texts:
For example, if I had 3 girlfriends before, and now I have 4th one that I am dating and somebody would ask: How many girlfriends did you have / have you gotten?

Would it be correct to count in the actual one while I am still in relationsip? What I mean is it correct to count an event that has not yet been finished?

So would you say: I have had 4 girlfriends or 3 ? Like would you count in the 4th the current one which is still the girlfriend (so she does not belong to past events).

Does somebody understand what I am trying to ask? Thanks for help!


texts: "There are" with or without additional "there"

texts:
When starting a sentence with "there are" is it necessary to put additional "THERE" in the sentence? Like in:

The Snieznik Mountains is situated in the East Sudets.  There are a lot of charming forest areas (there), with the richest world of plants and animals in southwest Poland.

Is there any rule that tells you when to use or not to use additional THERE in sentences of that type?


texts: I did X, Y, which Z vs. I did X, Y, that Z

texts:
I am familiar with the basic distinction between that vs. which. (e.g. "Gems that sparkle often elicit forgiveness." vs. "Diamonds, which are expensive, often elicit forgiveness.")

Is it correct to say "I did X, Y, that Z", provided that Z restrict the kind of X I am talking about?

Example:

  I developed an algorithm, Algorthmixv1, that improves Algorthmixv2.


texts: John has spoken to his uncle just now or John spoke...?

texts:
Recently I found a pair of sentences in a grammar practice book:

  John has just spoken to his uncle.
  John spoke to his uncle just now.

The sentences are almost the same. They only differ in the position of "just". I don't know why one sentence is present perfect and the other past simple.  Could anyone explain why?


texts:
I saw this sentence and I don't understand the use of "make it out" here:
- Felicia, I was wondering if you'd make it out to Hawthorne.

Is there someone who can explain that to me? And give me some examples?


texts: "I went down the aisle, even to the side of the bier" - "even to"?

texts:
I would like to ask for help with clarification with the following sentence:
(for the context, the narrator is in a cathedral wherein a bier is placed)

"If you wish, you may go forward and gaze upon her.'
So I went down the cathedral aisle, even to the side of the bier,
whose opulent fabrics trailed on the cold flags.

I assume "even" here refers to a position in space but I am not sure because I know just a phrase "even with (e.g. a surface).


texts:
Which is more accurate

"This was the context of multiple questions I asked since I started working here."

Or

"This was the context of multiple questions I have asked since I started working here."

I've been taught at school to always use the present perfect with "since", but the first sentence makes more sense to me. Thoughts?


texts:
Someone was whistling. I started, the tune instantly recognizable.
“Remember Him Still.” Eoin’s favorite. I was out in the middle of the
lake, and someone was whistling. The whistling shivered through the
mist, a cheerful flute in the eerie white, disembodied and disparate,
and I couldn’t tell from which direction it originated.

What does this disembodied and disparate together mean? I know disembodied suggests that the sound wasn't emanating from any obvious physical source, and disparate means different (?), but what does it mean together, putting in the context?
What the wind knows, Amy Harmon.


texts:
i am not english native speaker, i am italian.

What is the meaning of "offsetting" in this passage?

  The functioning of derivatives central counterparties hinges on the
  enforceability of two legal processes:

  1) Novation:  the replacement of the original contract between two
  counterparties with two offsetting contracts between the original
  counterparties and the Central Counterparty Clearing House.


texts: "He thanked me for the present {I sent / I had sent} him"

texts:
Which of these sentences is correct?

1. My friend thanked me for the present I sent him.
2. My friend thanked me for the present I had sent him.

If both are correct, which of them is more precise?


texts:
We can say "The company earnings has doubled/tripled over the period".

My question is - are there negative counterparts for doubled/tripled for the cases when some value lost 50% or 66% of its initial number?


texts:
Which sentence is correct, why?

  There are countries that think they must follow their own interests by forming an alliance against the US hegemony.

  There are countries that think they must follow their own interests by forming an alliance against US hegemony.

I thought like many other things "the US interests", "the US president", "the US policy", it should be "the US hegemony", but someone corrected me that it is "US hegemony". Why is it like that?


texts:
In the sentence:

  Merging two forces that pull in opposing directions requires some creativity.

Going through lists of words here and there, I didn't find anything that would fit in this context. My first thought was that the meaning of pull here was closed to "stay" ("stay" in opposing directions). But there's no such meaning of it.


texts: What does “echoes from a satellite put the new debris finding” mean?

texts:
The French Foreign Ministry said radar echoes from a satellite put the new debris finding about 2,300 km (1,430 miles) from Perth, without giving a direction or a date.Source: Reuters – Search area for Malaysian airliner widened after French satellite images

I got the gist of the text above, but still have my doubts if the words “debris” and “finding” are two separate terms or just one term meaning something like “debris founding” or “foundings objects that actually are debris.”

Is the word “echoes” a verb or a noun? My intuition is that it is a noun.

What does the supposedly simple word “put” really mean in this context?


texts: When should we use *'em* and when shouldn't we?

texts:
I know we can use 'em as short form of them in informal English:

  short form of them

  Tell 'em to go away. Cambridge Dictionary

but the dictionaries don't mention when we can/cannot use them.

in the following example the author use 'em and in the same pargraph he use them.

  Them shoe heels was so high they couldn't hardly stand up, much less walk in 'em. They must a-been three inches high, and them heels tapered down real keen at the bottom. Gratitude for Shoes

So, When shoud we use 'em and when shouldn't we?


texts: Use of "unless" in "imaginary" conditional sentences

texts:
Can unless be  used in "imaginary" conditional sentences?

Do the following sentences sound natural to you, native speakers?

  Sentence one: I couldn’t have got to the meeting on time — unless I had caught an earlier train.
  Sentence two: Unless he were my friend, I shouldn't expect his help.


texts: Present perfect or past simple when it is used with time adverb

texts:
I'm not a native speaker so to understand the difference between past simple and present perfect is giving me a headache sometimes. I have learned, that when it is used in a sentence a time adverb describing a past event, I need to use present simple. But a few days ago I heard on the TV the following sentence:

  It is better than what you have done previously.

But I would use:

  It is better than what you did previously.

Because previously, yesterday, last week  - all of these adverbs are set the story into the past. At least to me. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.


texts: Is "job done" etymologically related to "job well done"?

texts:
I've been listening to a podcast by a person who grew up in England, and he often uses the phrase "job done" to mean "that's that" or something similar.

I, however, having grown up in the United States, have never heard of "job done". I have heard of "job well done", but that phrase has a subtly different meaning to me. That being said, I guess they could be interchangeable. I'm a little unsure about it.

Are "job done" and "job well done" etymologically related, or are they just similar-looking phrases? Is my intuition that "job done" is not a popular phrase in the US true, or am I just biased due to my personal experience?


texts:
Recently, while watching Walking Dead, I heard "sufficient" pronounced differently from what I have learned twice. I learned it with a "sh" but they pronounced it like the original "suffice". Checking multiple online dictionaries indicate the way I've learned it is correct. Where does the different pronunciation come from? Is it a dialect?

EDIT

After trying to find the part again I can't say for sure anymore that it was Walking Dead (see comments). But I definitely heard it twice in something I watched recently and as far as I remember I only watched US productions.


texts: Why the verbs in this series are not conjugated properly?

texts:
For this old Popeye series, He always use the conjugation that is for the pronons (He and She). Eg: I remembers instead of I remember. Why does Popeye speak like that? Is it just a funny thing to make people laugh? Or Is it something with the grammar? Or Is it something related to how people spoke more than 50 years ago?

https://www.popcornflix.com/watch/channel/family-and-kids-tv/series/18-3yt3u7zwtbni-popeye-and-son/episode/18-q906cb54b3ef-popeye-and-son-111-orchid-you-not-aint-mythbehavin


texts:
I'm trying to figure out whether exploration can imply discovery and discovery imply exploration. I think these two terms are linked.

An explorer can discover when he explores.
A discoverer may need to explorer in order to discover.

Imaging a person who is sent into a cave to explore it and he discovers ancient glyphs and objects. Or imaging a person who is working on discovering a new energy source. He explores different sources and places.

Am I on the right track?


texts:
When looking at "Inspection Shaft No. 1", I do not know whether I should capitalize all nouns or just the first one in a row.

  Inspection Shaft No. 1 or
  Inspection shaft No. 1


texts: The person who works for a University while studying there

texts: What do you call a student at a University who gets hired by the University part time to do tasks around the university such as watching the front desk.  Is there an official title for students like this or do we just describe it like a student who works part time at his university?


texts: "The mean recognition rate of the first 6 attitudes is above 50%”，correctly？

texts:
The mean recognition rate of the first 6 attitudes is above 50%.

It is there anything wrong？


texts: Interpreting "a close contact between A and B as well as C"

texts:
Just saw a sentence like this. It's confusing.

When saying:

  There is close contact between A and B as well as C

does that means:

A is close to C, and B is close to C
A and B (as a whole) are close to C
A, B, and C are close to each other

For example

  There is close contact between the management and bank staff as well as their owners.


texts:
In Marriage Story, Bert (the lawyer) says:

"If we give on LA right now and then try to make the best deal possible, I think we can get her to give on other fronts"

What the heck does give on mean? The closest definition I could see for give -not give on- is to surrender. If that is the meaning, as I assume it is here, then shouldn't it be "If we give LA... we can get her to give other fronts." What function is the preposition "on" serving?

