texts: Is the word "in" required or omissible when talking about position?

texts:
Consider the guy highlighted by the red circle in the following image:

to describe him, is each of the following expressions correct and idiomatic?

  He is the horizontal position.

  He is in the horizontal position.

In other words, is the word "in" required or omissible when talking about position?


texts: difference between "looking" and "looked" here-

texts:
It left the German Embassy looking as though it had been
  racked by an earthquake.
  It left the German Embassy looked as though it had been racked
  by an earthquake.

Is the #2 a correct sentence? What is the difference between the two?


texts:
One of the questions I came across reads:

  The topography of the ocean floors none too well known, since in great areas the available soundings are hundreds or even thousands of miles apart.

What sort of syntax it is? Initially, I thought that it's not too well known. But when checked the source, it wasn't that.

What's the difference between not too well known and none too well known? Is there any?


texts: the meaning of "this Oscar-tipped production"

texts:
Adapted from Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 Novel about an African boy recruited to a rebel militia, this Oscar-tipped production gets a brief UK theatrical outing prior to its high-profile Netflix release on 16 October.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/11/beasts-of-no-nation-review-idris-elba

Can you explain to me what "Oscar-tipped" means in the context of the sentence. Does it mean that the movie was made in the way to gain Oscar, no matter in what category? That would mean that the movie tries to fawn over Oscar Academy's taste which I think is a nonsense. But another explanation does not occur to me.


texts:
I was reading a story "The piece of string" by Guy de Maupassant, when I read this line:

  "Mr. Manana, the harness man saw you pick up the pocketbook."

I read it several times and it didn't seemed correct to me.

I want to ask if picking up would be the correct form to use instead of pick up, or better. Or is it just a difference of American English and UK English ?


texts: Is the main verb of this sentence missing?

texts:
In the bolded sentence, it looks that something is wrong:

  Though the purpose of this book as a whole is to look at what could be considered
  appropriate activity in regard to a cultural site, it is necessary
  here to look at what might or might not be appropriate commercial
  activity for the site in question. The particular concerns of
  religious sites have been referred to already. In general, the ideal
  is that any commercial activity should be that which is most suitable
  simultaneously to meet the needs of a site, its presenter and its
  audience. Mismatches, where activity is inappropriate, spoiling the
  atmosphere of a place, simply ‘grate’. (Boniface, 1995, p. 100)

Is it grammatical? What does this sentence mean? would you paraphrase it? Shouldn't there be an is before simply?

Reference:

Boniface, P. (1995). Managing quality cultural tourism: Routledge.


texts: Plural form of "brother-in-law" when a possessive case is involved

texts:
1) My brother's friend's opinions

  2) My brothers' friend's opinions

I hope "1" and "2" are pretty clear and correct.

Now, let us suppose that the brother in "1" is a brother-in-law and that all the brothers in "2" are brothers-in-law.

Question is: How do we rewrite "1" and "2" in these cases?

Following the J.R.'s suggestion, I have done some preliminary researches and I found that when in-laws become possessive brothers-in-law is written brother-in-law's. So, I would conclude that we should rewrite "1" and "2" in the same way, as follow.

  i) My brother-in-law's friend's opinions.

  ii) My brother-in-law's friend's opinions.

But, if it is so, how can we distinguish the two different cases?


texts: I've just seen a book title 'What You Make It'. This is grammatically right, isn't it?

texts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_You_Make_It

Well, is it this structure, 'subject + verb + object + objective complement'?

And I heard the phrase 'Life is what you make it.' How about omitting 'it' in the sentence? Is it okay?  If the omitted sentence is not wrong, I think its meaning is quite different from the former, though.


texts:
I cannot differentiate between the words soon and early in my following example! I was wondering which one sounds better (grammatically and semantically) here and why?

Person A
- > Oh! Look at the time, I've got to go. It was nice to see you.

Person B
a - > Why are you leaving so soon?
b - > Why are you leaving so early?

I have read the similar thread in the forum, but unfortunately it wasn't helpful.


texts: Is there a common way to distinctly express thanks when "in advance" vs "after done" for different subjects?

texts:
[edit] After reading first answers I realized that the way I expressed the question was actually confusing.  So here is another formulation, hopefully more clear.

This question came to my mind just after posting a comment in Stack Overflow, where I wanted to thank the OP because he'd kept me informed.

As a French native speaker, I use to have in French a clear, unambiguous way to distinctly express thanks, depending on they are for something I'm asking for, or something that I just got. In other words, before or after obtaining it.

Though in English it appears that it may be much ambiguous, so in the example above I was afraid to write something that could be read as "please keep me informed" instead.
Especially, Google translator as well as already posted answers seem to confirm that something like Thanks for ...ing me (whatever action is "...") could apply to both "before" and "after" situations.

Hence my main question: is that true? And if so, how am I supposed to disambiguate when I use such formulation? Depending on context?

It's clear that I can always use some imperative formulation when I ask, such as "Please ...", so I'm sure not to ambiguous at all. At the opposite, for the "after" case it seems more delicate, especially if I want to avoid complicate periphrasis.

Hence the additional question: is there a common simple way to express the "after" case?

Here is the original question.

As a French native speaker, this question came to my mind just after posting a comment in Stack Overflow, where I wanted to thank the OP because he'd kept me informed, but I was afraid to write something ambiguous that he could read as "please keep me informed".
In French, we can clearly express the difference using different tenses with the same words (including conjunctions):

Merci de m'informer: literally "Thanks to inform me"; it's to thank in advance, regarding something I asked for.
Merci de m'avoir informé: literally "Thanks to have informed me"; it's to thank for something that have be done for me (or given to me).

But from my (currently little) experience it seems that the preferred way in English may often be quite different, and frequently ambiguous (at least at my eyes).

E.g. when asking Google translator I get "Thanks for informing me" for both #1 and #2 above!
The same applies with Merci de me tenir informé and Merci de m'avoir tenu informé, that both return Thanks for keeping me informed.

In the other hand, if I try with "answer" instead of "inform", I get not ambiguous translations: Thanks for answering me and Thanks for your reply.
In fact I guess that these contradictory examples only give evidence that Google translator is poorly supplied, and lacks reliability...

So is there a general rule (or a set of rules) that clearly indicate which choice is the good one in these situations?
Or in other words, something as simple and not ambiguous as the French way, merely using present infinitive when asking and past infinitive when it's done.


texts: The usage of "amateur night" as an adjective

texts:
There is a line in the movie Casino:

  No matter what the Feds or the papers might have said about my car bombing, it was amateur night, you could tell. Whoever it was, they put the dynamite under the passenger side. But what they didn't know, what nobody outside the factory knew was that that model car was made with a metal plate under the driver's seat. It's the only thing that saved my life.

I understand the phrase to mean amateurish here. But is this phrase amateur night idiomatic? Is this usage common? With few sources having pithy words about this term, it seems a very uncommon term.


texts: Can the verb "mumble" be used to express "talking without voice" like some children do?

texts:
mumble verb [intransitive, transitive] to speak or say
  something in a quiet voice in a way that is not clear synonym mutter

  mumble (to somebody/yourself) I could hear him mumbling to himself.

  mumble something (to somebody/yourself) She mumbled an apology and
  left.

  speech ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.

  mumble that… She mumbled that she was sorry.

But it seems that mumbling involves that people do speak but they don't speak loud enough, maybe they don't open their mouths big enough.

But some children speak with their mouths opening big but voicelessly. In that situation, can I say "The child is mumbling"


texts: "playing with balls" vs. "playing balls"

texts:
When do I need to use "with"?

My son's English teacher said that it is wrong to say:

  "We played six balls at the same time",

that I need "with" there unless "six balls" is a name of game.

Is it like "with" is always required in such cases when it's not about a game, but rather about objects that you are going to play with?


texts:
How does "would" work in this sentence?
A: Is it "may I know who you are ?" or "may I know who are you?"?
Thanks!
B: The first one is correct. 'May I know who are you?' is not correct in standard British English; instead, it would be 'may I know who you are?'.


texts: which statement is correct "for what I understand" or "from what I understand"?

texts:
I know this might sound a little too basic, but I would like to know if the following statements are correct and if there is a difference between them.

From what I understand the bible teaches about one god only.
For what I understand the bible teaches about one god only.

This might be odd but I am making things up and those might not be the best examples but I tried. I must also say that I not even know if the second one is grammatical or a real expression. Please don't judge as I haven't hear this kind of expressions in a long time.


texts:
Suppose you were a pilot for an airline for five years. But then you left the job. So if someone asks you "do you know how to fly a plane?" what would your answer be?

  a) I have been a pilot for five years so i think i know how to fly a plane

or

  b) I had been a pilot for five years so i think i know how to fly a plane.

As far as I know it should be "b" because he is not a pilot anymore and if I say "I have been a pilot", it can also mean that he is still a pilot. But I don't wanna say that because he isn't.


texts: Is there any technical name for the sand traps in some car races? I mean, those areas covered with soil and designed to prevent a car from hitting a track wall.


texts:
Video

In the video, I see the guy just draw his neck a bit backward and make it align/perpendicular with his back. Is it what the term "Pack the/your neck" simply mean?

Edit: Added more context for guys who cannot see the video


texts: What does "tapping into the pocket of sunlight" mean?

texts:
This phrase is from the Home(2009) documentary and the whole sentence is:

  "Our world's clock now beats to the rhythm of these indefatigable machines tapping into the pocket of sunlight."


texts: Ways that a mom ask her child to wear properly in cold weather

texts:
It's difficult for me to find the correct words to ask my young brother that told me that he's cold. I want to ask him about the quality of his dressing, I mean if he weared properly before he left home.

I'm looking for the ways that a native English parent usually tell or ask his children how to dress in a cold weather. Let's imagine a mom  which her son calls her and tells her that he's cold, then she'll be interested to know about the quality of her son cloths, what usually the kind of the question will be?

  Did you dress / wear  warm cloths?

  Are you dressed  / weared properly and warmly?


texts:
"Why people like art?" is  a question for ESL students.
I tried to answer the question and wrote several possibilities, because I am confused by "or not" and "don't". Could you please correct them?

