texts:
The latest Trump's twitter

  Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. and it
  great companies and workers by the European Union, if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!

What does  it here  mean?

  Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. and it great companies and workers by the European Union,

Maybe it is a typo?

The right sentence maybe:

  Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. and great companies and workers by the European Union,


texts:
He remembered to post a present to his mother for her sixtieth birthday. Why not use ‘posting’ instead of ‘to post’?

I think posting is better. But the book use ‘to post’, I feel it weird.


texts: coronavirus - Why no 'c' capital? Why is there no space?

texts: It is written 'coronavirus' with no space and no capitalized 'c'. I'm not sure about it. It is the name of virus which makes it a proper noun. Plus, they should be two words like other viruses have. The list is here One of the known examples is Ebola virus.


texts: Whats "thank you for learning me X" mean vs "thank you for teaching me X"?

texts:
I saw a statement from  a friend of mine who said thanks to X for learning me Y. I said, it might be wrong and you should have said thanks to X for teaching me Y.

I think, learning me means telling me about something and then I myself go on and learn about that thing, and teaching me is like teaching me about that thing.

Is my assumption correct? If not, what do they mean?


texts: What does "at the individual scale" mean in this context?

texts:
Our special series “Out of Work in America” tells the stories of unemployed Americans in their own words. For this project, The Times’s National desk collaborated with 11 local news organizations in the U.S. Here’s what Jia Lynn Yang, a deputy editor on the National desk, and Clinton Cargill, an assistant editor, said about these accounts from a dozen people.
Q. The National Desk has more than 40 reporters scattered across the country, but over the last year, Marc Lacey, the National editor, has prioritized partnerships with local news organizations, as with this project.
A. Clinton: Local news organizations have a special authority in the communities they cover. They know the big employers, the community groups, the state and local policies that make all the difference for people seeking unemployment. We thought they could bring some of that depth at the individual scale.

I don't exactly understand what the part marked in stars mean here.
What does "individual" refer to? is it the interviewees ("a dozen people" who are unemployed)? or is it the editors? What does the phrase "at the individual scale" as a whole mean in this context?
Thanks in advance!


texts: Why "its" even though the noun is plural?

texts:
From Only Children Of The Universe Are We by Dudley (CHRIS) Christian, p.32:

Let the young have its youth
While you who have survived it look back in joy and
appreciation or else in awe and wonder [...]

Young is plural so why is its used here?


texts: the lecture's place or where the lecture takes place

texts:
Television is not only for entertainment but also it is a useful as an educational tool. This is because students can watch lectures and educational programs on television. Furthermore, watching a lecture on television can save the time required to travel to the location where the lecture is taking place.

This is the choice of a native English speaker, but I think it is wrong because there is no need to use future structure "is taking place".

Is there a problem in the following choices?

(A) save the time required to travel to the lecture's location.
(B) save the time required to travel to the lecture's place.
(C) save the time required to travel to the location where the lecture takes place.


texts:
In twos and threes the rest of the group took their leave, too. Cho made rather a business of fastening the catch on her bag before leaving, her long dark curtain of hair swinging forwards to hide her face, but her friend stood beside her, arms folded, clicking her tongue, so that Cho had little choice but to leave with her.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Is "made rather a business of" a set phrase? I can't find it in any dictionaries. I guess here it means: Cho deliberately procrastinated by slowly fastening the catch on her bag before leaving. Is this understanding correct?


texts: Understanding difference between "intense" and "intensive"

texts:
"Intense" and "intensive" are two different words:

  If you are putting forth an intense effort, your work is “intense”:
  “My intense study of Plato convinced me that I would make a good
  leader.” But when the intensity stems not so much from your effort as
  it does from outside forces, the usual word is “intensive”: “the
  village endured intensive bombing.”

Is there any way to understand why the word ending in "se" has one meaning, and the word ending in "sive" has another meaning?


texts: How to decide whether to use 'which' or 'that' for a sentence?

texts:
After reading this article suggested by a friend, I feel more confused about the rules on how to use these words correctly.

I have some examples below:

Pluto is a planet which revolves around the sun.
Pluto is a planet that revolves around the sun.

Here's another pair:

The book mentions some gardening tips which can be easily applied.
The book mentions some gardening tips that can be easily applied.

One more:

Every guy which arrives at the airport must pass a security check.
Every guy that arrives at the airport must pass a security check.

Are there really some hard and fast rules like which one to use in every sentence like I mentioned above or are they interchangeable in above cases?


texts: What is the most frequently used name for hook-and-loop fastener in daily life?

texts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook-and-loop_fastener
It has many names.
Hook-and-loop fasteners,
hook-and-pile fasteners,
touch fasteners, and
velcro.
My question is simple. Which is the most frequently used name in our daily live? I ask because the name Hook-and-loop fasteners is too long. I doubt people use it in daily life. Usually names that long have alternative short names. so I would like to confirm if it is velcro. Thank you.


texts:
How could you do this to me? [It expresses outrage or anger]

While studying the usage of "could",  I found the above sentence. But I studied that "could" is used for hypothetical conditions.
So my question is, What is the unstated hypothetical condition in the given question, which made us to use "could" to give that mentioned meaning to this interrogative sentence.


texts:
In this video of Hillary Clinton, at 15s, the child said "I have straight A's.".

What does "straight A's" mean?


texts:
I'll be at my uncle's house just in case you need to reach me.

  I'll be at my uncle's house should you need to reach me.

Could you tell me what is the difference between those?


texts: If the thing is named, do we have to use "it", or it will depend on something?

texts:
I need help please, I know it is a basic thing but as a Spanish speaker I have always had problems with the correct use of "it".
For example:

  That green skirt belongs to Anne, it is her skirt.

In the last section of that sentence, if I name the thing (skirt), do I still have to use "it"?   Because there are cases when the "it" can be left out, right?


texts: Why is 'left luggage' called 'left luggage'?

texts: I came across this term at an English train station. My friend and I were looking for a place to store our luggage and it didn't occur to us that 'left luggage' was the place we needed to go as it seems like a place for lost property. Why does it have this confusing (for a non-native English speaker) name? What's the origin?


texts: Any possibility for simplified punctuation in direct speech?

texts:
Not sure I'm asking about direct speech here, though. Consider the sentence:

  And then I thought, why do I even need this?

I believe I run into sentences like this occasionally. The correct way would likely be:

  And then I thought, "Why do I even need this?"

Or maybe with colon?

  And then I thought: "Why do I even need this?"

To be precise, can I not capitalize first letter of direct speech? Can I omit quotes? Should I use comma or colon?

Also, I've run into this question one of these days. Can I write:

  To answer your question, no.
  The answer to your question is, no.

Or

  To answer your question, no, I don't think so.
  The answer to your question is, no, I don't think so.

By the way, as you can see, the respondent there has omitted the quotes

  To answer your question: No.


texts: What does this sentence mean? From a Film Review of Bohemian Rhapsody 2

texts:
In a movie review from Time (http://time.com/5440357/bohemian-rhapsody-freddie-mercury-queerness/ ), there are a few sentences I don’t understand.

  What made Freddie Mercury such a captivating public figure is the same
  thing that makes him such a difficult subject to capture fully on
  film: his multitudes. Examine his sexuality alone and you have
  contractions twisting and knotting within one rather petite man. He
  never formally came out, yet his queerness was imprinted on the very
  band he fronted and named, Queen. He is said to have had an insatiable
  appetite for sex with men, yet his most enduring relationship seems to
  have been with a woman to whom he was once engaged (and who inherited
  the majority of his fortune when he died of AIDS in 1991), Mary
  Austen. He fluidly presented along the femme-butch spectrum, equally
  convincing in glam drag, in drag drag, and in the cartoonishly
  masculine “Castro clone” uniform (tight jeans, tank top, an imposing
  mustache, muscles) that originated in San Francisco in the early ’70s.

Please have a look at the emboldened sentence. I don’t understand what “contractions” means here. I looked up in a dictionary but I don’t feel the given definitions make sense. Is “twisting and knotting” an idiom? But I have no idea at all.


texts: What does "enriching and enhancing the standing of tourism" mean?

texts:
Nature tourism and ecotourism are recognized as being particularly conducive to enriching and enhancing the standing of tourism, provided they respect the natural heritage and local populations and are in keeping with the carrying capacity of the sites <Source>

What does enriching and enhancing the standing of tourism mean?

I know standing means rank, position, or reputation in an area of activity, system, or organization. However, What does enriching the standing mean?

Could you paraphrase the bold part?


texts:
There is a passage continuing north/to the north.

Which one is correct? Is it better without using "to the"?


texts:
The main question is if using "unsolicited" implies a negative connotation? My original intention is simply to express "spontaneous" in the situation. Why not "spontaneous"? Perhaps it gives a feeling of lacking temperature.

So i) Is "unsolicited" somewhat negative? ii) Is "spontaneous" a more reasonable choice?.


texts:
That would be a good way to remember the definition of?

I don't know how to make this sentence a question correctly.Should I say like this?
That would be a good way to remember the definition of what?

Actually, I saw this sentence somewhere and I don't know if there is another way to ask, or if it's correct.

  Imagining a building shaped like a teapot would be a good way to remember the definition of?


texts: How do I decide if an "i" is pronounced long or short?

texts:
I am an English teacher who has never really learned the complex rules of teaching pronunciation.  Many learners here in Spain have difficulties deciding whether an "i" in a word is long or short.  Unfortunately, even the basic general rule of "it's a long 'i' if it's a short word with a silent 'e' at the end" doesn't work, as we came across "live" and "give"... and the multisyllable "practice/practise".
I can't seem to find a pattern (emphatise vs expertise, and sign vs signature and signal came up).
Can anyone point me in the direction of a relatively simple explanation?


texts:
I want to say something like: You're amazing, don't let anyone tell you differently, not even you/yourself.

