texts:
My English teacher said that "bread-and-butter" was a slice of bread spread with butter and "bread and butter" was just bread and butter literally and the pronunciation of the former was interlinked but the pronunciation of the latter was not interlinked. After the class I lookd up the words in a dictionary. the meanings in a dictionary was so different with them he taught me and the pronunciations all were interlinked like breadeun butter.

And he let me translate a sentence(situation : A man was walking on the street and I was in his way) into English so I wrote like this "He asked me to move out of his way" and then he removed "of his way" without any explanation.
I have known that "move out" is moving to a strange place.
Is it possible to write "move out", or to use "out" for emphasis in that case?

Thank you for reading through :)


texts: Why is it 'a United States' in this sentence instead of 'the United States'?

texts:
Japan, Turkey, and Poland will each be facing a United States even
  more confident than it was after the second fall of the Soviet Union.

  Source: The Next 100 Years by George Friedman

I used to see a definite article - "the" with "United States".
Even more peculiar it makes that fact that "States" is a plural noun and plural nouns don't take an "a" article.


texts: The difference between action and behavior

texts:
I don't seem to find any difference between action as a noun and behavior. What's the difference between these two words?

Once I used the word ‘action’ to describe what a character of a movie did for example

  Her action in the movie symbolizes blah blah ...

That was not something she did in her daily life, but a simple decision she'd made and followed through. In that case, would action be the right one to be used or behavior be the right one?


texts:
I am wondering how can we use "can't help it" in a sentence.
I want you to explain me it's grammer  definition and I would appreciate if you could provide some examples of this expression for me


texts: Single word for staying late at the office

texts: I've heard a lot of single words meaning "staying late at the office", but I'm not able to recall them at the moment. What word can I use to describe this?


texts: Do "usually never" and "usually always" make sense?

texts:
When visiting the lunch buffet:

  "I usually never take the spicy dressing"

When waiting for Tom:

  "Tom usually always comes on time"

It seems like a bit of colloquial exaggeration - but is it correct?


texts: present perfect continuous for an action recently stopped

texts: The present perfect continuous can be used for an action that has just stopped, but has a present result, for example: I have been gardening (my hands are covered in soil) or it has been raining (the streets are wet). My question is: if there has been a party which has finished but there are still empty glasses and bottles everywhere, is it possible to say "they have been having a party"? The party has finished but there is a result in the present.


texts:
I have never heard him to say it

Now, I realize that the "to" is not supposed to be there. But why? Grammatically "say" in this sentence is an infinitive.  Or it is pretending to be one. I am using other languages to get to the bottom of this and "say" ends up being an infinitive in each of them.


texts: Is 'disturbance on your side' idiomatic for a telephonic conversation?

texts:
Let's say I am on the phone with my friend, and due to poor reception or him being in a crowded location, it is impossible for me to hear what he is saying, Can I say

  There is a lot of noise/ disturbance on your side? Can you please speak up?

Is the use of noise/disturbance and on your side idiomatic(native speakers) here?


texts: What does 'call for' mean in this context?

texts:
I can't understand what 'calling for' means.

  Hi John, this is Jihoon. I'm calling for an update on the 3D HDTV release.

However, I can understand this sentence

  I'm calling about the appointment I made yesterday.

Could you let me know the difference between 'call for' and 'call about'?


texts: Simple past and past perfect used at the same time

texts:
It is usually a rule that if two actions happened in the past, it may be necessary to show which action happened earlier than the other. The simple past is used in one clause and the past perfect in the other.

  When I reached the station the train had started.

But if both of the actions happened at the same moment i.e. if I say

  The train started when I reached the station.

  When I reached the station, the train started.

Is this incorrect?


texts: Area between a docking object and the object of docking

texts:
We have a space station, which is the object of docking (OOD), and a spaceship, which is the docking object (DO).

What's the name of the area between the DO and the OOD once the DO docks with OOD?

I thought it was "a bridge" at first but a bridge is "the raised part of a ship on which the captain and other officers stand and from where they control the movement of the ship".

I was thinking of "ramp" but no dictionary has a definition I need.

I found "docking port" at NASA but it refers only to the retractable socket that grips the docking ship.

I found "docking compartment" and "docking module" but can't understand what they refer to.

Edit: The area should be a tunnel of some kind through which an astronaut must pass in order to reach the station.

It should be something like this only in space. It should be extendable and lead to a decompression chamber of the space station. It may be rectangular or cylindrical or any other shape. It may be within another extendable object like a wrapped tunnel. Is there some unified name for it?


texts:
Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no
  mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the
  wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Harry and Hermione
  were in danger. He himself darted around the board, taking almost as
  many white pieces as they had lost black ones.
      "We're nearly there [= (at) the entrance of next room]," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think let me think..." (Harry Potter and
  the Sorcerer's Stone)

Does ‘are’ mean 2 or 5 in OALD or something else? : It seems to me 5. If yes, can the phrase be substituted with ‘we nearly arrived there’?

  2 [intransitive] + adverb/preposition to be located; to be in a place

  5 [INTRANSITIVE] + adverb/preposition to attend an event; to be present in a place

Is there any way I can easily determine things like this for future reference?


texts: What's is the use of WOULD in this text?

texts:
During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain's displeasure with continued Danish trade with the French would lead to increasingly aggressive skirmishes at sea.

  Britain would grow increasingly concerned that Denmark's fall to the French was inevitable, leaving Britain with restricted access to the Baltic Sea, an unthinkable loss to the British military command.

What do those two Would in the texts mean? And what's the differences with Simple Past Tense?


texts:
From 300 to 500 million people are affected by malaria.
Can I use 'from ---to ---'' as a subject?
Please explain it to me.


texts: Which preposition should I use when defining a job position

texts:
Which preposition is correct in the sentence below?

  I want work in/on/at this position.


texts: AmEng: Is the T tapped (flap) in the compound noun heart attack?

texts: Is the T tapped (flap) in the compound noun: heart attack? I'm talking about the T in the word "heart".


texts: "Would", used for speculation or inference

texts:
Scene 1

  Katniss Everdeen: President Snow. What an honor.

  President Snow: My dear, I think we can make this so much simpler. If we agree not to lie to each other, what do you think?

  Katniss Everdeen: Yes, I think that would save time.

  President Snow: Sit down, please.

  Scene 2

  Johanna Mason: How do we know the wire's not gonna burn up?

  Beetee: Because I invented it. I assure you, it won't burn up.
  [they all look at each other for a moment]

  Johanna Mason: Well, it's better than hunting them down.

  Katniss Everdeen: Yeah, why not? If it fails, no harm done anyway, right?

  Peeta Mellark: Alright, I say we try it.

  Finnick Odair: So what can we do to help?

  Beetee: Keep me alive for the next six hours. That would be extremely helpful.

  --The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I think these two would are used for speculation or inference and no conditionals are implied here.

When used this way, is it a less definite form of will? PEU1 and Advanced Grammar in Use say little on this particular usage of would.

Can you please elaborate on this?

1. PEU = Michael Swan's, Practical English Usage.


texts: Does a comma go before "and then" when an independent clause comes after it?

texts:
How would this sentence be written? Would a comma go before "and then" or no?

Without comma:

  "Brian stole my phone while I was golfing and then Jacob hit him in the face."

With comma:

  "Brian stole my phone while I was golfing, and then Jacob hit him in the face."


texts: Usage of a gerund and a verb in the present simple

texts:
Being sick, he, nevertheless, left home to go to work.
Getting sick, he, nevertheless, decided to come to work.

Are these sentences grammatical? Do they make sense? I am concerned about whether it is possible to start a sentence with a gerund and to use a verb in the past simple, like in my examples.


texts: Using tenses in a text about a deceased person

texts:
Can anyone who has good knowledge in the language please correct my writing. I have problems choosing the correct tense in the following context.

  Bollywood is a one big happy family. And the death of legendary actor Sridevi has shocked the family. The untimely death of the legendary actress, Sridevi due to major cardiac arrest last night has left the country in shock.

  The actress started her career in a mere age of 4 and since then she has/had ruled millions. She has given/gave us many brilliant and memorable performances throughout her career. Movies like Mr.India, English Vinglish, Lamhe, Chaalbaaz etc. have seen the most memorable performances by the actress. The actress is/was an epitome of acting, brilliance and perfection.


texts: "The stoppering unit has vacuum" - is there a better way to phrase it?

texts:
I'm translating a filling-and-capping line checklist (pharmaceutical production), and one of the points of the list goes like this:

  Check the vacuum pump for operability. When the pump operates, one can hear the characteristic sound and witness the presence of vacuum in the stoppering unit.

Is there a better way to put it?

The Russian original text puts it quite bluntly:

  Проверить работоспособность вакуумного насоса. При включённом насосе слышен характерный звук и присутствие вакуума в узле укупорки.

  Check the vacuum pump for operability. When the pump operates, one can hear the characteristic sound and the stoppering unit has vacuum. (this does not look good in English).

The stoppering of a vial using vacuum looks like this - see this YouTube video - only that in my case the system is automated.


texts: Event to be happen in past but not happened

texts:
I saw my mom at home instead when she should have been at the Bank. She had a plan to go to the Bank. She told me that she was going to the Bank.

Actualy i want to ask her about her plan in second sentence

What she is doing at home when she had planed to go to bank

Should I say:

  "What you are doing here. you had to go to bank, hand't you?"
  Or
  "What you are doing here. you were to go to bank, weren't you?"

Or should I say some thing else?


texts: What do you call the list of required parts used to build a machine/robot?

texts:
In my example, there's multiple machines each with their own list of required parts to build them.

Is there a name or term for them like a recipe for machine or something?


texts: Past perfect in "after" and "before" clauses

texts:
A lot of opinions on the proper use of the past perfect seem quite contradictory. One that's been puzzling me is it's usage in the clauses that incorporate words such as "before" or "after", that clearly mark the chronology of events. Even though that could render the past perfect redundant, many workbooks still advise using it. Why?
I've always done this intuitively, and omitted more complex tense structures when they were not needed. As for now though, I'm not quite sure if I've been right the whole time.

