texts:
The affirmative sentence is:

  Every undefined symbol is associated with a software library it comes from.

I'm trying to make a question:

  Is every undefined symbol associated with a software library it comes from?

but it just looks very unnatural. Is it really so? It can be tending to be read like this

  Is (every undefined symbol associated with a software library) (it comes from)?

  Is (every undefined symbol associated with a software library it comes from) (???)?

and to cause a confusion. While the intended structure is

  Is (every undefined symbol) (associated with a software library it comes from)?

How this question can be reformulated to sound naturally?


texts: Which tense is more acceptable for using in the following case?

texts:
My girlfriend is going to come to me and to ask me: "Jon, how was it today? What did you do today?"

I want to tell her that all the day I studied and made homework. So which tense is more acceptable for using in this case?

  1) I have been learning / studying whole the day and made homework
  (Present Perfect Continuous)

  2) I learned / studied whole the day and made homework (past simple)

  3) I I have learnt / studied whole the day and made homework (present
  perfect)


texts:
Yet another question about Christopher Hitchens' god is not Great.

  Indeed, within Castro’s periphery there evolved a bizarre mutation known oxymoronically as “liberation theology,” where priests and even some bishops adopted “alternative” liturgies enshrining the ludicrous notion that Jesus of Nazareth was really a dues-paying socialist. For a combination of good and bad reasons (Archbishop Romero of El Salvador was a man of courage and principle, in the way that some Nicaraguan “base community” clerics were not), the papacy put this down as a heresy.

What should I consider dues-paying here?

Should I take it as in dictionaryreference.com:

gaining experience, especially by hard and often unpleasant or uncongenial work.

Or should I take it as in "dues-paying member"? I know, it sounds non-sensical Jesus paying a membership or legal fee, but the passage says it actually is ludicrous.

To sum up, I can't chose between these two.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you very much.


texts: When two things should be done after something occurred

texts:
What is the adverb to say another thing is done, when the first thing is also done? is it "At the same time"?

Examples:

The task begins to process. ...... an email is automatically sent to the user.

My original sentence in which I used "meanwhile" is

  In the algorithm, after visiting a node which matches the beginning anchor “Results”, the state of the context changes into “Open” and the following nodes will be regarded in this context, meanwhile, a node labeled “Products” is created and added to the XML structure.


texts: Use of the word "and" or "or" in a list of objects

texts:
Major nonconformity: a significant nonconformity of one or more pharmacovigilance processes that could potentially adversely affect the rights, safety and well-being of patients.

Would it be logical to use the word and here despite the fact that each of the listed objects can be affected on itself, without the others being affected?

I was told by a native speaker (later supported by a native speaker in a different chatroom) of English that

  If all three may ever be affected at the same time, you have to use and.

Is this really so? Would it be logically wrong to use or?

P.S. I found a related question on ELU: conjunction use: “and” or “or” in list of examples, and another one


texts: Is "bicycle born human" correct in this context?

texts:
Context: Person X likes to ride his bicycle. The context is a morning in a normal road, with a commonplace setting in a simple town locality. Some are riding bicycles, while others are riding scooters. I want to write:

  While he doesn’t let go of scooters without a race, he makes it a point to not let any bicycle born human overtake him, and if they do so, he would overtake them back again within a minute.

By "While he doesn’t let go of scooters without a race", I mean to say that he does try to challenge scooters for a race, and evidently looses since he himself is on a bicycle. However, he does not let any other bicyclist overtake him. And if by chance any bicyclist overtakes him, he'll make it a point to overtake them back.

Question:

Is "bicycle born human" a correct usage? I am avoiding the term "biker" or "bicyclist" because this is a simple setting, so there are people like the milkman, the breadman, the newspaperman, etc. who are just riding a simple bicycle to commute from one place to another. I am worried that those two words refer to a rather exclusive set of adventurous cyclists with helmets on their heads.

PS: I hope it's obvious but, through that phrase, I want to refer to a human riding a bicycle, not a human "born" on a bicycle :P


texts: The difference between 'What's new with that' and 'What's new in that'

texts:
What's the difference between what's new in that, and what's new with that?

Here's an example of a conversation.

Person 1- Politicians are always shunning their responsibilities.
Person 2- What's new in/with that?

Are In and with interchangeable here?


texts: What does the phrase "shadows dance on the gravel underneath it" mean here?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a sentence:

  Sunlight kisses the yellow leaves of a tree by the lake, as shadows
  dance on the gravel underneath it.

I am not sure about the phrase ""shadows dance on the gravel underneath it". Is the gravel underneath the tree or the lake?


texts: how to express adverbials by using preposition"with"

texts:
how can we express "she was going home and at the same time she was crying"
she was going home with crying or she was going home by crying.
could you please help me?


texts:
Is it correct to have a singular complement (if the complement is a noun) when the subject is plural?
For example:
These are a cheap source of entertainment.
Similarly, is it correct to have a plural complement (if the complement is a noun) when the subject is singular?
For example:
The biggest problem is the stray dogs.


texts: How to say that I hit a car (by accident)

texts:
How does one say that one was in an accident with one’ car?
I am not sure if any of the following phrases are correct. Please tell me if the spoken forms below are correct, or if there are any other idioms or phrases used to express this idea.

I hit a car in the street.
I crashed a car in the street.
I collided a car in the street.


texts:
Some say clichés are over-used terms. Are the following sentences cichés? If not, why?

Get well soon!

Wishing you a speedy recovery

I hope you recover quickly


texts: Difference in grammar between must and have to

texts: Could someone please explain the difference between Must and have to??? it is so complicated to understand the difference... Should i use "must" for obligations and "have to" to give pieces of advice?


texts:
Are these grammatically and sequentially correct tenses? Sequence of tenses with subordinating conjunction "after"?

He comes after I come.
He comes after I came.

Which is correct one?


texts: difference between "those of competitors" and "competitors"?

texts:
What is different between "those of competitors" and "competitors" in this sentence?

But if she eased, her first steps would lag behind those of her competitors.
But if she eased, her first steps would lag behind her competitors.

and which one is correct? I think both of them are grammatically correct.
Do we have special rules for "those of something"?


texts: Is there a word similar to 'multiple' that means 'n-ary' (as in 'unary, binary, ..')?

texts: I want to use one word to say a function takes multiple inputs. Is there a counterpart of 'multiple' in the 'unary, binary, ternary...' family?


texts: "That's the exactly reason why ..." vs "That's the exact reason why ..."

texts:
exact vs exactly

Which expression is right? Or Both of them?

And why?

"That's the very reason" is another expression with the same meaning?


texts:
They discovered that he couldn't read?

If I change this sentence into question,

  How did they discover about him?
  What did they discover about him?

Which question word should I use? I think ''what about'' and ''how about'' are interchangeable.


texts:
I am not sure if this is the case, but can we use the idiom "set someone up" before there's evidence that X betrayed us, or is it something we can only say after the signs indicate that X betrayed us. In the dictionary, there doesn't seem to be any hint of that implication, but I've never seen it used in a different situation. Is it a synonym of "betray" and can we use it in any situation where we can use the word "betray"?

For example:

  A: I don't think he set us up. Why should we believe that?

  B: Look outside, there are SWAT people coming in through the fence.
  Still believe he didn't betray us?

  A: Oh, maybe he did set us up.


texts: Which one is correct: "not in A or B" or "not in A and B"?

texts:
Which sentence would sound more natural?

  Can not find it in my house OR your house.

  Can not find it in my house AND your house.


texts: Is the "neither-nor" correctly used in the following sentence?

texts: She is the titular Queen but she has neither the authority nor does she enjoy the honour of a Queen.


texts: Should I say "I will come 'on' / 'in' / 'at' the time"?

texts:
Which of the following options is the correct one?

  I will come 'on' the time

  I will come 'in' the time

  I will come 'at' the time

The context is:

  My friend: Dory please tomorrow be at the station bus at 10:00 o'clock
  Me: I will come [on?] the time, no problem.


texts: "I didn't do it" vs "I haven't done it" - When do you use which?

texts:
When do I use the following variations:

  I didn't [verb in infinitive]

  I haven't [verb in past participle].

I know that it has to do if it is a specific time (I didn't do) and a non-specific time (I haven't done), but I have seen (this time correct?)

Didn't in sentences where the time is not specified. For example here:

  "I didn't see that coming" (see or saw? I think see),

  "What did you do yesterday?" (But I think that one isn't correct, is it?)

or

  "You didn't give me wings, but you showed me how to use them".

Thanks for your help.


texts: Fodder used with the meaning of Cannon Fodder

texts:
The Cambridge Online Dictionary defines "cannon fodder" as:

  If you describe soldiers as cannon fodder, you mean that they are not
  considered important by their officers and are sent into war without
  their leaders worrying if they die.

On fantasy novels I have found the word "fodder" used with the meaning of "cannon fodder". Is this use of "fodder" allowed on other contexts, like a magazine article about Word War II? There are no cannons on the fantasy world, so would make no sense the use of "cannon fodder" by the characters.

A few examples from R.A Salvatore:

1)

  "Your flanks will be secure," he promised his king. "And any fodder
  prodded before Grguch's clan will be swept clean before they reach the
  hill. Clan Karuck alone will press the center."

2)

  "Well met, Torgar," Bruenor replied, offering a gracious bow of his
  own, something that he, as head of a nearby kingdom, was certainly not
  required to do. "Yer guards her serve ye well at blocking the way an
  better than fodder!"

3)

  Tens of thousands of goodly folk would have died in that war, but the
  kingdoms of the Silver Marches would not have fallen. This time, it
  would seem that Gruumsh demanded more of his fodder minions.


texts: For how many parts is the house divided to? (the structure of this question)

texts:
As a part of the English learning I am trying to build sentences - naturally, but sometimes I have a sentences that I'm not sure if they're correct and if a native English speaker would use them by himself or what is the better alternatives for them. One of those interrogative sentences that I build today is

  For how many parts is the house divided to?

My doubts are: if it's correct to open a interrogative question with the prepositional "for", at least in this case. If it's correct to end with the preposition "to" in this case.


texts: “don't forget {sending/to send}” and “presents {hanging/to hang} on my tree”

texts:
This is a question from my exam please help me. Why and which one is correct?

