texts: Synonyms for "implement" regarding an idea and differences

texts:
Could you please tell me what verbs I can use instead of the verb to implement when talking about an idea? Could you also explain the differences between them?

Are the following sentences correct?

  A: I want to implement this idea.

  B: I want to realise this idea.

  C: I want to carry out this idea / carry this idea out.

  D: I want to put this idea into practice / effect.

  E: I want to actualise this idea.


texts: "Do you stretch" Vs "Have you stretched"

texts:
Please imagine someone's father is going bankrupt because of a big change in country's currency value and all the family members are worried and very anxious and in this situation the family son has stretched on the sofa at home. The family daughter (his sister) sees him in that situation and wonders. She wants to ask him if he is worried at all or it doesn't make any difference for him. She begins in the way I mentioned below.

I would appreciate it if both of the following sentences sounds natural to be asked in such a situation?

  1- Why do you stretch yourself out on the sofa?

  2- Why have you stretched yourself out on the sofa?

For me, both work properly and mean the same with a subtle semantic nuance.


texts:
I want to express something like demand for something has risen using there be clause.

Is it OK to say there has raised demand for something?


texts:
I have got 3 questions about "person" and "persons" (all of them belong to each other)

Why is it always taught that the word "person" has not plural form while it is actually has? (I saw many sources that say that the plural form of person is people while it is persons). Indeed it is formal use as Cambridge dictionary says, but it is still it is not mistake as it is taught.
In Merriam Webster dictionary for learners I saw that the plural form of person is used in context of law. But it is not clear to me if according this dictionary it is supposed to be used the same as the word people in context of law, or it is used differently. The examples that it beings are not clear for the purpose of the understanding the plural form "persons". Here is what it says:

  Persons: (law) plural persons : the body or clothing of a person especially when
  considered as a place to hide things He was arrested for having a gun
  on his person without a permit.

  "He was arrested for carrying a gun on his person without having a gun permit."
  "The dogs discovered that the men were hiding drugs about their persons."
  The examples are very difficult to understand.

Is the plural form of "person" (persons) is used in other context apart from law?


texts: Can one person/thing be something that is a plural noun?

texts:
Here goes a passage from Tim Pratt's Impossible Dreams short story:

  She understood character arcs, the use of color, the underappreciated
  skills of silent film actors, the bizarre audacity of
  pre-Hayes-Code-era films, the perils of voiceover, why an extended
  single-camera continuous scene was worth becoming rapturous about, why
  the animation of Ray Harryhausen was in some ways infinitely more
  satisfying than the slickest CGI. She was his people.

My question is about the last sentence I sort of stammered on reading. Although it's clear that the heroine belongs to the same group of human beings (cineasts) as the hero, how come that she may be something that is plural (the word people)? Is it some literary device? If yes, what might it be called and how does it work? If possible, a couple of examples, please.

P.S. Should anyone want to find that passage following the link, it's around the last one-third of the text to be scrolled down.


texts:
Am I describing the time events using the right grammar?

  After finishing the 5 days of the IV steroids course, I started to
  regain most of my vision within one week (large blind spot). The rest
  of my vision (brightness) took up to 6 months to be recovered.

I couldn't talk about the 20 to 30 days where symptoms gradually started. Maybe I couldn't mention that the 6 months are the time event that right (immediately) followed the one week of recovery.

Here's the sequence (series of events followed by each other):

Symptoms started and getting worse for 10 to 15 days.
I started to go to doctors and do tests for another 10 to 15 days. Symptoms are still getting worse during this period.
I started receiving a treatment for 5 days.
I started improving within one week (80%).
It took up to 5 or 6 months to completely recover.

How can I rephrase my words to do it without writing this sequence of events in points? I need to use conjunctions and words like (after, before, ago, last, the following...etc.) and I want to use the correct grammar (present perfect, past, past perfect...etc.) to be able to say it like a native speaker.


texts:
I know when to use is being. It means the event is currently happening.

I have a doubt whether that event already existed and is still happening or it's a new event and is currently happening.

Example - "Changes are being recorded in registers" ,

Now whether the Changes are started recording now only,
or
"Changes" are already recorded and still recording in registers.

I Hope , its clear now..

Please clarify

Thank you


texts: I am not sure how to read the number after the name of monarchs? For example Louis XVI. Is the only way Louis the sixteenth or is it possible Louis sixteen?


texts: Is it correct to replace the second temperature by "that" or "it" ?What is this kind of grammar called?

texts:
I was reading some samrt apps on a web site.
On the web page, the author said this:

  This SmartApp enables you to automatically turn your fan on when SmartThings detects the thermostat is off, and
  the temperature inside your home is hotter than the temperature
  outside

My teacher used to show us some sentences like this:

  I can swim better than you do
  My dress is beautiful than yours

So, I am wondering if it is correct to use "that" or "it" to replace the second temperature in the sentence:

  The temperature inside your home is hotter than that outside
  The temperature inside your home is hotter than it outside

What is this kind of grammar called?


texts:
I was developed a method. In my method, I was divided it into scheme A and without scheme A. I want to use the word "comparison" to compare my proposed method when I use scheme A and without scheme A. This is my sentence

  The proposed method with scheme A allows to maintain the quality comparison with the proposed method without scheme A.

However, the above sentence look wrong grammar as well as not professional way. Could you help me to improve my above sentence. Thanks


texts: Figure of Speech - Comparing Singular with Plural, and Vice Versa

texts:
Can I compare nouns with contrasting numbers.

Assume I'm in a furniture shop:

  These cabinets are like the guy from yesterday.

Or should I always tie the numbers? So I should just pick one cabinet to compare with the guy.

  My girlfriend is like these mystery doors. Oh, they're not mystery doors? That's okay she doesn't exist either.

Again, is it okay to compare nouns that differ in number?

  These sofas are like me.

Assume the sofas have different design and comparing them to me describes my moods. For informal use, should I put "s" after "me" to make it plural. If I have to, should I put "-"? Mes or me-s?


texts: How to It's the tie that's not worth you

texts:
I am having problems understanding the what the person means by 'It is the tie that's not worth you'. Does he mean that the other person with the tie, is not worthy of wearing the tie? Or the tie does not fit the person?
P.S. I tried consulting this:
who worth you most / who worths you most


texts: If you guess that a person's hair is curly (when their head is covered) and you later see that the person's hair is curly, how would say that?

texts:
Are all the below options grammatically correct?

  I knew/guessed your hair would be curly.
  I knew/guessed you had curly hair.
  I knew/guessed you would have curly hair.

In option 2, does had imply that the person had curly hair and doesn't have curly hair?


texts: "I have written a book" or "I wrote a book" in this sentence?

texts:
Past perfect vs Past simple problems always baffle me..

When I want to talk about my experience of writing a book and getting a revision
on it in the past, should I use past perfect? or simple past?

  I have written a book and had someone look at it after.

  I wrote a book and had someone look at it after.

I want to know the difference between the two sentence or which one is correct.

Thank you!


texts:
I want to express that I am upstairs in a building and observing events down the street. Which sentence does it describe in accordance with standard English:

1. I am looking down from the window.

2. I am looking down the window.


texts: What is the difference in meaning between "A majority of" and "The majority of"?

texts:
Does a difference in meaning between "A majority of" and "The majority of" exist?

For instance, do the following sentences have the same meaning?

  A majority of the students are expected to vote in the class election.
  The majority of the students are expected to vote in the class election.


texts: hurt, ache, sore, pain: what's the right expression?

texts:
There are different expressions for pain in the body: "My head hurts",  "I've got a splitting headache", "My head aches", "I've got a sore throat"...

In the dictionaries I could not find any rule when to use which (except of the slight meaning specialization for the word "ache" being violated by the exception "headache").

Is there any rule (of thumb) when to use which expression?
Are all these expressions interchangeable? "I've got a sore head"?


texts:
Some languages around the world use the generic we instead of English's preferred one or you. I have noticed that some people, when asking questions on this site (EL&U although the same principle applies to ELL), use 'we' in this generic way.

For example:

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/231014/how-do-we-say-hexadecimal-numbers
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/155057/why-do-we-say-that-we-observe-traditions
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/29552/how-do-we-pronounce-others
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/16410/why-do-we-say-wearing-perfumes

See more and more

More specifically, is it ever possible to use 'we' when talking about a group to which one does not belong?

My instinct is to use you or even one here to form How does one pronounce... etc.

I can only think that it is either a transatlantic difference or a feature that has come from other languages, since the only other uses of 'we' I could find are inappropriate.

Is my instinct right, or is this acceptable grammar?


texts:
In Tokyo, I saw this sign next to the smoking area.

It says

  Please smoke with good manners in the area surrounded by planters.

The part "with good manners" sounds a bit weird to me. Is it just me, or is it not idiomatic?

One can have/teach/forget manners

  He dressed well and had impeccable manners.

  They taught him his manners.

  I'm sorry, I was forgetting my manners.

but "with manners" seems a bit off, doesn't it? How would you say it?


texts: The day before/ yesterday...were/had been -- forming sentences, trying to convey things concerning the past and the past before past

texts:
We were all afraid thinking what might happen to us. What increased the fear was how it had been in the paper yesterday/the day before.. that the killer had killed all the people that were/had been there at the party.

In the first case, can I use the day before instead of yesterday ?
And in the second case, can I use had been instead of were? What difference does it make whether I use had been or were?


texts: patients with diabetes OR the patients with diabetes

texts: To my knowledge, if we indicate diabetic patients as a whole, 'patients with diabetes' is grammatically correct rather than 'THE patients with diabetes'. I don't understand why because we have to put a 'definite article' in front of a specific kind of noun. It is not just any patients with any kind of disease, but with a specific kind of disease.


texts:
I am flying to Spain tomorrow and am staying/will stay there one week.

What is the best solution I think both are valid.


texts: Is there a saying like "something still bites me"?

texts:
It's a recurring issue for me that I can't completely remember a saying. In this case I think I've heard someone using something like:

  I've interrogated him and he seems to have an alibi. Something still bites me, though.