I've found a meme saying: Trust Nobody, Not Even Yourself , so I think yourself is the correct answer, but I'm not sure if both are correct. Thanks in advance.


texts: What's the best synonym for "in other words"?

texts:
Example sentence:

  I turned up at the entrance of the hotel thirty minutes early to
  prepare myself psychologically. In other words, to drown my
  nervousness with the whiskey I’d bought at the convenience store.

I thought put differently was a good synonym. But for some reason, it sounds a little different. Maybe I'm wrong.

What's the best synonym for in other words (like applied in the example above)?


texts: What's the right choice? "... the school (pays/provides/affords) them"

texts:
I came across this sentence which has puzzled me and I'd like to know the proper completion to it. It goes as follows:

Students don't have to pay for the textbooks as the school .............. them.

A) pays
B) provides
C) affords

I know (A) isn't the correct answer so is it (B) or (C)?

"Provides" doesn't necessarily mean that the books will be free of charge, right?


texts:
In this video I heard the following sentence:

Our ability to constantly confuse the real with the metaphorical,
parentheses, our brain's evolutionary challenge to have come up with
something as novel as moral abstractions..

Can the word "parentheses" act as the verbal equivalent for adding parentheses in writing?


texts: How to correctly start a sentence with there?

texts: I transferred to a new middle school far away north of S.C. towards western New York. There is where I continued my education through completion of high school and first year of college.


texts: People please tell me what does "tho" mean!

texts:
I saw a comment on social media that "She is cute tho".
What did he mean when said that?


texts: Is coffee maker the same as coffee server?

texts:
These are the images when I did google searches:
 coffee server
 coffee maker

Does it mean the server is part of the maker?


texts:
"There were drops of blood on the floor, it looked as if a small wounded creature had limped through the stall."

Could you say:

  “There were drops of blood on the floor, it looked as if a small wounded creature had been limping through the stall"

without any difference in meaning?


texts: Is there any difference between "as if to check" and "as if she's checking" in the context?

texts:
She starts whistling into his ear as if to check whether he really is dead.
She starts whistling into his ear as if she's checking whether he really is dead.

Is there any difference these?

Does "as if to check" refer to her and why she's whistling into his ear or is it more used to mean "as one does to check"?

Could I use "if" instead of "whether" in both sentences without changing the meaning?

Which one is the better option do you think?


texts: How to use comma noun and doing in sequence?

texts:
I'm reading a book named "Programming Rust".

I couldn't get the meaning of the following sentence in the last chapter.

  Note that unsafe code must not depend on ordinary, safe traits being implemented correctly.

Is ordinary is a noun? And what is omitted after comma to connect the two sentences?

I thought it is saying

  Unsafe code requires not ordinary implementation. That's why safe traits are implemented correctly.

Is it right? It sounds odd to me, though.


texts:
A dusty wind whips on the faces of the soldiers.

I see sentences like "the wind whipped their faces" But I'm not sure whether the above sentence is valid. I don't see any matches in google or ngram. Is something wrong with the phrase "the wind whips on the faces of the XXXXs"?


texts: "At the metro station" or "in the metro station"

texts:
Which preposition should I use for metro station at or in?

  "I was today at the metro station"

  "I was today in the metro station"

As far as I know normally metro stations are mostly deep underground and I'm not sure if I'm in or at.


texts: What is the point where you can make a U-turn called? Can we use "turnaround"?


texts: Should a verb after "any" be singular or plural?

texts:
While I'm aware of Should nouns after "any" be singular or plural? it does not quite answer my question. I have a simple sentence:

  If any of the devices was not switched off, do something.

Is there supposed to be was or were? I was thinking about was since it could be rephrased as:

  If any one of the devices was not switched off, do something.

But maybe that does not make any sense at all. Also, this is for a technical documentation where more formal language is preferred, not sure if that makes any difference.


texts:
This still doesn't seem to be enough. You don't mean only that if you
had chosen the peach, you would have had it. When you say, "I could
have had a peach instead," you also mean that you could have chosen it
-- no "ifs" about it. But what does that mean?It can't be explained by pointing out other occasions when you have chosen fruit. And it can't
be explained by saying that if you had thought about it harder, or if
a friend had been with you who eats like a bird, you would have chosen
it. What you are saying is that you could have chosen a peach instead
of chocolate cake just then, as things actually were.

Thomas Nagel, What does it all mean, Chapter VI
What does "as things actually were" mean?


texts: In this sentence, "have heard" vs "heard"?

texts:
I have heard recomendations from doctors on TV.

I can imply or emphasize that I have heard the recomendations at different times, at different places, not just once before. It can indicate someone's experience.

  I heard recomendations from doctors on TV.

It is more likely to refer to a situation that happened once before. So it implies that I heard recomendations (plural), not just singular one, at a time on the spot.

I know it depends on situation, but personally I think it is more natural situation that a person have heard reconmendations several time in his/her life. So, generally I would say #1. Am I right to think this way?


texts: Which tense is more correct to use here in this example - Present Perfect Simple/Progressive

texts:
I (live) ____ in London since 1994.

Which tense is more correct to use here in this example; A) Present Perfect Simple or B) Present Perfect Continuous?

  Answer A): I have lived in London since 1994.
  Answer B): I have been living in London since 1994.

If have understood right, the meaning of answer A) is that I have lived in London in the past and I might live again in the future, while of question B) is that I have been living there for a specific period of time and I'm still living there.

Please clarify what points I get right and what points I'm missing.


texts: "look forward to meet you", or "to meeting you"?

texts:
Which one is correct?

  I look forward to meet you during the coming festival.

or

  I look forward to meeting you during the coming festival.

Please help me with explanation.


texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct?

Please be awaited for the results

Can you use past participle of verb immediately after be without to?
Sounds ok to me but I haven't heard it elsewhere.


texts: Which choice best expresses "I will keep your secret." in Passive/Active voice?

texts:
the below-mentioned question is asked in my exam, I think my answer is correct, please tell if I am right, I have to challenge the question in 2 days if its answer given is wrong.

correct answer is given by examiner.
candidate answer is the answer I ticked as correct.

In the following question, a sentence has been given in Active/Passive voice. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best expresses the same sentence in Passive/Active voice.

  I will keep your secret.

Options:

1) Keeping of your secret will be done by me.
 2) I will be keeping the secret of you.
 3) Your secret would be kept by me.
 4) Your secret I will be keeping.

Correct Answer: Your secret would be kept by me.
Candidate Answer: Keeping of your secret will be done by me.


texts:
There is a long conditional sentence:

  If he would just say he spoke too hastily, that of course he loves her
  and wants to make it work, that they’ve had things stacked against
  them, he knows that, it’s been hard for both of them, and they have to
  somehow help each other, try harder to be content together—then she’s
  sure they could love each other again.  (An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena)

So I lost the main clause.
Could you tell me please which one is the main clause? Is the phrase "he knows that...[up to the end]" the main clause?


texts: there is almost nothing / there isn't much left / there aren't many left

texts:
Are all answers on the question idiomatic?
I saw the second answer in my English training course, but my version was the first answer. I don't understand why "there isn't much left" is used with countable noun. Is it possible?
Are there many sweets on the table?

No, there is almost nothing.

No, there isn't much left.

No, there aren't many left.


texts:
1) Is the pronoun "what" correct in questions about professions?

I was taught that "What is he?" means "What is his job?", but personally I have never heard this question asked by those who speak English. So when asking about somebody's profession should I say "What is his job?" or " What does he do?"

2) How can I ask about a future profession: "What will you be when you grow up?" Sounds a bit weird to me, I would say "What job will you choose... ?". The same with "What are you?" Being used out of any context it seems odd...
Thanks.


texts:
Have I used "Such a" in an appropriate way?

Congratulations for having  such a little bundle of joy.


texts: What's the phrase for slightly/fully closing one (or both) eye(s) in order to see things in a better light?

texts:
I have found various expressions for partially or fully closing one's eye or both but mostly those are used for showing suspicion (scowl), disapproval (scowl), anger (glower), concentration (scowl), to see better (squint) or to metaphorically express ignorance of truth (turn one's blind eye to smth). However, I have failed to find a phrase - metaphor - that is used for the case when to close one or both eyes in order to see things in a better light. Partially this is ignoring the little deficiencies so one maybe could say "if I close one eye then..." however I am not entirely sure and believe there might be better phrase/metaphor.
A real world example - I interviewed a candidate who is a strong middle level, however if I closed/squinted/blinded one eye, I could consider him on lower end of senior level, too.


texts: As far as I know home is the place where you live such as a house or an apartment. So apartment is a type/subcategory of home as mentioned in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and its picture. However, in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (see the word focus box on the bottom of the page) apartment is a type of house.


texts: Can someone explain this sentence from GREAT EXPECTATIONS?

texts:
And Explain its structure:

It was a dirty place enough, and I dare say not unknown to smuggling adventurers; but there was a good fire in the kitchen, and there were eggs and bacon to eat, and various liquors to drink. (source)

Does it mean, it was a very dirty place? How can I use this structure in my own writing...


texts:
How do you express that you successfully catch a person and prevent him from falling down?
For example, she slipped and fell down but I grabbed her
When we say "she fell", does it mean that she was already on the floor and the incident was actually happened.
But I want to express that I grabbed her just in time before hear head hit the floor.


texts: Present perfect vs present perfect continous tenses

texts:
I have been trying to contact you all these days.

I have tried to contact you all these days.

