texts:
What's the difference of pronunciation of words 'ward' and 'word'?

I searched them in the dictionary, and

(link: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ward)

word sounds like '\ˈwərd\', and ward sounds like \ˈwȯrd\

But I'm not sure how I can make different sound.

Could you give me any tip about this?

(I try to speak 'word' more strongly, then I felt like it sounds close to 'world')


texts: Does "The girl feeling no pain is my sister" make sense?

texts:
This website provide this following info:

  Some action verbs reduce to the present participle (ing form) especially when the present tense is used.

  Remove the relative pronoun
  Change the verb to the present participle form
  Place the present participle phrase after the modified noun

  Examples:

  The man who lives near my home walks to work every day. →  Reduced: The man living near my home walks to work every day.
  The girl who attends my school lives at the end of the street. → Reduced: The girl attending my school lives at the end of the street.

So, my question is "how the above formula being applied to non-action verbs like feel & think?"

Ex, Can "The girl who feels no pain is my sister" be reduced to "The girl feeling no pain is my sister"?


texts: How would you ask opinions for differences between two things?

texts:
I want to ask politely for an in-depth explanation of how these two apparently similar things A and B are different when closely looked at.

Eg: "In which way A and B are different from each other?"


texts:
I have no idea what I want to have in dinner. (About not necessary)

But why,

  I am really confused about what I want to have in dinner.

Somebody said to me that when one is talking about just one or two facts rather than the general information of the thing, about is generally not used.

But, here ignoring "about" in the second sentence makes the sentence sound incomplete, why?


texts: Is there a saying in English to do ‘now’ or ‘today’?

texts:
There is a saying in Hindi implies do not wait for tomorrow to do anything that you can do today.

Kal kare so aaj kar aaj kare so ab.
Pal men parle hogi bahuri karoge kab?

Literal translation:

Tomorrow’s work do today, today’s work now. The moment is going to be lost, when will the work be done?


texts: The meaning of anxious when followed by subjunctive

texts:
As far as I know, anxious can mean both nervous and eager, although I've heard that the second meaning is not that acceptable.
When anxious is followed by subjunctive, can it have both meanings?
For instance, are the following sentences both correct?

  I'm anxious that you meet my friends.
  I'm anxious that he hurt himself.


texts: Alternative for " in accord with our experience"

texts:
Sometimes something is easy as it is in accord with our experience or the way we do things.

What is the proper words instead of "in accord with"?


texts:
The last sentence in the context contains "you have seen it happen", why not "...it happens"?

  Exercise boosts mood and sunlight seems to help beat back the winter blues. So slap on some sunblock and go! If you need more convincing, remember this: staying in shape during the winter gets you physically ready for springtime activities (and wardrobes). If you’re into sports, you’ve seen it happen.


texts: "Message/letter was read?" - Sentence help!

texts:
I am writing an essay and it needs to be in formal language, I am referring to a letter/message and I am supposed to quote it for the readers, but before jumping right into quoting that letter, I like to make an introducing comment like, "The letter was read as follows," I know I'm confusing "is as follows" into it, but I like to have it in the same shade, just grammatical and perhaps formal.

Like, "The message was read as.."

Can someone with a better understanding of the English language and its idioms help me, please?


texts: "to have something being done" or "to be having something done"

texts:
Which one is grammatically correct?

They have their wedding cake being made.
They are having their wedding cake made.


texts:
I was thinking on the following example:

  I would imagine myself doing this.
  I imagined myself doing this.

If I said 1 without a structure like "When I was a child, I would imagine (...)," would the speaker understand me I'm talking about as if I used the past tense I imagined?


texts: do I have to pair "same" with "the" always?

texts: Someone told me not to say, "I have same thing." They said I have to say "the same thing." Does "the" always have to come before "same" in every sentence?


texts:
This is one of the questions in ETS guide to the GRE -

"For some time now, __________ has been presumed not to exist: the cynical conviction that everybody has an angle is considered wisdom."

The answer is disinterestedness. I learnt the meaning of words cynical, conviction and disinterestedness yet this doesn't make sense to me especially the meaning of "cynical conviction". Can someone please elaborate?


texts: What's the difference between 'restriction on' and 'restriction of'?

texts: I have seen both forms in usage and couldn't work out the rule behind which preposition should be used in which context.


texts: Does 'virtuous' possess a physical connotation?

texts:
[Source] She [Dr Jenny Pynt] pointed out a few other categories that often spell trouble, recommending against stools and other seats without backrests, at least as full-time accommodations, “because no matter how virtuous you are, you will slump.”

Although I can infer that virtuous is intended to mean physically upright or plumb, I consulted the ODO and Merriam but see no definition connoting anything physical?


texts: Which article should I use when referring to a program function's argument?

texts:
Let's say I'm documenting a library function that (for example) accepts a number and returns the number squared. Should I write

  This function squares the given number.

or

  This function squares a given number?

At the time of writing the sentence, there is no particular number we'd be referring to. But at the time the function is executed, there is a concrete number that is being squared.


texts: Comma to resolve ambiguity with relative clause

texts:
Does the below sentence make sens from the grammatical point of view ?

What you think is important, is very important, is extremly important.

the comma "," is as a vehicle to determine the scope of subject


texts:
Today I came across a question where some part of a sentence is missing.

If she ____ the calibration of the machine she ____ done the experiment.

Three options are given as follows:

1. knew, had
2. had known, could have
3. knows, will have

I'm confused between option i) & ii). Can anybody help me out ?


texts: meaning of the phrase "go for something right about now"?

texts:
I have happened upon it in Crash Course Anatomy & Phisiology. The phrase is at around 6 minute and 44 second. Here is the context:

  Speaking of what and where your taste buds really are, you know what I could go for right about now? A debunking!

I know what the phrases go for and right now mean, but what is the word about there for?


texts:
According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, camaraderie means:

I thought camaraderie and friendship were nearly synonyms. However I came across them both in a sentence

What is the difference between them? Is it formal if I use the word camaraderie in speaking?


texts:
How to read this to others, so they can write it down just by listening?

  1 + (-2) = -1

Also:

  1 - 2 = -1

I want to know the differences.


texts: Why is the first verb in this sentence in the present perfect while the second one is in the past simple?

texts:
He has toured the UK, sold out three nights at London's Sebright Arms, as well festival performances at Glastonbury,

Can someone explain me why has toured is in the present perfect and sold out in the past simple? Is it because the UK tour lasted more time   than the sold out three nights or does the author think that the tour was more important than the sold out nights?
There should be a logical reason.


texts:
I have learned we can use "with" in a sentence to show any relation or effect with action or quality Point number #11.Then, I have written some sentences.After every sentence, I have also given why I chose "with"  in the sentence.

It was a great problem with flood victims.--the problem is related with flood victims.

2.Many students have agreed with the teacher's proposals of planting trees-- these agreements related with the teacher's proposals.

3.around 5000 people have registered with men overnumbering women by 20% --- registration has affected more men than women.

Can anyone help me to rectify my mistakes if there is any.are my explanations right?


texts:
My friend says that "Finishing her homework, she went for a walk." is wrong.

She thinks that this sentence implies that she is trying to finish her homework while taking a walk. If the girl went for a walk because she is already done with her homework, then it should be "Having finished her homework, she went for a walk." she says.


texts:
Dictionaries state that "at best" is an idiom. But, what is the grammatical function of "at best" (for example, in the below sentences?)

  Their response to the proposal was, at best, cool.
  The government's response seems to have been at best confused and at
  worst dishonest.
  If he drops the course now, at best he’ll get an incomplete, and he could fail.

Thanks


texts: Newly promoted to 8th grade. Graduated 7th grade. Describing my education, am I a "7-grader" or "8-grader"?

texts:
I just completed grade 7 successfully. Newly promoted to grade 8. I'm literally an 8th grader now.

But if I were to describe my level of education, wouldn't I be a "7th grade graduate"? Because I've no knowledge of grade 8 until classes start. I've "graduated" grade 7 which therefore is the limit of my knowledge.

When I post questions on MSE (the Maths site), I'm often in a fix. At times, I've had to add notes like:

  Please answer bearing in mind that I'm a X grader (with the knowledge of grade X). So my knowledge on topic Y is extremely limited.

"7th grader" seems more reasonable to say in this case (for reasons already mentioned above). "8th grader" seems fit for instances like:

  We're 8th graders now — the oldest kids in middle school. Maria, isn't it wonderful!

(Note: I'm NOT from the US.)

I'm confused. What should I actually say if I've to describe my level of knowledge (as in the MSE example)?


texts: Does the verb "be" in a reported speech have to be in the past?

texts:
If I'm talking about the future-in-past, do I always need to put the verb be in the past (was) even if this future is still in the future relative to the time of utterance?

Here is the situation: I spoke to a friend on June 1, he invited me to dinner on June 3; now it is June 2, and I'm saying:

  He invited me for dinner, but I told him I was out of town on June 3 / tomorrow.

Would am be appropriate here ("I am out of town"), taking into account that June 3 is tomorrow?

I know that this form is possible in this situation:

  He invited me for dinner, but I told him I would / will be out of town.


texts: Interactive device vs. interaction device

texts:
What could be the differences between an "interactive device" and "interaction device"?

My impression is that when we use "interactive device", interactive is an adjective and just describes the device as a device that is interactive all by itself. For example, a device that automatically recognizes voices, processes the information it got from the recognized voice and reacts accordingly.

But, "interaction device" is a noun for a device that is used by a user for interacting with something. For example, a user uses a mouse to manipulate an object displayed on a computer's screen.

Am I wrong? Any ideas?

Thanks!


texts: Should I use "did" in the following sentence?

texts:
She had been more professional than he had expected, quickly dropping
  the subject. Nor (did) she ask, "Why did you go there?"

Do I need the did? Why or why not? (Or maybe I'm using the wrong phrase?)


texts:
What is a word that can best describe YouTube bad content such as pranking videos, which negatively affect children?

I thought about the word banal but it doesn't seem to fit.