  Please do not forget ... me some pretty presents ... on my tree.

1) sending - hanging

2) to send - hanging

3) sending - to hang

4) to send - to hang


texts:
Is the following sentence correct?

  The client can see the problem which hadn't been resolved in the following link: ...

Or is changing the word "hadn't" to "hasn't" absolutely necessary to make it grammatically correct?


texts: "in" or "for"? -- "They grow over 20% yearly ____ (the) past five years"

texts:
They grow over 20% yearly in the past five years.
  They grow over 20% yearly for past five years

Which of them is more appropriate? Or are they both not correct?


texts:
What does "come through" mean in the following two sentences from the internet?

Abundance comes through responsibility and accountability.
In the US, legal adulthood comes at 18, but it is my understanding that adulthood comes through responsibility, tears, laughter, and most of all: parenthood.

I have checked this thread.  https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/25459/what-general-rules-govern-the-usage-of-by-versus-through

  " Through generally indicates transit from one end of something to
  another (often, but not always, the opposite end). This can involve
  literal passage through space or time ("We drove through Texas", "I
  waited through the night"), or figurative movement through a system or
  process ("Your request is still making its way through the
  bureaucracy")."

But is "responsibility" a process?

Taking 1 for example, does it mean you become abundant after you become responsible?


texts:
From the lyrics of Ma Baker:

  Freeze I'm ma Baker
  Put your hands in the air and give me all your money
  This is the story of ma Baker the meanest cat from old Chicago town
  She was the meanest cat
  In old Chicago town
  She was the meanest cat
  She really mowed them down
  She had no heart at all
  No no no heart at all
  She was the meanest cat
  For she was really tough
  She left her husband flat
  He wasn't tough enough
  She took her boys along
  Cause they were mean and strong

When saying she left her husband flat, does this mean that she left her husband's apartment or does it mean she actually flattened her husband like the people she mowed down at the bank?


texts: Escaped being dashed / escaped from being dashed

texts:
Why is it that we don't use from after escape in the following sentence ?

  No one knows, how he escaped being dashed to pieces .

Is there any grammar rule like we have to use helping Verb after escaped ? I am not a native speaker but to my ears the sentence with from sounds better : No ones knows, how he escaped from being dashed to pieces. I know its wrong but just want to know the grammar rule for it.


texts: Should I use part participle form of every verb that follow "would have"?

texts:
I wrote a sentence on my own jokingly.

  How cool would it be, if I could have infiltrated the Kremlin, steal the Tsar's throne and return to my peaceful home unharmed

Regarding that sentence my friend told me, it would have been grammatical if I wrote it in the following way

  How cool would it be, if I could have infiltrated the Kremlin, stolen the Tsar's throne and returned to my peaceful home unharmed

The BOLD parts are changed in the last sentence. The reason he told me was that the could have part should be followed by past participle form of every verbs. So as I had written "could have infiltrated", I should have used stolen and returned for the same reason. Is it true?

To me, if I could have infiltrated the Kremlin, I am like gone to the fictional time and now what I was about to do is like happening in the present of that time. So I used present tense.


texts: What is the meaning of "Redonkulous"; is it an English Phrase?

texts: I want to find out the meaning of an English word called redonkulous. Is it a phrase or something? I found this word in an animated movie called Bolt. I searched in "Google" and in "Google Translate" but didn't get any satisfactory answers. So, here I came. If anybody knows, please share it with me. I've added some screen shots of that movie, so that you guys can get some ideas about the conversation.


texts: Using an infinitive in subordinate clause

texts:
The Infinitive phrase may be

  subject: For you to learn English is good

  subjective complement: My desire is for my family to be happy

  object: I consider it better for children to learn English early

...

But I don't know whether the infinitive phrase may be determiner of a preceding noun head as in

  "In any cities for there to be a lot of accidents children shouldn't go out alone".

Could you explain that?


texts: Usage of "so" in "so I think it is a great way to spend quality time"

texts:
The sentence goes like this..

  I'm busy because of my work so I don't have much time to communicate with my family. To make it up, I think it is a great way to spend quality time.

I think the quoted phrase seems so unnatural so I want to rephrase to be more natural...
Should I just use "so" at the beginning of the second sentence, like "so I think it is a great way..."?

Could you give me some better expression to connect those sentences?
Thank you very much.


texts:
Does it mean claim about something? Then, what's the difference between claim to infinitive and claim to gerund?

People use self-presentation to advance their claims to identity. In
some studies, participants were made to feel either secure or insecure
about their claims. For example, among participants who aspired to
become expert guitarists, some were told that their personality
profiles differed markedly from those of expert guitarists, which
conveyed the message that the participant was not on his or her way to
becoming one of those experts. Others were told that they fit the
profile precisely, which made them feel as if they were doing well on
their project of becoming an expert guitarist. They were then asked
whether they would like to give guitar lessons to beginners, and if so
how many. The people who had been made to feel insecure about their
claims to becoming expert guitarists wanted to teach many more lessons
than the people who were told they were already looking like expert
guitarists. The insecure ones wanted to bolster their claims to
being a guitarist by teaching guitar to others, because these
others would view them as good guitarists.

Social Psychology and Human Nature, Comprehensive Edition


texts: "excited about something" or "excited by something"?

texts:
Are both "excited about something" and "excited by something" fine?

For example,

  I was very excited about/by mathematics?


texts: I registered for the TOEFL exam two months ago. With the TOEFL exam, a examinee can send score reports to up to four universities. But my question is, what's the deadline for adding the universities to the list?  I heard that it's three days before the exam. Is that right?


texts:
She admitted to making a mistake.
She admitted making a mistake.

In first sentence the preposition to has been used, while in second it is not. Please tell me what are the differences between them. If both are correct, when to use admit to + gerund and when to use admit + gerund.

Thanks!


texts: What is the difference between 'that is to say' and 'which is to say'?

texts:
What is the difference between that is to say and which is to say? Can that is to say replace which is to say in the passage?

In species with seasonal natality and mortality, which is to say
nearly all animal species, the age distribution will undergo annual
fluctuation. But even then the age distribution can be said to
approach stability, in the sense that the fluctuation is periodic and
predictable when corrected for season.

Sociobiology


texts:
1 Please pass me that (scissors).

As I know "pair of scissors" and "scissors" are both correct to use. But in this sentences book has replaced "scissors" with "pair of scissors". Can you please explain why so?
I have one more doubt whether we use article here "a pair of scissors" or just "pair of scissors".

Thank you


texts: Why is the usage of Present Perfect in this sentence incorrect?

texts:
(...) I think I can safely say that, until this year, all of those holidays were wonderful. For example I have once spent six weeks on Crete, which I had not visited before.

My task is to find errors and the boldened sentence is supposed to be corrected to Past Simple. I don’t quite understand why. It is unknown and unimportant when those holidays took place.


texts: There was no more status quo of a candidate than Clinton

texts:
I have a question about some phrase structure:

  And there was arguably no more status quo of a candidate than Clinton, who has been portrayed as an ultimate Washington insider, having been a former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state in President Barack Obama's first term.

Is the original poorly written?  Would this rewrite:

  ....there was arguably no candidate more status quo than Clinton...

be better?


texts:
Consider the following two sentences:

  From a roof cluster, the longest gutter line of each face is selected
  if its height fall into a certain height range.
  The one with the
  lowest height is taken as the base height.

Can whose refer to a thing? As follows:

  From a roof cluster, the longest gutter line of each face and whose
  height fall into a certain height range is selected and the one with
  the lowest height is taken as the base height.


texts:
Insects that feed on blood have the potential to transmit diseases between humans and between animals and humans.

I'd like to know whether the verb "transmit" is correctly used in the sentence.


texts: In what sense are the words "being down a set" used?

texts: He admits he still has lapses, but being down a set — as he was against Anderson — rarely begets a return to crippling negativity- In addition to the title above, what is the meaning of the sentence?


texts:
Is this dialogue correct? (regarding plural and possessives) Thank you.

  "I like it; keep going. Would you want some more clovers? I can bring you some," the fairy said.

  "Yes! Thank you... What's your name?"

  "My name? Ah, the labels! Why do you want to put labels on everything? I am me, a fairy in the middle of a grove of clovers, and you are drawing them. You can call me the Clovers' Fairy. Ok?"

  Suddenly, Luna found herself in a grove...of Giants Clovers.

  "Sorry, you're right. How did you create that?"


texts:
Yesterday Sue ____________ (walk) down the street when she met James. He was going to the station to catch a train, and he was carrying a bag. They stopped to talk for a few minutes.

The correct answer to fill in the blank is "was walking". I understand it.

But I can't explain why "walked" is a wrong answer.


texts: Is this the same? 'run me out' and 'run out on me'

texts:
Could you explain word-usage of 'run me out'. I think it means the same as
'You can't just run out on her.' What verbs work in the same ways? I mean - Are there some general rules in gramma about that.

  I toId you nobody runs me out.

I see that below the meaning of 'run him out' has opposite meaning.

  In the oId days, before Mackenna ran him out of the territory...

From 'Mackenna's Gold' film.


texts: Two objects vs. Object+Prepositional phrase and "request you to" vs. "request that"

texts:
We request you to kindly send us the feedback

Two objects: The verb "send" in it has two objects, "us" - Indirect object" & "the feedback" - Direct object

  We request you to kindly send the feedback to us

Object + Prepositional phrase: The verb "send" in it has "the feedback" - Direct object and "to us" - Prepositional phrase

I think both sentences are correct and interchangeable.

I learned that the choice of sentence pattern depends on the point of interest. My point of interest here in the above example is "the feedback", so it should come at the end of the sentence i.e, the first example is correct - "We request you to kindly send us the feedback"

However, the second example "We request you to kindly send the feedback to us" seems to be more formal than the first one.

So I want to know which one is more formal and common in use.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks in advance.

Question update:

I asked the above question for a different reason and now I'm stuck in another different subject. I have searched a lot in Google and got results that "request you to" is wrong and we should always use "request that". Also got results that "you to send" is correct but not "you to kindly send" because of split infinitives.