I'm running more and more into similar unfamiliar phrases that are hard to look up. Who gets to decide which goes and which stays? It just feels sometimes that there is no hard rule and someone can just come up with a random phrase.


texts:
“...and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl
  -- a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note
  that Harry could read upside down.” (Harry Potter and the
  Sorcerer's Stone)

Is ‘upside down’ a depictive adjunct for ‘a note’?


texts: Should I need to add the preposition "of" to "I prefer not to be around smoking"?

texts:
Should I need to add the preposition "of" to the sentence

  "I prefer not to be around (of) smoking"


texts:
I have to write a formal (but not too formal)  email to my colleague. I've sent to him a document with the wrong format and  he asked me to make some changes on it.  I would like to say something similar to the following sentence that I found  :

  I have made the adjustment and apologize for the  inconvenience for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Can I use  just "for the inconvenience" without "this may have caused you" like the following , without specify "the consequence"

  I have made the adjustment that you requested and apologize for the inconvenience. Please find attached a new updated version of the document.


texts:
What is different? I usually say basically, and say by default from time to time, especially when I explain something on softwares or a computer thing.
Can you give me some appropriate usage examples?


texts: Are the phonemes [i] and [i:] "allophones" of the phoneme [ɪ] in General American?

texts:
Are the phonemes [i] and [iː] "allophones" of the phoneme [ɪ] in General American? Why does the phoneme [ɪ] sound like [i] or [iː] in some words?
Example words:
it x sink.
The phoneme [ɪ] sounds different in these words.


texts:
which sentence is correct?

  they undergo such instruction.

  they are undergone such instruction.

when do we use undergo in passive form?
I couldn't find any example for "undergo" in passive form but I read that it is transitive.


texts: What is the correct transformation for "in the last three years" in indirect speech (for a particular case)?

texts:
This is the text I have where the phrase I want to convert to indirect speech is marked in bold.
Wright brothers, “Letter to Carl Dienstbacht”, Dayton, November 17, 1905.

"Dear Mr. Diensbach:-
A good deal of doubt seems to exist in Europe as to whether there is
any truth in the reports that have been made concerning our flights of
1903 and 1904; and it is not at all surprising, under the
circumstances, since there has never been any account of any one
having seen them, except the inventors themselves. There have been a
number of witnesses to every flight we have made in the last three
years. ..."

It is evident from the context that the Wrights referred to the interval December 14-17, 1903  - November 17, 1905, which is not even 2-year long but contains the calendaristic years 1903, 1904 and 1905, three in total.
This is my attempted conversion:
On November 17, 1905, the Wrights said that there had been a number of witnesses to every flight they had made in the (last, past, preceding, previous ??) three years.
If I say:

"past three years" it would mean November 17, 1902 - November 17, 1905, which is incorrect.
"last, preceding or previous three years" I am not sure about the meaning.

The correct word has to be one that excludes 1902 and obligatory includes 1903, 1904 and 1905.
Can I leave "last three years" as it is, without changing the word "last" in order to preserve the original meaning?


texts:
While practising past tenses I have encountered a couple of confusing dialogues.

  A: How was your holiday?

  B: Awful! It __________ (rain) the whole time.

The key says that the right answer is past simple i.e. "rained", but I tend to use past continuous there to say that an action was in progress at every moment during a period of time.

Could someone clarify I am right or not?

And here's the second one:

  A: Was Jack practising his guitar again last night?

  B: Why do you ask?  _________________ (you/try) to call him?

Can I use past continuous there too to say that at the time Jack was practising his guitar, person A was trying to call him (an action in progress at a stated time in past)?


texts: Looking for the name of this type of grammatical term "im-", "mis-"

texts:
We can break some words in two or three parts. Example:

Impossible = Im + possible
Misconception = Miss + conception

What does these type of grammatical term called?
PS:I'm looking for this, because I'm trying to learn vocabulary and found that this way would be easier for me.


texts: English term for a country's ability to maintain energy stock

texts:
I am translating a document and I wonder if there is an equivalent English term for a word "a country's ability to keep good stock of the country's energy or resources such as food, electricity, or energy in general"

For example :

  This country expects to keep good stock of the country's
  water resources during this long dry season during 2019.

Thanks all.


texts: past perfect progressive instead of past perfect simple?

texts:
This is from a novel:

The man who had sat next to her the day before began to laugh.

Is it possible to say: The man who had been sitting next to her the day before began to laugh?


texts: Her parents gave away the prizes to our school (school's?) children

texts:
Is it all right to say :

  Her parents gave away the prizes to our school children.

Or I need to add apostrophe with school ?


texts:
Can Neither and Nor be used interchangeably in this context?
For example:

  I'm not good. Neither are you/Nor are you.

I know that I can use "Neither are you" in that context. But I wonder whether it's possible to use "Nor are you".


texts: Is it possible to remove subject relative pronouns? How?

texts:
Consider the following sentences.

Al Pacino is a famous actor [who] played Michel Corleone in The Godfather movie.
Samsung is a very big company [which] produces home appliances.

Question: is it possible to remove subject relative pronouns (who/which)? If so, how?


texts: "The calls from Harvard hovered with our potential right around zero"

texts:
I saw the sentence in The Adderall Diaries (2015) (a line shown on screen, not part of the dialogue):

The calls from Harvard hovered with our potential right around zero.

I don't understand what does this sentence mean, particularly what does it mean by 'hover with our potential'? By considering the context, I guess this sentence is to say 'We have no chance to get into Harvard'. I searched the dictionary and I didn't find a proper meaning of 'hover' for this sentence.


texts: Is the following omission of "it was" permissible in colloquial English?

texts:
Bringing up the question wasn't as hard as he'd thought. (It was)
  Definitely easier than the letter he'd have to write later.

I  tried to find a similar example on Google Books. Unfortunately, since I can't search "definitely" in uppercase, I couldn't find any.

Is this type of omission grammatical or at least common/permissible in colloguial English?

Context: informal writing/fiction writing


texts:
This is valid for many sports, but in the context of the FIFA World Cup it makes sense to particularize it to football.

A team, say X, can win or lose. Then we say X won or X lost.

Sometimes it happens that both teams end up even, i.e. in a draw or tie. What is the appropriate way to express that? I always find myself a bit puzzled about this.

Talking about the two teams involved,

Can we say they got a draw or went into a draw?
Is it exactly the same for tie?
Is there a verb version of 'draw' or 'tie'? as in they tied or they drew? I don't know if these exist, but I write them to make my point clear.


texts:
"Over 500 students were served the food prepared in this kitchen for lunch every day."

If I use being in the above sentence does it change the meaning?

  "Over 500 students were being served the food prepared in this kitchen for lunch every day."


texts: Punctuation when clarifying a time period (e.g. late January - early February)

texts:
Which one is correct or, at least, more common and advisable?

late January - early February
late January — early February
late January-early February
late January—early February


texts: For example, "How much" or "What" is your chess rating? Which one is correct? Also, can I say "You may improve your chess rating by winning games." or "You may lower your chess rating by losing games."?


texts: What the hell does “Funnier than Hell” mean?

texts:
Is there something I’m missing about the meaning of “hell”? “Funnier than hell” seems, in typical context, to mean very funny, but I can’t find anything funny about hell. Can somebody please explain this?

Note: I’m posting an answer to this question, simultaneously with posting the question itself. I feel no need to “accept” my own answer, I invite others to answer the question as well and I welcome comments.


texts:
What are the proper usage of New year's eve in the below sentence? Or, What are verbs for New Year's Eve?

For example, the scenario is like this. I have to choose to have my New year's eve with my parents or my wife's. So far the only verb I know is HAVE. Is it proper? And is there any better way to express it? Such as that I have choose one from my parents and my wife's for New year's eve.


texts:
What does "hoop" mean in

  Had a mac for a short while and as a development machine I didn't like it. Keyboard was awful, tooling wasn't right. Too many hoops. Just got the x1 now, and it's hands down amazing machine.

The dictionary shows that hoop is some circular object, which doesn't make sense here. Thanks.


texts:
I want to know the informal of saying that a person fell suddenly asleep because he had a very hard day or because he was exhausted or very tired.

For instance a person was reading a book and didn't notice how he fell asleep still holding the book. Or for instance a person was watching a film while sitting and suddenly fell asleep in his sitting pose.


texts: punctuation - which situation had gone wrong?

texts:
I am reading a Composition, which was titled as

Describe a time when you were given a chance to remedy a situation which had gone wrong.

I understand it as even the remedy also had gone wrong.
If I keep comma after situation whether it means remedy also went wrong?

Describe a time when you were given a chance to remedy a situation, which had gone wrong.


texts: Does "capitalize on" mean "take advantage of a successful exam and not have to take it again along with the unsuccessful one?

texts:
I would like to know if the sentence in bold, in the paragraph below, means to take advantage of the successful test, keep its grade and have to only repeat the unsuccessful test? If not, how can I express it?
"Candidates are required to take both the written and oral tests on the same day. If a candidate does not pass one of the two tests (oral or written), they have the opportunity to capitalize on the successful test. They can repeat the unsuccessful one within one year."


texts: What does it mean for "a tunnel" to "feel its way"?

texts:
I read a sentence in a chapter named "The Third Level" which was:

  There's probably a long tunnel that nobody knows about feeling its way under the city right now on its way to Times Square and maybe another to Central Park.

I surmise that the subject of the verb "feeling" in the sentence is "a long tunnel" not "nobody". It would not have been a little bit ambiguous if the author had inserted a comma after "about". But I don't understand what does it mean for "a tunnel" to "feel its way".


texts: Should "knowledge" be, or not be, followed by "about"?

texts:
I have the below construction and doubting the correct usage of prepositions.

  This paper shows a comprehensive approach that takes into account the
  knowledge about the shape of man-made object for individual object segmentation from point data.

Do you think that I should use about with knowledge? Any rectifications please.


texts:
I have always known that pussy means the genitals of a woman, and a coward person. But Babylon English and Cambridge dictionary say that it also means (noun) sex with a woman. But Oxford and Macmillan dictionaries don't.

So, is this meaning correct?


texts: My friend was hit by a car as a pedestrian. At the moment, she is in hospital and is given little chance to live. How could I describe her current condition?


texts: What is an equation that consists of a proportionality symbol called?

texts: When I want to refer to an equation similar to this image, what term should I use? Is it correct to say "Equation 3", although the equation contains a proportionality symbol?


texts: What does "Poor kids might come out quacking like a duck" mean?

texts:
Let's imagine an amazing technology that could teach just about anything, but will it eliminate inequities in education?
  Wealthy parents will get the best hardware for their own children, while the
  children of poor households will have access to older models in need of repair.
  Rich kids will easily learn quantum physics. Poor kids might come out quacking like a duck.