[Edit] As we know that children love to imitate actions they like, I'm implying the fact that this content, which get a lot of views by children, detrimentally affect children's personalities by persuading them to normalize inappropriate actions such as filming people on the street, generally invade other's privacies, bully or being offensive to others. Moreover, I'm comparing this type of content to the informative content on YouTube such educational videos


texts: Would you tell me which one sounds more natural to native speakers? "My face has always been ugly" vs "I've always been ugly"

texts:
My face has always been ugly.
  I've always been ugly.

Might I enquire of you which one sounds more natural to native speakers?


texts: An idea we form in our mind about a place

texts:
I wrote

  We all could have some .... of a place when we hear about it.

I look for a word which means the image or idea we have about a country that we got from various sources (TV, other people)

For example, we may think Japan is a green place full of cherry blooms with very polite people who usually eat sea foods!...

If I want to translate a Persian phrase I can say:

imagination
image
mental background

Or I myself can make a word like pre image or prior image. However as I checked they aren't valid or idiomatic.


texts:
It has been better to keep money in a bank than to keep it under your mattress.
  It is better to keep money in a bank than to keep it under your matress.

Which one of the above two sentences is correct?


texts: What's the number associated to your account "with" T-Mobile or "at" T-Mobile?

texts:
quick question.

Which phrase sounds better?

  Can you please provide me the pin code associated to your account
  at T-Mobile?

or

  Can you please provide me the pin code associated to your account
  with T-Mobile?


texts: "One had to engage himself like suck’s revenge with a horn"

texts:
It is very interesting phrase for me. Could you explain it in detail..

Who is One, Quadberry or narrator?
engage himself?
suck’s revenge?
Horn is saxophone as I understood
How to translate the phrase in whole?

  Quadberry began sucking and licking the reed. I didn’t care much for
  this act, and there was too much desperate oralness in his face when
  he began playing. That was why I chose the drums. One had to engage
  himself like suck’s revenge with a horn.

Testimony of Pilot
by Barry Hannah


texts: Supporting, cheering and motivating them + is/are

texts:
Siblings are an important part of our lives and I believe supporting, cheering, directing and motivating them is/are also important.
Booking, canceling and rebooking flights does/do not take much time.

Should I use is/does or are/do in these sentences? According to me, we can use either of them. If we are taking all these things as a single step/task then we should use is/does, but if we are taking these things as separate tasks/steps then we should use are/do. Are my interpretations correct? What should we actually use in such cases?


texts:
How do you say this properly?

Your shirt is inside out

Your shirt is on wrong side out

Your shirt is on the wrong side out

Your shirt is wrong side out

My references:
https://www.yourdictionary.com/wrong-side-out
http://say-it-right.com/blog/dont-use-inverted-para-i-englsh-ang-baligtad-ang-suot-na-damit-use-as-we-suggest-here.html
Thank you.


texts: I want to replace "take place" with occur and happen

texts:
I want to replace the first verb with verbs "occured" or "happened" in order not to double the verb "take place" in this sentence but I dont know if the above-mentioned words collocate with the word "execution"

"The execution took place/occured/happened on the so-called castle [...] It took place in October 1942."


texts: What does "..., won't you?" exactly mean?

texts:
Drop me a line and say hello, won’t you?

What is the meaning of the last part - won't you?

Is this a way to say "do it!" the way a parent would tell their children?
Or is it just another way to say please" without any second thoughts?
Or something else?

EDIT to add some context: I found this expression on Brian Gordon's contact page. He is the author of Fowl Language, a comics book/strip which deals with the wonderful experiences of parenting the hard way. This is why I somehow expect the meaning to be the first one in my list, along the lines of the world of the duck parents of his books.


texts: Are "confidant" and "confident" homophones?

texts:
Both sound like /-dənt/ to me.

Etymology:

  confidant comes to English from the French word confident, and when the word first entered our language it was often spelled that way, rather than as confidant.

So they were actually the same word. Do we really need to tell a difference between them?


texts:
In a situation that I am a teacher in a class and I have an exam in class.

Each student has a problem sheet. At the end of the exam, when I collect exam, I want to tell students that the students who sit at the rear seat in the room first pass his/her exam to students sitting in front of him or her , and so on.

Is there any short way to say this in class? Any useful phrase that is common in this situation?


texts:
I am reading a book for learning business English, reading the text from the book I came across the term "teleworking", which is in essence a remote work.

I've seen the term "remote work" various times, but I've never seen something like "teleworking".

So my question is: is teleworking widely used and is this word topical? Because, when I want to find vacancies, they normally use "remote work" or "remote working". Thanks.


texts:
Archaeologists have discovered a new tomb in Egypt.

  A new tomb in Egypt has been discovered by archaeologists.
  A new tomb has been discovered in Egypt by archaeologists.

Which word order is correct?


texts:
Hello to all community members.
I am preparing for the IELTS listening and rehearsing the cambridge books IELTS listening tests. I marked one question wrong and when i checked the typescript and checked the correct answer but I'm unable to understand the meaning of the sentence which shows the clue for the correct option. The sentence is

  I also joined the debating society, It's fun, but with all rehearsing
  I'm doing,  Something has to go, I'm afraid that's the one.

So here I didn't get the correct meaning of this sentence and particularly the last of the sentence.
Any help would be appreciated to grasp the meaning of this sentence.


texts:
It's from Megadeth's song :
"They talk of days like this,
sentencing their children,
when they need to eat a fist."

What does "to eat a fist" mean?


texts:
In a Bollywood film of srk a song start with this:link

The amalgamation before the fluctuation and ramification of the constitutional ambiguity and the judicial paradoxical position can be a verbal turmoil.

The setting of the song is a casino.
Searching these words in a dictionary make me more confused.
Please help.
Thanks in advance.


texts: What is the taste of an unripened date or plum?

texts:
What do you call that sensation that you feel when you eat raw diospyros? IO don’t know the actual name. It also happens when you try to eat banana peel and you get that sensation in your mouth. What’s that called?

It's like when you taste raw courgettes, or sometimes from unripened grape skin.
The reason I ask is because I’ve no idea what this sensation is called in English, because I’ve never heard of native English speakers talk about it.


texts:
(1)

  I don't care too much about it.

In this sentence, 'much' is a 'pronoun' or an 'adverb'?

(2)

  A situation or action is too much for you

In this sentence, 'much' is a 'pronoun' or an 'adjective'?


texts: Beginning with May but not for questioning

texts:
The speaker says she is glad to have a new counselor and looks for his support and help in the days which lie ahead. At the end she says: "May there be many of them." [The Crown]
Why did not she say "There may be many of them"?


texts: Is "applied for a job with somebody" correct?

texts:
I don't quite get what is wrong with this sentence but have a feeling that it is not correct:

  'I've just applied for a job with you.'

Please let me know what is wrong. If it's grammatically correct, doesn't it sound weird? How would a native speaker say it?


texts: Does the phrase "a forward step" make any sense?

texts:
I know "a step forward" means improvement.

But I want to use a phrase in the tagline of my blog.

Currently it is: A forward step to share drawings and useful content.

I just want to convey a message that "I have taken the responsibility to share the content for others". So is "A forward step" correct?


texts:
How come we say "post office" instead of "postal office"? I asked the question because we say "postal services" instead of "post services". Please help and thank you!
"The United States Postal Service (USPS; also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service) is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States, including its insular areas and associated states."


texts: When can I apply "their" to a singular noun?

texts:
At what times can I use plural "their" applying it to a singular noun?
For example, I can say:

Every student has his own learning curve and his own natural
disposition.

Can I also say

Every student has their own learning curve and their own natural
disposition.

?
And if not, can you, please, explain the reason?


texts:
If we are to meet the Paris climate goals, the use of fossil-based materials must be quickly reduced and replaced with renewable materials.
  If we were to meet the Paris climate goals, the use of fossil-based materials must be quickly reduced and replaced with renewable materials.

I have seen usage of both "if we are to" and "if we were to", and I am not sure which is correct. Since it is a subjunctive mood, I thought past tense may be a better on.

Where am I wrong?


texts:
In some countries, a parent is often given a small notebook that records or comments or notes some achievements or failures or feedback of his/her child by the school and students don't like these books so much.
The purpose of the book is to keep tracks of student achievements or failures, and let parents be updated of their children's study.
It might contain marks passed and failed. And so students hate it very much.
The school will give the book directly to parents one a month or a quarter and parents need to sign off and return it back to school.
What is the book called?

school diary
student book
parent-teacher connection book
grade book
etc


texts:
His weird interests change so rapidly that it's hard to tell what he likes at any time.

What I mean is:

  His weird interests change so rapidly that it's hard to tell what his current ones (interests) are.

But any time is more commonly used in cases like:

  You can call me any time.
  I can handle him anytime.

in the sense of "always" or "without exception or doubt". So—

  Does 'at any time' fit in this context? And is 'at any time' grammatical here? Is it idiomatic enough? If not, how would native speakers say this instead?


texts: Break Out the CRV as a distinct part of the purchase price

texts:
I have a question about the usage of "break out" in this Wikipedia article:

  The charge for California Redemption Value is similar to Bottle Bill deposits used in other states, but is technically a regulatory fee[3] imposed on the distributor of the beverage. The fee tends to be passed along to the retailer and to the consumer via normal market forces. Distributors and retailers usually break out the CRV as a distinct part of the purchase price in advertising and on receipts.

I cannot find a dictionary definition for this usage of "break out".  Could it be wrong, or technical jargon?


texts:
I'm trying to write an essay about Prufrock.

Which of these sentences is grammatically correct?

  it takes place in big, foggy city at a soft October night.
  it takes place in big, foggy city in a soft October night.


texts:
The following was part of a conference announcement.

  Submit draft slides to apply for the conference.

What is draft slides? Is it the same as presentation slides? Is it the same as powerpoint slides? As the word 'draft' implies, does 'draft slides' means just a few most important slides, or a preliminary version of presentation slides?

I couldn't find a definition for the term 'draft slides' on the internet.


texts:
This is a passage from an article on the origin of the idiom basket case.

  The origins of this idiom are somewhat grisly. In World War I, there were cases reported which involved soldiers who lost both their arms and legs in battle. Any soldier in such a condition would be especially helpless, and other soldiers dubbed them "basket cases" in reference to the fact that they would have to be carried around by others. As such, the original origins of the phrase caused it to invoke physical helplessness.