So the meaning is like 'still having a suspicion about something/someone' or 'something is still bothering'.

Am I making this up or am I confusing it with a very similar phrase? If not I'd be interested to hear more usage examples.


texts:
It is designed especially for dogs.

Can 'for' qualify 'especially,' but not 'designed'? That is, can the preposition phrase modifies adverb in this case? Thank you in advance.


texts: Does "to grow to like" imply previous dislike?

texts:
Does the phrase to grow to like imply that one had not liked it before he started liking it. As in the expression:

  I grew to like jogging.


texts: "Do something in your own time" vs. "do something on your own time"

texts:
Could you tell me if there is any difference in meaning between do something in one's own time and do something on one's own time? For example, in the 12th episode of the 10th season of Friends, Monica said the latter. Here is the context:

Mike: Do I have a minute to go to the bathroom?
Monica: You had a bathroom break at 2030. Pee on your own time, Mike!
(to Phoebe and Mike). Now, in regard to the toast, okay, you wanna
keep them short, nothing kills a rehearsal dinner like long speeches.
Okay. You just get in, do your thing and get out!

Would the meaning somehow change if she said in your own time?


texts: Can we use "have" with "class" in this sense?

texts:
I know we can use "have" with "class" like:

  I have a class tomorrow morning.

But can I use it like:

  This is not an appropriate room to have a class in it.


texts:
I am wondering to know the once-beautiful meaning where I could not find its meaning in the dictionary or internet!

  The once-beautiful building was now dirty, decrepit, and roofless.


texts: Is there any difference between "sticking to" and "stuck on"?

texts:
See these two expressions:

Every time I park my car here, there are tons of fliers stuck on the windshield when I come back to pick it up.
Every time I park my car here, there are tons of fliers sticking to the windshield when I come back to pick it up.

Are sticking to or stuck on both correct here in this context?


texts: What do you call a country which another country exports to? 'Export partner'?

texts: If country A exports to country B, what do you call country B? Country A's 'export partner'? 'Export receiver'? I know the expression 'trading partner', but it includes both exports and imports.


texts:
What have we to use with and/or together?

  John and Tim have to visit Anna next week.
  John or Tim has to visit Anna next week.
  John and/or Tim ____ to visit Anna next week.


texts: How should I say that I follow my favourite singer: "He is an idol to me" or "He is an idol for me"?

texts:
I follow one of my favourite singers. How should I say that I follow him?

  He is an idol to me
  He is an idol for me


texts: How to reply to thank you from worker who takes orders in restaurant?

texts: How to reply to "Thank you" from the man who takes orders from restaurants (like McDonalds), I'm not sure but are phrases "you're welcome" and "don't mention it" OK? They feel strange in this situation.


texts: Furniture as a general term for curtain accessories

texts:
Can the word "furniture" be used as a general term for accessories and fittings, for example, curtain accessories (hooks, brackets, rings)?

  Furniture: the small accessories or fittings that are required for a
  particular task or function (source)


texts:
Based on dictionaries' definitions, the noun "speed" sounds to be either countable or uncountable. So please let me know if in the sentence bellow using the determiner "a" sounds natural to you or what:

  That rock is coming at us at a great speed.


texts:
I've already learnt that if we want to make a sentence sound like imperative, there is no subject needed as in

  1.Go see if she is okay!

  2.Tell me if she is okay!

But is it possible to include "you" or "he" to make the sentences sound like imperative as in

  3.You/he go see if she is okay!

  4.You/he tell me if she is okay!

If my examples are not good for answering my question, you can make other sentences appropriate for this question.


texts:
The new contract doesn't allow for extended maternity leave; therein lies the problem for the union, 60% of whose membership is young women.

Is this sentence correct? Is it correct to say 'is young women' instead of 'are young women'?


texts: What's the meaning of "just as well" in this sentence and the sentence's meaning?

texts:
I saw this sentence on a book:

Not replying works just as well as "I don't know."

I don't understand what it means. Is there any way to analyze its grammar?
I know the phrase "just as well", but I'm not sure if it's still the same meaning in this sentence.

After thinking more about it, a new thought occurred to me.

Maybe I should take "not replying" as a noun, "works" as the verb in the sentence, and this sentence means that "not replying" is just the same thing as "I don't know." Is that right?


texts:
Judging from his latest insult to trees, Dan Brown has apparently tried to read Dante, and yet his sentences are still stacked like so many corpses.Source

What does the writer mean here?


texts: using the verb " say " in reported speech

texts:
In English, we can say

"Amany Said "I don't like fish"

or,

"Amany says "I don't like fish"

What does it mean when we use the verb "say" in the present?


texts: Can't image what it must've been like to

texts:
Can't imagine what it must've been like to fly.

Or

  I couldn't imagine what it must 've been like to grow up with him for a father.

What's the function of "must" here?


texts:
We know that "of" has different usages. I'm wondering when a native English speaker reads the sentence

  One point of physics should be mentioned.

without any further context, what "one point of physics" means to him/her. Is its meaning unambiguous?


texts:
I read an article http://www.details.com/celebrities-entertainment/cover-stars/201205/chris-evans-avengers?currentPage=3

And Scarlett Johansson (an actress) said about Chris Evans (an actor)

  I feel like he grew up with the Partridge Family. He'd be just as
  happy doing Guys and Dolls as he would Captain America 2

So what does the term "Partridge Family" mean? is it like a family that parents teach children very carefully or something like that?


texts: "I wish I knew what was (is) wrong with my car" - which is correct? (subjunctive mood)

texts:
Which one of the two forms of verb will make the following sentence idiomatic?

I wish I knew what _____ wrong with my car.

Is

Was

I think it should be is because the sentence is in subjunctive mood, but refers to a present situation, hence use of is is justified.
But in my book correct answer is was


texts: "Most of their conversation was complaints about the company."

texts:
I am a native English speaker and have gone through 8 years of grammar school (and 20-some years of speaking...). Nevertheless, sentences such as the one in the title have always sounded odd to me and I've never been sure if they are in fact grammatical.

To explain my question more generally (and perhaps helpfully for ESL students), in English, nouns that represent generic quantities (most, some, all, etc.) can be considered either singular or plural depending on the context. When the context is not clear, whether those nouns are singular of plural is often determined by a prepositional phrase.

  Most of the cows are white (most is plural)

  Most of the cow is white (most if singular)

This is relatively clear and straightforward. An interesting problem occurs though when a singular "most" is composed of something plural (as in the title of this post).

In that case, the "conversation" (a singular noun) is composed of "complaints" (a plural noun). So to convey the correct intention, it seems necessary to construct a sentence that has a singular noun in the subject, and a plural noun in the complement which goes against subject complement agreement rules.

Furthermore, the possible alternatives all convey something different:

  All of their conversations were complaints (wrong because it states that there were multiple conversations)

  All of their conversation was a complaint (wrong because it only states that there was one complaint and I wish to state there were multiple)

Is this in fact an exception to subject complement agreement rules or are sentences like the above unacceptable in proper English?


texts:
Can I use the -s and -ing form interchangeably if I'm talking about something in the future?

Person A:

Do you know when David gets his car back from the dealership?

Do you know when David is getting his car back from the dealership?

Person B:

He gets it back tomorrow.

He is getting it back tomorrow.

Person A:

Do you think Blaire can get pregnant again?

Person B:

I don't think there is a chance Blair ever gets pregnant again.

I don't think there is a chance of Blair getting pregnant again.


texts:
It sounds like the video is saying (link with a time stamp corresponds the following)

  "I spent quite some time in India before I joined the army.
  I went out there climbing, and up in West Bengal and all around Darjeeling.
  We were in Calcutta for a while and then we were with the Indian Army as well."

This post talks about the usage of out there without giving its meaning.

cambridge does not have an item about out there.

merriam-webster gives

  : UNCONVENTIONAL

which does not seem an explanation.

what does out there mean?


texts:
"Come sleep with me. We won't make love. Love will make us." - Julio Cortazar

What does the part of "love will make us" mean?


texts: A fence of steel or iron bars - does it have a name?

texts:
I need a word or words for fences which invoke a feeling of 'looking through bars'.
Take a popular type of fence around properties: typically black, spear-like bars with pointy tops, with a couple of horizontal rails: picket fence.

I went through a couple of thesauruses and there seems to be precious little synonyms without going into things like barricades and ditches. The phrase I have in mind is: "I stare at/through the rusting railing" and I want to emphasise the aspect of an obstacle making something visible, but unreachable. I chose railing for rhyming potential, and while it can apparently be of any height, I fear it has wrong connotations: of something much shorter in general, with the focus on a single horizontal top rail like along stairs, which would severely clash with my intent.
Now, the fact that it is a property fence has been already established, so if saying something like 'looking through the pickets' or whatsies doesn't sound unnatural, it could certainly do. Sorry for being picky, but, one, I simply cannot rhyme 'fence' with something that would fit my purpose and, two, it is somewhat abstract and I don't think that it has an immediate visual association I am going for.


texts:
Does the below sentence depict the correct usage of from when?

This is the car from when the current elderly studied at that high school.

If I'm not mistaken, from when means from the time.


texts:
Affirmative: You are in love with her.

  Question:

  With whom are you in love?

  Who are you in love with?

Are the both question forms correct?


texts:
Which of the following would be the best sentence to use:
Some people use technology to search for information.
Some people use technology for searching information.


texts: Which of the meanings of the adjective "mean" can have comparison or superlativeness?

texts:
Of of the gradable (synthetic) adjectives (adjective that have suffix of "-er" or "-est") is mean > meaner > meanest). Now looking at the dictionary, shows 7 meanings for this adjective!

