texts: /ɪ/ sometimes sounds like /i/ and sometimes sounds like /e/

texts:
I am confused with the vowel /ɪ/, vowel of IPA, for the American English. Sometimes it sounds like /i/, 'exact', for example, while at other times it sounds like /e/, 'sit', for example.

It indeed sounds differently, but the vowel is the same? Why is this? And how can I determine which sound I should speak?

To clarify it, I ask the question in another way.

There is some demonstrations of words which the pronunciations is the same, but sound different between BrE an AmE.

sit
pin
bit

So why is this?


texts: to put down root + "in which" or postponed "in"

texts:
What should I say?

  The second theory in which my concept puts down roots is TheoryName

or

  The second theory my concept puts down roots in is TheoryName

In the latter version, what about a comma after in ("[...] puts down roots in, is [...]")?


texts: Meaning of the sentence in bold is somewhat unclear to me

texts:
The surgeon had been sitting with his face turned towards the fire: giving the palms of his hands a warm and a rub alternately. As the young woman spoke, he rose, and advancing to the bed's head, said, with more kindness than might have been expected of him:

  'Oh, you must not talk about dying yet.'

  'Lor bless her dear heart, no!' interposed the nurse, hastily depositing in her pocket a green glass bottle, the contents of which she had been tasting in a corner with evident satisfaction.

  'Lor bless her dear heart, when she has lived as long as I have, sir, and had thirteen children of her own, and all on 'em dead except two, and them in the wurkus with me, she'll know better than to take on in that way, bless her dear heart! Think what it is to be a mother, there's a dear young lamb do.'

  Apparently this consolatory perspective of a mother's prospects failed in producing its due effect. The patient shook her head, and stretched out her hand towards the child.

Dose it mean:I wish god would help her and as long as we are together she had thirteen children?

Dose "bless her dear heart" in line 10 have the same meaning?

source: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.


texts:
The appearance of the sample (object) was characterised by transparency, stiffness and smoothness.

I know I can also simply say 'The sample (object) had a transparent, stiff and smooth appearance.'

But is the first sentence really correct or wrong? Which one is better?


texts:
So I was watching movies where I heard that sentence where a girl was tickling a boy.That boy then became annoyed and gave her a strong look which made her to tell "You have no fun".

Is that correct form of English or is there something missing that I still haven't figured it out.


texts:
Which one of these sentences is grammatically correct?

  Why did the writer use this word?
  Why does the writer use this word?


texts: What's the meaning of "offer" in this definition of "present"?

texts:
Sense #2 of present from OALD is defined as:

  2 to show or offer something for other people to look at or consider
  present something (to somebody) The committee will present its final report to Parliament in June.
  present something (for something) Eight options were presented for consideration.
  Are you presenting a paper at the conference?
  He presents a convincing case.
  The banks will begin to present their arguments today.

Does offer in that definition of present mean sense #2 of offer in OALD:?

  2 to make something available or to provide the opportunity for something
  The hotel offers excellent facilities for families.
  The job didn't offer any prospects for promotion.
  He did not offer any explanation for his behaviour.

or sense #1 of offer:?

  1 to say that you are willing to do something for somebody or give something to somebody
  offer (something) Josie had offered her services as a guide.
  He offered some useful advice.
  I don't think they need help, but I think I should offer anyway.
  offer something (to somebody) (for something) He offered $4000 for the car.
  They are offering a reward for the return of their cat.
  They decided to offer the job to Jo.
  offer somebody something They decided to offer Jo the job.
  I gratefully took the cup of coffee she offered me.
  Taylor offered him 500 dollars to do the work.
  offer to do something The kids offered to do the dishes.
  + speech ‘I'll do it,’ she offered.


texts:
Yesterday I tried to help a native Chinese speaker use these words better: in Chinese, there is one common word which means both hope and wish, so she has trouble picking which one to use.

She originally said, while shopping, something like I hope these items are on sale. I explained that she could say I wish these items were on sale, I was hoping..., or I had hoped... But I couldn't really figure out the logic of why we use hope in the latter 2 cases but wish in the first case. Is there any logic here or should I just explain that it's an idiomatic thing she has to learn?

I don't need help with the alternate meanings of these words: those are easier to teach.


texts: Need help with the phrase: being into politics is what people "are" or "do"?

texts:
So what I need is to pick the correct sentence from following two:

Being into politics is what people do in Washington DC.
Being into politics is what people are in Washington DC.

I am leaning towards "do" however I am not sure because "being" is used in the beginning of the sentence.

This cross-posted question is being left open here because it looks headed for closure on ELU. Cross-posting is considered unacceptable and is best avoided.


texts:
I got confused between these two sentences:

  The number of poisonous snakes is/are there on the tree.

  A number of poisonous snakes is/are there on the tree.

Could anybody explain the difference in semantics of these two sentences. Also what to take verb with these two variations?


texts:
What is the difference between manners and etiquette?
How do you decide where each one should be used?
Please differentiate with an appropriate example.


texts: What is the meaning of "The S.S. Purgatory"?

texts: In Once Upon a Time, season 5, episode 11, "Hook says, 'Look. The S.S. Purgatory', as Charon emerges from the pond's heavy mist aboard his boat, ready to take the prisoners down to the Underworld." what is the meaning of "The S.S. Purgatory" in this context? Based on my search, it seems S.S. stands for Straight Spouse, but I am not sure if that's correct. Thank you!


texts: What does she mean by "can I claim them as dependent"?

texts:
In this commercial
TurboTax 2017 TV Commercial "Kathy Bates Scary Dependents" (Official :45) TV ad
she says there are kids in her house and if she can claim them as dependent. But I don't understand what she means by that and I got even more confused that the assistant responded "unfortunately you can't but you can deduct some of your moving expenses."
Is it even related?


texts: What is the grammatical difference between: "that he borrowed" and "that he has borrowed?

texts:
What is the difference in grammar and meaning between these two sentences?

  1: The book that he borrowed is in his room.

  2: The book that he has borrowed is in his room.

I personally think, which I might be wrong, that the first sentence is talking about simple past and it implies on he borrowed the book in past. The latter one is talking about present perfect and it implies on a thing that started in the past and it's still happening until. So he borrowed the book in the past and he still has it.

I  don't know if I'm wrong or not.


texts:
This exercise below is from my English book. I noticed that the author took the example from Macmillan Dictionary here (1.b)

  They_____good friends, but they’ve fallen out recently.

a. used to be
b. would be
c. were
d. are

The given answer is (a), but I'm not sure if (c) can be a valid answer in this case. Is there any difference in meaning if I replace 'used to be' with 'were' in this sentence?
Thanks


texts:
Consider this expression

  Were the documents you received legitimate or were they tempered?

Legitimate here is definitively adjective, but I am not sure if tempered here has been used as an adjective or used in the passive form. Which of the two forms is correct?


texts: Why has "in" been used in the sentence "he rose in his seat"?

texts:
I found this definition for rise in LDOCE:

  3 stand:   formal   to stand up:
  Then she picked up her bag and rose to leave.

  rise from the table/your chair etc
  The chairman rose from his chair and came forward to greet her.
  He put down his glass and rose to his feet.

This suggests that "from" is the preposition of "rise." Then why "in" has been used?

  Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the
  Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.
  "Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September -- King's Cross
  -- it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a
  letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me.... See yeh soon,
  Harry."
  The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until
  he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against
  the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.

and one more question: Would it be wrong to use "onto" instead of "on to" in the bold sentence? What would the difference be in meaning and grammar?


texts: What is the difference between "my" and "my own" and "its" and "its" and "its own"?

texts:
What is the difference between "my" and "my own" and also what is the difference between "its"  and "its" and "its own"?

For example:

  This is my book.

Vs.

  This is my own book.

Or

  This is its cover.

Vs.

  This is its own cover.


texts: A comparison between "occupy", engage" and "involve"

texts:
Please imagine a woman who is very busy in raising her children. Someone asks her to a party, but she wants to apologize and tell them about the reason why she cannot attend the party. Which one of the following verbs sounds more natural in my self-made sentence below:

  I'm really sorry. I'd love to be there. But I’ve really occupied myself with raising my kids.

  I'm really sorry.  I'd love to be there. But I’ve really involved myself in raising my kids.

  I'm really sorry.  I'd love to be there. But I’ve really engaged myself in raising my kids.

For me, based on dictionary definition, only the first one works, but in some translation pages, I came across the other two verbs too. I need your confirmation on it.


texts:
What is the difference between "each day" and "every day"?

For example:

  We talk every day.

  We talk each day.


texts: Is the word 'now' an adjective or an adverb in this sentence?

texts:
Is the word 'now' an adjective or an adverb in the following sentence? And I'd like to know whether the word 'now' can be a postpositive adjective or not.

  There is no school in Myanmar now that does not have a computer lab.


texts:
Imagine that my friend calls me and we have the conversation while I am on my way to school (I'm walking at the moment of speaking):

  -Where are you?

  -I am going to school.

I know that "I am going to school" means:

1) that I'm preparing to go and I probably at home yet;

2) that I'm going to school next year (to start my education).

So how to say correctly that I am on my way to school using the verb "go" and present continuous. Is it possible at all?

Thanks.


texts: Mandatory comma in the construction "...x now..."

texts:
The kid who grasped at straws found the hidden path, now submerged
with plants of various kind.

I am wondering if a comma is necessary between path and now. Can I remove it? Are both options grammatical or not and why?


texts: Difference: "Come from beneath"/"Come from the beneath"

texts:
I've seen both "come from beneath" and "come from the beneath" being used. Are they both correct grammatically? If so, do they have different connotations?
Example from https://www.pressreader.com/nigeria/the-punch/20200905/281925955414191 :

The fault had come from the beneath and it was not rectified.


texts: Is "crimp an aluminium cap on" a naturally-sounding phrase?

texts:
My translation from Russian:

  Fill the vial with nitrogen, then immediately close it with a stopper and crimp an aluminium cap on.