As such is defined on Dictionary.com as:

  a.
  as being what is indicated; in that capacity: An officer of the law, as such, is entitled to respect.
  b.
  in itself or in themselves: The position, as such, does not appeal to him, but the salary is a lure.

I have a feeling that as such in this context means definition a from above?
and I'm guessing indicate in definition a means to state or express, especially briefly or in a general way? But what about in that capacity? If capacity means position; function; role, then I'm guessing this part of definition a does not apply?


texts:
I read such a paragraph about Linux Security

  Before security became a big issue, these services often just logged in using the root user account. Unfortunately, if an unauthorized person broke into one of these services, he instantly gained access to the system as the root user. To prevent this, now just about every service that runs in background on a Linux server has its own user account to log in with. This way, if a troublemaker compromises a service, he still can’t necessarily get access to the whole system.

About the word "compromise" in  the sentence:

if a troublemaker compromises a service, he still can’t necessarily get access to the whole system.

Look up the Oxford dict, I get its meaning, harm

Bring into disrepute or danger by indiscreet, foolish, or reckless behaviour.

Why the author not use "danger" or "harm" directly, since compromise has multiple meaning to mislead.


texts: Count (of objects) and number (of objects)

texts:
Assuming I wanted to express "There are five apples." what of the following would be correct:

Apple number is five.
Apple count is five.
Apples number is five.
Apples count is five.

Assuming I wanted to express "There are five apples eaten by a child." what of the following would be correct:

Apple(s) eaten by a child number is five. <-- Sounds like number ate an apple
Apple(s) eaten by a child count is five. <-- Sounds like count ate an apple
Apple(s) number eaten by a child is five. <-- Sounds like child ate a number
Apple(s) count eaten by a child is five. <-- Sounds like child ate a count


texts: which one is idiomatic? 1. Jim is confused 2. Alice and her sister are confused

texts:
It sounds like the tutorial is saying (a video link with a time stamp)

  the
  first thing I want to show you is that
  one of the reasons why these verbs are
  so frequently confused

where confused is in the form of passive voice.

confuse has this meaning

  Someone who confuses one thing with another thinks the first thing is the second

I rewrote the example in cambridge dictionary as

  Jim is confusing Alice with her sister – she’s the one who moved to Colorado

question

which one in the following is idiomatic? (maybe both are)

Jim is confused
Alice and her sister are confused


texts: Understanding "come back to you on something"

texts: I am learning English, but I am not familiar with idioms. Could somebody explain me in plain English what does it mean "I will need to come back to you on this request."


texts: What's the difference between the phrases "to train with" and "to do training with"?

texts:
Source

  Spider-Man is approached to train with S.H.I.E.L.D.

I was wondering (whether/ if) will it make any difference if I phrase the sentence as follows:

  Spider-Man is approached to do training with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Is there grammatical, meaning or usage difference between the two?


texts: Word(s) in a predicate, (object[?])? May you call it some phrase?

texts:
In this sentence:

  The dogs who run in the street are especially irritable in the late afternoon.

is the verb are transitive? The dogs is a noun phrase, the subject, argument of are; who run in the street is a relative clause. Can you analyse the function of especially irritable in the late afternoon? Are all these words a predicate? Can you call it a phrase (and what type of phase is it)? Or mostly a predicate that may predicate on are, so all those words may be called an object?


texts: Does this sentence mean what I intended it to mean?

texts:
I want to introduce a work of mine, and I wrote:

  "I discovered a proof of a theorem. The proof, simpler than any existing ones, was published ..."

to mean,

  "I discovered a proof of a theorem. The proof is simpler than any existing proofs of the theorem, was published ..."

What I am not sure about is the boldfaced part. Does it mean what I intended it to mean?


texts: Does here miss "have": "What you been doing in there?"

texts:
In the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain on the first page there is a sentence:
"What you been doing in there?"
Isn't it correct "What have you been doing in there?"?


texts:
We are familiar with the expression 'by the grace of'. 'Favour' also means grace. So, is it correct to use 'by the favour of'? Consider my sentence:

I earned the job by the favour of luck.

That is: I earned the job by (the favour of) luck, or "Luck favoured me to get the job."

I earned my degrees by the favour of circumstances.

I mean, 'Circumstances favoured me to obtain my degrees'.Here 'luck' and 'circumstances' are agents (personifications).  How should I express the meaning of the above sentences?


texts:
a comments in this post says

  I see no "dot product", which usually refers to vectors. This is a matrix product

which means the term "dot product" is only used for vectors, and the term "matrix product" is only used for matrices.

similarly, square foot (or square meter) is only used to describe an area rather than a distance, strength, or any other topic.

Is there a term/word/phrase to express "only used in a specific topic"?


texts: What do we call Things/Objects we put together to draw?

texts: I mean like in one word, What do we call the forms/formation/pattern of (vases, books, fruits, gypsum geometrical shapes, glass, ..etc) that we put together following a particular artistic way to draw or paint mainly to create a silent nature artwork?


texts: Are the highlighted verbs all natural in this context?

texts:
The masked burglar steps into the room and looks around, when suddenly Mary leaps out from behind a curtain, barges past the burglar, and flees out of the room.
Are the three highlighted verbs all natural in this context?


texts: What word or phrase can I use to describe someone who is prudish in matters other than sex?

texts: I have a friend who is easily irritated and shocked by the slightest violation of traffic laws. Thinking of a phrase to describe him, I right away said to myself the word "prudish" would apply, but only if it is related to sex. As I have learned from the English language, you can use the adverb + adjective to characterize something like "Sexually embarrassing, Intellectually embarrassing, Emotionally compelling, Emotionally driven. So I applied the logic to describe this friend of mine and I said it would be "Trafficaly  prudish" But I know such word doesn't exist. What words or phrases would describe him?


texts:
The movie No Reservations has a fish market scene:

  Woman: Good. What you got?

  Fishmonger: I got fresh bluefin. Just came in like five minutes ago. I got baby mullets over there.

  Woman: What's behind you there?

  Fishmonger: Colorados.

  Woman: Yeah, I'm gonna take some of those.

I am not sure if it refers to the state fish. I think it's doubtful. What is he talking about here? At Tᴚoɯɐuo's suggestion, I have added an audio clip to enrich the context (via Clyp, an audio sharing site).


texts: Is "haven't met my friend" correct in British English?

texts:
The discussion in comments to Tyler James Young's answer to this question Which is correct: 'haven't done since' or 'haven't done for'? deserves to be asked as a separate question.

Is the following phrase usage correct in British English (and incorrect in American English)?

  I haven't met my friend for a year.

The point of contention here is the use of met when referring to a meeting which is not the first one.


texts:
"We sort of know it when we see it," Buffett said during the the Berkshire Hathaway 2017 Annual Shareholders Meeting. "It would tend to be a business that for one reason or another we can look out five or 10 or 20 years, and decide that the competitive advantage that it had at the present would last over
  that period."

  (Source: link)

I don't quite understand "It would tend to be" and "look out" in this sentence. Can anybody explain them for me, please? http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/look+out

Does it mean "we should be careful with that business in 5, 10, or 20 years for one reason or another"?


texts:
A couple of days ago I had a conversation with the other person telling me a statement like "I'm less interested in..." and my reply to that was "Me neither" - should I have said "Me too"?

Can I use the phrase "me too" for a negative statement ?


texts: When can "to" be followed by the present perfect, not the simple verb?

texts:
What is this sentence's grammar?
He needed to have delivered across the country.
Please explain it
Because as far as I know after "to" we should use simple verb but her after "to" was written ( have + PP )


texts:
Do you use adverbs to modify these v-ing words especially when they are the objects of the verbs?

Example:

  I regret swimming hurriedly
  **I regret hurried swimming.

And what about these two sentences:

  I regret stamp-collecting
  I regret collecting stamps

  I regret unnecessary bomb-defusing.
  I regret bomb-defusing unnecessarily?

Besides, when using these words, it still retains the verbal characteristics right? Like:

  The house needs a careful cleaning

has the same meaning as:

  The house needs carefully cleaning
  The house needs to be cleaned carefully (SOMETHING like passive voice)


texts:
I would like to inquire about the usage of word "kindly" to close an email instead of "best", "sincerely" or ....etc.

Can the word "kindly" be used to close an email, for example:

  Hi Matt,
  I would like to thank you for the great help yesterday!
  kindly,
  John

I see it very strange, but many people in my institution are using it to close their emails! Kindly, is this usage of "kindly" is correct?


texts: Meaning of: "No one ever does anything worthwhile for which he is not criticized"

texts:
What is the meaning of this phrase?

  "No one ever does anything worthwhile for which he is not criticized."

I can't wrap my head around this phrase. Does that mean "if you never do anything worthwhile you won't get criticized", or rather "people get criticized only by doing something worthwhile"?


texts:
My dog's favorite pastime is sleeping.

I have been told that the word sleeping in this instance, is a gerund, but I have also been told that any "ing" word that follows "to be", in this case "is", is always considered to be a present participle.

Could anyone clear this up for me?

Thank you.


texts: "She's called me" - does the present perfect tense sound off?

texts:
Does this use of the present perfect tense sound off to American and British ears? Should it be replaced with the simple past?

  "Lindsay's not answering. Maybe she left her phone at home." "Well, she's called me today, so I don't think that's the case."

To clarify the context, the speaker wants to say that Lindsay called him an unspecified number of times (could be more than once) today and could still call.

I'm primarily interested in American English, but answers from the UK are also welcome.

Thanks!


texts: The differences between break , respite and recess

texts:
What is the difference between the words break, respite and recess in terms of usage ?

Respite means:

A short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant

Recess means:

A period of time when the proceedings of a parliament, committee, court of law, or other official body are temporarily suspended

Break means:

Interrupt (a continuity, sequence, or course)

source: Oxford Dictionaries

What is it called, the short period of rest in an indoor business meeting, workshop, seminar, conference or university lecture?


texts:
if a student in class can't see clearly what is written on the board, should he ask the teacher "Could you write bigger please?" If not, what would be the proper question?
Thanks.


texts:
Suppose we have the following piece of text:

  He sold you out. Thought to come to me and bargain for his life. So I
  offer you the satisfaction.