I went there after I finished my classes. (had finished?)
He repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license. (had repaired?)
I saw a documentary on the Whydah before we visited it in Providence. (had seen?)
We waited until they left. (had left?)

On the other hand, there are cases in which I'd opt for using the past perfect tense.

Francis Drake had worked for the British Navy before he became a pirate, so he exactly knew what to expect from them.

Is there any rule? Or are they mostly interchangable?


texts:
I write a blog. In one article I am creating a tutorial. I am using a sentence with words will and would. I am not sure if the tenses are used well. The sentence is this

  Then we will add some error handling so some warnings would be expected during runtime.

The English language has some tense dependencies and I am not sure when do they work.

update
I must specify that the conditional is actually adding some error handling. If it is added the warning might be shown when a crash happens. In another case, when no error handling is added, the crash would be invisible and the programmer could not see what kind of errors took place.


texts: "Between clock ticks" vs. "in the clock ticks"

texts:
Clock

  A very important component of a CPU is the clock. A clock is a
  component that "ticks" regularly to synchronize processing. A clock
  typically contains a quartz or other materials with well-known and
  relatively constant oscillation period, and the clock circuitry
  maintain and measures this oscillation to maintain its sense of time.

  CPU operations are done between clock ticks and read/writes are done
  in the ticks to ensure that all components move synchronously and not
  trample into each other while in intermediate states. In our (2,3)
  Turing Machine, between clock ticks electricity passes through the
  logic gates to calculate the output from the input (I1, I2, R(t)); and
  in the clock ticks, the tape writer will write O1,O2 to the tape, the
  motor will move depending on the value of M, and the internal register
  is written from the value of R(t+1), then the tape reader will read
  the current tape and put charge into I1,I2 and the internal register
  is reread back to R(t).

  Source: How Do Computers Work?

The quoted excerpt gives an excellent explanation on the mechanism of CPU operations.

But I have difficulty pinning down the sense of "in the clock ticks". I think a clock tick marks a point in time while the time between the clock ticks marks a passage of time. How does the tape writer write something to the tape in the clock ticks?


texts: Which tense is being used in 'it is moved from location A to B'?

texts:
Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

  It is moved from location A to B.

If yes, then which tense is being used here? I'm not sure if a past tense can be followed by is.


texts: What are the viewpoint and lexical aspects of the following two "stand"?

texts:
What are the viewpoint and lexical aspects of the following two stand?

  You stand to make a lot from this deal.

  They stand accused of crimes against humanity.

Would it be possible to use the present progressive tense here instead?


texts:
Which one is correct when asking a person for their name:

  May I take your name, please?
  May I get your name, please?
  May I have your name, please?


texts: Why am I not seeing or why I am not seeing. Which one is correct?

texts:
Why am I not seeing

or

  Why I am not seeing

Which one is correct?


texts: How do you say to two people that it is/not their mistake?

texts:
We say  "It is his mistake." "It is Alex's mistake." But if you want to say to two people that it is their mistake or it is not their mistake, do we not use the possessive form and say  the following instead?

  A. It is the mistake of both of you.

  B. It is not the mistake of either of you.

I know that you can say "It is/not your mistake" and refer to two or more people, but what if I wanted to emphasize the two people I am speaking to and wanted to add "both" or "either"?


texts: “Mary likes cheese very much" or “Mary very much likes cheese” which one is correct?

texts:
Which one is correct? Maybe both?

  “Mary likes cheese very much."

or

  “Mary very much likes cheese.”

According to this website the second sentence is wrong: http://www.antimoon.com/how/input-howmuch.htm

It seems to me strange because I've read in Practical English Usage by Michael Swam that the sentences like the second one is correct. And I'm a bit confused. That's why I'm asking the natives.


texts: How to say that you are not a part of a line (queue BrE) and you are just watching or checking?

texts:
Consider there is a line of people getting their food from different options they have in front of them. You want to check what are the food options and someone in the line, whose immediate neighbor to your position, thinks that you are there to pick something and may feel bad about it. How do you say I am not here to pick something. I would say

  I am just watching (the food).

Is that the correct way to say that or does it convey the same meaning? Is there any better alternative?


texts:
I was watching This Morning, the British talk show, and in the midst of it (almost 1 minute and 20 seconds into the video) the guest complaining about why people described her daughter as beautiful, judging her looks and all that while praised her boys on their physicality and intelligence. She says

  So why would I give airspace to praise her for something that has nothing to do with her...

Based on the context I can figure out she means letting people do that, but I fail to find it in a reliable source. Is it a common expression or an improvisation?


texts:
He fell straight off (from) the ledge (right) in/to/into the pool.

Falling in/into the (swimming) pool doesn't seem to rely on any phrasal verb or idiom that I can see. Falling from something is not breaking apart and falling down inward i.e. to fall in (phrasal verb, like a roof collapsing), or is it (without being able to tell apart phrasal based from simple construction in the output, I still note things falling in the pool are on rise since the 60's; even he, but not she)? I understand that falling can be used with many prepositions, that this might be depending on a choice of register or the nature of what someone is falling from. The verb to fall is often used with down or over says Merriam Learners. As for straight off, it's an adverbial construction meaning immediately.

A recipe for disaster. The context is that there is that terrace or platform with no ramp over the pool and what happened happened. I'm not sure if I need to use from with ledge here as straight off feels like it already "contains" that idea of origin. Later in the sentence, I'm confused as well, feeling that if I use the word right then it's casual to follow that up with into (right into sth., directly). Without using right, if I used from earlier on (straight off from), then to the pool now sounds valid because I'm thinking in terms of from something to something else (as in from left to right). With some experience I know that if I have to ask such questions, that's a telltale sign I've mangled this sentence by postponing some preposition that was part of a phrasal verb, or by using the wrong preposition altogether early on in the sentence.

Question

What "path" should I follow, is to fall off the phrasal
verb I needed here (He fell off straight from the ledge right into the pool)?
Can you both fall right off and fall straight into the pool at once (He fell (right) off the ledge straight into the pool)?
Usually there are no intermediate states to falling down so is
straight off an adverb here or some sort of intensifier (strongly, abruptly) I misused; is right off better suited for that (do you fall right off or straight off something)?
Any hint on handling this situation where adverbs and prepositions
seem to "converge" on the same position in the sentence, or where you
feel like you have a bunch of "loose" prepositions all over the place
interacting with one another and no phrasal verb?


texts: In all of Southeast Asia" or "In Southeast Asia"

texts:
I found a sentence from  a book "Travel in Singapore":

Jurong Birdpark is the largest Bird Park in all of Southeast Asia.

Can I put the phrase  "In all of southeast asia" at the beginning of sentence?

  In all of Southeast Asia, the Jurong Bird Park is the largest park.
  In Southeast Asia, the Jurong Bird Park is the largest
  park.

I also want to know I need to add "all of" in the sentence of superlative degree.


texts: I saw that on a laptop sticker(owned by a girl majoring in computer science) and I thought Sisu may typify the Finnish spirit, but I wonder how it relates to "data"?


texts: Could someone tell me how the word /telephoning/ is pronounced with the stress made clear?


texts: On usages like "I saw the thief escape on a boat"

texts: In the sentence, "I saw a thief escape on a boat.", what part of speech is "escape"? Is it used as a verb or a noun? Please elaborate on usages like these.


texts: We make an appointment TO / FOR a dentist or physician?

texts:
Which preposition should I choose? (When I want to say that we need to have an appointment for treatment)

  We make an appointment to a dentist.

Or

  We make an appointment for a dentist.

Or maybe other preposition?

N.b. I can guess that the preposition "for" denotes that the dentist by himself is sick and the appointment is for him. But I'm not sure about that.


texts: "Would" used to tone down a strong and controversial statement

texts:
I have read in https://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/grammar/would.html that would is used  to tone down strong, controversial statements. The website defines it as follows:

  To tone down strong, controversial statements- not recommended in formal essays:

  I would have to say that you're acting a bit immature.

  Here, would has a similar meaning to do, but less emphatic.

I don't quite understand how we can use would to "Tone down strong, controversial statements". How the sentence with would have to tone downs strong or make controversial statement in above sentence?

Could you please make these clear to me?


texts:
I'm reading a book which is about women's behavior when they love someone. The book has a paragraph:

  Finally, try to appreciate women’s feminine communication style rather than let it get on your nerves. While women take less responsibility in the form of initiatives during dating, once the sexual relationship has officially been formed, they might change completely, to the extreme extent of bombarding you with text messages and phone calls. They do this because they are thinking of you, which is flattering. So you should interpret it as such rather than get annoyed by it. Females do not call their males every day at work and ask them what they are doing because they do not understand that their partners are working yet another day. Read between the lines and appreciate that she is showing that she cares about you in her feminine manner, while keeping in mind she may not be aware of her potentially annoying behavior.

I've searched on Google the expression "work another day" and I meet a sentence "If you enjoy what you do, you'll never work another day in your life", so I guess "work another day" mean "feel tired at work", right?  But I still don't understand the expression "Females do not call their males every day at work and ask them what they are doing because they do not understand that their partners are working yet another day". What does the writer mean in this sentence?


texts:
Which verb form follows the phrase 'hundreds of thousands' while denoting an infinite amount of money?
Do we write:

  Not hundreds of thousands are spent...

OR:

  Not hundreds of thousands is spent


texts: Can I use "(a) little" with countable nouns?

texts:
I learned that "a few/few" are used with countable nouns, and "a little/little" go with uncountable nouns, as in "I have little hope/patience etc."

With little more than two weeks to reverse his dismal standing in the polls, and amid a coronavirus resurgence that could sink his pursuit of a second term, Donald Trump has embarked on a tour of battleground states.