I know that first sentence is correct. What about second sentence? Is it correct? If yes, what is the difference in meaning between these two sentences?


texts: Using Verb in past tense with 'had better' in indirect narration

texts: This sentence is from an direct to indirect narration conversion exercise. As you can see the exercise has marked C as correct answer but I suspect it to be wrong as I never came across any sentence with structure had better + past form of verb, I googled and found sentences using only had better+ verb form 1 so I think correct answer should be B, Am I correct or in indirect narration it's fine to use past form of verb ?


texts:
Excerpted from chronicle.com:

  The reasons by which we make our behavior coherent to ourselves changes together with our view of who has reasons coming to them.

It says "the reasons changes", is it a typo of "the reasons change"?


texts:
Please help me out,

He is listening to the news

He is listening the news...

Explain it with reasons, it will be really kind of you!


texts: Usage: Head/Walk For. ""The alarm went off, and everyone headed (walked) for the exit."

texts:
I have a question about the usage of "for" like this:

"The alarm went off, and everyone headed for the exit."
"The alarm went off, and everyone walked for the exit."

"Head for" in sentence 1 is standard English, with "for" meaning "toward".  So, would sentence 2 work too with "walk for"?


texts: "He borrowed me some money."; right or wrong?

texts:
Can we use borrow as I have in the above sentence in a sense like;

  He borrowed (from someone for) me some money.

I wonder if there was a better way of expressing the idea that I am meant to.

Clarification: borrow there is not mistakenly used instead of lend.


texts:
I'd like to know What does ' turned out' mean? in this phrases

  this problem has widely studied by many of researchers and many geometric properties  have turned out to be useful to determine an upper bounded.

Thanks in advance


texts: Common meanings of "reverse", "revert", "invert", and "inverse"

texts:
Here's an interesting question. I sense that these two have common meanings. All of them have meanings connected with "opposite","upside down","back".

How different are they while being so indifferent in many ways?


texts: Do you use another terminology for bibliography when you use only links instead of books, quotes, etc.?

texts:
I am developing new software and I want to have a list of resources for the web pages that I have used to develop this software. Example of my-resources.txt:
- https://tutorialxyz.com/xxxx
- https://domainxyz.com/xxxx
- ...

Do you use bibliography for this type of file or do you use another name?
In Spanish we use webgrafía, maybe in English it could be webgraphy?
I found this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webography
UPDATE 2019/03/17
I asked to other software developers, in this case, one of them is from UK and the other one is from USA. They tell that they usually use "webography" but sometimes they saw "webliography" too.


texts: Choose the incorrect word in the given sentence

texts:
1) I haven't some spare pen.

  a) some
  b) haven’t
  c) I
  d) spare

The answer to this is given "some", i.e. "some" is considered to be wrong here. I think the use of "haven't" and "some" together is what makes this sentence awry. Therefore, both a) and b) should be the answer. "Haven't" should be followed by a verb, therefore the use of "some" is wrong and "some" should be preceded by a "verb", therefore the use of "haven't" is wrong?

Am I right?

  2)There is a little milk in the jug.

  a) milk
  b) a
  c) there
  d) in

After reading the question, I figured out that both "a" and "little" are a misfit in the sentence. The answer given is "a". It would mean that the sentence -"There is little milk in the jug" is grammatically incorrect? Is it so? Is the use of "little" in this sentence correct?


texts: "Could you help me [to] review this document?"

texts:
Should we use to after the verb "help"? Are both of the following sentences correct?

  Could you help me to review this document?

  Could you help me review this document?


texts: What to do for New Year's Eve - or on New Year's Eve?

texts:
What are you going to do for New Year's Eve?

and

  I started worrying about what to do on New Year's Eve.

These are example sentences from Google Books. What is the difference between the use of for and on?

Is "to do something for New Year's Eve" fully synonymous with "to do something on New Year's Eve"?


texts:
Here it goes:

  When someone tells you how busy they are, and you feel that twang that you should be doing more, think twice.

It is from Psychology Today. I am aware of what the word twang means, but not sure what the author means by it in the article.


texts: Why does 'than which' sound incorrect as a preposition + relative pronoun?

texts:
I cannot, but please tell me if you can, diagnose why than WHICH below still sounds incorrect and strange. Did I err in my rewrite of 3 below as two separate Independent Clauses (to diagnose my problem, per this answer)? Please explain all steps and thought processes.

I commence the numbering at 3, as the Accepted Answer below already uses the integers 1, 2.
Source : The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Volume 01 by Tobias Smollett (1721-1771)

  [3.]  [...]  his letters  [...]  lay him under the necessity of soliciting preferment in the army, than WHICH nothing was farther from his inclination.

⟸ 4.
His letters  lay him under the necessity of soliciting preferment in the army,
 nothing than WHICH was farther from his inclination.

⟸ 5. [His letters lay him under the necessity of soliciting preferment in the army] +
 [Nothing than [being] under the necessity ... in the army was farther from his inclination.]


texts:
What does bail mean in the following remark?

  I had a female coworker, and she suggested that her husband and I play racquetball after work. My regular partner had bailed. So we meet up, play racquetball, and go back into the lockers to shower and then grab a beer.

Does bail here mean to leave a place, especially quickly, or to leave a difficult situation, or does it mean something else?


texts: Present Perfect Participle - Why Present?

texts:
Consider this example

Having switched off the lights, I went to bed.

It implies that I went to bed after I had switched off the lights. The action of switching off the lights happened prior to going to bed, which was in the past. Although I understand Perfect aspect of participles, I don't quite get why they are "Present" if they represent action occurred in the past prior to another action?
Also, is this sentence correct?

Having switched off the lights, I go to bed.


texts: Which cartoon character is she referring to? And what does this conversation "How's my house?" "Fulfilled" mean?

texts:
When I read a comic book called "Thief of Thieves" by Robert Kirkman, I encountered this conversation between the thief (Redmond) and his ex-wife (Audrey). They meet at the restaurant.

  Redmond: May I? (He takes a seat)

  Audrey: Sorry, but no, I'm waiting for someone. My date.

  Redmond: That's odd, is he running behind?

  Audrey: I take it you're bugging my calls again?

  Audrey: At least tell me you didn't steal his car.

  Redmond: Or his phone?

  Audrey: You're like a cartoon character, you know that?

  Redmond: How's my house?

  Audrey: Fulfilled.

Does somebody know which cartoon character she is referring to? And what does she mean by "fulfilled"? Does she mean she is satisfied with her current life without ex-husband?

Your kind help is much appreciated.


texts: What kind of infinitive phrase are these?

texts:
Infinitive phrases can act as noun, adjectives, and adverbs.
I'm not very sure what kind of infinitive are the following:

Soon it will be hell to go outside.

Since it's next to the noun "hell," maybe it's acting as an adjective?

They hadn't held hands.

It's acting as a noun? I'm not very sure because it doesn't have "to."


texts: Understanding "you were sealed for the day of redemption"

texts:
And do not grieve the holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.

The day of redemption has not occurred yet, then why were and not have been?


texts: What is the meaning of unless its called for ?

texts:
Peter asking by Regina to come in the Regina's house.

  Regina: Won't you come in for a minute?

  Peter: No, I won't.

  Regina: I don't bite, you know, unless it's called for.

unless it's called for means need?


texts: What's correct - 'repeat us' vs 'repeat to us'?

texts:
They used to repeat to us: ‘Seek and ye shall find'.

vs

They used to repeat us: ‘Seek and ye shall find'. ?

Or maybe both are well? And 'repeat' is well or should I write 'keep telling'?


texts:
As a non-native English speaker, I often come up in my emails with awkward structures where prepositional verbs find themselves next to adverbial phrases introduced by the same preposition. For example:

This issue crept in in your absence.
This will be dealt with with our top team.

Just wanted to get your thoughts on this. Correct? Best avoided? Don't worry about it?


texts: Where should "most" be in this sentence?

texts:
Where would you most want to visit?

Where would you want to visit the most?

Can I also say "Where do you most want to visit?"


texts: Does the term 'rebirth' restrict to taking birth again in the same form? Say human then again human?

texts:
Most of the dictionaries define that rebirth is a second or new birth. I have observed that this word is used for a soul that takes birth as the same species. For instance, looking at a kid who dances, walks, talks exactly like the great terpsichorean might be called the rebirth of MJ or MJ reborn.

My question is does the term 'rebirth' restricts to taking birth again as the same species? Or rebirth of the soul could be anything? The last birth, the soul took birth as a human and now could be an insect? Or we refer rebirth only if that soul is again human?

We judge rebirth of a person by looking whether his/er characteristics match with that of the dead person but here, if I use the word 'rebirth' it's merely the next birth of that soul and it has nothing no resemblance, similarity or 'character-matching' with the previous birth.


texts: Is there a concise way to say "all of the X, one of each"?

texts: So when you want to buy all of the donuts in a shop, but only one of each. You say: I want all of the donuts. The employee then ask you "all of them?" You tell him "No, one of each." Is there a faster way, a more concise way to say this in one spurt?


texts:
I saw a quote by Lao Tzu that inserted "the" in the following. Is it correct?

Note that most versions do not contain "the."

  By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
Is the phrase "are you f---ing kidding me?" very rude, mild rude, or simply okay in everyday English? Plus, if the comment was "What heck are you doing?" is it acceptable to anyone? (I've heard that "heck" is normal in daily conversation)

Washington (CNN)The announcement that former independent counsel Ken Starr is joining President Donald Trump's impeachment defense team surprised many on Friday, but one person, apparently, had an especially notable reaction to the news.

"This is definitely an 'are you f---ing kidding me?' kinda day," tweeted Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern whose relationship with former President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment in 1998.

Source: CNN


texts:
What are the similarities and differences? http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/construct has fewer entries than http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/construction, but many of them are alike? Can construction be used below, for example?

