texts:
I am confused with this one, and I have two questions about that

  What"s the difference between Zero and Nol? Is 'nol' is accepted in English?

And

  1st First, 2nd Second, and what about Zero/Nol/0? Is Zero/Nol an ordinal or a cardinal number?

Thanks in advance


texts: Is "swap" the right word for moving files?

texts: I want to describe moving a list of files to another department. What word would be appropriate to use here? Currently I'm using "swap". Please let me know if that's suitable and suggest alternatives.


texts: What does "stand up to" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I don't quite understand the meaning of "stand up to" in this passage:

  Still others, Horn says, insist the saying is a melding of "spirit and image," as in "he's the very spirit and image of his father," meaning he's got his dad's spirit and looks.

  But none of those theories stands up to Horn's research.

The author lists a number of different theories and then says none of them "stand up to" the research of a scholar. The meaning intended by the author seems to be "match, be good enough for, or be selected by". But dictionaries define "stand up to" as "defend against".

What does the phrase mean here? And is it a common usage?


texts:
I want to clarify weather we can use years and decade in same sentence to describe the sentence? For example this sentence is correct or it has grammatical error:
 “From years and over a decade education remain the most vibrant factor to decide the future of nation?”
Please answer with logic... Thanks


texts:
A few days back I posted a question [I am making a sentence presenting the image in picture. I want to say that one shouldn't sit the way that the knees are wide open. Does this construction suits best? Note the bottom of the man should be resting on the floor, it's not in the image though.] Actually I couldn't find the exact image that time. That image didn't present the exact position of knees, thighs and bottom. I am posting another image that actually I wanted to ask about.

Can I say:

  Don't sit with your legs pointed up.

OR:

  Don't  sit with your knees pointed up.

OR

  What would be the best sentence for this?

What I want the sitter to do is that they sit in a way that their bottom and thighs don't come into view. It is about the exercise in which there is a particular step in which one has to sit in a way that knees are pointed up but not so wide that bottom and thighs are seen.


texts: What is the difference between "play speed" and "playback speed"?

texts: In my opinion, "playback" is just like "replay", am I right? But mostly people say "playback speed". I think they mean the play speed, why the "back" should be added behind "play"? What is the difference?


texts: What's the difference between "livid", "full of wrath" and "enraged"?

texts: What's the difference between "I am livid", "I am full of wrath" and "I am enraged"?


texts: How much is the (probability / likelihood) of something?

texts:
How do you normally ask about the probability / likelihood of something in English?

Example:

The number of artificial satellites is increasing and the gravitational force is acting up on them. But the question is that:

  a. How much is the probability of striking of artificial satellites in space?
  b. How much is the likelihood of striking of artificial satellites in space?

Please kindly let me know whether both of these expressions are fixed or there is only one correct expression between them. If so, which one is that? Is there any better expression to ask about it in English?


texts: Simple present for an activity up to now

texts:
One of my friend is posting his pictures in facebook for over a long period of time.

When I see him tomorrow, can I tell him like " hi friend, how are you? I see your pictures in Facebook.


texts: How to say that a sentence is a result of a certain event

texts:
How should one say in English that an event has caused another event to happen in the form of a sentence (the resultant event coming in sentence form). For example, I want to write that resource limitations have had the result that besides investment development, increase in investment efficiency also becomes greatly important. I wish to write this in a more concise and more formal way.
Already, I tried the following:

  limitation in resources has resulted in investment efficiency becoming very important in addition to investment development.


texts: Is "in case of no need ~" correct sentence?

texts:
I want to explain to someone with follows expression.

But I'm not sure this expression is correct or not.

"In case of no need to make into a program." and "In case of need to make into a program."


texts: Is "could as well" a phrase? what does it mean?

texts:
I came a cross this sentence：

  "But you could as well use part of your RAM for a partition. It's hard to guess this of every possible scenario."

Is 'could as well' a phrase? Like 'might as well'?


texts:
The context:

The classical definition of project success centers on achieving results on time, on budget, and producing the agreed deliverables: the triple constraints of time, cost, and scope. Yet, over the past decade there has been a growing recognition that creating the requested deliverables does not ensure “success.”

Are the phrases a growing recognition, there has been a growing recognition common, idiomatic?


texts: Where should I place an adverb in 3. conditional?

texts:
I surely would have traveled around the world if I had had a lot of
  money.

Is the adverb surely in the right place? If not where should it be?


texts: Is abbreviating the object clause in this sentence grammatically correct?

texts:
I want to say "The first time I heard about something was when I was around 8 years' old".
Is "when I was" here redundant and unnecessary?
Is that a part of object clause?
Are "First time I heard about xyz from friends was around 8." and "8 years' old" correct?


texts: Can someone correct my mistakes? has had v had

texts:
Michael has been warned from the very moment he had entered the factory that Andy was a local version of a grim reaper. He was warned because everyone else had already worked with Andy

or

Michael has been warned from the very moment he had entered the factory that Andy was a local version of a grim reaper. He was warned because everyone else has already worked with Andy

are they corrects?
Whats the difference in meaning?


texts:
I have read a manual. One of its sentences is "These are the basic symbols used generally."

I don't really understand the difference between

  These are the basic symbols used generally.

and

  These are the basic symbols using generally.

Can you provide some guidance on when I should use the –ing form instead of the -ed form?


texts:
He talked a heap of politics, and so did his officers, and when this
  Ambassador Genet got rid of his land-stomach and laid down the law
  after dinner, a rooks' parliament was nothing compared to their cabin.
  I learned to know most of the men which had worked the French
  Revolution, through waiting at table and hearing talk about 'em.

This is from "Rewards and Fairies" "Brother Square-Toe" by Kipling.
http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/digi300.pdf

http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_squaretoes1.htm

What is the meaning of "land-stomach"?

  I am glad if some one kindly teach me.


texts: Are the phrases "comes down to" and "boils down to" interchangeble?

texts: I do get the meaning of the phrases separately, but I would like to know if they can be used interchangeably at least in some scenarios.


texts: 'used to' after 'when' in the dependent part of a complex sentence with the main 'used to'

texts:
Is the sentence below acceptable.
If yes, why does it sound so weird?
If not, why? And what's the correct version? If there is a correct version which is not this, it can't express exactly this.

When I used to go to the river, I used to swim.


texts:
I read books at lunch break.
I read books in lunch break.

Are either of these sentences incorrect? "At" sounds a little more natural to my ears but I don't know why.
To give some more context here, I'm referring to the lunch break period at school.
Though I've seen previous threads about this over at English Stack Exchange, none of them have provided satisfactory answers


texts: Is it correct to use colon in the following case?

texts:
One of my passions is to show Hawaii to the world: its beauty, history, mysteries.

Is colon the right punctuation here? If not, what's the correct one?


texts: How do you read numbered streets in the US?

texts:
How would you read
'1593 129th St SE Bluebird CA 92193'?
Is it 'one-five-nine-three, one hundred twenty ninth'?
Or is it 'fifteen hundred ninety three, one hundred twenty ninth'?


texts: What's the better way to ask if someone have just done something at this moment of time

texts:
I want to ask someone if he at this moment entered the apartment. I mean he literally made his first step into the apartment at this moment. Should I say

Have you just entered the apartment?
Did you just enter the apartment?

Based on my knowledge in grammar, the first one should be applied. However, I hear many Americans use the second approach when they want to express some of what I want to express in this post.


texts: Are the phrases "this is very interesting to me" and "this interests me a lot" interchangeable?

texts:
are the phrases

  this is very interesting to me

and

  this interests me a lot

interchangeable?

I just wanted to know because I am very curious. Are the two phrases interchangeable? I hear them a lot but I was wondering if they were interchangeable.


texts:
Can we use the verb "adjoin" this way? Adjoin means attach according to the dictionary, but attach can be used in a figurative way, so I was wondering if you could use the word adjoin with non physical things.

For example:

  Here's the document adjoined to the present meeting.


texts:
I'm a bit confused about the meaning of this sentence:

But many of the world's resorts are struggling to cope with relentless waves of tourists, whose demands for ever more swimming pools and golf courses are sucking them dry.
what is the meaning of for ever more ?
what is the subject and the object here in the second part of the sentence ?
what 'them' refers to ?

thank you.


texts:
I came across the following text while going through TeX documentation:

  textcompwordmark

  This command is used to separate letters which would normally
  ligature. For example fi is produced with f\textcompwordmark i.
  Note that the f and i have not ligatured to produce fi. This is
  rarely useful in English (shelfful is a rare example of where it
  might be used) but is used in languages such as German.

Since ligature was a new word for me, I immediately referenced my dictionary and found that:

  Noun: ligature

  Character consisting of two or more letters combined into one

Wikipedia entry shows an example as:

So, it means that the horizontal cross line in f is merged with the next character. But, I do not see something similar happening in the text when shelfful is being written. I'd assume that the horizontal lines of both fs in ff would get merged when writing, but this should be happening to each and every word which has ff appearing in them.

Why is such that all references (at least the ones I saw) only point out shelfful to be the rare example? Why not scaffold or afford or effort etc.?

PS: For the scope of this question, I'm restricting to ligatures with the leading character f only.


texts:
what does "just place order" mean in this sentence?

  do you want to just place your order at once or what?

I thought it might mean to determine an address or maybe simply mean "order"?
what does the whole sentence mean?


texts: How has becoming (grammatical structure)

texts:
I saw this question starts with 'How has becoming a pilot has enriched your life as a mother and wife?'. Could anyone please explain why the question phrase, how has becoming... - is grammatical correct?

Thanks a millions.


texts: what's the right choice talking about specific time of the day, at or in?

texts:
I believe At is used for : specific time and Holiday period
and IN is used for: months, years,Decades, century,season and time period.
But when I try google translator with both options:

At night....at the evening?
in the evening?

It seems has the same meaning I don't know which is the right choice.


texts: Vote for some party/person or Vote party/person?

texts:
Do we vote for some party/person or just vote them?

  Vote for XYZ. Vs Vote XYZ.

Note: vote should be considered as a verb only. I'm clear about it as a noun.


texts:
I have the following sentences.

