about? If it is, Why isn't it necessary for the first one?

  Was it heated before the test?


texts: "I agree that technology itself has changed" Why do they have to put "itself"?

texts:
I think that this sentence can be understood without put "itself".
I think it's used to emphasize "Technology", isn't it?


texts:
I am following an exercise to fill in the gaps in a text.

The text is:

  Jacques _____ how he pulled off perhaps the most systematic plundering of Britain's great libraries ever carried out by an individual.

(http://futuretenses.weebly.com/exercise-12.html - I got the exercise from here)

What is the difference between 'he hasn't said' and 'he did not say'? What are the rules and which should I use?

If talking in the past, I want to say: 'he did not say' but I have seen examples of 'hasn't' and 'didn't say' - which is correct, which should I use and what are the differences? What are the rules?


texts: Should I use "is swearing" or "are swearing" in the following sentence?

texts:
Half of the words that come out of your mouth is/are swearing.

Should it be is or are? And why?

I searched for out of your mouth is swearing. It only returned one Google result, so I'm not very confident about the "answer".


texts: Irreproducible, unreproducible, non-reproducible or not reproducible, which one to use?

texts:
I was going to add a tag for issues of my GitHub repository, to describe an issue that would not be able to be reproduced.
Here are the four versions of this word I can think of:

Irreproducible
Unreproducible
Non-reproducible
Not Reproducible

What are the difference between these words? Are they all correct? And which one is better for a tag name?
Also, is there any rule to pick the prefix for these negative forms of the word?
I know you can say 'irrational' but not '*unrational', 'unlikely' not '*non-likely', and 'impossible' not '*unpossible'.
But I don't know how to pick the correct one for other adjectives. Is there a rule or pattern for this?
(Asterisk marks illicit/ill-formed words.)


texts:
You hire a tutor to get one-on-one tutoring. I was looking for lessons that students take with a tutor and I found private tutoring lessons. I have two questions:

Can I use a private tutoring class to refer to a small group of students who hired a tutor? What if there is just one student and a tutor. Can I use class here, too? For example,

  I have a [class] with my tutor at 4. I'm going to my [class].

What's the opposite of private tutoring? Public teaching? For example,

  I hate [public* classes]. [Public teaching] doesn't work. I prefer [private** classes].

  *Classes with a lot of students in them; often associated with weak education.

  **While you get one-on-one education with a tutor; often associated with a better quality than that of a public school.

Do the words I put within brackets sound natural in the sentences?


texts: What does it mean? "in this film he is made to look very handsome indeed"

texts:
I have been listening to and reading Luke's English Podcast and I am not sure what the following sentence means:

  in this film he is made to look very handsome indeed

My guesses:

He is very good looking in the film.
The people who are making the movie made him very handsome.

Or does it mean anything else?


texts:
It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a
  bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.  “The
  Potters, that’s right, that’s what I heard —”  “ — yes, their
  son, Harry —”  Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He
  looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to
  them, but thought better of it.  He dashed back across the road,
  hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him,
  seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number
  when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked
  his mustache, thinkin . . . no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn’t
  such an unusual name.

  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

There is continuous auxiliary + being + adjective structure. In the context, its meaning is, I guess, ‘act foolishly (temporarily)’. Does the structure really have the meaning?


texts: Is this use of the expression "long past" correct?

texts:
None of those boys could be considered a good soccer player actually, but it was amazing to see how one of them could kick the ball long past the corner.

Does this phrase make any sense? I'm trying to say that the boy in question, despite not being a great soccer player (just like the other ones), was able kick the ball very hard and send it very far away.

Also: even though this are not explicitly mentioned, is the text able to make it clear that the boys were playing soccer on the street (and not in a gym, a soccer field or any other kind of "appropriate" place)?


texts:
Consider the following sentences:

My parents are both teachers.

Sarah and Jane have both applied for the job.

I looked up "both" within some dictionaries and non of them defines it as an adverb. Are the above sentences correct grammatically, regarding the uses of "both"?


texts:
Can we use Models + not + Past Participles while constructing English sentences?

E.g.

a) This pizza would be the best ever if it would not arrived cold.

b) Custom drapery should not arrived damaged, dirty and have dead bugs stuck on fabric.

c) Realization that the product might not arrived by the time of his friend wedding; Still buy it because the user needed it;

d) Cubans approved in one fiscal year may not arrived in the United States until the following year.

e) The police were outside the house, but would not arrived quick enough to stop Bonnie from killing Ken.


texts:
Patanjali Ayurveda’s claimed cure for Covid-19 has been criticised for making unsubstantiated claims of efficacy.

What does this mean?

It was criticised some time back and that effect is still there and It was used in present perfect tense form

Some time back they criticised it and from then they are they continued to criticise even now.[Because I have seen similar has been form- He has been lived here for 7years. This means he started living here 7years back and he is living even now. So even here does criticising started and being continued? ]


texts: Is "I loved it very much that I had to buy it" wrong?

texts:
This sentence was on my English test today and the answer states that the sentence below is grammatically wrong but I feel like there is nothing wrong about it.

  I loved it very much that I had to buy it.


texts:
I know the word be and been.but I don't know use of that

can you someone give some example for it


texts: Is "One is big, the other is quite small."correct? Can we use the comma in this sentence?

texts:
Can we use the comma before "the other"? I think it should be replaced by a semicolon or a period.

  Newton has two cats. One is big, the other is quite small.


texts: How to parse "in case" in this sentence?

texts:
You should take an umbrella in case it rains.

According to the Collins Dictionary, the meaning of "in case" is :"If you do something in case or just in case a particular thing happens, you do it because that thing might happen."
But I thought "in case" means "On this situation". How to parse it? If it is a phrase, how does its meaning evolve?


texts: Applying an adjective to more than one noun

texts:
Please tell me is the adjective applied to both nouns in the sentence below:

  Operational planning and control

... and generally how can I recognize things like this? Is there a grammatical rule or is it something logic?

Thanks


texts: In a sentence such as "I am writing using a pencil," what is the grammatical explanation for the using the -ing form of use here?

texts:
For starters, I am uploading this question that I have asked over at English Stack Exchange because someone there suggested this might be a better place for it. I did a few google searches and the results didn't really point me in the right direction.
I've been chatting with a Chinese native speaker recently and she asked why I corrected the sentence "Well maybe you can talk to me use voice message" as "Well maybe you can talk to me using voice messages". I was trying to figure out how to explain it but realised that I might not have the most accurate answer.


texts:
Dear every body!

Can anyone help me about the following passage? The words in bold are intended:

Given the speed and extent of Russia's recent imperialistic expansion, in the perception of the time, “today's inner Orient” was “yesterday's outer Orient” and “today's outer Orient” could potentially become “Russia's inner Orient of tomorrow.”

It is from a book about  imperialistic expansion of Russia nearly 120 years ago. The meaning of this passage is clear, but the role and meaning of the phrase "in the perception of the time" in it is ambiguous.

Of course, I have another question. After getting Answer, how can I express my thanks to those who have answered me?
Thanks a million.


texts:
Without an audience Gandhi would have just  been some guy who goes around getting beat up a lot ?

My question is : Is 'beat up' grammatically sound or it should have been 'beaten up' and WHY?

Thank You.


texts:
Persons do not become a society by living in physical proximity, any more than a man ceases to be socially influenced by being so many feet or miles removed from others. ..........  {Individuals do not even compose a social group because they all work for a common end.}"

Source: Democracy and Education by John Dewey

I don't understand the sentence in the bracket.   Does it mean that those who work for a common end (a common goal) cannot be called a social group nor establish a social group?

Can anyone help me understand the gist of the sentence?What is the point it tries to convey?


texts:
What's the correct/moro common version?

Example sentence:

  Chisato's mom tried to haul her up, until she collapsed on the
  floor too.

  Chisato's mom tried to haul her up, until she collapsed to the
  floor too.

Google shows me both collapsed on/to the floor. So I'm a bit confused.


texts:
Source

Sentence goes like this:

  The man goes through airport screening and manages to persuade
  security that his biological samples--one for each of the many cities
  on his itinerary--are harmless

What does mean by one for each of the many cities on his itinerary--are harmless?


texts: Is there another word instead of 'dilute'?

texts:
Is there another word instead of "dilute" for this context:

  XXX production was carried out by diluting XOXOXO fertilizer.


texts: What is the general name for small machines we use at home

texts:
How can we name the things which work with electricity like tv, kettle, hoover, iron, washing machine or ventilator at a home.

for example can we say :

home gadgets
home equipments


texts:
Our irresistible tendency to see things in human terms ―
that we are often mistaken in attributing complex human
motives and processing abilities to other species ― does not
mean that an animal’s behavior is not, in fact, complex.