Source: p 39, The English Legal System 2012-2013, Gary Slapper

  ... The classic account
  given by Dicey of the doctrine of the supremacy of Parliament, pure and
  absolute as it was, can now be seen to be out of place in the modern United
  Kingdom. Nevertheless, the supremacy of Parliament is still the general
  principle of our constitution. It is a construct of the common law. The judges
  created this principle. If that is so, it is not unthinkable that circumstances
  could arise where the courts may have to qualify a principle established on a
  different hypothesis of constitutionalism.


texts: What is the opposite of higher in "Bounce me higher"?

texts:
Normal opposite of higher is lower. But in this case will it make sense to say "Bounce me lower"?

Situation:

My child loves it when her father bounces her. She says "Bounce me higher".


texts:
I have written a plugin that only works if the website is displaying a record page, any record page.
I have the feeling that the first version emphasis "works on all" and the second is closer to "at least on one".
Which is the best sentence:

This extension only works on record pages.
This extension only works on a record page.


texts:
This is an article published in the Fox News:

In raising the subject of Hunter Biden, the liberal comedian Colbert claimed to Joe Biden that "the people who want to make hay in Washington are going to try to use your son as as a cudgel against you."

I can't understand the bolded part. I guess 'make hay' means 'take profit', specifically 'get a job or a position' but the following phrase doesn't make any sense. 'as as a cudgel against' seems that 'threaten a person with his/her flaw' or 'use a leverage to someone'. If so the whole meaning is too negative that the president-elect would be a very weak plaything.
What is the clear meaning of the bolded part? 'as as' seems to be a typo.


texts:
Is it true that we pronounce it as:
 "Howve you been?"
And don't pronounce "ha"?
Am I right?


texts:
People had had to try for thousands of years before they knew how to put together days, weeks, months and years.

I'd like to know if the usage of "had had to try" in the sentence is correct.
I think my question is different from the duplication you mentioned here. My question is "had had to+Infinitive (V1)" not "had+Past Participle (V3).So I'd like to know what the difference between them is.


texts: Extra/repeated pronoun after name "Time, it waits...": correct, colloquialism or error?

texts:
Is the pleonastic use of a pronoun after a name correct? Is it used to convey a specific tone to the sentence? Is it used at all by native speakers?

Take for example this verse from the song Only the good die young (Iron Maiden), a variation on the (more correct) sentence "Time waits for no man".

  Time, it waits for no man

I find myself using this construction quite often, for example in sentences like

  Then we split up: I went shopping for groceries; Mel, Frank and Tina, they went to the zoo.

Is this construction Name + Pronoun acceptable, at least in spoken English?

Has this phenomenon a technical name?


texts:
In the following sentence:

  Dogs are not so wild like the wolfs or the lions are.

Is using "like" in comparative grammatically correct here, or should it be "as" instead, when basically two things are compared.
Also, should the verb to be (here "are") be used at the end?

Or should it be instead:

  Dogs are not as wild as the wolfs or the lions are.

In this case should "are" at the end be used?


texts: what to use the moment after you die in a game?

texts:
I died

OR

I have died

which one should be used the moment after dying in a game?


texts:
I'm reading Yuval Noah Harari's book named Sapiens. The book is pretty interesting but I wonder if there's a particular word for such a book. It's not a novel, or a biography/autobiography and nor is it a memoir.

Wikipedia categorises it under the genre of "Non-fiction" but, I feel non-fiction is too broad to describe it. It's more like a Nat-Geo documentary but I'm not sure if calling it a "documentary book" is a great idea or even correct for that matter.

So, I want to ask the native English speakers and Literature academics what would they call it.


texts:
I will be watching TV.

  I am going to watch TV.

To me, they mean the same thing? Do they in informal speech? What about formal speech?


texts:
I've recently watched West Side Story and heard some weird expressions, one of which is "I was had":

  Dear kindly Judge, your Honor,
  My parents treat me rough.
  With all their marijuana,
  They won't give me a puff.
  They didn't wanna have me,
  But somehow I was had.
  Leapin' lizards! That's why I'm so bad!

The movie is set in the early sixties, so this may not be used anymore. It is also part of a song, so it may even be a license and never really used.

Does this sound right in today's standard English? Can "have" be used in passive constructions at all?


texts: Usages of "up" in the context of military dialogues

texts:
The following two dialogues are taken from the subtitles in the famous first-person shooter video game -- Crysis:

  Strickland: Team Idaho, this is command, we’re pushing up the valley
  all the way to the mine. Repeat: phase line is the mine. Expect heavy
  resistance from KPA armor up1 ahead.

  Strickland: Air command, this is Strickland. What’s the word on that
  air support? Over.

  Pilot: That’s a no go, sir. Airspace is not yet secure. Our jets are
  occupied with strategic targets on the other side of the island. Air
  support’s on hold until further notice.

  Strickland: Copy that, we’ll have to do this the hard way.

  Strickland: All units, this is Major Strickland. Air support is on
  hold. Push ahead to phase line alpha. Let’s go! Let’s go!

&

  Pilot: Vulture twelve beginning approach, we’ll take up a covering
  pattern and provide air support. Over.

  Strickland: Nomad, take the front line, we’re advancing up2 the village
  to the mining complex.

  Strickland: Keep the pressure on, marines. KPA forces are retreating up3 the valley. We’re pushing through all the way to the mine.

  Marine 1: You heard the man, move out!

  Strickland: Push ahead to the mine, Nomad.

  Nomad: Idaho Command, the ground ahead is ripped apart.You’ve gotta get earth movers up4 here from the harbor before you can advance.

  Strickland: Solid copy, Nomad. You’re on your own until otherwise advised.

I think up1 has the sense of "to the place where somebody/something is", the 3rd definition in the entry for "up" (adverb) in OALD;

up4 have the sense of "towards or in a higher position", the 1st definition in the entry for "up" (adverb) in OALD;

up2 and up3 has the sense of "along or further along a road or street", the 2nd definition in the entry for "up" (preposition) in OALD. In this case, up could be substituted with through, along or down.

Is my understanding correct?


texts:
How to refer to 'once, twice, thrice' correctly in grammar terminology?

I found sources which called them 'predeterminers' (see here) and source that call them 'quantifiers' (see here).


texts: 'Can be fined or are fined ' What's the difference between them?

texts:
A) People who drop litter can be fined in some countries.
  B) People who drop litter are fined in some countries.

In the sentence A the subject speaks about the possibility of the action-fining so that the auxiliary- can is used and it implies that the very subject is not sure about the fact.

In the sentence B) the subject is very sure about the fact of the fining and the simple present tense is used.

Please make sure if I am in the right way of understanding those sentences or not.


texts:
Source: Russia Wants Texas and Puerto Rico to Secede

Example:

  As such, if you’re a secession movement in the West, you’ll find a ready, willing audience in Moscow—but if you expect to find any Chechens, Tatars, or Siberians seeking their own sovereignty, your disappointment will find a transom of hypocrisy too thick to cross.

I really don't understand what the author is trying to say with that expression. I checked all the meanings that this word has and it doesn't seem like any of them have anything to do with the way it is used in this news article.


texts: There is nothing 'free', it's always 'free of cost' - is it right?

texts:
Quite common it is to see such labels on packets of goods at grocery stores.

  Get a free luxury soap with this shampoo bottle.

Not just packets (I understand that every millimeter of space is important there!), we also say it that way...

  Hey, where did you get this beautiful watch? ~ Ah, it's free with the LED TV I bought.

It should be free of cost, shouldn't it? The watch does not fly in the air, become free when I buy the idiot-box!

So, please confirm ...

  A luxury soap free with this shampoo bottle A luxury soap free of cost with this shampoo bottle    The watch is free with the LED TV The watch came free of cost with the LED TV


texts:
As time went by, little by little, I had begun disappointed in something.
As time went by, little by little, I began to be disappointed in something.
As time went by, little by little, I had become been disappointed in something.

Which one is correct? And if everything is wrong could you tell me the most natural way of saying the sentence?


texts: What does being an "engaged person" mean?

texts:
In my native language, Portuguese, being an "engaged person" ("pessoa engajada") implicitly means being a "politically engaged person" (that is, a person who is engaged with pressing political issues).
In English, if you're "engaged" it can mean that you're going to marry someone. If I say "you're a very engaged person", can it mean elliptically that you are politically engaged? Or is it entirely dependent on context, so that it can only mean that you are very engaged with the theme being discussed (e.g., if I tell a workmate in the workplace that she's a "very engaged person", it might mean engaged with our work, if that's what we were discussing)?
Somewhat related questions:
"engaged" mean in this context
What is the difference between "had engaged", "had been engaged", and "were engaged" in this context?
what does engaged mean?


texts: the word "right" adjective or adverb in the sentence

texts:
It  was  easy  to  take  10  days  away  from  the  calendar.  This  made  it  right  with  the  sun  again. There was still a problem: how to keep the calendar right in the future, year after year.

In this sentence, I can't decide  whether right is adverb or adjective in "make it right with the sun".


texts: What's the meaning of "let's not be coy."?

texts:
A man: Perhaps it's fate that today is the fourth of July.
  A woman: It's November 12.
  The man: Today let's not be coy. Let's not be smart or funny or quirky.
  (At 1:08 from this video clip)

I found out coy has two meanings from a dictionary

  having a shy or sweetly innocent quality that is often intended to be attractive or to get attention
  not telling or revealing all the information that could be revealed

Following these definitions, it could be Let's not be having a shy or Let's revealing all the information. I think these don't make sense.

What's the meaning of let's not be coy.?


texts:
For third person we use "s"at the end the word
for example : I sing. You sing. He sings.
same way : 1st person :I welcome you all . 3rd person : He welcome you all or should it be He welcomes you all


texts:
When having a movie that contains violence, usually there is a warning about that issue.  What is the warning in English?