In the above quote, what does "Poor kids might come out quacking like a duck" mean?


texts:
What is difference between "get introduced" and "getting introduced"?
Is "getting introduced" some form of perfect participle?
e.g.
When first getting introduced, make sure to make direct eye contact....
Getting Introduced to Dark Side....


texts: What is the meaning of 'You're growing up'?

texts:
“Really?” she’d said, a trace of sadness in her voice. “Really,
  truly?” Billy and Papa nodded at the same time.

  “I’m Dad,” said Papa.

  Mama put her bag of school things on the floor, sat on a kitchen
  chair, and pulled Billy to her. She hugged him, and in the most
  natural way, said, “I guess you’re growing up.”

  “Yup,” he said, squirming away from the hug.

The above paragraph is from the The Year of Billy Miller What is the meaning of the bold sentence？Does it mean that Miller has grown up? Why does the writer use present continuous?


texts: What is the meaning of following sentence ? I have trouble understanding with the way it's formulated

texts:
“It is not the neurotic’s self-concern, whether pity or contempt, which breaks the circle formation; the cue to cure is self-transcendence!”
Excerpt From: Viktor E. Frankl. “Man's Search for Meaning.” Apple Books.


texts: finished action vs unspecific time in the past

texts:
I know there are several rules when to use past simple or present perfect.
for example specific words like :ago,yesterday,since,for,yet etc and in such cases is simple for me what tense to use but there are  also other rules for example unspecific time and in this case we have to use Present Perfect

1) "Look,I have bought a new car"

but on other hand there is a rule for past simple - finished action.So if I say:

2) "Look,I bought a new car" - would it be incorrect?

If I dont say when I bought the car do I always have to use the Present Perfect even the action is finished?
This two rules make me confused cause the action seems to be finished for me but without specific time and I dont know which tense to use


texts: Parsing "What cannot be cured must be endured"

texts:
What cannot be cured must be endured.

When I parse the sentence, I find that What cannot be cured is the NP in fused relative construction and is the subject of the sentence. be is the copula and endured is the subject complement.
If it were That which cannot be cured must be endured instead, the parsing would be the same except that the subject of the sentence would be the noun clause That which cannot be cured.
Have I got it right?


texts:
Can we add subject 'you' in the imperative sentence?

  Without studying regularly, don't expect to get high   marks.
  → Without studying regularly, you don't expect to get high marks.


texts: In this sentence, "It's difficult being an architect", is "being an architect" a gerund phrase and, if so, is it the subject?


texts: Can we use the stem (not the third-person singular) to form wh-questions about the subject? if the answer given is hunters kill animals and were asked to form a question do we say who kill animals? or who kills animals?


texts: Is this Sentence Correct? "I am accusing him because of the mistake"

texts:
I was interested in English since when I have started to understand English.

Now when I'm learning "Prepositions", I've figured out that:-

i) We have to use Accuse of as you can see in this sentence "He is accused of the mistake"
Another example:- "I accuse him of his mistake"

ii) But if I want to use a simple change using Because of would it be a mistake?
iii) Like this sentence:- "I am accusing him because of his mistake"

Oh! a Simple FUN FACT which we can do here with Voice Change:-

Passive Voice:- He is accused of the mistake by me.

Active Voice:- I accuse him of the mistake.


texts: difference between "education" "educational " "educated"

texts:
education noun

educated adj

educational adj

what is difference between "highly educated" and "highly educational" and difference between  "education level" educational level


texts: Why are the subject and the verb inverted after the conjunction 'as'?

texts:
These are from the page for 'as' as conjunction on Oxford Dictionary. I don't understand why they are inverted like 'as is her mother' or 'as do I'. Why not 'as her mother is' or 'as I do'?

I've searched the net a little and people are saying that 'as do I' is more formal than 'so do I', but is that really so? I've learned 'so do I' to mean 'me too' long time ago in the official text book written by the government in my country, but I don't think I ever learned 'as do I'. I've just studied that 'as' can be a relative pronoun but replacing 'which' to 'as' doesn't make sense for these two sentences, nor giving 'it' after 'as', so I know they are not relative pronoun, but what are they?

  4 used to make a comment or to add information about what you have just said

  • As you know, Julia is leaving soon.

  • She's very tall, as is her mother.

  As is a conjunction and an adverb and is used before a clause, another adverb, or a phrase beginning with a preposition: She enjoys all kinds of music, as do I. As always, he said little.


texts:
The shooting goes on for a while, then gradually stops. Howie peeks his head up/out from behind the couch and sees bodies all over the place.

Questions.

Is "gradually" used correctly?

Is "up" and "out" both natural? Is there a difference between them?


texts:
My question hails from this question here on ELL.

I'd like to know the nuance of the noun 'afternoon' and the phrase 'after noon'. How do we say (in speech) and clearly distinguish their usage?

  I'm not here after noon I'm not here after the noon   I'm not here afternoon

The second seems correct but the first does not look bad. Also, do we need to give a big pause to differentiate the first and third sentence in speech?


texts: Is the sentence: "I always go to work on my car" correct?

texts:
Can we say:

  I always go to work on my car.

or it should be rather:

  go to work by my car

or

  go to work in my car

Which one is the most correct?


texts: Omitting "being" after subject in absolute phrases

texts:
As far as I know, we can omit "being" in the sentence 1 and 2.

  1- He smiled at his girlfriend, her clothes (being) all muddy and
  tattered.

  2- His Ipad (being) dead, he felt bored.

Can I omit the "being" in these sentences below as well? If I cant, what is the difference?

  3- I was preaparing the food , my friends being sick of waiting.
  (I was preparing the food and my friends were sick of waiting)

  4- The word “book” has a double meaning , the noun form being  "a set
  of pages inside a cover”, while the verb form is "to arrange to have a
  seat etc. at a particular time in the future".


texts: Why is 'Did anybody said something?' grammatically incorrect?

texts:
"Did anybody said something?" is an incorrect sentence grammatically, but I don't get why.

This might be an excessively silly question, but I am new to the English Language.


texts:
A Chill/Chilly wind blew and icy fingers of death crept up my spine.

Which is correct to use here ? Chill or Chilly ?

Chill wind is a idiom which means troubles, difficulties etc but since we want to convey that the wind was cold so using chilly is correct but  someone here said that they both mean the same. Is it correct ? Chill is a noun so I don't think it can be used to qualify wind, instead chilly is a adjective so chilly should be the correct word to use. Am I correct ?


texts:
Please elucidate and explain the linguistics subtext in this repartee below? I've never studied linguistics, so please explain intelligibly using only simple language.

  1. Closest there can stand on its own as a substantive. Thing is not needed. Both versions are idiomatic.

  2. "substantive"? You mean our own "nominal"? I thought substantive was old-fashioned English. –  MARamezani 11 hours ago

  3. The new grammarians are very protective of their jargon :-) –  TRomano 11 hours ago

4. ODO: substantive [noun] = (also noun substantive) {Grammar, dated} A noun.

5. nominal = Relating to a noun or to any word or word group that functions as a noun.

ODO supports the claim in 2: substantive was old-fashioned. Yet I don't understand the significance of  'nominal' or user TRomano's last comment?


texts:
It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was
  wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost
  knocked to the ground.

Source: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Does ‘was’ mean ‘took place’ or is the boldfaced part all an idiom?


texts: When something carries more than recommended

texts:
What adjective or noun can be used to describe something carrying more than is recommended?

For instance a truck can carry 300 kg. but it's loaded with 310kg. so it's what?

I was thinking of overloaded but it seems really awkward. Some time ago I heard a word like overencumbered or something like that but can't really remember the spelling.


texts: What makes the omission of "that" in this sentence possible?

texts:
Below is an example sentence from the entry for the verb "alter" in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.( <= Is this a correct sentence? I am not confident with this. Excuse me for an irrelevant additional question.)

  He had altered so much I scarcely recognized him.

I have been taught that "that" is omitted between "so much" and "I" in the sentence.

What makes it happen or what makes it possible to happen?
I would like to get an answer focused on the reason of it.

Any personal opinions are also greatly helpful to me.
I will appreciate any explanations from you.
Thank you.


texts: Talking about something general with clause that happens earlier - past tense or not?

texts:
Background story: My friend likes to boast about his work achievements a lot.

I want to complain about it to others. Which one below is grammatically correct?

The hard concept for me: I don't know if I should use past tense in this case. Since it is about his regular boasting behavior, it seems correct to use present or present perfect. However, I think past tense can work here too...

    01  My friend always boasts about what he achieves at work.

    02 My friend always boasts about what he achieved at work.

    03 My friend always boasts about what he has achieved at work.

    04 My friend always likes to boast about the achievements that he accomplishes at work.

    05 My friend always likes to boast about the achievements that he accomplished at work.

    06 My friend always likes to boast about the achievements that he has accomplished at work.


texts: Difference between "Had to be" and "Was to be"

texts:
According to my understanding

He was to come at 8 pm.
(Means He was supposed to come at 8 pm)
He had to come at 8 pm.
(Means He was obligated to come at 8 pm)

And also

How she would feel if her mother was to be made to stand and wait
(Means her mother was asked to stand and wait by someone)
How she would feel if her mother had to be made to stand and wait
(Means her mother had to stand and wait till a chair was free)

Correct me if I am wrong.


texts:
I learn the English language. I think I speak not so bad, but I have some problems with sentences like "Is the style and tone of the letter informal?". The problem is that I can't say "the" fast. My tongue just can't move so fast after the word "is".

Do you have any tips for me how to do it faster?


texts: I'll be at my office by 7 p.m. I'll be at my office until 7 p.m

texts:
My question is:
Does sentence "I'll be at my office by 7 p.m." means that I will not be phisical non-stop at office until 7 pm?
Does sentence "I'll be at my office until 7 p.m." means that I will be phisical non-stop at office until 7 pm?


texts:
Ok, in Cambridge dictionary

Japanese (n): a person from Japan. Ex: She married a Japanese.

The Japanese [plural] (n): the people of Japan. Ex: The Japanese make excellent cars.

Japanese (a): belonging to or relating to Japan, its people, or its language. Ex: the Japanese stock market

So, "Many Japaneses" or "Many Japanese people"? Which one is more common?