"I don't know how it happens. It happens by itself. You like it or not, you either understand or not."

"I don't know how it happens. It happens by itself. You like it or you don't like it. You either understand it or you don't understand it."

"I don't know how it happens. It happens by itself. You either like it or not, understand it or not."


texts: Why does Oxford dictionary say "student life" and not "the student life"?

texts:
There is an entry at the oxford dictionary that begins with

  The popular image of student life is of young people with few responsibilities enjoying themselves and doing very little work

Why didn't it say

"of the student life"?
"a student life"?


texts:
So I found examples of both 'would you' and 'do you' before the phrase 'happen to'.

Do you happen to have...
Would you happen to know...

Are they interchangeable?
Please explain the differences.

Many thanks.


texts: "Doesn't look like anything to me" meaning

texts:
In the Westworld TV series, androids use phrase "It doesn't look like anything to me" relative to something they are forbidden to realize and understand - e.g. an item which may lead them to the conclusion that they are artificially made.

As a non-native English speaker, I'm unsure I understand the exact meaning of this phrase. My best guess would be "it's some nonsense not worthy of attention", but due to Westworld popularity I can't google any other usage examples. Can somebody please clarify this?


texts: To move the beginning of the sentence to its ending

texts:
Here is a phrase:

  Don't read the books that you don't really like.

Can I change it to the following one?

  Those books that you don't really like, don't read.

My primary interest is technical writing. Still, even in technical writing, I would to avoid phrases that sound too weird.


texts: What's the meaning of "a back-arching scream"?

texts:
I checked the phrase in some dictionaries but I didn't find it.

Could you please explain the phrase to me?

The full text is here:

The burn was the injury, I reasoned. It made sense to treat it first. I
fetched a pack of ice from the chest freezer on the patio, but when the pack
touched his leg he screamed—a back-arching, eye-popping scream that
made my brain claw at my skull.

Source: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover, 2018 p.73


texts: What's the role of "whatsoever" in this sentence?

texts:
Meanwhile, Cathy has become a prostitute at the most respectable brothel in the city of Salinas. She renames herself "Kate" and embarks on a devious – and successful – plan to ingratiate herself with the owner, murder her, and inherit the business. She makes her new brothel infamous as a den of sexual sadism. She is not concerned that Adam Trask might ever look for her, and she has no feelings whatsoever about the children she abandoned.
  (Wikipedia)

Whatsoever seems to be an adverb as in the case of Oxford (I have no doubt whatsoever); and the prepositional phrase, "about the children she abandoned," to modify feelings (or complement feelings). Is this right or do I have to see other ways?


texts:
The sentence below:

  Our method cannot achieve 100 percent accuracy as compared to DART method due to the imprecise modeling.

Why does the sentence above use as compared to? Can we use as compare to instead?


texts:
The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.

This is taken from The Adventure of Sussex Vampire. In one conversation Sherlock Holmes mention this two sentences.

I think in No ghosts need apply, need is a modal verb, and mean need to. But what is the meaning of apply here?

I think it means No ghosts have practical applicability, or in other word They are not real

Am I right?


texts: Alice referred Bob (or Carol?) to Carol (or Bob?)

texts:
Say Bob wanted to ask Alice some question, but Alice asked Bob to find Carol for an answer. When talking to Carol, which one is correct?

"Hi, Alice referred me to you / Hi, I was referred to you by Alice"
"Hi, Alice referred you to me / Hi, you were referred to me by Alice"

i.e. the ordering of Bob and Carol in the sentence when using "refer" as the verb.

Please also provide another verb for the other ordering.


texts:
I wrote:

  They each belong to a different node. To distinguish them, the node index together with the variable is stored in the list.

Is it correct? How about

  They each belong to a different node. To distinguish them, the node index is stored in the list, together with the variable

or even:

  They each belong to a different node. To distinguish them, together with the variable, the node index is also stored in the list.

I mean to distinguish two variables with the same name where  each belongs to a different node, the node index is stored together with each variable.

Actually I don't know the position of together with variable in this sentence. Should it immediately follows the name with which it comes or it can be after the verb?


texts: What are the differences between "I fell off / out / down / over / in"?

texts:
What are the differences between "I fell off / out / down / over"?
What I understand is that:

"off" is opposite of "on". So if you are "on something" and "you fell off", then you are not on it.

"out" is opposite of "in". So if you are "in something" and "you fell out", then you are not in it.

"out" is opposite of "in". So if you are "in something" and "you fell out", then you are not in it. And if you are "outside something" and "you fell in", then you are in it.

"down" is opposite of "up". So if you are "up there" and "you fell down", then you are on a lower position.

"over" is from one side to another side. So if you are "one one side" and "you fell over", then you are on the other side it.

But I may be wrong.


texts:
What does "jack-fool of a brother Ambrose" mean?

Example below

  It is true also that I did lay my hands upon this jack-fool of a brother Ambrose, though, as you can see, I did him little scathe.
  (The White Company, Arthur Conan Doyle)

My research:

scathe : (noun) The act of damaging something or someone.

Jack-fool: (noun) A fool

Ambrose : immortal


texts: Using she or you to refer to someone "as a little girl"

texts:
I read this somewhere and it said:

  I still remember you as a little girl who overwaters plants because she doesn't know when to stop giving.

But in this sentence, the person says 'you' and 'little girl', but then uses 'she' as a third person.

Shouldn't it be:

  I still remember you as a little girl who overwaters plants because you didn't know when to stop giving.


texts: Many experiences in many occasions are needed for a person in order to be counted as wise

texts:
There is a proverbial hemistich in my language about a person who is not well-experienced yet. It says:

  An unexperienced person should travel a lot in order to be wiser / experienced. [literal translation]

In the poetical sentence above, the word "travel" alludes to "achieving enough experience", in the manner that if one wants to become wise enough they must achieve enough experience and as the saying goes experience ups and downs of life so that they could consider themselves as a wise and aware person.

I have found the following English equivalents, but I'm positive that they are some direct translations from other languages into English:

  Much travel is needed to rippen a man's rawness. {travel: obtaining experience}
  Travel broadens the mind. {travel: obtaining experience}

I need to discover the phrase, expression, idiom or proverb which is commonly said by native speakers in this sense.


texts: Can I reduce a relative clause like this?

texts:
Can I reduce a relative clause like this from (1) to (2)?

(1) People who lift weights but eat unhealthy food and go to bed late are not going to lose wight.

(2) People lifting weights but eating unhealthy food and going to bed late are not going to lose weight.


texts: Difference between "full-infinitive" and "preposition + gerund-participle" in a sentence

texts:
Is there any difference between these two sentences, please?

We went to Paris to visit the Louvre museum.
We went to Paris for visiting the Louvre museum.


texts: ...and started (walking) down the corridor

texts:
The man stepped off the elevator and started down the corridor.
I have seen started used like this before without adding eg. walking after it. Is it perfectly natural use of started?


texts: "It was Bob and Tom" – why not “They were”?

texts:
What is the rule of concordance/agreement in the following sentence?

  It was Magnus and Claudia

I have come across the type of agreement as in the example sentence above quite a few times.

Could anyone explain why the instance goes as It was and not as They were and is the latter usage possible and if yes, in which case?


texts:
I understand "to natural justice" as "for the sake of the natural justice." Am I on the right track?

Andrew Roberts: “If we topple Nelson, what do we do about the pyramids, built at least in part by slave labour?”
Although it is completely illogical, ahistorical and unfair to natural justice to judge the people of the past by today’s morals, it is also very hard not to. If we merely judge them by the morals of their own times, that doesn’t tell us very much. If we don’t judge them morally at all, we let off the likes of Hitler and Stalin in a welter of moral relativism.

Source:  History Extra


texts: Is it true that the preposition "for" can not be used in present and past continuous tenses?

texts:
Previously, I asked the question about words of place where one was born but not raised.  In the question, I wrote:

  I know a girl who was born in Melbourne but she was raised in Japan. Then she moved to China and had been living there for a few years.

Because the girl no longer lives in China but she used to live in China, so I wrote "She had been living there for a few years".

I had been thinking for a while whether I should write "she was living in China for a few years, or she had been living in China for a few years", because our non-native English teacher used to tell us that, "Both present and past perfect continuous tenses must be followed by the preposition "for." I followed her rule, and I chose to write "she had been living there for a few years".

But I am so confused now.
Is it wrong to use the preposition "for" in this past continuous tense:

  She was living in China for a few years.

Thank you.


texts: Present perfect or past simple when talking about someone who's just died

texts:
If someone's just died ( a day, two days ago - maybe in the context of a funeral), do you use past simple or past perfect in the following cases?

How long did you know her/ have you known her?
Everybody who knew/ who's known her is in a daze right now.
Even those who didn't know/ haven't known her long have been hit hard by the news of her death.


texts: which conjunction should be used in a negative clause: "and" or "or"?

texts: To say that I don't have something and something else, should I say: "I don't have a white shirt AND black trousers."or "I don't have a white shirt OR black trousers."


texts: He loves cooking, doesn't he? OR He love cooking, doesn't he? Do we need "s" at the end of "love" if we are using "does not"?


texts: Does Until  mean before the month starts or before the month ends?

texts:
I received an email stating,

  All applicants will be notified of a decision, via email, sometime from now until June.

Should I assume I would receive decision within May 31st or any day during the entire month of June?


texts:
Should I use singular or plural nouns with if any?

If any contestant does not follow the rules, he/she will be expelled from the competition.
If any contestants do not follow the rules, they will be expelled from the competition.

If they are both correct, Would you prefer a singular noun or a plural one after if any?

I know It's better to say:

Any contestant not following the rules will be expelled from the competition.

For a non native speaker like me, It is a problem to decide whether I should use plural or singular nouns after if any.

Can anyone who is a teacher or has good knowledge of the language please explain this?

Thanks In advance.


texts: 'more smooth' or 'more smoother'? Which is right?

texts:
Curve A is more smooth than curve B

Should 'smooth' be replaced by 'smoother'?


texts:
What is a "car transport agency" to issue a car in the following paragraph?
What is the difference among it, a moving company, and a truck-rental company like U-haul?