  1) Hard to watch

  2) Difficult to watch

  or something else

I little feel that the second option refers to cases that it's technically difficult and not sentimental.


texts:
The senator has said that prominent elected officials strongly influenced his entry into politics but that the need to help those less fortunate also played a key role in his decision.

Shouldn't there be a comma after politics and before but?

Is this a faulty sentence, a run-on?

How may I correct it if it's faulty?


texts:
http://htmldog.com/guides/html/advanced/html5forms1/

step, min, and max attributes can be used with dates and times, too, as can the CSS pseudo classes to style according to validity.

The structure of the above context is strange for me. I mean why after "as" there is a question format?
I wonder "as" in the above context means "in the same way" or "because"


texts: I hear "come again" is an inappropriate alternative to pardon me or what did you say? Is that true only for certain native English regions or generally not the right way to ask?


texts: "get a train from the station" or "get a train at the station"?

texts:
Which preposition do I have to use in the following sentence.

  You still can get a train to your destination at/from the station near the bank .


texts:
I was strolling on the Wikipedia page and saw phrases like

  "She is a two-time Academy Award nominee" and

  "He was the champion of 2015 competition"

I would like to ask which one is correct? and why?

Sometime I am confused with when to use is and when to use was.


texts: What is the difference between "compound noun" and "noun noun phrase"?

texts:
I read:

  The collocation is a sequence or juxtaposition of words or terms that usually co-occur / go together in a sentence.
  For example, you make the bed, but you do your homework.

Example :

1) collocations with make : make breakfast, make a mistake, make a decision, make love, make room, make a noise, etc.

2) collocations with do : do the shopping, do the dishes, do your homework, do your hair, do a course, do a favour, etc.

But compound nouns or nominal compounds are different things.

  More than one simple word or primary word or base word or root word combine together to form a compound word.

For example,

  (I) ready + made = readymade (compound adjective).

  (ii) full + fill = fulfil (compound verb).

  (iii) moon + light = moonlight (compound noun or nominal compound)

Compound nouns are formed by simple words of different parts of speech :

  He (pronoun) + goat (noun) = he-goat (compound noun)

  Pick (verb) + pocket (noun) = pickpocket (compound noun)

  Over (adverb) + production (noun) = over-production (compound noun).

  Up (preposition) + keep (verb) = upkeep (compound noun).

  In (preposition) + come (verb) = income (compound noun).

  Draw (verb) + back (adverb) = drawback (compound noun).

  Hear (verb) + say (verb) = hearsay (compound noun).

Sometimes a compound noun consists of three words. Such compound nouns usually have the following structure:

  Noun + V-ing / V - p.p. + Noun.

e.g., God-fearing person ( = Person who fears God).

Machine-made clothes ( = Clothes made by machine).

Compound nouns can be written in different ways :

  1) with no space between two words : footpath.

  2) with hyphen : tea-set.

  3) with space between the words : mango tree.

  4) with hyphen between the first & the second words : Tea-growing area.

  5) without any hyphen : Calcutta bus routes.

But, I heard a friend calling "exam paper"  a compound noun. I don't agree with him since if it was a compound noun, then it must be combined together  as one word, like "sunflower," "blackboard" etc.

Also, although  "viewpoint" is combined together   as one word, I don't call it a compound noun since I can have it rewritten as "the/a point of view".

For me, I call each of these "Noun Noun Phrase"(NN phrase), but not compound nouns:

Viewpoint (view point) (it means "the point of view").
Newspaper( news paper) (it means "the paper of news).
Exam paper(it means "the paper of exam").
Copy paper(it means "the paper of copy").
Physics exam(it means "the exam of Physics").


texts:
I just got a question from native speaker.
the question is like this.

When did you first driving?

  1.To get a driver licence at driving school, that is my first driving."
  2.The first time I drove was at driving school, to get a driver's license.

What if you have felt #2, I am not familiar at subject sentence as beginner.
so would you please more English? Please don't remove or hide.
if you felt well #1. How can I improve the sentence?

When did you first on trip?

  3.When I went to Hong Kong at honeymoon, that's my first trip.  4.My first trip was when I went of Hong Kong on my honeymoon.

Also this, please do same above.

Even you can improve 1~4, please let me know your idea.

updated: is this right?
The first time <(when) I drove> was at [driving school].
(=)
The first time was at driving school.
(+)
I drove for the first time.


texts: "Make it a point to" or "make a point of"?

texts:
Is there any difference between using these expressions?

She made a point of taking a vacation in Italy.
She made it a point to take a vacation in Italy.


texts: What does 'over-strait' mean? (1575 Late April, UK)

texts:
;for which most dutiful kind of dealing towards us, the same appearing most evidently to
  proceed of a singular and an extraordinary zeal and devotion
  you bear towards us, we could not in honor but by our
  letters make known unto you in what great good part we
  accept the same, and how sorry we were to see your honourable mind wounded with so just cause of grief as seemeth to have grown of our Deputy’s over-strait dealing towards you, to whom we have by our letters presently sent unto him signified how greatly we do mislike the same: as also commanded him not only to further hereafter your service to the uttermost of his power, but also to seek by all the means he may to repair the decay of your reputation and credit, that lately hath ensued by his hasty and violent breaking of the said enterprize

I guess that 'strait' here is an archaic spelling of the modern 'straight', but then how to deduce further? I tried Google to no avail. My guess: Figuratively, 'straight' means 'Not evasive; honest', based on definition 3. So 'overstraight = overly straight => overly honest. Yet this contradicts the fact that the Queen mislike[s] the Deputy's dealing, so the Deputy probably isn't being honest?


texts:
I had a warm discussion on the web with a folk on the expressions below:

It is true that I like it.
I truly like it.
I really like it.

My point is sentence 1,2,3 express the same meaning, while another folk thinks sentence 1 is different or not quite the same from sentence 2 & 3.

So, I hope to get out of the confusion here. Can someone help to weigh in with your thought? Thanks!


texts:
"When I finally caught him, he was bleeding and was too weak to swim."

The sentence seems awkward to me and I don't know how to rephrase it. I think "was" is kinda redundant but just omitting it doesn't help the sentence much. Any suggestions?


texts: Difficulties for Objects' Possessions (or Objects Prossession? What about Possessions of Objects?)

texts:
Well, as it is guessable from the title of the question, I have issues with possessions in general and for objects possession in particular.

Here is my main concern, hope to get durable solutions:

When should it be (object) + of + noun and when should it be (object) + (noun)? how about the ('s)? Do objects ever get ('s) for the possessions?


texts: What is the difference between "run over" and "run under" in the context of car accident?

texts:
In a post in Straight Dope Message Board, run over and run under are used in car accident context, but I can't differentiate them. In my understanding, in both cases the victim is hit directly by the vehicle's front, no wheel runs over the body. I cannot google out an example of run under in the context of car accident (only thrown under the bus, but this is irrelevant).

So what is the difference between run over and run under?

  When hit by a car, the vast majority of people are not run over; they are run under. The lower legs break, sending them into the air. They usually strike the hood of the car, often with the back of the head impacting the windshield, "starring" the windshield, possibly leaving a few hairs in the glass. They then go over the top of the car. They are still alive, although with broken legs, and maybe with head pain from the nonfatal windshield impact. They die when they hit the ground. They die from head injury.

  A person hit by a bus would actually be run over. There would be two separate sets of injury. The first would be when the kinetic energy of the bus struck the pedestrian. Mass times velocity squared. This is the closest approximation to the ground that your example offers. The likelihood is that they would incur lots of fractures, but not be killed by simple impact. If they were killed, the injury I have seen most often, in my autopsies as a medical examiner, is rib fractures, with the free ends of the ribs bending inward at the moment of impact, to perforate heart and lungs. This is a vanishingly rare injury in fatal falls.

By the way, what is go over the top of the car?


texts: using "girl" as a mass noun, with no article

texts:
My elder child name is Julie. Jule is nice, charming and naughty girl.

My question is: girl is a countable noun, but I have not written any article and I'm trying to use girl as a mass noun. Is the above sentence correct?


texts: Brain is equally important as brawn in sports

texts: Any idioms/expressions/phrases which conveys the same idea in the title? Example: In badminton, it's not just how fast or hard you hit the shuttle but you also need to play with smartness to defeat the opponent.


texts: What's the meaning that the sentence expressed?

texts:
This story begins in 1997. I was a professional musician, age
  twenty-seven. I was making a full-time living just playing
  music—playing lots of gigs around the U.S. and Europe, producing
  people’s records, playing on people’s records, and running a little
  recording studio.I was even the musician and MC for a circus.

  My bank account was always low, but never empty. I made enough money
  to buy a house in Woodstock, New York.I was living a musician’s dream.

The above paragraph is from the book Anything you want by Derek Sivers page4. As for the bold sentence in the paragraph, I'm not sure how to understand its meaning is the more appropriate way.

1, That means that the author was living a life which he dreamed of his being a musician.

2, It means that the author's dream of being a musician had come true already.

Which one of my understanding is correct？Or they may be all wrong.


texts: Should I use an article in this sentence

texts:
I wrote:

  In addition, the user can declare and set (the /some / ) context variables in each rule.

Do I need to use an article here?


texts: What do they call that case that they cover a piano with?

texts: What do they call that cloth case that they cover a piano with when transporting it or just protect it from dust? Would just piano case work? Or there is a better term?


texts: Are temples or shrines "buildings" or "structures"?

texts: When I refer to old temples or shrines in Japan, shoule I use structures or buildings? I refer to each of them as a shrine or a temple, but when I want to generalize, like all these temples, shrines, walls or whatever in certain place, which were built hundreds years ago, how should I call them?   To me, "buildings" sound like things built in this modern era. So I thought structures would be better, but sometimes I've heard people use "buildings" for that. I researched these words myself, but I'm not sure. Could you please explain the difference between two and which is the better word choice here?


texts: I want to ask a question about verbal noun

texts:
Recently I have studied about the differences between a verbal noun with the -ing suffix and a gerund. I know that we can use the articles and the preposition "of" with a verbal noun but we can't use these both with a gerund. But I still have problem with using it. For example, are we allowed to use the -ing form of any verb along with the articles and the preposition "of"?