But I'm confused with this sentence above, since "little" is used here with "weeks".
Can't we count "weeks"? The way we count "one week, two weeks, three weeks..." doesn't count as "counting"?
Don't we say something like "we have a few more weeks to prepare for the big party"? When can I use "a few" and when "little" with weeks?


texts: Can I use the structure "expose sb as doing sth"?

texts: You can say "expose smb as [noun]". However, I want to somehow add a verb to it. How can I do it? "Expose smb as doing smth"? "Expose smb to do smth"? For example, "The investigators exposed him as taking bribes from pharmaceutical companies" (don't suggest to rephrase it, it's not what I'm asking).


texts: Should grammar be tweaked to fit in a fixed phrasing?

texts:
Problem 1

  The same can be applied with larger units in the article, be it sentences or paragraphs.

Should the nouns after "be it" must be singular? Because the phrase is "it", then I guess they should be singular. But because "units" should be plural, then they should be plural as well. One solution is to change to "be they", but is it awkward? Or is using plural nouns after "be it" not noticed and acceptable?

Problem 2

  She is damned if she does and damned if she don't.

We should use "doesn't" instead, but it will make the saying lost its rhythm. Would the rhythm overshadow the grammatical error?

In general, should grammar be tweaked to fit in a fixed phrasing?

FYI: Be it............. or grammar


texts: "Everyone has their own stories" vs "Everyone has their own story" - which one is correct?

texts:
Which of them is correct?

  Everyone has their own stories

or

  Everyone has their own story

What I'm asking about is that how could we decide that we should use a plural or singular noun after the word "own"? Is it correct to think that if a subject of the sentence is singular then a noun following the word "own" must be singular too?

Here are some examples below:

  People have their own stories.

  Dang has his own story.

  Evenyone has their own story.


texts: Changing "Honey is sweet" to passive voice

texts:
How can I change this to passive voice?

Honey is sweet


texts:
I heard we could say The Future Perfect Tense

  You will have read in the newspapers about the conclusion of this agreement.

meaning

  You must have read in the newspapers about the conclusion of this agreement.

Is it true that we can use "will have V3" instead of "must have V3"?


texts:
It would be highly appreciated if someone tells me what the mean of the blow sentences is and gives me a paraphrase for each one:

I don't mind. It should be quite interesting!

I want to know whether "it" is interesting or not. Indeed, I don't understand the meaning of the first section.
And what about the below sentence?

I would not mind having a go at that!


texts:
For my business conversation, which of the following sentence will suit best.

  "Once I get the design, Let me start development work"

OR

  "Once I got the design, Let me start development work"

Using past tense or present tense? Which is correct?


texts: Presumably Queen Elizabeth 1st has only been called that title since our present Queen came to the throne, taking the title Queen Elizabeth 2nd (presumably in her lifetime Queen Elizabeth 1st would have been known as Queen Elizabeth). What is the word used to denote this change.


texts: Elegant way to say "apparently there is no hope, but no, there is still some hope"

texts:
I would like to rephrase the following paragraph (note: for the sake of this question, it is not relevant what CE means; it is only relevant that CE is a good thing):

  "Example 2.1 shows that CE does not exist even in a very simple case. This example could make us think that there is no hope at all to enjoy the benefits of CE. However, a recent paper by XYZ (2017) shows that there is still some hope, since this simple case is very rare in practice.".

One problem with this paragraph is the repetitive use of "hope"; another problem is that it is too long and cumbersome. Is there a more elegant way to convey the message that "we could think there is no hope, but yet, there is"?


texts: Is there any difference between “I have interest” and “I have interested”?

texts: If I say I  have interest in music  OR I have interested in music, Is there any difference in meaning of both?


texts: What is the difference between 'truth' and 'sincerity'

texts:
I've just run into trailer where these two words 'art requires truth, not sincerity' delivered as different or even oposite

I didn't find any substantial difference between words truth and sincerity on Oxford dictionary

Question

Could you please explain to me what the difference between these two words (truth vs sincerity)


texts:
The bar juxtapose against the beauty parlor.

or

  The beauty parlor is juxtaposed against the bar.


texts: This is vs I am [introduce self sms/whatsapp/email]

texts:
How can I introduce myself when I text to someone who knows me for the first time after I got her number or when I use a different phone number or when I send an email?

Usually, I use "I am (Igor)."

Is it correct?
How is the difference from "this is"?

I suppose just of "feeling" (AmE and BrE).


texts: Whether the conjunction 'and' here was left out or not?

texts:
I have been confused by the following sentence for a while.

  Robert explains that being a good banker isn't enough to become rich,
  one also has to be a good gambler in order to understand the price to
  pay.

It seems to me that there are two different sentences partitioned by the comma, but the conjunction 'and' was omitted.  But according to the rule of compound sentence, the conjunction can't be left out, so I wonder if the word 'and' was left out by the writer? OR it is different grammatical facts?


texts: "I thought I know him." or "I thought I knew him." Which one is correct?

texts:
One of my friends was talking about her ex-boyfriend.

  She said, "Akala ko kilala ko na siya." (in Filipino)

  When translated directly from Filipino to English, it is: "I thought I know him."

  But, "I thought I knew." appeared when I used Google Translate. This one seems more grammatical.

Both sound correct to me, but I want to learn which the correct expression is (or tense of verb to be used)?

Thank you for the help in advance!


texts:
I wonder if someone could tell me which one of the following choice fits the best for my example?

……………..the World Heritage Organization has protected hundreds of sites ranging from beautiful natural islands to buildings in large cities to ancient ruins.
a) up to now  b) so far   d) by now
e) until now

For me, they all work and they all mean the same in this specific context. But I wonder if someone do me a favor and let me know if here is any slight nuance or usage feature for each one over the others. For example I am guessing there should be a difference in
politeness or formality degree between them.
All opinions are welcome.


texts: "Rollbacked" or "rolled back" the edit? And what about "double-click"?

texts:
The noun (and verb) rollback on Stack Exchange means to undo or reverse an edit. I'm not sure if there is a difference between the two, but that's how I understand it.

Recently, I posted the past participle rollbacked,  in a comment, and after a bit I looked at it and realised I should have written rolled back.

The problem is that  rollback is spelt as one word, so adding the suffix -ed was an automatic gesture. And if I think about it, backed is an adjective, and back is also a verb.  Here's another example,  double-click, is the past tense doubled-click or double-clicked?

Was I so wrong to write rollbacked?

Why should it have been rolled back (two words)?

Are there cases of compound nouns (and verbs) where either the first noun/verb or the second can be placed in the simple past tense with no changing in meaning? I can't think of any on the top of my head.


texts: "infinitive" or "object+infinitive" in reported speech of imperative sentences

texts:
Reported speech of imperative sentences requires use of either "infinitive" or "object+infinitive".Which one to choose if both the options are available in an MCQ. Consider the following direct speech

"Call the first witness", said the Judge.

Which one of the following options we should go with for the reported speech of the above sentence?

1. The Judge commanded to call the first witness.

2. The Judge commanded them to call the first witness.

Please explain any change in meaning in the two cases, if any. I am going with option 1 but the book is with option 2.


texts: Do we have the structure "to copy somebody doing something"?

texts:
About words in English dictionaries, sometimes they don't have usages that cover more complicated actions in real world as you expect.

For example, the verb "copy", "imitate" & "mimic"

  copy [transitive] copy somebody/something: to behave or do
  something in the same way as somebody else SYNONYM imitate

  She copies everything her sister does.

  Their tactics have been copied by other terrorist organizations.

  He was just a little kid copying his idol.

  imitate somebody: to copy the way a person speaks or behaves, in
  order to make people laugh SYNONYM mimic

  She knew that the girls used to imitate her and laugh at her behind
  her back.

  He tried to imitate my Scots accent and we both laughed.

  mimic: to copy the way somebody speaks, moves, behaves, etc., especially in
  order to make other people laugh

  mimic somebody/something She's
  always mimicking the teachers.

  He mimicked her southern accent.

  speech ‘It's not fair!’ she mimicked.

As I non-native speaker, I "feel" it is natural to have this structure "to copy / imitate / mimic somebody doing something".

Say a lady is swaying her hips, and a child trying to copy it.

If we follow the structures in the dictionaries ("to copy somebody / something"), we can only say:

"He is copying the lady" or "He is copying the lady's dance".

Not sure if I can say "He is copying the lady swaying her hips" ("to copy somebody doing something").

or do we have to make it longer "He is copying the lady who is swaying her hips"?


texts: Slash in abbreviations for example j/k or w/e

texts: I was wondering why people use a slash in abbrevations for example w/e or j/k (whatever and just kidding). I've seen them with and without a slash and I am actually interested to know what the slash means, in German we don't use slashes in abbrevations.


texts: Is there any historical grammar explanation why in the tag questions "am" changes into "aren't?"For example, "I'm a teacher, aren't I"? The personal pronoun "I" relates to the first singular person and is used with "am", but in the second part of the sentence there is "aren't" which goes usually with plural forms.Why can't it be "I'm a teacher, am not I"?


texts:
From a tutorial (Transcript)

the focus of this lesson will be
learning to navigate HTML to arrive at
the content we may be interested in
retrieving.

in doing so, we will use a
simple toy model of HTML as we become
comfortable with how the code looks
behind the scenes, and ...

In the second part of the quotation, let A = "use a
simple toy model of HTML", and B = "comfortable with how the code looks
behind the scenes".
I understand the meanings of A and B separately but I don't understand the whole meaning of "we will A as we become B".
It seems that B is some kind of condition for A, if "as" means "when" or "at the same time" in this particular context. Grammatically, this interpretation sounds correct. However, the learning process is not like that. By going through it, people would find that the tutorial uses that toy model to explains how HTML code looks, rather than the other way around.
On the other hand, if the interpretation of "as" could be that, A is a way to achieve B, the whole sentence makes more sense.
Is my understanding correct?
Is it common to use "as" to convey the relationship that way?
How about this one?

in doing so, we will become comfortable with how the code looks behind the scenes, and ... as we use a simple toy model of HTML

Which seems grammatically correct and fits the learning process, though the part before "as" might be too long to easily understand.


texts: "Bring me the phone" instated of saying "Bring the phone to me"

texts:
What's more natural for the native English speakers ear?