  And yet her eyes filled with surprising tears a few weeks later as she watched me load the Rambler I’d been issued by a car transport agency, carrying a map of America, my handful of newspaper clips, and the $300 I’d earned cataloguing votes in a My Weekly Reader presidential poll.

This is in this book.


texts: "is proven" or "are proven" in this sentence?

texts:
This is my version:

Metallo-organic anti-wear additive system in Havoline ProDS Fully Synthetic ECO 5and ProDS Fully Synthetic LE SAE 5W-40 is proven to protect engines under a broad range of operating conditions for the light duty engines segment.

That's legal's version:

Metallo-organic anti-wear additive systems in Havoline ProDS Fully Synthetic ECO 5and ProDS Fully Synthetic LE SAE 5W-40 are proven to protect engines under a broad range of operating conditions for the light duty engines segment.
Which one is correct?


texts:
A man was seen using newspaper to hide his groping of a female commuter on the Shanghai metro recently.

Can we use molesting instead of groping?


texts: What is the structural (positive or negative) answer for "Is this a courgette"?

texts:
I know that when answering on an question with a structure of interrogative structure, then there is a short structural answer which based on the tense or the lexical verb that the questioner asked. For example:

  Questioner: Is it tall? Does it go?

  Short structural answers: Yes, it is. / No, it is not. / Yes, it does. / No, it does not.

Now my question is on a case where I use demonstratives instead of pronouns, then should I use demonstrative in the short structural answer as well?

For example:

  "Is this a courgette"?

The choices are as the follow:

  Yes, this is. / No this is not. /  Yes, it is. / No. it is not.


texts: Is it correct to say "We've been stood, standing..."

texts:
What exactly one mean when they say "stood standing" in a sentence?

Brace yourself...

Example:

  "Mr. rumbold, I have a complaint, and I am unanimous in this! We've been stood, standing, waiting downstairs for that lift, and it wasn't working..."

One more:

  "Oh, I'm worn out to start with. I have stood standing in the bus all the way

And a similar:

  "We have been sat, sitting here for half an hour and nothing arrived, except you"

Is this phrase grammatically correct, or might it just be a script error? Can you please explain when this type of emphasis can be used, and if it's commonly being used?


texts: I don't understand why this is a 'dangling' sentence

texts:
I've googled some dangling modifier and sentences,
but still not sure what exactly it is.
And I don't understand why this sentence I wrote is dangling.

What I wrote was

  She went to pay admission fees and one of the staff said, "Why're choosing a major which won't make you a lot of money?", trying to dissuade and telling her to reconsider it.

Teacher told me the bold part is dangling and 'it' after resconsider should be removed, but I don't understand why it's a dangling sentence, because the one who 'tries to dissuade her and tells her to reconsider' is 'the staff'. Why is this a problem though the subject is same?

However I tried to change it to

  She went to pay admission fees and one of the staff tried to dissuade her and told her to reconsider. “Why’re you choosing a major which won’t make you a lot of money?”

Is there still dangling part in this sentence? Or is it correct?


texts: Can someone explain what does the sentence "if not the greatest man who ever lived his life in the world" mean in a paragraph?

texts:
Nearly every year, especially since the Lincoln Centennial, 1909, something new has been added to the universal knowledge of one of the greatest, if not the greatest man who ever lived his life in the world.

Does the word greatest describe Lincoln?
Does this sentence "if not the greatest man who ever lived his life in the world" relate to the whole passage/paragraph and what does the whole paragraph mean including the sentence?


texts: Does the structure of "I would rather not to do" make any sense?

texts:
Are there any structure like "I would rather not to do something" which is valid ?
I don't know why but it seems OK for me.


texts: The meaning of "but he had nails, that one, and the other protested. . . ."

texts:
‘But it was my umbrella which at that moment began to take the stage.
  It receded from me with those two young attached to different points
  of its circumference. At the same time it gyrated painfully in that
  shadow there. I followed, stupefied, and demanded some explanation of
  the outrage. It replied in two voices of an equal regret that it was
  attached and could not free itself. I hastened to aid. They said
  afterwards they misconstrued my motives. All I know is that my
  umbrella, open always, but tortured by unequal compressions, descended
  indescribably those three steps here into the body of the church,
  where the congregation awaited my discourse. On one side of its large
  circle, which you see, was an acolyte, facing inwards, clawing at the
  laces on his bosom and his elbow. On another was his companion,
  inextricably caught high up under the armpit, which he could not reach
  with the other hand, because he was facing outwards, pinned there by
  his vestments. The central effect, Monsieur, was that of an undevout
  pagoda conducting a pas de trois in a sacred edifice, to the
  accompaniment of increasing whimpers. This was before they collapsed,
  those young. Whether by accident or design, the child facing inwards
  snatched at the back of the head of the other. We shave our boys'
  heads in France, fortunately; but he had nails, that one, and the
  other protested. . . .

This is from "The Miracle of Saint Jubanus" by Rudyard Kipling.

I can't understand the meaning of the sentence below.
but he had nails, that one, and the other protested. . . .

I am glad if somebody would kindly teach me.


texts:
There is a picture of a boy who is in class. In the picture the teacher is dictating a text, and the boy is writing it down.

The children are asked to describe this picture in one sentence: (What's he doing?) - He is...

Which verb is correct here, learn or study? Or both are correct? (The children don't know the difference between these two words yet, but they know that "to learn" means 'to get knowledge or skill' and "school" is a place where they gain more knowledge.)

  To learn – to gain knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being
  taught, or experiencing something.

  To study – to read, memorize facts, attend school, etc., in order to
  learn about a subject. Source


texts:
You're going to get us late.

You're going to make us late.

Does the first sentence work?
( "We got late" doesn't work, but "she got me wet" works, so I was wondering if "she got us late", "you're going to get us late" work)


texts: The soundness of this sentence: "we evaluate the effectiveness of the/our proposed method"

texts:
My question is about the soundness of the sentence:

  "we evaluate the effectiveness of the/our proposed method"

It seems that it is used in writings and is grammatically correct. However, according to my searches, it seems to me that this sentence is mostly used in the writings of non-English speakers and I could find almost no (or a very small number of) authors with names that looked like English to me that use the sentence. Is there something unusual in the sentence that prevents native speakers from using it?


texts:
I am not a native English speaker. I got a question in one of my English language test exam. The question is How important a part of your week are your free-time activities?

Can anyone tell me what is exactly the question looking for? Can anyone translate this in a simple form?


texts: Which word to describe a person who agrees with anything?

texts:
Like, in an old joke:

  Joe and Jack sue each other.
  Joe: Sir, Jack let his cows destroy my field. He has to pay me!
  Judge: You're right!
  Jack: Yes, but I have no other way since the only road had been blocked, I need to go across his land to have grass for my cows, or else my family could be hungry to death.
  Judge: You're right!
  Then a serving lady comes across and says: But they cannot be right at the same time!
  Judge: You're right too!

Then judge is he who agrees with both ideas, even though they contradict to each other. In general, which word to describe a person who agrees with every opinion? Those who may agree with an opinion, then when hearing another opinion they also think it's right.

This word should be of disapproving connotation.
In Vietnamese, which is my mother tongue, there's at least one word to call them. The most common one is "ba phai", which is the same as "three rights", that's mean all of the opinions are right from their view.
Please help me to find the word. Thank you.


texts: "Dearly-missed hometown" or "dearly missed hometown?"

texts:
The reason of my confusion is that I get both on Google:

  Back in Lakewood, our dearly missed hometown. We used to buy our
  birthday cakes from a fabulous little neighborhood shop called Cakes
  by ...

  But if you live in my dearly-missed hometown of Philly,
  well, you probably go about things a little bit differently. Take one
  Fatai King, a man with ...

Which is the right version, and why?


texts:
I can travel in July because my exams will definitely be finished at the beginning of that month.

I could travel in July because my exams will probably be finished at the beginning of that month.

Do 1) and 2) both sound correct and natural, especially sentence 2), without any additional context?


texts: What is the best choice in this case, 'has taken' vs. 'has been taking'?

texts:
Consider:

  Jessy has taken or has been taking driving lessons and next week she is going to take the driving test

I think has been taking can make it as taking driving lessons has been an ongoing action if you want to emphasize the continuity of the action.

But I think has taken could also make it if you want to emphasize the result. She probably is not taking driving lessons until she has the result of the test. If she passes it, no more lessons will be needed, and the action will be completed.


texts: To put something out of order unintentionally

texts:
What verbs would you use to convey the idea of someone having broken/putting something out of order.

My car won't start! You /broke it/broke it down/put it out of order/ruined.
My computer doesn't work! You /broke it/broke it down/put it out of order/ruined.
My washing machine doesn't work! You /broke it/broke it down/put it out of order/ruined.
My washing machine doesn't work! You /broke it/broke it down/put it out of order/ruined.


texts: Why don't we say "I have my room" to mean "I have my own room" or "I have a room to myself"? Grammar-wise, why is the first sentence incorrect when I want to say that I do not share my room with my siblings?


texts:
What is the plural of octopus? Is it octopuses, octopi or octopodes?

Normally in English it's supposed to be octopi, but when I type it, it has a red line under it (by the spell check), which means that it's incorrect. I also saw the word octopuses in my school's textbook. I got really confused about which one is correct.

Thanks! Any help would be appreciated.


texts:
What is the difference between the sentences below?

  Employees names were not appearing in the pay register when they had negative salary earlier but when we changed their salary to positive they stared appearing.

And,

  Employees names had not been appearing in the pay register when they had negative salary earlier but when we changed their salary to positive they stared appearing.

Please Explain in detail.

What I understand from the First sentence is
The Speaker just explaining the scenario to someone.
And from second sentence
The Speaker explaining the event that had already happened in past.


texts:
Question:

  Does the sentence mean that Saudi Arabia has the far more large oil reserve?