The part in bold is a noun cluase? And can I break it down as below?
that/we are often mistaken/in attributing complex human motives and processing abilities/to other species


texts:
The story is neatly complex yet enrapturing. (the audience)

  A naughty guy yet making people happy.

Is it correct to put gerund after conjunction and adjective?, I've seen these phrases such as nice yet affordable cars but does it have the same rule for gerunds?.


texts:
When going to a physician he used to write what the complaint of the patient is, on a paper. He also used to write his findings in physical examination, observation, diagnosis, recommendations, etc. on this paper. What is this document called?

By googling I found "patient medical history", or "patient medical history" but I'm not sure if this is what I'm looking for. I looked for a translation in my language but I didn't find.


texts:
Does this grammar structure fit here?

Nanotechnology is to develop further, as its positive aspects cannot be denied, but be treated with extreme caution.
Nanotechnology is to develop further, as its positive aspects cannot be denied, but to be treated with extreme caution.

Which one is correct? Maybe this construction doesn't fit here and I should stick to "we must treat it..."?


texts:
For the english native's speaker's perspective, would the usage of the word loathsome suit the context of this sentence. Or it does not suit at all.

A loathsome feature of the crime was its commission while the victims were at prayer in the temple.


texts: Is it correct to say "The toy is forwards on the chair, place it sideways on the chair"?

texts:
Is it correct to say "The toy is forwards on the chair or The toy is lying forwards on the chair" in the first picture
and I want place the toy on the chair as shown in the picture 2, so is it correct to say "place the toy sideways on the chair"?


texts: Meaning of "They were meant to have them"?

texts:
There are five pups.
One for each of the stark children.
The direwolf  is a sigil of your house.
They were meant to have them.

Can you please explain the meaning of "They were meant to have them"?


texts:
What is the word meaning people who sell something in forceful way on the street or places?

For example, a guy put a flower into my pocket and asked to pay for it. I wonder I can say street seller. But street seller means people who has their stores on the street, doesn't it? He has no store or shop. He just carries many flowers and sell them in forceful way.

What is "the word" meaning people who sell something in this way?


texts: Why say "buy shares in a company" but not "buy shares from / of a company"?

texts:
In the dictionary:

  share /ʃeəʃer/ noun 1[countable] one of the parts into which ownership of a company is divided

  Friendly companies and banks hold (=own) 56% of all shares in
  Germany’s listed companies.

Why don't we say "buy / own shares from / of a company"?


texts: Can we drop "just" in the sentences like "I took my umbrella just in case."?

texts:
As far as I know, in the sentences like "I took my umbrella just in case it rains", we can drop "just", so:

"I took my umbrella just in case it rains"

and:

"I took my umbrella in case it rains"

are interchangeable. Am I right?

What about the sentences we end with "just in case" (the sentences we don't say anything after "just in case") like "I took my umbrella just in case."? Can we drop "just" in those kinds of sentences too? I guess we can't drop it in those kinds of sentences.


texts:
The sentence below seems to me to be correct:

  They have the technology that is documented the best.

But, can I use a little bit changed sentence as follow:

  They have the technology that is the best documented.


texts: There will not be after school class tomorrow, will be?

texts:
There will not be after school class tomorrow, will be ?

Is this question grammatically correct ?


texts: Is there a word that means that a computer is sending data to multiple computers? I am trying to think of a word that's highly technical that means that specific meaning and perhaps more, but I can't think of any and the only word I can think of is transmit or send, but those words don't imply the data is sent to multiple computers. They only mean that the data is sent.


texts:
Which one is correct?

  Politics is usually not a safe topic for conversation.

  Politics is not usually a safe topic for conversation.


texts: English equivalent for French "manquer de réussite" in a soccer game

texts: In French, when a soccer team plays pretty well but doesn't manage to score, we say they "manque de réussite". Is there any English expression that conveys a similar meaning? (I feel that "lack of success" has a different meaning but I might be wrong).


texts:
In this Google Books search for "a cold yesterday", I found "Johnny had a cold yesterday."

Is this usage correct? Can we use "quality-adjective + adverbial noun" to make "noun group"?


texts:
In general, do you use "must" or "have to" in Time clause?

For Example: can I say, "After you must clean the floor, you can go out".

I knew that we are not allowed to use future tense (will, be going to) in time clause, but what about "must" or "have to"

One of my students said that?

I am an English assistant for a native English teacher!


texts:
    Williams went on: "Obviously Their Majesties will be in
  the Egyptian Apartment."       Fitz nodded. This was
  the largest suite of rooms. Its wallpaper had decorative motifs from
  Egyptian temples.       "Mrs. Jevons suggested which
  other rooms should be opened up, and I've wrote it down by
  here." (Ken Follett, Fall of Giants)

I don’t make out what this phrase ‘which other rooms’ means: 'which' does not seem like a fused relative. And there’s some suspicion that ‘which’ might be the wrong use of ‘whose’ by a character in the novel . What does it mean?


texts:
Once upon a time there was a man and a woman who had long, but to no avail, wished for a child.
Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm

Why it is not were? A man and a woman are two people, so it is plural.
The only justification I could think of is the ellipsis: there was a man and there was a woman.


texts:
The situation is this. A theatrical actress asks her producer to give her daughter a small part in one of the next shows. Here's the dialogue:

Can't we find her a small part next season?
If Nancy's doing it, it won't be a small part.
Oh, well, there must be something.
Maybe I'll look for a nice offstage cyclone for her to do.

It's surely some kinda joke, but I don't understand it completely. Could offstage cyclone mean some kind of theatrical noises of storm during a show or something? Like wanted sounds for a show's sound decoration?


texts: Why is it that when we say a balloon pops, we say "exploded" not "imploded"?

texts:
Sometimes I wonder, when a balloon pops, we say:

Oh the balloon exploded!

Instead of:

Oh the balloon imploded!

When a balloon pops, it becomes smaller. As I see it, the meaning of "imploded" is:

collapse or cause to collapse violently inwards.

Wouldn't it be more typical if we say "imploded"?
Maybe only I am thinking like that...


texts: Does an adverb 'too' have a negative note?

texts:
Like the native speakers here on ELL, I have a respected guru-cum-friend for English. He is very proficient in the language. While discussing my question 'I am too tired to drive', he stopped me even before I could finish it. The very first thing he said was that the adverb 'too' has a negative note.

This was indeed a jaw-dropping surprise to me as I have used 'too good', 'too innocent', 'too beautiful' and such constructions zillions of times in my life.

But then, when I searched COCA, the surprise turned into shock as I observed that most of entries of 'too' had some negation one or the other way.

As always, I find this as the best place to have more clarity on this. I trust him as much as I trust you all! :)


texts: "The main reason" phrase and auxiliary sentence structure

texts:
Which sentence does sound more natural to you?

  1: The main reason for selecting this approach is to incorporate the benefits of data and statistics and the advantages of expert judgment.

or

  2: The main reason for selection of this approach is the incorporation of benefits of data and statistics and advantages of expert judgment.


texts: Did you have a moment to talk? vs Do you have a moment to talk?

texts:
When calling someone say as a customer service representative, which sentence is the correct one to choose?

  Did you have a moment to talk?

vs.

  Do you have a moment to talk?

I have heard natives choose the first one but I don't understand as to why they use past tense. Afterall, the person is on the phone right now and should be asked if they are free to talk now, not a time in the past.
Any help is appreciated...


texts: Need help in understanding explanation to this text completion problem

texts:
Question:

  Kagan maintains that an infant’s reactions to its first stressful
  experiences are part of a natural process of development, not
  harbingers of childhood unhappiness or _________ signs of adolescent
  anxiety.

  A prophetic B normal C monotonous D virtual E typical

Explanation:

  The sentence contrasts the infant’s reactions, part of a normal
  developmental process, with future unhappiness and anxiety. The
  missing word describes signs of adolescent anxiety as they relate to
  the infant. Choice A is correct: “prophetic” signs, like har -
  bingers, foretell future occurrences, and for the infant, adolescent
  anxiety is a future occurrence. Since an infant cannot literally
  display signs of adolescent anxiety, “normal,” “monotonous,” and
  “typical” are all incorrect. And “virtual” is incorrect, because
  virtual signs are not real signs, and what Kagan is denying is that
  the infant’s reactions are not real signs of later unhappiness. Thus
  the correct answer is prophetic (Choice A).

I feel the last line in the explanation of the above question is incorrect. I understood that what Kagan is denying is that "Infant's reactions are real signs of future unhappiness", but it states what Kagan is denying is that "Infant's reactions are not real signs of future unhappiness".

Can anyone please explain what is wrong in my understanding?

PS: I understood the reasoning behind the answer. I am only concerned regarding the last line of the question.


texts:
I remember back that day when I commented on someone's post that had a lot of missing determiners saying:

  You need determiners for the computer and the tv.

Since there should be more than one determiners, I wrote determiners. Now I think I was wrong: I think it should be a determiner because the sentence should be like the following one.