But we Indians always use "request you to kindly". So please clarify that is it acceptable to use as a grammar method we can follow in Indian English or we are still using it wrong and need to change it.

If we need to change our writing method, is the below example correct?

  "We request that you kindly send us the feedback"

Also I have one more doubt that,

  "We kindly request that you send us the feedback"
  has different meaning than
  "We request that you kindly send us the feedback"

Because, one doesn't need to be kind enough to request but the other person is the one who we request to be kind to give us feedback. Right?

Please help me understand the above. Thanks in advance.


texts:
Are these verbs can used interchangeably in the sense of "to guess based on some information".

  The remains are conjectured to be thousands of years old.

  He conjectured that the company would soon be in financial
  difficulties.

  We'll never know exactly how she died; we can only conjecture.

  The figures were obtained by extrapolating from past trends.

  You can't really extrapolate a trend from such a small sample

These are  example sentences I got from the Oxford and Cambridge online dictionaries.They are original sentences.I wrote down many examples to make it easy to compare for ones who would like to answer this question.You can give your own examples as well if you want.


texts: Is this sentence possible without ever, never, or before?

texts:
A: He is a strange person. He doesn't say hello to anyone.

B: I have seen the man like him. He also doesn't say hello to anyone.

Can the sentence 'I have seen the man like him.'mean experiential usage without 'ever, never, or before in the present perfect sentence'?
I learned that experiential usage should have 'ever, never, or before in the sentence.
Please, tell me.


texts:
Suppose during a battle between two countries, the opposite country's fighters used chemical weapons; following the bombardment a soldier notices that the opponent side has dropped chemical bombs; then I wonder if you could tell me which one of the following sentences seems to be a bit unnatural to be said by the soldier in my scenario:

  Run away! They hit us with chemical weapons.
  Run away! They dropped chemical bombs.


texts:
While doing science homework, I came across something I found strange. The term "eukaryotic" had a as the article instead of an. I was looking at:

  A eukaryotic cell...

I learned that if a word started with a vowel, it should be an instead of a. My bio textbook says otherwise.

Why is this?


texts: How and when to use " Probably" when it's compared to " Maybe "

texts:
Wat up?

I just really would like you guys, more particularly the Native Am.Eng Speakers to explain to me as clear and simple as possible how and when to use the words " Probably " vs " Maybe " in terms of comparing each other.
I mean, on what those two words are or should be based on.


texts: How often -if any- are the possessive pronouns "its" or "his" used?

texts:
How often -if any- are the possessive-pronouns "its" or "his"  used?

Based on many sites and books, the possessive pronouns for 3rd person singular for people or nouns it's "its" (for "it") or "his" (for "he") correspondingly.

It means that if I want to say "this car belongs to him.", I can say "the car is his.". Or if I want to say that "The lid belongs to this cooking pot." then I can say "It is its.". These examples equal to "It is mine." (in 1st person singular) or "It is yours." in 2nd person singular. No doubt that this is the grammatical form for the possessive pronouns (see the table below and the link above to Cambridge dictionary).

My question is how often we use "its" and "his" as possessive pronouns?
For this question I found a partial answer in Cambridge dictionary which states: "*We avoid using its and one’s as possessive pronouns except when we use them with own". It seems that except for "its" we don't avoid using other possessive pronoun such as "his". But I've never heard someone who say "This is his."  or something like that using "his" as possessive pronoun. Isn't it?


texts: When should I use "Might" and "Might Be Able"

texts:
What is the difference between these sentences?

I might be able to finish work today
I might finish work today
He might come today
He might be able to come today

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: What is the meaning of “worn” in “There was a little path worn”

texts:
Meaning of "worn" in the context below

  So quiet did it seem and so lonely, that almost one might think that nothing but the wild red deer, or his fierce enemy the slinking wolf, had ever walked this way since the beginning of the world. There was a little path worn among the thick bushes of hazel, dogberry, and traveler's joy, but so narrow was it and so faint that it could well have been worn by the slender, fleeting feet of the doe, or even by the hares and rabbits which had their home in a great bank among the roots of a beech nearby.

Is it an adjective? And does it mean: ragged?

Source: The Merry adventures of Rabin Hood.


texts:
Why did Mary quit her job? Why so sudden?

  Why did Mary quit her job? Why so suddenly?

What's the correct option? And why?


texts: Is it correct to say "Sam offered to minute take" regarding meetings, it sounds wrong & clumsy to me? If incorrect, what would the correct form be?


texts:
In order to enhance the ........... of salad plate, lay some shaped tomatoes in the center.
  a. look   b. variety  c. mood  d. occasion

I suppose the right answer is look.

What's wrong with variety?
The question made me wonder what if I want to talk about different types of ingredient of the salad. For example, I see this salad nicely decorated and it contains a lot of different ingredients.

  The variety of salad amazed me.

Does the sentence above make sense to mean 'I was amazed by different ingredients used in the salad'? If not how should I edit the sentence? Is there a different word to do that?


texts: Difference between ', or' and 'or' ('or with a comma' versus 'or without a comma')

texts:
Could anyone help me to clarify the difference between ', or' and 'or'? Sometimes I see articles are intentionally written this way rather than just reflex. I've made examples below, and explained by myself.

'Or' case

  That system is the circulatory system, or the cardiovascular system

→ In this case, ', or' suggests that both 'the circulatory system' and 'cardiovascular system' are the same thing, but have different names

  That system is the circulatory system or the cardiovascular system

→ In this case, 'or' suggests that 'the circulatory system' and 'cardiovascular system' are two different things, and that 'that system' I am talking about can be either of 'cardiovascular' or 'circulatory'.


texts: I've got a sentence from a coursebook which goes: "I usually sleep early on Saturdays". What can it possibly mean?


texts: What is the difference between "to bring "and "bringing"

texts:
I have this question from a TOEFL iBT test :

  The flexibility of film allows the artist ____ unbridled imagination to the animation of cartoon characters.

with these 4 choices:

  (A)    to bring
  (B) bringing
  (C) is brought
  (D) brings

I am pretty sure that the answer is either to bring or bringing, I now both of them is correct, but what is the better ? and how to know that? I mean why there is one of them is better than the other ?


texts:
I was watching the show The American Bible Challenge, and heard Jeff Foxworthy say:

  They have written all the books of the Old Testament, all the books of the New Testament, the Ten Commandments, and I'm pretty sure the starting lineup to the Lakers on this right here.

The preposition to sounded kind of jarring here. I would've used of and said "the starting lineup of the Lakers." Google searches for "the starting lineup to" doesn't show much, while "the starting lineup of" seems to be much more common. Can to be used here at all?


texts:
If I would like to express the following:

"Have a look at the impacts in Cologne, where one of our pilot utility's is located."

Is that correct or should I use "utility" or "utilities"? I am not sure, because on the one hand there are more than one utilities, but on the other hand it sounds also fine in singular.


texts:
I am a bit confused whether bare Infinitive is used after 'but' or not.

Which one is correct?

We want nothing but to be free.

We want nothing but be free.


texts:
"Austin described the speaker performs three types of acts or statements when engaged in the production of speech acts."

My teacher strongly believes that the verb "DESCRIBED" must be followed by "THAT" in the sentence I've written above. Otherwise, there'll be a dangling problem. I disagree.

Do you really think not using a "THAT" will make the sentence grammatically unacceptable and ambiguous?


texts: `Is there any way... ` or `Are there any ways...`, which is correct?

texts:
I'm a self-learning programmer and every time I use Stack Overflow to post a question, on which I want to get whatever answers to achieve what I intend, I use both of these two statements:

Is there any way to solve this issue?

Are there any ways to solve this issue?

However, I wonder which one should be used in this case - I usually like to get multiple solutions if possible, so I lean to the latter, but I think that most people use the former instead.

So are both of the two statements correct in grammar? And if that's the case, which one is better?


texts: What do "features" mean/refer to in this sentence?

texts:
I have checked the meaning of "feature" in dictionary, and I could not decide which one fits the context. And what bothers me most is the verb used in the sentence, as in "tearing the security features apart", which makes "features" represent something solid, concrete and tangible. I guessed it should be a security equipment which could be torn apart, but no such definition in the dictionary.

Could someone help me to understand it?

Here is the sentence in the context:

  Downstairs, Coulson heard the alarm. Perimeter breach. Attackers are
  wearing S.H.I.E.L.D. gear. He got to a secret locker and pressed his
  thumb against the security pad. Before it could open, the Hulk and
  Thor exploded up through the floor, tearing the security features
  apart.

  So much for containment, Coulson thought.

  “We have the Hulk and Thor on Level Four,” he said. “Levels Two and
  Three are dark.”

  Maria Hill knew that if something didn’t distract the Hulk, he would
  tear the Helicarrier apart . . . which was, of course, exactly what
  Loki wanted. “Escort six-o,” she said. “Engage the big man. Get his
  attention. Don’t get too close.”

  “Copy that,” came the pilot’s voice.

  The Avengers I


texts:
When I say like this: I met him last Sunday morning.

Can I say alternatively: I met him on last Sunday morning or on the morning of last Sunday or in the morning, last Sunday?


texts:
Some English help websites don't even mention it when they explain Moods. Grammar-Monster.com, for example, has it down as "the infinitive form of a verb" on a completely different page and does not include it on the page explaining Mood.
Other English help websites, however, do list it as a mood, like this website does.

So, is it a mood or isn't it? I am so confused.
 (And be gentle in whatever technical grammarians' jargon you have to use in your answer because I know next to nothing on English Grammar.)


texts: "I will be learning French when I return to the city" or "I will learn French when I return to the city"? Which sentence is correct if I want to say I will start to learn it (I was lazy until now)? I guess, it is the second sentence, but I doubt. Is it correct to use another one if I want to say I will renew my learning process when it will be possible?


texts:
I came across the following phrase:

  Father's chief Maxim was always to keep the boy above his work. And for this reason he did not wish him to learn Latin till he was twelve years of age, when he might easily acquire it.

What is the correct way of understanding aforementioned expression in this context?

  Father's work has lower priority than the boy.
  The father doesn't want the boy to struggle academically.


texts:
In a court, when a person is convicted but is wrong or misjudged. Do you say:

  He/she is wrongfully convicted.