Sentence:

  This is the Alberta tar sands, the largest oil reserves on the planet outside of Saudi Arabia

Link to the story (4.00)

Link to map of Alberta location


texts: Past-Perfect with "before" used with Past-Simple

texts:
Why here in the first part of the sentence is the Past-Perfect used, if the hero
realized something BEFORE the boat was on the water?

The first action in the past must be in the Past Perfect because it was BEFORE something happened.

Before the boat had been under way for ten minutes, I realized that Miss Bradley was a remarkable bore.


texts:
When we keep a fast, we end eating at a particular time thus we say:

  I started my fast at 05:00 a.m.

When we eat to end the fast what should we say:

  to open the fast

  to end the fast

  to finish the fast

Actually I've heard it in a video that the speaker used the word 'open fast' that was quite strange for me. I don't think if we open the fast. When we eat in the evening after a particular time of fasting, we eat so that the act 'fasting' ends. The following source also says so.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting

Can we say:

  I opened my fast.

or

  I ended my fast.


texts:
Try experimenting with working by a window or using full spectrum bulbs in your desk lamp. You will probably find that this improves the quality of your working environment.

"this " refers to "working by a window or using full spectrum bulbs in your desk lamp " or "experimenting" or "trying experimenting~"?


texts:
Here are three instances regarding the usage of articles:

From a poll on the Internet: "Should the owner of a shop be able to buy from or sell to their shop?"
From Wikipedia: "Birds of prey, also known as raptors, hunt and feed on other animals."
"Waves of radiation are called sine waves."

In 1, can the phrase "the owner of a shop" have the same reference as that of "owners of a shop"?

In 2, can the phrase "birds of prey" have the same reference as that of "the birds of prey"?

In 3, does the phrase "waves of radiation" have the same reference as that of "the waves of radiation"?

My answers are yes, no, yes. Am I right?


texts:
I have some sentences that I wanted to ask the experts here.

When emailing people in present tense, do I have to use future tense in order to be grammatically correct?

  "You need to call me whenever you receive my parcels, because that is the only way for me to find out if my parcels have been received."

Should this be:

  "You need to call me whenever you receive my parcels, because that will be the only way for me to find out if my parcels are received."

or

  "You need to call me whenever you receive my parcels, because that will be the only way for me to find out if my parcels have been received."

On the sentence below, I'm not sure if I should construct it with present perfect.

  "Sometimes, I find that I've done something I shouldn't have done."

Should it be:

  "Sometimes, I find that I did something I shouldn't have done."

The one below, I actually read it in a book.

  "I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to see that"

Is this some kind of present tense sentence? I think is should be "you shouldn't have seen that", but since I read this in a book, it must be correct.

Please help!


texts: What does the highlighted sentence mean in the paragraph given down below? I couldn't make the sense out of it

texts:
What does the highlighted sentence mean?
So what should one conclude about America’s own proximity to Trump’s global latrine now that “places like Norway” have decided to keep their borders indefinitely closed to us?


texts: in some situation, "A is type of B" could be shorten as "A is a B", is my understanding right?

texts:
This post says

  The main difference between Timber and Wood is that the Timber is a wood that has been processed into beams and planks and Wood is a fibrous material from trees of other plants...

  Lumber (American English; used only in North America) or timber (used in the rest of the English speaking world) is a type of wood that has been processed into beams and planks ...

It seems that, in some situation, "A is a type of B" could be shorten as "A is a B", is my understanding right? if yes, what are the situations?


texts: A synonym for "take a small amount of something"

texts:
I'm writing about the structure of a reaction vessel used in scientific labs.  The vessel has a large container equipped with another component.  This another component is used for taking a small amount of the content of the container.  The content is a liquid mixture.  The component is not a sampler; it is for transferring the small amount to the next step of reaction.

I need to name the component.  The name should be a single phrase, something like "...ing component" or "...er" (like "dividing component""divider").

Does anybody have a good idea for this?? Thank you!


texts:
I always get confused whether I should use singular or plural for "number".
Below are example sentences.
1: There was a similar pattern in the number of car theft and robbery throughout the period given.
2: There was a similar pattern in the numbers of car theft and robbery throughout the period given.
Because the number in this sentence indicates two things which are car theft and robbery, I thought I should use plural.
I would like to know which one is correct to use in this case.
Thank you for in advance.


texts: What is the meaning of "of" in "be of interest"?

texts:
What is the meaning of "be of interest" in the following sentence,

  The lecture will be of interest to history students.

?

Does "The lecture will be of interest to history students" mean
"The lecture of interest will be to history students" ?

What is the meaning of "of" in the sentence?

Does "of" in "be of interest" mean "of" in "a leaf of tree" ?


texts: "back me up on it" or "back me up this"?

texts:
Tell me please which word it is correct to use in the following sentence and why.

  I think we should watch that movie, and I hope you back me up on it/this.


texts:
"That's Dad's boss!" Ron breathed. "Cornelius Fudge, the Ministry of Magic!" Harry elbowed Ron hard to make him shut up.

  ...

  Before Fudge could answer, there was another loud rap on the door. Dumbledore answered it. It was Harry's turn for an elbow in the ribs; he'd let out an audible gasp.

  Harry potter and the chamber of secrets.

I searched the difference between "did" and "would", and found out that "did" just indicates a fact, whereas "would" includes person's will. (I saw this one.)

But I'm still confused. Then here, "he would let out a gasp" means he just wanted to let out a gasp, not that he did actually let out a gasp?


texts:
Watch this story on youtube, they say “Aladdin touched his fingers on the ring” at 4:12.
It seems that the people read that story are native English speakers.
I checked variety of dictionaries and it seems none says "touch your hand/finger... on something" but rather "touch something with your hand/finger..."
But people actually say that in a poem Cifra Club - Sylford Walker - Golden Pen
"You got to touch your finger on Jah golden pen"
Do native English speakers say "Aladdin touched his fingers on the ring”?
Note: I suspect the script of the video above was written by non-native speakers or near-native speakers ad therefore their English is not perfect.


texts:
The present perfect is used for quantity = how much, how many:

I have done 100 push-ups.

The present perfect continuous is used to express how long something has been happening:

I have been doing push-ups daily for two years.

If I want to combine the two, can I say:

I have been doing 100 push-ups daily for two years?


texts:
Which one is better?

Visitors picked up food quality as the prominent advantage of the island.
Visitors picked up quality of food as the prominent advantage of the island.

I know that "food quality" is a well-known collocation, but I wonder if it is ok to use "quality of food" or not?


texts: Difference between "Why couldn't you" and "Why couldn't you have"

texts:
I'm not sure if understand the difference between "Why couldn't" and "Why couldn't you have", could you guys tell me if I understand it correctly?

For example, these sentences

  Why couldn't you do that before?

and

  Why couldn't you have done that before?

I would say that it has something to do with ability and decisions, like, in the first one I'm asking about his past ability to do something, I want to know why he wasn't able to perform it before, whereas in the second one I'm asking about his decision, it's more like "Why didn't you do that before". I know he was able to do it, but he didn't, and I'm asking him about his reasons not to do it.

Perhaps I'm wrong, and there is no difference at all, but I couldn't find anything that would help me to understand this nuance


texts: What does here "signature statement" mean?

texts:
With a silhouette that is synonymous with the MT Series' signature statement of torque and power, the MT-07 showcases a tight, compact and powerful appearance.

The text is about motorcycles. Is it some kind of distinctive characteristics?


texts:
What does"there was never an us" mean or imply here?

  Relationship Status
  __ Single
  __ Taken
  __ There was never an us


texts: The equivalent verbs which are used when clothes are on your body

texts:
Do the sentences in each group bellow mean the same and can one swap them with each other?

1)

What are you wearing now?
What are you dressed in now?
What do you have on now?

2)

He was wearing a tie yesterday.
He was dressed in a tie yesterday.
He had a tie on yesterday.
He had on a tie yesterday.


texts: Should I use full sentence after like in the sentence below

texts:
When my cousin cries he seems like he laughs.When I describe this situation can say sententence below without using full sentence after “like “.

  My cousin cries like laughing

Or should I say by using full sentence after “like”

  My cousin cries like he laughs.


texts: "CHECK", "CHECK OUT", "VIEW", "LOOK AT" SOMEONE'S PROFILE (Meaning and Difference)

texts:
In the context of a website, for example, a dating site, I would like to know the meaning of the following expressions:

"to check someone's profile"
"to check out someone's profile"
"to view someone's profile"
"to look at someone's profile".

Do those expressions have to do with turning one's eyes towards something or do they mean to examine something or do they mean to read something?

What should I think of or should I imagine when I hear or see those expressions?

I have some examples:

  Someone likes your profile. Why not CHECK OUT their profile and see if you're interested.
  Susan just VIEWED your profile!
  Megan Fox just LOOKED AT your profile!
  Alizee just CHECKED your profile!


texts:
Earthy : referring to sex and the human body in a direct way Example:
She has an earthy sense of humor.

I don't understand the example with the meaning.
I got this from Cambridge Dictionary.


texts: What does "get" mean in the following conversation?

texts: ‘Is Lisa here?’ ‘Yes, I’ll get her for you.’


texts: the usage of "in" with meaning "concerning something"

texts:
I looked in the dictionary and noticed that in has the meaning of "concerning something."

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/in_1?q=in

But I am not quite sure if I can use in to mean "concerning something" in any condition.

For example:

  A book concerning theology.

Could I express it this way:

  A book in theology.


texts: meaning of 'positive' in 'trapped in a positive self-reinforcing cycle'

texts:
What is the meaning of positive in the following text, please?

  The causes for the decrease in the quality of life [in mega-cities]
  are paradoxically the prosperity endowed on such metropolitan centers.
  Their growth is largely due to the increase of opportunities on offer
  which in turn increases their attractiveness; essentially they are
  trapped in a positive self-reinforcing cycle.

I looked it up in dictionaries:

composed of or possessing actual or specific qualities; real ⇒ a positive benefit  (Collins American Dictionary)
arbitrarily or formally laid down or imposed :  prescribed by express enactment  ⇒  (MW Unabridged Dictionary) ; [In this sense it seems to me that the writer means metropolises are forced into such cycles [?]]