  "Bring me the phone please"

  "Bring the phone to me please"

My doubt with the first sentence (bring me...) which can sounds a little bit not logic, and sounds like I ask to bring me... (take me from one place to another). If it's valid, then how can you explain me the logic behinds this sentence?


texts: reducing relative clause using prefer verb

texts:
I was curious to know what kind of reduction has used for the word "preferring" in the following sentence.

I think punctuation is not correct. I guess it originally had been ", because they(students) prefer...". in which case it does not require a comma.

  This questionable answer claims that electronic devices can be addictive. One consequence of this is school children might not be able to do their homework, preferring to socialize online...


texts: What to say when somebody says "silly me"

texts:
I wonder if there is casual reaction when somebody says "silly me"?

For example somebody forgets his phone on a table when he left a office room and realized soon he did not take his phone with him. When he turns and takes his phone  from the table, he says "silly me." How to reply in witty way, even if we do not have to..


texts: the meaning of "take on" translation confusing

texts:
I know ''take on'' has the meaning of "undertake"  ,
however what make me confused is that the translation is too flexible.
it can be translated to "undertake","begin to do","to accept /to address" and etc.

so I am really confused. It has so much translation? what can i do??


texts: The meaning of the clause "The world won't end"

texts:
The world won't end if you don't pass a test, so don't get overly worried.

What does " The world won't end" mean?


texts: "It doesn't matter" or "it won't matter"?

texts:
It doesn't matter.
  It won't matter.

Where is correct?  Still confused when I use it so tell me good people where is the correct what should I talk


texts: Can I use verb 'port' when I rewrite software code

texts:
I have source code of some software library. It's implemented using "Programming language A". I must implement the same code using "Language B".

After I've read "What does it mean 'to port over'", I know that

  ‘To port’ is an IT term meaning “to translate (software) into a version for another computer or operating system”

But if I don't change a target platform for the library, can I define my process as "porting"? Can I still say that I "port" the code from "Language A" to "Language B"?


texts:
I always called one of my cousin's cousins as my second cousin until my friend corrected me a few days back. According to him second cousins should share common great grand parents.

So whats the word for my Mother's Brother's Wife's Sister's Son?

I'm sorry if this question seems a bit unclear. I can add any details.


texts:
Source: p 37, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar (2005) by Huddleston and Pullum

  Nevertheless, subordinate subjunctives like [iii] are structurally
  very like subordinate clauses with primary verb-forms...

Please help me dig deeper than the bolded's  meaning, which I ask NOT about.

I guess here: very is an adverb (see Defn 1), and like is a preposition (see Defn 1). Am I right?

The bolded phrase sounds grammatically strange and wrong.
What about in general, for any adverb and preposition?


texts: What is the connection between these two clauses?

texts:
What does the bold-part mean?, in connection to the first part before hyphen?

  Chomsky expresses support for the boycott of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories – a strategy enhanced by an EU policy shift last year that was welcomed by pro-Palestinian activists.


texts: usage of the idiom "to cast a shadown on/over something or someone"

texts:
The idiom "to cast a shadow over/on something or someone" means to fill something with grief, dread or any strong emotion. I am going to make up an example with it.

(ex) John used to like math a lot when he was young. However, his repeated failures in the subject made him lose total confidence and have cast a shadow on him ever since.

Am I using the idiom correctly? Thanks a lot.


texts: I found out about this site on Facebook... or "at Facebook"?

texts:
Would this look natural:

  StackExchange is a helluva site! I found out about this site at Facebook.

Or should we use the preposition on:

  StackExchange is a helluva site! I found out about this site on Facebook.

Or are both okay?

(Inspired by a lang-8 post)


texts: Another wrong test? ("Since" and Present Perfect/Past Simple)

texts:
There's this test http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs12.htm

The relevant part is:

  I have visited so many beautiful places since I (come) to Utah.

Apparently it's more natural to say verb in a Past Simple after "since":

"since i came" = 40,900,000 results

"since i've come" = 8,830,000 results

But is this grammatically incorrect to make it Present Perfect?

The rule says:

  We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.

Does the word "since" make a time specific?


texts:
Let me thank you in advance.

I am taking ( for my just blog purpose ) a listening test, which is,
the gate examination to enter his/her university for entire students
in our country. And I struck upon a very annoying problem? which is,
whether speaker should end with either plural or singular. Kindly take
a look at below.

( The listening test answer )

  Woman : How many emails do you usually get a day?

  Man : Around 90

  Woman : That many?

  Man : Yeah, but a third of them are junk mail.

Now I am wondering if the bold part is correct or not. I think "a third of them"
takes singular, so that "are" should not be used as you can see the man ends up
with singular. Personally, I think this is a mistake. Am I correct or not?

Thank you for your kind assistance in advance.


texts: I don't clearly understand the difference between perception of a human and perspective of a human. And "perception for perspective" phrase is right or "perspective for perception" is right?


texts: Which sentence(s) uses the word "passing" incorrectly?

texts:
Which of the following sentence(s) use the word PASSING incorrectly or inappropriately?

(a) She did not have passing marks in mathematics.
(b) The mad woman was cursing everybody passing her on the road.
(c) At the birthday party, all the children enjoyed a game of passing the parcel.

I'm not passing on my assignment to you guys. Me and my friend disagree on the answer and we need to confirm.
I say usage in option (b) is incorrect. The correct sentence should be

(b)The mad woman was cursing everybody passing by on the road.
Reason: "passing her" would mean that everybody is passing through her which doesn't make sense.

My friend says usage in option (a) is incorrect. The correct sentence should be

(a) She did not have pass marks in mathematics.
Reason: "pass marks" is the correct usage not "passing marks"

Kindly tell which is wrong and why? (It is possible that more than one are wrong)


texts:
Would it be okay if I called you when I got back home?
  Would it be okay if I called you when I get back home?

Are both the above sentences grammatically correct?
I'm still kinda confused with the tenses agreement thing.
And how backshifting works.
What i don't get is,do i have to convert the entire sentence to the past,or do i have convert certain parts of the sentence to the past.
Or whether i should keep a sentence where i have past tense strictly to the past.

Like:

  I was walking down the street the other day, and it hit me how the world worked.
  I was walking down the street the other day, and it hit me how the world works.

Do I keep the sentence to the past?
Or do I mix tenses?


texts:
Does anybody know the meaning of a phrase "a dirt lawyer"
I've got as a part of a homework where i need to describe the meaning of the phrases, but i've never heard this one before and i've searched but found nothing. I hope someone will be able to help


texts: "Do PC screens in Australia scan from bottom to top?" -- explain the humour please

texts:
Source: C++ For Dummies, 7th Edition by Stephen R. Davis (2014)

Example:

  Return to our PC-screen-repaint problem. Surely it must need a loop structure
  of some type to write each pixel from left to right on a single line. (Do
  Middle Eastern terminals scan from right to left? I have no idea.) What about
  repeatedly repainting each scan line from top to bottom? (Do PC screens
  in Australia scan from bottom to top?) For this particular task, you need to
  include a left-to-right scan loop within the top-to-bottom scan loop.

I understand the joke about the Middle East because everybody knows that in Arabic they read from right to left. But what's that about computer screens in Australia that scan from bottom to top? What's the humour here?


texts: Can interrogative who be substituted by whom?

texts:
Who are the letters for? (James Joyce, Ulysses)

It seems that who is moved forward to make an interrogative sentence, from after for. Then can you use whom instead of who, for the latter would be ‘whom’ when it comes after ‘for’?


texts:
A dialog between two persons, John and Mike, Mike is not a native a speaker:
example 1

M: John, look at this sentence, should I place commas here and here?
J: Yes, place them.

example 2

J: Yes, use them.

As I see it, "use them" is a correct sentence, but I'm not sure about "place them". Is it necessary to specify the placement, either explicitly, like

J: Yes, you are right: place them before "but" and before "and".

or implicitly:

J: Yes, place them exactly this way.


texts: Why is the sentence "Mark has finished watching TV." correct?

texts:
Mark has finished watching TV.

I have been thinking about this question for a while. Isn't the above sentence is in the present perfect continuous tense? I was thinking why "finished watching TV" makes sense. Usually, the present prefect continuous tense has the form, have/has been + ing form.


texts:
I was studying a book 'Grammar In Use'.
But there is a sentence I don't understand.

'A number of paintings is believed to have been destroyed'

Why 'to' has to be used in this sentence?
Also, are these wrong sentences if I say,

A number of paintings have been believed being destroyed.
A number of paintings is believed destroyed.


texts: "extremely harder" vs "extremely more hard"?

texts:
Is there a good grammatical reason that my English-as-my-first-language ears finds this sentence incorrect:

  I find listening to French extremely harder than reading French.

but this sentence correct:

  I find listening to French extremely more hard than reading French.

?

(I'm assuming other native speakers of English would hear the correctness of each sentence similarly to me. It also interests me that "I find listening to French worryingly harder than reading French" sounds okay to me).


texts: What is the difference between "mesmerise by" and "mesmerise with"

texts:
How can we use the word 'mesmerised' in Active Voice?

The magician mesmerised the audience with his performance with a lion.
The magician mesmerised the audience by his performance with a lion.

Mesmerize by / with.

Eg- The thief mesmerised the child with/ by a fancy toy.


texts: a/the bridge that President Obama had just crossed

texts:
In a CNN report, there's this sentence:

  This was all taking place near a bridge that President Obama had just crossed after 9/11 ceremonies at the Pentagon.

Since President Obama had crossed a specific bridge, why it's "a bridge" and not "the bridge"?


texts:
I found the following sentence in uk.businessinsider.com:

  After being acquired by Google, DeepMind has been put to work implementing artificial intelligence throughout Google, including on its search product.