  What is the name of the song in between 0:00 and 0:21 minutes?
  What is the name of the song between 0:00 and 0:21 minutes?

I am not sure, which sentence is correct?

Thanks!


texts: What is the meaning of "how" in ""Oh, how I hope this won't happen again for ten years"?

texts:
What is the meaning of "how" in the following sentence?

  As she poured on the soap, he cried, "Oh, how I hope this won't happen
  again for ten years!"

Does "how I hope this won't happen" mean "I hope this won't happen" or "I cannot hope that this will not happen"?  Does he believe that this will happen again?


texts: Determine and Understanding Run-On Sentence

texts:
It is easy to understand what some of the fears might be about having a girl on an all-male team, particularly one that places such an emphasis on direct physical contact.

How is the quote not a run-on? How is it a sentence?


texts: Can "with regard to" and "in regard to" be used interchangeably?

texts:
Can you please tell me if I can use "in regard to" and "with regard to" to mean the same thing in this sentence?

  Her instincts with regard to tricky situations are usually correct.


texts: If someone says "applications due January 12" are they including that day also (until 23.59.59h)  o do they really mean strictly before that date?


texts: Is it he or him that is the correct sentence?

texts: His parents didn't want him to go. This is how I would write it, but when trying to translate it (to swedish) it seems he would be the correct word to use. I would never have thought twice about using him if it wasn't for the fact I have to explain why him not he. Please help me out!


texts: Which one is grammatically correct Do you know cabbage? or Do you know cabbages?

texts: I simply want to ask my colleague that  do you know cabbage? a green leafy vegetable.  So what I should say Do you know cabbage? or Do you know cabbages?


texts:
When is it necessary to use 'the' before the words preceding of-phrases? I've also noticed in some sentences that there is no 'the' before the words preceding of-phrases. When should we not use the even if there is an of-phrase?
For example:

(i) You can park your car in (No 'the' here) front of my house.

(ii) You can phone me in (No 'the' here) case of need. Day or night.

"In case of" and "in front of" are complex prepositions. I've also noticed that there is no use of the in some sentences before the words preceding of-phrases which are not complex prepositions. I don't remember their examples.

(iii) The biography of Albert Einstein is very interesting. (The is used here.)


texts:
Is the sentence below grammatically correct?

  Being so many people ill, I have cancelled the meeting.

If not, please explain the grammar behind it.


texts:
I've seen the following negative sentences in an English book. Placing a negative auxiliary before the first verb seems to be the right way:

I don't think she'll pass the exam.
The baby's tired. I don't think he's going to wake up tonight.

My question is, would it be grammatically acceptable to say:

I think she won't pass the exam. or
The baby's tired. I think he isn't going to wake up tonight.


texts: If a worker did not follow instructions, what do we call the document he is asked to compose to explain his actions?

texts:
If a worker did not follow instructions at work, and this has affected the performance of the company, he/she is often asked to write a kind of an explanatory letter to the management. What do we call such letters? A report?

In Russian, it's "объяснительная записка" (explanatory note).

  Georgy Ivanov violated the process logging rules, therefore it's impossible to ascertain the reasons for the bioreactor leak.
  CAPA plan: Georgy Ivanov must write an explanatory note and hand it over to Quality Unit manager Taras Zakharchuk.


texts: I'd like to know appropriate sentences for talking about the weather

texts:
When asking about the weather for this coming weekend, which of the following sentences is most appropriate when asking your friend what the weather will be on the weekend?

What is the weather for this weekend?
What is the weather going to be this weekend?
What is the weather like this weekend?

Or are there other sentences?
Thank you in advance.


texts:
can I use spread with the preposition over? Does the verb spread fit in the sentence?

  The system was evaluated and tested for more than 80 hours. These hours include 30 hours for the end evaluation as well as 50 hours for  the implementation phase. The quantity of the hours spread over 2-8 hours a day.


texts:
What is the meaning of "in closer"?

  Although she said she'd return in twenty minutes, Mrs. Calder
  returned in closer to forty minutes, and by this time Kirk was pretty
  hungry.  He hoped that Mrs. Calder couldn’t hear the noises his
  stomach was making.


texts: Word or phrase for missing something because of something out of the ordinary

texts:
Ok here is the scenario

You are getting dressed in the morning, you cant find your wallet so you take a couple minutes to find it sitting on the dresser. You pick it up put it in your pocket and on your way to the stairs you get stuck behind a little boy taking his time, the little boy dropped his toy car on the stairs which neither of you notice.

You slip on the little boys car and fall

You cant help but think to yourself if I had found my wallet and was a couple minutes before the kids this would not have happened

What is a word or phrase that describes that?


texts: What does "the author’s title" mean here?

texts:
The sentences below are from In France, They Call It ‘Happiness Therapy’

  In an online poll the Web site Newsring recently asked its readers if
  they were pro or con film title translation; 78 percent responded
  against.

  In 2003, Mr. Ernst was in charge is distributing Stephen Frears’s
  “Dirty Pretty Things.” “It was a difficult decision,” he said. “It was
  the author’s title, and a beautiful one, so we didn’t want to change
  it. It was also quite easy to understand.”

  In the end, they went with the same title, but with “Loin de chez eux” (Far From Home) as a subtitle.

  And sometimes, keeping the English titles, as complicated as it may
  be, works out fine. The perfect example: “Eternal Sunshine of a
  Spotless Mind,” which kept its mysterious title and did very well at
  the French box office.

I know “Dirty Pretty Things” is a English movie's title and  Mr. Ernst was unwilling to translate it to French.But what does" the author’s title" mean here ? Does it mean" the original title" or "a famous title" or something else?


texts:
While reading a book on Cicero, I encountered the following passage:

  I had to invent what is commonly called shorthand to cope with the flow, a system still used to record the deliberations of the senate, and for which I was recently awarded a modest pension. This, along with a few legacies and the kindness of friends, is sufficient to keep me in my retirement.

I want to ask about this phrase "keep in retirement". Does it mean he doesn't need to work and can thus remain retired, or does it mean he can sustain himself during retirement, or is it ambiguous?


texts: Is “Went off” used correctly in these two sentences?

texts:
Is “went off” used correctly in the two sentences bellow?

1) The fire alarm went off.

2) The school bell went off.

And could you give me more examples of things that “go off”?


texts:
I found few sentences such as following:
The soundtrack of the movie proved to be a huge success.

I think the sentence should be "The soundtrack of the movie was proved to be a huge success." which is the right sentence in the passive voice.

I want to know as per which grammar rule, the form of "be" is skipped from the first sentence.


texts: What's meant here by "All the old ladies born this very minute"?

texts:
In "The Vampire of the Village" by G. K. Chesterton, Dr. Mulborough was talking to Father Brown about a Great Scandal in their village, while they were going to a village by a train, saying:

I saw her and found her intriguing; one of those brown women, long and elegant and beautifully ugly, if you know what I mean. She is rather witty, and though young enough certainly gives me an impression of what they call — well, experience. What the old ladies call a Past.’

‘All the old ladies having been born this very minute,’ observed Father Brown. ‘I think I can assume she is supposed to have vamped the parson’s son.’

Does he make funny of them as they are very young?!


texts: "not being intelligent" or "being not intelligent"

texts:
In spite of not being intelligent, my son is very studious.
  In spite of being not intelligent, my son is very studious.

I'd like to know whether the two sentences above are correct.


texts: The choice between past perfect and past simple

texts:
Can I use past simple instead of past perfect in cases (1) and (2)? If only one tense is possible, please provide  some explanation. Thank you in advance.

Neither of us had been to France before, but we knew some French from our time at school and (1) managed (had managed???) to brush up on the basics. Now we were wondering if we had made the right decision. We had planned our route carefully in advance, but we (2) forgot (had forgotten??? ) one important thing: the weather.


texts:
The sentence is

  Removes the first occurrence of a specific object from list.

I don't understand why 'occurrence' is used.
Is its meaning like 'encounter', so the sentence could be rephrased as below?

  Removes the first encountered object from list.

Their meanings are the same ?


texts:
Wiktionary says that "command" is always countable, with no exceptions given. However, I've seen both "a command" and "command":

  The fort has command of the valley

  The tower provides a wide command of the neighboring hills

  A good command of French

Hence the question: should I put the article?


texts: in the sentence "will have to be sold" I wonder why sold is named in this form?

texts: I apologize if the question is stupid ,but I can't remember/understand why sell is in this form, and not sell for example.Can be sold by this steady phrase? Thanks


texts:
If a minor episode of White House crow-eating over President Obama's absentee father's half-brother seems an unlikely event to derail a major piece of legislation, it might well be — at least by itself.
-- theweek.com

I wanted to make sure.
Is this the same as "it is natural that it be an event to derail ...?"
Like "it should derail ..?"
It has every reason to derail this?
at least by itself ...means "This event alone should derail it, at least, if no other incident exists?


texts: "Outside there is a money receiver which only accepts coins" - or "that only accepts coins"? Which relative pronoun is better?

texts:
I'm preparing for academic IELTS by writing some essays and then correcting those using a grammar correction app.
In the following sentence,

Outside there is a money receiver which only accepts coins

The app suggests using "that" instead of "which". But is "which" also acceptable, or is it a critical mistake?


texts: Does "in the state/condition" always need the subject and verb?

texts:
The system monitors whether your PC is in a dangerous state where any
  unknown programs are running on it, and sounds an alert when detecting that your PC is in the state.

I would like to know whether it is possible to rewrite the sentence above I created as follows:

  ... when detecting the state.

That is, I would like to know whether it is possible to change "when the system detects that your PC is in the dangerous state" to "when the system detects that your PC is in the dangerous state".

I think the first one is better, but when it is necessary to repeat the phrase "when detecting that your PC is in the state.", the second one is useful.