, but am not sure of either.


texts: What is the meaning of this "could have been more?"

texts:
What does this mean?
Does this mean..."someone else was very nationalistic and no other person could have been more so?"

  No person could have been more nationalistic.

The reason I asked is that I was a bit confused with this.

  I couldn't have been better.

This is only about me.
So there is no presumed person here like the example above.

What do you think?
Is my interpretation correct?


texts:
The governors would, of course, agree to your being admittedly
  pensioned.

I could not understand the use of your being here; why does this sentence construction used here?
         (As I've often read that preposition takes objective case but here your is a possessive case)


texts: "Your letter was received last Friday" or "Your letter is received last Friday"?

texts:
Are the following sentences correct? If not, what's the correct usage?

Your letter was received last Friday.
Your letter is received last Friday.


texts:
What does "vehicle of death" or "bridge to destruction" mean? Is it something tangible like coffin or hearse, or an expression more spiritual? The original sentence is as below:

  Whether rational or not, it is a tough emotion to shed. As Harken so poignantly observed, "When we've created the vehicle of death, the bridge to destruction for our patient, that's another kind of pain."

as read in this book


texts: Doesn't make sense or I don't understand

texts: If I don't understand what my friend is trying to say do I say "That doesn't make any sense", or do I say "I don't understand." Should the two phrases be the same or is there a more polite way of answering towards maybe a grownup instead of a friend? Which phrase is more casual and which phrase is more proper?


texts:
The cost of a tailored suit and the time required for a tailored suit......

Can the above be written as follow:

  The cost and time required for a tailored suit ......
  The cost of and time required for a tailored suit ......


texts: Correct way to phrase: "He has a bomb which no one knows how powerful it is"

texts:
Is the following grammatically correct?

  He has a bomb which no one knows how powerful it is.

I think the "it" should be removed to make it grammatically blunder-free.


texts: Different use of “Make something [adjective]."

texts:
Use of the structure “Make something [adjective]” confuses me in sometimes. I wonder if use of it below correct .

  I made lights solar-powered.

In this sentence i want to convert my house’s lights into solar powered lights.

Does this sentence have same meaning?


texts: "in eleven minutes" / "over eleven minutes"

texts:
I just updated a status saying that 'a lot could happen over eleven minutes'
I know that it should normally be written 'in eleven minutes'
but we had an incident which made eleven minutes look like quite a long time and I thought using 'over' instead of 'in' would emphasize the length of time.

For example, people say 'things change over a period of time' just to mention the longevity, and in the same way, I used 'over' to mention that eleven minutes is a really long time

Was that correct ?


texts: Is 'the most effective method to developing' correct?

texts:
"the most effective method to developing and improving health is daily exercise".

Here to+gerund structure seems like to be combined wrongly as preposition "to" doesn't belong to "method". So what do you think about that?


texts: Have/Had something/someone + verb meaning

texts:
What is the meaning of the construct "have/had something/someone + adjective"?
For example, "He had her tried for treason...".


texts: What is the meaning of "a big chain wants to buy them out"?

texts:
In Crime movie Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Andy is telling to Hawk about bank robbery plan on their own parent's
store and also people leaving near to it may identify him.

  Andy: We own a lot of land in the mall, and I'm getting a lot of big
  handshakes. "Andy, baby, how are you?" "I haven't seen you in so long
  since you left." And telling me all that bullshit because they figure
  I'm making a killing, because a big chain wants to buy them out. I'm
  saying someone's going to just recognize me too easy.

  Hawk: So we postpone, just...

  Andy: Yeah, we could, you know, wait a year.


texts: suppose my friend promises me that he will meet me at 1 p.m but he comes to me a few hours later. Can I say to him "Hey John, where were you? I was/have been waiting here for a long time?" "Was" or "have been": which one should I use?


texts:
My academic write-up was reviewed by a referee who is probably a native English speaker, and he marked the following sentence of my article as "bad English", but I don't understand why:

  This technique can improve the performance, thanks to its feature A and feature B.

What I meant was that its two features are the main reasons that this technique delivers better performance.

Is there something wrong with this way of using thanks to?


texts: I find this example sentence for “shuffle” quite subtle, vague and complicated

texts:
The sentence is quoted from the Oxford American Dictionary under its entry for shuffle:

  He shuffles out of the consequences by vague charges of undue influence.

Apparently, "he" has got out of some consequences, but I can't tell if he does this by being charged or charging someone else. What is the "undue influence" and how does it relate to the vague charges?

I just can't make heads or tails of this sentence, I am lost in it. What on earth is the  speaker talking about?

Would anybody be kind enough to paraphrase the whole sentence for me?


texts: How do I refer to an agreement grammatically?

texts:
In one of my posts ("When would I use which" vs. "When to use which") I said

  What I meant is not a disagreement, and it is not an agreement either. I'd just like to know how to choose expressions.

Actually, I spent a long time to construct the sentence above. Here are some of my options

  What I meant is neither a disagreement nor an agreement ...

  I am not agreeing. I am not disagreeing either ...

Google Ngram makes things harder.

Could someone please give a hint? Thanks in advance.


texts:
"Accessibility is most often used to describe facilities or amenities to assist people with disabilities, as in 'wheelchair accessible'. This can extend to Braille signage, wheelchair ramps, audio signals at pedestrian crossings, walkway contours, website design, and so on."
From Accessibility | MDN


texts:
Starting questions with pronouns
Forex.
"I have to do this assignment in my notebook or on my computer?"
Can we write a question like this or it is incorrect?


texts: Is participle corresponds to "HOW" part of the sentence?

texts:
From this (very helpful) video I learned about the basic structure of a sentence.

WHO > WHAT > WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY

Now I'm trying to learn about different word orders. Specifically I'm learning participle.

Is it correct to think about participle as the HOW part of the sentence?

E.g.

They ran downstairs looking angry.

WHO  WHAT  WHERE     HOW

or

Looking angry they ran downstairs.

HOW  WHO  WHAT  WHERE

The teacher from the video said when you switch the word order the sentence might sound unnatural. Does the second example sound unnatural to a native speaker?

Thanks


texts: "in a process known as dealkylation" vs. "in the process known as dealkylation"

texts:
From Wikipedia:

  Alkyl groups can also be removed in a process known as dealkylation.

What if we use the instead of a? Will that be a mistake here?

I did an Ngram search and the result is curious:


texts: The fire demon won't bend down his head to be cooked on

texts:
“I can cook,” said Sophie. “Unhook that frying pan and I’ll show you.”
  “She reached for the large black pan hanging on the closet wall, in spite of Michael trying to prevent her. “You don’t understand,” Michael said. “It’s Calcifer, the fire demon. He won’t bend down his head to be cooked on for anyone but Howl.”
  Sophie turned and looked at the fire demon. He flickered back at her wickedly. “I refuse to be exploited,” he said.
  (Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones)

What does ‘to be cooked on’ mean?
While eggs and bacon can be cooked on the frying pan with the fire, how the fire could be cooked? And what role does ‘on’ take?
Is there an omission of subject for ‘to be cooked’: e.g. eggs and bacon? And is there the invisible complement of ‘on’: his head?


texts:
What is the difference between faith and superstition?
When should I consider faith as superstition?

From google define

  Faith - complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

  Superstition - excessively credulous belief in and reverence for the supernatural.

If I replace the word ‘something’ by ‘supernatural’ both meanings seem very similar to me. What are the differences?


texts: When are 'if' and 'when' interchangeable?

texts:
While translating some technical documentation, I came across this dilemma. Which is better in the below examples?

  The value is true if electrical and mechanical damage are covered
  The value is true when electrical and mechanical damage are covered

I've read some similar questions about the usage of the word 'if', but it felt like the answers posted there don't apply here.


texts: A word that means "blending into a community too much"

texts:
I found two phrasal verbs that are close to the meaning I want to convey:

1- Fit in: to feel that you belong to a particular group and are accepted by that group.

2- Blend into: to look or seem the same as surrounding people or things and therefore not be easily noticeable.

What I want to convey is blending into a community to the extent of losing one's characteristics and personality. It is as being too flexible that you can easily fit in in any community whether it was suitable for your nature or not.

I want to fill the verb in the blank of the following sentence:

  Fitting in is one thing, but ______ communities is a totally different thing.

The phrasal verb "blend into" means "يختلط" in Arabic which also means "mix". The verb I'm looking for means "يذوب" which also means "dissolving/melting" but they don't seem (according to my research) to be used in English in that way.


texts: "I haven't swum since" vs "I haven't been swimming since"

texts:
In the following text:

  The last time I went swimming was when we were in Spain.

  I haven't been swimming since we were in Spain.

Why is present perfect progressive tense used in the second sentence? In my understanding, it should be present perfect simple as the speaker wants to highlight the fact that there were no cases when they performed the action of swimming, while progressive tense would be appropriate if they wanted to say that they haven't been doing it systematically, i.e. they might have gone swimming once or twice, but not on a regular basis.

Is it possible at all to say:

  I haven't swum since we were in Spain.

What would the meaning be in this case?


texts: Is this "really" working as a tone-softener?

texts:
She never really accepts my idea.

Is this a weaker version of "she never accepts my idea?"


texts: Can I say "guess what" to acknowledge new information?

texts:
I can't remember where I got this from, but it feels deeply correct to me. However it caused a misunderstanding in a chat, and after googling the usage and not finding anything I'm suspecting I might be using it wrong.

So in my mind, given the right context "guess what" can be equivalent to "Oh, interesting, who'd have thought that". Like in

  Them: Did you hear about it, Adam and Eve got married today.

  Me: Guess what!

So I'm saying "guess what" to express my feeling of surprise, not because I actually want them to guess something. Is this usage valid?


texts: Are there any differences between "environmental problem" and "environment problem"?

texts:
An environmental problem is a problem that is related to the environment. I also see that an "environment problem" can convey the same meaning.

The former is a combination ADJ+NOUN (environmental + problem), and the latter is a COMPOUND NOUN (environment + problem). So, Is the latter (environment problem) acceptable in terms of meaning? And, is it grammatically correct? Finally, can it be used instead of the former?


texts: Should I backshift second conditionals in reported speech?

texts:
Consider this sentence, please (taken from the English Grammar Secrets website):

If I had millions dollars, I would give a lot to charity.