  You need a determiner for the computer and a determiner for the tv.

  You need a determiner for the computer and tv.

Should I say determiners for or a determiner for in the sentence I wrote?


texts:
Using apple and orange in a construction that implies apples? I am having difficulty with certain phrases that assumes that X and Y in phrase Z are the of the same element or are comparable. Some sentences are really awkward when we use the same element and I am wondering how to fix this. Most sentence end up either sounding nonsensical or sound awkward at best.

For example:

  The explosions were mistaken for Russian nukes.

  The explosions were mistaken for the explosions of Russian nukes.

  The looming clouds were mistaken for the fallout of Russian nukes.

  The looming clouds were mistaken for Russian nukes.


texts:
Not to honor men of worth will keep the people from contention; not to
  value goods that are hard to come by will keep them from theft; not to
  display what is desirable will keep them from being unsettled of mind.

The first two sentences, do they mean the following:

People will stop contending if they stop honoring worthy men.

Valuable goods will not be stolen if they are not appreciated.

In the last sentence, "them" is referred to what? And what does "unsettled of mind" mean? And what is the gist of the whole sentence?


texts: A couple of questions about Tale of Two Cities opening

texts:
Charles Dickens' novel opens with:

  It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

I've been reading lots of different explanations for this opening on English stackexchange and elsewhere. It seems there's no agreement on what it means.

My questions

1- So far like, does it mean "so much like"?

2- What does boldface that mean? Does it introduce result as in "you are so competent that you will definately be hired"

3- Does boldface "its" refer to the period (i.e., the time of the French revolution) or the present period  (i.e., the time when the novel was published)?


texts:
Which of the orders is more idiomatic

  "Look at there!" (see this thing there)

or

  "Look there!" (see this thing there)

?


texts:
Will the meaning of this sentence change if I remove "to" in the second sentence?

  He wanted to go to the park by himself. But I didn't allow him to.


texts: I've realized that I had sent/sent you this task before - Past Perfect or Past Simple?

texts:
Which tense should I use in this sentence and why?
I've realized that I had sent/sent you this task before.

The context: a couple of days ago my student told me she had sent me some homework that I didn't remember sending her. I checked my email and found out that I indeed had sent it to her. Now I am writing an email to her admitting that.


texts: Since he was born, he suffered from the disease vs he has suffered from the disease?

texts:
Is there any difference? As far as I am concerned, "Since he was born, he has suffered from the disease" means he has still suffered from the disease. So now he is suffering from the disease.

"Since he was born, he suffered from the disease" means I don't know he has still suffered from the disease. Probably, he died from the disease in the past. (If I tell his grown-up daughter about her father's death, is it possible for me to say that?)


texts: How does idiom "Breaks the ice" suits here?

texts:
In Red Eye, Lisa just met Jackson at airport. actually he is complete stranger to her.
At drinks corner, Jackson's guess nearly came close what Lisa going to order for drink:

  Lisa: It's an impressive talent, though. Very close.

  Jackson: You know, breaks the ice.

I know "Breaks the ice" is idiom which means two strange persons getting relaxed each other, but here context is totally different to used it, he just guess her drink.


texts:
What sounds better? Or which one is correct?

  There are two people one of which is left-handed.

  There are two people one of them is left-handed.


texts:
Why do I have to use the in following phrase?

What are the problems ....

For example

What are the problems John is facing while riding a bike?
What are the problems Smith is facing while solving a puzzle?
What are the problems Jeff is facing while reconciling his financials?


texts:
I have found A,B,and C through Google books. I am wondering if I have correctly rephrased them? Would you please correct me? especially B and A.
"Is my rephrasing grammatically sound?
A. The last competitor to finish took more than 2 hours.
B. She was a good student, finishing in half the time it took the others to finish.
C. What normally took me a week to finish took three months.
Revised A. To finish took the last competitor more than 2 hours.
Revised B. ...finishing in half the time to finish took the others.
Revised C. It took three months to finish what normally too me a week.
Thanks


texts: Did not I do it VS Was it not me who did it

texts:
I discovered something interesting, guys, look:

I did it

It's a usual sentence. We can negate "it" by:

1) I did not it

We can negate "did" by:

2) I did not do it

Also we can negate "I" by:

3) Not I did it (but he).

I know you will say: "It should be "...(but him)"" but it's a different moment.

We can make a question of the №1:

Did I do not it?

We can make a question of the №2:

Didn't I do it?

Did I not do it?

And finally we can make a question of the №3:

Did not I did it?

Because here "not I" is the whole not separatable noun. And all of it works by rules: for the question we have the auxiliary verb, then the noun, then all other things.
So,this sentence will be incorrect if to think that it meant to negate the verb (The question of the №2) but if to think about it like about the negation of the noun, it's perfectly fine. Though I guess native speakers will mean it through "it":

Was it not me who did it?

What can you say about it?


texts:
What does 'ear' mean here? Why do 'the coroners prepare for active duty'?

  Whenever the yellow scorch creeps down over the tender inside leaves
  about the ear, then the coroners prepare for active duty; for the oil
  of the country is burned out and it does not take long for the flame
  to eat up the wick.

On the Divide
by Willa Cather


texts: 'To be on' as 'in charge of' or 'to be working on'

texts: I would to know if I could use 'to be on' to mean I'm working on something or I'm in charge of something. For example, could I replace 'I'm working on that issue' or 'I'm in charge of that issue' for 'I'm on that issue'.


texts:
I would like others to tell me the difference between these sentences.

  It was being a beautiful sunny day.
   It was a beautiful sunny day.


texts: Is “the service *from which* custommers benefit” idiomatic?

texts:
Many English expressions are constituted of a verb with a preposition (from, to, etc.).
Let's take to benefit from as an example:

  The customer benefits from a service.

Say I now want to refer to the service itself. I have often seen the following sentence structure:

  [It is] the service that the customer benefits from.

However, I believe I have once learned that — despite being commonly used — it is not proper English to put the preposition (here “from”) at the end of the sentence. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

So I would like to know what would be the proper way to refer to “service” in this case? Is the following proposal correct (it sound quite “bulky” to me):

  [It is] the service from which the customer benefits.

If not, what would be the correct way to write the sentence in a formal context?


texts: "They have a house of their own" or "They have their own house"?

texts: Is it correct if I say "They have their own house" or is the variant "They have a house of their own" the only correct in this case?And if I change "have" into "live"(they live in their own house/they live in a house of their own), will somwthing change from the point of view of grammar and "correctness" or are these sentences both correct?


texts: Meaning of the phrase "go hard" in context

texts:
I've come across it in the 4th episode of the 7th season of the Walking Dead. Here is the context:

Negan: Now, boy, where were we?
Oh, yeah.
Your giant, man-sized balls.
No threatening us.
Listen, I like you,
so I don't want to go hard proving a point here.
You don't want that.
I said half your shit.


texts:
I've gone through [Adverbs: types] and (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/adverbs-types)
ref2 on Cambridge Dictionary and I guess I understand the rules there.
Consider the following three sentences.

In Friends, Rachel Green is played by Jennifer Aniston.
Rachel Green in Friends is played by Jennifer Aniston.
Rachel Green from Friends is played by Jennifer Aniston.

According to those rules, sentence 1 is less common than sentence 2, though sentence 1 is not rare. All three of them are clear and natural, is my understanding correct?
Similarly, which one should I use in this sentence, "in" or "from"?

Ross from Friends and Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory have some characteristics in common.


texts: “has not seen” versus “has not been seen”

texts:
In the sentence

  The ocean, 95% of which has not (seen/been seen) before.

I know that the correct answer is "been seen".  Why do I use been, the past tense of "to be"?  Is there a better way to say this sentence?


texts: How to differentiate between /tʃ/ and /t/,/ʃ/ in some words' pronunciation

texts: I checked the pronunciation of posthumous in dictionary which reads /ˈpɑːstʃəməs/, and then wondered if it is /t/ and /ʃ/ separately as in tip /tɪp/ and shoe /ʃuː/ or it reads /tʃ/ as in chair /tʃer/. I understand that the sounds are very similar so possibly it doesn't make any difference either way. Is that the same for native speakers, too? I mean is both versions of saying the word true and it doesn't matter? If not, is there a rule or a trick to help me read the pronunciation of the word and learn it correctly?


texts: Is an adjective with an intensifier an adjective phrase?

texts:
She is a very beautiful writer.

The bold part is a phrase.What kind of phrase it may be- a verb phrase, an infinitive phrase, a prepositional phrase or else?


texts:
They suggested a walk in the park.
They suggested that we walk in the park.
They suggested walking in the park.
They suggested to walk in the park.