This might not be an English question...In my language, the second expression may be strange a little, but is perfect understandable.


texts: Which tense is correct tense "This is/was the first stamp I (ever)"?

texts:
Suppose I am holding a postage stamp in my hand, and then I talk to my friend about it.
(1) This is the first one I got for my collection.
(2) This was the first one I got for my collection.
(3) This is the first one I ever got for my collection.
(4) This was the first one I ever got for my collection.
Most of my friends think "is" in (1) is correct because I have it with me. They also say "was" in (4) is correct because of the word "ever". I agree with my friends.
What is your opinion?


texts: Difference of meaning between gerund and participle

texts:
What is difference of meaning between these sentences:

Hearing the news she returned home.

On hearing the news she returned home.


texts:
Is this:

  to be put under investigation

nonstandard English relative to:

  to be under investigation

?


texts:
"I have an emergency up here" vs "I have an emergency in here"? Which one is idiomatic and what's the difference exactly? Are they pretty much the same? I feel you can use either of them in most situation. Is this the case, why?

For example:

  "Hello, is this 911? I have an emergency up here."

  "Hello, is this 911? I have an emergency in here."


texts: Need to understand the usage of under or below

texts: Is this correct english " Ram is standing below my building" or "Ram is standing downstairs"


texts: Something that possibly happened in the past

texts:
On https://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/209550/1924 there was a comment

  If someone thinks being able to find out more or less everything that happened in the past is less dangerous than a dragons, all it shows is that they know less than Jon Snow.

To which I answered:

  One example: Robert learning the true identity of Jon Snow would've led to civil war in a snap. Robert could not let him live and Ned would not have given him up easily and likely would've raised the entire North to protect his sister's son as if he were his own.

I struggled with the tense quite a bit. Was this correct?


texts:
My friend reported the break-in to the police as soon as they discovered what had happened.

Can I replace ‘discovered’ by ‘uncovered’?


texts: Why "a means to" not "a mean to" nor "means to"?

texts:
He turned to substance abuse as a means to cope.

Is this something ungrammatical-but-they-use-it-everyday? Why don't they normally say like "as a mean to cope" nor "as means to cope"?


texts: "Am I not correct" or "Am not I correct" - which is correct?

texts:
"Am I not correct "
  "Am not I correct "

Which of the above expression it correct and if both of them are wrong then what is the correct expression?
 And I am referring to a statement


texts: The difference in pronunciation between 'row' and 'roll'

texts: I see the difference is the 'l' sound, but in practice, they seem to be identical to my ear. How do native speakers distinguish these two words? Or it has to rely on the context?


texts: connection is "horizontal" than top-down - what does it mean

texts:
Dear Jesus, I agree with you that we are in 50/50% case. However, at
  least until now, social media are more independent, and the connection
  is "horizontal" than top-down. Finally the technology, especially
  computerts and robotics will change the present society. The problem
  is if it will be for good and not for bad.

Here what is meaning of connection is "horizontal" than top-down. Thank you


texts: What is a good, common alternative for the "He is the engine of the group" expression?

texts:
In French, to say that someone is the key element of the dynamic of a group, we can use the expression "she/he is the engine of the group" (Elle/Il est le moteur du groupe). This clearly shows that this person is what moves the group forward.

What would be a similar expression in English?


texts:
What does "a quick take" mean in the following context?
Especially the usage of"take".

"As a writer who has produced award-winning novels, novellas, short stories and essays, Chabon has done a stellar job of picking not only the right ideas, but ones with variety. He has also learned which should occupy a lot of his time and which are better suited to a quick take."

Thanks a lot.


texts: What is the subject of verb "has plummeted"?

texts:
Meanwhile, federal aid to public water utilities, which serve around
87% of people, has plummeted while maintenance, environmental and
health threats, climate shocks, and other expenditures have
skyrocketed.

What is the subject of verb has plummeted, and how can I identify subject-verb agreement in this type of sentence?


texts:
I'm not a native English speaker, so I would like to have an explanation of that expression:
"Where something/somebody at?"

Examples :

  Where Brooklyn at ? (interlude in a Lonely Island album)

  Where you at ? (seen on a game server, instead of Where are you, I suppose)

Are not they supposed to say "Where is/are ..."?


texts: Can I say "for a vacation" to emphasize "not a business trip" in the sentence below?

texts:
This is the original sentence: "I came to Italy last year for a business trip."

can I say: "I came to Italy last year for a vacation." ?

I want to emphasize "not a business trip".


texts:
The Nile is longer than any river in India.
  The Nile is longer than any other river in the world.

In both of these above sentences, we are comparing one river with the rest.  But still we have used any other in second and any in first sentence. Any rules regarding this usage please.


texts:
I barely can't distinguish using article the or a/an on some senteces. Are they have same meaning? So it doesn't matter if i use one of them?

For example:

I eat at a restaurant.
She is in the university now.

I've seen some sentences like them and i still don't get it when i use "a/an" or "the".

Please explain to me. Thanks


texts: Is "Cannot be taken to be true" common in American English?

texts:
In a final paragraph of my essay in Toefl exam, I want to say an statement which means "the conclusion in first paragraph (which is a reasoning of an author) is false".

Can I say instead that "the conclusion in first paragraph cannot be taken to be true"?

The reason that I want to use the second one is that I think the second one is more beautiful and I want to impress the examiner.

If it is true, and if I use "cannot be taken to be true", is it a common sentence?

If not, What else can I say?


texts: capacity to read vs capacity for/of reading - preposition and verb tense choice

texts:
Are the following sentences correct? Is there any difference in meaning? Are they equally usual?

  She lost her capacity/ability to read.
  She lost her capacity/ability of reading.
  She lost her capacity/ability for reading.


texts: Usage of "steeped": [steeped in uniqueness] and [steeped in creativity]

texts:
(1) The small, old town is steeped in uniqueness.

(2) Artists and writers are always steeped in creativity.

Are the sentences with "steeped in" OK?


texts: Is there any difference between coin tossing and coin flipping?

texts:
When I study probability theory in school, they flip coins mostly to generate some events. But when I read some articles on sports, they seem to use 'toss a coin' mostly for decision.

And I tend to imagine that flipping coin is done more easily(such as throwing lower into the air or flipping without throwing) than tossing a coin as multiple experiments have to be done for probability calculation. However, this might be just my own preconception.

Is there any difference between two phrases?


texts: Is "so that" and "so" 100% synonymous in informal speech?

texts: I was told "so" is used to tell what the result was; whereas "so that" is used to tell what the purpose was. The question is that the case in informal speech? I feel a lot of people use "so" and "so that" interchangeably. In what situation, are they interchangeable in informal speech and when are they not?


texts: What type of the following Conditional sentence?

texts:
What type of conditional is the following sentence:

  If you think that that contact is not going to last awhile, you got another thought coming.


texts: a way that most people think {is / it is} wrong

texts:
I was reading definition/meaning of the word "perverse" in Oxford Dictionary, came across :

  showing deliberate determination to behave in a way that most people think is wrong, unacceptable or unreasonable

Shouldn't it be :

  showing deliberate determination to behave in a way that most people think it is wrong, unacceptable or unreasonable


texts: Why are tantrums "thrown" and not "burst"?

texts:
Instead, a person with entitlement complex is similar to a small child who never learned that he or she is not the center of the universe. They throw tantrums when outsiders don’t meet their demands.

You can fly into a rage or have a fit of rage, but you don't “throw” a rage. You can be bursting with anger and  lose your temper,  people also say or do something in a fit of temper but they  don't throw it.

So why do young children (and adults) “throw” temper tantrums?
Why is ‘throw‘ used to mean an uncontrolled outburst of anger and frustration (EOD)?


texts: Do these three sentences have the same meaning?

texts: "I didn't ask about this", "I didn't ask this question", "I didn't ask this" - do these three versions have the same meaning amd are correct in a situation when I want to say that it wasn't me who asked that question, but someone else?


texts: What are wrong in these sentences and why?

texts:
He takes the total of money in the Piggy Bank.
He takes the total of money into the Piggy Bank.
He takes the total of money into Piggy Bank.


texts: Remain until, before, for, to with nouns

texts:
The common way to say that some time, events or whatever remains until the occurrence of something is (for instance):

N days remain before Christmas
N days remain until New Year
N upgrades remain to reach level 4
N seconds remain for new record

But when we want to say, that something (a noun/a thing) is ours after a certain amount of something, how do we say it without using a verb, which we consider being there in the context.

N amount of money needed until/before the new computer can be bought.

Can we say?

N amount of money until new computer.
N amount of money before new computer.
N amount of money to new computer.
N amount of money for new computer.

Which would be correct?


texts: Using "must" to express probability with high degree of certainty

texts:
The army often just can't tell who the Taliban are, and whoever dreamed up these hare-brained interviews must not have seen the extensive media coverage of "collateral damage" in 2012.

As far as I understand from the context, the journalist uses "must" as if s/he is pretty certain that those who dreamed up have not seen the extensive media coverage of "collateral damage" in 2012. (Sorry for the terrible wording!)

Is it common to use "must" in this way? Is there an alternative form to express the same meaning, perhaps using "might"?


texts: It depends/ will depend/ would depend on something

texts:
A: Is it "soccer" or "football"?
B:

I think "soccer" is more AmE, so it depends on who you're talking to.

I think "soccer" is more AmE, so it'll depend on who you're talking to.

I think "soccer" is more AmE, so it would depend on who you're talking to.

Are they all correct? If so, what is the difference between 2) and 3)?


texts:
If we see the language in its natural pace and flow which of the following sound better?
May God bestow sincerity upon me!
or
May God make me become sincere!
or
May I become sincere!


texts:
The following quote is from Godfather book

  As the weeks went by and he became busier and busier with getting the
  script ready, casting the movie and working out production details,
  Johnny Fontane forgot about his voice, his not being able to sing. Yet
  when the academy award nominations came out and he found himself one
  of the candidates, he was depressed because he was not asked to sing
  one of the songs nominated for the Oscar at the ceremony that would be
  televised nationally. But he shrugged it offand kept working. He had
  no hope of winning the Academy Award now that his Godfather was no
  longer able to put pressure on, but getting the nomination had some
  value.

  The record he and Nino had cut, the one of Italian songs, was selling
  much better that anything he had cut lately, but he knew that it was
  Nino's success more than his.