For example, in the phrase "the abating of the storm", is "abating" a gerund or a verbal noun? If it is a gerund, are we allowed to use all verbs in this form?


texts: Which one is appropriate: "I am taking a recurring training" or "I am taking a recurrent training"

texts: I am emailing my supervisor and I want to let her now that I am taking a training that happens every week at the same time (like a series of trainings).


texts:
I found 100$ floating in the water

Why is “in” placed instead of “on” the water.

I thing they are on the surface of the water not in.

What do you think?


texts:
Excerpted from bostonglobe.com:

  When the Professor reminds a colleague “What happens to us as individuals is not of the least consequence,” we are jolted by the familiarity of the mind-set.

What does least consequence mean?


texts: What does "political will" mean in this context?

texts:
"The only way to get the political will to grab on to this solution, in the opinion of the Deutsche Bank team, is for something drastic to happen: a stock market sell-off."

And by the way, what does "grab on to" mean?

source: http://www.businessinsider.com/deutsche-bank-stock-market-collapse-fiscal-stimulus-2016-8


texts: Wondering what is the usage of "had" in the context below

texts:
The plane last had contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu, Mr Yahya said in a statement.

Which of followings are consistent in meaning:
1. The plane for the last time made a call with air traffic controllers .....
2. The plane last time had contacted with .....


texts: Is there a single verb that means "to land on the moon"?

texts:
translate.google.com says that the Italian word "allunare" corresponds to the English phrase "[to] land on the Moon" and, as far as I remind, this is the first time I come across an Italian word that, at least apparently, doesn't have an equivalent or parallel English word.

So, since the verb "allunare" is derived from the noun "luna" (note: al[luna]are) I began the process of thinking as to whether there could be a productive moon-word useable in this case, but answers to a previsious question exclude that one can form verbs like  "moon + particle", and I'm not able to think of another single verb.

If there were one, it had to be something along "moon on" or "moon over", but not.

Therefore, the question is: Is there a verb, made up by a single word, that mean "to land on the moon"?


texts: What is the part of an outer mouth that is limited between the upper lip and nose called in everyday conversations?

texts:
What is the part of an outer mouth that is limited between the upper lip and nose called in everyday conversations as shown in the picture.
It seems that the technical word for it is "philtrum" but I don't think people will say it in everyday conversations.
Can we generally say "upper mouth"?
For example,
"Look! Your upper mouth is swelling. What did you do to it?"


texts: Usage of the term "White Elephant" to mean something useless

texts:
A Thai restaurant near me is called the "White Elephant".

To me, choosing this name seems misguided: as far as I am concerned, a White Elephant is a useless item (see link). Is this usage just an English thing, or does it have the same connotations for other English speakers?


texts:
Can I write "A is multiplied to B"?
The general sentence is "B is multiplied by A", which has the same meaning above.
I could not find any example in the internet, Thanks.


texts:
Here is an excerpt from a story.

  Mary: I was pregnant.

  Doctor: You are still. Your fetus is safe.

(Mary met with an accident and was admitted to a hospital.)


texts: Word order: "Why don't you ask him to come with your family on a camping trip."

texts:
I've just come across the following sentence in an ESL textbook:

  Why don't you ask him to come with your family on a camping trip.

I've got the feeling that this is syntactically incorrect and that the sentence should read:

  Why don't you ask him to come [on a camping trip] [with your family].

I would appreciate it if somebody could tell me

if this is, in fact, wrong
if so, why, and
how you would analyse the syntactical parts of this sentence after the verb/predicate ([on a camping trip] = direct object / prepositional complement, [with your family] = ?)


texts: "I appointed Mary as founding President, XYZ" "I recruited Mary to become founding President, XYZ"

texts:
I appointed Mary as founding President, XYZ.

I recruited Mary to become founding President, XYZ.

None of these sentences really sound right. What would be the correct way to write them?


texts: What's the child doing in this picture? Is it called tongue twister?

texts: In the picture the child is having fun with her tongue. Is it called a tongue twister?


texts:
Based on my search, it seems "FIFO" in "Fifo's fraud" means "First In, First Out". I hope I am wrong because I don't see how "First In, First Out" has to do with frauds. Please help me understand the meaning of this expression - thank you!

"There are many variations of this type of scam, including the 419 scam (also known as the Nigerian Prince scam), the Spanish Prisoner scam, the black money scam, Fifo's Fraud and the Detroit-Buffalo scam."


texts: Can I say "fingers" when referring to toes?

texts:
In my native language, there is no word for toes. You just use the same word for both toes and fingers. In this context, I would say a human has 20 fingers.

Recently I've heard someone saying a human has 10 fingers (without saying it out loud but assuming that the other 10 are toes and not fingers).

Can I use fingers when referring to toes? Would saying that a human has 20 fingers make sense, in English?


texts: "Unaware of the ghee": adverb or adjective?

texts:
He philosophized, quite happily unaware of the ghee.

In this sentence, what is the usage of unaware? Is it used as an adverb? If so, how do we call this usage like adjective as adverb?


texts:
Is there any difference between these two sentences?

  I don't always get up early.
  I always don't get up early.

I know it's one of the silliest questions ever, but, to my shame, I wasn't able to find information about such usage.
It seems for me that #1 means something like 'Sometimes I do get up early and sometimes I don't', while #2 means 'I never get up early'. I am not sure if it's correct though.


texts:
A: I have three exams this week. I don't know
  what/ which(one) I should study first.

  B: Making a study schedule might help.

Which is the right choice? and why is it?


texts: Is this sentence "It does don't have a " correct?

texts:
Someone reported lack of one column on a table. And I Checked table.
I want to emphasize "the problem is true", so I use "It (the table) does don't have a column of XXX". Is it correct?


texts:
All our articles are "run" through copyscape.

I know that run and run are past and present tense, although this is the sentence I see on some websites. Which one is correct and why?


texts:
Suppose that Ebola is the current issue:

  New cases occurred by the dozen.
  New cases occurred by the hundred.

It seems that second sentence is wrong, because "hundred" should be followed by "s".  Yet, in the first sentence, "dozen" doesn't need the "s".  Why is that?


texts: Is preposition "OF" required in the given sentence?

texts:
I happen to came across below stated sentence in an English preposition book.

"This photo is her with her best friend."

I assume, that grammatically correct sentence should be:

"This photo is of her with her best friend."

To me here of means:
"indicating an association between two entities, typically one of belonging, in which the first is the head of the phrase and the second is something associated with it.

I am not native English speaker. Is it something to do with AmE and BrE? or I lack understanding of sentence structure :(


texts:
I want to write a tag question at the end of this sentence:

  That white house over there used to belong to your family, ..............?

I think the only right choice is "didn't it" but I'm not sure. Is "wasn't it" also correct? Because the main clause is positive and it doesn't have auxiliary verb, I chose that tag question.


texts:
My sister runs a charity organization that produces wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.

We are working on a website for her organization and I am looking for a word that implies 'free loan'.

Her charity lends wigs to women in a formal way - borrowers need to fill out an application and, if accepted, sign a legally binding contract outlining borrower's obligations, such as returning the wig when their contract is due, keeping it in mint condition, etc. However it's all free - they won't pay a cent for it (unless they damage the wig).

Whenever someone says 'loan', I always think of a 'bank loan' or something of the sort.

What do you call a formal-but-free loan?


texts: {come to know / find out / notice / see}

texts:
Consider this expression

After I came to know/found out the fact that two of my friends will not be able to make it to the party, I decided to call it off.
Every time I come to know/find out/notice/see that water level in the can is below X level, I call the store and they get it replaced

For these two expressions which of the phrases are correct? Is there any difference between the meanings of notice/see/find out/come to know.


texts: How should differences in tense, and such, be handled for interrupting clauses?

texts:
This is best asked by way of example. Suppose I want to ask someone if they have done some action, or plan to do so. And to be precise, suppose either is acceptable to me. So I might ask:

  Have you painted the house, or do you plan to paint it?

But I could make that more succinct as follows:

  Have you, or do you plan to, paint the house?

Now I prefer the latter, but it has a problem to my eyes/ears in that the tense of the verb "paint" now agrees only with the "plan to" in the interrupting clause. That is, it does not agree with "Have you" at the start, which really wants "painted".

As a result, in this particular situation, I simply wouldn't use the second version even though, as I say, I prefer it. There are numerous examples where this agreement problem does not arise in which case I'd use it. For example:

  Do you plan, or have you simply decided not, to paint the house?

Am I being overly cautious? For example, is there perhaps a rule that says my second version is OK -- e.g. maybe the rule is that the verb's tense need agree only with the last of a sequence of verbs?

Finally, a similar question. In the second example I give above, where I show a situation where tense agreement is not a problem, is what I gave:

  Do you plan, or have you simply decided not, to paint the house?

is better or worse than:

  Do you plan to, or have you simply decided not to, paint the house?

As a computer programmer, I prefer the first because it demonstrates better re-use, but using programming practices to guide English use is not always a good idea :-)


texts: How should I punctuate the first part of my list?

texts:
This is part of a resume.

  Work Experience:

  Freelance Translator

  Translated two files of a hotel (525 words) and edited the translation of a third one (392 words) for a translation company based in Switzerland. The files consisted of food and beverage menus (May 2017);
  Translated a reference of a marketing director (463 words) for the same company (Apr. 2017);

The list continues. I put a full stop after Switzerland. I don't know if I should use another symbol, such as a semicolon or an em-dash. I'm confused because of the lack of pronouns at the beginning of the phrases.


texts:
What does "be able to" imply when used in the future and past? When used in the future does it say that I will just have the ability to do it, and maybe I'll do it but maybe not? And when used in the past, does it say that I both had the bility and actually did it?
The future:

He will be able to lift the car.
I will be able to find Larry tomorrow.
I will be able to come to the party.