As I see it. All of them are correct and I can't see any difference between them.


texts: Meaning of "knew they but how to use it"?

texts:
Nature has given the opportunity of happiness
  to all, knew they but how to use it.
  —Claudian

The last sentence, "knew they but how to use it", made no sense to me, neither grammatically or literally.

My understanding is that "people know the existence of the opportunity of happiness but they don't know how to use it". (Still, pretty weird)

Anyway, what does "knew they but how to use it" mean here? Could you explain the grammar structure of it to me?


texts: Why does this second conditional statement use the passive voice when the clauses are swapped?

texts:
I came across this in a text book yesterday and it's been on my mind since. To be fair, it's not the best sentence anyway, but it did make me think.

"If a tornado hit Rex's house, it would destroy it."

If you swap the clauses -
The house would be destroyed, if a tornado hit it.

Why does the main clause turn to passive voice when its position is swapped? I've been racking my brains, but I don't recall seeing this before with conditional statements.

The only reason I can think of is that the double use of IT in the original main clause doesn't work when you swap it round. Thus for it to make sense you need to talk about something directly.

Thanks


texts:
I'm not sure if I'm right but I think that after "were" I should place "would have been" instead of "would be".

If I were to make this game, it would have been a lot more difficult. It would have had stronger and better enemies.
If I were to make this game, it would be a lot more difficult. It would have stronger and better enemies.

I was wondering whether it should be:

If I were to make this game.

Or

If I were to have made this game.


texts: Did you go (somewhere/anywhere) exciting at the weekend?

texts:
I thought the right answer was using "anywhere" because that what we use in negative sentences and questions but it turned out that it is "somewhere exciting" not "anywhere exciting"! The question is why?

Did you go somewhere exciting at the weekend?
Did you go anywhere exciting at the weekend?

What if the answer to the question is negative. How would you say that?

  I did not go "anywhere exciting" at the weekend.


texts:
I'm writing a card, would it be correct to say:

  "We couldn't imagine saying "I do" without you by our sides"

or

  "We couldn't imagine saying "I do" without you by our side"


texts: Could "curved" be the opposite of "flat"?

texts:
What is the opposite of flat? and is it curved?

e.g.

the tabletop is flat
the tabletop is (not flat or curved).

In other examples could curved be the opposite?


texts: "The teacher didn't bore me to death": Did the teacher bore me slightly, or did he not bore me at all?

texts:
When we place a negative word before expressions like bore to death, does it negate the word bore, therefore making boredom non-existent? Or does it negate the whole expression, making boredom slightly existent? Or does it all depend on context, and the intention of the speaker? For example, If I said:

  The teacher taught me how to solve math problems with fun. He didn't bore me to death.

Does it mean: He didn't bore me at all? or does it mean: He slightly bored me but not as much as, say, the other less-experienced math teacher who typically does.


texts: ' l am late' vs. '…I m being late' vs '…I m going to be late'

texts:
lets assume these two different situations:

I must be at work at 7 but now it is 7:05 and I am still at home
I must be at work at 7 its 6:50 but i know I'm not arriving to my work on time

what would we say in these situations , "you are late", "being late", or"going to be late" and why i don't know can anybody explain thanks.


texts:
He can't/couldn't be the wanted man.

  It can't/couldn't have been true.

Why are can't and couldn't alternative in cases above?

  Alex can't have broken that window because he never came anywhere near
  here yesterday.

In this sentence, could can't be replaced by couldn't ? Is there anything to do with the tense concord?
What's the difference between can't have done and couldn't have done ?


texts: What is noun expression of "create concept"

texts:
I'd like to mention create of concepts with more simple way like "concept creation".

Is it ok to write "concept creation" in a formal report?

If NO, could you please show me alternatives?

Unfortunately, "concept invention" can not be used because it is reserved as a proper noun. (There is a kind of research field called "concept invention".)


texts:
What are the categories or types of abstract nouns? Or Are there categories or types of abstract nouns?
I think some categories are probably action noun or action, emotion, idea, condition, state or event.
Do more categories or types of abstract noun exist?


texts: Is it natural to say "I love getting out of work early"?

texts:
From a tutorial

I love getting out of work early.

I understand the meanings of it and the examples on Merriam-Webster. I also understand it's just an example of the usage of "get out of".
Idiomatic
I am aware that the expression I love doing something is idiomatic.
I'd just like to know whether "love getting out of something" is a common expression to convey the idea the speaker dislikes or tends to avoid something.
Ngram Viewer shows no one say it that way.

Grammatical
Besides, I suspect that "getting out of work early" might not even be grammatically correct. How about this one?

getting out of working early


texts: ‘have not been able’ or ‘have been unable’?

texts:
The archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.

The archaeologists have not been able to discover her identity.

What is the difference between them?


texts: The construction "there is" and "be to do"

texts:
Do they make sense? What do the mean?

1 There is good advice to be given to your friend.  (Good advice
exists which can/will be given to your friend)
2 There is to be good advice to be given to your friend. (Good advice
must exist which is supposed to be given to your friend)
3 There is the man to talk to in that town.
4 There is to be a man to talk to in that town.


texts:
8 minutes for this guy to fall down to earth yet it takes one hour for my Uber eats to be delivered

I saw this comment on a video on YouTube and I'd like to know if when I use 'for someone to + verb', whether I'd have to use 'to + verb' after the subject or not?


texts:
In Three Days to See, I read

Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. "Nothing in particular," she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.

"incredulous" means "suspicious", so:

"I" didn't believe that nothing in particular can be seen from a long walk in the woods.
However, after "I" have been accustomed to such responses, "I" then believed.

However, the sentence right after confused me:

for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little

I thought it means that "I" was convinced that the seeing see little long ago, which contradicted with the fact above that "I" didn't believe that some time ago. If "I" have already convinced long ago, "I" just didn't need others' responses to learn that the seeing see little.


texts:
In this sentence:

The captions linking the action appear in R.W. Paul's Scrooge (1901) and began occurring more frequently.

in my understanding, the verb appear indicates an action in the past, but why it is conjugated in simple present tense?


texts: The instruction is so hard for me to understand

texts:
A doctor gave me a bottle of medicine (100 tablets).
On the bottle's side, I saw the intruction for adult dosage:

  One tablet to be taken three times daily

I was so confused how to swallow the same one tablet three times daily, so
I called the doctor and she told me this:

  Take one tablet each time at 8-hour intervals.

Because there are 24 hours in a day, this means I have to take three tablets daily.
Now I am trying to digest this sentence

  One tablet to be taken three times daily

Why is its meaning equivalent to this:

  Take one tablet each time at 8-hour intervals.


texts:
'As good as it gets' means 'the thing's not going to get any better because it's the best' right? But my non-native grammar sense strongly gives a question that why you don't say like

  It's as good as it could get.

or

  It's as good as it has gotten.

Searched some other posts about it, and there's this guy said that the phrase, 'it gets', means 'it has reached at some point' or something. Then, why do you still use present tense?


texts:
Oxford dictionary gives an example for using of the word "allure":

  ‘People for whom gold holds no allure’

I read it again and again and I'm not sure I understood it and I'm afraid something here is wrong or it's a kind of a complicated  structure of a sentence and then I'd like to know what kind of structure it is, then I'll read and learn about it.


texts: How to know if past event has a result now?

texts:
Two sentences:

  I learned it in a school.

  I've reached the top.

I've seen an explanation why in the first case Simple tense is used: This learning activity is in the past and finished.
But isn't the process of reaching is finished?

On the other hand.
Present Perfect is for a past event which has a result now.
But if somebody was learning something in a school then the result is still there - a person remembers it.

It all looks self-contradictory.


texts:
What is the British pronunciation of vide? ˈvɪdeɪ or ˈvʌɪdi?

Oxford has both the definitions, whereas Cambridge gives only ˈvʌɪdi.

In India, we generally pronounce it as ˈvʌɪd. Is it wrong?


texts: Usage of Prepositions with Question Words

texts:
Which is/are the correct usage(s):

"What is that key for?"
"What for is that key?"
"For what is that key?"

First one looks correct. But what about others? Also, it would be better if you can explain.


texts:
Q: Tell me about an uncomfortable situation you've had with a product.

A: I have been using iPhone 6 for about 6 months but I haven't had any uncomfortable situation with my phone. So,

  I really don't have anything to talk about.

I'm perfectly comfortable saying like #1, but what about #2?

  I really don't have anything to talk about an uncomfortable situation I've had with my phone.

I think the preposition 'about' already has it's object 'anything', so I think it is not right. but how about #3?

  3.I really don't have anything to say about an uncomfortable situation I've had with my phone.

Since 'anything' is the object of the verb 'say', I feel we can add about an uncomfortable situation I've had with my phone.

So, I think #1,3 are possible to use and grammatically correct. Am I right to think this way?


texts: What is the difference between "interest" and "of interest", or between "abstract nouns" and "of + abstract nouns"

texts:
I saw a sentence in Cambridge IELTS 14 said,

  "Of particular interest were those built to the designs of John Shaw Billings."