What is the phrase "bargain for" there?


texts: Is 'it' a pronoun or expletive in this sentence?

texts:
"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's
  not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far
  apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me
  that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour
  of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night
  early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night
  tonight." (Harry Potter)

Is ‘it’ a pronoun indicating Bonfire Night, or expletive (or dummy it)?


texts:
Racial stereotypes, like so
  many other forms of prejudice (gender, class), have an extraordinary capacity to
  convey perceptions (and feelings) of the Other which bear little, if any, relationship to
  external reality. However, these highly distorted images, instead of being recognized
  for what they are, are understood as real- world entities. So powerfully can stereotypes
  substitute for reality that the racist can see in both ♦ black and Jew, even when they are
  directly perceived, qualities the very opposite of those that are being observed.

  Source: Racism in Europe by Neil McMaster, Palgrave, 2001

At the black lozenge, why isn't there the indefinite article 'the'? 'black and Jew' are 2 nouns?

Source: p 94, Mastering the National Admissions Test for Law, Mark Shepherd


texts:
I said:

  and all this while I was under an impression that you must
  around 35 years old.

He replied:

  I am. You're only off by a year.

Did he mean that he is 34 years old or 36 years old?

What does "off by a year" mean?


texts: Indefinite article before numbers in context

texts:
Tell me please if I have to use the indefinite article before #nine in the following context.

  On the scale of 1 to 10, how strong was the pain of having your tooth drilled. Well it was (a) nine.

If I need to use a there, could you explain why?


texts: past-tense equivalent of the word "current"

texts:
What would be the right equivalent for "current" when I speak in terms of the past?

For example, this sentence sounds okay to me:

  These days, increasing her listening comprehension is all she needs to
  do at her current stage of learning French.

but when I put it into past, something just doesn't sit right with the usage of  "current":

  In those days, increasing her listening comprehension was all
  she needed to do at her current stage of learning French.

Is my apprehension here correct? It looks to me that the word "current" has an invisible, yet quite a strong connection to the time of speaking and, thus, cannot be easily used in the past.


texts:
Why should we be reading things that don’t interest or portain to us on standardized test; the tests that matter the most?

I'm trying to put a pause and more emphasis on, "the tests that matter the most." Is this grammatically correct?


texts: What's the adjective used to qualify a software that's available on your first boot? By that, I mean a software that's available on a machine as soon as you boot the system. Is there an adjective for it? There has to be some word for it, because they are annoying and people uninstall them often whether on smartphone or their PC.


texts: Does the sentence, "Did you just assumed that it is a stick?", shows grammatical correctness? I am looking for answers and I am not sure if the given sentence is correct with regards to the use of two past tense verbs.


texts:
I have some confusion about the quality of +  verb form. I have two sample sentences

  The quality of their clothing is very good.
  It really improves my overall quality of sleep.

My question is why can not it be Quality of their clothes and quality of sleeping?

When should I use "quality of+verb"?

When should I use "quality of + verb+ing"?


texts: Why is "both of the most" grammatically wrong?

texts: If I said like "A and B are both of the smartest in our school", would that be grammatically wrong, because that implies "A is the smartest and B is the smartest either, so both are the 1st place at the same time"?


texts:
I'm writing a scientific paper. In a sentence I'm trying to say that:

By the time our method is proposed, there seems to be no prior similar
attempt in which WSN is used.

but according to the reviewers comments, this sentence is not good and needs to be rephrased by a native speaker. I wanted to know what's wrong with this sentence and how I can correct it?


texts:
Can some explain whats the difference between the two in this context?

Person A: I wish I had that car.
Person B: Me too

VS

Person A: I wish I had that car.
Person B: Me either


texts: What is the polite way for asking if someone is still alive?

texts:
I know that "to pass away" is the polite synonym for "to die". What is the polite synonym for "to be alive"?

I want to use it for the A's sentence in the following conversation:

  A: Is your grandfather still alive?

  B: No, he passed away last year.

Update:

I'm asking this question because I think if I ask someone this kind of  touching question, they might consider it offensive and even reply me:"Did you expect him to be dead?". So I thought maybe there would be a better way for asking such questions on somebody's condition in terms of being alive or dead.
In eastern cultures including Iranian culture, there are honorific terms that should be used (as social etiquettes) when we are talking to/ about a person who is above us in terms of his/ her age (like a grandfather/ grandmother) or his/ her social position (a king/ a queen/ a president/ a boss, etc).


texts: Every time I look or looked? What's the difference?

texts:
I have some questions :
1.

Every time I look at her, my worries and sadness would disappear.

is it about past or present?
2: In this case is it true to say

Every time I looked at her my worries would disappear.

? If yes, what's the difference between this one and the first sentence?
3.

Every time I looked at her, all of my sadness and depressions are
gone.

Is this a correct grammar?
Pls answer. I'm so confused right now.


texts: "internet in browsers" or "internet on browsers"?

texts:
Tell me please which sentence sounds the most natural.

  My mobile internet doesn't work in any browser, but it works in some apps.

  My mobile internet doesn't work on any browser, but it works on some apps.

If both sentences don't sound well, then what would the most natural way to say it?


texts: Difference between presentational skills and presentation skills

texts:
what is difference between these two sentences and why:
sentence 1:this course is going to teach you about presentation skills.
sentence 2:this course is going to teach you about presentational skills.


texts: What is the difference between these two sentences (“was created” vs “has been created”)?

texts:
What is the difference between these two sentences:

  The first feature-length comedy film was created by Charlie Chaplin.
  The first feature-length comedy film has been created by Charlie Chaplin.

and the followings are also seems very similar:

  By the time you read this, I will be arrested for murder.
  By the time you read this, I will have been arrested for murder.


texts: To praise: how to build a phrase using this word

texts:
Would your native speakers' ears feel uncomfortable and confused if I said:

  "to praise in beautiful words"

instead of

  "to priase using beautiful words"


texts:
Why do people say "How to use an iron" meaning any iron? Doesn't it mean that there is one iron and you ask how to use it and that because we can't say "I love a cat" because it means one cat? Shouldn't it be "How to use the iron" meaning not a particular iron but any iron in the world or rephrased with the plural form.
And why in the "A X is a Y" or "A X is…" (for example: A dog is an animal) sentences the indefinite article is used as "any" but not as one of the class of X. I can't say "Cigarettes are bad for a body" (with meaning every/any body) but  I can do that in the first example with an iron generalizing the word.


texts: Being creative, well-organized and analytical (is/are)

texts:
(1) Being creative, well-organized and analytical is your greatest strength.
(2) Being creative, well-organized and analytical is your greatest strengths.
(3) Being creative, well-organized and analytical are your greatest strengths.
Which one is correct?


texts:
I messaged you in the morning.
I messaged you in morning.

I am confused which sentence is correct. I think both are correct, but please help me out and tell me which sentence is grammatically correct.


texts: I noticed that... but that... -- grammar pattern

texts:
Example with a context (Java: A Beginner's Guide, 6th Edition by Herbert Schildt):

  I noticed that read( ) returns –1 when the end of the file has been reached, but that it does not have a special return value for a file error. Why not?

While it's perfectly clear what the sentence says, I find this particular sentence pattern a bit confusing and somewhat unnatural. I don't know why though. Perhaps it is because that this kind of grammatical structure is not commonly used. From my experience, I can definitely say that I don't see this one very often. Every time I read this sentence, the sentence, for some reason, sounds incomplete, like there's information missing from it and my brain tries to add that missing information back in after the second clause to conclude the thought, like this:

  I noticed that read( ) returns –1 when the end of the file has been reached, but that it does not have a special return value for a file error is very strange since similar functions in other programming languages do. Why not?

What can you say about this problem? Could you maybe do a grammar analysis of the sentence for me?


texts: Should we end the given sentence with TO in the given situation?

texts:
He's this person who I owe 40$ (to).

He's this person I owe 40$ to.

He's this person who I owe 40$.

Are all these sentences grammatically correct?
Are the first and second one grammatically correct?
Should there be a to at the end of first sentence, or should it be more like the last one?


texts: Is there an English phrase aligning with "甘为人梯" in Chinese?

texts:
In China, normal school students are taught to have the spirit of sacrificing themselves for the improvement of their students. Instead of concerning the threads(ladder-climbing) from who they are teaching they should be willing to let their students be better or higher in status than themselves.
This, in Chinese, is called the spirit of "甘为人梯" which literally means being ready to be the ladder for others(or climbers).
Which phrase or saying can it align with if there is possibly one?


texts: "is some kind of an organization" vs. "is an organization"

texts:
According to the official website.

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945.

Consider the following conversation.

A: "Do you know about the United Nations?"

B: "I am not familiar with it. I just know it is some kind of an organization where countries communicate with each other."

Is it natural to say "some kind of an organization" to imply that the speaker is not familiar with the topic in question?


texts:
Is this a correct English sentence ?

You need medicine when you sick.

I don't think it is correct because I never seen the sentence like that (need and when in one sentence) before, and today, I see this sentence in my daughter’s work book.


texts:
Is this correct to use "about" at the end of the sentence like that?

  I thought all the times this guy must have heard that his music was no good about.


texts: We don't call it homesick. We call it missing home. There's not a sickness involved, it's a state of mind. Is this correct?

texts:
We don't call it homesick. We call it missing home. There's not a sickness involved; it's a state of mind.

Is this saying correct?


texts: “In custody of the” vs. “in the custody of the”

texts:
The castle is now in the custody of the state.

What would change if I omit the article “the” from the sentence?

to be like:

  The castle is now in custody of the state.


texts:
Could I say

  "I wouldn't agree with you"

instead of saying

  "I don't agree with you"?

If I could, in which situation should I use the construction "I wouldn't agree with you"?

I'm wondering if the "I wouldn't agree with you" version is more polite than 'I don't agree with you'.