What were the difference if I omitted on? It seems more natural to me.


texts:
Could you, please, explain preference of one verb over the other?

1.

  I have my teeth checked at the doctor’s.

  I have my teeth examined at the doctor’s.

I tend to think that both are good, the former being a casual check-up and the latter if you have a problem. Probably, the first variant may be modified with “every six months”, for example.

2.

  I have my luggage checked at the customs.

  I have my luggage examined at the customs.

Here, I think the same difference of carefulness is seen, but I’m not really sure.


texts:
In sometimes I use the multiple "to" in a single sentence. But I try to avoid this kind of sentence formation.

After eight years I again went to Chennai to join my first Job

Any simple solution for this kind of sentence formation?


texts: Why you say 'ran **at** the column' but 'flung herself **against** the transparent door'

texts:
Why you say 'ran at the column' or 'flung herself against the transparent door' or go/come to somewere? Why everywere prepositions serve as an indication of direction but the prepositions are different?

  Meg kicked at Charles Wallace and ran at the column.

  As Charles Wallace lunged at her she flung herself against the
  transparent door and she was through it.

A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engl


texts: You're stronger than I am vs You're stronger than me

texts:
Those things are correct gramatically?
What's the difference?

My girlfriend and I went to the beach and I threw her in the water and she said

"You're stronger than I am."

I think that "You're stronger than me." is always correct gramatically..


texts:
She had another bottle of Heineken to pluck up the courage to go to the loo, by which time she was bursting.

I am not sure what the relative clause in the above sentence exactly means and which word modifies. Does it say that she was bursting during the time spent in the toilet or that she was bursting during her way to the loo.

P. S. Does the word "burst" in the conext mean the explosion of laugh (the phrase "burst out laughing")?


texts:
What does the movies word mean in the following statements?

  If you went to the movies, I would babysit.
  If only I had more money, I could go to the movies too.

Does it mean cinema or theater?

  movies: the showing of movies at a theater. Cambridge Dictianary

but the definition isn't clear to me. it is look like the word is verb.


texts:
What is the adjective from the noun "Tinder"? and what is more appropriate to use the adjective of "Tinder" or to use "Flammable" instead?

P.S: do you know any website that can convert any noun I put into it into an adjective and vice versa? I tried, but couldn't find one, if you know please mention it below.


texts: Ascertain exact tense from reported speech

texts:
Alphonse tells me:

“Scott said he had been studying Greek for five years.”

I am trying to imagine what Scott could actually have told Alphonse. I can come up with two situations:

a) Scott: “I studied Greek for 5 years.”
b) Scott: “I have been studying Greek for 5 years.”


texts:
Are the following sentences actually in past progressive?

She was sleeping on the couch.
The dog was barking.


texts: "On Fridays Mary goes to the supermarket by bike."

texts:
On Fridays Mary goes to the supermarket by bike.

or

Mary goes to the supermarket by bike on Fridays.

And If I turn it into a question, can I say:

Does Mary go to the supermarket by bike on Fridays?


texts: To express a coming event, is "go" being used correctly here?

texts:
To express a coming event, I am aware of the famous "the winter is coming".

She is saying as far as the tests or exams go you want to know what's the material

is "go" being used correctly here?


texts:
I've only known or seen "There be Dragons" as interchangeable with "Here be Dragons" as in the context of internet meme maps that make fun of countryside areas. Like this one. However, In a different post on ELL I found an answer with "There be Dragons" in a context I couldn't quite figure out.  From the proficiency of the written answer I am assuming this usage of "There be Dragons" has a distinct meaning that isn't an anomaly specific to that particular English user.

  "These terms have comparative (darker, fairer) and superlative (darkest, fairest) forms and can be used of people of any complexion. So you could describe a white person with brown hair as being darker than a redhead.
  So you could, if you had reason to, describe someone as simply a very dark African-American (though "African-American" is really not very common outside of America). Although it is worth noting that there be dragons. However, it is not necessarily politically incorrect or offensive at all and such terms can obviously be very useful if discussing racial politics or prejudice or whatever."


texts:
Can we use ''told'' in direct speech?
For example,

  She told him, '' I will marry you''.

Are there any differences between ''said to'' and ''told''?
Thanks in advance.


texts: "and what promising opportunities arise are spoiled"

texts:
The last seven years of his correspondence make for distressing reading, as he hatches impractical plans for his financial salvation, and what promising opportunities arise are spoiled.

I would like to ask you two things regarding the bold passage of the above sentence. As I understand the sentence I would replace "what" with "how". The correspondence shows how promising opportunities spoiled. The usage of "what" does not make much sense to me. The second question concerns the verb "arise". Why is it in the form of the bare infinitive and not of the participle – "arisen"?


texts: "Color nonograms" or "Colored nonograms"

texts:
Could you say, please, which phrase is better,

  color nonograms

or

  colored nonograms


texts: Sanctioned me the loan vs sanctioned loan to me

texts:
Which one of the following sentence is correct / better ?

  The office sanctioned loan to me .

Or

  The office sanctioned me the loan.

From my point of view first  sentence seems correct to me as it sounds like the office sanctioned the loan to me that is office allowed / permitted / approved  a loan to me but the second sentence gives a wrong meaning , atleast to my ears , it sounds like the office sanctioned "me the loan " . ( "me the loan" sounds like a single object which is getting sanctioned by office ) or even if I split 'me the loan ' then it sounds like "me" is getting sanctioned by the office that "me" is getting approved by the office not loan as it is immediately followed by sanctioned.

Am I right ? The confusion arise because  as per the book which I second sentence is correct.   This is a active / passive conversion question and this was the given statement .

  I was sanctioned the loan by the office.


texts:
I joined Tom at Flora's walk-in closet.
  I joined Tom in Flora's walk-in closet.

What's the correct preposition? And why?


texts: English expressions for exam : Document synthesis

texts:
In a few days I will pass an English exam (Document synthesis) and I would like to know if there exist some little known English (UK please) expressions that can be placed in the introduction and the Jury might enjoy?

Moreover, How to introduce a good problematic?

I, actually, say something like that :

These four documents extracted from [...] leads to the following reflection:

Is there a better way ?

Thank you in advance for your time


texts:
A post says

  Can you show me on the doll where the bad data management expert touched you?

Wiki gives this explanation about "on the doll"

  The film's title comes from the phrase "Show me on the doll where you were touched", often asked of young children who have been the victims of sexual abuse. The film covers multiple lives of victims and victimizers, sharing the pain of how early childhood traumas can continue throughout adult lives.

I guess I understand the explanation. The question is about the usage.

When would someone said something like that to another person, besides the actual police-victim situation?

Would the use in first quotation be considered as an interesting expression, or some kind of impolite?


texts:
Can we say one of them is more American English or British English?

I have to go to school.

I have got to go to school.

I got to  go school.

I gotta go.

Gotta go.


texts: What's the meaning of "massage me up right nice"?

texts:
From an American sitcom Friends S05E13, SOURCE HERE

Monica: You know, I don't like to brag about it, but I give the best massages!

Chandler: All right, then massage me up right nice!

Monica was giving massage to Chandler.

I know massage could be used as a verb, but what's "up right nice"? I guess maybe in here, "up" goes with "massage", and "right nice" means "very nice"? But I've searched all the dictionaries I have, still didn't find the phrase "massage up".


texts: "for storing books" vs. "to store books"

texts:
From English Grammar Today on Cambridge Dictionary

  I need something for storing CDs.

From an ELL post

  I need something to store CD's.

I adapted them a little bit and got

  I need a bookshelf for storing books.

  I need a bookshelf to store books.

Are both of them grammatically correct and common? Is there any difference in meaning between them?

As per English Grammar Today linked at the beginning, "for storing books" should be correct, as the function of a bookshelf is for storing books.

However, Ngram Viewer shows both are commonly used.

Note: The ELL post I linked tries to distinguish them but gives "a confusing explanation because the distinction itself is confusing".


texts: Are these sentences grammatically correct in formal and informal English?

texts:
I had doubts on this so I asked this on Quora and Englishforums but to my surprise they gave conflicting answers. I want to know which of these sentences are grammatically correct in formal and informal Written & Spoken English. Even though these examples are quite a few, a few general points should encompass them all, I think.

  He is the patient and/(as well as) the doctor.
  He is both the patient and/(as well as) the doctor
  He is a patient and/(as well as) a doctor [too].
  He, the patient and/(as well as) the doctor, is a good guy.
  The patient and the doctor is a good man.

Now, I am quite sure that in all of these sentences, if we remove the second "the", the sentence would be grammatical but I want to know whether these sentences are grammatical at present. So, the most credible response I got was that all of these sentences are grammatically correct but the last one is 'odd' without some context. But he didn't say whether this is so for formal English too or just for informal English.

On the other hand, most of the others said that these sentences are not grammatically correct because the second "the" in each of these sentences makes the phrase plural -- i.e., as if 2 persons were being referred to there.
I countered that they seem to be valid examples of parallelism, but they said they're not.

So, what is the truth here? I would really appreciate your help.

EDIT: I'm totally ignorant about this. I don't know what place to look at to gain some knowledge regarding this. It would really help me if someone cites a website article or book where I can read up on this.


texts:
Is it okay to use the word "home" to refer to other people's places they live in?

I stayed at my friend's home all night yesterday.
My parent's home is where I usually go for the weekends.
We'll visit my Grandma's home tomorrow.

It seems a little bit odd to me.


texts:
The appetizing plate of cookies was gone in half an hour.

In this sentence, which one is gone, the cookies or the plate?

Thanks for your help in advance.


texts: Would an adjective clause be considered part of a prepositional phrase?

texts:
For example:
I'm looking for the man who killed my father.
Is the object "the man" or is it "the man who killed my father"?


texts: The meaning and synonyms of a "broad rail" in the court

texts: What is the meaning of a "broad rail" in the court? I have tried to find its meaning from a dictionary, but I couldn't find this particular collocation. It is used in the context where the policeman leads an accused person up to the broad rail during the court session, for example. What are the possible synonyms for a "broad rail"?


texts: Do we always have the choice between singular and plural in the following construction?

texts:
Here are some example sentences:

  We should replace all round steering wheels with a steering wheel
  that's rectangular so we are more alert when driving.