The Russian original uses the word "завальцевать", which is basically "to crimp" here, and I want to retain it in the sentence and not just write "cap with an aluminium cap" or something like that.

Maybe it's not very natural-sounding and one should write something like

  ... and attach an aluminium cap using a crimping instrument.

A well-crimped vial looks like this:


texts: Another way for "I was 12 dollars over what I had on me"

texts:
I was 12 dollars over what I had on me.
  Source: 24 Stories About the Kindness of Strangers | Reader's Digest

I understand the meaning of the sentence, but I'd like to know how the sentence can be written in another way. Thanks a lot.


texts:
If you help the norms along by praising people who are generous
  and condemning the litterbug, you contribute to the maintenance
  of an ethic; the rest of us benefit, and we don’t compensate you—and
  you probably don’t get any tangible benefits yourself from delivering the
  scolding. Why, then, would you do it? Because there’s a norm about the
  norm: you feel good about enforcing it.

Source: p 115, The Legal Analyst, Ward Farnsworth

I'm guessing that Definition 1.2 applies to the first bolded 'norm', but which definition for the 2nd norm? Also, does this entire phrase mean " 'a required standard' about 'a required standard' "? I'm confused.


texts: What does Monica (from “Friends”) mean when she says “the Reruns' production of Pinocchio“?

texts:
In Friends SS1.Ep1, 15:40, there's a conversation:

  Joey: Yeah, I'm an actor.

  Rachel: Wow! Would I have seen you in anything?

  Joey: I doubt it. Mostly regional work.

  Monica: Oh wait, wait, unless you happened to catch the Reruns' production of Pinocchio

  Chandler: "Look, Geppeto. I'm a real live boy."

I'm not understand what she means. Could anyone explain it to me?


texts: Is it right to write "Thank you for your personal interest"?

texts:
I would like to express my gratitude for giving attention personally to some matter (he doesn't delegate!).

Is it right to write (in an email):

  Thank you for your personal interest?

Do native speakers use some others idiomatic expression?


texts:
I heard someone saying that
"it was when my father was working as a counselor that he built his house".

It seems okay but it feels a little awkward at the sametime, but I don't know
why I feel that way.

Is there any grammatical issue with the sentence?


texts:
‘I'd say the magistrates have had their bellyful,’ Morgan says. ‘If
  he's not watering his ale, he's running illegal beasts on the common,
  if he's not despoiling the common he's assaulting an officer of the
  peace, if he's not drunk he's dead drunk, and if he's not dead before
  his time there's no justice in this world.’

(Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel)

What is the meaning of "to run illegal beasts on [something]"?


texts:
Instead of saying "how long does it take to go from our house to the hospital and then from the hospital to our house"(all together) can I say "to and from" or are there other ways of saying that?
And is there another way of saying just from?


texts: Does the expression "one in a million type of person" exist?

texts:
Is it correct to say "He is a one in a million type of person and student", for instance? To praise someone, meaning he is one of a kind.
What expression would you suggest if it is not? I want to use this phrase in a sort of nomination but I do not know if it even exists, thanks a lot!


texts: Difference between "rip up" and "rip down"

texts:
For the next two years we lived not just next door to the wild ocean,
  but to a massive construction site. The house was bad enough, but the
  ripping up of the trees, the building of roads, the manicuring of once wild lawn was enough to stir something close to rage even in a
  calm observer.

  Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark by Paul Bogard

Is “rip down” also possible here?  What is the difference between “rip up” and “rip down”? Their definitons seem similar.

  Rip up : to completely destroy (something) by tearing it into pieces
  (Merriam Webster)

  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rip%20up

  Rip down:

  To dismantle or disassemble a large object or structure.
  To demolish a large object or structure. (the free dictionary)

  https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/rip+down


texts: a sentence+comma+ noun+ relative clause?

texts:
A sentence from an ACT English test:

The cable is designed to stretch to twice its normal length, a feature that allows it to adapt to harsh sea conditions and also keeps the buoy above water at all times.

I do not grasp the structure "a sentence+comma+ noun+ that clause." Why does a noun with a relative clause set alone? Is it sort of like an absolute structure?


texts:
How long does it take for my item to arrive?

  How long does it take to arrive?

Could the second question be used as an alternative to the first? Should I provide some context before utilizing it?

But what if I add "will" instead of "does"? Will the meaning remain unchanged?

  How long will it take for my item to arrive?

  How long will it take to arrive?


texts:
‘Why, no. I didn’t know you were a chaplain.’ Yossarian stared at him with a big, fascinated grin. ‘I’ve never really seen a chaplain before.’ The chaplain flushed again and gazed down at his hands. He was a slight man of about thirty-two with tan hair and brown diffident eyes. His face was narrow and rather pale. An innocent nest of ancient pimple pricks lay in the basin of each cheek. Yossarian wanted to help him.
—Catch 22

Found a definition may fit in

A circular or oval valley or natural depression on the earth’s surface, especially one containing water:

Does it mean the hollow area(because chaplain was thin, so probably in the face too)at the centre of both cheeks?


texts:
Can you start a sentence with 'That is, unless' when the sentence is a clarification of the previous sentence.

If farmers and vendors know how to prevent bacterial contamination and how to wash produce properly, then even street food will be much safer to eat. That is, unless you take into account the amount of fat and sodium that it often contains.


texts: Better stylistic choice for "triggered"?

texts:
In a conversation on Quora I used the following expression.

  I don’t feel that you’re getting my point and I start to worry you got triggered, possibly recognizing own conduct, hence getting defensive. That said, I reply once again, providing you the benefit of doubt.

On that, someone remarked that the usage of the term triggered implies in certain cultural contexts that I'm an extremist and an intolerant kind. According to the person, my wording bears the resemblance of the type of rhetoric that's used by right-wing trolls thriving on causing good people loose their shit and go bananas.

The person's clear that they don't suspect me of being such a pathetic idiot, let alone accusing me of that. Truthfully so, as I'm sometimes crude but always respectful. So, I'm definitely making effort to alter the original wording to better correspond to the message I'm trying to convey.

NB. The formulation is supposed to be harsh, showing that I'm provoked by the original poster's nagging and lack of respect for me not being ready to provide certain information. So the aim isn't to find a more polite formulation. Rather, to find an equally rude one but without the cultural implication of being a right-wing twittering asshole (quote from the person who made the remark).

edit

Based on the interesting finding in the comments, I realize that I need to clarify the term we're looking for. It's supposed to contain the element of harsh and, if possible, not be interpretable as offending. And in case it's not feasible, I'd prefer a term that is guaranteed to be not offending even if it takes it toll on being harsh. So, make it non-offensive primarily and then, harshify it as far as possible under that ceiling.


texts:
In dictionary,

"would" is used to ask somebody politely to do something

Ex: Would you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?

However, I think that explanation is so simple or it does not explain clearly.

"would" make your sentence more hesitative since it is giving a hypothesis.

And to make a sentence more polite with "would", we have to look at the real meaning of a sentence.

Ex: "Do you mind if I use your cellphone?" (the listener doesn't have to hesitate to mind it, the listener is welcome to mind it, it makes the question less forceful & therefore is more polite) is more polite than "Would you mind if I use your cellphone?" (the listener hesitates to mind it, it makes the question more forceful & therefore is less polite)

But "Would you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?" (the listener hesitates to mind it, it makes the question less forceful & therefore is more polite) is more polite than "Do you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?" (the listener doesn't have to hesitate to mind it, the listener is welcome to mind it, it makes the question more forceful & therefore is less polite)

"Do you mind if I use your cellphone" or "Would you mind if I use your cellphone"? Which one is more polite?


texts:
Somebody telephoned Emma.

What is correct form if I want to ask a question?

  Who telephoned Emma?

vs

  Who did telephone Emma?


texts:
In the example of

  John baked Mary a cake for her birthday.

and

  John cried a river of tears over Mary.

Which is the object in the sentences? Are both the object 'Mary'? If so, why?


texts: Use of the passive voice with the verb "drown"

texts:
A)They had been drowned.
B)They had drowned.

What is the difference between the above two sentences.

(They were looking for the dead bodies of the three boys because they assumed that they 'had been drowned'/ 'had drowned'.)

Which of the two options sound appropriate?


texts: What does "desert island band" mean? I've seen a lot of mentions of this term, but I've never found exact definition. They call a lot of bands that term. Black Sabbath, Misfits, Dare to Defy.


texts: "which" acting as relative pronoun standing for phrases?

texts:
1: Metal will bear beating with a hammer, which a stone will not.

2: He can write a letter in English, which I cannot.

"which" act as relative pronoun and stand for the phrases of "bear beating with a hammer" and "write a letter in English" respectively in the above two sentences.

Am I right?


texts: Should individual letters be preceded with "an"?

texts:
I was reading a comic book and I noticed that the author used "an A" and "an N" in a particular phrase (screenshot below). While I understand the usage of "An A" here (A being a vowel and what not) and "N" having a pronunciation which has a sound similar to "A".

Since most of English alphabets have pronunciations which start with a syllable similar to one of the vowels or semi-vowels; is it OK to prefix the letters using "An"?

For eg. An X, or An Y.

Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales - Werewolves: The Hunger, page #8 (Click to enlarge)


texts:
Imagine someone who has been involved in a team work suddenly quits the team and doesn't show up for a long time. Once when you are on your way home from your office, you run into him and after a couple of minutes you break the ice and then ask him about the reason of his absence in the team.

I would appreciate it if you could let me know which one of the following choices would sound more idiomatic in my example:

  What is the reason behind your..........?

  a) lack of enthusiasm

  b) unwillingness

For me, they both work, but based on my own language, the latter sounds better to me.


texts:
Does the following make sense in a want ad?

Our company requires the services of a graphic artist to work in our Tokyo office.

Normally we require a person to do something. The sentence doesn't seem to follow this pattern.


texts: Is this grammatically correct? : Something is not A nor A', neither B nor B'

texts:
'To love is not demanding nor taking advantage needless to say, neither is it giving up nor sacrifice.'

Is this sentence correct?

Is there any room for improvement?