  Adjective: mean (meaner,meanest)  meen

  1) (statistics) approximating the statistical norm, average or expected
  value "the mean annual rainfall";
  - average

  2) Characterized by malice "in a mean mood";
  - hateful

  3) Having or showing an ignoble lack of honour or morality "taking a mean advantage"; "chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort"; base, meanspirited

  4) Excellent "famous for a mean backhand"

  5) Marked by poverty befitting a beggar "a mean hut"; beggarly

  6) (used of persons or behaviour) characterized by or indicative of
  lack of generosity "a mean person"; mingy, miserly, tight

  7) (used of sums of money) so small in amount as to deserve contempt
  beggarly

  8) Of no value or worth "I was caught in the mean traffic";bastardly

My question is what is the common meaning among them that normally get the grades of comparative and superlative, because for the moment it doesn't make sense to me that the 1st meaning for example (statistics) can have grades, so I guess that just one or few of them normally get comparison or superlativeness.


texts: What is "self-contained university teaching"?

texts:
From the Habilitation page in Wikipedia:

Habilitation is a qualification required in order to conduct self-contained university teaching, and to obtain a professorship in many European countries

I googled for "self-contained teaching" and found definitions related to schools only:

The term “self-contained classroom” refers to a classroom, where a special education teacher is responsible for the instruction of all academic subjects. The classroom is typically separated from general education classrooms but within a neighborhood school.

What is the meaning of "self-contained" in relation to universities? Does it mean that a person holding habilitation is able to teach a full course of a particular subject, instead of just giving a single lecture? Or that he is able to teach a course with no other lectors participating to help him out?


texts: In Korean, words meaning ‘red circle’ and ‘big circle’ are semantically correct, but in English ‘circle’ just means shape, so is ‘red circle’ a wrong expression because colour is not a quality of shape?


texts:
She stood tall and started to talk normal.

Is this sentence grammatically correct?  If so, what to make of the apparently wrong verb+adjective pattern?


texts: IS or ARE? "The only thing that I want you to hit right now IS/ARE the books"

texts:
In this sentence, which is the right word?

  The only thing that I want you to hit right now is/are the books.


texts: "In English literature" or "In the English literature"?

texts:
Do we ever say, "In the English literature" ? Is it correct?

For example:

  "Hamlet" is a classic play in the English literature.

or

  "Hamlet" is a classic play in English literature.


texts:
Can this:

  These same officials, however, would have been appalled had they known what was going on behind this façade of self-help.

be rephrased as

  These same officials, however, would have been appalled if they had known what was going on behind this façade of self-help.

?


texts: When is using the past perfect tense not necessary?

texts:
Is it more natural to speak in simple past or past perfect when explaining past events to a friend? It seems like Americans use more simple past in everyday life than past perfect. I found this example online:

  I had almost completed my essay when my computer suddenly crashed and I noticed that I had forgotten to save the document.

Is it wrong to say the following instead?

  I was almost done with my essay when my computer suddenly crashed and I noticed that I forgot to save the document.

Maybe it's just my friends, but I rarely hear them speak in past perfect, so I'm really torn about using past perfect when it isn't necessary.


texts: Not using Past Perfect in constructing past unreal conditionals

texts:
If I didn't go to the show business, I was going to become a fireman. (Curb Your Enthusiasm)

It is real life English, seems very incorrect to me, because the guy actually went to show business, so it is the unreal conditional. For me it should be "If I had not gone to the show business, I would have been going to become a fireman."


texts:
Please imagine the top-managers of a manufacturing company are brainstorming over a new product to make a decision whether they should produce and lunch it to the market or not. A present individual at the meeting who is working as a market analyzer wants to say that it is not a proper time or this is not a reasonable product to be manufactured (at least for the current market.) Otherwise, they will end up experiencing a not desirable outcome.
I wonder which one of the options below work properly within my example:

  The possibility of ____________ for the new product is very high. I think we'd better take our time for some raw materials decrease in price. Then even if the market demands drop for this specific item or even the inflation decreases or increases, we won't sustain any considerable loss.

a. failure
b. defeat

To me, they are equally the same things in this case and I think they can be used interchangeably. But, for some unknown reason, "a" sounds more natural to me.


texts: How are "plot" and "story" different from each other?

texts:
I know these words are interchangeable to roughly mean story.

What I am interested to know here is that how different is "plot" compared to "story"? If there is any differences.

My dictionary says that plot means the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.

So It sounds like the word plot is more high level word than story and the word story has broader meaning than the word plot, but I would like some confirmation on that.


texts:
In English Grammar, before ordinals (first, second, third...), we always use the definite article "the."

Consider the sentence below.

  If the same person calls a second time within a 15-minute period, allow it.

In the above sentence, "a" is used before the ordinal "second." As far as I understand it should be "the," not "a." I found this sentence from my android phone.

Please, someone, explain to me why it is "a," not "the?"


texts: Is 'slip out of my mind' correct in this context?

texts:
Let's say my friend asks me to buy something form the grocery store but I forget about it.

Friend: Did you get that thing?
Me: Oh, so sorry, it completely slipped out of my mind.

Is the expression correct? Or should I use something else in its place?


texts: Should the following be "who" or "whom"?

texts:
You must be wondering who I am.

I think "who" in the object and therefore it should be "whom"? But for some reason, "who" sounds more natural to me.
What's the correct option? And why?


texts: Does the word "got" in this context mean?

texts:
From Taylor Swift's Blank Space:

Nice to meet you
Where you been?
I could show you incredible things
Magic, madness, heaven, sin
Saw you there and I thought oh my god
Look at that face, you look like my next mistake
Love's a game, wanna play
New money, suit and tie
I can read you like a magazine
Ain't it funny rumors fly
And I know you heard about me
So hey, let's be friends
I'm dying to see how this one ends
Grab your passport and my hand
I could make the bad guys good for a weekend
So it's gonna be forever
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex-lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
Cause you know I love the players
And you love the game


texts: Am I correctly understanding the difference between "which" and "that"?

texts:
Am I correctly understanding the difference between "which" and "that" below?

  Delete all the newly-created lines that are not needed.

According to my understanding, the speaker in the sentence above wants only the not-needed lines to be deleted.

  Delete all the newly-created lines, which are not needed.

According to my understanding, the speaker in the sentence above wants all newly-created lines to be deleted and just adds some info about them - states that they are not needed.

Is my understanding wrong?


texts: an angel of a woman VS a woman of an angel

texts:
an angel of a woman VS. a woman of an angel

Are these two sentences can be different in meaning or could one of them be wrong or unidiomatic?


texts:
In Aquaman (2018) movie, Orb says to King Ricou, who is living under water:

  You're a kingdom of bloated philosophers and flaccid poets whose
  waters have grown stagnant, and it sickens me.

Is the word "grown" required?


texts:
It strikes me that the way we use 'with' is more complex than we may think. So I have two questions:

Can the preposition 'with' be used to mean 'about' or 'in relation to'? (sentence a and b).
And also:
Can the preposition 'with' be used as 'among' (sentence b)

  a) ... because in a moment, we need to get back to my point with Eliot

  b) He has become very popular with the people

  c) The world has not responded in ways similar to what we have seen with
  other crises like the Hawaiian earthquake

These sentences are taken from public lectures 'with' well established writers and political commentators.


texts: What's the meaning of "get to the verge without getting into the war"?

texts:
The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art. If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost.

— verge quotation by John Foster Dulles

resource: https://quotlr.com/quotes-about-verge

Why does "get to the verge" (either a border or a grass shoulder) even trigger a war?

And why would you try to run away from the verge?


texts:
please confirm if I am right regarding the difference in the meaning of the following variants:

1)- Is Jenny going to find…
2)- Isn’t  Jenny going to find…
3)- Will Jenny find…
4)- Won’t  Jenny find a job easily when she graduates?

1) asking for an opinion about the prediction based on some present evidences

2) even stronger assurance (through negative form -sarcasm)that Jenny will find the job for sure.

3)prediction of the future event (ambiguous future, no facts, just asking..)

4)through negative we doubt somehow and ask if there may be some obstacles in the future for finding a job. Or vice versa: we are sure she should find a job.


texts: Past participle vs being+past participle

texts:
What is the difference in the meaning between the following sentences:

  Being beaten by snow, he died.

  Beaten by snow, he died.

Or:

  Being taken to the hospital, he survived.

  Taken to the hospital, he survived.

Here are my opinions about them:

When we use Being+past participle as a participle clause, it refers to the reason for the action of the main clause and it replaces 'Because'.

when we use past participle clause as a subordinate clause it also refers to the reason for the action in the main clause. Thus, both(being+p.p and p.p) work the same and their meanings also same in sentences. They convey the same meangs but only their construction is different. I'm not sure,so I'm confused here.

If i understand the usage and meaning of them, my confusion will certainly be eliminated.


texts: "Finally I can pass my painful moment, thanks mother for always accompanying me in anything happens"

texts:
If someone says

  Finally I can pass my painful moment, thanks mother for always accompanying me in anything happens

is it correct or incorrect?


texts: Use of present perfect with "until" - "...until he's eaten everything"

texts:
I came across the following sentence and I would like to ask if it is grammatically correct to say the second one also and if we can what will it mean?

  1 .His parents make him stay at the table until he's eaten everything.
  2. His parents make him stay at the table until he eats everything.


texts: When to use "we're gonna be talking about" rather than "we're gonna talk about"?

texts: Sometimes I hear people who say "we're gonna be talking about" and I really don't understand how they are different from those who say "we're gonna talk about"?"  Is it not the same and it's just a matter of style, or there's a difference in fact?


texts:
I am a bit confused about "undertake":

link

  The ceasefire extension had been undertaken, it said, in line with a deadline set by EU leaders for Ukrainian rebels to agree to ceasefire verification arrangements, return border checkpoints to Kiev authorities and free hostages including detained monitors of the OSCE rights and security watchdog.

Is "to undertake an extension" is slightly odd-sounding, compared to "to undertake a task/job/investigation/experiment"?


texts:
"What other games do you play aside from Tetris?"

In this sentence, other means any game except the one mentioned (Tetris). Similarly, aside from means any game other than Tetris. If I omit the other, the meaning doesn't seem to change.