Or

  He/she is wrongly convicted.

A Briton writer has used "wrongly", which has made me a bit puzzled because usually, I have seen "wrongfully" as the adverb of choice regarding wrong convictions since my school days.

Is this an example of BrE to AmE here?


texts:
According to this Wikipedia page, "a cruller is a deep-fried pastry popular in the US and Canada often made from a rectangle of dough, with a cut made in the middle that allows it to be pulled over and through itself producing twists in the sides of the pastry."
What is the meaning of pulling over a cruller?
I have found 2 definitions for "pull over":

To bring a vehicle to a stop at a curb or at the side of a road.
To force (a motorist or a vehicle) to stop at a curb or at the side of a road.

Thank you !


texts:
What does "dogged" here mean? I  have no idea

I tried looking up dogged in a dictionary, and found several meanings, but none of them seemed to make sense in the context of this article:

Having the meaner qualities of a dog; malicious; mean; contemptible; surly.
Having the pertinacity of a dog; silently obstinate; unyielding.


texts:
Which of the following way of writing date is more common or recommended for using in British English in official and formal documents, and why?

  09/04/2018

Vs.

  9/4/2018

Or they are both the same and it's a matter of style?


texts:
I want to know, how to identify subject and predicate of such long sentence?

Talking about our old family holidays has made me feel all nostalgic.


texts: Master's Degree Program starting in the fall semester vs starting the fall semester

texts:
What's correct and what's not?

  Master's Degree Program starting in the fall semester.
  Master's Degree Program starting the fall semester.

I found both "starting in the fall semester" and "starting the fall semester" on Google.


texts: If you want to ask someone how long he has been working here can we say "he is working since how long? I heard this sentence somewhere.


texts:
I was randomly reading few questions in english stackexchange and i found this question

How do you quote a passage that has used '[sic]' mistakenly?

look at the first comment by e.James

what does "It's so word-nerdy it hurts" mean?


texts:
A scientist speculates on a particular matter, saying:

It could be that the first living organisms evolved independently in different places—we just don't know.

Can I replace the "could" with "can" or "might"?


texts: synonyms of 'just now' in one single word

texts:
I am refining my article in which there's a phrase 'just now'(a little time ago).

It does look less advanced and professional.

Searched dictionaries of Oxford, MW, Cambridge, Collions and dictionary.com.

It has no synonyms.

How to express 'just now' in an advanced way?


texts:
Firstly, are both sentences perfectly natural?
Would the first sentence be considered polite?
Do you see a big difference between the sentences in how polite they are?
Sentences:

You like this teddy bear? Well you can play with it if you want.

You like this teddy bear? Well you're welcome to play with it if you want.


texts: Is there a particular word for the entrance or door of a bird's cage? I wouldn't use either word and they don't sound right, so I was wondering if there was a more widely used word to refer to it.


texts:
Could someone please tell me if it would sound better if I replaced was with got in the text below?

  In the Vietnam War, Bob Walker had been a helicopter mechanic, and
  he’d watched as his best friend was decapitated by an incoming
  helicopter’s propeller blade.

  Source : The Verge


texts: 'Never caused hassle' - does it 'break' an idiom?

texts: Is the sentence 'She never caused hassle' correct? If so, does it sound unnatural? 'She never caused any hassle' seems like a much more common choice and I do not know if the rarity of the former (in terms of Google search results) comes from it being incorrect.


texts: How do you say that morning is yet to come?

texts:
What should I say when I mean that morning is yet to come.
Are any of the below correct?

  There is still time in morning.
  There is still time for morning.
  There is still time to morning.


texts: Can I replace "so that" by something more pretty?

texts:
I'm providing a reference to the paragraph so that you can understand the context

I feel this sentence is a bit like a formal statement. Is this actually true? Is there a more relaxed way to say it?


texts: Present perfect or past perfect in this case

texts:
The songs were never released and where made before the band recorded their album "Strange Obsession"... They have been unheard for many years until they were recently discovered by Teenadelics Records.

Why present perfect here? I think it should be past perfect  had been unheard because at the time of speaking it belongs to the past .


texts:
Which of the following sentences is correct?

A. An oven that clean itself is very handy.

B. An oven clean itself that is very handy.

If there is any wrong sentence, then explain it with some examples.


texts: How I can say correctly to my boss that I want to go to vacation?

texts:
I want to ask to my boss that I want to go to vacation, because I'm very tired. How I can say it correctly to my boss. It's my version:

  I'm very tired. I haven't gone to vacation a long time. There is need to me to go to vacation.


texts:
"That's a sick set of wheels!"

I've heard it from someone and I'm wondering what the exact meaning is.

I googled the phrase and all I found was a twitter status.

I know that one of the meanings of "sick" as an adjective is:

  very good, excellent

I also found this for "set of wheels":

  a car

So does "That's a sick set of wheels!" mean "That's a very excellent car"?


texts: How can I translate my final research title?

texts:
I'm trying to translate my final research title for degree validation.
Which one would be correct?

Body Image Perception Among Adults Who Practice Body Building in Lavras City - MG
Body Image Perception Among Adults Who Practice Body Building in the city of Lavras - MG


texts:
I encountered the poem below, which ends with force the lid. I recognize this phrase, but I'm not sure if it means forcing the lid closed, or forcing yourself inside. Or can it be both?

  A system is a big black box
      Of which we can’t unlock the locks,
      And all we can find out about
      Is what goes in and what comes out.
      Perceiving input-output pairs,
      Related by parameters,
      Permits us, sometimes, to relate
      An input, output and a state.
      If this relation’s good and stable
      Then to predict we may be able,
      But if this fails us—heaven forbid!
      We’ll be compelled to force the lid!
    —Kenneth Boulding


texts: Have I rephrased this sentence correctly?

texts:
The original:

  When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly
  published the article as it had originally been written.

My version:

  When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly
  published the article in its original form.

Does these 2 sentences mean the same thing?

Feel free to provide other paraphrases.


texts:
I am creating a joke card for my niece and her film director husband.
The content says:

  "Ah, my Darling, my Drama,
  bespeaketh my deepest heart this day."

  "Oh, Truest, I shall, I shall.
  So, tellest me--what thou thinkest of my shoes?"

(You need to see the pic to get the joke.)

Here, though, I'm curious about the prepositions. It seems to me if he says, "bespeakest of my heart," or he says, "bespeaketh my heart," he is saying two different things and I can choose.

I am also curious about the "of my shoes" preposition. It seems to me that, grammatically-speaking, we can't do without the "of", but its presence changes the tone and rhythm of the line.


texts: If one had, one could? ("one" in a relative clause)

texts:
Is it possible to use one when we mean to say there's the general possibility of something happening in a conditional like this?

  When people say if one had enough monkeys, one could write the entirety of Shakespeare’s works, Shakespeare WAS that monkey, and it only took about ~55 million years for it to happen.

Or is there a more elegant way of expressing this thought?


texts:
Could you please explain the grammatical structure for the sentence below? There are 3 uses of 'to' in this sentence, and I have no idea how to interpret them.

Full sentence

  As with interpersonal relationships, the net benefit that people need TO achieve TO decide TO stay in a community depends upon the alternatives that are available.


texts: How do I identify whether the word "quite" is used in the sense of completely or partly?

texts:
I've found that word "quite" is used sometimes in the sense of "greatest extent" (or say absolute or complete sense) and sometimes "moderate extent" (or say somewhat or little sense) and taking the other sense than actual can cause misunderstanding as they stands for quite opposite sense.

So, How do I identify or the recognize which sense the word "quite" used in?


texts: Found the ATV flipped over/knocked over/flipped on its side/knocked on its side

texts:
They found the ATV flipped over/knocked over/flipped on its
side/knocked on its side.

If I want to describe that the ATV lay on its side after an accident, could I use "flipped over" or "knocked over" or would they both mean that the ATV lay with its wheels up?


texts: Something a 'stone's throw away' from something - what's an apostrophe and an article doing there?

texts:
Mike's house is just a stone's throw away from mine.

This means Mike is living next door.

Stone's throw away is an idiom to say something is quite near or at a very short distance. I understand this.

The question is what is an apostrophe doing there? Is it possession? In any case how?

Also, why the indefinite article a is required?


texts:
I have come across this phrase:

Functional foods - products which have health-promoting properties over and beyond their nutritional value - have become a significant food industry sector.

[ https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9781845695927/functional-foods#book-description ]

What does that expression imply?


texts: Subject Auxiliary Inversion and the usage of 'ever' and 'never'

texts:
Please let me know if the following sentences is correct:

  1- Have you never tried the Doritos Wasabi flavor?

My question is related to using 'have' with 'never'. I've seen the present perfect with 'ever'. If I say:

  2- Have you ever tried the Doritos Wasabi flavor?

Do both of the questions have the same meaning? If so, then why do I feel like I'm presuming in the first sentence that the person has never tried that particular flavor of Doritos in his/her life. Is using 'ever' or 'never' interchangeable in this case?

Another question I have is about using the 'the' before 'Doritos'. Is it fine to use the definite article because I'm mentioning one of the flavors of Doritos?

Look forward to getting your answer. Thanks


texts: Let's say it's 8:30 an I am getting ready for work. My  work starts at 9:00 and it takes 35 minutes to get to work. Do I say I am late or I am running late? Can I use I am late and I am running late with the same meaning if I still have chance to get somewhere in time?


texts:
And, like night follows day, here it is. The complete silence.

What does this phrase mean? it's from a novel called "I've got your no".


texts: Difference in usage of gerund and infinitive

texts:
she did no more than sleep the whole day

Vs

  she did no more than sleeping the whole day

What is the difference in meaning of these two sentences?


texts:
Buddhism, In the journey to peace

/

  Buddhism, On the journey to peace

How the "in" and "on" in this sentence differently mean?


texts:
I get the theoretical difference between the 2 words, unarguably means you cannot question the point.

But, given the sentence "Unarguably he is an excellent _", how does replacing unarguably with arguably impact the meaning of the sentence?