I'm a little confused by the last sentence I provided, particualrly by the meaining of cut in here. What is that?

The thing is that I'm used to use that word with vegatables. Like cut vegatables or something similar.


texts: Use of preposition in or of with decline

texts:
The decline of his moral values has caused a lot of pain to his parents.

What will come with decline in the above statement?


texts: What are these holes in sinks and tubs called?

texts: What are the holes in the pictures called? They  are usually found in sinks and tubs and their  function is to prevent water from overflowing.


texts: "What is your name" vs. "What your name is" in this context

texts:
Which sentence is grammatical:

Tell me, what is your name?
Tell me, what your name is.

Tell me the uses of both the sentences along with correct punctuation marks.


texts: When mom is going to work, the kid says "Mom, come home to / with me soon, ok". Is that a correct expression?

texts:
When mom is going to work, the kid says:

-"Mom, come home to / with me soon, ok". I am not sure "to or with"

or

-"Mom, come home soon and be with me, ok"

But I remember I read this sentence similar to this "My wife is sick. I have to go home to her." somewhere


texts: Prepositional phrase. How does it work in this case?

texts:
I've got a huge argument about the following sentence:

'Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver blue blood on the fallen leaves.'

It's originally from the Harry Potter book.

Here we have the part 'through the branches above'

One guy said that this part might be replaced by an adverb without any change in grammar.

  Every now and then a ray of moonlight faintly lit a spot of silver blue blood on the fallen leaves.
  Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver blue blood on the fallen leaves. The grammar is the same.

These examples, in his opinion, both describe the verb 'lit.'

But another guy said this:

  The formulation is just like: " A sip of tea from a porcelain cup refreshes the spirits." The phrase "through the branches" is adjectival, distinguishing the ray of moonlight from other rays of moonlight that have not passed through branches.

The question is: Is 'through the branches above' the prepositional phrase modifying the verb 'lit' or is it the prepositional phrase modifying the noun 'ray'?


texts: Is there a specific word/phrase for a student living in the city of his uni/college during the week?

texts:
First of all, I am not sure if people actually do this in the UK, but in my country students who study at university often rent a room in the city and live there during the week. They go home on fridays and return on sunday evenings. We have a specific expression in Dutch for this, but there is no direct translation into English. You could say that the student goes and lives on his own or move out of their parents' house, but that does not really mean the same thing.

The reason for my asking is that I've had to formulate this several times already in writing tasks or just answers to English acquaintances. I have, however, never really found a way to say it in a short and concise way without having to explain what I meant.

So what do you say in English in a case like this? How would you say for example that your cousin is going to university next year and he will be living in the city during the week? Would you say that he is moving out, even though he is still under his parents' wings financially?


texts: "to provide much details" vs "to provide many details"

texts:
Which one is correct?

The guide doesn't provide much details.
The guide doesn't provide many details.


texts:
Certainly I was now well awake; my body had veered round for the last time and the good angel of certainty had made all the surrounding objects stand still, had set me down under my bedclothes, in my bedroom.

Could you help me understand this sentence? I searched set down in Google but it didn't help. This is what I have found:

to cause to sit down
to suspend (a jockey) from racing
to cause or allow to get off a vehicle
to land (an airplane) on the ground or water

I thought down under might be the key but it turned out that it means Australia or New Zealand. So, I'm confused and hopefully, you can help.
Thanks in advance.


texts:
How fast should you read? The
  answer depends on what you are reading. Sometimes you need to read things
  slowly and carefully. At other times, you can read quickly, and at still other
  times, you can read at an average speed.

The adverb still has at least three senses. What does it mean here? Has it been written in a normal place?


texts:
I have looked on the internet regarding this issue and could not find a definitive answer so I posted the question here.

Which one do I use if I want to change something to something else?

  Change that code to this code.

or

  Change that code with this code.

?


texts:
From an essay I'm writing:

  The words demoniacal corpse, suggest that the creature is unnatural and unhuman. It creates an image of an evil monster, existing only to cause misery to mankind, which is quite the opposite of what the creature intends to do.


texts:
How do you spell professors when you include more than one professor in a sentence?
Do you say

  Professors' James and Leslie Atkins?

or

  Professors James and Leslie Atkins?


texts: Looking for an idiom for boring but critical part of work

texts:
I sincerely hope this is relevant:

I am looking for an idiom for a boring but essential part of work, that goes hand in hand with the core interesting parts of it. On the lines of "peas and carrots" but where one looks more important and interesting, yet the other is essential, e.g. (due to lack of imagination on my part) more like "Matar Paneer" (Peas and Cottage cheese, an Indian cottage cheese curry).


texts:
We request that you read the terms and conditions carefully before
  signing.

  __ Martin Hewings, Advanced Grammar in Use

The two words, terms and *condition*s, seem to be similar and it gives me the impression that synonyms are reiterated. What does terms mean in the context?


texts:
Example (NASA's Curiosity Rover Eyes Weird Rock On Mars):

  "We found an outcrop named Missoula where the two rock types came together, but it was quite small and close to the ground," Curiosity project scientist Ashwin Vasavada, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in the same statement. "We used the robotic arm to capture a dog's-eye view with the MAHLI [Mars Hand Lens Imager] camera, getting our nose right in there."

How do you understand this phrase?


texts: what form would be appropriate - past/perfect

texts:
Which sentence is correct and why?

I have sent you a message but it has not been delivered.
I have sent you a message but it was not delivered.
I had sent you a message but it has not been delivered.

Thank you for explanation in advance.


texts: Which word is used incorrectly in this sentence?

texts:
I found the below Facebook post shared on lamebook.com. The caption claims that some word is used with an incorrect meaning, and the title "Ummm, what?" also suggests the same. However, I couldn't find any word wrongly used after reading it several times. Could someone explain what I am missing here?

The sentence is:

  New addition to the family, Rosie, her hobbies include Netflix and chill and she enjoys Sunday walks and knitting.


texts: One of the examples of the word Pucker (noun) in https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pucker is "Northern California’s Rubicon Trail—one of the most iconic and difficult off-road routes in the world—makes a typical driver totally pucker." I don't understand (1) the real meaning of "pucker" in this sense and (2) why "totally" (assumed as an adverb) is placed in front of a noun. Could you shed some light please? Thank you so much.


texts: I have been studying piano from age 6 to 15 or I have studied piano from age 6 to 15

texts:
Which sentence is correct?

  I have been studying piano from age 6 to 15
  I have studied piano
  from age 6 to 15.


texts: "Alternate" VS "Alternative" - Semantic prosody

texts:
I know that the words "alternate" and "alternative" can are interchangeably as a noun in American English (,whereas "alternate" as a noun is quite an American word,) but I have read somewhere that they have some nuances as well

  The car is broken. We need alternate transport.

Regarding this sentence, there has been said that:

Here, the car is no longer an option. The alternate replaces it.

  The car is quite expensive. I suggest alternative transport.

Also, about this sentence, there has been mentioned that:

Here, the car is still an option. The alternative is just another option.

I was wondering whether you confirm this distinction. I think such a devision is quite pedantic while they are often interchangeable and the only nuance between them is their regional preference ad many dictionaries and references acknowledged too.

Do you confirm?


texts: Alert someone to something, something to someone, or both?

texts: which is correct: "Alert someone to a mistake", or "Alert a mistake to someone?"


texts:
I was meeting some friends at a bar.

I met some friends at a bar.

was meeting - past continuous

met - simple past

In my opinion, I prefer to use the latter sentence because I don't normally hear people say was meeting.

In the sentence: "He met a lot of friendly people while he was working in Chicago."

I can't use the words "was meeting" because he couldn't do both actions at the same time (simultaneously).

However, I am still confused. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!


texts: Is "To write. That is what I have always wanted to do." proper?

texts:
"To write. That is what I have always wanted to do."

Would it be better if I used a comma instead?
Thus:

  "To write, that is what I have always wanted to do."

I guess this flows a bit better at the cost of a tad of perceived drama. Yes, I know I might be over thinking it, that is why I decided to start off with something simple. Thank you.


texts: "I am surprised": passive voice or adjective?

texts:
The sentence is: "I am surprised."
I wonder why it cannot be considered as the passive form of "Someone surprises me."
If it is true that it is in passive form, then why do people say that surprised is an adjective in that sentence?
Please clarify this. I'm in confusion.


texts: Would it be considered impolite to use um-hum in a conversation?

texts: I am not a native speaker, so I wonder if using "um-hum" to express my sincere affirmation during a conversation would backfire? I guess I just wanted to avoid monotonic reaction to people's talking. I believe my tone was not in any sense sarcastic. I just wonder if it could be the case that this action is considered negative.


texts: tense usage: "It has been (is) two weeks since I've seen (last saw) you"

texts:
A. It is two weeks since I've seen you.

B. It has been two weeks since I've seen you.

C. It is two weeks since I(last) saw you.

Would you please show me which of the sentences would be correct, and if they would mean the same thing?

Thanks


texts: What does "a satisfactory conclusion the UN Security Councilˈs consideration of this matter" mean?

texts:
There would be additional steps in between the initial measures and the final step, including, among other things, addressing the UN Security Council resolutions, with a view toward bringing to a satisfactory conclusion the UN Security Councilˈs consideration of this matter.

For context: here

1)Is there any redundancy in "including, among other things"?

2)This part seems a bit odd: with a view toward bringing to a satisfactory conclusion the UN Security Councilˈs consideration of this matter.
What is the apostrophe s contradiction for?


texts:
Are both of these correct?

  The email address of the Facebook account to delete is user@example.com.
  The email address of the Facebook account to be deleted is user@example.

In case #1 is correct, does it mean the same as #2? #2 appears to be a passive voice construction. In case #1 is correct, what type of sentence/clause construction is it or how do we call it?


texts: is it "in the face of" or "at the face of"

texts:
I am particularly interested in the following example:

  This theory has its most dedicated supporter in the face of Michael.

  This theory has its most dedicated supporter at the face of Michael.