If we used it in reported speech, would it remain the same, or would we have to use had had and would have, as in third conditionals?

He said that if he had millions dollars, he would give a lot to charity.
He said that if he had had millions dollars, he would have given a lot to charity.

This question occurred to me while reading this article on as if / as though. According to it, if the verb of an as if or as though clause is already in the past tense, it doesn't change.


texts:
I am trying to write a sentence, but I am not sure should I put "in" or "on". Or is it fine to put either one of them?

  James spends his family fortune on his opulent lifestyle.
  James spends his family fortune in his opulent lifestyle.


texts:
I've read that in passive voice we use 'Agent' first then the 'tool'. As in:
The tiger was killed by a hunter with a gun.
My question is about:
by-agent & to-infinitive
A. Those away from exercise should be motivated by us being their well-wisher to do some exercise.
B. Those away from exercise should be motivated to do some exercise by us being their well-wisher.
Which one is correct?


texts:
I received only today the records you sent nearly a year ago.

  It was not until November that I received the records which had been sent nearly a year earlier, in January.

Why in the second sentence past perfect seems obligatory. It is obvious that a year earlier is linked to until november and that is before november. Is it because until november draws the event "really" in the past where as received only today draws the event "not completly in the past". I don't know if my question is clear enough to be understood


texts:
When we use the phrase

The white robe was laced with black silk.

Do we mean that the black silk is making the robe tighter around the body, or does it mean something a lot more general? What are the possible meanings of such a phrase?

restrain or constrict by tightening laces, especially of a corset.


texts: Underscoring the fact that a thing is just in the same state as the one mentioned earlier

texts:
I always find myself in trouble when I am trying to underscore the fact that some thing, as opposed to some other earlier mentioned thing, is in just the same status or situation. Interestingly, I don’t find it hard to perform the same task on persons, that is, when talking about people, but I always feel that I am doing something wrong while talking about things.
For example, I feel that the following three sentences are more or less okay:

Don’t tell me that Jack will give me some valuable piece of advice – Jack himself is in urgent need of advice.
Henry won’t be a good English grammar teacher – he himself needs to
learn grammar first.
I’ve heard that you’ve had problems with your health and that you need
some help with your job. Well, I am sorry, but I won’t be able to help
you this time as I myself have problems with health these days.

However, I feel that there is definitely some problem with wording in the following three ones:

Don’t tell me that Jack will give me some valuable piece of advice on
how to fix my house. He is no expert in this field. His house
itself is in cracks and crevices.
Henry won’t be a good English grammar teacher for my son. I’ve read
Henry’s letters in English. His English grammar itself needs a lot
of improvement.
I’ve heard that you’ve had problems with your health and that you need
some help with your job. Well, I am sorry, but I won’t be able to help
you this time as my health itself is in trouble these days.

Is there any general guidance on how to go about such cases?
I've looked through several resources, but haven't found any that would specifically address this issue.


texts:
Night Auditor David Snell informed that guest Christine Cane alleged a noise complaint on the 3rd floor.

Is the use of the word informed correct?


texts:
Does it mean that somebody eats only one sandwich for their lunch?
If somebody eats 2 sandwiches for their lunch it is possible to use this expression? Or only "I eat two sandwiches for my lunch."?
"I have two sandwiches for my lunch" - is it OK if we speak about eating, not having?

I have a sandwich for my lunch.

Thanks


texts:
He was seen [laying or lying] down near the window.

Which is it? Laying is usually used with an object.


texts:
The article about managing project's budget begins with the following:

If you don’t have the funds, you’re not going to complete the project successfully.

Why "the" is used in front of "funds" and in front of "project"? I'd write the sentence this way:

If you don’t have funds, you’re not going to complete a project successfully.


texts: "I was supposed to get off TWO STATIONS BACK" Is it valid?

texts:
My dad had told me to get off at station 5 but I got off at station 7.

Can I say it like:

  I was supposed to get off two stations back?

Is the opposite also true, ie.

  I was supposed to get off two stations ahead?

Note: I am talking about railway station.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Grammaticality: 'such [...] relief as to this Honourable Court may seem just'

texts:
Source: Ontario Small Claims Court - A Practical Guide (2011), p. 82 Middle.

  The plaintiff claims:  [...]
  (f) such further and other relief as to this Honourable Court may seem just

This Determiner Phrase appears wrong to me.

Am I correct that 'as to' here means 'about'? If I omit the descriptors, then (f) means:

  2.1. 'such relief about this  Court may seem just'

Then 1 + 2.1 appear wrong, because 1 must be followed by an Object, but 2.1 is an Independent Clause.


texts:
What should be done with the secondary verb of a sentence?
Example:

  The internet is making people don't read or
  The internet is making people not read

As far as I know, we don't conjugate a secondary verb, therefore the second sentence would be right. But it sounds very strange to me.


texts: Why 'fellow' doesn't take any article in this sentence?

texts:
... Snape whirled about, robes swishing behind him, and stormed out of the ward.

  "Fellow seems quite unbalanced," said Fudge, staring after him. "I'd watch out for him if I were you, Dumbledore." ...

I'm wondering why 'fellow' doesn't take any article in this sentence. The word 'fellow' is an accountable noun, so I think it should be "The fellow seems quite unbalanced". Any thought?


texts:
I got it in years former.

Can you use an adjective after a noun in this way?

I (pronoun, subject)
got (verb, transitive)
it (pronoun, direct object)...

After that I do not understand what the words are, maybe a prepositional phrase? Can you use an adjective after a noun like this?


texts: Is "kindly" considered inappropriate to use?

texts:
I'm from South East Asia, and in here, it's very common to use "kindly" as a written polite request to other people, and I often see it on the internet as well. But I've just discovered that from this website, "kindly" is regarded as a "low-brow, patronizing, and overly sensitive".

  Other people are recommending that you use the word "kindly". Please,
  never use the word "kindly" when interacting with Americans. In the
  view of Americans, only English-speaking Indians use this word. It
  comes across as low-brow, patronizing, and overly sensitive.

Oh wow, I never know that. But coming from a non native western background and culture, I have nobody here I can crosscheck information with. Maybe someone here with the appropriate culture background knowledge can give some insight? Is this a general view, or just a partial view of Americans about this word? Should I stop using this word from now on, or I just overly worried over nothing? Thanks.


texts:
Confused why the writer used fixed instead of fix

Here are the examples:

Let's get this fixed," and you pay for the repair again.

"We've got to get this fixed right now," Ryan said.

Since the item has not been returned to it's original state, why are they using the term fixed?
The only reason i see the writer used fixed is because of present perfect.
Get is present tense and fixed is past tense. But i just cant seem to wrap my head around it.  Can anyone help me out.


texts: "express one's stance for" VS "express one's stand for"

texts:
They expressed its stance for the Copenhagen Accord.
  They expressed its stand for the Copenhagen Accord.

My question is whether stance and stand are exchangable in this context.


texts: Lie someone down or a transitive alternative

texts:
Imagine a kid who is not able to lie down on a bed or a patient who is unable to lie down on a bed when refers to a doctor themselves. How the doctor should ask the kid's mother or someone who has come to doctor along with the patient (I've no idea what would such a person be called in English!) to help them lie down on the bed to examine them?
Does my self-made sentence below work:

  Lie the kid / the ill/sick person on the bed.


texts: 'study in' or 'study at' (some university)?

texts:
I myself normally use at in a sentence such as "I want to study at the Stanford University."

But when I saw someone wrote "I want to go to study in the Stanford University," though sounded a little odd, I didn't feel that it's absolutely wrong. Then again, I'm not very sure.

Can we use either, or should we always use "at", or always use "in"?

PS. A closely related phrase, but I expected that the answer would be the same, is "continue my study/education at" or "continue my study/education in"?


texts: psychologist John Hayes (THE, zero article before false titles)

texts:
An example (from The New Yorker) of a phrase with a false title (psychologist John Hayes):

After Simon and Chase’s paper, for example, the psychologist John
Hayes looked at seventy-six famous classical composers and found that,
in almost every case, those composers did not create their greatest
work until they had been composing for at least ten years.

Both THE and the zero article could be used with false titles, but which looks better in this sentence to a native speaker? Would this look OK:

After Simon and Chase’s paper, for example, _ psychologist John
Hayes looked at seventy-six famous classical composers and found that,
in almost every case, those composers did not create their greatest
work until they had been composing for at least ten years.

What if we beefed up the phrase with an adjunct? Would 0 and THE both look fine?

After Simon and Chase’s paper, for example, (Ø/the) cognitive psychologist John
Hayes looked at seventy-six famous classical composers and found that,
in almost every case, those composers did not create their greatest
work until they had been composing for at least ten years.
After Simon and Chase’s paper, for example, (Ø/the) American cognitive psychologist John
Hayes looked at seventy-six famous classical composers and found that,
in almost every case, those composers did not create their greatest
work until they had been composing for at least ten years.

It seems that THE looks O.K. when a false title is short ("psychologist") but starts looking strange before some complex combinations.


texts:
She made a deal with her daughter. ( )

If she improves her grades, the mother would buy her a new toy.
If she improved her grades, the mother would buy her a new toy
If she would improve her grades, the mother would buy her a new toy

I know we use "would" for describing the future in a past story. But, how about in an if-conditional sentence? I guess what I am trying to say is  that if your story is written in the past tense and you want to use the first conditional:" If your grades improve, I will buy you new toys.", do you change the tense or the aspect in that sentence? I apologize if I am not being clear.


texts: “Can you do this?” vs. “Can you please do this?”

texts:
When someone asks me

  Can you do this?

I feel that it is missing the “please”.

Is “please” already implied by “can”, or is it proper to ask

  Can you please do this?


texts: the difference of having a relative pronoun

texts:
He is going to cut the part of hair (that) he dyed purple a few months ago in a barber shop.

I bracketed that cause it seems like placing that is optional,
if I omit the relative pronoun in this sentence ,
does he dyed purple a few months ago still act as an relative clause?