How about the following sentences?

  'To love is not demanding or taking advantage needless to say, neither is it giving up or sacrifice.'

  To love is not demanding nor taking advantage needless to say. Neither is it giving up nor sacrifice.'


texts: Which one is correct, with or without a comma?

texts:
(1) It is possible to acquire through long experience some appreciation of the point of view of the laboratory scientist, some understanding of his methods, and the way he conceives a problem.

(2) It is possible to acquire through long experience some appreciation of the point of view of the laboratory scientist, some understanding of his methods and the way he conceives a problem.

Which sentence has the connotation that the writer might have plagiarized or taken (with or without permission) the scientist's way of discovering problems, which is of hypothesis (the one with a comma or the one without a comma after the phrase his methods)?
Could you help me clarify it?   Thanks.


texts: how can I say "I have a long hair" which I'd like to have it cut?

texts:
rather than say I'd like to have my long hair how can I form this version:

I have a long hair which I'd like to have it cut (OR only "have cut"? or how?)

thank you


texts: Past simple and past continuous in picture descriptions

texts:
I found the following exercise in a workbook:

Choose the past simple or the past continuous:

...

In the exercise there .... a picture of three doctors who .... .

Answer key: was/sang

My question:  "Singing" is a progressive act, so why not using the past continuous?


texts:
The impact was such that the canine flung into the air and fell into a drain five meters away.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/bike-rider-booked-for-dogs-death-in-greater-noida/articleshow/67271321.cms

In above sentence should we use was flung or only flung?

I think flung is transitive because to flung something we need an object. Hence it should be *canine was flung" is correct. It should be a passive sentence construction.


texts: How to ask someone to get another person's attention for me?

texts:
Say I want to talk to a person who I can not reach directly.
I want to ask the person sitting between us to get the other person's attention for me.
What should be a proper sentence to use here?
Can I say

  could you please get him for me?


texts: "Start make the changing " vs " Start making the change"

texts:
Which one is correct?

  You can start making the changes in your design.

or

  You can start make changing in your design.


texts: The difference between 'in', 'to' and 'into'

texts:
I cannot decide what is a proper preposition in a sentence below:

  Then place the discharged battery to the charger.

So is the preposition "to" right? I am not sure whether "in" or even "into" is the proper variant (because we put the battery not only to the charger, but actually in it for charging process to happen).

UPD: Can the word collocation "place into" be replaced with the word collocation "put in"?


texts: "I'm also a little bit a system administrator and an IT support engineer" - is this article usage okay?

texts:
I'm trying to write some description about myself, but have doubts about articles. Here's the sentence:

  I'm passionate about software development, also I'm a computer geek, a little bit system administrator and IT support engineer.

But if I use articles the sentence sounds more awkward:

  I'm passionate about software development, also I'm a computer geek, a little bit a system administrator and an IT support engineer.

Please suggest what the right variant is. Thank you in advance!


texts:
It is from Crash Course Meadia Literacy. It is at around 5 minute and 2 second. Here is the context:

  This one can be a pretty low bar to clear. As we know, our mind loves to accept the easiest to understand info as the right info because it is convenient. Which is why we move onto accuracy.

As the Urban Dictionary says low bar means a very low standard, but what confuses me is the word clear. Does the host mean that it is a pretty low bar to get rid of?


texts:
What is the difference between the meaning and usage of "However"and "No matter how" in these sentences:
"However well you speak English, you must remember you can improve"
and
"No matter how well you speak English, you must remember you can improve."


texts: Is it 'separatist-controlled territory' or 'separatists-controlled territory'? There're, at the same time, 'five-year-old (child)' and 'rights (group)', different patterns. I understand that 'right (group)' would sound ambiguous so that plural flexion does serve a semantic purpose, but still. Again, don't suggest rephrasing (like 'the territory controlled by separatists')


texts: what does 'liken' mean when there's no 'to'

texts:
I was watching CNN 10 and I ran into this sentence.
It's about monkeys that are endangered.

This Chinese national treasure is more endangered than the panda. It`s
likened covered forest home at risk.

I know that 'liken to something' is comparison, but I can't understand that sentence. It doesn't seem like comparison. What does it mean exactly? Does 'likened covered' mean something in idiomatic way?
I don't even know where to cut the sentence by meaning. Does it mean this monkey is endangered and living in the forest? or this monkey is endangered and forest is in danger as well?


texts:
What is a post stamp? For example: this?

If so, what is the stamp the post office stamps onto the letter, which contains the address and the date?
What's this called:


texts:
I'm so high on energy right now. / I'm so high in energy right now.

  Everyone at the gym is in high energy. / Everyone at the gym is on high energy.

Which one is correct or are they both correct and natural usage?


texts: Water doesn't run or the water doesn't run

texts:
So I am informing my friend.

Water doesn't run at the car washing center.

Do I have to put "the" in front of water? The sentence implies that we both know what car washing center I'm talking about, so does the same apply to water?


texts: defeated could arises ambiguity in a sentence

texts:
Could you think of a sentence where the word defeat or defeated makes an ambiguity?-- that's a situation which you couldn't get whether the word defeated means winning or not?

Please feel free to ask any question to make the question more specific

Any help would be greatly appreciated


texts:
In the song "Fuel my Fire" by L7 it says:

  Yeah, my layers are thick

  And I got a bad attitude

What does "My layers are thick" mean in this context? Is it another way to say "I've got a thick skin"?


texts:
It is from this video. It is at around 7 minute and 15 second. Here is the context:

  For if a sustainable source of water could be found, it could lead to colonazation on a simpler and grander scale.


texts: A word to refer to the cases of something

texts:
Consider:

  There are more than 10 fields for a word including the following items/fields:

Should I repeat following fields or  I can say following items?

What are other words like items.


texts:
I read that when you refer to a specific date you should use the preposition "on", and if you refer to a month you should use "in". I wonder if this is an unbreakable rule, and, which of the next sentences is more appropriate.

-Individuals were collected on January, 2000.

-Individuals were collected in January, 2000.

-Individuals were collected in January 2000.


texts: What do Americans call something when they cannot remember its name temporarily

texts:
What do you call a thing that you temporarily cannot remember the name of in American English? Lets suppose the following scenario. What would you use to fill in the blank?

Give me that. . . umm. . . you say its name. . . shoot. . . I cannot remember its name. . . __________.
a) widget
b) gadget
c) thingy
d) thing magic

Is there any other common choice for this concept in AmE? I need to know the most common one.


texts: "...she had not been attending class" or "...she was not attending class"?

texts:
What is the difference between the following two sentences:

  Betty failed the final test because she had not been attending class.
  Betty failed the final test because she was not attending class.

Is the second sentence incorrect because Betty did not fail the same minute or hour when she was not attending her class?

Edit: I had read this example on a website "He was tired because he was exercising so hard." As I understand, this sentence emphasizes that he was tired because he was exercising at the same time. In my example "Betty failed the final test because she was not attending class." I have thought the same that the two verbs failed and attend happened the same time. which for me is impossible then I thought the sentence is incorrect.


texts:
According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary "Sound" in the "Leo made it sound so easy. But it wasn't." is a linking verb to give a particular impression when heard or read about.

But I don't understand the meaning of "make it sound" yet? Is there an alternative way to say it?


texts:
Not a native English speaker. Tried searching for an answer to this question online but couldn't find an answer. So I am trying here. Please help me.

We do high precision and quality labeling of free-text, image, audio, and video data.

OR

We do high precision and quality labeling for free-text, image, audio, and video data.


texts:
We have a process to solve an issue with many different techniques. Each technique produces many results.  I want to mention the number of techniques that were efficient, and use only one sentence. So I have at least three types of count: number of results from each technique, number of techniques, number of techniques that are efficient.

How do I express the number of efficient results?  Can I say this:

"We count the number of techniques used for efficient result."

*(The question originally came from someone else. I was encouraged to re-post my answer to a separate question as a question/answer post.)


texts: Idiom to be used as replacement of "A coin has two sides"

texts:
I need an alternative idiom for 'A coin has 2 sides' to make my writing piece look richer and comprising broader lexical resource.

I am writing a discussion essay, and I wish to say something unique and new for expressing "Just like there are only a few things which do not have both positives and negatives, ABC also has both advantages and disadvantages."

Is it correct to say it as: "As we know there are few things in this world that do not have two-faced implications, ABC also has both pros and cons." Please correct me and also let me know alternative ways to say this!

I already know: "Every cloud has a silver lining" and "A coin has two sides." So please share some new alternatives. Thanks.


texts:
What does it mean?

Things will get easier as time goes by.

Is it that your life will be happier/better in future despite of the current situation? Can this phrase be used in business or it's only about personal life?


texts: Can you tell me which rule of tense is followed here?

texts:
He requires 5 days more to beating him.
Why it not says 'to beat' him?Is it correct?

A similar one:It is not natural to be talking to a machinery.
'To talk' ?


texts:
Which of the below sentences is correct?

Free join to Google

Or

Join Free for Google

Or

Join for free Google

I prefer to use the Free word at the beginning of the sentence.

Note: Google is just an example.


texts: what's the meaning of "Something is sure to do something"

texts:
What does "is sure to abet" mean in this sentence?

  The photo editing software is sure to abet my odds of winning the photo competition.

Could you give me more examples having the phrase "something is sure to do something" ?


texts:
I was studying about inverted conditional clause when I came across this sentence.

Should you require any further information about the program please do not hesitate to ask for it.

I am confused that the result and the condition clause both are in present tense(rule of zero conditional). However,  I read somewhere on stackexchange that inverted should clause is used for type 1 conditionals( Simple present, Will future).
Now I want to know is my sentence type 0 conditional or type 1 conditional?  If its type 1 then why its result is in present.


texts: "at least for" is considered under what syntactical feature?

texts: It was love at first sight, at least for the wide-eyed young teen Elizabeth


texts:
Sentence:

  By 1997 a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that HRT extended life expectancy for postmenopausal women by as much as three years.