  We should replace all round steering wheels with steering wheels
  that's rectangular so we are more alert when driving.

I keep forgetting if it's ok to use a singular in sentences where the object is plural and with the preposition with. I think it's wrong, but I think I saw many occurrences where it's used. I think it's wrong, because it makes the sentences very ambiguous.


texts:
If she beats (a) him he’ll claim (b) she cheated (c). (The
  Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)

The time of (c) is certainly earlier than (b). But which one is earlier between (a) and (b)?


texts: Should I use "not" or "without" in the following sentence?

texts:
My husband hasn’t spoken to me in a whole year, not/without a
  nod or even a grunt.

Why is not or without the best option above? How do I decide in future situations?


texts:
"I can be keen to do something, and i can be too keen. If I am too keen to do something, am i overly keen to do something, or so keen that i am not able to do something?"

Is it hopelessly ambiguous or could a comma help?


texts: What to use before "for over" the past six months?

texts:
I has a test a few days ago and one of the questions was weird to me and I can't explain how.

The question:

  My boyfriend, Tom, ______ twenty pounds for over the past six months.

The given answer was "has lost" but I found it weird because there was a "for", can anyone tell me if I'm correct or if my teachers are correct?


texts: Could you clarify when to use "Though" at the end of a sentence?

texts:
Ok, English textbooks mostly teach the structure "Although / though",
for example,

Although my wife and I are so busy,we spend time together every weekend.

Anne was fond of Tim, though he often annoyed her.

However, in reality, I heard a lot of people use "though" at the end of a sentence.
So, I checked the dictionary & found that "Although" & "Though" in the above examples are conjunction.
But, from OALD, "Though" is used especially at the end of a sentence to add a fact or an opinion that makes the previous statement less strong or less important
Example:

Our team lost. It was a good game though.

But, for me, It seems that "Though" that is used at the end of a sentence is more popular than "Though" that is used at the start of a sentence.


texts: situations needed to add "object pronoun" after to infinitive

texts:
However, object pronouns are possible in structures with for.

  The water is too salty for us to drink (it).

  She has changed too much for me to recognize [her].

This is from "Practical English Usage" by Michael Swan.

I don't know in which situations I need to add object pronouns in structures with "too ... for ... to". Please explain it to me .


texts: "Cultured in" vs "Cultured at" vs "Cultured about"

texts:
Do you think we can use the phrases, cultured in, cultured at, and cultured about interchangeably?
I couldn't find any examples of, "cultured," with any of, "in," "at," or "about," in dictionaries. So I would like to ask your opinion. For example, would these sentences be used interchangeably?

He is cultured in music.

He is cultured at music.

He is cultured about music.


texts: how to say something have been hidden in view of people/ scientists

texts:
When it comes to saying the fact or something have been hidden from views or eyes, what do you say? not from mind. I need some phrase or words used scientifically.

For instance:

  The importance of some microorganisms in water has been neglected.


texts: Part of speech: "get to sleep" and "get to work"

texts:
In phrases "get to sleep" and "get to work", are "sleep" and "work" used as nouns or verbs?

Examples:

  It took me almost an hour to get to sleep last night.
  Let's get to work now!

If they are nouns, is it possible to modify them with adjectives? Or if they are verbs, can they modified with adverbs?


texts: How many kilometers (left / have been left / fo we have ahead) to X?

texts:
A passenger within a bus during the trip on their way to Amsterdam asks the driver:

  a. How many kilometers left to Amsterdam?
  b. How many kilometers have been left to Amsterdam?
  c. How many kilometers do we have ahead to Amsterdam?

Added: I think "b" and "c" mean the same and the both sound quite idiomatic to me, and although I have encountered some other examples like "a", still it doesn't sound grammatically correct to me while we are talking about 'future' and the 'simple past tense' doesn't seem to be a proper tense here. However, still I have my doubts whether I am right or wrong about it.

Hence, I am wondering which sentence is correct. If there is any wrong choice, please let me know which one it is and why?


texts: "People over age 35" or "people over the age 35" or "people over the age of 35"

texts:
The greatest beneﬁciaries have been rich people and people over age 35.

This is a sentence I am writing. I feel uncertain about the noun phrase at the end. I know these two versions should be correct:

  The greatest beneﬁciaries have been rich people and people over 35.
  The greatest beneﬁciaries have been rich people and people over the age of 35.

But are the following variants correct as well?

  The greatest beneﬁciaries have been rich people and people over age 35.
  The greatest beneﬁciaries have been rich people and people over the age 35.

Also I wonder if I can use "greatest" with "beneficiaries". Or should it be changed to "the biggest beneficiaries"?


texts: He and I / Him and me / He and me / Him and I

texts:
A: Where would you have the perfect date?
B: In a place without people. Just him and me.

Is this written correctly?


texts: Help! I don't understand this sentence's meaning

texts:
I'm reading Harry Potter for English study.

"Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning"

I think double negative means postive. So I think "Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning" means "Gryffindors have gone so long with winning".

But I heard that it means Gryffindors have been losing for a long time: their longest time ever.

Can you explain why???


texts: Is this sentence correct with 'by the boat' instead of 'by boat'?

texts:
I was reading an article in The Independent (an interview of a native English speaker) and I read the following sentence:

  We travelled across by the boat to Mljet National Park . . .

Shouldn't we say "by boat" instead ?


texts: What's the active form of "they were made to suffer"?

texts:
Throughout history, there have been Jews who hated themselves for what
  they were made to suffer, for being the perennial focus of evil and
  violence wherever they were.

Apparently the phrase they were made to suffer is the passive form of the structure below:

  Subject + Make + object ( personal predicate or objective one) +
  infinitive without to

Here, we mean that we want somebody to do something.
for example:

  Jane, I'll make you tidy up your room, whether you want it, or not!

and its passive form is:

  Jane will be made to tidy her room ...

Now I want to know:

What's the active form of "they were made to suffer?

Could you please explain it to me?

The fuller text is:

  Throughout history, there have been Jews who hated themselves for what
  they were made to suffer, for being the perennial focus of evil and
  violence wherever they were. Now we wondered, how much more difficult
  would it have been for Hitler had there been no Jews? How many Germans
  had joined the Nazi Party simply because it gave them the opportunity
  to snatch a share of Jewish property, to vent their frustrations?
  Maybe the Jews by their very existence had helped the Nazis to power
  more than anything else.

Under a Cruel Star, A Life in Prague 1941-1968 by  Heda Margolius Kovály

Translated  by  Helen Epstein.


texts:
Webster Thayer remained on the Superior Court bench and continued
hearing cases. It “was frequently reported that he would begin to talk about
the [Sacco-Vanzetti] case to his personal friends, and even to strangers, on any or no provocation.

I am not sure what the passage in bold exactly means. Does it tell that Thayer started talking about the case willingly and that no one did not have to force him to do it?


texts: What do you call the act of swiping a finger on your lips and blowing it to mimic a crazy person? I am referring to the act of blowing your finger with your lips and making the "BLBLBLBLBLBLBL" sound. Is there a word or phrase for it?


texts:
I am grateful to those by whom I am surrounded.
  I am grateful for the people to whom I am surrounded.
  I am grateful to those in which I am surrounded.

I can't get this to sound right to me this morning. I commonly use whom correctly, but have brain hiccup this morning. Please help. Tell me if any are correct or write it correctly for me, please. Thank you!!


texts: "In the East" vs "at the East", what's the difference?

texts:
This is from The Company Man from Herman Melville:

  "Not personally. I but happened to hear that he was a passenger. For
  the rest, though it might be somewhat informal, the gentleman might
  not object to doing a little business on board. Along the Mississippi,
  you know, business is not so ceremonious as at the East".

Shouldn't it be "in the East"? When talking about customs I never see people say "at the East". At seems to imply a precise location, a precise point in space, so isn't it a bit weird here?


texts: Is "expiate upon" a correct/common usage?

texts:
Either way, that’s a lot of money, of course, but the point is not to expiate upon the market forces driving prices in the funeral industry. (source)

"Expiate upon" only returns several hundred hits on Google, most of them are from the early 1800s. My understanding is "expiate" in its modern usage is usually used transitively. Is this usage in this sentence common? What does it mean then?


texts:
This is a sentence meaning question:

  Sentence #1: I've been running this extension for over a month, and not once have I had a serious problem. (From an internet source)

Vs.

  Sentence #2: I've been running this extension for over a month, and I have never had a serious problem. (My construction)

As an ESL, sentence1 is uncommon. Do the two sentences above mean the same?


texts: Where produce is sold all year round in retail stands, booths and tables not necessarily by farmers

texts:
What is that kind of market called where fresh produce is sold all year round in retail stands, booths and tables but not necessarily by farmers themselves.

In everyday English, do you still call them farmers markets-if you do so- even though produce is sold by regular vendors?

Some sample photos and pictures are shown below


texts: "why don't I/ I don't/ have your phone number" vs "why I am not / am I not/ having your phone number

texts:
Suppose you work in a office and there is a guy there who you know for a year and you he asks you to call him so that he could find his missing phone through hearing the phone vibrating or something. The point however is, you don't have him as a contact on your phone and you want to say that in a kind of funny way, you don't have his number like below:

  why I don't have your phone number?
  why I am not having your phone number?
  why am I not having your phone number?
  why don't I have your phone number"?

Would please tell me if those are idiomatic questions considering the context? And is there any difference between the different interrogative constructions above in general?


texts:
Why you native english speaker guys always use up with verbs? To emphesize? Like point and point out ? Or like is there big difference between:

let's pull a chair
let's pull up a char

Or,

read this book
read up this book

What is the exact point here? When should I use those?


texts: Is it correct to use two 'which' in one sentence?

texts:
Could you please tell me if the following sentence is grammatically correct, especially given that I used two "which" in a single sentence?