The past: (was it done?)

He was able to lift the car (off the child's leg).
I was able to find Larry yesterday.
I was able to come to the party.


texts:
In the sentence

  Universal suffrage by the whole people of
  representatives and rulers of the state --  this is the last
  word of the Marxists as well as of the democratic school.

can the word 'by' be replaced with 'for' with no change in meaning? If suffrage is a kind of right, shouldn't it be for people?


texts: In History's Unmarked Grave of Discarded Lies

texts:
I have been trying to google the meaning of the above mentioned sentence which was spoken by the US President George Bush when he was addressing the joint-congress after 9/11 attack.
I'll just highlight the part which I am interested to know the meaning of :

We're not deceived by their pretenses to piety.
We have seen their kind before. They're the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.


texts: What does an expression "there + a verb" mean?

texts:
I'm curious whether it is correct to replace such sentence as "There is an interesting file in the root directory" with "An interesting file is in the root directory". I think the phrases are semantically equivalent. But I am not sure that other people will understand if I say "there lives an amazing fish in my pond".

So I am trying to figure out, is there some grammatical basis for usage of the expression "there + a verb"?

This question is not a duplicate because the reference points to a post where common usage of the word "there" is discussed, but here I am asking about particular applying of the expression "there + a verb".


texts: Meaning and usage of the phrase "in the first place "

texts: What is the meaning of the phrase "in the first place" and how to use it in a sentence. I have heard this phrase couple of times in the debates on the news channels and also in some other programs. I tried to find out the meaning of this phrase on the Internet but Internet was not of much help so I want a deep explanation on the meaning of this phrase and also on the usage of this phrase.


texts:
What does "I want to learn english so badly." mean?
What does "so badly" mean in this text.
I saw an English native speaker writing this down on the website.


texts:
Not-so-long ago, I wrote something like "The price of gasoline has been soaring in the past few decades" and an American speaker corrected it to "during". I understand that a few decades seems like a long time, but as "soaring" implies, it is quite small when compared to the time scale petrol has been around (as far as I know it's been used in cars for a century), so it does not make sense to me.

I was wondering, is "soaring during" ever correct use, since it seems like the verb "to soar" always implies a (relatively) sudden increase rather than a long and steady one, so "soaring during" strikes me as odd. Since I'm not a native, I would like your opinion on the subject.

I know that there are several "in v.s. during" debates to be seen on the internet, but I am interested in this particular example.


texts: Is "them" in this sentence a sense subject or object of the to-infinitive "to last" in terms of their meaning?

texts:
I would like to ask you a question relating to-infinitive.

Here is the sentence.
"Although we build things to last, we don't expect them to last indefinitely."

I wonder whether "things" right before "to last" is a subject(in terms of its meaning) or a object(in terms of its meaning) of "to last".

Any explanations would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.


texts: I want to know the meaning behind asking these questions in this way

texts:
Someone asked me these questions, even though we know each other for a little bit long time

Who are you though? How did we ever find each other?


texts: Is it possible to write "I am knowing" in this case

texts:
I know lyrics sometimes do not respect grammar, but is it possible to use to know in the progressive form? For example -

  I'm not even knowing if I'm coming or going, if to end or begin.

This is from a song of the Buzzcocks written by Peter Shelley  "I believe"


texts: What is a person’s relationship to their cousin’s uncle

texts: I know a girl who is dating her cousin’s uncle. What is her relationship to him other than boyfriend girlfriend?


texts:
I'm confused about using pronouns in sentences. In this sentence:

  The control plane acts as a middleware and through its global view of
  all devices, .... can play an important role in improving and accelerating
  network management.

should I add "it" before "can" or it's unnecessary? or is there a better way to state this sentence?


texts: Should I say "in the home" or "at home"?

texts:
Is it possible to say in the home, or we should always use at home?

I am not sure whether I can use in the home.


texts: I have thought/thought of some ideas for the matter

texts:
Here is a situation. There was something bad you need to tell your parents. But, your parents get upset very easily. So, you and your brother decided to take several days to come up with some ideas to tell your parents without causing trouble. So several days have passed, and you ask your brother whether he has some ideas. Even though he had thought of some good ideas, he forgot them totally because he was too busy with another matter. In this case, can he say both the answers below?

  A: I thought of some good ideas but I don't remember. I am sorry.

  B: I have thought of some good ideas but I don't remember. I am sorry.


texts: What's the exact meaning of "down below" here?

texts:
Through the tinted glass you can see Upper Manhattan; down below, the
  traffic on Riverside Drive crawls through this desolate area of dark
  high-rises, housing projects, and barbed wire.

I didn't find any meaning for "down below" in trusted online dictionaries, although I find the link below:

Does 'Down below' mean the same thing as 'Bottom'?

but I still don't understand the exact meaning of the phrase "down below".

So could you please explain it to me?

The fuller text is here:

  His twelfth-floor office is simply furnished but inviting [...] On the
  windowsill are photos of his family and colleagues. Through the tinted
  glass you can see Upper Manhattan; down below, the traffic on
  Riverside Drive crawls through this desolate area of dark high-rises,
  housing projects, and barbed wire.


texts: Why didn't the infinitive come after the following sentence:

texts: He is addicted to watching movies. Why the writer used gerund after the preposition "to"? , because as known, we use the infinitive after the prepostion (to).


texts: Does "have a sore head" have the same meaning as "have a headache"?

texts: The post title is my very question. Does have a sore head have any meaning other than have a headache?


texts:
The speed of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position.

Speed of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position.

The second sentence seems wrong to me; I think since the "speed" in the second sentence is a property that belongs to a specific object, it is definite and should be used with the definite article. Hence, it follows that the following sentences without "the" are all incorrect.

The length of an object is how long the object is.

Length of an object is how long the object is.

The demand of a product is the number of consumers that are willing to purchase the product.

Demand of a product is the number of consumers that are willing to purchase the product.

However, I read a sentence on Wikipedia

Demand for a specific item is a function of an item's perceived necessity, price, perceived quality, convenience, available alternatives, purchasers' disposable income and tastes, and many other factors.

Is this sentence grammatically incorrect? If so, why? If not, what is the difference in meaning of the two types of sentences? What would an additional "the" do?


texts: Is it "dyed blonde hair" or "dyed-blonde hair"?

texts:
What's the correct option? I find both instances on Google Books, so I'm a little confused.

Example sentence:

Mary had black cat-eye shades and dyed blonde/dyed-blonde hair.


texts:
What is the right sentences between this two, and why? I am always so confused sometimes when I have to choose between present perfect and past simple.

I hoped that you would consider my application favourably.
I have hoped that you would consider my application favourably.


texts: What is difference between shall and should?

texts:
Recently I asked: "Are will and shall synonyms?"
And they kind of were.

But now I would like to ask:
Why are shall and should used interchangeably sometimes?

For example

You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall(should) not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall(will) surely die.”

I guess in first one shall means should

And in the second it means will


texts: What does 'the safest way the quickest' mean?

texts:
I'm watching documentary about vets. And one vet talked about using tube to dehydrated animal. and she said this.

It's the safest way to get the fluids into her the quickest.

and I don't understand exactly what it means.

This is the safest way AND the quickest way
Give her fluids fast, that is the safest way
The safest way is the quickest way

Which is it?
When I think about 'the more the merrier', should it be number 3?


texts:
[A] “No sooner had I sat down than there was a loud knock on the door.” (OALD)

The primary function of this word, than, seems to be comparing two things other than the above fixed expression that shows one thing happens straight after another. From this, I got wondering if I could use next expression: “[B] No sooner had I sat down from there being a loud knock on the door” - for Longman’s advanced dictionary says ‘from’ is “[comparing] used when you are comparing things…” What I wanted to know is not whether [B] can substitute [A] breaking the stereotype, but [B] itself can be used.

If it can, is this also possible?:
“Lovers may kill their own love story for no other reason from that they are unable to tolerate the uncertainty. (On Love, by Alain de Botton)” - the original than is replaced into from.


texts: Do you usually need a comma before "in this case"?

texts:
Example sentence:

  This was the first time she played the main character in a film---the movie of her life(,) in this case.

Do I need the comma in this case?

Note: I made a Google search. But since Google omits punctuation, I couldn't find a very satisfactory answer.


texts:
Aside from the other ways of referring to a round-trip ticket, ¿is there anything wrong with saying "I bought a plane ticket there and back." To me it sounds perfectly natural and I've found it in several books by reputable authors. However, an American native speaker is telling me that it's unnatural.

Here are several instances of it on Google.


texts: "since the very first time" + Present Perfect to denote only one-time action

texts:
"Since the very first lesson she has established herself as a very active student with bright ideas and non-standard thinking and continued likewise throughout this whole academic year."
What I want to say here is that the act of establishing herself took place only on the first lesson, but I am afraid that the way I've phrased it it may sound as if she kept repeating this act every lesson.
Are my fears justified?
If yes, what's the most natural way in English for expressing my thought here?


texts: How to properly pronounce the diphthong in "found" in American English

texts:
I hear American people say found as /faʊnd/. The /aʊ/ sound starts with [æ] (like in cat) and ends with [u] (ooh). However if I look up the word found, the pronunciation is shown as /faʊnd/ but is spoken as [fɑund] ("ah" sound like in car).