I feel that "Many Japaneses" is a bit strange


texts: What's the difference between explain and elucidate? I think the difference would be the emotion involved in and/or how something is explained and/or how one think about his/her listeners.


texts: Placement of the clause "more than once"

texts:
Is:

  "We saw the fatal cliff more than once, from which the climber fell to his death."

the correct form of the sentence:

  "We saw the fatal cliff from which the climber fell to his death more than once."?

The former sentence sounds a bit awkward? Is there any alternative?


texts: Can anyone tell me if an interrogative negative question is always answered in positive or can it also be answered in negative?


texts: I did a IELTS listening and I filled in a space with "keep fit studio", but the answer is "keep-fit studio", so in English, how to figure out the usage of "-"?


texts: Where to put the word "normally" correctly in the following sentence?

texts:
Where is the right place to put the word (adv.) normally in the following sentence? I have thought on the following options but I'm not sure which one of them is the most correct or sounds natural.

a) The total camel body water normally is between 50 to 70 percent.

b) The total camel body water is normally between 50 to 70 percent.

c) The total camel body water is between 50 to 70 percent, normally.


texts: I heard some local speakers say "when once"

texts:
E. G

  "when once I am there,  I'd let you know."  "When once the money is deposited,  I'd make a transfer into your account"

I think one of the word should be used instead of the two simultaneously.


texts: Use of 'And' as the first word of a sentence

texts:
Can I write:

  We need  to have a deep sense of morality. And moral science teaches us morality.

But I was told that I should not use that full stop. But I am not clear. I know its a conjunction but can we use it this way? Can we use it as the first word of a sentence?


texts:
In one of my posts (Is it grammatical and idiomatic to say "would be highly probably"?) I said

  Before @Astralbee @KateBunting and @WeatherVane mentioned the other possibilities, I didn't consider highly probable, highly likely, almost certainly.

I was considering to add more,

  ... I didn't consider ..., I do now.

to indicate I learned something, I got some helpful information from those guys.

Is it idiomatic to say "I didn't ... I do"?


texts: What tense should I use to describe something in the past but probably is still true?

texts:
The title may be a bit confusing. See the below example:

  The movie (was/is) so good.

The simplest guideline on deciding which tense to use, past tense or present tense, to describe an object comes down to whether the description was only true that that time or is true even to the present point of time.

But now we talking about literary work(movies,books,etc) of which quality tend to stay the same over time, which tense should we use?


texts: Before today, I (thought/was thinking/used to think)

texts:
How can one talk about their thoughts or what they used to believe before another action in the past.
If that thought or belief is general, then I guess we can use used to.
Assume these examples (the first one is more general than the second one):

1- Before today, I (believed / was believing / used to believe) that the moon (is / was) a star.
2- I (thought / was thinking / used to think) she (was / is) still in the office before I called her.

Which ones in the parentheses are correct?


texts: The possessive S should not be before the noun that it belongs to?

texts:
I'm solving English grammar exam (MCQ) and one of the questions there is about the next sentence:

  This car is my car, and that car is Tom's.

According to what I know the possessive s should come before the name rather than after him or in the end of sentence. Therefore it should be Tom's car rather than car Tom's. Then I'm not sure if what I see in the exam is just a mistake or it has explanation.


texts: Do "check out a book" and "read a book" mean the same?

texts:
Great book list! Must check them out soon.
Great book list! Must read them soon.

The context is informal, like a comment in a blog post. Is there any difference in the meaning of these two expressions?


texts:
Lose hope about life

/

  Lose hope on life

/

  Lose hope over life

What are the differences in these 3 sentences?
And how are they used?
Do all of them make the same meaning like "No hope from life." ?


texts:
What is the difference in the meaning of the following two sentences:

    Iran waged a war on Iraq.

    Iran waged a war with Iraq.

As per the definition of wage, wage means "carry on". I checked the sample sentences on Oxford and found that "waged a war on" is only used in the examples mentioned here. However, I checked "waged a war with" on Google ngram and found that this combination is also used. Is it a  mistake in the usage of the preposition or it has any other meaning?


texts: Is there difference between bedding, bedclothes and linen or are consider synonym?

texts:
Is there difference between bedding, bedclothes and linen or are consider synonym for the following context?

I want to refer to all of the covers that belong to the bed and its accompanying such as pillows, blanket etc. Are these 3 words that I mentioned above can meet my need?


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to use 'In the present job' in this context?

  In the present job, I carry out the regeneration and production of
  machinery parts in the food sector.


texts:
H is a subset of G containing those elements of G that commute with
  every element of G.

Clearly, H contains the elements.

Now let's take an another example.

  The boy is the son of the man standing here.

Here the man is standing.
Is it not confusing?
In the first one  we use present participle form after G and we get a meaning and in the 2nd one we use present participle form after 'man' and we get a different meaning.
How to recognize the precise meaning?


texts: "Only then it dawned on me" or "only then did it dawn on me?

texts:
What's the correct form?

For instance:

  Only then (did) it dawn on me that humans and animals see the world
  differently.

I got very few results in Google Books. So I'm a little confused.


texts: The indefinite article with an amount modified by an adjective: "It cost a mere 20 dollars."

texts:
I am confused about using “mere” to show something is not large. Based on samples in the Cambridge dictionary:

The plane crashed mere minutes after take-off.

So other samples:

It cost a mere 20 dollars.
The city receives a mere 20% of the parking revenues.

Based on the first example, I expect it to be rewritten as:

It cost mere 20 dollars.
The city receives mere 20% of the parking revenues.

Why in two other samples, it uses the article “a”, while “dollars” and “20%” are plural nouns?


texts: "A friend told me" vs "My friend told me" vs "One of my friends told me"

texts:
I want to know which of the forms mentioned below are most used in conversation.

A friend told me …
My friend told me …
One of my friends told me …

Here are what I think are the disadvantages and advantages of using each of them.

“A Friend told me” — In this sentence, it sounds to me the friend can be mine or the friend can be a friend of my friend. So it seems to me it does not make clear that the friend is my directly known person.

“My friend told me” — This seems perfectly natural to me. It clearly says that the friend is mine and that I know him very well.

“One of my friends told me” — This one seems too wordy to use for a normal information and that is why I think it must be less used in day-to-day life.

Are these observations of mine correct?


texts: what does "Move up-slope" mean in this context?

texts:
What does "Move up-slope" mean in this context?

  If near a stream or river, be aware of rising water and possible mudflows in low-lying areas. Move up-slope as quickly as possible.
  Source: Key Facts About Protecting Yourself During a Volcanic Eruption, CDC.


texts: Question words "what" , "how" and Preposition + what "

texts:
Water clock was made of the container.

If I change this sentence into question, which of the following is suitable?

  1.How was the water clock made?

  2.What was the water clock made of?

  3.Of what was the water clock made of?


texts:
I was looking at the dictionary meaning of 'traditionally' and it was given as :

traditionally-according to tradition;in a traditional manner;

But when I was looking at the following sentences I just couldn't fit them into the definition given above. Please help me

Traditionally, China has had a rich architectural heritage within which even the most elementary architectural eye could identify common architectural motifs.
Goldman Sachs has traditionally been the highest-paying investment bank on Wall Street.
The police can no longer depend on support from the Conservative Party, traditionally seen as a firm friend.

Does 'traditionally' here mean historically? or for a long time? I want to know in what sense 'traditionally' is being used here?

I can't understand the dictionary meaning to these sentences. Could anyone be so kind as to explain to me clearly how traditionally is being used here? I would be grateful to them.

Thank you


texts:
Can we use this type of formation.

  Stop bluffing. There's no need to hide it. Tell me already

Can already be used in this way.


texts: Does 'getting ages' idiomatically sound natural?

texts: We're usually taught (in Korea) to say getting old to describe that something/someone is aging, but I found out this can sound unnecessarily exaggerated as if it's running out of its lifespan. To tone down this expression I was thinking about saying getting ages instead of getting old, but I'm not sure it is idiomatically natural. I cannot easily find the usage of this, so I postulate maybe it's not that common and there must be a better expression.


texts: In French,  "vous" can be used instead of "toi" for this purpose. A seemingly rude example in English is when someone wants to instruct a lawyer, and writes 'I would like to instruct you.' I recognise the legal definition of 'to instruct', but this still sounds too forceful. What are  pleasant, but formal alternatives?


texts: Which is the appropriate preposition in "... and this has been well documented [in/by] Bryant (2010), Jordan (1998), and James (2016)"?

texts:
I have been wanting to ask this question for a while, but I am not sure if this would be on topic. But I really need a solution, so here goes.

This is a sentence that I wrote:

  ... and this has been well documented (Bryant 2010; Jordan 1998; James 2016).

But I want to change the style into this form:

  ... and this has been well documented in Bryant (2010), Jordan (1998), and James (2016).

If I use "in", then it implies something has been documented in those studies/papers. The focus here is on the published papers. But it might confuse readers as why I am using "in" with a person's name.

If I use "by"

  ... and this has been well documented by Bryant (2010), Jordan (1998), and James (2016).

then it implies something has been documented by the authors.

Now both are valid and mean the same thing. But I can't quite figure out which one is idiomatic and common usage.

I can always put the in-text citations at the very beginning (e.g., Bryant (2010), Jordan (1998), and James (2016) argue that ...), but that is not something I want to do here. The list of the authors that goes into this sentence is actually quite big, and hence it only makes sense to put them at the end.

Which is the appropriate preposition here?


texts:
For example in this sentence:

If the club limited its membership, it will have to raise its dues.

In this, first part of sentence is conditional and is a probable event for future. But I am not sure which future tense it will be in. Similarly second part is depends on first part and will be completed at some point in future. So it seems that it is correct to use will have to(Future Perfect).


texts: "It's difficult organising me" or "It's difficult organising myself"

texts:
I have been studying the use of the pronouns me, myself and I. I am fairly confident in tests, but there are some sentences that does not feel "right" to me (being a a native speaker myself). Maybe someone could identify why my understanding of these grammar rules are incorrect.

So the issue is whether or not to use reflexive pronouns. According to the textbook definition, reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the sentence and they cannot be used as the actual subject of the sentence.

My instinct would be to choose the first choice, and we can ignore the second part of the sentence (unless it matters). Can someone please also identify the subject and verb in the first part of the sentence? (It gets confusing for me when there is an "it" and "is" in a sentence).