"Similarly, x addresses that ...., which echoes y which highlights
..."


texts: Does "the scratch is on the left of your eye" mean "it's on the left part of your eye" or "it's on the left part near your eye"?

texts:
When we say "you have a scratch on the left of your eye",
Does it mean "the scratch is on the left part of your eye" (which is very serious, you need to see a doctor) or "the scratch is on the left part near your eye" (which is not serious, you don't need to go see a doctor)?


texts: "I left my home village yesterday, for which reason my father is sad now". Is this sentence awkward?

texts:
I and my friend are doing an English exercise which requires us to make a sentence with the phrase "for which reason(s)"

I have made this sentence:

  I left my home village yesterday, for which reason my father is sad now.

However, my friend looked at my sentence and told me it should be changed to:

  I left my home village yesterday, which is why my father is sad now.

He said "for which reason(s)" is used at the beginning of the interrogative sentence like:

  For which reasons do you buy a smartphone?

or after a verb:

  I want to understand for which reason the shipping cost has increased.

Could you please advise me as to whether my sentence #1 is correct or not?


texts:
I came across the phrase "sat a horse" in a novel. I ignored it as a typo, thinking it should have been "I sat on a horse." However I searched this on Google now and I find a number of examples where this phrase occurs.

Why is this grammatical and what does this mean?


texts: "than he could help" meaning in this context?

texts:
I spun him a tale of deepest remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death Eater days, and he embraced me with open arms - though, as I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark Arts than he could help.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I don't quite get the meaning of "than he could help" in this context. What does it truly mean?


texts: A sentence has two verbs. Who can analyze this sentence?

texts:
"VS Code's built-in debugger helps accelerate your edit, compile and debug loop."

As you see, the sentence has two verbs, help and accelerate.

Is this sentence correct?

Who can analyze this sentence?

I think the sentence below is correct.

"VS Code's built-in debugger accelerates your edit, compile and debug loop."


texts: If I want to ask to my classmates about they already have some group to do a homework, it is correct to say: Does anyone have a group? or Who has a group? or Who already have a group?


texts: What is the countable version of "Run out of something"?

texts:
It seems like I can only use

  Run out of time.

But how to describe there is no more something that is countable?


texts:
The whole sentence is as follows:

  I am wondering whether I have to write the paper regarding Canada or some other countries as well.

The main point of uncertainty is after 'or'. I am trying to express whether the paper is acceptable only when I write about Canada or if I may also write about other countries.


texts: "Little to none" with countable nouns? Or "few to none"?

texts:
I don't think this kind of question has been asked before, so here it is. I stumbled upon this particular sentence :
*

"The problem here is that we are left with little to none cultural
defences against any force which would want to conquer us."

Since the word "defence" in this particular case is countable, I wonder if the correct expression is actually "few to none" instead of "little" in this context. Thanks in advance!


texts:
How common is it to use the word "Resolve" instead of "Decide" in spoken English?

  I resolved to buy a house.

  I decided to buy a house.

I live in the USA and I hear people saying "decide" much more often than "resolve".


texts: "The first five questions" – singular or plural?

texts:
Which sentence is true grammatically? Why?

The first five questions is related ...
The first five questions are related ...

some guys have argued that " The first five questions" is an unit itself and we must use a singular verb. Is it true ?


texts:
Consider this passage (Source):

Few question the propriety of the current haste on the part of manufacturers to bring out "new and improved" products at the prevalent rate. At one time, in the dim, distant past before the advent of television, it was the vogue for products to be advertised on the merits of their "tried and true" qualities. Few advertisers were impious enough to jettison any part of a product that had been accepted by the public. Year after year, the local grocer store owner would proffer the same box of cereal, the same house cleaner. The acceptance was of the time-tested product, and it appeared almost unconscionable for the manufacturer to change his merchandise.

Q1: I cannot figure out the process of advertisement in that era. Does it mean there were some semi-shopes whose job was to check quality of the products and their staff monitored a product over a fair amount of time. After that, store owners would obey the instructions and recommendations made by those semi-shopes which they were not necessarily sincere?

Q2: What does "The acceptance was of the time-tested product" mean? does one which was more tested, it has a better chance to be a successful product? If so, why the author didn't say:"The acceptance was for the time-tested product"


texts: Is it always possible to use the pattern "the + adjective"?

texts:
I found out that it's possible to use the definite article "the" with adjectives, to refer to a group of people with a particular characteristic, e.g. the rich, the disabled, the poor, and so on.
But I don't know if it's always possible to use this pattern, or sometimes it doesn't sound natural, for instance:
When it's the first day of school, you'll find two types of people:
The shy that just want to be alone. And the talkative that are unbearable because they talk with each person.
JUST IN CASE: I also found that this pattern is common in legal contexts: The + adjective = replacing noun


texts:
Let's say someone is talking to a teacher or a boss. Which sentence is more polite to be used:

As you notice, I have made major changes on the plan
As you see, I have made major changes on the plan


texts:
“Sway”, which basically means to influence, differs from the latter word [(“influence”)] in implying both the pressure or control of some force that is either not resisted or is in itself irresistible, and resulting change or fluctuation in character, opinions, or decisions of the person concerned.

the notion . . . of capricious deities, swayed by human passions and desires, was incompatible with the idea of fixed law—Dickinson

other conditions than those of classroom have swayed him for good or evil—Suzzallo

he is swayed by fashion, by suggestion, by transient moods—Mencken

Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms

I don’t get what the difference is between “sway” and “influence”, even with the explanation above.


texts: Does "I'm worth your trust" sound natural?

texts:
I was about to use the phrase "I'm worth your trust" in a company document, when I happened upon this EnglishForums post, where a poster calls the expression "borderline acceptable."

Is there a problem with this expression? Does it sound strange? If so, what would be more acceptable alternatives?


texts:
Might you ever have had read that book?

Can you use something like this, in English?


texts:
I've heard people use “whether it be” and “whatever it be” a few times,
 but I'm not sure whether “be” can be used with “wherever.”

If I were to say, “Wherever it be,” would it be considered correct?


texts: Is it wrong to say "I am seeing a film"?

texts:
Ok,
This site says "I watched that film" is the same as "I saw that film"

  entertainment and sport Both see and watch are used when you are talking about entertainment or sport.

  When you go to the theatre or cinema, you say that you see a play or
  film.

  I saw that movie when I was a child.

  We saw him in 'Hamlet'.

  Don't say that someone 'looks at' a play or film. Don't say, for
  example 'I looked at that movie'.

  You say that someone watches television. You can say that someone
  watches or sees a particular programme.

  He spends hours watching television.

  He watched a rugby match on television.

  I saw his speech on the news.

  Similarly, you say that someone watches a sport such as football, but
  you can say that they watch or see a particular match.

  More people are watching cricket than ever before.

  Did you watch the game last night?

  Millions of people saw the World Cup Final.

However, in the dictionary, see in this meaning is not usually used in the progressive tenses

  See: [transitive] (not usually used in the progressive tenses) see
  something to watch a game, television programme, performance, etc.

  Did you see that programme on Brazil last night?

  In the evening we went to see a movie.

  Fifty thousand people saw the match.

So, it is ok to say: I am watching a film

but is it ok to say: "I am seeing a film"?


texts: Should I use "didn't" or "hadn't" in the following case?

texts:
This is past-tense narrative:

  Since the violin didn't fit his backpack, he'd been carrying it on his
  shoulder the whole morning.

  Since the violin hadn't fit his backpack, he'd been carrying it on his
  shoulder the whole morning.

Which version is the correct one? And why?


texts: to be run amuck -- is this a legitimate phrasing?

texts:
Source: CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, 9th Edition (Exam 220-901 & 220-902) by Mike Meyers (2016)

Example:

  As CPU data bus sizes increased, so too did the need for RAM wide enough to fill the bus. The Intel 80386 CPU, for example, had a 32-bit data bus and thus the need for 32-bit-wide DRAM. Imagine having to line up 32 one-bit-wide DRAM chips on a motherboard. Talk about a waste of space! Figure 5-6 shows motherboard RAM run amuck.

As far as I know, the expression run amuck is only used in an active type of sense in that something or someone can run amuck, but it cannot be run amuck by someone else. Is my thinking valid?


texts: "could possibly do something" vs "could do something"

texts:
Tell me please what the difference is between the following sentences.

  He could possibly win the game.

  He could win the game.

What is the role of possibly in the sebtence? What does that adds to the meanning?


texts: If twins are always plural, how do I refer to a single twin, or how do we count twins?

texts:
I've learned that twins in English are always plural, e.g. there are the twins. Then how do we count twins? If there are four people coming, those are two twins? There are two twins? What if there are two people coming, who are twins. There are one twins? Or still There is one twin?

My misunderstanding stems from the fact that the Dutch word "tweeling" (singular) refers to a single pair of twins (two people), and "tweelingen" (plural) would imply at least two sets of twins.


texts: Use of plural when referring to a singular

texts:
Following is the sentence given in my exercise book(no other context can be provided).

  One could see her lying on the flowerbeds

At a time a person can lie only on one flowerbed then why have they used flowerbeds

I think it should be

  One could see her lying on the flowerbed


texts: using 'the same as' to liken two actions

texts:
Is the usage of 'the same as' in the following sentence correct?

  Jack does to Fanny exactly the same as what Fanny has done to him.

If not, what's the idiomatic way in English to express the idea that the first action, which is described in the first clause, is just identical to the one described in the second clause?


texts: Question about “just as likely to happen together as not” (as...as structures)

texts:
I was reading something and have come across something not clear in terms of grammar. Here is the passage:

One may either (1) repeatedly observe two things always (or at least for the most part) together, or (2) one may sometimes observe them
together and sometimes not together. If, as in the latter case, one
only sometimes observes two things together after multiple
observations, then the two things are just as likely to happen
together as not.