My only guess is that with arguably the implication is that the statement is open to scrutiny but with unarguably you are required to trust the speaker.


texts: Is there a word for an option within an option?

texts:
Let's there are four types of dorms: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th.(for simplicity sake)
In each dorm, there are triples, doubles, and singles. How do I communicate that triples are the cheapest in each type of dorm?


texts:
My textbook only considers the sentence with "what" to be correct, but I can't see why "as" doesn't work.

  But car ownership is not as it was.
  But car ownership is not what it was.


texts:
I've heard the word "mouthbreather" frequently used as an insult, which I find baffling. Why is this considered an insult, and where does it come from?

Thank you. :-)


texts:
I'd like to construct this sentence, which one is a better way to put it?

I like you for who you are
OR
I like you as you are

What is the difference between for what something is vs as something is?

Thank you


texts: "take an umbrella" or "get an umbrella".What's the difference?

texts:
If I am going to away from my home.
I want to put an umbrella in my bag. Which sentence is correct?

Should I take an umbrella?

Should I get an umbrella?

If I am shopping.
I want to buy an umbrella.  Which sentence is correct?

What's the difference between these two verbs.


texts: The effect of using coordinating conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence

texts:
As a volunteer tutor I recently noticed that several of my students use coordinating conjunctions to start a sentence. From what I know this is permitted, but often frowned upon.

I am wondering if there are rules about this usage, and also whether these conjunctions are used to provide any particular effect in English essay writing.

Thank you


texts:
The context (in a chat):
- Person1 says something
- Person2 responds with an animated GIF
- Person3 says "legit LOL to Person2's reaction!"

What does "legit LOL" mean?
Does Person3 want to stress that he genuinely loughs looking at the GIF and not auto-responding with "LOL"?


texts: Which are the most reliable pronunciation guidelines?

texts:
I know there are no completely consistent pronunciation rules in English. But as an English language learner, I would like to have a set of guidelines to use as a fall-back when I am unsure about a word's pronunciation.

Among all the guidelines I found on the web, the two most complete are PronRules.pdf and Hou tu pranownse Inglish.

Do you know of any better guidelines than these two?


texts: What adjective does lay between "selfish" and "unselfish"?

texts:
Selfish means someone who doesn't care about others' needs.

Unselfish means the one who is willing to put others' wishes before her own.

These two adjectives are radically opposite. What adjective does describe the one who prefers her own desires, but she does not completely ignore others'?

Background: In a multi-agent system, if an agent only cares about reaching its own target, it is called selfish. Instead, if it prioritizes the reachability of its neighbors and completely ignores its own, it is called unselfish. Now, I need to define an agent which still prioritizes itself, but also careful about its neighbors' reachability. So, it cannot be completely "balanced" or "objective" as it is still inclined to itself a bit.


texts: I’ve come across products labeled spray gel and gel spray. I think they’re both correct. Spray gel means gel that is spray, and gel spray means spray that is gel. They refer to the same thing. Am I correct?


texts: Understanding English grammar and proper word usage

texts:
Would someone please help me identify the type of each word in the following sentence? In learning Spanish (using Duolingo and lovin' it) I'm realizing my English is "accidentally" good. My knowledge of grammar is embarrassing. A sentence Duolingo used (I personally would never word it this way) was:

  "I am going to tell you something later."

I know the verb is tell.
I think the subject is you... or is it I...
The object might be something.
What is going?

Anywho, I need to know the type of each word to properly format sentences in Spanish.


texts: Why do we use subject pronouns in place of object pronouns?

texts:
Source

  Don't blame Gerard. It was I who woke you from a sound sleep.

  Don't get mad at me! I didn't pull your ponytail! It was he.

  Remember the amazing guitarist I met? This is she.

How do they be correct grammatically? Why do object pronouns not be used?

The answer there says:

  Because a subject complement provides more information about the subject, use the subject form of the pronoun—even when it sounds strange.

But I could not really understand what the difference it would have made if we had use object pronouns instead?


texts: “Tell me yourself” vs “tell me about yourself”

texts:
Tell me yourself.

vs

  Tell me about yourself.

Tell is a transitive verb and transitive verb needs a direct object. Here “me” is the indirect object and “yourself” is the direct object. I don't understand why “about” comes before an direct object (yourself).


texts: Would have never thought/would never have thought

texts:
I'd like to ask the correct placement of the adverb ''never'' in this sentence.

(Excerpt from a book ''Start with why'')

  ''In the face of expanding competition in the airline industry, most air travelers would NEVER have thought to ask for less instead of more."

Or

  ''In the face of expanding competition in the airline industry, most air travelers would have NEVER thought to ask for less instead of more." (-I think this is more correct)

This is from my research of adverb placement:

Adverbs of frequency:never, rarely, sometimes, often... etc.
*as in the middle of a clause/sentence

after to BE verb
after auxillary verbs
before other verb

Which is more correct now, sentencd 1 or 2?


texts: Asking whether someone has eaten, as a greeting

texts: In our culture we generally ask people to know that whether they have eaten or not. There is no intention to offer food to them it's just as casual as saying hello to begin the conversation. Example we ask "did you have your food? If they had it, they say Yes I had, I just finished my lunch etc. What are the expressions that native speakers use  to know that some one has eaten his or her breakfast, lunch or supper?


texts: How to write and read the period of the first years of the century

texts:
This musical style emerged in the mid-'00s of this century.

Is it possible to write the period between 2005–2010 in this form? And how to read it? "Null(t)ies"? "Zerothies"?


texts: "the cost of water" would increase "pumping costs"? or "pumping costs" would increase "the cost of water".?

texts:
In the face of the upcoming water supply crisis, a number of grandiose schemes have been developed to transport vast quantities of water by canal or pipeline from the Mississippi, the Missouri, or the Arkansas rivers. Unfortunately, the cost of water obtained through any of these schemes would increase pumping costs at least tenfold, making the cost of irrigated agricultural products from the region uncompetitive on the national and international markets. (From TOEFL exam)

I do not think the meaning of the bold sentence makes sense, why "the cost of water" would increase "pumping costs"? I think, logically, it should have been "pumping costs" would increase "the cost of water".
Please help me understand it, I may misread the meaning of the original sentence.


texts: How to ask briefly about the ownership of a frying pan?

texts:
Near to my room there is a frying pan and I don't know who is the owner of this kitchen utensil. What is the correct way to ask it briefly?

Whose this frying pan (is this correct?)
Whose this frying pan belongs?


texts: Is comma optional in "Heating the limestone (calcium carbonate) drives off carbon dioxide gas [comma] leaving behind lime, the base calcium oxide"?

texts:
From a PDF containing teacher's notes on teaching limestone chemistry:

  Heating the limestone (calcium carbonate) drives off carbon dioxide gas leaving behind lime, the base calcium oxide.

Do we need a comma before "leaving behind lime", or is it optional? Maybe the presence of "the base calcium oxide" makes it awkward to use a second comma in the sentence?

I'm not against the comma before "the base", I'm wondering whether we should use a comma before "leaving", like this:

  Heating the limestone (calcium carbonate) drives off carbon dioxide gas,  leaving behind lime, the base calcium oxide.


texts: In this sentence what "put up" means and is there a way to learn phrasal verbs quickly?

texts:
Men and women were painting the walls while others were putting up
partitions.

I looked at the dictionary but none of the definitions appeared to be matching with the meaning used here. In this sentence, what's the meaning of put up?
If it is used to say build, I'm sorry for asking a question that is easy to find its solution.


texts:
I know the difference between "that" and "this" that "this" is used to point to something near you, while "that" is used to refer to something far from you, but in my sentences if I am not pointing to anything near or far from me if I am in my country speaking about a place which is far away from me which one should I use?
If I use "it", would there be any difference between "it" and "this/that"?

That/this/it is my dream to visit France.

That/this/it is a place I want to visit.


texts: infinitive-to : what is the difference between two type of infinitives

texts:
I wonder about the usage of word “to” in the following sentences:
In the first example, the first phrase before ‘to say’ is a full sentence and in the second example it follows an adjective. I can understand the second one but
I was mistakenly writing "that's really hurts to saying..." but I don't know why we can’t use preposition here instead of infinitive form.
Also I think that hurt is a intransitive verb so that it cant take infinitive verb as an object. So in my opinion the first sentence must be wrong in this perspective.

It really hurts to say that is correct.

It is hard to say goodbye.


texts:
Verb begin something that happens in a moment, not something continuously. After that does this correct:

I have been beginning to learn English since 2000, but never continuous consistently, tenacious till now.


texts: Can we use "and" without "both" in this case: "I like pizza and sushi"?

texts:
For some reason it sounds somewhat incomplete for me, in comparison to "I like both pizza and sushi." But I don't think the nuance is the same, though I can't verbalize it.
Any thoughts?


texts: Is necessary to add "trying" in the following sentence?

texts:
Person A: "Searching for Mr. Rainbow again?"

  Person B nodded, still trying to hunt down his imaginary friend.

Do I need the trying? Or I should just write: still hunting down?


texts:
There’s more than one way to die in the woods, although so far as horror-film narratives in that vein go, “The Blair Witch Project” has cast a bit too pervasive a shadow for nearly two decades now.

Source: http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/the-ritual-review-1202553302/

I am not sure how to understand the passage in bold. In my opinion, the sentence tells that the movie “The Blair Witch Project”  established one narrative of dying in the woods for horror movies even if there are many ways for that. So if the conjunction "although" is related to the part “The Blair Witch Project” has cast a bit too pervasive a shadow for nearly two decades now, I would write it in this way: There’s more than one way to die in the woods, although, so far as horror-film narratives in that vein go, “The Blair Witch Project” has cast a bit too pervasive a shadow for nearly two decades now.


texts:
I've had a doubt for some time!
Hi!
-I had back pain since 1995, phew! It's over! (I don't have anymore)
Is "since" suitable with my sentence? Or should I use "From"
I heard that we shouldn't use Since as we are talking about past action..
Thanks


texts: What does the phrase "wistful settings" mean here?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a game's description:

  "This game’s wistful settings connected to the innovative idea of using real-world scale models."