So according to the rule, a reflexive pronoun has to refer back to the subject of the sentence. However if the first one is true, I don't see how it refers back to "I". For the second one, it seems like the grammar rules fit, however it sounds really incorrect, and it implies that someone is organising me, instead of me organising myself, which I don't get.

  It's difficult enough organising myself, let alone organising someone else as well.

Or

  It's difficult enough organising me, let alone organising someone else as well.

Here is another example. For this one, the first option seems more "correct".

Again, can someone please identify the verb and the subject? (I get unsure when "if" and "it" and "is" are in play)

  If it's just me at home, I leave the dishes until the next day.

Or

  If it's just myself at home, I leave the dishes until the next day.

I would be very grateful if someone can clear my confusion up.


texts: What is The meaning of "Sorry. Your decision has not been reached"

texts:
I applied for a job online about 1/2 month, and this is what I received in my mail

YOUR APPLICATION HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY REVIEWED YOU WOULD RECEIVE AN EMAIL SHORTLY ON THE STATUS OF YOUR APPLICATION

Another one month down the line, I haven't received any email from them. But I visited their site by trying to log into my account, and this is what I saw. update illustration

Sorry. Your decision has not been reached

Please what is the meaning of the above statement regarding my application? even though there's no official statement on the site telling applicants to check their application status.

Thank you.


texts: I don't know the meaning of 'Has no student used this previously?'

texts:
'Has no student used this previously?'

What is the exact meaning of the sentence above?

Maybe, I think the meaning of the sentence is 'I think that no one has used this previously.'
Am I right? If not, could you tell me the exact meaning of the sentence?


texts:
I need comments from native speakers on the following question.

I know "to begin with" can be used to introduce the first of several points. But if there's only one point to make, can we still use "to begin with"?

Suppose that toward the end of the introductory paragraph, you said you were going to discuss a problem. Then you began the 2nd paragraph with "To begin with, it is a common observation that..." and explained the problem and proposed a solution, but that was all there is to the essay. No other point was discussed. Would you use "to begin with" in this manner?

I'd appreciate your help.


texts: The use and alternatives for "investigate"

texts:
I've been investigating the company but there is little information about it.

To investigate:

to inquire into (a situation or problem) thoroughly; examine systematically, esp. in order to discover the truth (Collins Dictionary)

Investigating is often associated with officials searching into an event, a situation or a claim so as to learn some facts about it.

However, the sentence above is about someone looking for information about a company, trying to find out more about it (before an interview). Investigate doesn't seem to be the right word in this context. Which alternatives would be better?


texts: "Alternating between coffee and tea is" or "Alternating between coffee and tea are"

texts:
If I use this

  Alternating between coffee and tea is good for my health.

or

  Alternating between coffee and tea are good for my health

Which is correct?


texts: What is the attitude when you call someone with title Mr.?

texts:
Here is a part of the conversation in a movie I watched:

Bosley: Elena?
Elena: Hi.
Bosley: Welcome.
Elena: Uh, Mr. Bosley?
Bosley: Just Bosley.
Elena: Thank you for seeing me.

Two persons are meeting for the first time and they are introducing themselves.
Elena calls him by Mr. Bosley but Bosley corrects her to call him Bosley without title Mr.
There might be three choices to call him maybe (Bosley's full name is John Bosley):

Mr. Bosley
Bosley
John

What is his attitude by asking her to call him with option 2? And why didn't he like of her to call Mr. Bosley?
As a reference, she is much younger than Bosley.
The movie's name is Charlie's Angels (2019 film). It is a modern Hollywood spying movie. The conversation happens around 00:18:05. (And I found his name is Edgar Bosley in the scene. sorry. Several Bosleys in the movie.)The situation is Elena is an Engineer and Bosley is an undercover agent. Elena is meeting him for a kind of help.
This is the movie scene:


texts:
Could you explain the "shame" meaning in this context? Is it something bad, or like sorry, or sad?

  It’s a shame you have to go now. It would be nice if you had more time.

TIA


texts:
I will never see you here again.

Can this be said to mean that I don't want him to come back here (my house) again?


texts: Wondeting what the highlighted part of the sentence below means

texts:
People receiving aid after Texas fertilizer plant blast.
Source:
http://english.people.com.cn/102774/8215433.html

I am wondering what it is and how it blasts.
I read this and I was ashamed not being able to explain this sentence in my native language while talking to my friend.
A million thanks in advance.


texts:
I am writing a sentence "GPU computing has become increasingly popular because of GPU's high computing throughput." I wonder if there should be a "the" like "the GPU's high computing throughput".

Grammarly suggested me to add a "the" here. I also tried to search for similar sentences and I found this

I am not sure why we need a "the" here. We say "Tom's ball" or "the ball", but we should not say "the Tom's ball", right? So why we need a "the" before "GPU" in the sentence?


texts: Is use of 'by' required before empathic pronoun

texts:
"Did Simone fix her car by herself?

Is by required in above line?What will be change in sense if by is omitted?


texts: Repeating "them" in "support them rather than abandon them"

texts:
Support them rather than abandon them

Is the above correct? Is the repeating of 'them' correct? Can we drop 'them' when we use it second time?


texts: Is there a difference in meaning among 'should', 'happens to', or 'should happen to'?

texts:
What is the difference in the meaning of following sentences (I'm asking for detailed anlaysis of these sentences)

If it rains, I will stay at home.
If it should rain, I will stay at home.
If it should happen to rain, I will stay at home
If it happens to rain, I will stay at home.

Can I say 'there is no difference in the meaning among 2 ,3 and 4 sentences ? There is no difference in the meaning and usage among 'should', 'happen to' or should happen to' together. Do they all mean 'by chance' ?

Again , i would like to know if the following sentences are grammatically correct or not:

1.If she should happen to read the newspaper, she would see your article.

2.If they should agree to come ,we would be delighted.

Source :perfect English grammar.com in Advanced conditionals Explained (pdf )


texts: Converting "Do you have any relatives who used to live there?" to reported speech, is "have" or "had" correct?

texts:
Context:
Person A found a old paper written in Arabic script  in their basement. They took a picture of it and post it on a language forum.
Person B says:
Do you have any relatives who used to live in an Arab country?
Person A: I don't think so.
The next comment reads:
Person B's question on whether you have relatives who used to live in an Arab country made me wonder if it could be the other way around, meaning perhaps someone who spoke a language that uses/used the Arabic script was living in the house.
Is using the present form of "have" correct here or should it be in the past?


texts:
a. How better for me to learn English than to hang out with you?
b. How faster for me to get there than to come along with you?
Are both of the above sentences grammatically correct?
I think (a) is correct and is idiomatic and (b) isn't...
Would you like to hang around with us?
a1) How better for me to learn English?
===========================
Would you like to come along with us?
b1) How faster for me to get there?
I think here (a1) works and (b1) doesn't...


texts: A joke on the British from the Simpsons `I love you, Lord Daftwager.`

texts:
Could you please tell me what  the joke  is in the following conversation between two English guys? I mean why did they depict them betting on urchin children ? Why are they kissing ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT7fVUKoHUU

00:11:43,411 --> 00:11:45,871
Well, look at those
filthy urchins.

227
00:11:45,955 --> 00:11:48,374
Surely they could never be
taught proper manners.

228
00:11:48,458 --> 00:11:51,668
One gold sovereign says
I could do just that.

229
00:11:51,753 --> 00:11:55,047
(CHUCKLING) it's a
bet, Lord Daftwager!

230
00:11:55,131 --> 00:11:58,634
You can't bet on my kids!
This is America, pal!

231
00:11:59,302 --> 00:12:01,804
Don't worry.
We'll find more wagers.

232
00:12:02,555 --> 00:12:04,390
I love you, Lord Daftwager.

233
00:12:04,474 --> 00:12:05,849
Yes. And I you.

234
00:12:07,644 --> 00:12:09,019
Yes, quite.


texts:
In a book about spirituality the author uses the words "I-ness", "is-ness" and "be-ness". These words aren't in my dictionary.  How can I understand words like "be-ness", can I add "-ness" to the end of any word?

  The speaker's or the listener's ego ("I know this" and " I don't know this") always takes him to I-ness instead of Be-ness and Is-ness. [no source]


texts: How about replacing "was" with "is" in the sentence "the other phrase from Abdallah's question was ..."?

texts:
The source is BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page42.shtml

At the beginning, it uses simple present:

  This is a very interesting question,

Why does it use simple past here:

  Now, the other phrase from Abdallah's question was, "It's high time we went". This is quite an unusual structure because it has what looks like a simple past form - "went", the past of the verb "to go."


texts:
I'm saying it from the heart.

I don't say things off a script, I say them from the heart.

Does "say something from the heart" work instead of "saying something from the bottom of the heart"?
And can I switch that "the" out with "my"?

I'm saying it from my heart.


texts: "synthetic", what definition would this adjective fall under?

texts:
Let's say, we are listening to a lecture about impressionism.

The professor says,

  Why would imressionists depart from previous artistic standard to create works that were so radically different? The key lies in the discovery and mass production of industrial paints. Prior to the industrial revolution, artists had to mix colors of paint themselves -- a process that was labor-intensive and kept them tied to their studios. In contrast to this, pre-mixed, synthetic paint, sold in tubes not unlike that of toothpaste today, allowed artists to work en-plein air.

Merriam Unabridged says,

Adjective synthetics

  1 a :  relating to or involving synthesis

  b :  not analytic

  2
  a :  attributing to a subject a predicate that is not contained in the essence of that subject

  b :  having the truth determined by observation or the facts of experience

  c :  not resulting in a contradiction upon being negated

  3
  of a language :  characterized by synthesis :  inflectional

  — called also analytic

  4
  a :  of, relating to, or being a taxonomic category retained for reasons of convenience but not regarded as constituting a natural unit

  b :  of, relating to, or being a group deliberately produced by combining genes
  in a manner unlikely to occur in nature

  5
  of an organ stop :  composed of two or more pipes for each tone

  6
  a :  produced by artificial processes either from relatively simple substances or from naturally occurring sometimes complex substances :  man-made

  — compare semisynthetic

  b :  devised, arranged, or fabricated for special situations to imitate or replace usual realities

  :  employing or concerning such devices or fabrications instead of actualities

  c :  patently produced or maintained by special effort and therefore often forced, constrained, distorted, or simulated :  not natural or spontaneous :  spurious, factitious

  7
  of cubist art :  involving the composing of pictorial objects without the restrictions of natural appearances or relations — opposed to analytical — compare cubism

I guess in this context that adjective's definition would fall under 6a?