Does this mean that having both words in such a structure is redundant? If yes, then why are these sentences very common and why haven't I seen anyone point out this mistake?


texts: What do you call the action of the sea going back and forth on a beach?

texts:
I don't think there's a word for it, but I remember there was a word that was somewhat used to express a similar thing.
We could say in bad English:
The wave beached on the sandy beach and then retreated back to the sea.
Honestly, this is horrible, so I was wondering if there was a single verb that expressed the idea of "beaching" and "retreating back to the sea".


texts:
One gang is engaged in a violent conflict with another gang because of competing interests in making profits from selling illegal alcoholic beverages. What do you call that?

Suppose, it's

  There were bootleg wars during the Prohibition in the US.

Which modifier should I choose 'bootleg/bootlegging/bootlegger wars'?

Google gives hardly any search results for all of them. What else then?


texts:
If someone's tenancy hasn't elapsed yet, how to describe the situation: he rented/is renting/rents a room?

If someone rented out a room, does it mean that his tenant is using the room or has finished using it and vacated it?


texts: Buy a home VS Buy a house VS Buy a building

texts:
I am learning English a foreign language and I was wondering if anybody here could help me out denoting the difference between three expressions below?

Buy a house
Buy a home
Buy a building


texts: Is "on the side" an adverbial phrase you can plug anywhere?

texts:
I am wondering if you can plug "on the side" (adjacent to me) as an adverbial phrase you can plug anywhere.

  She stood next to me when I was watching the TV and stared at me on
  the side.

Can you think of an example where you can't plug "on the side" after a verb + object group?


texts: "make a contraction" vs. "make contractions"

texts:
From a tutorial (Transcript)

He is --> He’s They will --> They’ll
Do not --> Don’t But which words can you make contractions from?

I understand the rules of contractions. I'd just like to know whether I should singular when talking about just one occurrence.
For example,

He is --> He’s

should I say

make a contraction from "He is"

or

make contractions from "He is"

Is what I get, "he's", the contraction?
Are there any other expressions clearer and more natural could be used here?


texts: Difference between “Forget it” and “No way”

texts:
Could you please tell me the best answer to the following question and the difference between “Forget it” and “No way”?

Mum, can I stay inside and watch cartoons?
__________. I need you to help me in the garden.

A. Never mind
B. No way
C. No problem
D. Forget it


texts: "Please, tell me" vs. "Could you tell me"

texts:
I am not a native English speaker. Last week, I sent Email to my manager saying "Please, tell me the meeting date".
My manager replied: You meant "Can you tell me the meeting date"
So, I am not sure what is the difference!
Also, I am not sure whether he means that I should be more formal? or less formal with him! So confusing!!!


texts: What is the difference between present perfect and past simple without referring time?

texts: E.g  a teacher asked to the students"what did you yerterday?"then one by one students answered the teacher.after that the teacher said" I baked cookies yesterday "" I brought the cookies for you" then the teacher gave cookies tothe students,the students said thank you teacher.could you tell me why did the teacher use past simple instead of present perfect?? Although it is connected with the present.


texts: What is the difference between "patron"and "customer"?

texts:
As the result I looked them up, the word "patron" means a regular customer. Sometimes, they are overlapped. For example, I can say

  "The more 'customers' or 'patrons' in the restaurant will cause the slower serving the foods."

In this case, they are interchangeable. Is it correct?


texts: What is the expected answer for "How are you doing"?

texts:
I have two questions about the common phrase:

  How are you doing?

What is the expected answer for this question?
I've never understood the logic of the sentence "How are you doing?"
While  we use "how" instead of "what" (What are you doing?) so to speak, or alternatively we could ask "How is your doing"? (in meaning how is your activity going on) What is the explanation for that?


texts: Meaning of empathically in context of an advice or a warning

texts:
According to wiktionary, empathically means In an empathic manner, empathic means Showing or expressing empathy, and empathy means capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding (second meaning). I don't understand the meaning in the context of an advice, such as in the wikivoyage article on Afghanistan:

  Travelling in Afghanistan is extremely dangerous, and independent travel/sightseeing is emphatically warned against.

Or, another example:

  Kandahar remains extremely dangerous and is emphatically NOT safe for tourists.

How does this use of empathically relate to the definitions as I looked up in wiktionary? I fail to see how someone has a capacity to understand somebody elses point of view in this context. And how does the meaning of these sentences change if we remove the word empathically?


texts: "How Internet helps you?" vs "How does Internet help you?"

texts:
Which one of the following sentences is correct:

"How Internet helps you?"
"How does Internet help you?"

Is it always mandatory to use "do" in how-questions?


texts:
It is interesting for me to know how one can distinguish the case in which one should use "allow" from the case in which one should use "let".
For example:

  Jim's parents wouldn't {allow/let} him go to the demonstration.

How can we decide what word to use? It seems reasonable to use either allow or let. I don`t feel the difference at all. What is the matter?


texts:
I came across this phrase from an article talking about opera goers in the old times. It says only a few of them were true connoisseurs. Then it goes:

“several clerics, several shopkeepers, several schoolboys, sucklings of the muses and soldiers just returning from or about to leave for a tour of duty,” as a nineteenth- century Parisian described this rare breed.

What are "sucklings of the muses"? I looked up the dictionary for "scukling" and "muse", but still can't figure out what it means.


texts: An idiom or phrase that includes "white" and means optimism

texts:
In Arabic, we have a phrase for optimism that literally translates as:

  white look

And look means outlook or attitude towards life. So someone who is optimistic is said to have a white look. Is there any similar saying or phrase in English?


texts: What should I say when speak about timetable?

texts:
I read a book from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m

( I want to say that I read a book, but in a week I am going to read other book, because I will finish with first one and it is my timetable that I have been doing the same things at the same time all my life)
Or

I read books from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

I watch a film from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Or

I watch films from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m


texts:
She said she ... her work by evening.

Which answer is true?

would finish
would have finished

What is the difference between two answer?


texts:
There is a verb that I am unable to translate with google translator .. It is "To lase" .. For the context, I found it in this phrase:
"In these special cases if You have no suitable power meter You are just unable to make Your laser to lase"


texts:
something that happen that you can't control

What does this sentence mean?And,what does the second "that" mean?


texts: Don't (verb)... (like) OR (unlike) I did

texts:
Say my intention is to say "I did this bad things to her, but you shouldn't do it":

  Don't do that mean thing to her like how I did.
  Don't do that mean thing to her unlike how I did.

This is so confusing. Should I use "like" or "unlike"?


texts:
Whats the meaning of genetically modified to pull double-duty as pesticides?
Does it mean that GM foods are two times dangerous to health than pesticides?
From Dr. Mercola's Diet and Cancer Risk:

Are you eating foods that are loaded with antibiotics and hormones?
Are you eating foods that contain ingredients that are genetically modified to pull double-duty as pesticides?


texts:
In this sentence:

As a result, the process of importation and exportation sets in, which in turn helps world economy greatly.

The verb in question is the word help. Where does it need to agree with? It is with the subject process? Or should it be in the past tense as in:

As a result, the process of importation and exportation sets in, which in turn helped world economy greatly.


texts: Are "set on" and "determined to" interchangeable?

texts:
They've been pretty set on pulling the plug for a while now, so I'm surprised nothing's happened yet.

They've been pretty determined to pull the plug for a while now, so I'm surprised nothing's happened yet.

Are "set on" and "determined to" completely interchangeable here?
Are they equally natural here?
Which one would make the statement sound most bitter?


texts: A vast amount of pills (is/are/...?) over the desk.

texts:
I wrote:

(describing a scene in a screenplay)

  ..., a 70's music band is playing and a vast amount of pills over the desk.

to got corrected by an editor with:

  ..., a 70's music band is playing and a vast amount of pills is over the desk.

Shouldn't it be are instead? And why simply omitting it could be wrong or not preferable? (I'm not a native English speaker)


texts: "Why all the..." or "what did all the..."?

texts:
The forest was spooky. I suddenly wished we’d come during the
  day. Why (did) all the trips had to be at night?

Do I need to add did in the example above? When do I have to add did and when not?


texts:
What does “elicit” mean in this context?

  Did they elicit participation from a range of people who had different views of the decision?

Is it proper to translate “elicit” here as “entail” or “include”?

I've checked the dictionary, but the translation didn't seem right to me as “draw out” or “evoke”, so I wanted to know if it is proper to translate it as “entail” or not.


texts: task contains actions OR action contains tasks?

texts:
Does a task contain actions to solve the task?
or
Does an action contain tasks to solve the action?

I am a programmer and would like to get the names for my class structure as much intuitive readable as possible. Unfortunately I am not a native English speaker so I cannot intuitivly decide how tasks and actions would be intuitivly hierarchicaly connected by a native English speaker.

Note on the given tag:
In German we would call this connection between the nouns "Oberbegriff" which is translated to "generic term". Unfortunately I cannot tag this question with the tag "generic-term". Because I cannot create a new tag (lack of reputation), I just give it the nearest possible tag which is "generic-noun-phrases", which might not be quite appropriate.

If something is unclear or if the question cannot be answered without getting into furious discussions, because the usage would be opinion based, please leave a comment stating your opinion on the issue ;)


texts: Shall I write 'Govt Girls School' or 'Govt Girls' School'?

texts:
Should I write 'girls school' or ' girls' school' with an apostrophe?
Which one is correct?


texts: a substantial bandwidth savings - an indefinite article preceding a plural noun

texts:
The code used to produce graphics on the client side is typically much smaller than the images themselves, creating a substantial bandwidth savings.

Is there any explanation as to why indefinite articles are sometimes used with plural nouns expressing quantities? When do we use them and when don't?


texts:
When we are talking about one sort of thing, we can use sort of, kind of or type of followed by a singular noun. (...)
  Singular sort of, kind of and type of can also be followed by plural nouns, especially in an informal style. I'm interested in any new kind of developments ...

    This sort of car is ...
    These kinds of car(s) are ...
    Cars of that type are ...
    (M. Swan, Practical English Usage, 551.2)

Does this mean you say "These kinds of car are", or you switch the 'are' to 'is' in the case with a singular noun such as 'car' and say "These kinds of car is"?