I have some questions about it:

What is the difference between "abstract nouns" and "of + abstract nouns"

I have seen some "of + abstract nouns" structure as objects in sentences like:

  "It’s a book that will be of interest to a wide range of readers."

  "It is of the utmost importance that this matter is kept confidential."

I just don't understand why there is an 'of' between verbs and objects. Can I say:

  "It’s a book that will be interest to a wide range of readers."

  "It is the utmost importance that this matter is kept confidential."?

Is this a special collocation to abstract nouns?

I've never seen concrete nouns being used like that, such as "This is of food that everyone can eat."

I wonder maybe this structure is some kind of omission.

For example,

  "Be of interest" and "be of importance"

come from omission result of

  "be (the things) of interest" and "be (the things) of importance".

Am I guessing right?

When it comes to the first sentence in this question. Why it uses "were" instead of "was"?

Is it because this is an inverted sentence like:

  "There were those..."?

Or is it, as my guess mentioned above, an omission losing the real subject like:

  "(Things) of particular interest were those..."?

Or in fact, is it just Grammarly incorrect?


texts: Which one is correct "a question of something" or "a question about something"?

texts:
I think most people use "a question of something", ex: a question of energy

Some non-native students say "a question about something", ex: a question about energy.

Does native say "a question about something"?


texts:
You are better than he.
You are better than him.

Which one is correct?
According to my views,
Both are correct.
"HE"is correct according to examiners.
Otherwise, both are correct in conversation.


texts: Reading comprehension: an allusion to St Peter

texts:
I'm reading The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters and there's a conversation in it that goes:

  ‘You work in Assurance, I think you told us? What is it you do, exactly?’

  ‘Me? I’m an assessor of lives. Our agents send in applications for policies. I pass them on to our medical man and, depending on his report, I say whether the life to be assured counts as good, bad or indifferent.’

  ‘Good, bad or indifferent,’ she repeated, struck by the idea. ‘You sound like St Peter.’

  ‘St Peter!’ He laughed. ‘I like that! That’s clever, Miss Wray.’

Does St Peter here refer to one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ? I tried to search "good, bad or indifferent" with "St Peter". But it seems he never said anything like this. What's this phrase to do with St Peter? Is there an allusion behind this? Can anybody help me understand this piece of conversation?


texts: it doesn't fold out, so no one can sleep over -- what does "sleep over" exactly mean?

texts:
A line from the sitcom Seinfeld:

  ELAINE: Hey, what's going on?
  JERRY: New couch, baby!
  ELAINE: New couch? Why?
  JERRY: I love this couch. You know what the best part about it is?
  ELAINE: Nuh-uh.
  JERRY: It doesn't fold out, so no one can sleep over.

Sleep over, what does that exactly mean?


texts:
Why is "letter" not plural in "two letter words"?

For me it's very strange as the equivalent in French would be plural but my English friend finds it totally normal.


texts: Do only Americans pronounce "used to" as /juːstə/ or /juːsta/?

texts:
Another post (When contract "used to" as "usta", is it pronounced /ə/ or /a/?) explains why "used to" is pronounced /juːstə/.

This post focus on who pronounce that way.

I've watched lots of American television series, which got me a sense that Americans like contracting words in street spoken English.

To give you an idea, "used to" in this sentence

  I used to know a guy like that.

Would be pronounced /juːstə/ or /juːsta/. Do only Americans pronounce this way? or native English speakers in other places like UK, Australia, Canada do the same thing?


texts: What is the meaning of highlighted part in the paragraph given down below ? I tried dictionary but it didn't help me the way I wanted it to

texts: What is the meaning of “now woven into the tapestry of time” and "heart-strung" in the picture I have posted here. I tried look through the dictionary but couldn't make the sense out of it.


texts: revealing the deep structure of "as few as"

texts:
The meeting was attended by as few as 6 people.

In this case, is there any comparison or contrast? if so, would you please reveal it?

Thanks


texts:
"I am going to leave, anyway"

What does anyway means here
And how to use anyway in a sentence


texts: the differences among "Time in a day, time of a day or part of a day"

texts:
1.There is no time in a day as good as dawn.

  2.There is no time of a day as good as dawn.

  3.There is no part  of a day as good as dawn.

Which phrase is better to describe the period in this sentence "part of a day, time of a day, or time in a day"?


texts: Using 'a,' 'an,' or 'the' with 'price' and 'discount'

texts:
I am confused when to use the correct articles. For example, in an email:

  Dear Journal of Business News,

  I have received the information about subscribing to your journal. I have a few questions about your journal. First, you offer a 30% discount off the regular price. What is the regular price? Also, I would like to know how frequently your journal is published. Finally, would you be able to send me a sample issue before I pay for a subscription? Thank you for your help.

Why "the regular price" but not "a regular price"?

Why "a 30% discount off" but not "the 30% discount off"?


texts:
I was thinking about sentences like:

It sounds good

It sounds well

I didn't see a difference and couldn't understand why "good" was used more often than "well" and I found some interesting example...

I feel good - It means right now it's comfortable for me

If I will say:

I feel well - It will be that my body is healthy now and I am feeling healthy

But what if I want to make the analogy with:

It sounds well

Like, that it works without any errors, problems, noises. The process of sounding is clear and flawless.

A person may have had any operation and is being asked now how he is feeling his new hand. He is anwering:

I am feeling well - the process of me feeling my new hand works perfect

It would be funny if to combine all of them:

1) I can feel my hand perfectly

2) though I am not healthy

3) but it's not comfortable for me

A: How is your hand?

B:I am feeling well, though not feeling well but feeling good

I know that "I am feeling well" should be "I am feeling it well" but it would have been amusing.

Am I right about all of it?


texts:
I was watching Subbed episode of Pokemon and stumbled upon this

  There's time to kill. They have missed the boat.The next one leaves in three hours.

Does 'leaves in three hours' mean the boat leaves after three hours or any time within three hours span?

Is it a sophisticated way of saying the former? Besides is it an American way or an English way?


texts: Have I understood the sentence correctly?

texts:
As he turned out, much of the bill owed for the recordings went unpaid for more than 50 years.

Does this sentence mean that now the bill has been paid, because it uses 'went' (past simple tense of 'to go')? If it had stayed unpaid or been paid very recently the author would have written "has gone", which is the present perfect tense of 'to go'.


texts:
I have a form which sends an email. It has a subject and a message, and if you leave the subject empty it says:

  Please indicate/specify/describe/a better one? the subject briefly.

Which one is correct and why?


texts: what's the meaning of " in a champagne mood"?

texts: I came across a quote from Franz Marc "We are staunch and true and in rather a champagne mood." , what's the meaning of Champagne mood? a celebration


texts: "What a difference {it / there} is between him and her!"

texts:
What a difference it is between him and her!
What a difference there is between him and her!

I think sentence 1 is wrong but I cannot explain why. We can say "it is a difference between him and her" so I thought it fine but when I read the first sentence again, it just sounds off. Can someone please explain?


texts:
Why is "may" found in sentences that express fact? For example:

  "They may be friends, but that doesn't meant that they don't fight."

  "I may be 63, but I can still dance out the evening."


texts:
Michael’s funeral was strange because his father didn’t cry. And three
months later he left Michael’s mom. At least according to Dave at
lunchtime. I think about it sometimes. I wonder what went on in
Michael’s house around dinner and TV shows. Michael never left a note
or at least his parents didn’t let anyone see it. Maybe it was
“problems at home.” I wish I knew. It might make me miss him more
clearly. It might have made sad sense.
—The Perks of Being a Wallflower

What does "make sad sense" mean here?I think saying something make sense here doesn't connect:Charlie was talking about knowing the reason of Michael killing himself per se would make sense? It feels odd....


texts:
The below is an example sentence of "protest".

  She has always protested her innocence.

What does that mean?

She has continued to assert that she is innocent.
She has continued to assert that she is guilty. (She is afraid of being drunk and hurting her child.)
Both are possible, according to circumstances.


texts:
Has these two sentences got any difference between them:

1.He has been known to spend all morning in the bathroom.
2.He has been known for spending all morning in the bathroom.

Is there any difference between 'known to' and 'known for' in these sentences?


texts:
Consider:

She's home.
She's at home.

Are there any differences in meaning?


texts: How do you describe informal relationships between people in politics (including corrupt ones)?

texts:
Can I use the word 'close' to mean "having an informal relationship with", for example in politics? As in

A businessman close to the president bought a state-owned steel mill at a fraction of its independently estimated value.