I don’t know if removing the “as much as” will affect the meaning. Why not take the phrase off if it doesn’t add more sense?


texts: to cut between = move in the most direct way?

texts:
How I met my certain fate by Stewart Lee

  Cutting between Gottfried’s grinning face and the sight of people literally falling off their chairs laughing and gasping, in pain, for breath, The Aristocrats made a convincing case for absurdity as a logical response to tragedy.

The author describes how a stand-up comic Gilbert Gottfried made a joke about 9/11. And the audience booed him. Then Gilbert decided to tell the joke called "The Aristocrats joke", and the audience liked it so much, even falling from their chairs with laugh.

Does the author mean that this "Aristocrats" joke made the most direct [cut] way between stand-up comic and the audience?

Thanks in advance


texts: 'I know to drive' or 'I know how to drive'

texts:
I know to drive.

or

  I know how to drive.

Are both sentences grammatically correct?


texts: When can we leave out "it is" in formal writings?

texts:
Are these two following sentences correct and have the same meaning?

(a) Despite it is an appealing protocol, it has some problems.

(b) Despite appealing, the protocol has some problems


texts: A general word meaning the opposite of 'expired'?

texts: As in 'This food is not expired' or 'I recently renewed my membership so it is not expired'. A word I could use in place of 'not expired' in both these sentences (so not words like 'edible' or 'valid' which are too specific).


texts:
When using the word "most" before the word "people", should the verb which comes after them should be referred as a singular or plural?

For example:

  What would the most people know about insulin?
  What would the most people knows about insulin?

Which one of the two above is the correct one?


texts: I saw my international manager to be in status steering meeting. what does this mean.I checked and seems to me like an advisory meeting perhaps. Could you advise?


texts: Ever vs Never, where to put them and which is better to use

texts:
I've a symple question with when to use ever and never.
For example in the following two senteces, which it's grammatically better

  we'll teach them that they won't be able to mess with him, ever

and

  we'll teach them that they won't be able to mess with him, never


texts: Is this use of the past perfect continuous right?

texts:
I was tired after the test last Friday, because I had been studying all day long every day for a week.

Is the use of the past perfect continuous I had been studying in the sentence above right? He must have slept at night during the week before the test. Isn't the following sentence more natural?

  I was tired after the test last Friday, because I studied all day long every day for a week.


texts:
This is a sentence of an essay:

  A new way of viewing f(RH) as a scattering coefficient weighted average of the f(RH) for each mode was proposed, which helps us prioritize  the significance of different modes and better understand f(RH).

I want to express the meaning that this new way of viewing f(RH) can help us to determine which mode is more important and which one is insignificant, can I use the word 'prioritize'? Or are there better words or phrases that can replace it?


texts: difference between i wish with 'would' and 'past'

texts:
How do the two sentences differ in sense when we say,

  'I wish it weren't raining.' and 'I wish it wouldn't be raining.'


texts:
I came across with this sentence where "look" was used without preposition afterward. Isn't both ways a noun phrase ? In the other sentences "look" was used before a preposition so what is the different between them ?

1- Be careful to look both ways when you cross the road.

The other examples :

2- They looked at the picture and laughed.

3- Look at all these toys on the floor.


texts:
What is the difference between deduction and inference?

My guess is that deduction is a more concrete and restricted opinion because it involves logic every time whereas inference is a mere guess on the given evidences or situations and it involves logic sometime.

What does Sherlock Holmes do? Is it deduction or inference?


texts: How to pronounce -ttle and -ity in american english?

texts:
I watched a lot of youtube videos that aim to teach how to pronounce words like bottle and battle. I listen to the American flapped T carefully but I still don't know how to repeat after them because this sound doesn't exist in my native language. I don't know how to move my tongue. Would you give me hints or tips to help me, please?

Also, when I try to pronounce responsibility, security, probability, possibility. They sound like responsibilily, securiry or securiddy, probabiliddy, possibiliddy. My d sound is much more stronger than what Americans say.


texts: What does "extend yourself some love" mean?

texts:
There’s ... no shame in being able to cut yourself some slack, to
  extend yourself some love during those times at work when things don’t
  feel so great.

extend oneself:
to do things that require effort.

But I can't understand the meaning of "extend yourself some love". Does it mean:

  Try to show yourself some love.

So, could you please explain it to me?

The fuller text is here:

  Psychologist Kristin Neff is renowned for coining the term
  “self-compassion.” In particular, Neff has asserted that the fi rst
  component of self-compassion is kindness, the ability to shrug off
  those times when we “let ourselves down,” when we don’t get to check
  off everything from our to do lists. The other two components of
  self-compassion are awareness and mindfulness. The goal is not to get
  more done but to understand that we are enough—and that our worth is
  not contingent on what we get done. [...] I’m not an idealist. I’m not
  saying every one should start “Om-ing,” devoting themselves solely to
  selfcompassion, and forgetting all about their to do lists. But I am
  saying that compassion, and selfcompassion, ought to move into the
  foreground as we talk about mindfulness—even in corporate mindfulness
  programs. There’s no shame in wanting to be productive at work. But
  there’s also no shame in being able to cut yourself some slack, to
  extend yourself some love during those times at work when things don’t
  feel so great.


texts: "Legal matters" as a navigation title on a website

texts:
I want to have some links like the imprint and privacy policy in a navigation on my website. I am just wondering what would the best title be for this above those links. It should be a generalized word, and legal matters or maybe legal aspects sound a bit specific and long.

Is there maybe one single word, which sums that legal stuff up?


texts: Is this sentence structure using "feel" common?

texts:
In the textbook there is a sentence,

  "He depends on his parents financially and feels it embarrassing."

Is it correct to to say the following?

  "He feels it embarrassing."

I checked my dictionary or other textbooks, but I cannot find any examples that "feel" is followed by an object and a complement like this.  I'm stuck here.   Could anyone explain this to me, please?


texts:
If I want to ask my friend about her travel, which tense is more preferred?
I know that when asking about experience we use *present perfect *, like "have you been to Italy", "have you ever blah...?, but in my case, I want to get info about people accompanied her and for how long time she was there.

As I know, and how I understand the present perfect:

asking about experience ("have you been to...")
recent actions ("oops, I've dropped my phone")
something that is very topical right now ("have you done the homework?")
something that has finished till now ("finally, we've eaten the cake")

so based on how I understand it (please correct me if something) I think that I can ask her

  Have you been there with your siblings?

  How long have you been there?

  Have you lived there in a dormitory? / Did you live there in a dormitory?

I think that I can say it because this info is very topical when I ask her and it's about the experience but the thing that confuses me is she was there many years ago, but not till now. So I dunno past simple or present perfect?
I'm not going to use any specific dates in the questions.

Thanks.


texts: What is "the future nuclear world of the year 2000"

texts:
When the nuclear age erupted in the 1940s , many forecasts were made about the future nuclear world of the year 2000.

Does it mean "the apocalyptic world by nuclear weapons"? This is my best guess. Could you tell me why it goes that way?


texts: I got hit by the "Fatigue train" and was feeling tired


texts: connotation difference between "have debated" and "have been debating"

texts:
It is said that the present perfect continuous tense is used to:

describe the duration of an ongoing action;
emphasize the effect of a recent action on the present.

However, I have also seen the present perfect tense used when the duration of an action is described such as:

During the past 50 years, scholars have debated the size of indigenous populations in North America

Then is there any difference in connotation between this and:

During the past 50 years, scholars have been debating the size of indigenous populations in North America


texts: Which meanings of seal verb is applicable here?

texts:
Which one of the "seal" verb meanings is appropriate in the following sentences?

  The researchers noted that the margays’ high-pitched squeals weren’t a
  very good imitation of a baby tamarin, but that the squealing sound
  attracted the attention of adult tamarins away. Still, none of the
  tamarins really sealed the trick.


texts: Is this sentence correct:"we were talking when suddenly we were cut off"

texts:
Is this sentence correct?

  "we were talking when suddenly we were cut off"

shouldn't it be something like this?

  "we were talking then suddenly we were cut off"


texts:
In "The Troubles" of U2, there is this :

  Somebody stepped inside your soul
  Somebody stepped inside your soul
  Little by little they robbed and stole
  Till someone else was in control

What I don't understand is why are we using "they" here ? Is this referring to the person that "stepped inside the soul" or is it about other people ?
If it is referring to somebody, what are the rules that enables us to use they while it's one specific person that stepped inside the soul, and not multiple people ?


texts: "These" or "those" (or perhaps neither of them)?

texts:
From an English Reading test:

  '[...] Think of an interview as a highly focused professional conversation. You should spend the limited amount of time you have learning about the employer's needs and discuss the ways you can meet ____ needs. In many cases, you will be interviewed at least twice before being...'

Which one should I choose to fill in the gap, "these" or "those"?


texts:
This sentence is cited from "Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad"
"Every day is a new deal. Keep workin' and maybe sump'n'll turn up"


texts: Reason for using "would" in "Why would you ask something like that?"

texts:
Someone asked a question and someone else answered : ''Why would you ask that?''

Is it the same as ''Why did you ask that?'' ?  I think the version with would is more general like why would it occur to you to say something like that ( it might happen in the future too ) but I'm not sure.. since if someone asked me a question and I wanted to know his reasons for asking that specific question i'd use the version with did.. but many native speaker use would instead of did. Could a native speaker explain the difference please ?.


texts:
Are "come at" and "come over at" slang, idioms, dialectual, informal or bad English?

If you ever visit London, come at my place.
If you happen to be in town, come over at my shop.


texts: "Hello, This is" vs "My Name is" or "I am" in self introduction

texts:
I am from India and not a native English speaker. I do often hear people introducing themselves like

  "Hello everyone; This is James"

Is it an acceptable form in native English? Usually, I know that "This" is used for animals or non-living things?

Note: I already reviewed threads discussing "My Name is" vs "I am."


texts:
In my native language there was and it was can be translated the same in the following text:

  I had been playing this game two years ago. There was/It was interesting.