!!! It also says

  "These sort of cars are ..." (...) This structure is often felt to be incorrect, and is usually avoided in a formal style.

It's getting so confusing... I suspect the parentheses for the 's' in car(s) are not necessary, aren't they?


texts: What is the meaning of "I was the future once"?

texts:
As I read the news (Source):

  In his final remarks, he reprised a remark he made to Tony Blair during his first ever PMQs as opposition leader in 2005. saying: "I was the future once".

What does "I was the future once" really mean? Does he simply mean that he was the PM once?


texts: Is it grammatically correct to say "ON the picture?"

texts:
What is the difference between the above adverbial modifier of place and "IN the picture" if any?

In "Games for Vocabulary Practice" by Felicity O'Dell and Katie Head (Cambridge,2003) I have come across this phrase more than once reading the guidelines for running activities, e.g. "Student B pretends to be the person ON the picture".


texts: What does "by thunder" or "what in thunder" mean here?

texts:
I'm just read The Hound of the Baskervilles, and in few sentences it's said about "in thunder" or "by thunder".

  "Now," said Sir Henry Baskerville, "perhaps you will tell me, Mr.
  Holmes, what in thunder is the meaning of that, and who it is that
  takes so much interest in my affairs?"

and also this

  "And yet, my dear Watson, there is so very close a connection that the
  one is extracted out of the other. 'You,' 'your,' 'your,' 'life,'
  'reason,' 'value,' 'keep away,' 'from the.' Don't you see now whence
  these words have been taken?"

  "By thunder, you're right! Well, if that isn't smart!" cried Sir
  Henry.

So, what is that mean?


texts:
Which of the following sentences are correct?

  You can't be nice and be a rock star at the same time.
  You can't be nice and a rock star at the same time.
  You can't be a rock star and be nice at the same time.
  You can't be a rock star and nice at the same time.

1 and 3 sound better to me. 4 looks like wrong to me. And I am not sure about 2. What do you think?


texts: Ok to say "I find hard to believe that I'm speaking to you"?

texts:
I was about to write in a mail addressed to an important person "I find hard to believe that I'm speaking to you".

I had a doubt though, so I tried looking for it on a search engine.

I thus found out that it has apparently never been used on the web.

I tried also "I find it hard to believe that I'm speaking to you", same result.

I was rather sure that it was correct, but it seems unlikely after these findings.

Can you confirm me if it's incorrect, and if so why and what alternative might I use?


texts: Present Tense in Habitual Reported Speech

texts:
I've known that when we write in Reported Speech and if the reporting verb is past tense, we must change the tense. But is it true for universal truth and habitual action? For example

  She said, "When do the banks close?"

  He said to me, "What does this word mean?"

In those cases, should we change the present tense to past? I mean, in our country, the banks close at 3:00 pm. Isn't it a habitual action?


texts: What is the meaning of "grains originate from active jets that spray"?

texts:
The vast majority of the sampled grains originate from active jets that spray from the surface of Saturn's geologically active moon Enceladus.

If I say, The apples that detach from the tree. It means that apple gets detached from the tree.So here, the above sentence should mean that active jets that get sprayed from the surface of Enceladus. Am I right?

  At a sprawling fenced complex on the Aegean island of Lesbos, adults and children broke down in tears before the head of the Roman Catholic, after their onward journey to Europe was cut short by an EU decision to block a migrant route used by a million people fleeing conflict since early 2015.

Since sprawling and fenced both are adjectives, shouldn't they be separated by a comma?


texts:
Is the usage of "sale" correct in the following three sentences ?

Excluding extraordinary gain from sale of land, the company obtained a profit before tax of US$ 5 million.
Excluding extraordinary gain from land sale, the company obtained a profit before tax of US$ 5 million.
Excluding extraordinary gain from land sales, the company obtained a profit before tax of US$ 5 million.


texts: difference between go for a drink, go for drink and go for drinks

texts:
When you suggest going to drink an alcoholic beverage, you may say:

Let's go for a drink.
Let's go for drink.
Let's go for drinks.

I searched for google ngram for the usages:

All of the three forms are used while 'go for a drink' is the preferred choice. Except for the frequency of usage, are there any differences in the meanings?

I thought of 'go to drink' also:

The 'go to drink' is less frequent than 'go for a drink' but more frequent than the others.


texts: can someone please explain the meaning of semblance?

texts:
I have tried to learn the meaning of the word 'semblance' looking up in the dictionaries and on the internet.
But i don't think i am getting the meaning.

I am very confused about the meaning of semblance.

If you could give me any examples that'd be great.

Thanks


texts: What does "we sent his way" mean in this sentence?

texts:
The following paragraph is from "Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2" written by Jeff Kinney.

  I'm sure our Giving Tree guy will throw his sweater in the trash, along with the ten cans of yams we sent his way during the Thanksgiving Food Drive.

It seems that there are a lot of usages of "way", and I don't understand how it's used in this sentence. What does "we sent his way" mean?

I can't find any explanation of that kind of usage even after checking in a couple of online dictionaries.


texts:
1: This is the house where my father lived for thirty years.

2: This is the house that my father lived for thirty years.

3: This is the house my father lived for thirty years.

Does the above three sentences sound natural?

Thank you in advance!


texts: "I want to understand what my options are" or "I want to understand what are my options"?

texts:
Which way is correct: "I want to understand what my options are" or "I want to understand what are my options" and why ?

Since my English still needs tons of work, this baffled me for a long time, and each time I did a quick search, but I could not find the answer. Thus, I decided to ask it here.


texts:
Can I use the verb delude in a passive form like in the following sentences?Do they sound colloquial? What other words can I use ?

  People are deluded that all Canadians play and love ice-hockey.

  Just because they visit in summertime, most foreign tourists are
  deluded Spain has hot weather all year.

What I mean here is that some people just assume without real experience or reading a reliable source.


texts: "has been calling my office": Why does this film use the present perfect tense here?

texts:
From the movie Nappily Ever After:

  [Violet's mom is straightening her daughter's hair with a hot comb.]

  Violet: It seems like we've been preparing for this moment forever.

  Violet's Mom: I told you one day your prince would come. So, does
  Clint still think the party's a surprise?

  Violet: He has been calling my office, asking
  April for help...so I have been able to plan
  everything.

(For context: Clint is Violet's boyfriend, and April is her assistant. Violet found a box in Clint's pocket, and thinks that he is going to propose to her at her birthday night.)

I don't understand the use of present perfect in the bold parts. Doesn't past simple work here?


texts: What's the term for saying "go to a show as a guest"?

texts:
Go to a show as a guest is a bit wordy, but I can't find a single word that means exactly that, or even a short phrasal verb that means that. Is there anything I can use?

For example:

  Tom Cruise ____ the Maury Show.


texts:
ladder
a piece of equipment for climbing up and down a wall, the side of a
building, etc., consisting of two lengths of wood or metal that are
joined together by steps or rungs
Example: to climb up/fall off a ladder

stairs [plural] a set of steps built between two floors inside a
building.
Example: 1. We had to carry the piano up three flights of stairs. 2. The
children ran up/down the stairs. 3. at the bottom/top of the stairs. 4. He > remembered passing her on the stairs.

Look at this castle playhouse, children can climb up into the first floor of the playhouse via a panel with many small holes that children can put their feet in to climb.

What is it  or are they called? a ladder or stairs?


texts: How to distinguish the attribute & complement in a sentence?

texts:
As an example:

  In some cultures, people regard men as breadwinners.

my textbook says: ''as breadwinners'' is the complement to ''regard'', but I think it is the attribute to ''men''. Which one is correct?

Also, can complements be used to describe verbs or other words? I only know they can be used to describe the subject and the object in a sentence.


texts:
'Lost' is past and past participle form of verb 'Lose'. It's also a pure adjective as it passes the test of Adjective category. So, we can write

I am lost. (Lost as Predictive Adjective)
I have been lost.(Been as a main verb and lost as an Adjective).
In the 2nd sentence, I don't intend to give passive sense. I intend to convey 'I have lost myself' (without using the word 'myself' and 'lost' as a main verb in actual sentence).....So, in this sense, second one is correct or not?


texts:
In a formal document, I want to mention something which I was not able to understand for a long time. After that time, I had learnt some other thing and suddenly click! and I understood the other also.

So I want to say something like, I had the click moment. But I am not sure if this sounds natural and appropriate to use. What would you use for that?


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct: "I thought you might find it an interesting read"

texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct?

  "I thought you might find it an interesting read"

If not, what would be a better way to word it? I thought of

  "I thought you might find it interesting to read"

but since I'm referring to a non-fiction book it doesn't sound right, however, the former sentence sounds a little off too.


texts: A split infinitive de-emphasises the verb?

texts:
At about 60%-way down the page http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497:

...But what interests me here is the descriptive claim about stress on the adverb. It is completely wrong.
Tucking the adverb in before the verb actually de-emphasizes the adverb, so a sentence like "The dean's statements tend to completely polarize the faculty" places the stress on polarizing the faculty. The way to stress the completeness of the polarization would be to write, "The dean's statements tend to polarize the faculty completely."

I don't perceive the differences; what's the lesson here? Don't these two sentences convey the same meaning? Either way, isn't the polarisation of the faculty complete?


texts:
What does "we lost out on a big special next spring" mean in context and why past tense of 'lost out' uses with 'next spring' in one sentense?

"Meeting someone, Jimmy?" "No. Going to Miami for a conference. A
heavy client. Bills six million. I'm supposed to hold his hand because
we lost out on a big special next spring."

Stephen King
Quitters, Inc.


texts:
I'm not sure but I think "one" refers to the people in general or anyone. I've found the following sentences where One has been used :

  One must treat other as one expect to be treated.
  One should take care of one's health.
  One should do one's best at all times.