Moreover, I often come across that people use it without an "if clause" or an "if clause" is removed. Why?


texts: what does "out of choice" mean in this context?

texts:
What does "out of choice" mean in this article?
Does it mean, he didn't have other choices?

https://www.quora.com/Would-becoming-homeless-be-a-good-strategy-to-cut-costs-1/answer/Kurt-Varner

  I recently concluded a 4 month adventure of living from my car in
  Silicon Valley. Don't listen to the naysayers. It can be done, and it
  will save you a ton of money. I did this out of choice, also while
  bootstrapping my startup.


texts:
The thing that bothers me pretty much right now.
I know that I should use I thought they were ... in most cases.
The thing is, let me put it the straightest way I can.

The other day I saw an offer of the shoes and in the description was mentioned only 9. I took for granted that it was 9 in US sizing, but it turned out that it was uk. Now the question, because the shoes are still for sale and they still exist - in that case, should I say "I thought they are 9us", or no matter what should I go with "I thought they were 9us".


texts: Using "neither ... nor" with 3 "options"

texts:
I wonder if this sentence is grammatically correct or not:

  Neither at your time, nor before, nor later.


texts:
I would be grateful if anyone could help. I'm confused about using ordinal and cardinal numbers in such examples:

If I want to get a larger size of shoes, what should I ask for?

  Can I have forty-second size (42)?

or

  Can I have forty-two size?

If both sound strange or artificial to you, how would you ask?

Next example:

If I'm seeking for room #10, my question should be

  Where is the tenth room?

or

  Where is the ten room?

or

  Where is the room number ten?

  (sounds most appropriate to me, still wondering if the first or second are Okay)

Thanks a lot in advance. If there is anything I can read, please feel free to share.


texts:
It’s not easy to discern which to choose among ‘be going to’ and ‘will’ to express a near future plan or intention. I’m going to bring up two cases.

[A] In a situation that when one says “Oh, I’m hot,” while two are in the room, what can the other one say?: [A-1] I’m going to open the window. [A-2] I’ll open the window.

For ‘be going’ is concerned with ‘present intention’(CGEL,p.211-2), [A-1] seems to be possible; yet it’s also concerned with ‘present arrangement,’ it doesn’t seem to. How could I have arranged the opening window before his saying 'hot'?
However, [A-2] seems to be quite wilful to say in the situation. When it’s not a big deal to open the window, do I have to use my will? It could be said that 'will' is used in a implication that 'if you want, I will open the window'- as a conditional consequence.

How about this?:
[B] In a situation that I’ve planned that I would learn to play the guitar after deeply impressed by a guitarist, what can I say?: [B-1] I’m going to learn to play the guitar. [B-2] I will learn to play the guitar.


texts:
I wrote this thing;

  "I woke up as any other usual day, but my spirit was high. After a
  long period of non-stop, vigorous working, I finally could relax, as
  it was a/the day of rest."

I strongly feel that "the" can be used in that sentence, as it is a reason, a very definite reason that is, for my being able to relax. Therefore, even though my readers will not have any information prior to reading this,  I think "the" should be used.

Am I right? I always have difficulty knowing which article to use. If I am wrong, please tell me the difference between the nuances of those uses.

Edit:

I think that implied noun is "the day of rest that finally allowed me to relax", which I think is a referent unique enough to be used with a definite article.

Like this: I like to write stuff on the book when I annotate a book. It is sure that I am not referring to a specific book. But I used "the" instead of "a", because it refers to a book that I am annotating in a hypothetical situation. It is implied, which I think makes it definite.

Please correct my analogy if I am wrong.


texts: Door is opened vs Door is open vs Door open

texts: I know that the 1st one is a passive voice, 2nd is a state of the door (which is opened) and opened here is an adjective, right? But when do we use the 3rd one? I'm pretty sure that I've seen it somewhere but can't get the area of usage.


texts: "I {may / might} have missed that information."

texts:
I have confusion in below 2 statements.

  A) I may have missed that information.
  B) I might have missed that information.

I wanted to say I possibly missed that information "in past" to someone.
So at that time may OR might which one should I use?


texts: While talking about a program, use `run` or `execute`?

texts:
run and execute have similar meaning when talking about a program, like we can say

  run this program

or

  execute your program

, but I'm not sure if they are the same.


texts: What's the meaning of idiom 'one less thing'?

texts:
What's the meaning of "one less thing" in the following sentence.

  That's one less thing you'll have to think about in launching a
  business.

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I read about VM in MIT OCW 6.828 (the lecture at https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-828-operating-system-engineering-fall-2012/lecture-notes-and-readings/MIT6_828F12_lec4_notes.pdf), but I didn't understand what was meant by the following phrase:

  mark PTE as valid w/ PTE_P

What the heck is 'w/'?


texts: Then follow something and something... - is this similar to "then come something and something"?

texts:
The @param tag describes an argument accepted by the method. Each argument is listed in
  the order expected by the method. Following @param is a keyword indicating the required
  data type. In this case, all three arguments are expected to be integers (int). Then follow the name of the argument, and a brief description.

Is the word follow in this situation used in a similar fashion to how sometimes the word come is used when the subject(s) is placed right after it? Like, for example, "Now, comes a surprise". So, parsing that last sentence, we would have something like this: follow is the verb and the name of the argument and a brief description are the compound subjects. Am I correct?


texts: Word for things that can become outdated

texts:
I can think of "perishable". However I do not know if I can use it in context of programming. I want to say that the code or a program is replaced when there is a new and better technology.

Edit: I mean code will someday be replaced someday in the future. It is not obsolete right now.


texts: "In page" or "on page", which preposition?

texts:
"Statement 2 in page 172" or "statement 2 on page 172"?

I write a mathematical book and need to refer to certain page of another mathematical book.


texts: How can I improve this sentence about the German "Kleinunternehmer"?

texts:
I'm looking for the correct translation of the German word "Kleinunternehmer". The translations I found are individual businesses, small entrepreneurs, small businesses, etc., but I'm not sure which of them to use.

The text I'm trying to translate is a note for an order form which gives the users the information that the business owner is, based on a certain legal regulation, exempted from the value added tax (VAT).

  "Gemäß § 19 UStG sind wir als Kleinunternehmer von der MwSt.
      freigestellt."

Unfortunately I wasn't able to come up with something which seemed correct to me. This is what I've got so far:

  "As entrepreneurs we are according to § 19 UStG exempt from VAT."

Is there a chance to improve this?


texts:
Is the following sentence correct:

  The best way to get your sanity back is to settle a little party and dance it out.

Am I using the p.v. to dance out correctly in this context?

Btw. What to dance something out means? I have first encountered it in the following context:

  You know what? If there’s anything I’ve learned in this life, it’s
  that donuts are delicious and that sometimes, you just gotta dance.
  You just gotta get up out of your seat and rock it, as hard as you
  can. Even if you’ve had a long day. No — especially if you’ve had a
  long day. You just gotta crank some music and dance it out. It might
  be the only way you get your sanity back. And it doesn’t matter where
  you are or if you’re surrounded by strangers. At least that’s the
  theory one guy had when he (wearing a tuxedo, naturally) started a
  dance party on a train in Perth, Australia.


texts: Meanings of two specific phrases by Nabokov

texts:
Recently I am translating some letters written by Nabokov to his wife Vera. The great difficulty is that in those personal letters he created many words that are hard to understand by a third person. I managed to solve some but there are two words/phrases I still cannot understand.

  On the way here, to the summit of Feldberg, I composed and kept repeating to myself this little ditty: 'I love noittything except kittything.'
  (Letters to Vera by Vladimir Nabokov P.84)

Here I know kittything means "small cat" but I cannot figure out what "noittything" stands for.

  with Molly I am lunching at Charing-Cross and I'll be taking from her the corrected "autob" for Eileen Bigland--Curt.Br.--Goll.
  (Letters to Vera by Vladimir Nabokov P.394)

What does "Curt.Br.--Goll." stands for?


texts:
Can you explain to me what do " as if on cue "  and whole sentences mean please?

  As if on cue, research from the Duke Cancer Institute, publishing in
  the journal Urology, revealed that classical music can indeed diminish
  anxiety.

  And as if on cue, hundreds of migrants swarmed to a plush London
  suburb for their share of the spoils

The Oxford Online Dictionary says that the meaning of "on cue" is "at exactly the moment you expect or that is appropriate" but all example sentences which are related to on cue begin with "as if".

So when I put together these four words, it seems to have the meaning of "as if planned to happen on a right or same time"..and this meaning fits the second sentence but doesn't fit the first one.. In the first sentence it adds a meaning like, for me, it seems like everybody arranged a time to get and meet there..

Can I say

  After I got out from the airport, I got to the train station and as
  if on cue the train was due to move on(I mean it moved on just after I
  had gotten on it).So I didnt waste any time by waiting.


texts:
Should I use present|past tense in the following sentence and why?

Question:

  How are you going to travel?

Reply:

  We are going by train. If we go|went by bus, it would be cheaper, but the
  train is quicker.


texts: "Funny": origin and evolution of the peculiar side of things?

texts:
The adjective "funny" (from fun) is relatively recent:

  Funny (adj.) "humorous," 1756, from fun (n.) + -y (2).
  Meaning "strange, odd, causing perplexity" is by 1806, said to be
  originally U.S. Southern (marked as colloquial in Century Dictionary).
  The two senses of the word led to the retort question "funny ha-ha or
  funny peculiar," which is attested by 1916. [...]

  Fun (n.) "diversion, amusement, mirthful sport," 1727,
  earlier "a cheat, trick" (c. 1700), from verb fun (1680s) "to cheat,
  hoax," which is of uncertain origin, probably a variant of Middle
  English fonnen "befool" (c. 1400; see fond). Scantly recorded
  in 18c. and stigmatized by Johnson as "a low cant word." Older senses
  are preserved in phrase to make fun of (1737) and funny money
  "counterfeit bills" (1938, though this use of the word may be more for
  the sake of the rhyme). See also funny.