What exact construction must be used in this case? Can you provide an answer along with explanation?


texts: Can you explain which word is connected to the word 'left'? What is the grammatical construct of the bold?

texts:
I am trying to understand the bold part of this quote from "Sky-high house prices in the most desirable cities are holding back growth and jobs":

  As transport costs started to fall at the beginning of the 20th century, many of the manufacturing firms clustered in cities in developed countries left in search of cheaper land and labour.

Which word is connected to the word "left"?
Who left?  The "developed countries", or "the manufacturing firms"?
The word "left" is after "countries".  How can you know the "firms" left?
What tenses are involved? "firms clustered" and "developed countries that left" suggest past tense.


texts: Other than "OK", are there English words which serve as adjective, verb, noun and adverb?

texts:
We already know that OK is a word whose origins are obscure, but I don't want to focus on this matter here; rather I'm fascinated by the grammatical function it has:

  1) OK as an adjective: "Lunch was OK."

  2) OK as a verb: "Can you OK this for me?"

  3) OK as a noun: "I need your OK on this."

  4) OK as an adverb: "We did OK."

As an unexperienced non-native, my vocabulary is very limited, so I'm wondering if there is at least another English word which, like OK, serves, or can serve, as adjective, verb, noun and adverb. Is there?

Note, I'm not asking for a list of these word, which, even if it existed, it wouldn't serve to anything, but only for a positive or negative answer.


texts: What are other wordings for "to enter the balcony"?

texts: What are other wordings for "to enter the balcony" (by walking)? As far as I know, "step" with some preposition (maybe "on", "onto" ?) can be used to express that, right?


texts:
I wrote this sentence -

  Now I can’t see those custom. They seem to have gone into the wrapper of bygone time.

Do you think "go into the wrapper of bygone time" works here? I didn't find any reference, so may be I am the first one to write this. So native speakers, do you think it's understandable?

What I wanted to mean -
"go into the wrapper of bygone time" = "go into past"


texts: Beforehand? Am I wrong to say “I lived in the US beforehand”?

texts:
Is it wrong to say “I lived in the US beforehand”?
In dictionary, Beforehand means “in advance” as in “rooms must be booked beforehand.” But I was wondering if It is awkward to say “I lived in the US beforehand.”


texts:
Peripheral:

Something that is peripheral is not as important as something else:
The book contains a great deal of peripheral detail.

Incidental:

Less important than the thing something is connected with or part of:
Try not to be distracted by incidental details.

To me, based on dictionaries, these two words are so close that I hardly can differentiate them from one another.

For instance, I cannot tell the following collocations apart:

  peripheral / incidental problem
  peripheral / incidental information
  peripheral / incidental role
  peripheral / incidental activities

Also, Ngram proves that there are lots of hits for all these combinations including both of the adjectives in my question.

Does it mean that these two words are the same? If not, how do they differ?

Which choice is better with each words: "problem", "activities", "information", "role", "issue" etc?

How shall I diagnose the proper combination?

Please let me know about it.


texts:
Is it:

  "Neither of my brothers do anything to help my parents."

or

  "Neither of my brothers does anything to help my parents."

Both sound right to me and I'm not sure which is right.


texts:
From NPR: One Prediction Of Sochi Doom That Hasn't Happened

The passage describes a snowmaker company put in many snow-making-machines and man-made lakes to insure Sochi has enough snow at the course to hold the Winter Olympic games. The following "system" is referred to the snow-making-machine.

  You're in the mountains so you play with Mother Nature and you deal with what she's giving you. The system is designed around having extremely marginal conditions, not normal conditions, but extremely marginal conditions.

What does the term "marginal conditions" mean here? Is it a technical term?


texts: 'typo of' or 'typo for' or no preposition applicable?

texts:
If I see inkorrect instead of incorrect in a paragraph, how should I report it using the word typo?

Should I say

inkorrect is a typo of incorrect.
inkorrect is a typo for incorrect.
or something else?

I have checked in Oxford, Cambridge, Macmillan, and
Websters, but found no usage with preposition.


texts: Would you please show me what the latter sentence means in a more readily way?

texts:
Extracted from Wikipedia:

  World Book Capital is a title bestowed by UNESCO to a city in recognition of the quality of its programs to promote books and reading and the dedication of all players in the book industry.

Extracted from TehranTimes - a newspaper published in Tehran, Iran:

  UNESCO initiated the concept of World Book Capital city for the first time in 2001 in acknowledgement of the best programs dedicated to books and reading after selecting

If both sentences have the same meaning would you please analyse, especialy the latter, and explain or rephrase it in a more simple manner?

Any feed-back would be appreciated.


texts: "products of high reliability" VS "products with high reliability"

texts:
Company A delivers products of high reliability.

Is this sentence  clear enough to convey the meaning company A provides highly reliable productis.

Or I should say:

  Company A delivers products with high reliability.


texts: A word meaning showing off by mentioning his/her relation to superior ones?

texts: I remember I once encountering such a word but I cannot recall it now. Could anyone please help? Thanks. Some people are very annoying because they always say they know somebody and how good their relation is. In fact, that guy is just so so. It is just like bravado.


texts: "We believe there is a risk of similar legislation gaining support under a Republican sweep."

texts:
Can anybody explain that sentence for me, please?

source:http://www.businessinsider.com/why-janet-yellen-could-resign-if-trump-wins-2016-9


texts:
My daughter returned from school yesterday and told me their teacher went through some of their writing and discussed good ways to use English language. So he came up with "I like ice-cream either" and suggested it should be used instead of "I like ice-cream too" or "I also like ice-cream". And the contrary should be "I like ice-cream neither".

Ok, I think there is the fine-detail of whether you're having a discussion with John, Paul and Mary about the emotions re. ice-cream - or if you're discussing ice-cream vs. fruit, cake and chocolate, but leaving that apart...my gut-feeling is that this phrase is plain wrong.

Can someone rescue the teacher's point of view and show/explain similar valid use of "either"?


texts: "Mobile data in my cell phone plan" or "mobile data on my cell phone plan"?

texts:
Could you tell which preposition I use in the sentence below in or on?

I'm happy with the amount of data in/on my cell phone plan.


texts: something is five times the size of something else - can only mean bigger and never smaller?

texts:
A real-world example from a computer book that I've been reading recently:

  Bitmaps do not use any compression and can be three or four times the size of the same image in other file types such as JPEG, TIFF or PNG.

When we use this construction, do we ALWAYS mean that something is a certain number of times BIGGER than something else? So, if I say something like this:

  Now the size of the original file is five times the compressed file.

The only way this can be understood is the size of the original file is five times bigger than the size of the file that we got after compression? Correct?

Or maybe it's possible to denote whether the thing in question is bigger or smaller than other thing we're comparing it with by simply adding the words bigger and smaller? Like this:

  Now the size of the file is five times smaller the size of the original file.

Am I making any sense?


texts: Why is " wear some appropriate clothes" wrong?

texts:
I was given this two questions in a test. The correct is the second one. I can understand it sounds better, but why would be the first one wrong? Is there anything wrong about some regarding countability?

If you are called for a job interview, wear some appropriate clothes.
 If you are called for a job interview, wear an appropriate outfit.


texts:
I am trying to learn this structure, but when I write a sentence down I feel that the sentence is not natural enough, so please help me to correct the following sentences:

The harder I study, the better score I can get in IELTS exam.
The larger the number of people interested in art, the happier the society is.
The more fitness centres is available, the healthier the people is.
The smaller the\no article farmland is, the less food is produced.

I will appreciate giving me more examples.


texts: Can I omit the verb "eat" and noun "food" in this sentence?

texts:
I didn't know what food you'd like (eat), so I prepared many (food).

Is the sentence still grammatical if I omit eat and food? Why or why not?


texts: What is the meaning of "you know, be the pie"?

texts:
Source: Head First JavaScript by Michael Morrison (2008)

  With the right ingredients and a few flicks of the wrist, I can whip up just about anything. I just have to get close to what I'm making... you know, be the pie.

What does you know, be the pie mean? Here's the picture:


texts:
If I'm currently living in London.
Is it correct to say ?

  I've been living  here (London) for 6 months, after that I went back to Italy for two months and then I came back here (London) few days ago

Should I have used the present perfect because the action is finished ?

  I have lived here for 6 months after that I went back to Italy for two months and then I came back here (London) few days ago

Have I used the verbs to go back and come back properly ?


texts: What is the difference between "is subject to" and "is subjected to"?

texts:
I found the following sentence on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website:

  All persons, baggage, and other merchandise arriving in or leaving the
  United States are subject to inspection and search by CBP officers.

I would like to know whether changing "subject" to "subjected" will change the meaning of the sentence.


texts: Idiom for saying that someone is very dear to me?

texts:
I'm looking for an idiom which means someone is very dear to me. It could be used instead of the following expression in bold, for example.

I can't let my daughter marry a stranger! I didn't find her on the street! She's my own flesh and blood.

By the expression in bold, I mean my daughter is not like a neglected child. She is too dear to be married off to a stranger.


texts: Discerning the correct position of adverbs

texts:
...since life first appeared on earth.

...since first life appeared on earth.

...since life appeared on earth first.

Would anyone please readily explain the difference between these?

Or, could you possibly tell me how to distinguish where to put adverbs in such circumstances?

Any help would be appreciated


texts:
"Tempe police show reporters more body cam footage in fatal shooting
  of boy with air soft gun."

What does the "in" in the sentence mean? "Pertaining to" or "in the event of"?

If it means "pertaining to", does the following sentence make sense?

  "The journalist dug out more news reports in the murder that happened
  20 years ago."


texts: How to understand "to the fury of taxi drivers everywhere"?

texts:
Here's the sentence about Uber from the Economist magazine:

  Its app can summon a car in moments in more than 425 cities around the world, to the fury of taxi drivers everywhere.