Can I even use this expression in the first place? We have it in my native language and I think I have seen it in English, too but I am not sure.


texts:
What verbs can I use with the noun 'transportation'? For instance, can I use 'do' with 'transportation' this way :

The transportation between point A and point B can be done via/by ....?


texts: Confused about the usage of was/is for something that is still true

texts:
My father was/is the architect of this house.
Which one should I use?


texts:
Watching the movie "True Lies" I heard the phrasal verb

  He said he'd knock off 100 bucks.

It like lowering the price of something, but does knock off have more meanings? Like knock it off!? Is it related?


texts: If I am using a word like all-natural in a title or logo, would it be All-natural or All-Natural?


texts: I just wanted to know that "Hope the college is nice to me" is this sentence correct, if yes then does this mean "hope my new college will be good"?


texts: Is it "Diameter of the Circles" or "Diameters of the Circles"?

texts:
If there are multiple circles and they all have the exact same diameter, should it be expressed as "the diameter of the circles" or "the diameters of the circles"?

First I thought it would be "diameters" because each of these circles individually has one diameter even if the lengths are the same, but then I thought if the diameters are all the same, they could probably be referred to as "the diameter". And I'm thinking, if the circles each have a different diameter, it should be "the diameters of the circles". Is this correct? I want to know the correct way of use.


texts:
I am working on my 'Statement of Purpose' for my grad school application. It seems that correct punctuation is very critical.  So I have a question about the comma punctuation in the following sentence

  Since the time I have come across the powerful and intelligent tools like face and speech recognition, machine translation[,] I have been fascinated about exploring the field of  'Artificial intelligence' and 'Algorithm design'.

Is the comma in [] after 'machine translation' correct? What I want is that, I want the comma to end the previous series of examples and add a new independent phrase, but I feel like there is a possible interpretation of understanding the phrase 'I have been fascinated about ..' as another example of the ongoing series, i.e., interpreting it as tool rather than independent clause.

What is the correct comma use here?


texts:
I am studying the English Problem Solver book from Practice Makes Perfect Series* and stumbled on a strange instruction at page 12:

It says that a quote does not begin with a capital letter unless it is the first word in a sentence. The fourth example contradicts this rule, doesn't it?

Practice Makes Perfect English Problem Solver: With 110 Exercises
by Ed Swick


texts:
What do you call "the bed in the hospital  which was considered for that hospital at the time of the approval of the project for building the hospital or its development."

What kind of bed is it?


texts: The word 'flat' applied to alcoholic beverages

texts: When applied to still alcoholic beverages, does the term 'flat' mean "lacking taste" or "lacking alcohol"? It can mean "not fizzy anymore" but only if the beverage is supposed to be so, like champagne. What if someone uses the word to describe, for example, beer which, as far as I'm concerned, is not considered an effervescent drink despite containing bubbles in it?


texts:
I have a question concerning the use of Past Perfect and Past Simple in a given situation.

  It was a tragedy that Abraham Lincoln, who had led the North to victory and was now ready to be generous to the South, didn’t survive / hadn’t survive to make the peace. Five days after General Lee had surrendered  / surrendered at Appomattox, Lincoln was assassinated.

What is the difference in the meaning of these two options?

I mean, when two options are possible I suppose that there is a difference in the meaning. If in this context I'll say "Five days after General Lee had surrendered, Lincoln was assassinated" how would it be different from saying "Five days after General Lee surrendered, Lincoln was assassinated"? Is there any difference or it doesn't matter? I'll be really grateful for some explanation in this context even if it's been explained already in the mentioned topic, because it's not clear for me. :)


texts:
Not as in "reaction" but as in "to act again."

Example sentence:

  He wanted to re-acted his part of the script.

I tried searching re-act on the Internet. But I only got react.


texts: Would/will when the statement stands true

texts:
I was wondering how things would go this coming Monday?

I was wondering how things will go this coming Monday?

Let's say you were wondering that two days ago, and Monday is yet to come.
What tense would you use here?
Are both fine?
Would using either be fine?


texts:
I'd like to ask what you understand from the following sentences, which I found randomly on the Internet

  Rooftop solar isn’t quite as great as you thought it was (but it’s
  still pretty great)

http://grist.org/climate-energy/rooftop-solar-isnt-quite-as-great-as-you-thought-it-was-but-its-still-pretty-great/

  The Galaxy S7 isn't quite as tough as the iPhone 6s

http://www.techinsider.io/galaxy-s7-vs-iphone-6s-toughness-tests-2016-3

  A rose, isn't quite as beautiful as it once was, when after its thorn pricks you.

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/891481-a-rose-isn-t-quite-as-beautiful-as-it-once-was

In my understanding from the sentences above that there is a difference between the items compared but this distance is not too much, it is not small either. When I read the second sentence I assume, I don't know why, iPhone is tougher to some extent that gives a value to the product so I would prefer to buy iphone. But grammar resources say the difference is insignificant. There are not many resources tough.

http://www.eltbase.com/notes.php?id=549

And I'd like to ask what you would understand if I wrote it in positive form.

  The Galaxy S7 is quite as tough as the iPhone 6s.

This time it sounds for me both are almost equally tough.But it doesn't not clear which one tougher.This doesn't matter because the difference is insignificant.

And another scenario :

Product A: $99

Product B: $100

Which one more correct to say ( or can we say correct just by choosing one another)

  Product A is quite as expensive as B.

  Product A is not quite as expensive as B.


texts:
I have searched due on dictionaries.
But I can't know what is the fundamental meaning of due.
In my opinion, due means something is expected.
But I am not sure whether it is really correct or not.
Please, teach me this word.


texts:
There is a common proverb in our language which says: "Always someone who's right and has the right, will achieve it because it was his / her right." The only equivalent I found is:

  In the long run, right will out.

But I doubt if first, it is natural and second it works in AmE.

I would appreciate it if someone could let me know what an AE native speaker would say here in a natural way.


texts: When a wound / an injury gets some infections

texts:
What is usually said when someone notices that their wound / injury has infection?
Which one of the following self-made sentences sound natural to you in this sense:

  My wound has infected.
  My wound has an infection.
  My wound has gotten some infections.

If no one is idiomatic and natural, please let me know what a native speaker would say here?


texts:
"gorra light 'ave yer"

I found this in OED, but what is this?
What are the correct spellings?


texts:
'Not unlike' sounds like 'double negative' for me, but it suppose to be right because it's on Oxford Dictionary

a large house not unlike Mr Shah's (source)

I want to use preposition 'unlike' in this sentence

  Unlike with present perfect tense, past simple tense employes time marker - (present perfect is different from past simple because past simple involves some time marker)

Question:

Is it proper usage of a preposition 'unlike'? If not- I appreciate your explanation then

Thanks


texts: An equivalent English saying for "Those who are more humble and calm are more knowledgeable"

texts:
How would you normally convey the following message throgh a fixed saying:

Those who are quiet and seem to be more humble, may belong very deep knowledge or even very strong feelings.

Note: It's not about talkativeness at all. It alluds to a belief which says: "The wiser you get, the more quiet you will become."

  Example:
  Although he dosn't speak much, he's a very knowledgeable person and as the saying goes.............................

How would you fill in the blank?

I can just translate what we say in out language, but I don't know what to say as a native would say:

  The most fruitful branch is nearest to the ground.

Thank you.


texts: Adjective to describe sadness tinged with despair

texts:
What’s an adjective I can use to describe sadness marked by a sense of despair.

She was suddenly hit with a wave of _____ sadness.

Does “despairing” work? If so, what are some other words that can be used?


texts: "How much reduction" or "How would reduction"

texts:
I have a method A, which is used to reduce the computation of difficult models. I would like to say that using this method will provide a great reduction in the computation of the model.

  Method A reduces the computation of the model to the half. Then, we can see how much the great reduction of the model computation will be introduced using method A.

or

  Method A reduces the computation of the model to the half. Then, we could see how would the great reduction of the model computation will be introduced using method A.

I would like to know, is it correct to use much with the word reduction or would, and why?


texts: "What is the age of marriage in your culture?"

texts:
Some time ago, I had an IELTS exam and my examiner asked me:

  What is the age of marriage in your culture?

I thought he simply is mentioning the culture that I grow up with so I said:

  It varies from person to person in my family, since my cousin has got married when she was 23 but my that got married when he was 26, but overall I can say it is between 20 to 30.

The examiner stopped me and asked again:

  That was not my question. I've asked, what is the age of marriage IN YOUR CULTURE (while pointing his finger at me)

I repeat the scenario over and over but it doesn't make any sense to me.
Of course I gave him my opinion about the age of marriage, but it is very strange to me.

Is it correct in English to ask that question?


texts:
When telling somebody what you did in order to get (to discover, to see) what somebody else did, what should I say?

For example:
Let me hear you say "i got it!"

So I do something in order to get (in this case, i hear) what somebody else does (says the "I got it" phrase).

Variants:

 1. Let me hear your saying "I got it!"
 2. Let me hear you saying "I got it!"
 3. Let me hear you say "I got it"
 4. (Maybe even your own?)

Somewhere in the internet I saw somebody claiming that the correct is "his doing", like it's his action being the property.

However, I heard in the "Hateful eight" movie the black guy saying "Let me hear you say i got it!".

I like the second variant of this construction, which is, for example, "I heard the black guy saying..."

So which of them all should I use, and if it's not the only one variant available, what are the rules for this kind of a construction?

By the way, if you can change the title, question and tags in such a way that English teachers will understand it better, I would really appreciate that, because I don't know how exactly to express this thing.


texts:
I could not understand how  "the water reduces to a rapid simmer"

  Decrease the temperature so that the water reduces to a rapid simmer
  and gently lower the eggs into the water one at a time.

Does the sentence imply " Don't increase temperature too much at first because the water vaporize rapidly when it reach boiling temperature"

if it does , isnt it a bit weird sentence though ?


texts:
Can this sentence be correct?

Jack: There is something on my mind.
Amanda: I don't know what it's on your mind.

Or should it be "what's on your mind" instead?


texts:
I have always thought until just before that a verb should come before the subject only in questions, for example:

  Is this idea correct?

But I was just reading a book ("Operating System Concepts" by A. Silberschatz and others, 9th ed., chapter 6.3.6), which says:

  Only when queue 0 is empty will it execute processes in queue 1.