  [ Online Etymology Dictionary - etymonline.com ]

When I looked at the Cambridge, it struck me as a learner that "funny" doesn't seem much about humor anymore from the semantics point of view. I reproduce the helpful outline and the examples included with the "humorous" meaning:

  funny adjective (HUMOROUS) humorous; causing laughter:  Do
  you know any funny jokes? I've never found Charlie Chaplin very
  funny. It's a really funny film. It's not funny - don't
  laugh! Breaking your leg isn't funny (= is serious), I can assure
  you. No matter how disastrous the situation there always seems to
  be a funny side to it. Don't you try to be funny with me (= be
  serious and show respect), young man! He was being funny but I
  think he was half serious. A funny thing happened in the office
  today. Her new book's hilariously funny. His speech was full
  of inanities that were meant to be funny. He's naturally funny -
  he doesn't even have to try.

  funny adjective (STRANGE)
    - strange, surprising, unexpected, or difficult to explain or understand:[...]  funny adjective (DISHONEST)
    - informal dishonest; involving cheating:[...] funny adjective (UNFRIENDLY)
    - [after verb] UK informal unfriendly or seeming to be offended:[...]  funny adjective (ILL)
    - [after verb] informal slightly ill:[...]  funny adjective (CRAZY)
    - UK informal slightly crazy:[...]

  [ Cambridge Dictionaries Online - "funny" ]

Personally, I would have been unsure about "A funny thing happened in the office today." But more important there is one meaning about humor and five variations on the "strange/not normal" theme; it does not speak about usage proportions though. On the other hand many compositions such as funny money/business/farm are quite not about humor.

This is about the origin and evolution of the "not humorous" meanings of "funny". The question is twofold:

What is the (language) context for this taking shape in Southern U.S. in 1806 and is it just random or is there a reason this happened then(and there)? Is the Harper's magazine quote from the Century about how you feel when someone "doesn't send for you" related to that time and place?
Back then, did the semantics of the word rapidly or gradually "shift" towards the not funny/strange meanings(dishonest, unfriendly, ill, crazy, not all informal anymore) and are those meaning expanding today at the expense of the "humorous" meaning; is that supported by anything from usage? Is "funny ha-ha or funny peculiar" still relevant or helpful to assess any of this?


texts: What is the period called when you first buy a car and you have to go slower?

texts:
What's the period called when you first buy a car and you have to go slower than usual to get the engine working properly in the future?
Can it be used in another meaning?
Because in my language you can use the same word to define a period where you have to pay particular attention to something (in this case, pay attention to the speed of the car).


texts:
Board games are cool and all but what about card games?

What does and all* mean? And would this mean the same thing if we said “cool and everything”?


texts: is "each time that" a conjunction that introduces a adverbial clause of time?

texts:
Each time (that) you exercise, you get a little stronger.
This is a sentence from Longman Dictionary. You exercise is obviously a finite clause, so I guess each time here is a conjunction. Is this correct?
My second questions is about that. In Each time that you exercise, what type of clause does that introduce? or why are we using that?


texts:
I know everything.

  They know all of their pen pals./ They know all the fathers of the
  family here.

I think "everything" is an indefinite pronoun, and "all" is also an indefinite pronoun, so what makes in grammar that one is always used with a nominal group, and the other one doesn't accept a nominal group.

What are the different categories of indefinite pronouns in grammar, and what are the linguistic concepts making them used with a different grammar structure? Like it's the case here with "all" and "everything"? Being from the same grammatical group, what makes their difference in the linguistic theory?

(This is a grammar question, not about word usage of "everything"/"all".)


texts: Do we say "the police found many ivories in the bag"?

texts:
i‧vo‧ry /ˈaɪvəri/ ●○○ noun (plural ivories)

  1 [uncountable] the hard smooth yellowish-white substance from the
  tusks (=long teeth) of an elephant

  an ivory chess set

  2 [uncountable] a yellowish-white colour

  an ivory silk wedding gown

  3 [countable often plural] something made of ivory, especially a small
  figure of a person or animal

  a collection of ivories

Is it ok to say "This elephant has 2 ivories" or "This elephant has 2 ivory tusks"?

Also, do we say "the police found many ivories in the bag" or "the police found many ivory tusks in the bag" (see the picture)


texts: What does "stop hounding us for puns" mean?

texts:
A: No dog jokes today.
  A: Come on - throw me a bone
  B: Stop hounding us for puns
  A: I am dog-tired of these
  B: Not that it mutters
  A: Time to paws and reflect on whether these are are funny or just drool
  B: fu-kennel that was bad

What is the meaning of this idiom: "stop hounding us for puns"? I heard it from a coworker saying to another one. He did not say it in a serious tone.
I actually don't understand the whole story here.


texts: How to use the verbal phrase "to keep from V-ing"

texts:
The verbal phrase keep from V-ing means to prevent the action of V from happening. Does keep require a direct object? And if that object is the first person pronoun, must that pronoun be reflexive?

  [1a] With open arms I reach for the boundless sky and look up at the moon to keep from crying. (no direct object)
  [1b] With open arms I reach for the boundless sky and look up at the moon to keep me from crying. (objective case)
  [1c] With open arms I reach for the boundless sky and look up at the moon to keep myself from crying. (reflexive)


texts: "Capture ... on the strength" as What does it mean?

texts:
In the United States, the supposed citadel of free market enterprise, a wealthy real estate magnate has captured the White House on the strength of his appeal as a supposed champion of blue-collar workers.

(NYT)

I guess it means that this magnate feels that the white house is putting pressure on his appeal, which means that his appeal won't be approved, and this indicates the government champions the blue-collar workers?


texts:
What exactly did they mean with having written "taking over" in second sentence?:

Lynx is thought to have gone by the 10th Century, in England at least.
It is thought that the Neolithic settlers mingling with peoples already present or taking over, came from the continent and brought their own animals.


texts:
Is "might" good here? Could the sentence be phrased better?

I might be in a wheelchair, but I'm not going to let it stop me from chasing my dream.


texts:
Does "look" here mean "a person's appearance"?
Edit: Ok. I found that "Look of the Year" is a competition.

Teen models, powerful men and private dinners: when Trump hosted Look of the Year
In the early 90s, Donald Trump judged the world’s biggest modelling competition - since hit by allegations of abuse. This is how the people who were there remember it

Source: The Guardian


texts:
So as to rotate and face in the opposite direction.

So it's what Lexico says on the meaning of the adverb 'around'. And yet, if we talk about, say, a woman showing her new dress, she would probably turn 360 degrees when asked to turn around by her boyfriend. So what does 'turn around' mean when both 180° and 360° are possible based on the context?


texts: Joining two sentences. I wrote six versions, but not satisfied

texts:
I'm new to writing. English is not my native. I'm so confused. I wrote six versions of the same sentence, but still I feel none of them is good. I don't know what's wrong exactly, but I feel like very poor writing possibly with grammar mistakes also. Please help me to understand why these are not good, and a better way to write. My objective is to keep it short but convey the meaning without grammar mistakes. Is my style of writing is very bad?

Mike is sitting on a dining chair and coloring something on a paper.
Mike is on a dining chair and coloring something on a paper.
Mike is coloring something on a paper, sitting on a dining chair.
Mike is sitting on a dining chair and coloring a paper.
Mike is on a dining chair and coloring a paper.
Mike is coloring a paper, sitting on a dining chair.


texts: A '[sic]' is added to a passage. But why and which part is deemed as an error?

texts:
Are there any grammatical errors in the following passage?

  "...crazy metal tool … specifically for extracting foreign objects from people’s [sic] nostrils,”

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/09/16/embarrassing-ways-hospital_n_7942276.html


texts: ...and the difference being the "a" or the "e" — what does "being" mean?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a video on EngVid (0:32):

  Now, we're going to start with "affect" and "effect", and the difference being the "a" or the "e".

What does being mean here?

I know that this word can be used to show a cause, but I don't see any causal relationship in this sentence.

My second guess is that the teacher uses the whole phase the difference being the "a" or the "e" as a noun (together with affect and effect) or something of the kind, and being is just a regular gerund here.


texts:
This was prompted by another post on SE.  "I have the exact same problem"

I know that 'the exact' is truly horrible used in that way, & that it should be 'exactly the'.
What I don't know is what makes it horrible, grammatically.

My long-forgotten English classes in school would make me think exactly would be an adverb, like "John runs quickly", just because of the -ly ending but it doesn't ring true. Either it a) doesn't obviously link to any attendant verb in the original example, or b) the attendant verb is to be = have, or c) I'm barking up completely the wrong tree.

The more I analyse it, the deeper the hole I appear to dig for myself.


texts:
I've been writing a scientific paper in English, although this isn't my native language and some colleagues have pointed out I could not start a paragraph with "At this paper..."
Can anyone elaborate on why for me?


texts: Change one's facial appearance "drastically"

texts:
Edited:

Once somewhere I read a sentence (I don't remember where),but I note that down.

  He has drastically changed his facial appearance.

The text was talking about a guy who had changed his look (by makeup or something like that and had transformed his human canvas into another character) in the manner that some people could not recognize him.
The question is that if removing the adverb "drastically" from the sentence would make the sentence unidiomatic / unnatural or not. Actually, I've heard some native speakers use this sentence in this way and this is why it made me fall into doubt.

I would be thankful if you could help me with it.


texts:
I often see phrases like:

I just seen her.
He just found out.

Are they correct in terms of grammar?


texts: Go for a ride x Take a walk x Go for a walk

texts:
Translating go for a ride from English to Portuguese using Google Translator results in dar um passeio (the only translation provided). But translating dar um passeio from Portuguese to English results in take a walk and go for a walk - but not in go for a ride.

Can really go for a ride be used with the same meaning as take a walk or go for a walk, I mean, walk around with no specifc destination just to relax, kill time, enjoy the view, etc?


texts:
Is the Seemingly Humble Button More Powerful Than the Headline?

What does "Humble Button" mean here?

Here is source.


texts: Principal is calling you (teacher) in his chamber or principal want to see you in the chamber

texts:
The principal is calling you (the teacher) to her office.
The principal wants to see you in her office.

Can we use both sentences to mean that the principal wants to meet a teacher in her chamber who was told by a student to fetch the teacher?


texts:
Question: Do you know who it could be?
Response: How the hell should I (know)?
Would it be natural to leave out (know) in the response?


texts: What "Mechanics can pull codes for many of these sensors" can exactly mean?

texts:
If any of these sensors are malfunctioning, the "Check Engine" light may come on inside the car, or the engine may run roughly. Mechanics can pull codes for many of these sensors to help solve the problem.