Could you explain the part from "to the fury" ? fury means extreme anger, what does “to” mean here?


texts: Why is "leverage" seemly for the blank ? A question in the GRE exam

texts:
In one of the GRE questions, I encountered with the beneath inquiry:

  A book is your golden ticket into the speaking business. If you had a book published by a "real" publisher within the last 12 months in your hands, you have the calling card you need to get those speaking engagements now. Some authors-to-be and new authors have trouble figuring out precisely how to  ___________ that book into speaking.
  A. apply
   B. leverage
   C. utilize

I mused that the right answer is A or C, but I found that neither is correct. And B is the accurate item. It seems that the blank space should be filled with the synonyms of use, exercise, etc. and to me, "leverage" is out of the question.


texts: Can we use past perfect continuous instead of past perfect in this sentence?

texts: He (had delivered) a prisoner to the county jail when he saw a car ahead of him  weave across the yellow line .


texts:
In the following sentence:

One of the questions in a test I solved was about how would I organize the process if I was HR

Google grammar checker suggests that I should put "I would" instead "would I" there.
Which one is correct? Does this sentence make even sense?


texts: Difference between Coming up, Gone up and Come, Go

texts:
What is the difference between...

  "I see Dr.Phil coming up through the garden" and "I see Dr.Phil coming through the garden".  "He has gone up to buy your outfit" and "He has gone to buy your outfit"

What is the meaning of 'come up to someone' and 'come down from somewhere'?


texts: "..for being so thoughtless."- What is the tense/grammar behind this formation?

texts:
While reading a letter I found the sender wrote, "I hope you will forgive me for being so thoughtless.

If I rewrite it, should it look like,

"I hope you will forgive me because I was so thoughtless."
"I hope you will forgive me because what I did is wrong."

I was just wondering the part of the expression, for being so thoughtless; is that a present continuous tense! Not sure about the grammatical format.


texts: About present participle and past participle

texts:
What is present and past participle?

I get confused by these sentences for example:

  I saw the pen keeping on the table.
  I saw the pen kept on the table.

But at the moment the pen is on the table, so which of the sentences above are correct?


texts:
Sentence:

Madina is allergic to honey.If she  _____ (eat)honey,her tongue _____  (to get inflamed).

I filled gaps with "eats" and "will get".
And rigth anwser was "eats" and "gets inflamed" is this right?


texts: Definite or Indefinite noun phrase for the possessive: "Tom's good idea"

texts:
Definite articles (eg "the") indicate that it is a "known noun phrase" - the noun phrase is known by the listener/reader. Indefinite articles (eg "a") indicate an "unknown noun phrase" - the noun phrase is not one that is directly identifiable by the listener.  But there are situations where there is no definite or indefinite article, such as when the possessive form is used. Consider the following sentence:

1. A good idea of Tom's.

We know that #1 is indefinite.  But consider the following:

2. Tom's good idea.

Is "good idea" in #2 definite or indefinite?  What is the deep structure of #2, above?  Is it like "the good idea" (known noun phrase) or like "a good idea" (unknown noun phrase)?


texts:
Below text I have feeling that something is ungrammatical.Isn't the bold is dangling participle if don't put a comma after italic government?

By the way please don't put hold I am neither making you proof reading nor such stuff.I am confused and willing to learn.

  I too was a bit disillusioned as a computer engineer turned FBI cyber agent working inside the government. Having come from
  private sector and now back in private sector, it is almost night
  and day how far behind our government is with deploying innovative
  technology to its mainstream users.


texts: Confusion about scissors being a plural word

texts:
I sometimes notice that scissors is being used as a plural word. I guess there is some confusion to it that people can't understand or maybe it's me who doesn't know something about it becoming plural?

As long as I remember "scissors" has always been singular even though it ends with an "s".

Scissors is a tool to cut paper, cloth and many other materials.
This scissors has proven to be of very high quality.

But I can't imagine it being plural:

Are these scissors old?
Scissors are mostly made of stainless steel.


texts:
We can use come out in the sense of coming from far away. But what's the difference between the following to sentences:

  My parents are coming out for Christmas.

and

  My parents are coming for Christmas.


texts: How to understand "of" in "She is a woman of enviable beauty."

texts:
I found It's hard to understand the word of in some sentence which I gotten when I was checking the word of from an online dictionary.

A sort of explanation about of the dictionary given are shown below:

  You use of to indicate a characteristic or quality that someone or
  something has.

And the dictionary also showed some examples:

  the worth of their music.

According to the explanation given above,I suppose this sentence would means their music has a quality of worth.

  the creaminess of her skin

I suppose this sentence would means her skin has a quality of creaminess.

So far the explanation works properly.

But,

  She is a woman of enviable beauty.

I can't understand this one ,because I can't suppose it means the enviable beauty has a quality of a woman. It looks weird if I simply using the explanation to understand it.

And I also can not understand this one.

  A matter of overwhelming importance

Source:http://www.iciba.com/of

the worth of their music means their music has a quality of worth. But a woman of enviable beauty means Enviable beauty's qualities are had by a woman.In other word,it means a woman has a quality of enviable beauty.so noun1 of noun2 seems sometimes means  noun1 has a quality of  noun2 ,and sometimes means noun2 has a quality of  noun1 .

Are noun1 and noun2 exchangeable?

Taking an example:

Do the worth of their music and their music of the worth have the same meaning.

Thanks.

.


texts:
A quote from a book I'm reading:

Parents have something in common with snowflakes. Both melt when the
heat is on. No, wait, there's another similarity: No two are alike (or
so some people say).

I really don't get the meaning/purpose of adding "or so some people say".
Does "so" here refer to "two parents are alike" so it means "some people say some parents are alike"? If yes, what is the purpose of adding this remark? If the article was a thesis then it would be more understandable because in an essay you have to be very careful and accurate with your statements or assertions. But the article is not a thesis and this remark kind of weakens the idea the sentence is trying to present: Every parent is different. So why add this? Is it for humor? I don't see it.


texts: Is the sentence "I want a [insert noun] now" rude?

texts:
On two separate incidents, I have been told that the sentence below (without any context) is rude.

  I want a chocolate now.

Question:

  Is this an absolute interpretation? Where is the argument for "rude" coming from - is it the use of "now" at the end? Or is it the use of "I want"? Please give me a good explanation.

Reasons why the sentence is rude.

In this answer, the answerer wrote

 ... saying it like that sounds like you're ordering someone to get you chocolate quite rudely.
 "I want chocolate now" sounds rude, as it sounds like saying "You give me chocolate now!" which is basically rudely ordering someone to do it (in comments).

Earlier today, another user said the following in the comments to my meta post:

I believe that "I want a chocolate now" is rude, and that it is good for native-speakers to warn learners of this, lest learners inadvertently say something rude when they intend to be polite ...
An adult who wants to eat chocolates while in company can buy & carry their own & needn't ask anyone else for one. So the remark must be from a child ...
"I want..." is rude, and "now" expresses impatience, & is even ruder.

Am I right with this explanation?

I think the sentence "I want a chocolate now" just by itself does not convey rudeness. It could sound rude with a proper context. None of the following sentences sound rude to me (I made them up):

  (1) I had a long day. I want a nice, long shower now.
  (2) That was a wonderful meal. Time for dessert! I want a chocolate now.
  (3) Oh man, I want that drink now.
  (4) I have worked for 3 months without a break. I want a vacation now.

In my opinion, the two words "I want ..." [without a tone] says nothing about a person ordering someone to do something rudely. "I want a vacation now" is not rude, unless it's meant to be.

Also, it is not clear to me how one knows the speaker wants the listener to go get them a chocolate when the speaker says "I want a chocolate now" (there is no context here). I can say this to my friend. It does not say anything about me wanting them to fetch me a chocolate (see 4th bullet in the reasons section).

In this post, FumbleFingers wrote "But 'rudeness' is a highly subjective issue ...", and StoneyB wrote "What does matter is your tone of voice and other non-linguistic cues you provide."

I think it's not right to state that "I want ... now" is rude without any context, intention, non-verbal cues, and tone of voice.


texts:
How to say it correctly?

They will arrive with flight number 123 in London.
They will arrive on flight number 123 in London.


texts: as necessary / as was necessary / as it was necessary

texts:
The general public have never dealt with it as seriously as was necessary.
The general public have never dealt with it as seriously as it was necessary.
The general public have never dealt with it as seriously as necessary.

Would you tell me which one is acceptable?


texts:
Is it possible (depending on the context) using "for" instead of "at" like in the following sentence?

Is it ok for 10 o'clock?


texts:
Say the new album of my favorite artist comes out, and I've been waiting for it for a long time. In that case, is it correct to say this?

  This (the release of the new album) was long-awaited!


texts: "they were perfectly normal, thank you very much" – what is the thank you for?

texts:
from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"

  Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

what does "thank you very much" mean there?

Does it mean that, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley have managed to make their friends get a realization, when something strange or mysterious happens, Dursley's friend would say

  it definitely has nothing to do with Dursley's


texts:
He goes to London every month so that he can see his ailing father.

Can we use could  in the above sentence instead of can?
Some people are saying we can't use "could" here, as could is used in past forms and  the sentence is in present tense form (goes to london every week is present tense).
But I know "could" is not just used in Past tense sentences. It is used in both past tense and hypothetical forms. Past tense form of "could"  is clearly impossible here as sentence is in present tense. So, can we use "could" in hypothetical sense or to express possibility, like "He goes to London every week so that he could see his father, if he was permitted into hospital"?


texts: What's the meaning of "pool" in this context?

texts:
This is a part of a discussion between two people on the topic of the acceptance of gays in society:

Person A:

  No problem with people doing whatever the f--k they want...but the whole marriage thing is a little iffy, but I dont care enough to want to stop them.

Person B:

  How is it iffy?!?

Person A:

  It's iffy because it opens the pool of false marriages for financial or other gain, such as citizenship, ect. like I said, i dont care enough to want to stop it, but from a governance point of view, it may cause expanded abuse. my argument has nothing to do with morality or whatever other "emotional" sentiments.

What's the meaning of pool mentioned in person A's remark? I've looked it up, but was unable to find a definition that's relevant to the context.


texts:
Which sentence is correct?