Why does "will" come before "it" in the sentence above?

Could I have said:

  Only when queue 0 is empty it will execute processes in queue 1.

Is there any difference between the two?


texts: Why are "south" and "southern" pronounced with different vowels?

texts:
I was wondering why we pronounce the vowels in the words south and southern. They seem to be very closely related to each other. Both refer to the same direction. South is a noun and Southern is an adjective, which I don't think caused them to have a different vowel.
Oxford Dictionary shows that south is /saʊθ/ and southern is /ˈsʌð(ə)n/. In short, south has a long vowel and southern has short.


texts: Can we use hide to mean make something disappear?

texts:
Someone asked me

  What if someone hides their instagram stories from you?

I replied

  I'd hide them from my life.

Is my sentence right

Does hide mean to make disappear?

If not What else could I have used here?

Someone told me the object of preposition "from" is a person who is not supposed to see or find that which is hidden

So what about this sentence?

  the magician hid(made her disappear) from the stage?

Is it wrong?


texts:
I was wondering if someone could help me with this sentence containing 'with gusto'. Something to do with enthusiasm/passion/verve, but I don't quite get the full meaning of the sentence.

  [The universe is on your side with whatever you decide to take on.] Business ventures, new romances, and fresh ideas will move forward with gusto. [It's time to jump in feet first.]


texts: Misunderstanding! When is a noun definite?

texts:
Ok, according to the grammar, we use "The" for definite noun.

But my question is:

When is a noun definite?

See this conversation:

  A: I saw a big rat in my back yard last night.

  B: How big is THE rat?

Why does "B" use "THE" when he has never seen that rat?

So, we can use "THE" even though we have never seen or known it before, can't we?

See other conversation:

  A: Let go to the zoo

  B: I want to see THE elephants

Does this above conversation make sense? So, we use "THE" because we identified THE elephants in the zoo, don't we?

But see other conversation:

  A: I want to see elephants

  B: Let go to the zoo

The plural "elephants" without any article in the above conversation mentioned elephants in general, didn't it?

I am so confused! When is a noun definite?


texts:
Is it OK to use "out of wrong" in a paper for application of a method?

For example:

  the assumption that ... is true, hence the application of ... method is out of wrong.

Is there a better alternative?


texts: Should I use "although", "though", or "even though" in the following case?

texts:
That would be odd because, although/though/even though we knew about the place, we’d
  never been there.

What's the correct choice here? And why?


texts:
Q1. What is "invisible earnings"? I can't find out the meaning or example sentence in my dictionary. Is it some 'profits related to mind or spirit'?
Q2. My dictionary says "invisible green" is "very dark green". How can it be so? Doesn't 'invisible' mean 'transparent'? So 'Transparent green' is 'light green, isn't it? Would you explain why not?


texts: I would like know whether the other sentences are also right as the sentence A

texts:
I am not a native English speaker and would like to ask you a question.
I wonder whether the sentence B, C are also okay in addition to the sentence A.

Sentence A.

  "Can I move to a rural area and grow crops if I am able to make good money by farming?"

Sentence B.

  "Can I move to a rural area and grow crops if I was able to make good money by farming?"

Sentence C.

  "Could I move to a rural area and grow crops if I was able to make good money by farming?"


texts:
It seems to me that it is grammatical to write

  The variable x is an integer.

or

  The variable x is of integer type.

But what about

  The variable x is of type integer.

?

It does not sound incorrect to me.


texts: "Your clothes are small size" --- Is this grammatical?

texts:
I am having trouble with this sentence:

  Your clothes are small size.

Would it be correct if I changed it to either:

  1) Your clothes are small-sized. (=adjective)

  2) Your clothes are small in size. (=adjective + prep +noun)


texts: What does this mean - "If I've burned bridges, they are not in this building?"

texts:
I came across the following when I read the article:

  “If I’ve burned bridges,” Sherman says, “they’re not in this building.”

What does "they" refer to?

I have the following interpretations, not sure which is right:

This building (Seahawks team) is very welcoming to strong personalities, so I have offended nobody here.
The people got offended by me are outside the team, not my teammates and staff.
The people got offended by me are already gone.

[UPDATE]
Thanks so much for the quick response, I am awed to you guys of your considerateness and thoroughness.

Now I read that sentence comfortably like this:
"If I've burned bridges, the bridge burning was never in this building."

I am to click the accept button to @Robusto as the answer came up first.

@Peter, are you a 12th? Hat off and hug.


texts: pass by a convoy -- I'm not sure how to exactly understand that

texts:
Source: Islamic State video threatens attacks in Russia 'very soon'

Example:

  In this this file photo released on May 4, 2015, on a militant website, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, Islamic State militants pass by a convoy in Tel Abyad, northeast Syria.

The verb pass obviously is trying to say that the Islamic militants are passing past the cameraman who's taping them or any other point on the road for that matter. But how exactly do you understand pass by a convoy? A convoy is usually a group of anything that's military and moving. Everything makes total sense to me here except for the use of the preposition by. So, what exactly does pass or move by a convoy mean?

The picture in question (copied from the website for your convenience):


texts:
Which of the following is correct and why?

  Zero tolerance policy needed towards attacks on Indian students in Canada.

or

  Zero tolerance policy needed against attacks on Indian students in Canada.


texts: Grammar sentence structure and "opposite ... next"

texts:
Consider:

The bank is opposite the supermarket next to the bar.

What is next to the bar, the bank or the supermarket?


texts: What is the correct way to construct this sentence?

texts:
What is the correct way to construct the following sentence from a grammatical and punctuation perspective?

  Example: Currently occupying the position of a server Moderator in the ''AVU'' group.

Should there be a comma after ''currently''? Are the prepositions ''of'' and ''in'' correct in this context? (It is from a resume.)


texts: 'he swims very well' or 'he to swim very well'?

texts:
When do you use the verb which follows a personal pronoun with "to" and when without to?
Examples:

a. Do you have to read all the time?
b. He swims very well.
c. You know how to ride a bike, don´t you?


texts: The right term in English for this kind of punishment given by the court to the first-time criminal

texts:
What's the right term in English for the punishment given by the court to the first-time criminal, in which instead of serving some time in prison he/she is allowed to be free during that time, but under some restrictions (like he will be under special surveillance by the government, or he won't be allowed to leave his town, or he would have to report to some governmental institution twice a month or so, etc.) In my first language they use such terms like "conditional sentence" and "probationary period", but, as far as I can see in Wikipedia, the former in English is about grammar, and the latter is about employment.
If possible, I would also like a term for the same kind of decision of the court for a person that is being under investigation, that is, his guilt is not proven yet, but there is a growing amount of evidence indicating that he has committed the crime.


texts: Is it possible to use “transmit to” instead of “infect’”?

texts:
I would like to know whether I could use “transmit to” instead of “infect” in such a sentence:

  Polio does not transmit to animals.


texts: Difference in the meaning of these two expressions with construct there is/it is?

texts:
Consider these two expressions:

It has been a dominant election for X political party. For 9 out of every 10 constituency, it is a X party representative who won the election.
It has been a dominant election for X political party. For 9 out of every 10 constituency, there is a X party representative who won the election.

Do these two expressions with the "it is"/"there is" construct have the same meaning? I feel like of the two, only the first one is correct; the second one feels a bit awkward to me and I don't know what it means.


texts:
What it means when we say "{something} is a common part of {something}"?

like in this context:

  This rule is a common part of logic and is called disjunctive syllogism.


texts: Can I use Future Perfect Continuous to describe actions that will be happening in the future for some period of time?

texts:
I've been reading about Future Continuous and Future Perfect Continuous tenses in an article (I'm not providing a link, because it's in Russian).

It says that I should use Future Continuos with following marker words:

This time next week/month/year
This time next week I will be having dinner with Tiffany
The whole morning/evening/day
Tom will be waiting for you the whole day
During the [part of the day]
We will be playing Twister during the evening
From ... till
They won’t be working from 9 p.m. till 11 p.m
For ... hours
I will be fixing the bugs for 3 hours
All day long
I bet she will be sleeping all day long

My question is can I use Future Perfect Continuous for all of this cases instead of Future Continuous? As I've understood, Future Perfect Continuos is used for actions that will be happening in the future for some period of time. So I guess it's gonna be correct if I'd use Future Perfect Continuous in this case, or isn't?


texts: How to understand the "otherwise" in this sentense?

texts:
The sentence is:
    This weaknesses negated his otherwise progressive attitude towards the staff.

I feel hard to understand the meaning of "otherwise progressive attitude".
How to transfer this sentence into a simple one?


texts:
'Margie' is a diminutive form of Margaret /m'a: grit/. It is normally pronounced as [mˈɑːdʒi] by the native speakers. Some other derivatives include Maggie, Meg, Megan, etc. Now, all of these have the hard /g/ sound. So, I feel Margie may be pronounced as /m'a: gi/. So far, I've found just one reference that supports it.
So, how should a teacher of ESL teach the learners its pronunciation in a country where the name is quite unfamiliar? Will it be wrong to read it with the hard /g/?


texts: Choosing between a present participle and a same-root adjective

texts:
Is there any rule that would help me choose between using a present participle and using a same-root adjective?

For example, which one sounds better,

  Americans were fully trustful toward their mass media in those days.

or

  Americans were fully trusting their mass media in those days.


texts: systematic or random errors or systemic errors or random errors?

texts:
Hello I have always had this confusion. Could you please explain me, which one of these is correct and why?

The difference 0.038 grams is due to systematic or random errors.

or

The difference of 0.038 grams is due to systematic errors or random errors.

Intuitively, I feel like the first one is correct, but I am not sure.


texts:
Is it possible to know the meaning of "She upended the chessboard." without a context, because of upending means "up..." and "down..." that depends on the context.
For example, here https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/upend?q=upending we have the sentence:

  "She upended the chessboard halfway through the game because she was losing."

I figure out, to start a new game, somebody must say:

  Upend the chessboard halfway and let's start a new game.