I thought I could, but then I looked it up in Lexico and now I'm not so sure.


texts: What are the differences between "to think: to have a particular idea or opinion about something" & "to think: to have ideas in your mind"?

texts:
In dictionary,

  to think: [transitive, intransitive] (not used in the progressive
  tenses) to have a particular idea or opinion about something/somebody;
  to believe something

  Ex: Do you think (that) they’ll come? (we don't say: are you thinking
  they'll come)

  to think: [transitive] (usually used in the progressive tenses) to
  have ideas, words or images in your mind

  Ex: You're very quiet. What are you thinking? (It sounds strange
  if we say: You're very quiet. What do you think?)

So what are the differences between:

  I think he might be good for us.

  I am thinking he might be good for us. (Maybe there will have some pauses between "... thinking" & "he might...")


texts:
Good day everyone, please help me with my confusion.

"This worked" vs "This would work"

First, "This worked" is in the past tense, and "This would work" is in

the past tense too since "Would" is the past tense of "Will".

In short, they are both in the past tense, but my question is what are their differences? And

what makes them  different from each other?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Using "native" as a noun to refer to native speakers

texts:
Is using "native" as a noun to refer to native speakers of a language (as opposed to people native to an area) incorrect, potentially offensive, or both? For example:

  It's ok to start speaking in [Hindi/Maori/Mongolian/English/Japanese] with the natives from day one.


texts:
I am most eager to apply for your position of ........ because I am a person with  an exact, efficient and dynamic leadership personality and I am also good in time, financial and organisation managment. I am hardworking, and quick to pick up new skills.

What can I say instead of "I am a person with x,y,z personality"

For example, is it right if I say:

  "........because I am an exact, efficient and dynamic leadership person"


texts:
Let's put Captain America's morality sturuggle as an example:

  ''After having dealt severe internal battles conflicting with his sense of morality, Steve Rogers has shed his Captain America persona altogether''(a new man in infinity war-the avengers)

To

  "After dealing with his severe internal battles conflicting with his sense of morality, Steve Rogers has shed his Captain America persona altogether''(a new man in infinity war-the avengers)

Are the bold letters similar to each other?


texts:
Can we say,

  "He is a guide with who we went on a tour of the island."

I was told to write,

  "He is a guide with whom we went on a tour of the island."

Why is only "with whom" acceptable here?


texts: What does "grab nails" mean at this comic page?

texts: At the end of this comic page one character says: "Grab your nails". At the next pages the second character found a chest with a gun and bullets inside. Could "nails" refer to bullets in this context?


texts:
Can I  use "dear" and "darling" to address a friend who is older, younger or the same age as me?

In one email I'll send to a friend who is older than me, can I say this?

  Dear, I know what you mean, even if…

In the other one email I'll sent to a friend who is younger than me, can I say this?

  Dear, I am still in New Zealand and intend to…


texts: Why do you say, "A bus doesn't travel on water"  but you then say, "Garbage collection isn't a profession."  What are the rules for when to use "do" (doesn't) and when to use "is" (isn't)?


texts: Which position for "about" is grammatically correct?

texts:
Which one is grammatically correct or better to use?

About before pronoun:

  I haven’t listened to the album about which you were talking.

About after verb:

  I haven’t listened to the album which you were talking about.


texts: Usage of "due to" and "because" - are they interchangeble?

texts:
Are both the following sentences correct?

  He is not coming to school due to he fell sick last night.
  He is not coming to school because he fell sick last night.


texts: We are disappointed of someone / disappointed from someone / disappointed in someone?

texts:
When someone makes us disappointed. What preposition should we use idiomatically? In other words what are we?

  We are disappointed of him.

or

  We are disappointed from him.

or

  We are disappointed in him.

?


texts: two grammar mistakes: (since/as of/starting) and combination of (under renovation) and (since/as of/starting)

texts:
I have made up the sentences below.
(1) The supermarket has been under renovation since two months ago.
(2) The supermarket has been under renovation as of two months ago.
(3) The supermarket has been under renovation starting two months ago.
My non-native English speaking friends think there are two mistakes. They think the combination of "under renovation" and "... ago" sounds odd. The second mistake they have found is that it's ungrammatical to say "since/as of/starting.... ago".
Do you agree with my friends on the two mistakes?


texts: "have had to do something" vs "must have done something"

texts:
What is the difference between these two sentences?

I have had to do it.
I must have done it.

If there is a difference, is it possible to use another modal verb (like should, must, could...) in the second sentence instead of "had to"?


texts:
The next morning someone had scratched my car and sliced the tires.

Is "sliced the tires" what one would say?


texts:
Is "utter bologna" valid? I mean, can it be used in nonfiction, for example (I'm following Chicago style), or should it be replaced with "utter baloney" or something else?
Aren't they offensive, i.e., euphemisms for utter "something else"?
P.S. Taken from a South American source.


texts:
I think it should be

  Surrender it or face the consequences.

Also I am confused of a comma before 'or' used sometimes.


texts: Would it mean another 6 a.m within the 24 hours?

texts:
I met her at 6 a.m when the Sun rose.

Is the sentence impossible ( or grammatically incorrect ) just because there is no comma before the word when?    Without it,  would it mean there is another (extra) 6 a.m within the 24 hours?

I think it won't matter with it or without it although its meanings are not the same.

Could you help me clarify it?  Thank you always.


texts: Is it correct and natural to use the question "how could you have done it?" when expressing disbelief or surprise?

texts:
Is it correcr natural to use the question how could you have done it? when expressing disbelief or surprise? For example:

So you are saying you made it. How could you have done it? You can't even boil an egg.

If doesn't sound natural, what would you say in that situation?


texts: How would I express this Portuguese idiom about telling secrets?

texts:
I'm trying to translate a title of a book, it's an expression that if translated literally would produce this:

  Now [I] already told [you]

This does not look like it's giving the same idea of the original title (in Portuguese: "Agora já contei").

The original title gives the idea of "telling something, briefly, maybe a secret, without the initial consent of the teller", like "oops, now I already told you".

Is there any expression close to that idea?


texts:
Error spotting : One who perpetually hesitates which of the two things
  he will do first will ultimately do neither

  One who perpetually hesitates (A) which of the two things he will do first (B) will ultimately do neither. (C) no error .

Is this sentence grammatically correct ?
Isn't the B part wrong? We don't use two will in single sentence , right ? So shouldn't the correct form be :

  One who perpetually hesitates which of the two things he will do first will ultimately do neither.


texts:
Which sentence is grammatically correct?

  There were no rains for a long time.

Or

  There have been no rains for a long time.


texts:
1 It would make him to being / to be a good person.

Which one ,and why?Do both?

2 There is an idiom , 'turn on head'.Eg- turn the game on its head.

It will turn the placement on its head.
But
'It will turn the placements on their head' is correct?


texts: Comparing differences of "be/get" and "will be/will get"

texts:
I'm not a native speaker of English. I would like to know if these sentences are correct and what their differences are. Thank you!

Don't be confused with this matter.
Don't get confused with this matter.
Don't try to solve it, you will be confused.
Don't try to solve it, you will get confused.


texts:
"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever
  knew." (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

This comparative construction, I suppose, has the omission of “counterpart of comparative phrase normally omitted (CGEL,p.1108)”. From Wendikidd’s comment, the complement of as before omission would be ‘any of those I ever knew’ or ‘those I ever knew’ (those: good witches and wizards). Are both accepted or one of them?


texts: What's the meaning of "of Gates" in "of Gates being a member of a plot"?

texts:
The falsehoods being spread vary, but range from him creating COVID-19 in order to profit from a vaccine, or of Gates being a member of a plot to cull humanity and/or implement a global surveillance system.

Could anyone help me figure out why the author used "of" here? Is the function of "of Gates" here same with a possessive form(Gates') - to specify the "doer" of the gerund phrases? Thanks:)

This is a sentence from a article on The verge.


texts:
What causes a nose bleed during the descent?

I am not sure that the descent is correct here or not grammatically. If it is correct so what about descend, (the)descending? Please add the reason of choice.

It is necessary to say descent/descend is the correct choice semantically to describe the job of going down into the sea from the surface during the diving. My doubts are grammatically.


texts: Meaning of "must hold managements accountable"

texts:
The government must hold managements accountable for wasting the
  people’s money.

I don't have a grasp of the meaning of this sentence.

Accountable means responsible.

I think a management responsible for wasting the people's money is the management already done badly.

I don't understand how you can say the government "must hold" such management (which is already done badly) from now on.


texts: Would it be strange to replace "crowded" with "massed"?

texts:
I couldn't find this usage on Google (search results), so I'm not very sure if it's a right way to use the word "mass".

Example sentence:

  The train was more massed than usual.


texts: when should I use how, what etc in "than" clauses

texts:
It made me see a bigger advantage of using wall hack than I thought before.

Or

It made me see a bigger advantage of using wall hack than what I thought before.

(wall hack is a kind of hack in a game I play.)
Which is correct? What is the general rule?


texts:
I'm a bit confused about the correct spelling of the word 'brute force' (that spelling could be wrong since I'm not quite sure how to write it properly).