  We process the data in two steps: First, .. Second, ...

OR

  We process the data in two-step: First, .. Second, ...


texts:
If just a few hundred hours of play-based therapy can improve my life and save another’s, I am more than happy to help.

Should I replace "another’s" with "another"?


texts: What's the short, colloquial version of "even if that were the case"?

texts:
Example:

  "Do you think the neighbor killed the dog?"

  "I don't think so. He would have barked. And even if that were the
  case, why hang him from a tree? It would've been easier to poison him or
  stab him."

Not sure if I'm wrong but the even if that were the case sounds overly formal to me. However, I can't think of a colloquial version.

Any suggestions?


texts: Have you ever said "muna" instead of "gonna"?

texts: What do you think about this word? Please watch this video for explanation.


texts: Is there any instance where "x y" doesn't mean the same thing as "y of x"?

texts: Like for example "fire archon" means the same thing as "archon of fire"? Right? Is there any instance where this might be false?


texts: Was or were at the start of question with multiple subjects?

texts:
Which is correct?

  Were intent, action or dishonesty established during the interview?

  Was intent, action or dishonesty established during the interview?


texts: A word meaning "themselves and each other"

texts:
You know we use 'each other/one another' instead of reflexives (e.g themselves) when the similar action goes both ways between 2 or more people.

I was reading these examples from a grammar book,

  The candidates described each other. (Each one described the other one)

  The candidates described themselves. (Each one described himself or herself)

When I wondered what if I want to say 'each candidate described himself and the other one'. Well of course my first thought was,

  The candidates described themselves and each other.

Is there a word that I can use instead of 'themselves and each other'? Can I write the sentence in a better way?


texts: does "never see your pockets empty anymore" make any sense?

texts:
We were talking about money in our English class and I said this:

learn programming and never see your pockets empty anymore

does it make any sense to you? is the sentence correct?


texts: I would like to know what is the exact difference between These & Those.


texts: What is the meaning of "stand for public office"?

texts:
In Drama film/Biography film The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Preacher, Jerry Falwell filed a case on Larry Flynt, Hustler Magazine, in supreme court for potraying his image in satrical parody way in
Hustler magazine. So Chief Justice said this words after hearing
Alan Isaacman,Larry Flynt's lawyer words.

  Mr. Isaacman, the First Amendment is not everything. It's a very
  important value, but it's not the only  value in our society. What
  about a value which says good people can enter public life and public
  service? The rule you give us says that if you stand for public office
  or become a public figure, you cannot protect yourself or indeed your
  mother against a parody of your committing incest with her in an
  outhouse. Do you think George Washington would've stood for office if
  that was the consequence?

What is the meaning of “stand for public office”?


texts:
The meeting also decided to nominate focal persons from both sides who will coordinate with officials in Pakistan and Iran for resolving issues of pilgrims during their travel from Quetta to the border and from there to holy sites in Iran.

Can someone please elaborate the term 'focal person'. I tried to run a search for it on google but could not find any mention of it on any website. What I got was the meaning of focal which does not seem to fit in this term. Thank you!


texts: Doesn't "must" cause ambiguity since it has two meanings

texts:
First, let me give you two examples:

  She has a difficult job. She must work hard.

  She has a very difficult life. She must be patient.

Since "must" can also be used for meaning "most likely" instead of its first meaning. Doesn't it cause ambiguity in these kinds of sentences? If I am meaning she most likely works hard or that she is most likely patient, can't it be understood as like she should work hard or she should be patient (I know that "must" is stronger than "should" by the way)?


texts:
I know the meaning of the verb herald utterly and exactly.
According to Macmillan this verb has two meanings that are very close to each other, so that some dictionaries have identified these definitions with each other. And this has caused me bewilderment.

  1 MAINLY LITERARY to announce something, or to be a sign that something is going to happen soon.

  2 to praise something loudly or in a public way.

What does this verb mean here? Does it mean that the Pope has informed the people of this existing rupture for the first time or that he has praised and said that this would-be rupture is a good thing?

  While there are a number of plausible labels that might be attached to the 20th century, in terms of social history it was clearly the age of the working class. For the first time, working people who lacked property became a major and sustained political force. This rupture was heralded by Pope Leo XIII—leader of the world’s oldest and largest social organization—in his encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891. GagThe Pope noted that the progress of industry had led to ‘the accumulation of affluence among the few and misery (inopia) among the multitude’; but the period had also been characterized by the ‘greater self-confidence and tighter cohesion’ of the workers. 1 On a global level, trade unions gained a foothold in most big industrial enterprises, and in many other firms too. Working-class parties became major electoral forces—sometimes dominant ones—in Europe and its Australasian offshoots. The October Revolution in Russia provided a model of political organization and social change for China and Vietnam. Nehru’s India set itself the avowed goal of following a ‘socialist pattern of development’, as did the majority of post-colonial states. Many African countries spoke of building ‘working-class parties’ when they could boast no more proletarians than would fill a few classrooms.

The text is from New Left Review, (PDF version),  and a copy can be found online on this google groups page.


texts:
In "The Quick One" by G. K. Chesterton, the author was describing a group of commercial travelers in a hotel, saying:

The manager and the barman knew all the travelers quite well, and there was no doubt about their movements as a whole. They had stood at the bar chaffing and drinking; they had been involved, through their lordly leader, Mr Jukes, in a not very serious altercation with Mr Pryce-Jones; and they had witnessed the sudden and very serious altercation between Mr Akbar and Mr Raggley. Then they were told they could adjourn to the Commercial Room and did so, their drinks being borne after them like a trophy.

What's meant by this bolded phrase?
I mean do the trophies usually be borne after their winners?
Or "trophy" means here "suffix" that follow after?


texts: What's the difference between a can and a tin?

texts:
I always thought 'tin' and 'can' to mean about the same thing, guessing maybe these are regional names. Then I encountered this:

Inside are 2 precooked, ready-to-eat main courses packed in cans and an hors d'oeuvre packed in a can or tin.

I tried Google Images to try discerning the difference but I spot no obvious ones.
What is the difference between a can and a tin?


texts:
The following subject is about wells turbine. Entropy generation parameter help to us for designing and provide designers with useful information about the causes of the flow irreversibilities(entropy generation).
the flow goes through the turbine and contacts with the blade of turbine. these are made that entropy is generated around the blade.

Now, I had a question. Is the bold sentence correct grammatically?

Also, entropy generation factors around the blade are investigated. All of these factors are detected by viscous entropy generation distributions, which record a substantial increase of the viscous component of local entropy generation rate equation. Any entropy generation analysis improvement on Wells turbine must take these factors into consideration.

Thanks,

Best.

Ali


texts: proud to or proud of: what is the best choice

texts:
Shall I say  proud of doing virtually nothing or proud to do virtually nothing

I think  the first one sounds less idiomatic but I don't know why


texts: Is there a word for major software developers? There are amateur developers who work alone, there are indie developers who work for small companies and then you have Adobe who is a major developer. Is there a word or adjective that's used to refer to them? I am wondering, for instance, how Microsoft refer to those major developers in their internal memos. There has to be some kind of word or phrase.


texts: "Governs should increase as much of the expenditure on public services as possible."

texts:
For example:

Governs should increase as much of the expenditure on public services as possible.

Would it be correct?


texts: Salutation of business letter when recipient is unknown

texts:
In writing business letters, when we don't know the name of whom we are writing to which words are better to use?

Can we use "To whom it may concern"?


texts: What is the difference between "with" and "within"?

texts:
I'm working on a text and need to tell the users about the differences of certain options. I'm struggling between with and within and don't know which is the correct one for:

  With this option you will add only your company name but won't have...
  Within this option you will add only your company name  but won't have...

Which one is correct?

Edit: My native language is German and I've got the habit to think the sentence first in German and translate it then to English. In German you would be able to use "Mit dieser Option" or "In dieser Option" which are by meaning the same as Mit=With and In(close to)= Within. I checked some dictionaries and googled it as well, but couldn't find anything which would give me an idea of the correct answer for this context.


texts: Is "just.....million" an absolute phrase?

texts:
The earnings of the company last year were US$100 million, just 1 million below our earnings forecast of US$101 million.

Is the above sentence grammatical ? "just 1 million below our earnings forecast of US$101 million" is it an absolute phrase ?


texts: Which term is correct? "I have no" or "I don't have any"

texts:
Would you please tell me which of the following terms is correct? If both are correct, are they equal?

I have no [...]
I don't have any [...]


texts: Rising or falling intonation? " How on earth did you find out?"

texts:
Rising or falling intonation?

How on earth did you find out?

We should use falling intonation when asking wh questions, but we should use rising intonation to express high-energy emotions like anger, excitement or shock.
And here we do have a wh question and we also have a high-energy emotion, now what?


texts: what's the word for joining a university class when I am not a student there

texts:
Image I go to my friend's university and join one of their class(by join I mean just sit in the classroom and listening to the lecture)

Is there a phrase/word for this type of behavior or situation?


texts:
According to the popular story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in which the young girl Goldilocks enters the bears' house during their absence, tastes their bowls of porridge, and finds one too hot, another too cold, but the last one just right, there is a proverbial well-know sentence:

  Not too hot, not too cold. Just right

What does this sentence exactly mean? Do it mean, you shouldn't go to extreams and it would be better to keem the middle ground or it has another connotation?


texts: Can "in the order" be used instead of "sequentially"?

texts:
Are two sentences bellow equivalent?

  Post blocks have executed in the order.
  Post blocks have executed sequentially.


texts: "I'm used to him being away " or "I'm used to his being away"

texts:
I'm not sure "Being away" is a present participle or a gerund ? If it's a gerund , according to the rule "possessive before gerund" ,then   "I'm used to his being away" should be correct.
Am i right ?


texts:
The bill of July was issued on August 2nd and the amount of your bill is $113 and you have a grace period till August 23rd so please make sure to pay it before that date to prevent any barring on your line and to keep your line working.