Thank you in advance for any support.


texts: What is the grammatically difference between these two sentences?

texts:
Does the only difference is "being continuous"?

what is the difference in terms of meaning?

  ... with a symbol used to express ... .

  ... with a symbol being used to express ... .


texts: Is the bottom of a box does not have a part that tuck in to seal the box still called a flap?

texts:
per this answer

  The bits at the top and the bottom that tuck in to seal the box are called the flaps.

apparently the top (labeled blue) of the box shown below is a flap.

while the bottom (labeled red) of the box does not have that kind of things, is it still called a flap?


texts: what to use before the word helping either "to" "in"

texts:
We are committed "to" helping survivors.
We are committed "in" helping survivors.


texts: Here in my country some uses the word "misericórdia", that in english means "mercy", as an exclamation after a fright or to express some disgust over something. Would using the word "mercy" in these situations sound odd?


texts:
Is there a difference between using "number" and "numbers" when referring to multiple numbers?

For example, when calling a merchant to inquire about multiple orders, should I say:

  I need RMAs for order numbers 1 and 2.

or

  I need RMAs for order number 1 and 2.

This question might sound stupid, but I'm not sure what the main subject is. Is "number" the subject and therefore should I use "numbers"? Or are the order numbers (1 and 2) the subject, so should I keep "number" singular?


texts: Use of "not primarily" in "Saw creating the 7 habits not primarily...."

texts:
he saw creating the 7 Habits  not primarily as a means of his own success.

In the above mentioned sentence I want to know whether the usage of "not primarily " is correct or not.  Please provide me with a proper explanation.   Does "not primarily" come before the gerund or after the object of the gerund?


texts: What expression should I use in these situations?

texts:
I'm studying in America but I'm having a hard time using proper expressions in proper situations..So I'm really nervous when I speak English..

When I order 2 meals and want to tell a staff that I want to put sauce in one and don't want to put sauce in the other, how can I say this shortly?
When I pay after having lunch and want to pay separately, is it okay to say 'We're gonna pay separately.' ?
Do I have to say 'you're welcome' to every single 'thank you'? Cause I find many Americans say thank you even though I don't really do something helpful for them. For example, teachers say thank you when I hand in my assignment which is so weird for me to hear thank you about it and I don't know what to say after hearing that.


texts: Conceptual difference between "Trash Can" and "Recycle Bin"

texts: Is there a conceptual difference between a trash can and a recycle bin in English (such as the recycle bin being for things that shall or can be recycled while a trash can is only for pure garbage)?


texts: Why present perfect for the infinitive? (1951 US, Truman to MacArthur)

texts:
[Source:]
  ...  Truman drafted an order to MacArthur, which was issued under Bradley's signature:

  I deeply regret that it becomes my duty as President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States military forces to replace you as Supreme Commander, Allied Powers...

  You will turn over your commands, effective at once, to Lt. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway. You are authorized to have issued such orders as are necessary to complete desired travel to such place as you select.

If it were truly Truman (the pun is fortuitous) who wrote this letter, why did he use present perfect?  GA MacArthur first learned of his dismissal here, so there's no past issuance of orders to justify this tense?


texts:
I wonder if in the following context, the preposition "from" sounds natural?

I'm asking this question because I've thought the fixed verb is "to be upset about something" rather than "...from something".

  Don't get upset from my words - you are just doing your work and Wiris is a really good product - with commercial service (CAS). In fact moodle has been used as a tool in several EU projects but probably none of the EU funds have been addressed to development of moodle itself... [Source]


texts: Is this a correct ellipsis in this sentence?

texts:
So, I'm writing this sentence:

  For some strange and, one would say, unrelated reason my computer
  failed to boot properly afterwards, and hasn't been able to since.

What am I leaving out here? To boot properly or to fail to boot properly?


texts: How to get rid of the redundant "utilize" and "use"

texts: Is there any way to restate "Please utilize for productive use" without the redundant utilize and use?


texts: Article usage in "the crunch of tires in dirt", "a cloud of dust"

texts:
Can you explain the author’s use of "the" and "a" in the following sentence:

  I heard the crunch of tires in dirt, and a cloud of dust wafted over me.

So, ignoring the two pronouns, “I” and “me”, there are five nouns in that sentence: crunch, tires, dirt, cloud, and dust. However only two of them — crunch and cloud have articles, and even there the articles are different: ”crunch” gets the definite article, the; but the indefinite article, a, is used for “dust”. What rules are used to decide when to precede a noun with an article at all, and then which of “the” or “a” to use when an article is deemed to be appropriate.

For example, compare the original sentence with:

  I heard a crunch of tires in dirt, and a cloud of dust wafted over me.

Is that second version wrong? It sounds OK to my ears, but even if it has no grammatical issues, how is it different in meaning? And then, how about this third option:

  I heard the crunch of tires in dirt, and the cloud of dust wafted over me.

That now does sound strange. The use of the definite article for “cloud” doesn’t sound right, but what, if anything, is wrong with it?

Or why not even have:

  I heard a crunch of the tires in the dirt, and a cloud of the dust wafted over me.


texts: Should there be a space after “No.”, “p. (=page)” before numbers and after “a./p.” before “m.”


texts:
I wrote this sentence

  We show that our proposed system provides robust and maintainable wrappers, which are not tailored to the HTML structure of the page, therefore, they can be employed to gather and integrate data from various Web sites.

Did I used the comma correctly before and after "therefore" to relate the sentences? What is the rule?

what is the difference of these alternatives?

  1) We show that our proposed system provides robust and maintainable wrappers, which are not tailored to the HTML structure of the page. Therefore, they can be employed to gather and integrate data from various Web sites.

  2) We show that our proposed system provides robust and maintainable wrappers, which are not tailored to the HTML structure of the page; therefore, they can be employed to gather and integrate data from various Web sites.


texts:
The last sentence here – supplemental – what distinguishes it from a sentence that would cause a comma splice?

If I was to write - it was the most fitting conclusion... it would become a comma splice and need a semi-colon.

  winning his favorite competition, the long jump, and bringing home another Gold Medal for the United States, the most fitting conclusion to his brilliant career in track and field.

Source: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/run-on.htm  (full sentence)

also: would this last sentence take a dash instead of a comma? Would either be correct?


texts: How can I identify a word that ends with "-ing" as being a noun, a verb, or an adjective?

texts:
How can I distinguish between words which have the -ing in a sentence that are nouns, verbs, or adjectives?

For example sometimes -ing come with word to give us a noun, and sometimes a verb or an adjective.

  That interesting snake.
  That crawling snake.
  That barking dog keeps everyone awake.

Is there any rule to determine whether a word with -ing is a noun, verb, or adjective?


texts: "Bread, rice and porridge - I don't like them." how to say?

texts:
"Bread, rice and porridge - I don't like them."

One way to express this meaning is

  I (don't) like neither bread nor rice nor porridge.

But this way is a little emphatic.

Are there another ways to express the same meaning without to put so much emphasis into the negation?


texts:
For example: "It takes four quarters to complete a football game."
Is that mean" "It takes one hour to complete a football game."


texts: Expression for the discardable remains of sugar-cane after we chew and suck up its juice

texts: What is the appropriate noun-word or other expression for the disposable left-over or remains of sugar-cane after we chew and suck up its' juice. If I call it "cuds" does it communicate right?. Any other better word than "cuds"?.


texts: Is "let rise" grammatical in written English?

texts:
This video teaches How to Make Homemade Bread Bowls

  I've just kneaded the dough in my stand mixer you can also do it by
  hand if you'd like until it's nice and
  soft and smooth about five minutes
  and then placing it in an oiled bowl
  just give it a quick roll around in the
  oil and covering with a damp cloth I'm
  going to let rise until double in size
  about 40 minutes

Is "let rise" grammatical in written english?


texts: Meaning of the given sentence, and whether it's grammatically correct

texts:
If the accident had been worse, there was no telling what might have happened.

Is the sentence above grammatically correct?

If you could parse the sentence for me, that would make things easier for me to comprehend.

And what difference would it make meaning wise, if the was in the sentence was changed to is? Would it still be grammatically correct?


texts:
Last night I was walking home next to the river Thames, when something strange happened to me. It was late at night and I'd had a long and difficult day at work.

Is past perfect justified it was late at night and I had a long and difficult day, it is obvious that if it was late at night my work  had finished a long hours ago.

extract from the white mysteries the very beginning of the text


texts:
How should I go about such cases when I present something new in my narration and, therefore, should use indefinite article "a/an" right before each new thing, but there are two many of those new things?

For example:

  Once we were covering different professions during the lesson and when
  Peter saw a flashcard with a picture of a policeman on it, he
  asked, "Have you heard about the recent riots in the USA sparked by the
  death of George Floyd?"

Is the usage of article "a" in the words put in bold in this example not too excessive?

If yes, how should I reduce it here and in similar cases?


texts: What does "private" mean in "private practice", "private school" or "private hospital"?

texts: Specifically in Wiktionary's definition of the word.


texts:
Led by the guards, Esmeralda hobbled
  back to the courtroom. Djali’s heartbroken
  bleating echoed her sorrow.
  “So, you’ve confessed!” the judge exclaimed.
  “Good! Within two months, you will be taken
  to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. There you
  will beg for the forgiveness of your soul. At
  noon of the same day, you will be taken to the
  city gallows—along with your goat. Both of
  you shall be hanged by the neck until dead.
  May God have mercy on your soul.”
  “Oh, this must be a dream,” the horrified
  girl cried out. Rough hands pulled her away.
  Soon she lay in the dungeon, shivering in
  the darkness, not knowing whether it was day
  or night. Drops of rainwater fell on the floor
  from the cracked ceiling. Esmeralda’s cell was
  cold, dark, and damp. She had not a single
  blanket to keep her warm.