My question is about the possibility if that possibility exists, that same syntax (upend) can have the opposite meaning, not different but opposite.
I am expecting the answer "Yes" or "No" and some examples.

In Google translate for Croatian language stay:
Upend
"Oboriti" = overthrow, topple, bring down, knock down, fell, upend
"Uspraviti" = straighten, hold up, upend
The Croatian word "Oboriti" is opposite to Croatian word "Uspraviti" but both words in the English we can translate with upend.
My one example:
The vase has been upended, please upend it to stay like before.
But does these "The vase has been upended (overthrow, topple, bring down, knock down, fell, upend), please upend (straighten, hold up, upend) it to stay like before." explains why I ask the question? Why "upend" is in both of this group of verbs?
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
None of you have thought: "Why somebody has been translating 'upend' in some other language like that? Is there somewhere something in the real world of a native speaker reason for that?


texts: Can "zero" be used to describe uncountable nouns?

texts:
“There was zero courage in this verdict,” he said. ”I think this goes to the jury not wanting to make a difficult decision."

I learned that mass nouns cannot be enumerated.

Yes, I know that zero courage can be replaced with no courage, but, since zero is a number, I wonder whether zero courage is ungrammatical or only sloppy style.


texts:
I know the brother of Ram, who loved Rani.
I know the brother of Ram who loved Rani.
Are the sentences same in meaning?
In the first one we've  used  comma and in the 2nd one we haven't used comma.
What are the meanings of them?


texts: singular or plural in "noun in apposition" structure

texts:
Frescos depicting episodes from the Khmer version of the Ramayana, the Reamker is/are painted on the wall.

In this sentence, which verbs I should use, singular or plural?


texts:
Could you please tell me which tense should I use in such phrase :

  I'd try to add him to the group and check if it ______ (helps / helped) ?

  I'd try to add him to the group and check if it ______ (works / worked) ?


texts: According to my friend, there is a difference between “food” and “rice”. Well, for her every other thing we eat with rice is “food”, and rice is just rice for her. For example, If we eat chicken and rice, then she calls chicken as food.


texts: What if I don't pronounce 'the' as /T͟Hē/ or /T͟Hə/ and instead something in between?

texts:
/T͟Hē/ is pronounced before words that start with a vowel and /T͟Hə/ before consonants,
but I noticed that most of the time I pronounce 'the' /THe/ as in 'there', with a short e for both cases. Does it really matter? How severe is this mistake?


texts: "Giving up all its interests in the olive oil business" - meaning of "interests"

texts:
From the Godfather:

  Michael: The Corleone family's thinking of giving up all its interests
  in the olive oil business and settling out here.

I'm not sure if I follow what he said correctly so I'd like to ask first if it even make sense. If so, what is the meaning of give up interests? The give up phrasal could mean to stop doing something that you do regularly or to stop thinking or believing something. But how it can be tied with interests?

I'd say We give up all our interests in <something> means that we have no interests in that <something>.


texts: "leave to future generations" VS "leave for future generations"

texts:
By making such fiscal investment, we will be able to leave a valuable asset to our future generations
  By making such fiscal investment, we will be able to leave a valuable asset for our future generations

If I want to say pass on/bequeath a precious asset to incoming generations, which prepsition should I opt for？


texts:
Example:

  Army vet Chris Mintz charged the gunman after pulling alarms and telling students to run.

What does it exactly mean when you are charging someone as used in the example sentence above? Typically when you charge someone, it means that you are demanding that they pay you money for the service you have provided them with. Another common meaning of the verb charge is when you rush forward in attack or engage someone in combat, but, when used like that, there is usually a preposition coming after the verb charge. For example:

  The plan is to charge headlong at the enemy.


texts:
Just a minute ago, when I look at worldometers and I saw a sentence:

  COVID-19 forecasting model used by the US Government.

I can't understand that part of the sentence: used by the US Government.
So why don't use the part so: is used by the US Government.
I can't understand it. Thank you everyone.


texts: Omitting the verb in a series of similar sentences

texts:
I'm writing a story, and English is my second language.
It seems natural for me to write the following:

Out of 8 children, 7 can go to school by bus.
John cannot, but he does not mind using his bicycle.

"John cannot" means that John cannot go to school by bus.
Is it correct not to repeat "go to school by bus"?


texts:
In some cultures, if you have a belly button that looks like a hole, your belly button is thought to be beautiful, but if it protrudes, it is not beautiful.
Is it correct to say "Her belly button sticks in/out" in everyday English?


texts:
I'm trying to understand use-case of Present Continuous. I've read BBC Grammar Challenge. I don't understand using of the Present Continuous in the following case:

  When I'm speaking I often distort some words.

The action (speaking in that case) is not occurring just now or around now. It occurs in general.

Is it true that we use Present Continuous tense to describe the process of action itself (speaking in my case) instead of the action in general?


texts: I want to say 'the city is destroyed into ashes' more poetically and uniquely. Can I say 'the city is with destruction into ashes'? More specifically, there's no city because of destruction and just the ashes are left.


texts:
I have not used the machine regularly for a while now so I can't verify its status enough. But I have checked today and cannot reproduce the issue anymore.

Is the verb tense agreement above correct, or should it be have checked and could not instead?


texts:
In qualitative research (e.g., thematic analysis) often multiple text extracts are grouped into a theme. The wording of the theme sometimes is based on the wordings of the original texts. To describe this I first came up with the following sentence:

  Most of the themes borrowed the wordings from the original texts

I want to ask whether the sentence above is correct or natural in English or not?  if the sentence is correct, could someone provide alternative sentences?


texts: Can we use "how heavy" to ask for a person's weight? Is it appropriate?

texts: I know we can use "how heavy" to ask something's weight. But I am wondering can we use "how heavy" to ask for a person's weight? Is it appropriate?


texts:
Is this an example of a nominative absolute phrase?

There was a stall that sold masks in the local market on Sunday mornings. He looked at many different masks. Most of them, too outlandish, he rejected out of hand.

[A wrinkle in the realm by Ben Okri]


texts: What is the meaning of "all-out dignity must go"

texts:
Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRRFnPrkFEs
about 7:15 into this video, Trevor said, "all-out dignity must go".


texts: Why does "confine" have a "negative" meaning with a "con" prefix?

texts:
I am puzzled about the reason why "confine" means "restrict; place limits on".

My doubts are:(1)"con-" prefix has a uasge of "intensify their meaning" (refer in here); (2) "fine" means "good". Why the combination of them leads to "not good" instead of "goooood" in order to intensify the meaning?


texts:
In the following sentence I am confused about using "is" or "are":(disregard the meaning, it is just an example)

Do not change your clothes when the door or the window is open

Do not change your clothes when the door or the window are open


texts:
The light glared white off the sheeny floor.

Can I write this to mean "The floor, receiving the light, reflected it back to the eyes of the author, which looked white to him."?

this "glare white off" part bugs me as I write this.


texts: What does 'he' refer to in this sentence?

texts:
I read a title on Twitter:

  Russian monument to Steve Jobs taken down after Apple CEO Cook says he is gay

People are arguing the sentence is more likely to be understood as meaning that Cook said Jobs is gay.

The title was a post on The Washington Post.

My questions is, is it really poorly constructed? If so, how should it be adjusted?


texts: "But let me assure you, this, like any story worth telling is all about a girl."

texts:
In the 2002 Spider-Man movie, there is the following expression at 3:25

But let me assure you, this, like any story worth telling is all about a girl.

Can anyone interpret this expression please?


texts: The difference between "of", "to" and "for" in these sentences

texts:
What is the total cost of attending the seminar?
  What is the total cost to attend the seminar?
  What is the total cost for attending the seminar?

Are all these sentences correct, and do they have the same meaning?
If so then why does the first sentence have 'of', the second have 'to' and the third have 'for'?

What are the rules for using different prepositions in a sentence?


texts:
I saw this quotes somewhere on the internet and I can't understand the meaning of "hop/simply hop" on these quotes below:

"So they hop online, armed only with an avatar and their keyboard."
"They won't simply hop down."
"Simply hop on, start up and go."

I can't write here the context of each one, because I just saw them like I wrote here.


texts: Using / between parts with spaces in them

texts:
Consider this sentence:

  Development of semantic networks/ontologies could ...

Here, I mean "semantic networks" and/or "ontologies". Is the sentence Ok in its current form or it needs to be changes? (possibly adding a hyphen between semantic and networks?)


texts: What does "Don't hate" mean or imply here?

texts:
I am not quite get the logic between the lines here. Is "Don't hate" a slang or sth? Why did Bruce say it? (he sure knows Tony not hates him, so it's a joke, right? but meaning what?) This phrase bothers me a lot, and I am looking for a paraphrase or replacement of this sentence.

The context is: Tony Stark is trying to persuade Bruce Banner to help design artificial intelligence by using the scepter with the mind stone.

Here is the sentence:

  “Down in Strucker’s lab, I saw some fairly advanced robotics work.
  They deep-sixed the data, but I’m guessing he was knocking on a very
  particular door.”

  “Artificial intelligence,” Bruce said.

  “This could be it, Bruce. This could be the key to creating Ultron.”

  Bruce looked at Tony. “I thought Ultron was a fantasy.”

  “Yesterday it was,” Tony said. “But if we can harness this power . . .
  apply it to the Iron Legion protocol . . .”

  “That’s a man-size if.”

  “Our job is if. What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched
  beach? Turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder
  for Veronica.”

  “Don’t hate,” Bruce said. “I helped design Veronica.”

  “As a worst-case measure. What about a best case? What if the world
  was safe? What if the next time aliens roll up—and they will—they
  couldn’t get past the bouncer?”

  The Avengers II


texts: What is the meaning of "what you have in water" in the following sentence?

texts:
What is the meaning of "what you have in water" in the following sentence,

  Burn something and - whether it's melted or not - you have changed its
  chemical character, because it become bound to an oxidant (often
  oxygen -- ooh, what a coincidence!?! -- but not always e.g. you can
  burn sodium in gaseous chlorine to make salt) and released energy, so
  you will never get back your starting material without putting back
  into the system more energy than it gave up in burning.