I have three main questions here;
Firstly, as far as I understand, this bold part means that "then two things' happening together is as likely as not happening together" Is that what understood is correct?
The second one is related to structure. I think grammatically just here (just as likely to happen ...) is put for extra emphasis. Therefore here "just as" as a conjunction is not used; rather; "as...as" as a tool of comparison is used. Because the usage of "just as" is completely different. Is that correct?
The third one is related to structure as well. Simply put, If I want to say the bold part in an extended way, should I like this "then the two things are just as likely to happen together as they are not together", or like this "then the two things are just as likely to happen together as they don't happen together"? Which one is correct? If you have a different idea please say it as well?
I know It is a quite complicated question. But I really need help to understand it.


texts:
Films representing the Duke saying good-bye to his favourite canary on
  the eve of the trial were in readiness weeks before the event was due
  to take place; other films depicted the Duchess holding imaginary
  consultations with fictitious lawyers or making a light repast off
  specially advertised vegetarian sandwiches during a supposed luncheon
  interval. As far as human foresight and human enterprise could go
  nothing was lacking to make the trial a success.

from East of the Web

Is off meant to be of"?


texts: does "have a go on them" mean "try them" in the following sentence?

texts:
Ok, see this sentence

  He travels to holiday resorts which have water-slides, has a go on them
  and reports back to the travel company where he works.

I would say the phrase "has a go on them" in that sentence could have literal meaning "slide down on water-slides" or a figurative meaning "try them"

does "have a go on them" mean "try them" in that sentence?


texts: Can the verb "dock" be used as a substitute for "fine"?

texts:
I read a clause in "The Hindu" which was:

  Institute docked for failing to detect cancer

According to Merriam Webster dictionaries, "dock" means - to subject to a deduction as of wages

But, can it be used as a substitute for fine?


texts: Can we use would in the following sentence?

texts:
If we eradicate corruption, our economy would/ will improve.

I read that "would" is used to indicate possibility.


texts: Meaning of "That was all he had in the way of a wheel barrow"

texts:
The Wheelbarrow looked for new owner and found a house which new
  owner seemed to live in.

  The snow lay in drifts against the windows, so the Wheelbarrow took a
  run at one of them and managed to get high enough to look in. And
  there was a little boy asleep.By the stove stood a box with a string
  tied to it. That was all he had in the way of a wheel barrow.
  'There, I thought so!' said the Wheelbarrow. 'This is the place for
  me.'

This context is from a short story "Jumping Jack and his friends" in "Little Old Mrs Pepperpot"

I couldn't understand this sentence "That was all he had in the way of a wheel barrow". And why does the Wheelbarrow decide this house? Does this sentence relate with the reason?


texts: Usage of Prepositions at the end of sentences

texts:
This is not a safe place to live.
  This is not a safe place to live in.

What is the difference in meaning between these two sentences? Why prepositions are used at the end of some sentences like sentence 2 or “he gave me a pen to write with.”?


texts:
In the first sentence can I replace it with null articles? And in the second sentence, Can I replace it with the?

  If you heat water to 100 degrees Celsius, it/water boils.
  If you love a man he might betray you. But if you love a dog, it/the dog will love you back.


texts:
I have a question about the verb "coach" here:

  Healthcare and infection control experts said that hospital staff need to be coached through the stages of treating an Ebola patient, making sure they have the right safety equipment and know how to use it properly to prevent infection.

Shouldn't it be "coached on the stages of...", not "coached through the stages of...", because usually a "teacher coaches students on some subject"?


texts: Is there any verb that means "pour water"?

texts:
I am wondering if there's a verb that means "pour water" such that I don't have to mention "water" and can just mention the thing I am pouring water onto as a direct object of the verb.

I am __ the flowers.


texts: The use of the phrase "get to know" in context

texts:
Let's say say I entered a class room full of studnets whom I don't know. And I want to know what their names are, hobbies etc. Would be the phrase get to know be ok in the context for learning names, hobbies and so on? For example:

  Good morning, guys. I am a new teacher, so let's get to know about each outher?


texts:
I often watch in movies saying:

  I am going to see the doctor.

Instead of saying “a doctor”.

So I keep asking myself, “which doctor is
meant?

Because he didn’t mention any doctor before saying “the doctor”.

What is your explanation in this case?


texts: Any difference between "Is it something you still think about" vs "do you still think about it?"

texts:
I want to learn thinking in English language to be able to speak it naturally just like a native speaker does. But since it is not my native language, I mostly think in my native language. To improve my thinking in English, I listen to native speakers chatting and when I hear a something good(natural, pure english) I always ask myself "how would I said it, if I were him/her" or "if I were her, would I have made the sentence like hers?"

So, today I listened two women talking on TV. Two women were talking now about their chat last year. Last year woman A said to the woman B "I want to freeze my eggs".

So, woman B now asks woman A about that subject reminding  what she said last year and asks her question like this: "Is it something that you still think about?"

The question "Is it something that you still think about" sounded to me a more natural english than the one I would have asked if I were her. If I were her, my question would be "Do you still think about it?"

I just cant think of forming that question the same way the woman B did, because I cant think like she does, as I am not a native speaker. I believe it is because we tend to think in our native language. And my native language causes me to ask the question that way, which sounds less natural english than that of a native speaker.

So, firstly I wonder is there any difference between the two sentences?

Secondly, do you think my thinking in English which produced ("Do you still think about it?") sounds less natural than her thinking in English which produced  (Is it something that you still think about)?

Regards,


texts: How to express in a shorter form that a task begins at 8:00 AM and ends at 5:00 PM?

texts:
Can I say "the task spans from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM"?
The dictionary says "span" also means "a period of time", so it should be OK, but I'd like a confirmation.


texts: "Dog" can mean "something of an inferior quality". What animals do we use, if any, to describe the opposite?

texts:
The noun, dog, can be used to indicate something of an unattractive/unworthy feature/quality.

Merriam-Webster defines it as

  8: one inferior of its kind

  the movie was a dog : such as a: an investment not worth its price

  b: an undesirable piece of merchandise

What animal(s), if any, do we use for the opposite, the adored/worthy objects?


texts:
When we read a sentence, how should we pause? Is there any standard?

I pause the sentences below with each /, and I wonder whether it is right.

  Welcome / to the VOA Learning English program. This is / America.
  This week / Barbara Klein and Christopher Cruise / tell / about several American actors / who were widely recognized / years ago. But / they now / are not big stars / or famous / like they once were. We ask them / how they dealt /with these changes.


texts: Effects of listening to English music on English listening skill

texts:
I'm not a native English speaker but I almost every day listen to English music because of their attractive vocals and good rhythms. Unfortunately I don't understand completely what the singer says and I mostly enjoy the music itself instead of meaning of what is said.

Now my question would be, Has listening to music without paying attention to what are being said, a bad effect on English listening skill?


texts:
does this sentence "This shirt is nice for me" sound strange?

This structure "It is Adj for somebody to do something" is popular.

Ex: "It is nice for me to wear this shirt"

"This shirt is nice for me" or "It is nice for me to wear this shirt"?

Which one is ok or both are ok?


texts:
Do you know the cafe down the street? I always go there after work. You should drop by/in someday.

Can both "by" and "in" be used here? Is there a difference between them? Which one is more natural?


texts: What does ‘of’ mean here? 'Cambridge is the main city and administrative centre of Cambridgeshire.'

texts:
Cambridge is the main city and administrative centre of Cambridgeshire.

In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, I think the appropriate definition may be:

belonging to something; being part of something: relating to something
example (1): a member of the team
used to say what somebody/something is, consists of, or contains
example (2): a city of Dublin

I think the appropriate definition for that sentence should be 2, but example (2) make me feel uncertain.


texts: Can "wh-clause" be a real subject for a placeholder?

texts:
We are essentially creatures of habit. If you have any question about
  this, just transfer your wristwatch to the other hand. Even though it
  should not make the slightest difference on which hand it is worn, you
  will soon find that you are very aware of the change, and it may even
  feel cumbersome or awkward.
  Even though it should not make the slightest difference 'on which hand
  it is worn', you will soon find that you are very aware of the change,
  ...The Thin You Within You: Winning the Weight Game with
  Self-Esteem

Can "wh-clause" serve as a real subject for a dummy subject or placeholder, it?

If so, can I think the above sentence is a case in point?

And lastly, about "on" in "on which hand it is worn", is it originally "which hand it is worn on" but "on" went before "which", right?


texts: How to speak about new law which today are real?

texts:
The context about new political law.
From my language it's verbatim translated as:

  The law came into force

But I have doubts, is this correct?
How to right to speak it in English?


texts: What does "they only know their own side of the question" mean?

texts:
Look at this quote by John Stuart Mill:

  It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is only because they only know their own side of the question.

I have a problem with finding out the meaning of the sentence after because, that is they only know their own side of the question. I know the meaning of each word but I am not sure what it means. How would you paraphrase it?


texts: Is there any difference between the phrases "next month", "in the next month" and "for the next month"?

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

  I will work next month.

  I will work in the next month.

  I will work for the next month.

If I am right, for the next month means throughout the next month. But what about in the next month?
Is it even a valid phrase?


texts: Correct use of time matches or time match

texts:
Which of the below sentence is correct?

Coincidencely, From past 2 -3 days me and my friend leave office at same time and meet at bus stop at same time. So curiosly I want to ask him ......

a) Why our time always matches?

Or

b) Why our time always match?


texts:
Now far more information than that/what was carried by 10 to 20 wires can
  be carried by a single thread-sized strand of fiber-optic material.

Which is the right choice? and why is it?


texts: Is ‘adept’ an adjective or noun in these sentences?

texts:
Even though I have a great job, I am not adept at keeping to a budget and often end up broke between paydays.
If you want to become a police officer, you must become adept with a handgun.
It's fine! answered Sidorov, who was considered an adept at French.

I have seen definition of adept in dictionary, but I am confused in identifying if its an adjective or noun.