Which pronunciation is right, [fæund] or [fɑund]?


texts: "Marissa did not realize that she _______ at work until she _____ home."

texts:
Marissa did not realize that she _______  at work until she _____ home.

a) forgot the keys / was getting

b) had forgotten the keys / got

c) has forgotten the keys / gets

d) forgot the keys / got

The authors of this question provided an Answer Keys with only one possible correct choice.

Since I have quite a lot of experience with time interval in the different parts of grammar, I honestly see this as a multiple-choice question with multiple correct answers, and little difference in meaning between them.

While all the options except for c) are grammatically correct, we simply cannot choose only one option.

Which option would you choose? and WHY?

Taken from An English Test


texts:
Can "appealing" or "appealed" be used to express interest on something like in the following sentences ?
(1) "I find appealing the recent methods that he has been using to grow his business."
(2) "I am appealed to Dr. Smith's research on biology."


texts:
Now I know you could ask someone to say some word or sentence fast.

  The white man asked him if he knew just where he was, and said, "Well,
  down here, you say 'mister' and you say it snappy, you hear." The
  colored man replied, "Now, I don't say 'mister' to nobody."

Source: Southern Humor, Duke University Press, 1995

But what if someone, let's say your son, wants to say how something has happened. You are in rush or you don't feel like listening to a long story. In a very informal speech, can you we say:

  Okay, but say it snappy.

  You better say it snappy.

Cut to the chase is not an option because I would say it when I interrupt someone who otherwise would go on about something too much.

Also, what other idiomatic expressions you might say in a scenario like this?


texts:
I was in a furious state.
I was in a state of furiousity.
I can understand you're being furious about that.
I can understand your furiousity about that.

The usage of furiousity here is most probably wrong. What would be the correct form of furious here?


texts: What is a formal way to write (singlehood)?

texts: I have a marriage certificate and in one of the cells it has written (Surename at singlehood) in my language, but I think it is not a good translation. So, how do I can write it down on a formal basis?


texts:
Given sentence:

  Each  followed  his  natural bent  and  specialized  in  different  branches  of  study.

Question:

  They studied according to their natural bent, so their ____ are different.

Possible answers:

  specializations
  branches of studies

Which will be appropriate to answer?


texts:
Imagine a murderer who has been arrested and imprisoned recenly and he has been tried in the court several times! The judging team members, have reached to an agreement on his case and unanimously believe that it has been an instantaneous insanity and "at least" they cannot sentence the murderer to death.
Irrspective of the law regulations which can differ from country to country, in the following example, I need to know whether there is a normal (not too legal) verb to be used along with the term "instantaneius insanity" in English in the manner that the combination could be understood to ordinary people who have experienced academic environment (not only legal people)?

  It was diagnosed to be an instantaneous insanity. Consequently, it is clear that he has come upon / faced / experienced an instantaneous insanity.

Do the above-mentioned bold verbs work here naturally and idiomatically or there is a/some fixed verbs to be used beside this psychological term?

Ps. It is a self-made story and I do apologize in advance because of some possible syntactic errors or mistakes in sentences' construction which can make my meaning a little unclear.


texts: I have been ill for 2 days - present perfect

texts:
I have been sick for two days.

Does the above sentence (in the present perfect) mean that two days have passed since I became sick? Does the sentence also mean that I am still sick?

That is, do we count the current day? For example, would the above sentence work if the second day is not yet over?

Further, does this apply to other units of time?


texts: A short answer\reply to the negative exclamations with\without tags

texts:
An example from Michael Swan's Practical English Usage:

  She's growing up to be a lovely person. ~ Yes, isn't she!

Would it be fine to reply to this with "Yes, she is"? I suppose it would.
What's the rule for a short answer\reply to the exclamations\rhetorical questions with tags?

  She's growing to be X, isn't she? ~ Yes,______?  No,_______?

Judging on the Swan's example, there are two possible replies in either case - with and without tag, right?


texts: The use of the word "problematic" in a sentence

texts:
There are a couple of words one can use to refer to someone with a hearing problem, such as "deaf", "hearing-impaired" or "hard of hearing".

I was wondering if we could use the word "problematic" to refer to their disability as in

  he can't hear you well, his ears are problematic.

is it natural to a native speaker to say something like that?

I looked up the word "problematic" in several dictionaries but I couldn't make up my mind:

  problematic : causing difficulty, or hard to deal with (Cambridge)

the word seems to be synonymous with "hard", "difficult" and "arduous".

  problematic: posing a problem : difficult to solve or decide (Webster)


texts:
"In such situations it is good if you can find a mentor who can guide
  you appropriately, but when this is not possible even self-coaching
  will do."

Is it OK to write the above sentence like this?

  "In such situations it is good if you can find a mentor who can guide
  you appropriately, but when this is not possible even self-coaching
  will be good.


texts: Can one use a contraction in a question?

texts:
a) Why are you trying so hard?

  b) Why you're trying so hard?

Is you're (b) an acceptable contraction form of are you (a) when I want to keep the sentence in a question form?

Is there another way to contract (this) question in English?


texts:
Wiktionary's defintions of "bombastic" are:

adj. of a person, their language or writing Pompous or overly wordy.
adj. High-sounding but with little meaning.
adj. archaic Inflated, overfilled.

"They are cheerful for a while, they are bombastic for a while and they then become slightly moronic," such a Brian Blessed said in an interview published on Mail Online.

Which of the above definitions is the most accurate in describing "bombastic" in the way this word is used in the Blessed interview?

I am under the impression that, in that context, the right word is "violent" and it seems that Blessed's usage is influnced by the fact that "bombastic" starts with "bomb", a word that, as is well known, is "synonym" of "violence".


texts: Meaning of ""I won't let a flat tire get me down," Tom said, without despair""

texts:
I've been reading Tom Swifties on a website, and could not understand one of them:

  "I won't let a flat tire get me down," Tom said, without despair.

Where is the pun in that?


texts:
My son's teeth are similar to the above picture. There are gaps between each pair of adjacent teeth.
Do we say "he has gaps between his teeth" or "he is gap-toothed" in everyday conversation?


texts: Pronunciation rules for "CH" and "arch-"

texts:
Yesterday I was watching Pokémon where I encountered this word "archenemy". It is definitely not the first time I am hearing it, though it is the first time I am putting thought into it.
When I googled the word arch I found four different meanings and usages. Two of them are just the raw words arch, while one uses it as a prefix (arch-) and another one as suffix (-arch).
However, I have always heard archenemy pronounced as arch-enemy with the /t͡ʃ/ ⟨ch⟩ pronunciation very evident. On the other hand, monarch is pronounced as mon-arc with the ⟨ch⟩ replaced with /k/. But the Google pronunciation for arch1 (Google Dictionary) which is the suffix form, is pronounced as 'arch' with a /t͡ʃ/ ⟨ch⟩ pronunciation. Is that a mistake?
Also, I would like to know the etymology of these words and how come they are pronounced different if they have the same Greek origin word arkhos (I did not make it, Google said that)?

1 combining form, suffix: -arch
(forming nouns) denoting a ruler or leader. Example: "monarch"


texts: Is "cold temperature" as correct as "low temperature"?

texts: Temperature is a physical quantity which can have various numeric values, which can be high or low. But I often read phrases like "cold temperature" and "hot temperature" on the Internet. A quantity can't be hot or cold, so these look odd to me, although I do understand what they mean. But English is not my native language, so my question is: are such phrases grammatically correct?


texts: "The few Northern counties" v/s "A few Northern counties"

texts:
a. The result of the election will be determined by a few Northern counties of the state.
b. The result of the election will be determined by the few Northern counties of the state.

What is the difference between the meanings of the above sentences?
I think in (b) we are talking about all the Northern counties and in (a) about some of the Northern counties only.


texts: "Her father left her at her two years for the time till I write it."

texts:
Her father left her at her two years for the time till I write it.

Is it correct? or what about

Her father left her in her childhood till I write it?


texts: So adjective a\an noun for plural subject

texts:
so … a …

There is another rather formal structure with so + adjective + a/an + noun (see 14).
I had never before met so gentle a person. (= … such a gentle person.)

  This is from Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage".
  I wonder whether we can write it for plural noun.

For example.

1."They are so beautiful a teacher''.

2."They are so much beautiful teachers"

3."She is so much a beautiful teacher."


texts: "not liked by almost any" vs. "not liked by almost all"

texts:
Given that almost all of Peter's classmates dislike him, which of the following version is correct, and which more common?

  Peter is not liked by almost any of his classmates.

versus

  Peter is not liked by almost all of his classmates.


texts: When can two pronouns being compared in a sentence be of different types?

texts:
I came across a sentence on one of the pages on stackexchange today -

He resents your being more popular than he is

I always thought that while comparing two pronouns they should always be of the same type, like,

She is taller than he (is)

or

I care for him more than her

I understand that the first sentence that I mentioned is correct but the moment you take out the is in the end, my perception begins to change.

He resents your being more popular than he doesn't sound right to my ears.

Shouldn't this sentence, then, be -

He resents your being more popular than his

Unfortunately, even this sentence sounds horribly wrong to me. Can someone please clarify what rule is being followed here and which is the best way to write this sentence without changing its core structure.


texts: What does "feel one's stomach disappear" mean in this context?

texts:
In Harry Potter:

  Harry ran up the hall into the kitchen and felt his stomach disappear.

  Aunt Petunia’s masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugared violets, was floating up near the ceiling. On top of a cupboard in the corner crouched Dobby.


texts:
Can anyone explain the difference between:
"Can anyone answer me "  and
"Can someone answer me " ?


texts:
John is learning to write a speech.But he has not to give any speech in near future.His teacher gave him an advice.

Which of the followings lines should be used as an advice by teacher, considering the fact that he has not to give any speech in near future?

  A: If you use these phrases in  speech,people will be impressed.
  B:If you used these phrases in speech,people would be impressed.