A. What is "pull codes"?
B. Mechanics here is a single noun or working people?


texts: How do you say 'the choice fell on [somebody]' in a more native-like way?

texts: As I understand it, you would rarely say 'the choice fell on [somebody]'. What is a more natural way to put a chosen thing or person at the end of the sentence (as an object) in order to emphasize it?


texts: What is the meaning of ''slam dunk'' when used in justice?

texts: I heard this phrase: "this case is a slam dunk" told by someone having to do with justice system. I would appreciate it if someone could explain to me what does that mean.


texts: Is there any difference between 'attack on titan' and 'attack titan'?

texts:
Attack on titan is a manga series written and illustrated by janpaness.

I wonder why the title is 'attack on titan' not 'attack titan'.
 cf. The man attacked him with a knife.

I think attack is 'transitive verb' so, 'on' is not necessary.
Why does the title need 'on'?

Is there any difference(or nuance) between 'attack on titan' and 'attack titan'?


texts: Dropping the definite article before the phrase "surface temperature"

texts:
Why has "the" been left out before the phrase surface temperature in the sentence below.(It is from Crash Course Astronomy#14.)

  Venus's thick atmosphere also means (the) surface temperature is about the same averywhere on the planet.

It is unclear to me why the speaker has left the out becouse it is clear that he was talking about the surface temperature of Venus, not in general about surface temperature.


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct? “If I never asked you, you wouldn’t have told me right?”

texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct?

  If I never asked you, you wouldn’t have told me right?


texts: What is the meaning of the phrase "catch someone thinking"?

texts:
Here is the context:

  In a beginning, almost invariably, I’ll be interrupting the train of thought, catching you thinking while you are tempting to pay attention to the breath.


texts: Supplier consolidation and discipline driving prices up? The meaning of 'consolidation and discipline'

texts:
A quote from a news report titled "Expert: Shale gas won't lower PE prices in 2014":

  The fact that oil sets the global PE pellet price is one reason why PE
  prices continue to escalate, he added. Other reasons include supplier
  consolidation and discipline, inventory and exports and PE no
  longer being a commodity.

I don't fully understand the sense that the words "consolidation and discipline" carry here. It seems to be a set phrase, "consolidation and discipline", so "consolidation" is unlikely to mean "merging of several companies into one entity". Or maybe I'm wrong.

Googling for "consolidation and discipline" brings up uses referring to policies implemented by one or other country, not within companies; it seems to combine with one other word, "fiscal": "fiscal consolidation and discipline".

I guess that it means "the supplier companies are less careless in using their funds". Am I right?


texts: The construction "make" [noun][verb] vs. "for" [noun][infinitive]

texts:
My question is that whether the below sentences have the same meaning ?

I have talent enough to make people believe I am something else.
I have talent enough for people to believe I am something else.


texts: When something should happen in future, but it is expressed in present tense

texts:
I am a little bit confused and not a native speaker.
When something should happen in the future (e.g. if you set yourself a goal), but you state it like it has already happened. How do you call this tense?
For example here these sentences:

  "A data management system is implemented."

  "The capacities of private and public stakeholders are strengthened."

  "New or improved approaches promoting specific activities are tested."

  "Options for a sustainable improvement of the train service quality are developed."

  "Evaluations with options for replication are available."

  "A jointly developed market model is available."

  "Further implementation by the municipality is decided."

  "Internationally proven approaches are demonstrated for the first time"

Questions:

Is it legit to use this tense or should I stick to another tense within these sentences?
Is there a name of this tense? (Present Future Continuous? Is there something like that?)


texts:
While I was reading the news I found a sentence

  Newcastle's Cheick Tiote responds to 'bad egg' claims

What is the meaning of bad egg here?


texts: Can we use "Our discussion with somebody indicates that..."?

texts:
As the caption refers to, the specific context is that: I discussed this matter with my customer and was advised that....So, could I use this structure instead (to make it more formal) "Our discussion with my customer indicated that...". I use the latter because I saw it on one book (but now I couldn't remember which book).

Thanks a lot.


texts:
Then touching the shoulder of a townsman who stood near to him, he addressed him in a formal and courteous manner:

  "I pray you, good Sir," said he, "who is this woman? -- and wherefore is she here set up to public shame?"

  "You must needs be a stranger in this region, friend," answered the townsman, looking curiously at the questioner and his savage companion, "else you would surely have heard of Mistress Hester Prynne and her evil doings. She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you, in godly Master Dimmesdale's church. "

As far as I know we always use first form of the verb after "must". For instance: "You must go". We never say "You must goes". Also, we never use -s/es with a verb that comes with "You". What are the circumstances in which writer has used "needs" after "You must" in "You must needs to be a stranger in this region."?


texts:
I am wondering what "just the pressure around it" means in the sentence below.

But she hadn’t really gone off swimming, just the pressure around it.
The Midnight Library - Matt Haig, 2020


texts: What brings you here? Why the subject"You" is used after brings?

texts:
What brings you here?
Why the subject "You"has been used after the verb "brings?


texts: What is the act of discovering things about someone's past called?

texts:
How would you call the action of discovering things about someone's past?

For example, finding information of someone and you came across with stuff you didn't want to find.


texts: Difference, if any, between these two sentences?

texts:
English learner here. I just came across one sentence:

  The other force is a gush of private-equity finance, much of it originating in America and landing in Europe.

I am curious how it is different from this sentence?

  The other force is a gush of private-equity finance, much of which originating in America and landing in Europe.

And if we leave out the "much of", is the first sentence still all right in grammar? And why?
i.e.

  The other force is a gush of private-equity finance, it originating in America and landing in Europe.

Thanks!


texts: Is it correct to say: "This is his / its."? (Possessive Pronouns)

texts:
According to what I know now about Possessive Pronouns, we can to choose between one of the two following forms:

  1) "This is your book" vs "This is yours"

  2) "This is their book" vs "This is theirs"

  3) "This is her book" vs "This is hers"

  4) "This is our book" vs "This is ours"

  5) "This is my book" vs "This is mine"

But I'm confused about two Possessive Pronouns: Its & his

Can I say (on the way that was mentioned above):

  a) "This is his book" vs "This is his."

  b) "This is its part" vs "This is its."


texts: "Except for" before an imperative sentence

texts:
Except for Louisa, who’s away in Berlin this weekend, we’ll all be at the party.

The first example is from Cambridge Dictionary.

Move all the furniture except the desk to the first floor.
Except for the desk, move all the furniture to the first floor.

The second and third examples are mine. Is the third example correct?
(To me, it looks that "except for" doesn't have a subject.)


texts: How to Identify Habitual Simple past tense (Repetitive) and Simple past tense

texts:
There were always a couple of people who put their hands up right away, usually girls, usually from the town kids who dressed up for school. They sat in the front of every class, boys and girls together. Then, the blacks sat together, some of them at the front and some right behind. The country kids, which included the watermen's families as far as Dicey could tell from overheard conversations about the crab catches and the fishing season and oyster beds, sat in the middle and back.

  Nobody sat near Dicey, who sat alone. She scratched at the shoulder of her T-Shirt and waited to hear how stupid the answers to the question. There was only one other person in the class who thought of interesting answers, and that was a black girl who sat in the front row.

Question:
In the above paragraph what writer wants to say?

I.e. He wants to depict Simple past activity at the specific time or Habitual activity?

a) It was a Habitual activity of sitting in the class room by student or just that day I mean at the specific time in the past.

B) In Second paragraph Dicey was sitting alone at that specific time or Usually/Everytime no body sat beside her hence she sat alone.

c) "Then, the blacks sat together, some of them at the front and some right behind."  .
In this sentence also writer wants say that everyday blacks sat together?


texts:
I have 2 questions in the Future Perfect Tense. Is this question grammatically correct?

1- Will I have not cleaned the house?

I know we can ask this question like that: "Won't I have cleaned the house?". But I want to learn to ask this question without abbreviation.

How can I use "already" in Future Perfect Tense? Is that grammatically correct?

2- I am going to already have cleaned.


texts: Mohamed Salah plays for liverpool. To ask a question, do we write "Where does he play for?" or "Who does he play for?"

texts:
Mohamed Salah plays for Liverpool.

If I want to ask a question, is it correct to say:

Where does he play for?

Or

Who does he play for?


texts:
How to change this question “What does it do?” Into a noun clause?

Which one is correct?
- what it does.
- what it do.

( with an explanation, if it’s possible)
Thakn you


texts:
I just encountered this sentence as an example of 'put out to pasture' but I'm not sure how to read it.

  And at 67, Judd Hirsch has hardly reached an age when credible
  character actors are typically put out to pasture. (USA Today, 2002)

Is this saying "…has hardly reached an age where famous old actors usually put out to pasture"? or "…has hardly reached any age while others are put out to pasture"? or …?


texts:
I was born in 1980.

What part of speech is "born"? verb? past participle?

It can be a past participle as in " I was seen ."

It can be verb as in " It was pulled by a car ."


texts: Get to do something: what's the meaning here?

texts:
In the book I'm reading, a man is having a fight with his wife. He wants to move to another place, but she wants to continue living where they live. He will force her to move although she doesn’t want. At some point of the conversation, he says:

  Husband: «You have to take care of our son. But I have to take care
  of everyone. You can’t say anything about it.»

  Wife: «Why do you get to make the choices? Why don’t you think about me?»

  Husband: «I am thinking about you!»

What’s the meaning of the sentence in bold? Is it something like: “Who told you that you had to make the choices for everyone of us?”


texts:
Any Difference Between "Auxiliary Verb"
And "Modal Verb"?

texts: Are they the same thing, just one meaning with two vocabulary items?


texts: How to undsestand "hence the name by which they are known and ending with the Lateran Treaty of 1929"?

texts:
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Rome

The whole sentence is:

  The agreements were signed in the Lateran Palace, hence the name by which they are known and ending with the Lateran Treaty of 1929, where the Holy See renounced its claims over most of the city of Rome in return for Italy's recognition of the Vatican State.

I'm confused about both the structure and the tense.


texts: Which is correct "why is" or just "why" in this example?

texts:
Why this expression is evaluating to 110?

or

  Why is this expression is evaluating to 110?