Does it mean: after two months?

or does it mean: one day during following two months?


texts: How can we use the noun "canoe" as a verb here?

texts:
Here is the sentence:

  We will canoe down the river this summer.

Here canoe is a noun that is like a boat. How can we say "canoe down" in the sentence above?


texts: What adjectives should I use for 'demand?'

texts:
In the sentence:

  He made _________ demands.

Any other adjective than ridiculous.

I need an adjective meaning 'too much but no impossible.'


texts: Are Nouns as Adjective and Present Participle as Adjective in the sentence?

texts:
Steve Mnuchin may be the silver bullet to the vampire life-blood cash draining net worth sweep.

source:http://seekingalpha.com/article/4027602-ding-dong-net-worth-sweep-dead-yet.

Let's divide it into tow parts.
Part A :Steve Mnuchin may be the silver bullet to
Part B :the vampire life-blood cash draining net worth sweep

The whole structure is : Somebody is the silver bullet to something.
silver bullet is a idiom in english,the meaning is simple to understand for me.
The something ,part B is confused me.

Can we shorten part B into a word cash sweep?
1.  vampire life-blood  is a grammar rule Noums as Adjective, the  noun vampire and life-blood  performs the function of an adjective to modify cash sweep.
2.cash draining net worth sweep can shorten as cash sweep,draining net worth , Present Participle as Adjective, performs the function of an adjective too, to modify  sweep.

Is my analysis for the sentence right?

To think over the whole sententce after reading SthoneyB's explanation,can i rewrite it as below?

  Steve Mnuchin may be the silver bullet to the vampire that net worth sweep drained life-blood cash.


texts: How can I say that I'm doing something without a valid reason?

texts:
How to say that I'm not doing something out of a valid reason?

For example:

  When I elected a course because my friends did. OR   When I invested in a stock because its symbol sounded like my name.

How should I describe such situation where I make a decision that's not based on solid reasoning, but rather some trivial information?


texts: Whether “to continue” or “should continue” is used in the example provided?

texts:
An example of a pattern of sentence that regularly appears in the newspaper is as follows:

  Kerala Chief Minister demanded the NITI (a new institution) continue the functions of the erstwhile Planning Commission.

In the above sentence, which form of the verb “continue” (“to continue” or “should continue”) is used?


texts:
I've got a question with regard to an English sentence.
Can anyone tell me whether the following sentence is correct?

  What are the main prospects and challenges for non-euro area countries
  who/that consider(s) to become member of the European Banking Union.

So I'm doubting whether I should use who or that and whether consider is written with or without s.

Thanks a lot!


texts: Which of the following word is matched to the sentence?

texts:
I have a question with 4 options, I would like to know if what I chose is correct.

  "The lecture was so ... that almost everyone fell asleep."

1) bored
2) dull
3) exhausted
4) tired

I chose option number 2 (dull), because all the rest are make the verbs passive and then they can not cause to active action of felling asleep. My choosing is correct?


texts:
How do you write "wild blueberries flavored"?

I am wondering if we need to add hyphens (-) and how many. So, for example, is it "wild-blueberries flavored" or "wild-blueberries-flavored" or something else. I am not sure what's the proper way to write this.


texts:
I have the following sentence which contains couple of sentences that I have doubts in, namely:

  the classification has the potential for serving as a useful tool in
  devising a usability guidelines compliance assessment model which can
  enable ranking the websites usability that help identifying the
  websites that require more attention to improve them

website usability or websites usability
help identifying or help in identifying
to improve or to improve them


texts:
Can I use the past perfect without an action described by past simple?
For example:

Alex: There were people at the cinema?
Me: No, because it had just opened.

Another example

Alex: What had you cooked for dinner? (Dinner time is finished)
Me: I’d cooked some...


texts: What does "former" mean under this context?

texts:
I rank Jack in the top 5% of all my former junior students.

Is it comparing "Jack" with the students at current state but who were "junior students" or just comparing "Jack" with the students at their "junior" state?

Context: Jack is a junior student seeking the recommendation letter from the professor. But the professor doesn't teach anymore. So if he wants to rank Jack he can only compare Jack with his former students at Jack's current level.


texts: There's a lot (of biscuits). How can it be explained from the grammatical point of view?

texts:
While flicking through a textbook for beginners I came across the following:

  How many biscuits are there? - There's a lot!

I wonder how "there is" can be explained to a student who knows that "biscuits" is a countable noun given in the plural in the sentence.


texts: Differences between "English novel" and "novel in English"

texts:
Is there a difference between "English novel" and "novel in English"?
Needless to say, what it's at stake are two aspects: the language of the novel, and its country of origin.
To my ear, an "English novel" is a more general term that could mean both, i.e. it is written in the English language, and possibly from England. Whereas a "novel in English" is definitely written in English, but could be from anywhere in the world.
The definition of the word "English" includes both meanings, hence my doubts. If that is correct, then my question becomes: Is there a sort of preference in spoken English to choose from? Is there a change in formality between the two?


texts:
I'm trying to understand the meaning of the following sentence, belonging to Grammar for Pet book (unit 19):

  Your sisters may succeed in getting places at university

These sisters haven't attended yet a university, so did he say that they would have some job opportunities in the academic field (in a future), or they would have a brilliant experience in their studies (such as taking exams)?


texts: Her hand, of which arm's elbow... (Possessives)

texts:
The back of her right hand, of which arm's elbow rested on the door
  panel, pressed against her lips.

The context is that she was weeping with stifled sobs, and smothered her sniffs.

My concern however regards the use of possessiveness, inasmuch as not to sound too vague, but also not to exaggerate with dropping a ton of them in a single sentence.

Surely there's no hand to have an elbow, an arm has such articulation, unless we rename wrists to elbows, which is not the case.

Does this sentence above look fine from a native speaker's point of view?


texts:
It is not really puzzling that Benjamin should have taken such authors seriously; virtually everyone – including the avant-garde – was drinking from the murky waters in the interwar period.

From the preceding paragraph it follows that Benjamin really "took such authors" (the ones with reactionary and right-wing beliefs) seriously. But does not the usage of "should have" in my sentence indicate actually the opposite?


texts: What would you call someone who follows their own path?

texts: What would you call someone who follows their own path. One term I'm familiar with is conscious, but I want to know if their are any other words.


texts:
In "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell, there is a usage of "I says" in several sentences. Is it a kind of talk of villagers or what?
Two examples are:

"I got up, with the idea of going up there myself. By this time
I--didn't know what to do. I walked from there to here; then I says:
'Why, what did he die of?'
"We come along this road," Hale was going on, with a motion of his
hand to the road over which they had just come, "and as we got in
sight of the house I says to Harry,


texts: "Have been done" vs "have been being done"

texts:
In the following context, should I use have been done or have been being done? I want to write on the placard of a pathology centre.

Here's the sentence:

All kinds of investigations have been done/have been being done here for 25 years.

I know It is grammatical to write as "all kinds of investigations are done here." But it does not imply how long the pathology centre has been doing this, which seems to be a reputation and that the centre is full of experienced pathologists. Please explain, in the above which one I should use.


texts: Meaning of song verse "...all your mystery Like you and me is history"

texts:
There is a Brad Paisley's song called Somebody knows you now. In the end of the song he sings:

  Well baby all your mystery  Like you and me is history  'Cause somebody
  knows you now

When he says that her mistery and they (maybe their relationship) are history, does he mean it is in the past, and it's over? Is it an idiom?


texts:
This coin is closely linked in its style and control marks to the
  Arachosian issue of Sarpedanes represented in the British Museum and
  appears to fall like that coin between the issue of Orthagnes in the
  same series. (page 297)

What does "fall" mean here?


texts:
What do the Americans say when a child has not been brought up well:

Their kids haven't had a good upbringing.

Their kids are very badly brought up.

Do the above sentences sound natural? Are they the way you natives say them or you use another phrasing to describe such children?


texts:
Example: Your tuition could be completely covered.
Question: Why is this sentence correct? I thought with modal, you must always use base form.


texts: The royal use of 'We' for a single person

texts:
Is it possible in few cases where 'we' is addressed to oneself ?

Maybe in a sense of honor or sometimes in a comic sense

For example -

I do not use the vocabulary of ordinary people. OR
We do not use the vocabulary of ordinary people.

The subject of both the sentences is the same person. That means 'we' in the second sentence means 'I' only. It's just the use 'we' may have been providing it as i said above a comic or a greater sense of honor for oneself.

How often do you come across this use of 'we'?

Is it okay to use it, like, in writings or as a dialogue in a play ?


texts: Is it possible to use a singular verb (makes) when the subject is plural?

texts:
Suppose that there is an online app which is interesting because of two main reasons:

Its beautiful graphics = X
Its pleasant music = Y

Now I want to tell someone that those two reasons make the app interesting. I made a few sentences which sounded wrong to me:

X and Y are what makes the app interesting
X and Y are the reason/ reasons the app is interesting
These features (X and Y) are what made* the app interesting

*Suppose I want to say that in past.
Which one is correct? Can I use any of the above or there is another way to say it, please?


texts: What is the difference between ”in” and ”on”?

texts:
While referring to these prepositions, I want to emphasize their differences about their manner and common expressions.
I do not understand, for instance, why the preposition ”on” it is used to say ”how did you do on the test?”, and, by contrast, you use ”in” to say ”in this chapter, we will talk about...”

I do not understand that. Moreover, I don't understand how to notice the difference between those prepositions. Is there any particular form to choose between them?


texts:
From the Cambridge Dictionary

substitute: a thing or person that is used instead of another thing or person

From the Cambridge Dictionary

alternate [US]: a person or thing that can take the place of another

David was too sick to attend, so Janet served as his alternate.

Which is an American English use. A post seems to explain a rule for this kind of situation

when multiple choices are presented

context 1
To make things clearer, suppose no one could served as his alternate if Janet was sick as well.
In other words, there is no multiple choices, could I use "alternate" here. Are there any other words that could be better for this particular situation, like
"substitute"?
context 2
Even if I misunderstand the rule quoted, which means, using "alternate" does not have to have multiple choices are presented, I guess "substitute" still work.
The only difference is that, in context 2, "substitute" and "alternate" interchangeable while "substitute" is better for context 1.
Is my understanding correct?