Different resources write it in different manners:

Wikipedia - 'brute-force'
SearchSecurity, OWASP - 'brute force'
WordPress - 'Brute Force' as well as 'brute force' and 'bruteforce' (see tags section)
Woodpecker hash Bruteforce, PS3 bruteforce savedata - 'bruteforce'

Okay, already four variations! Moreover, Google accepts 'bruteforce' as correct, while iOS thinks it's wrong and gives two variants: 'brute force' and 'brute-force'.

What's the correct spelling, then?


texts:
Excerpted from bloomberg.com:

  When I decided I wanted to buy a car, I had the Sportwagen TDI at the top of my list. Over the weeks and months in which I drove every Honda, Toyota, Ford, and Hyundai under the sun, it never fell from that position. It was, I thought, the perfect car for a poncy Europhile such as myself: a German (Euro!) station wagon (so Euro!) with a diesel engine (Eurissimo!). The only thing more Euro would be a Citroën that ran on adultery.

What does the last statement mean? I mean why is Citroën the most Euro? Why he says it ran on adultery?


texts:
I always have used 'it seems to me', but now I'm wondering if I'm correct. What is the correct form? 'it seems to me' or 'it seems me'?

Just to get a better context, look at this phrase:

  That thing seems to me very suspicious

or should be:

  That thing seems me very suspicious

Thanks in advance


texts:
When I say I've put something in the fridge, It means that it's still in the fridge or it maybe out of the fridge?

Does this sentence mean a finished action or an unfinished action?


texts:
What does the proportion 1:3 mean in the following example?

  In this case the holes were filled with a mixture of cement and sand in the ratio 1:3.


texts: Is this Second for time or just an ordinal number?

texts:
"Clement also introduced the pendulum suspension spring in 1671. The
  concentric minute hand was added to the clock by Daniel Quare, a
  London clock-maker, and the Second Hand was introduced."
  (Wikipedia)

It's not understood to me if this word Second refers to time (second) or to the ordinal number. However, I don't understand the reason for the capital letter in this case.


texts: Please don't stop again (or freeze or hang) for a video

texts:
If a video loads slowly we say that it is "buffering". But if a video stops and doesn't play for a long time can "buffer" be used? Or is it used for the whole video?

  Please don't stop again.

  Please don't freeze again.

  Please don't hang again.

And can it be:

  Please don't buffer again.

Is the use of "buffer", "stop", "freeze" & "hang" natural?

P.S. Corrected the typo;)


texts:
I'm planning to ask someone out for a chat over a coffee or something light. Is following lines correct and common english(US)?

Can I invite you for a chat over coffee/tea?
Can I invite you for a chat over something light?(I mean a small casual drink or small bite)


texts:
I own an apartment just outside the city center/city's center.

Can I say both? Which one would native speakers usually go with?


texts: what preposition is particularly followed by ‘communicate’ in terms of conveying message to the reader?

texts:
I find the verb ‘communicate’ a bit confusing when it comes to use preposition. Can I use ‘with’ when accompanying by someone/something? For example:

  Poets communicate with poetic devices. Writers communicate through metaphors.

Here, with and through have been used as prepositions after communicate. Can I say

  I can’t communicate with sign language

or

  Wordsworth communicates his feelings in literary language?


texts:
I've read  a sentence:

  The more the sincere one's effort is, the faster their growth is.

I feel something wrong in this. 'The more' may be followed by a noun phrase perhaps such as 'the+ more + the + noun'.

To make the one mentioned above better I would choose:

  The sincerer one's effort is, the faster their growth is.

Am I on the right line?


texts: What is the grammatically right way to use 'the' in the sentence?

texts:
I suspect we have to use the definite article in the following sentence:

  I've learned that the meaning of "to abuse" is to use something for bad
  purpose.

The sentence is constructed by me which means it can contain some grammatical errors. So, what is the right way to use articles here? I've read all of eight clauses in PEU about article but I can't explain that case in a precise way. It seems we have to use the because I'm talking about the particular meaning, and I myself know what is the meaning. In that way I want to show the listener, apparently has already known about that meaning, despite that may not be mentioned in the conversation erlier.

Am I right? Could you explain?


texts:
Source

  "Libraries today are different from those in the 1800s. For example, the contents of libraries have changed greatly through the years."

I can't understand why it uses present perfect. I think with "Through the years" (in 1800s) it should use simple past.  Thank you in advance:)


texts: "stands out from" (some others) "by" or "with" (some distinctive feature)?

texts:
Should I use "by" or "with" as a proposition connecting a statement about somebody standing out with the description of their distinctive feature that makes them stand out?

For example,

  Henry kind of stands out from the rest of this class with(?)/by(?) his ability to come up
  with quick and spontaneous answers to the teacher's questions, which
  at times turn out to be so funny, that they can refreshen the tone of
  the whole remainder of the lesson time.


texts: Why do we pronounce "the university" as "thuh university" rather than "thee university"?

texts:
English Club says that usually, we pronounce "the" as "thuh", but when it happens to be in front of a vowel sound, then we pronounce it as "thee".

Why is "the university" pronounced as "thuh" university rather than "thee university"? Isn't "u" a vowel, and shouldn't it therefore be pronounced "thee university"? The page I linked to gives as explanation that "university" is pronounced "youniversity" and this y in there is a consonant sound? But why should y be a consonat sound? For me it's more a vowel sound …


texts:
Do I have to change the tense of the verbs, more precisely add a "had", for this particular case of conversion from direct to reported speech?

Direct speech:

  The witness: "I congratulate my good friend for the good demonstration he made just as I left for my car."

Reported speech:

He congratulated his good friend for the good demonstration he (had) made just as the witness (had) left for his car.

UPDATE

My confusion is like this. It appears to me that in the first case "he did" must change to "he had done" while in the second situation both verbs "did" and "left" have to keep their simple past form.

1) A simplified case:

DIRECT, The witness: "I congratulate my friend for the demonstration he did."

REPORTED: In that letter, the witness congratulated his friend for the demonstration he had done.

2) A more complicated situation:

DIRECT,  The witness: "I congratulate my friend for the demonstration he did just as (when) I left for my car."

REPORTED: In that letter, the witness congratulated his friend for the demonstration he did just as (when) the witness left for his car.

or

REPORTED: In that letter, the witness congratulated his friend for the demonstration he had done just as (when) the witness had left for his car.


texts: "a dollar and change". What does "change" mean?

texts:
The company, which is unprofitable, said that its average shopper
  spent less than $90 on the platform last year. That translates into
  revenue per shopper of a dollar and change.

source
The most reasonable meaning maybe was "smaller bills or coins", but it seems it doesn't make sense in here.


texts:
I wrote

  "Following examples show ..."

and my colleague revised it as

  "The following examples show ..."

Why do we need "the" here even though the examples have not been mentioned before?


texts: "I might as well sell it" Or "I should sell it"

texts:
I read the following in a book.

  I use my car very little. There is no point in keeping it. I might as well sell it.

Is it Okay to replace "might as well" with "should"?

  I should sell it.

What is the difference in meaning between them?


texts:
While quite strong, some people can resist this medicine's
effect.

In this sentence, the subject of While quite strong is some people?
Is that means While people are quite strong, they can resist this medicines's effect?


texts: Choosing the right verb in a tag question: oughtn’t vs. shouldn’t vs. mustn’t

texts:
Which choice should be used here, and why?

  You ought to do your homework, oughtn’t/shouldn’t/mustn’t you?

My book says mustn’t, but that’s not the same verb in the tag question as in the sentence proper, so this is confusing.


texts: The sentence is "The application of this capability range from - , - , and -, among others." Is the sentence grammatically correct.


texts: Which of "have I messed up" or "did I mess up" is more appropriate?

texts:
I think your soon-to-be wife is a jerk, ok? There I said it. I won't lie to you. (a moment) So, have I messed up now or am I still invited to the wedding?

  I think your soon-to-be wife is a jerk, ok? There I said it. I won't lie to you. (a moment) So, did I mess up now or am I still invited to the wedding?

Is "have I messed up now" or "did I mess up now" more appropriate in this context?


texts: What does "Is there any place to sell Korean food and beverage?" mean?

texts:
Can we say:

  "Is there any place to sell Korean food and beverage?"
  "Is there any place to sell hamburgers around here?"

instead of:

  "Is there any place which/that sells Korean food and beverage?"
  "Is there any place which/that sells hamburgers around here?"

like in this link: http://www.grammaring.com/the-to-infinitive-to-replace-a-relative-clause


texts: I wonder if have is also considered as a copular verb beside be. The reason is that have can sometimes be used as state of being like be. For example, we say "he has a degree in linguistics", which is the same as "he is a linguistics graduate".


texts:
I would like to know when I should use "that one" in a sentence.
Is it correct to write:

  I have read your two latest books: I found particularly interesting that one on ...."?


texts:
He was smiling, but his eyes retained a look of solemness/solemnity.