What one actually refers to in above sentences?
Can I use- one's own health and his own health in the second sentence?
Can I say "One should take care of oneself or himself" ? Both correct?


texts: have nothing to do with it and had nothing to do with it

texts:
context: Police interrogate a murder suspect (2 different movies)
suspect: I have nothing to do with it
and
suspect: I had nothing to do with it
question: why one uses have, and the other uses had? To me, had makes the most sense since it (murder) has already happened.


texts: meaning of "off" in "You're off to a great start!"

texts:
An online classroom says

  You're off to a great start!

I understand it is some kind of encouragement, similar to "well done".

However, I don't really understand the meaning of "off" here.

I guess it means something like the one in "take off"

If an aircraft, bird, or insect takes off, it leaves the ground and begins to fly

I went through its meanings on dictionary

  From a place or position: He walked off in a huff.
  a. At a certain distance in space or time: a mile off; a week off. b. From a given course or route; aside: The car swerved off into a
  ditch. c. Into a state of unconsciousness: I must have dozed off.
  a. So as to be no longer on, attached, or connected: He shaved off his mustache. b. So as to be divided: We marked off the playing field
  by yards.
  So as to be no longer continuing, operating, or functioning: She switched off the radio.
  So as to be completely removed, finished, or eliminated: Will the cats kill off the mice?
  So as to be in a state of sudden violent or loud activity: The firecracker went off. The alarm went off.
  So as to be smaller, fewer, or less: Sales dropped off.
  So as to be away from or not engaged in work or duty: They took a day off.
  Offstage.

I am not sure which one fits the context of "great start". Could someone please give a hint\? Thanks in advance.


texts: Expressing "more importantly" in a subtle way

texts:
I am expressing the following:

  I did X, Y, and Z. More importantly, I also learned to do this.

For context, X, Y, and Z, are technical skills while this is a "soft" skill. When saying "more importantly" I don't want to downplay "X, Y, and Z," but I want to stress that I learned the more difficult (and possibly more valuable) "soft" skill.

By simply stating "I did X, Y, and Z. I also learned to do this," I feel as though the 2nd statement is not getting enough importance.

Am I just overthinking my statements or is there a way to express significance without downplaying the other?


texts:
Would it be correct to use "regretful" with "for" or "of"

  "I'm grateful for my present but regretful 'of' my past"

Is the "of" correct in context or it should be "for"


texts: "As far as I can say", "as far as I know", "as far as I can tell"

texts:
As far as I am concerned.
As far as the economic problems here are concerned.
And
As far as I know.

My perception: All these are incorrect.  Because we just use " As far as I am concerned" to mean " In my opinion" .
Therefore it does not actually make sense saying: " in the economic problems's opinion." " I can say my opinion" " I know my opinion" and so forth.


texts: An idiom for a person who always says "yes" to someone they are in awe of?

texts:
I'm sure everyone must have come across a person in their lives, who doesn't seem to have his own opinion, and responds ‘yes’ to everything a person that he's in awe of says.

Please suggest any good idioms, phrases or words here.

For example

There's a girl, let's call her Carol, who's very popular in college, and she has two girlfriends with her all the time who are so impressed by her and are trying to be on her same level, because she is super cool, really pretty and very rich. The two girls think, they'd become cool too if they start hanging out with her. And when conversing, these two girls never object to a word Carol says, in anything, whatsoever.

Please help me out. English is not my mother-tongue, and I'm still trying to master it


texts:
I could hear a still-beating pulse of his heart.

Could it mean two things?

It is still beating. (still now)
It is beating quietly.


texts:
I came across a weird sentence in a paper. I wonder if its phrasing is correct grammatically since it doesn't make much sense to me.

  Since
  1991, the number of children with a mother in prison more than doubled, up 131% and children
  with a father in prison increased by 77%.

I have seen no such usage before where an adjective follows "more than". Is there something I don't know about such structure, or that the author has used a grammatically poor statement?


texts:
I would like to know the difference between these two terms, and whether they are interchangeable or not. Here are two examples that have the same meaning for me:

"Someone has ripped out the first three pages of this book."
"I will rip your head off!"

"Rip" implies to say that someone is going to tear something off. Since both sentences are talking about something being tore off, for instance: Someone ripped my head off, but not only ripped it and made a wound, but also cut it off my neck, it means my neck no longer has a head, it was cut off.
So, "out" and "off" implies to say the same thing, why then are there two forms? Do they have different meanings? For instance "rip off" means ripping something off savagely, while "rip out" means ripping something off not so savagely?
Or "rip off" doesn't mean "cut my head off my neck" but means only make a wound, while "rip out" means to cut my head off?

Could anyone explain me the difference between them and tell me whether they are interchangeable or not?


texts: Do these verbs have the same meaning : help / help out

texts:
There are many verbs that have different meanings when we add a preposition to them, whish are the phrasal verbs -according to what I understand- , but sometimes I can't feel the difference , like : end up , help out, miss out

Is there really a difference that I can't see ? or they're almost the same without the preposition ?


texts: 'Flying glass' and 'doorway' during an earthquake; what do they mean?

texts:
My book has a paragraph giving advice on what we should do during an earthquake:

  If you live in an earthquake zone, you should take some time to look around your house ... Check the mirrors in your bathroom and bedroom. Make sure they can't move. Don't put your bed next to a window.

  Planning where you are going to be during an earthquake is very important... Then you should sit under a strong table or doorway, or stand in the corner of a room.

After reading the passage, my book requires me to complete the table. One row of the table has this:

Flying glass:

Check the mirrors
Don't put your bed near a window

I don't understand the two bold words above:

What are the differences between door and doorway? Why should we sit under a doorway during an earthquake?
What does flying glass really mean? Does it mean glass can fly?


texts:
I know that between ”it is you who are wrong” and ”it is you who is wrong”, the former is the correct version.

However, if I change who to that, is the same still true?

  It is you that are wrong. It is you that is wrong.

To me, that are is clearly wrong.


texts:
Does "it is true" and "is quite customary" refer to "explanation"?
and what does it mean? does it mean the "explanation" is both "true" and "customary"?

If, nevertheless, the foundation of this act, deduced by me on the
ground of an enlarged conception of space, should be denied, only one
other kind of explanation would remain, arising from a moral code of
consideration that at present, it is true, is quite customary.
This explanation would consist in the presumption that I myself and
the honourable men and citizens of Leipzig, in whose presence several
of these cords were sealed, were either common impostors, or were not
in possession of our sound senses sufficient to perceive if Mr. Slade
himself, before the cords were sealed, had tied them in knots. The
discussion, however, of such a hypothesis would no longer belong to
the dominion of science, but would fall under the category of social
decency."

Transcendental Physics


texts:
Otherwise, apart from its usual meaning, can also indicate "in other respects"   (found it in the dictionary).

When constructing a sentence using aforementioned meaning of "otherwise" are these structures acceptable and natural?

  An otherwise great movie ruined by his acting.

  His acting ruined an otherwise great movie.

Are there any distinct rules to follow when creating sentences in similar fashion?


texts: What's the meaning of "took to" in “Democrats took to the Senate floor to protest the legislation. ”

texts:
What's the meaning of "took to" in “Democrats took to the Senate floor to protest the legislation.”

Looked up in a dictionary, but can not find any meaning that can reflect to the meaning in the context. I see that explanation "to start to use or do something as a habit", but it seems that it's not quite right in this context – that “as a habit” part confuses me.

Dictionaries interpret the phase "take to" with the sense of "a habit". eg. "Begin or fall into the habit of" in Oxford, "begin to do it as a regular habit" in the dictionary on my phone. So, I am not sure what will be correct usage of "take to" in this context.


texts: What is the word for the action of stepping on the floor to get something off of one's feet?

texts: Let's say there is a lot of snow outside. I came in, but my boots are covered in snow. How do you call this action when you want something to not be one your feet? Does "stomp my feet" or "stamp my feet" communicate that meaning?


texts: Need to understand usage of "so as much" here

texts:
I was reading "The stranger" in which a person is guilty of a murder. The prosecutor asks "Has he so much as expressed any remorse?"

I understand that he is trying to ask if he has expressed any remorse till this time. I am not used to the sentence used above and trying to understand the usage of "so much as" here


texts: Is using this 'ing' word after the comma correct? Why?

texts:
Could someone please explain why or why not this type of sentence is correct?

  The man bent down, his shirt crinkling.

If it is correct, would removing the word 'his' after the comma change that?
What kind of error or type of sentence would this count as? I tried googling this, along with sentence rules, but never found anything that specified this kind as either wrong or right.

Thank you.


texts:
Can I use perfect infinitive for future plans?

For instance: It will be fun to have travelled with you during next week.

Is it grammatically correct?


texts:
Do you want bacon and eggs for breakfast?

I'm not sure about the meaning of for here. So I just found this explanation from the Collins dictionary:

If you do something for a particular occasion, you do it on that
occasion or to celebrate that occasion.

Can this be used to explain the 'for' above?


texts: You look catfish vs You look like a catfish?

texts:
Catfishing is the term used for anyone stealing other people's identities on the internet, so they can pretend to be someone they're not (mainly on dating websites) with the aim of tricking others into going out with them.

The example phrase given was something I heard from friend while speaking about this topic which almost led into a more dragged out discussion on whether someone who is catfishing on the internet should be called "A catfish" as in "You look like A catfish" (using the word as a noun) or whether the word catfish should only be used as an (adjective) as in "You look catfish".

What do you guys think? Can the word catfish be used as both a noun and an adjective?

  You look catfish(y)!

  You look like a catfish!

To me saying someone looks like "A catfish" is like saying that someone "looks like A gorgeous." it just doesn't sound right.


texts:
I understand that phrasal verbs should only be hyphenated when used as nouns or adjectives; however, I often use the hyphen to avoid confusion with propositional phrases, for example:

dirt has built-up under my nails

When I am reading or writing I find that "built up under" is a little confusing.

Thoughts?


texts:
What's more correct in English: without anything or without everything? (in meaning 'total negation')

Sample:

  It's asp.net core 2.1 app without everything (without web API, without
  MVC, without razor pages, just emptiest app)


texts: "Words were different when they (lived / were living) inside of you"

texts:
“Words were different when they lived inside of you.”

  ― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

Shouldn't it be "...when they were living inside of you."?


texts: Difference between "which" and "what" as a question word

texts:
Some native speakers use what and some which in the following examples:

Which/what color is this?
Which/what is your favourite book?(without giving any options)
In which/what school do you study?

In my opinion, which is used when we give options to the listener. Isn't it?


texts: Should the name of policies use hyphens or quotes?

texts:
I typed "no-eating policy" on Google Books. The results use hypens and quotes.

Does this mean that both usages are correct? Is one more common than the other?

Example sentence:

  You, as a doctor, should have a no-eating-with-patients/"no eating with patients" policy


texts:
Using a sample page of a website and having access to the properties of each element, the user can generate a wrapper for similar pages.

What are formal words for "can", for example "is able"?!

I think in this sentence, the first parts enables the user (or makes it possible for the user) to do something.


texts: The level (or "levels"?) of residual host cell protein in all drug samples

texts:
The level of residual host cell protein in all drug samples complies with the regulatory requirements.

Is it okay to use the singular "level" in combination with the plural "samples", or is it more correct to write levels?

  The levels of residual host cell protein in all drug samples comply with the regulatory requirements.

Might not this singular "level" in sentence 1 be understood (incorrectly) to mean "in some samples it goes beyond the prescribed limits, but the mean level meets the requirements"?


texts: When a bad intention turns to a bad happening to that person

texts:
In my mother language there is a proverb which says: "someone who digs the well, is at the end of the well himself." [direct translation]
It is used when someone is going to do something bad to someone else and than bad intention turns to a bad happening to himself.
E.g. someone is standing beside a swimming pool and when his friend decides to push him into the pool, the friends foot slides and he falls into the pool himself.
I have found a proverb here:

  The biter is sometimes bitten.

I was wondering if someone could let me know if it works here in AmE or not. If not, then please let me know what an AE native speaker would say in my scenario?


texts: "Thanks, but no thanks" OR "No, thanks". Isn't 'thanks' in the former redundant?

texts:
Would you like to have a cup of tea?

  Sure. Thanks!

Would you like to have a peg?

  No, thanks!

When someone offers me a peg, I first deny the proposal and then say thanks. Why? Because he offered me something.

But then, there exists a response...

  Thanks, but no thanks!

What's that? Is that second 'thanks' is redundant?

While I understand no thanks (it already includes thanks), I wonder what first 'thanks' is doing there?


texts: Please help me to find the best choice for my sentence

texts:
Suppose you are watching a football match which has no interest for you. You have stood in ceremony with one of your close friends who is a fan of one side (one of the playing teams) and you feel shy to say you are not interested to watch that match anymore. Players performing very poor and the game has no excitement for audience. The only chance is that you began to watch the game not from the beginning. Game finishes and you tell in your wife's ear:

  The only ... of the game was that it didn’t last long.

What would you use to fill in the blank?
My dictionary suggests:

  a) advantage
  b) good
  c) goodness
  d) good point
  d) virtue

For me only 'd' works. Can you offer some more alternatives?


texts: What does "caffeinated" mean in context of "dripcap"?

texts:
dripcap - Caffeinated Packet Analyzer

In a dictionary:

  Full Definition of caffeinated

  1
     :  stimulated by or as if by caffeine

  2
     :  containing caffeine

Software doesn't contain and is not stimulated by caffeine. Is there some third slang meaning of "caffeinated" in relation to technology, like "feature-rich" or "very fast"?


texts: Is there a more concise way to say "cars stuck in traffic"?

texts: I am searching a word for describing cars stuck in traffic.  When I googled the phrase "stuck cars", I found out that stuck cars imply cars stuck in ditches rather than traffic.


texts: Difference between "clock off" and "clock out"

texts:
Is there any difference between "clock off", and "clock out"? Wiktionary gives virtually identical definitions for the two (clock off, clock out)

It's being used in the context of someone paying by the ten-minute chunk for a service they're receiving.


texts:
I'd like to know whether "establish a startup" sounds pompous in a conversation as follows:

John: Why did you decline that job offer?

Peter: I decided to follow my dream and establish a startup. Now I have over 20 employees and several major clients.

If it's indeed pompous, what alternatives would you suggest?

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
They earn our trust by telling us the truth about little things, but then they betray us when it will damage us the most. Source

Is this will grammatical?
This is about the future ...so I thought it couldn't be used with when...i mean not within the when clause...


texts: "Would have been given, I shall"; is it a valid construction?

texts:
I say

  Having been given something, I am ready to do something.

to express that now I am ready to do  something because I was given something else. However, I want to say that if in the future I am successful at obtaining something I will be ready to do something else. Is this a correct construction?

  Would/Will have been given something, I will be ready to do something.


texts: An adjective to describe a set, in which each element is different

texts:
What would be the idiomatic adjective to describe a set, in which each element is different, for example:
"apple, orange, plum, pear, lemon, peach"
as opposed to a set, in which some elements may be same, for example:
"apple, orange, apple, plum, pear, lemon, plum, peach, lemon, lemon"
?
If possible, please, also provide an adjective for the second set.


texts: Pronunciation of "cold" and "code" in American English

texts: In British English the difference is clear, but do these words "cold" and "code" also sound different in American English? If so, how does one make /oʊ/ different from /oʊǀ/? Do the lips round more for /oʊǀ/?


texts:
Suppose the following statement is true for one person.

I have lived in the US since I was five, so I speak English naturally.

Another person wishes it were true for him, and says:

If I had lived in the US since I was five, I would be speaking English naturally.

My doubt is about the use of since in the second sentence. I understand that (temporal) since is used to mark the beginning of a period that has continued up to the present and is normally used with the present perfect tense. This sentence is talking about the present, but it's not the present in the actual world but one in a world that didn’t come to be. Is it still correct to use since with the backshifted past perfect tense like this? If not, how should this idea be expressed?


texts: What's the difference between "relate to" and "be related to" in this sentence？

texts:
I see this sentence in this dictionary.

  Other recommendations relate to the details of how such data is stored.

My question is if I can replace relate to with are related to/are relevant to in this sentence.

  Other recommendations are related/relevant to the details of how such data is stored.


texts:
My native language is Spanish

When I have that to use "on"?, I read some message like "On my server", "On skype", And more.. But I cannot understand it, why "on"?.

I need know it, thanks!.


texts: Which pronoun to use to denote for some people themselves?

texts:
I just came across a sentence that I have no idea how to complete. Every pronoun that I tried (even the generic "ones") doesn't seem to fit, according to my inner grammar engine.

  Those of you who grew up in France probably saw that play in ____ childhood.

Basically, "childhood" should refer to the individual childhoods of those that grew up in France.

I'm not native, so I have no idea what I'm talking about. Without restructuring the sentence, is there a pronoun that fits?


texts: Is there a less intense (more causal, less offensive) equivalent single word that means being dishonest in being modest or to show yourself to be modest when, in fact, you are just pretending?


texts:
Is there a noun which means a person who asks too many questions, especially why questions?

This person is surely curious, inquisitive. But I'd like to express the idea that this kind of inquisitiveness can be annoying.


texts: The meaning of "to have the rudders down directly"

texts:
The wind was taking off in gusts, and the rain was putting down the swells. I made out a patch of beach that looked less like death than the rest of the arena, and I decided to drive in on a gust under the spitfire-sprit -- and, if she answered her helm before she died on us, to humour her a shade to starboard, where the water looked better. I stayed the foremast; set the spritsail fore and aft, as though we were boarding; told Sulinor to have the rudders down directly he cut the cables; waited till a gust came; squared away the sprit, and drove.

  (This is from "The Manner of Men" by Kipling.)

I can't understand the meaning of this phrase:

  to have the rudders down directly


texts:
I have a question about "in the lead" here:

  On Wednesday, campaigners were making last-minute pitches as polls suggested that pro-union supporters were narrowly in the lead despite a recent surge for the independence camp.

(BACKGROUND INFO:  For the Scotland independence referandum, pro-union people want "no" votes, independence people want "yes" votes.)

It is the number of possible no votes that was in the lead, not the pro-union supporters.  The pro-union supporters are simply trying to increase the number of no votes. So, could the phrase "pro-union supporters were narrowly in the lead" be wrong?  Would replacing that phrase with "the no-votes were narrowly in the lead" be better?


texts:
I'm wondering if there are other native ways to say:

  I got us that room at the Woodford in this weekend.

No special context, assume that the husband told the sentence to his wife.


texts: What is the difference between "Paying in cash" and "Paying with cash"?

texts:
What is the difference between the following sentences?

I paid with cash
I paid in cash

Could I use the word "money" instead of cash?


texts: The number of files you're expecting will be uploaded. Is this sentence correct?

texts:
Which is the (grammatically) correct sentence structure?

What is the number of files you're expecting to be/get uploaded?
What is the number of files you're expecting will be/get uploaded?

or something else...?


texts:
I don't understand what does action period denote by future-in-the-past?

It denotes the action which referenced to the future, relative to current time moment, from the past, relative to the current time moment or It denotes the action which is future to a some past, relative to the current time moment and may be past relative to the current time moment?

For example, Future-in-the-past simple:

  He said he would go to the dentist.


texts: Does "whether" need "or not" at the end here?

texts:
Should i add "or not" after this sentence ?

  I want to know whether you would publish the results today.

  I want to know whether you would publish the results today or not.


texts: "...to evaluate their potential not only for diagnostic" -- why not "diagnostics"?

texts:
I was reading an article on ScienceDaily and came across the following:

  The team is now trying to understand what happens to these cells in other autoimmune diseases to evaluate their potential not only for diagnostic but also to identify which patients may benefit with medicines that interfere with the production of harmful antibodies.

I looked up this word in some dictionaries, and according to them it's often used in the plural when it means "the practice of diagnosis" — which I think is the case. But why is it in the singular here? Is the meaning of this word different in some way when it's used without the "s"?