  And that's why we'll never have water-powered cars - you can't burn
  hydrogen any more than what you have in water. Water is hydrogen ash.

?

source: Mick Wilson's writing in https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-melting-and-burning

Does "You can't burn hydrogen any more than what you have in water" mean "You can't burn hydrogen any more than hydrogen in water" ?


texts: Which one is correct : ' this house is their ' or ' this house is theirs '

texts: I had got this question and it was very difficult for me to choose one. Please could you give me the right answer and also the reason that's correct.


texts: How to express "someone must have affected the bottle so the bottle is now lying"?

texts:
There is a bottle in upright position on the table. After a while I see it lying on the table.
What is/are the correct/idiomatic verb(s) to use to express that someone must have affected the bottle so it is now lying?
A. Someone must have take it down.
B. Someone must have bring it down.
C. Someone must have knocked it down.
How do you say? I made up the above A-C, and I don't know if they're correct.


texts:
Man: Do you know who the hero who saved the old woman's life yesterday was? It was Marty.
Woman: No way.

Would "No way" be a perfectly natural response here to express disbelief?

Also, would it mean she didn't believe him or just that she was surprised?


texts: What preposition is suitable in my sentence?

texts:
My sentence is:
I took excellent in/at/for my master thesis.
Or, how can I write a better sentence?


texts:
Actually, I am writing a story. I have to explain the poverty of a family. So please let me know  which one is the grammatically correct and reasons behind them, in the following two statements.

  There wasn't any question of them being able to buy a better house — or
  even one more bed to sleep in. They were far too poor for that.
  As they were far poor,they were unable to buy a better house and even one more bed to sleep in.


texts:
The would make me feel alive.

Is there an elipsis with 'to' infinitive marker that not displayed before feel? Is there an adjective phrase 'feel alive' with adjective head? Is the 'to feel alive' a direct object because it's an answer of 'What?' question?

,without ellipsis

  They would make me to feel alive human.

Is there a noun phrase 'feel alive human'? Is the 'to' a preposition and 'feel alive human' a prepositional object here?


texts: Using "would have" + past participle in conditional clauses

texts:
Can I use "would have" + past participle structure for conditional clauses?

  For many years he would practice that kind of style of management,
  that is, not getting into the details of problems much and even
  deliberately staying unaware of them. On one hand, it saved him a lot
  of free time for his personal pursuits outside of the work setting,
  and, on the other hand, if worse would have come to the worst,
  he would have always been able to put the blame on those who “failed
  to inform him in timely and amply manner”.

In the passage above I don't know what structure to use in the conditional clause.

Saying "if worse had come to the worst" would mean that I refer to some event that had already happened prior to what is described in the passage, but in the passage by "the worst" I am trying to refer to some possible event that might have taken later, that is, after the earlier event described in the passage had already started (that is, after the action of practicing a certain style of management had already started and lasted for a while).

"If worse came to the worst", as far as I know, just like "if worse comes to the worst" refers to a possible event in the present time, that is, the time of narration of the passage, but my passage is in the past and all the events that are talked about in it are the events that either happened or could have happened long before the time of narration.

However, "if worse would have come to the worst" results in using "would have" in both clauses, which is probably redundant.


texts:
Can "little" be used to modify "such + noun"? Does "little such care" sound natural to you?

Thank you very much!


texts:
Do this to avoid having to do the dishes.

  Do this to not do the dishes.

I am not sure what tense the first sentence is, I feel it's in the simple present too, but I am not sure. Is there a temporal difference in meaning between the two? I feel the difference is that the first one implies doing the dishes is an obligation, but there doesn't seem to be a "temporal difference in meaning".


texts: Rule on how to turn flat infinitives into present-tense 3rd-person singulars

texts:
Is there any rule in English on how to turn flat infinitives into present-tense 3rd-person singulars?

As far as I can see, sometimes it's done by simple concatenation of the flat infinitive and "s":

sleep  + s -> sleeps
stay   + s -> stays
enjoy  + s -> enjoys
geno   + s -> genos
gherao + s -> gheraos

Sometimes, by changing the last letter (probably only in case of letter 'y' following right after a consonant) into 'ie' first:

bully   ->   bullie   + s -> bullies
signify ->   signifie + s -> signifies
cry     ->   crie     + s -> cries

Sometimes by concatenation of the flat infinitive and "es":

do    + es -> does
go    + es -> goes
video + es -> videoes

And sometimes (probably only in one case), by dropping the last two letters first:

have -> ha + s -> has


texts: using "Regarding" in the first of a sentence

texts:
Which ones are correct?
My English language teacher emphasises that the subject of the second part of the sentence here should be the one of the first part, so we should use "we" or "one" after "regarding X".

Regarding X, the trend is a slow rise and then a fall.
Regarding X, we can see that the trend is a slow rise and then a fall.


texts: Is it idiomatic to use "to hope" in a sentence in which 'could' or 'can' appear?

texts:
Which of the below sentences is more idiomatic in the English language, 1) or 2)? Or, both?

I hope that we could listen to live calls.
I  hope that we can listen to live calls.


texts: Grammatical function of "secret" in "It's a story they've kept secret for a decade."

texts:
Does secret in this context:

  It's a story they've kept secret for a decade.

play the role of an adverb? If so why does no dictionary defines it as such?


texts:
I want to write an email to my consultant saying that "attached files are the details with respect to our meeting and RFI's raised by contractor"

Is this correct way to use "with respect to"???


texts:
For now, though, the reality is that we live in a society of, intense complexity, one more factor that contributes to the growing squeeze on energy and other natural resources. In calculating how close we are to Peaks and Absolute Peaks, it's important understand how complexities burden the search for solutions. In fact, complexity could well be the straw that tips into Game Over.

I can't clearly understand the last sentence. Could you please explain me the idea?


texts: What is the difference between "has been" and "had been" here?

texts:
She looks as if she has been ill.

vs.

  She looks as if she had been ill.

What is the difference in the meaning between these two sentences?


texts:
Eg: Your surgeon should also explain the type of anesthesia to be used.
In the above example, what is the meaning and tense of the "to be used".
Further, please explain to me that there is any omission or contraction in the phrase like participle clauses or relative clauses.


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

Roots of the India-Pakistan conflict can be found in a shared attitude of derision towards the past.

What difference is the usage of "towards" instead of "in" making here?


texts: "tens of thousands of people" vs. "tens of thousands people"

texts:
I often confuse the two phrases.
My Google search for them has shown that the use of "tens of thousands of people" is overwhelmingly popular compared to "tens of thousands people".
Based on the search result, I first thought that the use of "tens of thousands people" was wrong, but later found a BBC news article employing the two similar phrases in it as below.

An unprecedented economic crisis in Lebanon has pushed tens of
thousands people into poverty and triggered the largest
anti-government protests the country has seen in more than a decade.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese took to the streets, leading to the resignation of of Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri and
his unity government.

Are both phrases just interchangeable? If there is any difference between them?


texts: What does it mean when a word in a sentence is followed by (read another word)?

texts:
Few days ago, I came across a newspaper article. One particular sentence was like this:

  First, the scheme violates one of the cardinal principles, which though not specifically written down in the Constitution, actually permeates the entire Constitution: separation of powers. Simply put, this scheme, in effect, gives an executive function to legislators (read legislature).

What is the meaning of legislators(read legislature) or in general what is the usage of word(read another-word)?


texts:
Independence, argued Paine, would free the former colonies from being entangled in European wars in which they had no concern.
  A declaration of independence would also improve their chances of
  securing foreign aid.

source: DIPLOMACY
does it mean previously or making?


texts: Why do you not put a pronoun in front of chapter

texts: I saw this phrase "In chapter 1 section 1". But I thought, "why do we not put a pronoun in front of chapter 1?" because, in the sentence, it's a specific chapter 1. Can anyone explain why? Thank you.


texts: How do you want it sent? vs. How do you want it send?

texts:
Ryan: I have some mail.Can you take care of it for me?

Nathan: Sure. How do you want it sent?

Why in the above text there is "sent"  not "send"?


texts: Is there any difference between to be late and being late in complex object?

texts:
He doesn’t like us to be late for work.
He doesn't like us being late for work.

Is there any difference in meaning between the two?
I know that there is a big difference in meaning between:

I saw her open the window and I saw her opening the window.


texts: Meaning of "We skipped the light fandango"?

texts:
Procol Harum's famous song "A Whiter Shade Of Pale"
(YouTube link)
starts with

We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor

I'm wondering what it literally means.
I think fandango is a Spanish dance, right?
But I don't know what the light fandango means.
What does "skipped" mean?
And what does "Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor" mean?
Thanks.


texts:
Does "asking the Supreme Court to throw out the results" mean "asking the Supreme Court to get rid of the results (that is, deny the results and deem them as illegal)"?
It seems to me that "throw out" is ambiguous: It can either be explained as "ignore (as if the results are nonexistent but not reject them as illegal)" or "reject (them as illegal)". I am not sure.

Brad Heath tweeted:
So Texas' Attorney General is literally asking the Supreme Court to throw out the results of other states' presidential elections, set aside the millions of votes cast in states that are not Texas and have other state legislatures make Trump president.


texts: Use "declaration" to let the readers feel that this sentence is ironic and humourous?

texts:
I think this author uses declaration to let the readers feel that this sentence has irony and humour，Am I right? Because the general usage would be "but after I had heard what Lorna said, […]."

Here is the quote:

  "I have a 10 o'clock meeting with Patrick Beeman. To discuss what needs to be done." I suppose I nodded. Freddy wanted me to do my Flesh-Eating Zombie thing, but after Lorna's declaration, it was beyond me. She said something else that I heard but didn't really hear, climbed into the car and drove off.


texts: "While" and "When" phrases in the future tense

texts:
When I am using the future tense, why do "while"  and "when" clauses have to be in the present tense?

For instance,

  "While I am eating you will be speaking on the phone"

and

"I will be waiting when your plane arrives"

Both sentences are grammatically correct.

But,  doesn't it make more sense to say

"While I will be eating you will be speaking on the phone"

and

  "I will be waiting when your plane will arrive."  ?