Which one is correct here? Here we need a noun, but both solemness and solemnity are noun. So I am confused which one to use here.


texts: Meaning of "we are the working out on earth of Freedom of Speech..."

texts:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/07/truth-and-consequences/303149/

  Analysts offer various explanations for the public's widespread contempt for the media. My own hypothesis is that Americans distrust unanswered power of the kind the Globe deployed against Joseph Ellis—power exercised without responsibility, without regard for the consequences of its use, wielded to reduce a man's life to its most shameful moments. Media apologists say, We are the working out on earth of Freedom of Speech; we act for the public. But media institutions act for themselves. Profit comes first with them. Business imperatives drive stories like the one on Ellis. The media is the only business whose competitive dynamic is protected by a constitutional amendment. We citizens have First Amendment rights; the media has First Amendment privileges. We have speech, they have power. The media has constitutional protection against the government, but, as the drive for profit sanctions more and more lurid snooping on ordinary citizens, we need protection against the media.

Hi, this is the last paragraph of the source text
and I'm having trouble understanding the part marked in bold.

Since there is "the" before "working out", I guess working out here is used as a noun (Or do you think the "the" is a typo?) but I don't know what "working out" means and it only gets more confusing if I'm trying to put that in a context. What does "earth" refer to "on earth of Freedom of Speech"?

(I also don't really get what "unanswered power" means here, so I'd much appreciate it if you could help me with that as well.)


texts: "Over half" and "one half": plural or singular?

texts:
Over half of the domestic flights were delayed because of bad weather condition.

Is this correct to use "were" here?

What if "one half" is used instead of "over half"?

  One half of the domestic flights were/was delayed because of bad weather condition.

Which is correct for #2, "were" or "was"?

What if we remove the definite article "the"? Does it affect the use of plural/singular verb?

  Over half of domestic flights were delayed because of bad weather condition.


texts:
I keep hearing people say "stuff in the mail", but I never hear anyone say "stuff in the email". Why? For example, can you say "Check for coupons that come in the email"?

The way I learned to use "the" is that when you referring to something already mentioned or something you can point to, like that/the car that is parked on our driveway. But sometimes, you just say "the" to refer to some invention in general like "the email has became so popular that everyone is expected to have one". Here, "the email" refers to the email client everyone is using like Gmail.


texts: What is the meaning of “calling in” in this sentence?

texts:
Mavis Wanczyk won the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history Wednesday, a $758 million Powerball jackpot that she celebrated by calling in newly rich, telling her longtime employer that she would not be coming in to work.

I can't figure out what it means in this context.


texts:
The Godfather/chapt. IX:

  Sonny and Tom were off-center on this guy Sollozzo, they were still
  underrating him, even though Sonny was smart enough to see the danger.
  Michael tried to think what the turk might have up his sleeves.

The phrase confused me is might have up his sleeves, I can't connect might have and up his sleeves here. I thought if we making some kind of predicition about past events we should use might have + pp, but here is no any pp in the sentence.


texts: Is republican state's title part of the name?

texts:
Is it right if I say:
Example: China

Full Name: People's Republic of China
Name: China

Example: United States

Full Name: United States of America
Name: United States

If wrong, then when to include the republican state's title?


texts: Question about difference between two phrases

texts:
I need help.
Is "battery charging efficiency" phrase grammatically correct?
If yes, what is difference between "battery charging efficiency" and "battery charge efficiency" ?


texts:
Could someone please sort the level of each of these verbs in the degree of horror?

appal, dismay, horrify, shock, startle


texts: He {would be / would have been} about twenty when he crossed the Pacific

texts:
He would be about twenty when he crossed the Pacific on a yacht alone.
  (From a Korean English grammar textbook)

If I re-write the sentence above in this way

  He would have been about twenty when he crossed the Pacific on a yacht alone.

it seems somewhat is awkward.

Is it strange? If yes, what’s the reason?


texts: "She pulled me up from that hole" - "She pulled me out of that hole" Differences?

texts:
In this context: "I was walking through the jungle, when I fell into a dark hole, when I fell in, I looked up and saw a girl reaching her hands out for me, She grabbed my hands and pulled me up from that hole".

Would it sound right? And it so, what's the difference between:
She pulled me up from that hole,
She pulled me out of that hole,
She pulled me from that hole

Considering that a hole is a deep caved place, and if someone wants to take me out of there, they would have to bring me UP, since they would be above me and I would be under them.
Would it still be acceptable to use "pulled up from"


texts: How do I read "don't take" in a linked way with American accent?

texts:
I don’t take too kindly to people telling me what to do.

I'm aware of the rule for double t of reading in linked way -- t t turns to d.

But here I think "don't take" turns to "don't dake" would be a little wierd --  sounds like "don't dick".

How do you think about this?


texts: It was the most helpless I have ever felt in my life - what does "the most helpless" mean?

texts:
An excerpt from Tuesdays with Morrie:

  At the same time, I had my first serious encounter with death. My favorite uncle, my mother’s brother, the man who had taught me music, taught me to drive, teased me about girls, thrown me a football—that one adult whom I targeted as a child and said, “That’s who I want to be when I grow up”—died of pancreatic cancer at the age of forty-four. He was a short, handsome man with a thick mustache, and I was with him for the last year of his life, living in an apartment just below his. I watched his strong body wither, then bloat, saw him suffer, night after night, doubled over at the dinner table, pressing on his stomach, his eyes shut, his mouth contorted in pain. “Ahhhhh, God,” he would moan.
  “Ahhhhhh, Jesus!” The rest of us—my aunt, his two young sons, me—stood there, silently, cleaning the plates, averting our eyes.It was the most helpless I have ever felt in my life. One night in May, my uncle and I sat on the balcony of his apartment. It was breezy and warm. He looked out toward the horizon and said, through gritted teeth, that he wouldn’t be around to see his kids into the next school year. He asked if I would look after them. I told him not to talk that way. He stared at me sadly.He died a few weeks later.

What does the most helpless exactly mean in this context?


texts: Is it ok to use more than two dependent clauses?

texts:
I read an article and there was a sentence that bothered me so bad.
The sentence went like this (this is based on my memory):

  The monument was erected by John McCoy, the president of *** company
  in 80s, who lived in the vicinity of Brooklyn, the place his father
  settled and started his first career.

I am not sure but I feel like the sentence will be so much better if they were written separately.

Is it grammatically ok to be written like this?
No revision is needed since the sentence was written just to make my point.

PS: I have heard that the sentence was translated from one language to English, so the translator was trying to convey lots of things in one sentence and jammed up many clauses in one sentence.

Thank you!


texts: What is the coastguard? I read the definitions, but I still don't rule out that a boat that rescues people who get into a city river can be described as the coastguard (in English, there are two separate words for a river bank and a sea coast, as you may know). Is this supposition correct?


texts:
Last time I checked, the drunk man was still staggering around/about (on) the roof.

I have seen both "around" and "about" used. Are they completely interchangeable in this context? Which is more common?

Should "on" be included or doesn't it matter? What is more common/correct - with or without "on"?


texts: What is called in English the list with the marks that you get from the university?

texts:
What is called in English the paper with the list of marks of the subjects exams, that students get from the university in the end of the year?
I have friend from Nigeria and he called it "transcription". But when I told it to other friends who are native English speakers they didn't understand what I am talking about.


texts: "You can't eat that" vs "You mustn't eat that"

texts:
What's the difference between the two sentences:

  You can not eat that

and

  You must not eat that


texts:
What is the joke with the sentence "I wouldn't want you to have a cow, man!
Here's a catch-phrase you better learn for your adult years: Hey,buddy, got a quarter?" ?

  Flanders: Calm down, Neddly diddily diddily diddily, doodily. They did
  their best shodaiddily iddily iddily diddily diddily. Gotta be nice,
  hostidididildilidilly... aw, hell-diddly-ding-dong crap! Can't you
  morons do anything right?! [everyone gasps]

  Marge: Ned! We meant well, and everyone here tried their best.

  Flanders: Well, my family and I can't live in good intentions, Marge!
  Oh, your family's out of control, but we can't blame you, because you
  have good intentions!

  Bart: Hey! Back off, man!

  Flanders: Ooh, okay, dude! I wouldn't want you to have a cow, man!
  Here's a catch-phrase you better learn for your adult years: "Hey,
  buddy, got a quarter?" [everyone gasps]

  Bart: I am shocked and appalled.

http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Hurricane_Neddy/Quotes


texts: Is "lower" being used correctly in the following sentence?

texts:
Can lower be used in the following fashion?

  1000 yen said the first price tag. 750 the second one. The lower
  number of the latter shocked me.

If not, what's a better alternative?