If we have that here, I can easily understand that:
He dyed part of his hair purple in a barber shop, and he is going to cut it,cause the PP in a barber shop belongs to the relative clause.

But if we don't have that in the sentence, will the meaning of the sentence slightly change? By which I mean would another interpretation appear without the presence of that?

Another interpretation could be: Part of his hair is dyed purple a few months ago, and he is going to cut it in a barber shop?


texts:
Dictionaries characterise this idiom as less literal, as can be seen here:
Collins Dictionary:

If you say that you wouldn't mind something, you mean that you would quite like it.

I wouldn't mind a coffee.

Longman Dictionary:

I wouldn’t mind (doing) something: used to say that you would like something

She’s gorgeous! I wouldn’t mind looking like that!

Presumably this expression is listed in dictionaries because the meaning is not literal – otherwise it wouldn't be a separate entry, and one would simply have to look up the verb "mind" to understand all of its subtle nuances.
The Longman Dictionary sentence comes across as an example of litotes, and it is in fact saying "I would be [perhaps more than] happy looking like that".

The example I'm curious about is this one:

A: Would you like to go on a trip with me?
B: I wouldn't mind.

In this example, I think the meaning leans towards more literal, but I can't say for sure. I don't believe person B is actually saying "I would love/like to, definitely", but rather "I'm fine with a trip, sure". Would the meaning depend on the tone if the sentence were spoken? The sentence is as I put it above in bold.
To sum up, I'm essentially asking whether "I wouldn't mind." alone indicates interest like "I'd like to.", or less so, like "I'm fine with it. I have nothing better to do anyway."


texts: How to parse "As for the philosophical content explicitly picks over in the film’s dialogue"?

texts:
I can't parse the first clause of this sentence.

  As for the philosophical content explicitly picks over in the film’s dialogue, it’s something for the viewer to digest, but it all seems a little leadenly expressed—and perhaps loses something in translation (the payoff lines about Misumi being a “vessel”). (source)

My understanding is that it should be a noun phrase that follows "as for", but it seems something is missing in the sentence. I am not sure what "pick over" means here. Does it mean either of these? If the phrase means "to examine a collection", it needs a subject and an object. What are its subject and object? Shouldn't the sentence be

  As for the philosophical content that the director explicitly picks over in the film’s dialogue, it’s something for the viewer to digest, but it all seems a little leadenly expressed—and perhaps loses something in translation (the payoff lines about Misumi being a “vessel”).


texts:
Does the bold phrase mean "they have been selling European government bonds because they prefer buying pounds"?

Central bankers said they have been ditching European government bonds in favor of sterling-denominated U.K. government paper due to fears of a reversal in European debt prices and the potential depreciation of the Euro.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/even-after-brexit-central-banks-prefer-pounds-over-euros-survey-2017-04-03


texts:
I always get confused when constructing sentences that make comparison. I can't decide which of the following would be correct. Could you please help

  He really does know more about cars than even the engineers do.

Or

  He really does know more about cars than even the engineers.

Thanks.


texts: What are some good books to get complete understanding of English grammar?

texts: Are there any books which can give complete understanding of English grammar and yet be suitable for beginners?


texts: What does "fanatic" mean in this context?

texts:
These is what I heard in a recent episode of Game of Thrones, a famous TV show:

  I suppose it's hard for a fanatic to admit a mistake. Isn't that the whole point of being a fanatic? You're always right. Everything is the Lord's will.

This is Merrian-Webster's definition of fanatic:

  marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion

So, how does being excessively enthusiastic about something imply that the person will be always right about it? Can anyone explain to me how the usage of "fanatic" here is appropriate, if it is? Does it have another lesser-known meaning?


texts: After quotation, is putting "spoke" instead of "said" still grammatically correct?

texts:
For example:

  "She's upstairs," said Tom.

What if spoke is put in the place of said? Meaning:

  "She's upstairs," spoke Tom.

I haven't seen anything like that in books or anywhere really, but is that correct, grammar-wise? If said was replaced with thought or wrote, it'd still be correct, but I'm uncertain regarding spoke.

Google ngrams show barely any usage for spoke, and Google itself doesn't show particularly any reliable sources.


texts: Can I use "me" as the subject of the sentence?

texts:
Consider the following two sentences:

Attending X gave me a sense of appreciation for Y.
By attending X, I acquired an appreciation for Y.

I'm not quite sure what's more appropriate to use. From experience, sentence #2 sounds more direct. However, because the verb is "attending," it seems more natural to use #1.

(Wasn't sure how to properly set the title for this post. Please change if someone comes up with a more apt title.)


texts: why "to sleep or lie on your back" but not "to sleep or lie with your back on the floor"?

texts:
In the dictionary

  Do you sleep on your back or your front?

In the dictionary

  He lay on his back and gazed at the ceiling.

I am a bit confused because we say "sleep or lie on the floor". How can you sleep or lie on your own back?

You can say, "I lie on my boyfriend's back" or "I sleep or lie with my back on the floor"

don't understand the usage of the preposition "on"


texts:
“Does she want to see Gatsby?”
  “She’s not to know about it. Gatsby doesn’t want her to know. You’re just supposed to invite her to tea.”

As far as I know, the usual way to build a negative sentence in English is to use do/does not, so I was surprised to see such a sentence.

Why don't "She doesn't know about it."? When should we use the "be not to" construction?


texts: Enjoyed themselves the picture - Enjoyed themselves - Enjoyed the picture

texts:
They enjoyed picture last evening.
They enjoyed themselves during summer vacation.

Enjoy is one of the verbs which takes reflexive pronoun with it when required. Reflexive pronoun is used when the subject of the verb is the received if the action. So in the first sentence why we haven't used reflexive pronoun with enjoy?


texts: What is the difference between "What will happen in the world?" and "What will happen to the world?"

texts:
What is the difference between them?  Are these sentences grammatically correct?

What will happen in the world?
What will happen to the world?

Feel free to correct any of my sentences, because I want to learn a lot from my mistakes.


texts: Is "For stars, engaging in conflicts likely harms their reputation" correct?

texts:
Is this sentence correct?

For stars, engaging in conflicts likely harms their reputation

I mean, using the sentence pattern like: for (somebody), doing something (+verb) + noun


texts: "just gives one option" vs. "gives just one option"

texts:
There are two options A and B regarding to the usage of a word in the Merriam-Webster dictionary while the Cambridge Dictionary just gives one, that is A.
To convey that idea, should I say

the Cambridge Dictionary just gives one option

or

the Cambridge Dictionary gives just one option

Where should I put the adverb "just" and why?

The context is adapted from the post "the doctor" vs. "the doctor's"


texts:
A customer noticed that her bill amount increased on a specific month and I would like to ask her about it.

  When did you start noticing extra charges on your bill?

  In which month did you start noticing your bill increasing?

  What month did you start noticing an increase of the amount of your bill?

Are those previous questions correct? If no, what's the nature way to say them?


texts:
My question is about using the adverb "instead of". Am I right in understanding that the said adverb is usually followed by things that did not happen in the past in the story of a speaker?

You picked up someone else's keys. But you should have taken yours. So you could not get to the apartment because  someone else's keys didn't fit the lock.

So we cannot say that

  You should have taken your keys instead of [..].

It is not correct usage, isn’t it?


texts: Are "freelancer" and "free-agent" interchangeable? I am stuck at this point.


texts: Is chosen vs is being chosen vs has been chosen

texts:
How many of you are being chosen?

  How many of you are chosen?

  How many of you have been chosen?

May I know which of the above are grammatical and the reason?


texts: Ellipsis after negative comparative with 'than'?

texts:
I ask NOT about comparatives stated in the positive; I ask about those involving a negation (what I tried to imply by 'negative') such as the following. Hereinafter, I interpret 'as' and 'than' as conjunctions:

  1. He is not as {adjective} as she. => She is marginally more {adjective} than he.
  2. He is less {adjective} than she. => She is more {adjective} than he.

My problem involves my dispute over the comparative deletion for the predicate of the second subject. If I restore the deletion, which I bold and matches the predicate, then 1 and 2 becomes:

  1.1. He is not as {adjective} as she [ is not as {adjective} ].
  2.1. He is less {adjective} than she [ is less {adjective} ].

Yet 1.1 and 2.1 don't appear to make any sense. Rather, 1 and 2 ought to mean:

  1.2. He is not as {adjective} as she [ is not as {adjective} ].
  2.2. He is less {adjective} than she [ is less {adjective} ].

But now, as regards 1.2 and 2.2, the predicates for 'he' differ from those for 'she', so how do these constitute ellipsis? Or are there some other grammatical terms or phenomena that has eluded me?


texts: does "artsy" have negative connotations?

texts:
The dictionaries seem to indicate so, but its not clear how the word is really used.
Also, is the word about person's art abilities, or taste in art?
Edit: Is it an internet slang, or general English slang?


texts:
Was what you saw in Scotland better than that/what you saw in France?

I think it should be what. Am I right?


texts: I write poetry and {am trying/try} to write a book

texts:
When answering the question about what I like to do in my favourite weather which is the correct choice of tense the present simple or the progressive?

I write poetry and try to write a book.

If I use the present simple that would mean that's  what I usually do.
But with the progressive if I say "I am trying"  it would refer to a temporary action.

I write poetry and I am trying to write a book. (currently)

The question is from the book by Casey Malarcher "Reading Challenge".


texts:
Is the phrase "mission critical" following the linguistic pattern of "Mission Impossible" the title of a famous film? It seems to me that if expressed in routine English, it should have been "a critical mission." But "Mission Critical" sounds much more sensitive and stronger.
The question of this thread is whether "mission critical" is a mimic of "Mission Impossible" (the title of the film) or it is historical in popular use in English (the film is not its origin etymologically).

Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks tweeted:
Joined @DeptofDefense leaders today for our 1st Climate Working Group. Confronting climate challenges is mission critical. New demands on the force impact readiness.


texts: Can we say "expertise knowledge"? A phrase with two synonyms

texts:
As I checked the google, expertise is a noun and means "expert skill or knowledge in a particular field".