The game uses both 3D technique and handmade photos. To make the visuals more attractive, developers have used real-scale models. I am not sure about the phrase "wistful settings" here.


texts: "The Guest House provide rooms" or "The Guest House provides rooms"?

texts: So what is the correct version? As I remember it should be "provides rooms", but "provide rooms" sounds more English.


texts: What is a single word for when "milk boils and flows out"?

texts:
When we boil milk and after a few minutes it flows out of the pan,
what is the single word to describe this action or appearance?


texts:
Should I use in or on? Or are both okay?

  A: I’ll be here for six weeks and I’m already in my second week.

  B: I’ll be here for six weeks and I’m already on my second week.


texts:
On OALD, I read that same could be used in two ways...

  She's the same girl we saw in the auditorium - If she was Sophia in the auditorium, at present we are looking at Sophia only.

And...

  The same thing happened with me last night. There was no auto-rickshaw to rent.

But then, are these sentences similar/same? I'm looking at Mike's phone and telling him...

  I have a similar phone with me.
  I have the same phone with me.


texts: Why are two 'to be' verbs together (was + to be)

texts:
Don't understand what this structure about (IF THAT WAS TO BE)

If that was to be the basis for denying a right that was the norm elsewhere, then substantive evidence of non-performance should be made available

If that was to be the case then the question was a simple one: who would be responsible for paying those arrears?

Thanks in advance


texts: What part of speech is "taking" here? What rule of grammar it follows?

texts:
"He stepped forward, a corona of light taking shape around him."

Word "taking" here is definitely not a gerund, but it still doesn't have "to be" verb attached to it. What is it then exactly, and which rules are being applied here?


texts:
A user on an ESL forum says,

  Cloths are pieces of fabric — for instance, washcloths or tablecloths.

  Clothes are wearing apparel — shirts, pants, etc.

Is this correct? And do we still use the word cloths? I’ve never seen it before.

— Google Ngram viewer. PS. How is Ngram pronounced? N-gram?


texts: Would you tell me more about possessive?

texts:
It is a light on a car.
 Turn on the car light.
(that would be the light inside the car)

Or, you can use the possessive:
 Turn on the lights of your car.
(that would be the headlights (plural) on the outside of your car.)

Are you agree with these? if so, I am confused with them. Would anybody please explain them, in a simpler way?

Many thanks


texts:
Can I add "an" after “what" in the following sentence ?

  We'll have a summer camp soon.

  What (an) exciting news it is!


texts:
I came across the idiom "be first in Maths". But I couldn't find any with other school subjects.
Is it possible to say "be first in Geography/Physics"? Or the preposition "in" goes only whith Maths?
When did this idiom "be first in Maths" come to be?


texts: What is the grammatical role of "his former sister-in-law on his arm"?

texts:
Mark walked into the hotel’s ballroom, his former sister-in-law on his arm. He smiled when he saw his brother’s smile freeze into a gremlin’s glare.

What would you say is the  grammatical function of his former sister-in-law on his arm?


texts: Future prediction: if this happens... it will have... (future perfect tense)

texts:
Let's say global warming will hit its peak by 2020 (warmest earth). You want to say this in English, your prediction goes like this:

  If global warming continues to the future, by 2020, it will have reached its peak, I believe.

This is only an estimation, meaning not sure. Am I correct to use "will have+participle" (present future) or should I use "would"? -using "would" may fit more as for the prediction thing is concern, BUT, from what I know, there is no such thing as "would have+participle" when you want to express something that will happen in the future. Right?


texts: What is the difference in meaning between "He fill up on fuel" and "He fill up fuel"?

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between

  "He fill up on fuel"
  "He fill up fuel" ?

What does "on" in the first sentence mean?

Does "on" mean "He fill up fuel until fuel overflowed"


texts: Why simple past instead of past perfect in this sentence?

texts:
I was reading this BBC article that ends with this sentence:

  The creation of zero was one of the "greatest breakthroughs" in mathematics, Prof Marcus Du Sautoy of the University of Oxford said.

Why isn't it

  The creation of zero has been one of the "greatest breakthroughs" in mathematics, Prof Marcus Du Sautoy of the University of Oxford said.

instead?

The action of "creation of zero" took place a long time ago and is since been terminated. "Was" gives me the impression that the writer means that the action took place recently, and not in the "3rd or 4th century".

Additionally, but here I might be projecting, "was" gives me the impression that is also meant that is not a "greatest breakthrough" anymore, while "has been" doesn't.

What am I missing?


texts:
I want to express that people act in a way that they do 'not want to hurt/harm' a company. However, I wonder if there is another way to express it without a reference to physical suffering. As people might suffer but organizations cannot.

Furthermore, I am wondering whether a sentence like 'He did not resign as he did not want to hurt/harm his employer' is good (academic) English or whether there are better ways to express this 'nice behavior'.


texts:
Driving test
Examiner: During the test I'd like you to observe and obey all the rules of the road; all the traffic signs, the signals.Signal each of your intensions even if there's no traffic.
Woman: OK.
Examiner: I'll tell you each of your direction well in advance. If I do not say anything, then I only want you to do is to follow the road.

then I only want you to do is to follow the road
Is this sentence correct? If incorrect, fix it.


texts:
Look at this sentence:

  next, we explain why the problem will be done this way.

Could we write the sentence adding the preposition "in" to?


texts:
An uncommon question that I've come across from Agatha Christie's Nemesis reads,

  "Sleep well?"

In my opinion, I feel that as the action is in the past, it should have been

  "Slept well?"

However, is it possible that the former is grammatically correct, as the sentence is basically

  "Did you sleep well?"

but with the "Did you" omitted?


texts:
Let's say you watched a war-related movie, wherein the bomb was dropping down a city. And then, you storytell it to your interested friend.

  Oh man, the movie was so intense! The aircraft dropped the bomb too fast!/ too fastly!

I think I've heard or read the usage of too fast similar to my example, and this is ungrammatical(I think) that even natives say that.

So is this an exception to the grammar rules now?


texts: Not yet translated vs Not translated yet

texts:
In an item list on a web page, I have a colored legend:

green - Translated and published
red - Not yet translated

Is it correct usage? Or should I say "not translated yet"? Or maybe both are acceptable?


texts: Singular/plural: (At a store) I'm looking for a AA battery. Do you have it?

texts:
(At a store)

  I'm looking for a AAA battery. Do you have it?
  I'm looking for a AAA battery. Do you have them?
  I'm looking for AAA batteries. Do you have them?

I'm confident that (3) is grammatically correct, but when I need only one battery, I'm uncertain whether I should say (1) or (2). Is one of them wrong or better than the other? I think I'm confused because no store would carry only one piece of battery...

Thank you in advance for your help.


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

  1.The private sector is responding as well, sometimes proactive and sometimes concurrent with government mandates.

  2.The private sector is responding as well, sometimes proactively and sometimes concurrent with government mandates.

I think both of the above sentences are grammatical.


texts: I am interested/ keen on/ enjoy writing blog posts

texts:
I am trying to express my interest of writing blog posts.

So basically I want to say something like that.

Furthermore, I enjoy sharing my experience in a form of blog posts, so visit my blog

It sounds inaccurate to me, especially I am not sure about in a form of

The idea is to start with I like to write blog posts and end with so visit my blog

I want to express this more elegantly. And also if it is possible to replace enjoy\keen on\like with a synonym.

Please help to construct a sentence.

I would be grateful for any help.

Thank you.


texts: In the sentence"I break them all in the shop", what is the part of speech of "all" and what does "all" modify ?

texts:
One day Joseph's mother asks him to go to the shop and buy some
  eggs.

  "Be careful. Don't choose any bad ones," his mother says to him.

  After an hour, Joseph comes back with a
  yellow plastic bag. His mother takes the bag and looks inside.

  "Oh!"she said, "What is it?"

  "Eggs!"Joseph says, "I break them all in the shop.Everyone is good!"

In the sentence "I break them all in the shop", what is the part of speech of "all" and what does "all" modify?


texts: How can you make a passive sentence with only a do-auxiliary?

texts: We usually use the verb be when we want to form passive voice sentences. But I am curious as to whether we can form the passive voice with only the auxiliary verb do.


texts: Sentence Analysis: "We never let you stand in the rain."

texts:
We never let you stand in the rain.

What do you think about this sentence? Is the sentence wrong? What improvements could be made?

In my opinion future should be used:

  We will never let you stand in the rain.

Moreover the correct expression is to be left out in the rain or to sell someone down the river, so

  We will you never leave you out in the rain.

Anyway, I won't be able to decide, if the first sentence is just suboptimal or wrong?


texts:
To indicate 'purpose', "so that" is used in adverb clause :

  We read so that we may learn.

We know, in informal situation, sometimes 'that' can be optional in "so that" :

  We read so we may learn. (so = in order that)

But I've seen the following usage too.

  We read that we may learn. (that = in order that).

Can 'so' be optional in "so that"?

Are "so that", 'so' and 'that' interchangeable to mean "in order that" in adverb clause of purpose?


texts:
All of the examples I found either used the word with an article (That's the series you talked about?) or with an adjective (a comedy series, TV series).

Can I say "What series do you watch?" instead of "What TV series do you watch?"
Do English speakers usually understand TV series to be any show, not just one made for the literal television?


texts:
I'm wondering how to pronounce these kind of words:

  words
  birds

I've tried to pronounce both /d/ and /z/ sound but it's really hard for me.

I noticed some of samples in dictionaries and it seems like they almost omit the /d/ sound.


texts: Past perfect in "Stories conflict whether Joey and Linda had broken up prior to Linda dating Johnny", why?

texts:
From the Wikipedia article on Linda Ramone:

  Relationship with the Ramones

  Linda originally dated Joey Ramone but later dated and married Johnny Ramone. Stories conflict whether Joey and Linda had broken up prior to Linda dating Johnny or if Linda left Joey for Johnny.

Why had broken up should be "whether  Linda and Joey broke up before she dated with Johnny"? In this sentence what comes first the dating then the breaking up
that is the problem, I think! I have found the answer to my question: past perfect is used as something that had not arrived yet but was going to happen.


texts: "Is it ..., then ..." or "If it is ..., then ..."?

texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct:

  Is it twice as much, (then) we call it 2 G.

with or without the "then"?