I believe it's not a typo, because I think I've seen other words used in such a way somewhere.


texts: Tense consistency with "think that....."

texts:
Can I say

  I think he was sick last night

or do I have to say

  I thought he was sick last night.


texts:
1)The company has a debt of two million dollars left from last year.

  2)You can buy everything you need ranging from clothing to food.

  3)Did you see the man who resembles the general next to your friend .

In first and second sentences I asked if the word order is correct or not. But third sentence confuse me. I thougt there are a few meaning . it is not clear who is next to your friend general or the man .


texts: difference between `discuss me` and `discuss with me`

texts:
Would you like to discuss me more in details?

Is this correct sentence?

I was thinking as

  Would you like to discuss with me in more details?

Or are they the same meaning?

If so, which is more polite?


texts: What is the meaning of "guide" in "if the number of demands for implementing reforms is any guide"?

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

  If the number of demands for implementing reforms is any guide, India's reservation system is clearly in disarray.

How do both parts of sentence relate and what is the meaning of "guide" in that context?


texts: Is it proper to use "stand for" while reporting data in such a case?

texts:
is it natural or proper to use "stand for" in such a case in the sentence below.

"Looking at the CO2 produced by each type of fuel, petroleum represents the highest percentage with 42% as opposed to the natural gas which stands for the lowest with 23%."


texts:
Sometimes we use the verb "double",e.g., "he doubled my pocket money", and sometimes we use "triple" as verb- but what is the verb when the issue is about getting 4 times or 4x of a thing.

Thanks.


texts:
What is the correct way of commanding students in school assembly conduction, "step out from your line and come front" or "step of your line and come front" which one is the correct one?

"Step out from" or "step of" ?


texts: Why can't a "with" predicate be always used?

texts:
Goblins are a male race but possess the ability to breed with any race
  with the pregnancy always resulting in goblin children.

  Someone summoned goblins that possess the ability to breed with any
  race with the pregnancy always resulting in goblin children.

Can someone explain to me why the second sentence sounds and is incorrect while the first is fine, and how we can reword the second sentence with the word "with" and without putting it in two separate sentences?


texts:
My route is: home → zoo → school.

I go to school from my home. I am at zoo now.

can I say: I have go to school as far as zoo.


texts: Should "income" in the following sentences be plural or singular?

texts:
Which of the following sentences is correct?

The monthly income of households in the first and tenth groups differed by HK$101,230.
The monthly incomes of households in the first and tenth groups differed by HK$101,230.

The sentence means that the monthly income of the first group and that of the tenth group differed by HK$101,230. It seems to me that the 2 is correct because "differ" does not make sense when the subject is singular i.e. "A differs by $10" does not make sense while "A and B differ by $10" makes sense.
Moreover, which of the following sentences is correct?

Compare the income of the same group in 2006 and 2016
Compare the incomes of the same group in 2006 and 2016

The sentence asks to compare the income of a group in 2006 and that of the same group in 2016. Thank you.


texts:
What's more natural?

Text me when the teacher comes.

or

Text TO me when the teacher comes.

?
Is the preposition 'to' in this cases necessary?


texts: "Mum's the word" and "See no evil, hear no evil"

texts:
There is an eastern proverb (perhaps a Middle Eastern one, ) which is used to ask someone in a spoken manner to keep something as a secret and do not reveal that they have seen or heard anything. I know some equivalents for that, but I have no idea which one is used by Americans to convey this message?
Here is my list:

a. Mum's the word.
b. See no evil, hear no evil (It is a very close phrasing to what I need.)

However, both sayings work for me and the only thing I need to make sure about is whether they are common in American English in my explained case.
If not, then what would be the closest AmE equivalent for that?


texts:
" _____________ staying at the hotel last year, we decided to go again."

  a) Enjoying

  b) Having enjoyed

  c) Had enjoyed

  d) Had been enjoying

Which one is right choice? I think because of " last year " it is b or c.
and which grammar subject should I study to learn about more on these kind of questions?

Thank you


texts: Is it common to use -in the integration- in this case?

texts:
can you please tell me if this sentence is understanable to native speaker and is it common to say it like this?

  Besides being used as a stand-alone module, (the module's name) can work in the integration with our module.


texts:
I am worried about the usage of the word "ever".

For example if I'd like to say:

  "Increasing fires in the rain forest pose an ever greater threat to the livelihoods, the economy and health of the indigenous people."

Is the word "ever" here right in place or do I need to use "even" ?

Best and thanks for all the help!


texts:
Is this paragraph correct grammatically?

  Years ago, a star wandering blindly through space happened to come
  near the sun. It must have raised tides on the surface of the sun and
  created a disturbance. As this star would have come nearer, the tides
  would have been higher and ultimately developed into big mountains. As
  the second star began to move away its tidal pull had become so
  powerful that this mountain was torn to pieces and threw off small
  parts of itself into the space.

Can we use below mentioned sentence in place of this sentence?

  As this star had come nearer, the tides would have become higher.

What will be the difference?


texts: How do you call "a bicycle pump" informally?

texts:
I said

  I borrowed a bicycle pump yesterday.

and it bothers me because I think there should be nicer options (less formal, more conversational).

Is there any colloquial alternative to "a bicycle pump"? It is the right phrase to use in everyday language? How common is it in general (and in BrE, in particular)?

AmE speakers are welcome as well, of course.
Thank you in advance.


texts: "There has been a vast amount..." vs. "There have been a vast amount..."

texts:
In recent years, there has been a vast amount of debates.

or

  In recent years, there have been a vast amount of debates.


texts:
I don't understand the phrase "Now, whether we were shown everything? You can never know." Perhaps I've misunderstood the grammar, the logic of it seems to be inconsistent: Of course the speaker, the scientist knows the things he was shown to him, so you can know if he's willing to tell you.  "You can never know" sounds that the speaker is determined not to tell you anything about it. But if so, why doesn't he say "I don't tell you." Besides, what if the audience try hard to make him reveal what he was shown? Such as inviting him to a party to drink - "Wine in, truth out." In that case, you can't delcare that "You can never know."
So, what should I do to understand the phrase correctly?*

Peter Ben Embarek, a food-safety and zoonosis scientist with the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, who headed the investigation, said at the press conference that the team had conducted extensive discussions with staff at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been at the centre of the speculation, and similar labs nearby. He said a leak is unlikely because the virus was not known to scientists before December 2019.

Dwyer says that the team didn’t see anything during its visits to suggest a lab accident. “Now, whether we were shown everything? You can never know. The group wasn’t designed to go and do a forensic examination of lab practice.”

Source:  Nature

*On second thought, If the phrase were written as "Now, whether we will be shown everything? You can never know.", it could be understood and the logic would be consistent because it is a future event - you don't know what a host will show you in a day in the future, do you?


texts: Pronunciation practice(making 'also' 'all' sound correct)

texts:
I'm having a hard time to make 'also'  and 'all' sound correct.

My native American tutor told me my 'also' sounds like 'arso' and 'all' sounds like "or".

He says I have no trouble with making "L" and "R" sounds correct when

R and L is the first consonant of the word - for example, look, room, love, risk

But, when they come in the middle of the word or come together, for example,

also, world, squirrel, I can't make sounds correctly.

Is there any  tip to make 'also' 'all' 'order' 'older' sound correct?


texts: When a witch or wizard influences your life in a negative manner

texts:
Imagine someone (a bad-doer or someone who can't bear to see your success or for some reasons is jealous of you) deals with malicious, magical sort of things (perhaps a witch) influences your life and somewhat changes your life in a bad way. Which one of the following verbs work in my example properly:

  I'm sure! She has.........(me. / my life.)

  a) spelled
  b) enchanted

Based on dictionary definitions, they both sound to be correct, but I'm not sure if a native speaker would say it in the same way and the used verbs in this sense sounds old-fashioned or something.

If they are not natural in this sense, what verb is used in this sense?

[It can be considered as superstition, but in eastern culture at least you hear a lot about these things.]


texts: Wondering why the writer used the absolute positive term 'comeback' with the word 'disappointing' just to make it negative

texts:
Schumacher, who won a record 91 Grand Prix victories, left the sport last year after a disappointing three-year comeback with Mercedes following an earlier retirement from Ferrari at the end of 2006.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-04/michael-schumacher-showing-moments-of-consciousness/5369056
Three-year comeback.
To the extent that my knowledge is involved, and according to Longman, make a comeback is always a positive stuff. Here in this context but it seems that it is a negative thing, doesn't it?
Comeback meaning in Longman: http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/comeback


texts: What to use to begin an email with if I don't know the name of the person reading

texts: I want to write a letter to a company. Unfortunately I don't know the name of person who is responsible to respond to the email. In such a situation, I used to open my letter with "Dear Sir/Madam". Is there any better greeting to open emails with?


texts:
Is there any difference between these 2 sentences:

  My parents encouraged me to be a doctor, but I didn't want to.

  My parents encouraged me to be a doctor, but I didn't want to be.


texts: difference between "came along" and "along came"

texts:
What is the difference between the two?

For example

  John came along.
  Along came John.

I don't understand the difference in usage and yet I come across too many sentences starting with 'Along came'

Could you please explain how to understand this.


texts: Played the game fairly vs played a fair game

texts:
Is there any grammatical error in either of the following sentence or they both are correct and interchangeably usable ?

  Both the teams played the game fairly.

  Both the teams played a fair game.


texts:
what is difference between "firm decision" and "official decision"? in the other word, to understand the difference between FIRM and OFFICIAL.

Recently i learned the difference of following two vocabularies at Oxford Dictionary, so need to figure out what is the difference between them.
  Determine: to officially decide or arrange something.
  Resolve: to make a firm decision.


texts: What similar expression can I use for 'to find out' in the given context?

texts:
Is that store open today?
  I don't know, you should call X to find out.

Is the expression to find out correct? What similar expression can I use in place of to find out?


texts: Can 'how' introduce a gerund clause? - "I looked at how politicians purging others."

texts:
I want to say something like

  I looked at how politicians purging others.

Am I using the correct tense for 'purge'?