Should I say (was issued) or (issued)?
Should I say (the amount of your bill) or (it'll be)?
Should I say (make sure to pay) or (make sure that you pay)?
Do I need the pronoun (it) after (pay)?


texts: Is there a word in English meaning "see something incorrectly"?

texts:
For example, I saw someone just now. I thought he was Jack, but turned out he was not.
Or, I saw something and recognized it as something else incorrectly.
Is there a word for such situations?

I know if I read something wrongly, I could say "I misread it".
and if I hear something wrongly, I could say "I misheard it".
But I cannot find the word "missee" in any dictionaries.
Is there something else people use?


texts: Word order: "played with my friend in the garden" or "played in the garden with my friend"?

texts:
Help me please with word order. For example:

  "I played tennis in the garden with my friend."
  "I played tennis with my friend in the garden."

Are they both grammatically correct?


texts: "Moral person" Vs "Someone who lives a moral life"

texts:
I was wondering how these two are different from the meaning viewpoint?

He / she is a moral person.
He / she lives a moral life.

Do they exactly mean the same? If not, how they differ?

P.S. I have reviewed the defined links, but they are somehow ambiguous and make me more confused.


texts: What does the phrase "pinch apart" mean here?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a task management app:

  The app allows you to add tasks in several ways and in one of them you
  can pinch apart two items in order to squeeze a task in between them.

I am not sure about the meaning of the phrase "pinch apart" here.

Any suggestions?


texts: What is the difference between booking and renting something?

texts:
When should I use "book"? When should I use "rent"?
For example, which one is correct?

A: How can I help you?
B: I want to book a limo.
A: How can I help you?
B: I want to rent a limo.

For me, "renting" a car or limo is correct but in our lesson book, we used "booking limo".


texts: Where do we put the apostrophe in this phrase: the 90s burgers?

texts: Do we say the 90's burgers, the 90s' burgers , or do we simply not add an apostrophe to it?


texts: When there is an electric malfunction in an electrical equipment or device

texts:
Imagine two electrical wires have layd over on each other and both of them have some naked parts. Or there is such a situation in a pug or in a socket.
It has caused some problems for the connected devices and those electrical equipment. How one can describe such a situation:

  There is an electrical malfunction with this (plug / socket / wire).
  This (plug / socket / wire) has an electrical malfunction.

Which one of the above sentences sound natural to a native speaker?


texts: Is grace in the following sentence from Cosmos a noun or a verb?

texts:
dThere seemed to be no way in which atoms and molecules could somehow spontaneously fall together to create organisms of such awesome complexity and subtle functioning as grace every region of the Earth.

Sagan, Carl. Cosmos

"... as grace every region of the Earth."
What does it mean?


texts: Can I relocate a relative clause to after the verb?

texts:
I wrote:

  Then, using this anchors, a pattern named "Products" is created enclosing the following region of the anchor.

instead of

  Then, using this anchors, a pattern named "Products" enclosing the following region of the anchor, is created.

or

  To restrict this region even more, another anchor can be used marking the end of the block.

Can a pattern that encloses and anchor that marks be written as above?


texts:
1.The height of Merlion is 15 meters.

  2.The height of Merlion is 15-meter.

Which one is correct? Can we use this hyphenated adjective as predicative adjective?


texts: Can square mean a rounded number as in "Can you knock 50 dollars off the price and make it a thousand dollars square"? The seller is asking 1050 dollar for the merchandize and the buyer is trying to negotiate down to $1000.


texts: Regarding the meaning of "over" in "over and over again"

texts:
I am aware of the fact that the idiom:

  Over and over again.

means repeatedly. But which meaning of the adverb over is being used in the idiom above? does it mean "Throughout a period of time"?


texts: What does "call turning into one's mother work" mean?

texts:
I have come across in the 11th episode of the 8th season of Friends. Here is the context:

Doug: Bing! We’re all set for tonight, 8 o’clock.
Chandler: Oh uh, as it turns out, we can’t do it. Monica has to work.
Doug: Oh, my ex-wife didn’t work, unless you call turning into her
mother work. Fine. Tomorrow night then.


texts: next time bring a clue, not a paintball gun (meaning)

texts:
From the movie Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

If you have not seen the movie, here's a short summary to give you come context:

John Connor in the middle of the night breaks into a pet pharmacy to steal a bunch of pills because he's suffering emotional breakdowns or something like that. But the person who works there by pure chance also arrives at work a few moments later. She catches him and is about to call the cops. John Connor has a paintball gun on him. He whips it out and points at her with it, but messes up for a second which gives the pharmacy worker a chance to wrest it from his hands and fire a few rounds, but Conner is unharmed because the gun is obviously not real. Despite all that, she manages to kick his butt into a big cage for animals and lock him up in there. And then she says this:

  Next time bring a clue, not a paintball gun.

I have no idea what she's saying.

Post scriptum:

I might not be one hundred percent accurate in my description, but that's the basic idea of what was going on in the scene.


texts:
Is it correct to say or write that

I tried a new time but it is still not working

past simple because I only did one essay today(however it is true that I made many yesterday.)


texts:
I am writing a presentation which should include an outline.

I would like to present a short background for my subject. However, I just wonder how to express my outline in correct English writing.

Brief background on the subject.

or

Brief background to the subject.

Which one is correct and why?


texts: "High unemployment led to him not being able to find a job"

texts:
High unemployment led to him not being able to find a job.

So I saw someone ask whether this was a valid sentence and even English people said it was. I think it has to be wrong though as the intended meaning is that the unemployment led to the fact that he couldn't find a job whereas in the above example it leads to "him" which makes no sense and is then modified by the participial phrase. So if he wanted to use the -ing form here while still making sense it would have to be:

  High unemployment led to his not being able to find a job.

That is my understanding at least. But I need this cleared up as I hear similar sentences all the time which sound equally wrong to me, such as:

  I appreciate you saying this

One could appreciate "you" which is what this looks like but if you go on to add saying it is likely that appreciate refers to that rather than the person so it would have to be changed to "your saying":

  I appreciate your saying this

Very rarely do I hear the possessive case though so I suppose it is because it is much more convenient to use the objective case (although gerunds require possessive cases and its "grammatically wrong") compared to the possessive which can be disruptive (cases' child's etc. often multiple letters and ' in writing). Is this why I keep hearing these sentences or am I wrong entirely?


texts: Is "thru" for "through" acceptable? "Tho" for "though"?

texts:
I've been told that in American English, sometimes words ending in -ough are written -u: for example thru instead of through.

Is this correct English, or is it simply a common error?
If it is correct, what are the rules for this spelling?


texts:
Is it possible to use the present tense along with an adverbial of the past time?

  (1) It is May 12th, 1959, when I'm introduced to Janey.

This is a transcript of the movie "Watchmen." And you can hear the movie sound here.

Is it really natural or even grammatical to use the present tense "am" along with the adverbial "May 12th, 1959" as in (1)?

Since it's a cleft sentence, you should be able to change it to:

  (2) I'm introduced to Janey on May 12th, 1959.

OR

  (3) On May 12th, 1959, I'm introduced to Janey.

If (1)'s natural, how about (2) and (3)?

EDIT

I'd like to make it clear that I do understand the use of the present tense for the past time in a narrative setting. The question really is not about the use of the present tense itself but the use of the present tense along with the past-time adverbial.

Is it okay to use the present tense along with the past-time adverbial when you describe the past time in a narrative setting?


texts:
Hi I tried to look for a grammatical explanation for the usage of "in" and "on" in this context (please see examples below) but I couldn't find any. Why is
 sentence A and C are correct but sentence B and D are wrong?

  A) The girl in the red dress.                                                         B) The girl on the red dress.                                                           C) The girl with the red dress on.                                                                D) The girl with the red dress in.


texts:
In Political Ideals (1917) the eminent philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote

  The times through which we are passing have afforded to many of us a confirmation of our faith.

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary includes the structure afford somebody something with this example:

  The programme affords young people the chance to gain work experience.

Has Russell used the same structure, conveying a similar meaning?


texts: Is there any thing ambiguous about 'like to do something a lot'

texts:
I have difficulty understanding the adverb of the following sentence.

  I like to play football a lot.

The adverb 'a lot' describes 'like' or the infinitive 'to play'? If the answer is 'like' why not 'play'?

Is this sentence ambiguous and does need editing or it's a completely clear sentence to a native speaker?


texts: There is, there are: Subject-verb agreement

texts:
There is an inkpot, some books and a deck of cards on the table.

The predicate takes the singular form since the first subject is singular.

But what about

  There is/are an inkpot and a book on the table.

Can the same rule be applied in this sentence?


texts: (am done with having lunch / finish having lunch) ,(for getting / to get)

texts:
Once I [am done with having lunch / finish having lunch], I go to a park [for getting / to get] some fresh air walking. This trip usually takes [me] about an hour

I think these two are interchangeable:

am done with having lunch
finish having lunch

And that the choice between these two is a matter of preference:

for getting
to get

And that the use of me is also about preference to use it or not.

Am I right to think this way? Or are there any differences in meaning here?


texts: using: Sub+was+supposed to+have+past participle VS Sub+was+supposed to+infinitive

texts:
when saying: I was supposed to write Anderson a letter; that means: I'm expected or I thought to send him a letter, but it's not clear if I did or not.
But, when I say: I was supposed to have written Anderson a letter that means I didn't .....
Am I right?


texts: Auxilliary "do" with the subject in questions

texts:
According to English grammar I can't use the auxiliary verb do in questions if who / what /etc. stands for the subject:

– "What happened last night?" (What did happen last night?)

But what if I'm talking to somebody and he utters a sentence that already contains do to emphasize the verb? Can I leave it in my following question? Or I must reduce it (convert do verb to verb)?

– "They lied to me! Something did happen last night!"
– "What did happen last night?" (is it an error?)

Also a native speaker told me that there are situations when I can use the auxiliary do with the subject. For example:

– "Who wants to eat?"
– "Do you want to eat?" – "No."
– "Do you want to eat?" – "No, I don't."
– "Who does want to eat?" (in frustration)