In a comment thread on another SE site I was corrected on a detail as a grammatical error. The sentence should rather be:

  If it is twice as much, (then) we call it 2 G.

The point apparently is that starting a sentence with "Is" (or "Are") requires a question mark at the end - which I don't have, since the sentence answers itself.

I am not native English but was very surprised by this correction. I tend to use that structure often to shorten a sentence as much as possible.

So, I'd like a second view on this from the English SE site to be 100 % convinced. Is the sentence structure "Is it ..., then ..." incorrect and should rather be "If it is ..., then ..."?


texts: What does "who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff" mean?

texts:
It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyption wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff.

  Harry potter and the prisonr of Azkaban

"break in" means to enter a place to steal or to interrupt, but I'm not sure if these definitions are correct here.

Does that phrase literally mean "Muggles broke into the tombs"?
Then what does "they had grown extra heads and stuff" mean?


texts: Do you say there is a few people or there are a few people?

texts:
Which one is correct: "There is a few people" because of the A determiner which is singular, or "there are a few people" because of the noun PEOPLE which is plural?
Thanks a lot.


texts: Parrallel structure questions (something about phrase before and after “or”)

texts:
Sentence in question:

  To begin with, for students lacking determination or easily change their mind, a gap year may lure them away from future studies as many could lose interests in study during this period.

The sentence meant to express two kinds of students would be affected by the gap year before attending university. One are those who "lack of determination", the other are those who could "easily change their mind".

Is the phrase in bold correct? If not, what is the correct way to express the phrases in bold?


texts:
When I got up at 4:30 this morning, I could still see the stars in the sky. The sun _____ yet.

  a. hasn't risen
  b. didn't rise
  c. hadn't risen

I believe it is C because we are talking about something in the past, right?


texts: Should I use past simple or present perfect for something that happened a second ago?

texts:
I'm stepping out onto the balcony and want to say about it after I've done it. Should I say: "I've stepped out onto the balcony" or "I stepped out onto the balcony"?
If a person says something to me and I realize that I don't understand them, should I reply: "I haven't understood what you've just said" or "I didn't understand what you've just said"?


texts: Is “a little party never killed nobody” correct?

texts:
Is this correct? It looks like double negation.

I think that “little party killed nobody” or “little party never killed anybody” might be just a little bit better.

This is a line from a song.


texts:
Is it true that we pronounce it as:
"How A they"
And we miss "re"?


texts:
I'm reading a section on the usage of would rather and have come across would rather like. Swan says there is a difference between them. Ok, 'would rather' means 'would prefer...' and it's clear. But would rather like means 'would quite like'. For instance,  (from M. Swan):

  I'd rather like a cup of coffee.

Providing that 'rather' = 'quite' here, what does the sentence mean?


texts: "Under these circumstances" or "In these circumstances"? How prepositions work for abstract concepts?

texts:
I kinda know how to use propositions for space/time, but how do I choose correct prepositions for abstract concepts?

It makes much sense to say "In these circumstances" for me? Is it correct?

Also these:

  In conclusion

  At what cost

  Above all

  On diet

Is there any pattern for choosing those prepositions for them?

Or these words actually have very subtle position/timing relations that I don't know?


texts:
Here's a quote from an American animation "Trolls":

  [referring to Cloud Guy]

  Poppy: Branch, he's trying to help us.

  Branch: I don't like the looks of him. I mean, who wears socks with no shoes?

  Poppy: He seems to know what he's talking about.

Cloud Guy there is a character in the animation that looks like a cloud but certainly acts like a guy, i.e., anthropomorphic.

So it's as if you're talking about a guy who "wears socks with no shoes" and you don't like it. In this context, is it correct to say "I don't like the looks of him" instead of "I don't like the look of him"?

Is it also correct to say "I don't like his looks" instead of "I don't like his look" in the same context?

If the plural "looks" is correct in the given context, when should you use the singular "look" instead and say "I don't like the look of him." or "I don't like his look."?


texts: What is the meaning of 'instituted estate'?

texts:
Marriage was a divinely instituted estate that God intended for
  everyone who desired it, and only very few, they thought, could remain
  single and abstain from sexual relations.

Source: Martin Luther: A Very Short Introduction - Scott H. Hendrix

Meaning of 'estate' here is 'dignity' or 'legacy' or 'heritage'?

I didn't understand at all what is the purpose of 'instituted' here.


texts:
Using the adjective haphazard you mean "lacking order or purpose; not planned". I need to know if the bold sentence blow makes sense in a natural way within my self-made scenario:

  After graduation in pure mathematics I decided to continue my education in French literature. Now, I have a master's degree in math and another master's degree in literature. But when I turn back and look at my past years, I think I have made a big mistake. As a successful businessman today, I think all my studies have been haphazard (meaning not measured and calculated and without planning) so far while it was much better if I studied in the field of business management for instance.

If not, then please let me know what would you use instead?


texts:
What's the difference between the two?

Example sentences:

  Bzzz, bzzz. What was that buzzing?

  Bzzz, bzzz. What was that buzzing noise?


texts: Alternative for "I have to mention that"

texts: I am writing an article. I have repeated  "I have to mention that" several times in my article. What is  alternatives for "I have to mention that"?


texts:
Can someone explain what does this part:

  as distinct from what their bases in reason may or may not be alleged to be.

means?
I don't understand what does "what" belongs to. I have two variants:

1 - what their bases in reason may or may not be

2 - what their bases in reason alleged to be

But in either case I don't understand the full meaning of the sentence.
If my question is not clear please ask me to make it more clear.


texts: What is an umbrella terms for billboards, newspaper and TV ads, etc. that are used to promote a candidate for a public office?

texts: I believe it's 'campaign [something]' but I'm not sure what that something is. 'Campaign materials', perhaps? What term would include both offline and online campaign ads?


texts:
Is "with many delays" a common idiom, and in which cases can it be used?

Are there other ways to express the same meaning?

For example,

Life comes with many delays.
He went to look for him, with many delays.


texts:
This one comes from Do "periodically leave the house" and "periodically go out of the house" mean the same thing?

  I leave the house at 8 am every morning to reach work by 8:30 am.

with that schedule, should I say

  I go to work at 8 am every morning

or

  I go to work at 8:30 am every morning


texts: What is the meaning of "a trip and a kick "?

texts:
We felt that the sea had changed. There was a trip and a kick to
  her dance.  This is from "The Manner of Men" by Kipling.

https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/k/kipling/rudyard/limits/chapter19.html

The ship is now under a big storm and getting nearer to the land.(the sea had changed.)

I do not understand the meaning  of "a trip and a kick "

I am glad if some one would kindly teach me.


texts: Can the word "liveable" (or livable) be pronounced "laivable"?

texts:
I have found that The Free Dictionary reports two different pronunciations for the word "liveable":

the one that I expect (/ˈlɪvəbl/, or "lee-vable") for the US
and one that I have never heard (/laɪvəbl/, or "lai-vable") for the UK.

(To clarify: "lee-vable" and "lai-vable" are just my attempts to transcribe the word without using IPA, and are not accurate. In particular, I don't mean that the /ɪ/ should be pronounced as in "leeway". If you prefer, Dictionary.com suggests to transcribe it as "liv-uh-buh l")

The Free Dictionary is the only online dictionary that I am aware of to report it: all the others that I have checked, that is:

Oxford dictionaries
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
Merriam-Webster
(the link to listen to the pronunciation is somewhat hidden under
"Variants of livable")
WordReference.com
Dictionary.com
Cambridge dictionary
Forvo

report only "lee-vable". Even an answer on this site reports only this pronunciation. And interestingly, user nnnnnn has noticed that The Free Dictionary itself has a different entry for "livable" (instead of "liveable") and in this case the pronunciation is the expected one both for British and American English.

Normally I trust The Free Dictionary, therefore I am confused. Does this other pronunciation exist? Is it widespread? Would it sound wrong, or awkward, to a non-British native speaker (or even to a British one, for that matter)?


texts:
The air shimmered with warmth. The table, large, wooden, scarred, was laid
at one end with a bleached cotton cloth, a pile of bowls, a fistful of spoons.
All the objects in the room looked like cartoons of themselves: the flap-handled
fridge, the brown piano grinning, the dresser where plates leaned
and cups hung.

Does the phrase in bold mean: the fridge that its handle is hung?
Source: The Children's Bach by Helen Garner


texts: "let me go into the building" or "let me into the building"?

texts:
I'm trying to describe a situation where I tried to going into a building but the police officers didn't let me. Which one of the sentences would be correct in this case:

... they didn't even let me into the building

... they didn't even let me go into the building


texts:
Here is an image just for your eyes

The context is that at the end of my writing, I would like to show a beautiful image that isn't related to the writing content. Does the above sentence correctly express that meaning?


texts: Conditional for a future plan conditioned by your available time

texts:
Which one of these is correct, to speak about a future plan and time?

  I will come to the party if I have time
  I would come to the party if I had time
  I will come to the party if I would have time

Also I'm open to other suggestions :)


texts:
per Cambridge dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-simplified/way), there is only 2 expressions "in a way" and "the way" when indicating some kind of choice, opinion, manner, "someone's way" could be considered as "the way".

  It's amazing the way she manages to stay so calm.

  In some/many ways it would be better if we met on Monday rather than Wednesday

There does not exist an expression of "in the way" when indicating some kind of choice, opinion, manner, right?


texts:
Which is the correct word between stone and stones to fill the blank in following sentence ?

  If you turn the corner you will find a house built of _______.

Actually I read two sentences one is given above and the second one was this

  He had a simple house built of stones he'd carried from his rocky fields.

The first sentence is in my book in which stone is used but the second sentence which uses stones, I found it on internet. My book says stone is correct in that sentence, if stone is correct then is stones in second sentence wrong ?


texts: can I say 'make ones nostrils bigger' or 'stretch ones nostrils'?

texts:
Not a native speaker but my language has a word for this. If I were to define the verb can I say 'to stretch ones nostrils?' How about 'to make ones nostrils [seem] bigger?'