I made the following sentence:

  .. doesn’t require expertise knowledge of HTML.

As I checked google for the phrase "require expertise knowledge", it found 99,100 cases; However in some of them knowledge came after a comma after expertise like:

  Knowledge worker's are employees who require expertise, knowledge, or information from others to perform their jobs effectively

Can I rely on these results and employ this phrase?

Can the noun "expertise" which is a synonym of "knowledge" come before it to make a phrase?


texts: Difference between "daily" and "daily basis"

texts:
They are books that had at least one idea, but in most cases more,
  that actually changed the trajectory of my life or the way that I act
  or think on a daily basis.

So, what is the meaning of the phrase daily basis and how it is different from the word daily?


texts:
This is the context:

  One is a published case of a patient who was locked-in classically with a brain stem injury
  and had an unusual extension of the injury into the auditory system. The auditory system is usually very
  well preserved because it goes to both sides of the brain. But this person ended up with a central auditory
  agnosia, which means the patient could hear but couldn’t really put together complex sounds; the condition
  was not recognized for many months because the patient relied to an extent on lip reading. However, during
  tests of the patient’s cognitive level, the lip-reading would fail and it seemed like the patient inexplicably fell
  off the curve and was, consequently, judged to be minimally conscious or cognitively impaired. It wasn’t
  until a colleague of mine finally decided to draw and write questions for the patient that it became clear
  that he was fully conscious and just needed to have the visual representation of the words. So in this case,
  the patient was locked-in and conscious.

  source: The enigma of human consciousness.New York Academy of Sciences.

What is the meaning of "fell off the curve"? I googled and find nothing about this phrase. Can anyone explain this?


texts: What to call a positive notice for employees

texts:
If an employee did something wrong, he/she signs a warning notice. when the employee does something right, what do we call the act of praising the employee?
In fact, I want to show my employees that they are doing a great job, so I want to hang a paper on the wall where the good deeds are stated beside the employee name... do you have any idea what is the name of this paper?


texts:
... read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try
and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and
nations.

Could you tell me please the meaning of "get some walking in"?
Does it simply mean "go for a walk"?
Or walk in here means"allowing people to come without planning to do so in advance"?
The fuller text:

Now, here’s the meaning of life … Well, it’s nothing very special,
really. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good
book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live
together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.


texts:
Edit: This might be a duplicate, but I could not find a similar sentence (like mine) in any of the other questions.

I have seen many questions on this topic on SE and forums. But I came across this sentence in a scientific article and was confused about the usage.

  The eggs were harvested from our colony which have been in rearing for over 4 generations.

Using the info from the links given, I feel that if the sentence had specifically mentioned 'colony of ants', I feel 'have' would have worked. Is this an AE/BE thing? The article, I believe, was written by an American.

Since the 'colony' is the subject, I feel 'has' would be more appropriate. Am I right?


texts:
What would the right preposition here: about or of?

  Spielberg always dreamed about/of directing a James Bond movie.


texts:
An online classroom just released a new version. Some of the teachers there need to get familiar with the new system.

There is a button called "raise hand", which is in grey background color by default, as shown below.

When I click the button, it turns blue and keep blue until I click it again.

I am helping one of them with raising hand feature. I click "raising hand" button in my end and check if the teacher on the other end can see it.

  Can you see I'm raising my hand?

Is the sentence clear, grammatically correct and polite?


texts: Does 'feelings of solitude' sound good or correct?

texts:
I always see/read sentences like :

'..and this can cause you to have feelings of loneliness.'

or

'but it’s hard to cope when feelings of worthlessness and loneliness persist.'

So I wonder if it will still sound correct to say feelings of solitude also.


texts: How to understand "no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry"?

texts:
Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry.

I think "no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry" is a metaphor here. It's implying that Snape would never let them play games in class. It's because I understand Snape hates Harry very much from the book, so we can't really expect him to adopt Harry(I think 'adopt' here means "take one into your own family and make one legally your son or daughter"). In my opinion, it can be paraphrased as "Snape would never let them play games in class just as he would never adopt Harry". Is this understand correct?


texts:
If I were to join the Communist Party someday (something that, in turn, I am making dependent on one last twist of fate), my stance would be to behave always radically and never logically when it came to the most important things.

Source: The Correspondence of Walter Benjamin, 1910-1940

Could you please clarify to me the passage in the brackets in the above sentence. Roughly I understand it that his joining the CP is not fully in his hands and that the higher instance will decide. Is "to be making dependent" an idiomatic expression?


texts: Is there any word in English to say "additional stuff" for free?

texts:
There is a term in Portuguese "choro" or "chorinho", that can be used in a context like this:

O barman me serviu uma dose the whiskey e deu um chorinho

meaning

The barman served me a dose of whiskey (I have paid for) plus a little bit more for free.

In Brazil people expect barmen to serve a little bit more that the dose they paid. Barmen (bartender) that don't do that are not well seen.
Is there a word that can be used in that context, or a construction that means the above, without using the ugly construction I have used to explain?


texts: Comparing "happen", "occur" and "take place"

texts:
I need to know how a native speaker would fill in the blanks using the proper choice from among my provided items: "take place", "happen" and "occur"?

Please let me know about my take on each sentence. Also I have no reason why I think so. That's just an intuition. Regardless of weather I'm right or wrong on my selected items for each sentence, please let me know about the reason behind each priority over another choice in each separated sentence.

  She wanted their wedding to .................. quickly.  [here all three options are plausible for me].
  The Olympics .................... every four years.  [here I think only "c" works].
  If any of these symptoms ................... while you are taking the medication, consult your doctor immediately. [here  only "b" works for me.].

a) happen {anything that happens}
b) occur {to happen especially unexpectedly}
c) take place {to happen}


texts:
Would you please show me the difference in meaning  between them?

A. She worked so that she can earned twice as much as she used to earned.
B. She worked such that she can earned twice as much as she used to earned.


texts: Answer to question which is grammatically right

texts:
What is the answer to the following  question

  Would you be available on Fridays from 14:00-16:00?

Can I answer to this question with

"Yes I am available" or "Yes I’ll be available" ?

Which answer is better?


texts:
I came across a sentence in Dean Koontz book 'Chase'

It was

  He walked the length of the Mustang.

I searched this on Google and google returned some examples like

walk the length of Great Wall of China
walk the length of the thames
walk the length of the Manhattan

Could you please explain what exactly it means and how can we use it in our daily conversation and not the ones that are listed above.


texts:
What is the difference between 'couriers tasks' and 'courier tasks'?
And could anybody say a topic where I can research this question?
The second is a compound noun but the first...


texts: What is the difference among since, ever since and ever since then?

texts:
The big clock has been silent ever since.

Can I delete since from the sentence above or add then after since?

And what is the difference among them?


texts: Velocity- and displacement-proportional forces

texts:
I have troubles building compound adjectives and enumerating them. In my field (mechanics) we deal with forces which are proportional to displacement or velocity. We tend to call them "displacement proportional forces" and "velocity proportional forces". However, I have a feeling that a hyphen might be missing there: "displacement-proportional" and "velocity-proportional" seems to be "more correct" for me. Which of these two options would be the best?

Further, I would like to enumerate them like: "[...] featuring displacement- and velocity-proportional forces". But it just does not feel right. I have to admit, I have a German background and we do a lot of such shortening while enumerating - but does it work here as well?


texts: "Would have" for situation that is no longer possible?

texts:
I would really like to know why "would + present perfect" are used in the following sentence:

  In many schools, children are identified as “behind” with reading before they would even have started school in many other countries.

And whether it is possible to express the same meaning with any other tense or structure.


texts: What does "hardcore" mean in this picture?

texts:
I saw a picture on Reddit. What is the meaning of hardcore in it?

Thanks,


texts:
This is from The Bold and the Beautiful.
Amber gave Rick one of her kidneys a few years ago. Now pregnant with Rick's baby, Amber faces some medical complications because of having only one kidney.

Amber: Hey, I hope you're not blaming yourself for this. Rick, I don't regret for one second what I did.
Rick: Maybe I regret it.
Amber: (1) If I didn't give you my kidney, then you wouldn't be here right now, and then we definitely wouldn't be having a baby. Let me tell you something. (2) If you needed two kidneys, I would have given you both of mine.

Are the bold parts sound right to you?
I feel like (1) should be,

1.b If I hadn't given you my kidney, then you wouldn't be here right now.

and (2) should be,

2.b If you had needed two kidneys, I would have given you both of mine.

or,

2.c If you needed two kidneys, I would give you both of mine.


texts:
I always avoid using revert back in a sentence because it's redundant. Surprisingly, YourDictionary has mentioned it in one of the instances.

  Revert Sentence Examples:
      Thereafter, the manor reverted to the colvill family.
      The future of the competition scheduled from now on for may, 2006 saw the event revert back to a bombing competition.
      Remember, most mortgages revert to the svr after any initial " honey trap " discount.
  Revert back to a previous state?

Can anyone enlighten me about this usage? I'm pretty sure using revert back to me in an email is incorrect. Tell me if I'm wrong.


texts: Clarification as to the adverb discerningly

texts:
Nowadays people don't need to be able to write beautifully by hand.
They don't need to be able to multiply numbers in their heads.
In fact, they need to be able to read discerningly.

It would be appreciated if anyone possibly would throw a light on the concept of this sentence, especially the adverb discerningly.

Cheers,
 Nima


texts: Is it okay to say "Yes no, I don't want to"? People seem confused by it. Is it correct? If not, why?


texts: Capitalizing Adjectives: Is it for Emphasis?

texts: Mary Karr wrote in her memoirs, "Mother had been taken Away--he further told us--for being Nervous". Why are the words "away" and "nervous" capitalized?


texts:
His belief was under siege from/by skeptics' words.

Can either "by" or "from" be used with "under siege"?


texts:
What is the meaning of "as if" in B?

  A:The ceiling in this room doesn't look very safe, does it?

  B:No, it looks as if it's going to fall down.

Can we omit it?

Another question, can we use will instead of going to... in B?
I think, we are predicting the future and will is more common, isn't it?