Note: Both "alternate" and "substitute" serve as nouns.


texts: How to establish a comparison between the IELTS(academic) and FCE?

texts:
recently I achieved an IETLS(academic) overall band score of 6, however I have a friend that decided to take the FCE to prove his knowledge, he got a good score on this task.

From my point of view it is very hard to establish a comparison between this two results, for the following reasons, the academic version of the IELTS has a very hard writing where the student has to develop and discuss a topic in form of an essay, but this essay in my perspective is a kind of small paper to prove that you are able to write an academic paper, the most common reason to take this test is to apply for a mastery program.

The second fact is that the reading for the IELTS academic has complex vocabulary and is related with science topics and researching.

Due to this reasons my main question would be, how is comparable this score that I got with a good score in the FCE, researching more about the CEFR I found that the IELTS is able to measure a C2 student and the FCE is just measuring until the B2-C1, I am very confusing about this topic since I am not an expert about the FCE, I really appreciate any explanation, thanks for the support.

Additionally if someone decide that this question does not belong to this forum I do not have problems to transfer it to a more appropriated place.


texts:
There is a proverb which says you can never make the people silent and they will make up any story they want about you. Is there such a proverb in AmE?

I have some suggestions here:

  You can never silence the crowd.
  Jar’s mouth may be stopped, a man’s cannot.

Do they sound natural to you?

If not, is there any equivalent? If yes, please let me know what is it?


texts: "~a country the size of Arizona." What is omitted/missing between 'a country' and the 'size~'?

texts:
"300 million people will live in a country the size of Arizona."
+ What is omitted/missing between 'a country' and the 'size~'?


texts:
As I work on the content of the product, he is calling the software companies.

Are the tenses used incorrectly?


texts: What should be used in this sentence? You or her

texts:
"You're the only flower that gave me all her colours"

Is this sentence wrong? Some are saying that I should have used "your" in the place of "her". Though I think both are right.

This line is from a poem of mine-

For others-

you were just

one of the many beautiful

flowers.

For me-

you are the only flower

that made me colourful with

all her colours.


texts: Word Choice/Phrase: Alternate Term for "Little Opportunity"

texts:
I'm looking to use another word in place of "little opportunity," but can't seem to think of one. Any suggestions?

They left the country to escape the little opportunity.


texts: I want to see it closer or I want to see it closer up (or something else?)

texts:
I am teaching direct object pronouns in French and preparing a cloze exercise where students will fill in gaps with the correct LE or LA pronoun. As a clue, I give them a translation of the part of the sentence containing the pronoun (with the noun it stands for between brackets). Below is my problem sentence:

'Je suis trop loin de ce tableau, j’ai envie de LE voir de plus près.'

Clue: [...] I would like to see it (the painting) closer.

or should it be

[...] I would like to see it (the painting) closer up.

or even

[...] I would like to see it (the painting) close up.

None of them feel right to me.... Any suggestion?

Thank you


texts: What is the mathematical part called in, e.g. "a 5 × 3 matrix"?

texts: I know a 5 × 3 matrix is read a five by three matrix. But, what is the mathematical part (5 × 3) called? A mathematical expression?


texts: How do I form question tags for these examples?

texts:
It's been a long time since you've seen him, HASN'T IT?

This is how I would form the question tag BUT I was told the correct form is
"ISN'T IT?" and I really can't figure out why. I need to understand the reason.

  They've got too much luggage, HAVEN'T THEY?

This one is correct, right? I mean, I use "haven't" with "have GOT".

  They have too much luggage, DON'T THEY?

I use "don't" because it's just "have" here.


texts:
Turning toward our house on the hillside, I see movements of a
  different kind, tall shadows stiffly pushing through the currents.

I think it refers to her brothers, mother and father. But I'm not sure.
Could you explain it to me please?

The fuller text is here:

  The hill is paved with wild wheat. If the conifers and sagebrush are
  soloists, the wheat field is a corps de ballet, each stem following
  all the rest in bursts of movement, a million ballerinas bending, one
  after the other, as great gales dent their golden heads. The shape of
  that dent lasts only a moment, and is as close as anyone gets to
  seeing wind. Turning toward our house on the hillside, I see
  movements of a different kind, tall shadows stiffly pushing through
  the currents. My brothers are awake, testing the weather. I imagine
  my mother at the stove, hovering over bran pancakes. I picture my
  father hunched by the back door, lacing his steel-toed boots and
  threading his callused hands into welding gloves. On the highway
  below, the school bus rolls past without stopping.

Educated by Tara Westover


texts: Joining two sentence s using a participle

texts:
I have to join two sentences using a participle.

He staggered back. He sank to the ground.

I think I can do it two ways -----

  Staggering back, he sank to the ground.

  Having staggered back, he sank to the ground.

But I prefer the first over the second. Though both are grammatical. But the first one sound natural. Because the second one shows a chronology

  After he had staggered, he sank to the ground.

This is a bit awkward because he sank while he was staggering back.

Am I correct in my reasoning?


texts:
Can 'would' be used to show possibility ln the present. As-

  he would go there everyday.

Means that it is possible that he goes there everyday. Whether it is a right sentence or wrong sentence. Please clear it. I have read some sentences similar to it but unable to understand the exact translation of them. As I have read it on the internet that -

  Chennai would hope that it is only cramps.


texts: "He saddens" - Describes he becomes sad?

texts:
I want to describe in writing that someone suddenly becomes sad. For example, John and Mike are chatting in a restaurant. John explains what happened in his life. Initially he was speaking normally. Then, he becomes sad while describing a event, later tears comes out from his eyes.  Now, how do I say he becomes sad or how I say his face becomes sad (before tears fall out from his eyes)?

Can I write "John saddens"?


texts: What do you call this part of the human foot?

texts:
The blue color mentioned part, what do you call it in English?
(not the red part)


texts:
https://www.google.com/search?q=husk+meaning defines husk as:

noun: the dry outer covering of some fruits or seeds. "the fibrous husk of the coconut"
verb: remove the husk or husks from. "they set up mills to husk the rice".

Then wikidiff says husked means "covered with a husk.", and I see on Google that the terms "dehusked coconut" and "unhusked coconut" are used as well.
This confuses me. Does a husked coconut still have its husk?
I'd say yes based on the noun sense and adjective definition from wikidiff, but no based on the verb sense. I don't get how the adjective definition can be the contrary of the verb sense, but at the time the existence of terms "dehusked coconut" and "unhusked coconut" may seem to indicate that wikidiff may be correct. Hence my confusion. Or maybe that's simply an autantonym?

With husk:

Without husk:


texts: Wondering what exactly is comparing here?

texts:
When French Director Michel Hazanavicius’s film ‘The Search’ was screened it was greeted with both boos and cheers.
  The subject is the second Chechen war and is as different from his previous offering, “The Artist” as you can get – much to the annoyance of some of his critics and fans.

Source: http://euronews.com/2014/05/22/controversy-in-cannes-as-the-film-the-search-is-booed-and-cheered/

You can get much to ?
I know the use of  as ...as .
I understand that it is saying that the new film is as much different as previous film, but the last part is the place I drew a blank !


texts: "We could see the lava slowly advancing towards the town just ten miles away"

texts:
“We could see the lava slowly advancing towards the town just ten miles away.”

I picked up this sentence from an English book. I wonder why it doesn't need the verb to be:

  “We could see the lava is slowly advancing towards the town just ten miles away.”


texts:
I'm reading a webtoon entitled Freaking Romance.
And in the second episode, there is a mat written "WIPE PATHS HO".
What is the meaning of this?
I would be grateful if someone tells me.

Freaking Romance Episode 2


texts:
There is a snippet of a text below where the number of speakers of different languages is not mentioned distinctly. It's just stated as "from very large" to "very small". I'd like to make a question regarding this information and get an answer like:

They range in number from very large, with hundreds of millions of speakers, to very small, with fewer than 10 speakers.

Original text:

  Native speakers of these languages range in number from very large,
  with hundreds of millions of speakers, to very small, with fewer than
  10 speakers.

Which question below is considered correct?

  Q1. How do the speakers of different languages range in number?

  Q2. To what lengths do the speakers of different languages range?

  Q3. In what number do the speakers of different languages range?

Thanks.


texts: What can come after phrase "as well as"?

texts:
I am trying to understand the usage of word as. I came across the following sentence.

  He is an excellent teacher as well as being a fine musician.

Is it incorrect to write as follows?

  He is an excellent teacher as well as a fine musician.
  He is an excellent teacher as well as is a fine musician.

I have a feeling number 1 is correct, but not sure about number 2.
I read in Practical English Usage that this is a correct way of writing:

  I have to feed the animals as well as look after the children.

In short, can number 2 be used and not be marked grammatically incorrect?


texts: Hi I am confused with the following sentence "Vijay Mallya, declared a proclaimed offender in a money laundering case"

texts: In the above sentence Vijay Mallya is declaring any other person as an offender or vijay malya is declared as an offender I didn't understand and please can anybody explain me clearly and some suggestions on how to improve my readabality.


texts: The definition of phrasal verb "call out" in a line

texts:
I am currently reading this article,, the first line says,

  If ESPN’s “The Last Dance” has reinforced anything, it’s how demanding — and, sometimes, abusive — Michael Jordan could be of his teammates. Jordan belittled team general manager Jerry Krause in the first episode, and called out Ron Harper and Toni Kukoc in the second. Jordan even questioned Scottie Pippen’s decision to have surgery.

Would this verb "call out" here may be mean "to get them out"? (I feel like so.)

Or from Collins,

  If you call someone out, you order or request that they come to help, especially in an emergency.

Could anyone help?

Thank you in advance for help.


texts:
I know I could say:

  I graduated in mathematics from XZ University.

But what if want to put emphasis only on the field of my study (mathematics) without specifying the university?

Could I say that?

  I graduated in mathematics from (a) university.

I just want to express that I have a university education in mathematics. I know I could also say that I hold a degree but I am just curious.