Which is correct? If the second one, why in some places do we see example one?


texts:
I am confused about word order when using the name of the product and its colour. For example: the product’s name is “Barrel Bag”. It comes in black colour. So what is correct here:
Buy our Black Barrel Bag
or
Buy our Barrel Black Bag
Should I use name of the product then colour and then type of the product? Or is it colour-name-type?


texts:
When you are sending a PO to the supplier, should you use purchase order for or purchase order of?

Examples

Here is a purchase order for thirty HDMI cables.
Here is a purchase order of thirty HDMI cables.


texts: What is the right meaning of the word initiation in this context?

texts:
What is the right meaning of the word "initiation" in this context?
 "The process of being formally accepted" or "the beginning of conversation". At first I chose the 2d option, but context made me a bit confused.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-future-of-email-as-far-as-business-communication-is-concerned

Excerpt from the link:

  So, in that hypothetical future, email is part and parcel of the whole mix of conversational media. Conversational media have several basic events:
  * discovery,
  * conversation initiation,
  (snip)
  Initiation.
  In thirty years your software agent/proxy/broker will field offers of new conversation before they reach you. Think spam filter meets alerting service meets professional assistant. Services will compete on how well they interact with you, how accurately their filters reflect your preferences for interruption and notification, and how well they negotiate a mutually agreeable blend of time and media. These "inboxes" will have a wealth of data to use to calculate whether, when, and how to notify you or to start a conversation:


texts: "How long till " vs "how long before ....?"

texts:
Is there any difference, whether in terms of usage or meaning between the two?
For instance:
How long before/ till the alarm goes off?
How long till/ before you get here?
How long before/ till this term ends?


texts:
I found here.
I had looked "work from" or "work in", but I did not know this sentence means…


texts:
I've heard people using this slang betcha.

What is the difference between you betcha and I betcha?


texts: Does the word "discharge" sound more like /dɪstʃɑːʳdʒ/ or /dɪsdʒɑːʳdʒ/?

texts:
Does the word discharge sound more like /dɪstʃɑːʳdʒ/ or /dɪsdʒɑːʳdʒ/?
How about exchange or disproportion?
Do they sound more like /ɪkstʃeɪndʒ/ or /ɪksdʒeɪndʒ/?
/dɪsprəpɔːʳʃən/ or /dɪsbrəpɔːʳʃən/?
I know the word student which commonly sounds like /sdjuːdənt/.
and the dictionary says its IPA transcription is /stjuːdənt/.


texts:
Consider

  Nowadays, computer games are the children's hobbies....

  Children this way spend most of their time by themselves without contacting with other kids

First, is the first "the" correct?
Second, is it a correct use of "this way"? Should it be:

  in this way, .....


texts: Mixed conditionals/ 3rd conditional which one should be the better option to go with?

texts:
If I hadn't left her, it would be our 7th anniversary tomorrow.

If I hadn't left her, It would have been  our 7th anniversary tomorrow.

Are both the above sentences grammatically correct?
Do they mean the same?
What's the difference in their meaning?


texts:
This causes a significant reaction to break down the particles.

Is the word "significant" playing the same role as "sufficient" or "enough" vis-à-vis the to infinitive?


texts:
His blood glucose was dangerously high at 288 mg/dl (normal levels are
below 100), and his cholesterol was 207 mg/dl (normal values are below
200). None of this was good.

Why is it not "none of these"? The author is American; so do Americans use "none of these" less often? (just guessing!)


texts: Paraphrasing and Deleting redundants confusion

texts:
I came cross the following text in the cambridge online dictionary.

( Used to refer to something that is of higher than usual quality)
I did some paraphrase and deleted what I thought it was redundant.I need someone to tell me whether what I did have been right or not ??

1- Used to refer to something of higher than usual quality.

2- Used to refer to something that is of higher quality than usual.

3- Used to refer to something that is of quality higher than usual.


texts: (The) existence of a solution, (the) uniqueness of the solution

texts:
I want to write a sentence like

We consider the equation f(x)=0. We show that (the) existence of (a) solution and (the) uniqueness of (the) solution.

I want to know if the above sentence uses correctly "the" and "a".
In particular, I don't know if I should put "the" in front of "existence" or "uniqueness".


texts: Can the sentence "This world is sad" have two meanings?

texts:
"This world is sad."

Since "sad" can mean either "saddening (depressing)" or "unhappy", I think that this sentence I gave can mean either "This world is saddening." or "This world is unhappy.", am I right? If yes, how can I let the person who is listening to me understand which one I mean when I say that sentence? Is it understood by the context?

For example, let's say I received some bad news about some killings in a country. In this case, if I said "This world is sad", I think it would be understood as "This world is saddening".


texts: if you're finished | passengers waiting for

texts:
I have some questions about structures of sentences in pictures below

I think finished here is adjective but why don't we use finish simple verb instead?
And also in below picture, I don't have any clue about waiting at all !!!

What is the structure will be departing!!!?


texts:
I can not understand how agreeing have been used here?
"The Indian statement on Saturday noted that in the context of both sides agreeing on the need to solve the issue,"it was highlighted that completion on disengagement in other area would pave the way for two sides to consider de-escalation of forces and ensure full restoration of peace and tranquility and enable progress in bilateral relation".


texts:
Heads of a thousand inmates were cut.

The heads of a thousand inmates were cut.

The head of a thousand inmates was/were?? cut.

Which one/ones are correct?
It first seems to me that the second one is correct; each inmate has one head, so we use “the head”, and “the heads” follows. How about the third one? However, although it sounds weird to me and may cause ambiguity, the following sentence sound okay to me.

We have changed the size of our shoes.

I don’t know whether is it okay to write the first one. Does it have the same meaning as the second one? I have learnt from somewhere that the following pairs of  sentences about are identical in meaning,(are they) so I wonder if I can apply that knowledge to this problem.

The people in England speak English.
People in England speak English.

I love the food made by my mom.
I love food made by my mom

This design aims for the harmony of form and function.
This design aims for harmony of form and function.

And could someone please write in detail if the additional “the” in each of the sentences have any slight changes in suggestions or something? I would much appreciate that.


texts: Why is the word "bought" incorrect in "Did you change your mind and bought the red car?"

texts:
Did you change your mind and bought the red car?

Why is the word "bought" incorrect in this context? I was teaching ESL and this question came up.


texts:
Why no arcticle is needed in this sentence?

  In Germany (?) electrician killed a dog with an electric discharge.


texts: Past tense VS Past perfect in Narrative speech

texts:
1)She told me that she had been thinking of helping him but had changed her mind.
2)She told me that she   was thinking of helping him but changed  her mind.
Are both sentences correct? If they are, what is the difference in meaning between them??


texts: "Watched any" vs "saw any" in a sentence

texts:
Have you watched any new movies?

Is this the correct way to ask? Or is it better to ask Saw any new movies?


texts:
Can gravy, which has been ladled, be said to be atop potatoes?

I would say it can't, but I'd like to see what other speakers have to say.

I understand to be atop something to occupy a position there, as a house atop a hill, or a hat atop a head.  Strictly speaking, gravy cannot be positioned on potatoes (unless the potatoes are mashed and a crater is formed at the top).


texts: Improve the bracketed part of the sentence

texts:
Last week Tim went camping with his friends. They seemed (to have a good time).

  To having a good time.

  To have had a good time.
  To be having a good time.
  No improvement.

Here I think option 4 is correct but my book suggests option 2. Please explain the correct option with its meaning.


texts: I think these are almost the same meaning. Am I right? - time adverbial clause

texts:
In my first few weeks of the new project, I made a lot of mistakes.

For the first few weeks after I'd started to work on the new project, I made a lot of mistakes.

In the first few weeks, when I was new to the project, I made a lot of mistakes.

I have been asking a couple of questions related to what I'm currently asking.
So, I've made 3 sentences and I thought these are acceptable to use and almost the same meaning.


texts:
Reality is revealed/unfolded to us by nature.

"reveal" seems idiomatic here, but could we have a better explanation of why it is better between the two?


texts:
I expect question and debate those ideas which interest me.

Is it expect "to" or just "expect"?

Thanks.


texts:
For something like this:

  Only the cry of wolves, and the bleat of sheep[,] could be heard.

If the first comma weren't there, then I'm fairly certain the second would be unneeded; however given that the first comma is there, is the second needed then?

My guess is that it is needed because if there were no second comma, the two phrases would be separated and thus would be ungrammatical. However, I am not too sure since I see the comma omitted often (around the Internet, so obviously not a reliable source).


texts: What does "make oneself heard above the chatter" mean?

texts:
Example sentences:

  Many people are glad to have someone who can make themselves heard above the chatter.

  How can you make yourself heard above the chatter?

I know the meaning of every single word in this phrase but do not get the meaning readily. What does make oneself heard above the chatter mean?


texts: What is the hat of a construction worker called in general?

texts:
helmet: a type of hard hat that protects the head, worn, for example, by a
  police officer, a soldier or a person riding a bike or motorbike or
  playing some sports

  Police in riot helmets lined the streets.

  A protective helmet should be worn at all times.

  Cycle helmets dramatically reduce the risk and severity of head
  injuries.

Look at the picture

What is a common word for the hat of a construction worker?

Is it a helmet? or a hard hat?


texts:
which sentence is correct?

  you already have one.

or

  you already had one.

I'm confused.


texts: Slightly weaker adjective than "heavily" in "heavily used"?

texts: This is a very simple question, but I found it's something hard to search for on the internet. When something is used a lot, we can say "something is heavily used". If it's almost abandoned, we can say "something is barely used". Then if something is fairly well-used so that you can find it here and there but still not in the level of heavily used, what adjective should I use in this case?


texts: Why does propriety need to be vindicated?

texts:
But we are disposed to vindicate the propriety of the step he took.

If the step he took are proper, why do those people ("we") feel the need to vindicate it?

Or does it mean those people feel inclined to justify that the step he took is in fact proper?

My second question is whether in the context of this sentence the word "proper" (that I used above) should be replaced with "politically correct".

What I mean is does propriety in this sentence mean "political correctness" or "proper-ness" (for lack of a better word)?