Or in a sentence, can I say, "take a mirror and stretch your nostrils and check for snot." (whether with hand or handsfree)

Is it grammatically correct?


texts: How to determine meaning of 'positively'?

texts:
Criminal law involves the enforcement of particular forms of behaviour, and the
  State, as the representative of society, acts positively to ensure compliance. Thus, criminal
  cases are brought by the State in the name of the Crown...

Source: p 8, The English Legal System 2012-2013, Gary Slapper

How to choose among the 3 disparate definitions? Do they all function in this context?


texts: What is the exact meaning of word "punt"?

texts:
In one of my business conversation. My boss used the following sentence. But I could not get the meaning exactly.

  We need it as an input, but can punt as an report, yes.

Can anyone explain the above?


texts: "There is no one" or "There is no place"

texts:
People eat rice all over India.If I change this sentence,

There is no one  in India who does not eat rice.
There is no place in India where rice is not eaten.
There is no place all over India where rice is not eaten.
There is no place in India where people do not eat rice.

Which is more natural?


texts: Question participle phrase "compared to"

texts:
"There was a 10% increase in inventory in first quarter of 2017, compared to the end of 2016."

Is the participle phrase "compared...2016" functioned as an adjective to "there"?


texts: Difference between "I don't mind" and "I don't care"

texts: I was told once that one of the two options is more rude than the other, What is exactly the difference?


texts: Which is correct - "{When / As / Since / Whether} she was 18 years old, she entered the order..."?

texts:
Choose correct option and explain why?

  ___ she was 18 years old, she entered the order of the Sister of Our
  Lady of Loreto, in India.

  When
  As
  Since
  Whether

Well, All we know that the "Whether" is unrelated but from the book perspective, "When" is correct option. I couldn't understand? why not "As"?

Additional info:

It was one of the Konkour questions.

  Konkour (Persian: کنکور; from the French Concours), is a standardized
  test used as one of the means to gain admission to higher education in
  Iran.

As you see, we don't have extra context for the question (not before and not after.), every question is independent.


texts: What do you call a word that share the same theme as another word?

texts:
I am wondering if there's an adjective for qualifying an object as having the same theme as another word? For example, birds and crocodile share the same theme (animal), likewise, cissing and colorist share the same theme (arts). Is there such an adjective? If not can you think of a phrase or a compound word?

For example:

  Cissing and colorist are ___.


texts: Can we use simple present with simple past? What does it indicate?

texts:
It is time we went home. [means , it is time for us to go home]
  It is high time we left. [it is proper time for us to leave ]

So which grammar rule apply here.


texts:
Suppose that the distance between A and B is 1m, is it correct and natural to say

  A and B are spaced by 1 meter


texts: The comma in "I stopped work a year ago(,) when we discovered Jack had a kidney problem."

texts:
How would you paraphrase these sentences:

  I stopped work a year ago when we discovered Jack had a kidney problem.

  I stopped work a year ago, when we discovered Jack had a kidney problem.


texts:
Does the usage of the apostrophe in this article headline only occur in formal writing? Because I only see it being used in an article headline. I'm sorry if I'm talking nonsense.

Always Sunny’s Glenn Howerton: ‘The characters can be horrible misogynists, we the writers are not’

I'm talking about this structure: (thing)'s (person or  character) [complement].


texts:
In The Godfather by M. Puso I come across the phrase 'all the horses'. Apparently, the horses themselves doesn't meantion there. The context is the following:

  Sonny made a violent gesture. "I know I'm not the man he was. But I'll
  tell you this and he'll tell you too. When it comes to real action I
  can operate as good as anybody, short-range. Sollozzo knows that ad so
  do Clemenza and Tessio, I 'made my bones' when I was nineteen, the
  last time the Family had a war, and I was a big help to the old man.
  So I'm not worried now. And our family has all the horses in a
  deal like this.

Could you explain the meaning of the entire sentence?


texts: What do you call an action that is less serious than a "crime" (that is not illegal, just against rules)?

texts:
Example sentence:

  Dying your hair pink is a __ in secondary school.

I thought of words like "offense" and "misdeed," but they don't ring quite right.


texts:
I wonder what would you normally call someone who has a chip on their shoulder informally? (What I am looking for can be considered as an offensive idiom/expression/adjective by most people.) Such people have many complexes and most of the time treat others in an offensive, aggressive or unfair manner, because there is something eating them from inside. Psychologically they have been treated in the past very bad once or for a long time, and they want to revenge in this way; because deep down inside they consider all the surrounding people guilty.

For instance:

  Mother: Did you go to that department today and talk to the director?
  Daughter: No, mom! And I won't go. They're a bunch of ____________

I wonder what would you use in the blank?


texts:
How many people will you invite for your daughter's wedding?

  How many people will be invited for your daughter's wedding?

Is this correct form of passive?


texts:
Can anyone please help me out and indicate the mistake in this exchange?

“Is John ill? He’s lost a lot of weight.”
“Yes, he is rather slender these days, isn’t  he?”

I am not so sure about the way the second sentence is punctuated.


texts:
The telecom sector is the backbone to the Digital India vision and it deserves an (enabled) regulatory environment.

Options:
1) enabling
2) enable
3) able

this question came in my exam, and I chose able, but the answer given was enabling, but I think able is equally correct here, no other context was given in the examination, please help, which do you think is correct?


texts:
A group of proteins, summarised as the sarcomeric cytoskeleton, is essential for the ordered assembly of actin and myosin filaments into sarcomeres, by combining architectural, mechanical and signalling functions.

Does it mean that SC is essential for assembly by combining or it can also mean that SC is essential by combining for the assembly?


texts: How do you ask the age of a person in a picture?

texts:
I am confused between these two sentences :

How old are you in this picture?
How old were you in this picture?

Which one of these is correct or more accurate?


texts:
The following sentence is quoted from a transcript of NBC NEWS. Mr. Jim Clyburn said:

... But I can tell you about the 1st congressional district of South Carolina. I really believe that that's what cost Joe Cunningham his seat. And I can also tell you about the Senate here in South Carolina. Jaime Harrison started to plateau when “defund the police” showed up with a caption on TV, ran across his head. That stuff hurt Jaime. And that's why I spoke out against it a long time ago. I've always said that these headlines can kill a political effort ...

What does a person started to plateau mean?


texts: Am I correctly using the word "interest"?

texts:
The professor hoped to interest his students in English grammar.
His explanations were so interesting that all the students interested in.

Are the words which I have put in italics correctly used in these sentences?


texts: What is the difference between below/above and over/under?

texts:
I would like to know the difference between above and over when these words mean "more than" and the differnce between between below and under when these words mean "less than". Are some difference between them or are they interchangeable? If they are not, which ones can I fill the blank with?

They excluded people _____ 20 from the club.
Most of the events listed cost _____ £60.
A visa is not required for a stay of _____ three months.
The temperature remained _____ freezing all day.
The standard of his work is well _____ the average of his class.
Together they control just _____ 50% of the company.
The village is well _____ sea level.

Thanks.


texts: To and Into : Contextually which one is overemphasizing?

texts:
I usually use the 2nd sentence. I want to know when to use the first one.

  The children badgered their father into taking them to a movie
  The children badgered their father to take them to a movie


texts: The use of adverbs "most" and "best" in context

texts:
Tell me please if there is any difference between the following sentences.

  I like fried fish the best.

  I like fried fish the most.

By the way, what if I omit the definite article, will the meaning change.


texts: If you and two other people were in a room, and you needed to ask them for water, would you say to them "Do either of you have water?", or "does either of you have water?"?


texts: How tendency to revise is related to maintaining uniqueness of the work?

texts:
In the following sentence:

There has been a tendency among art historians not so much to revise as to eliminate the concept of the Renaissance - to contest not only its uniqueness, but its very existence.

How the tendency of not revising the work is related to not maintaining the uniqueness of the work?
If I don't revise or update my work, will that affect the uniqueness of my work?
I believe that, my consistency to do something unique affects the uniqueness of my work?
What is author actually trying to convey through the sentence?


texts: Is "Was I surprised!" a question sentence or a exclamatory sentence?

texts:
I encountered the following sentences in a picture book:

  "Something is crying, Minneapolis Simpkin," I said to myself.
  "I will find out what it is."  I looked in the bushes.
  Was I surprised!
  "Wow! A baby monster!"

I think "Was I surprised!" is a exclamatory sentence. What kind of sentence pattern is it?


texts: what's the word for '' make something look smaller''?

texts:
The word I'm looking for is for calming  somebody down

Like this Example

  If you want to relax, you should make your problems look small(er) in
  your mind.

minify your problems
minimize your problems
belittle your problems

I don't think any of them are correct

what's the proper word for stating this sentence?


texts:
He couldn't depart fom old customs (word choice: abolish vs remove)

I feel both of them are right but abolish looks a bit formal and grandios.
What could be your choice?


texts:
I have read this ELL question and this ELL question but isn't clear to me how the "though" word is used in this sentence. Is it used to show selection? (I say the blue one) or other meaning is applied?

  Which piece will be used for this experiment?

  Ideally both pieces would work, though blue if you only have time for one.


texts: "think opposing counsel to be the personal enemies of their parents" — why "the"?

texts:
From To Kill a Mockingbird:

  I’ve heard that lawyers’ children, on seeing their parents in court in the heat of argument, get the wrong idea: they think opposing counsel to be the personal enemies of their parents, they suffer agonies, and are surprised to see them often go out arm-in-arm with their tormenters during the first recess.

I wonder why the author uses "the" in "the personal enemies." The enemies in court aren't the only enemies a person might have.


texts: Can "mess around" be used in this context?

texts:
So I stepped out on my porch and yelled at him to get the (swear word) off my lawn. At first he thought I was joking, but then he ran. He could tell I wasn't messing around.
Is "wasn't messing around" natural in this context to mean that he could tell that I was dead serious?
What else could be said to mean that?
Thank you.


texts:
I'm having a hard time understanding this sentence. I don't get the function of the verb LEFT in it.

"Thus was the final act of ferocious farce left until that bloody week in May 1871 when some thirty thousand Communards died."

Does it mean:

So, the final act of that ferocious farse was left to the bloody week in May 1871 when...

Thanks