texts:
What is a "whorl of dried sticks"?
The words are written in this book.

  I would vow that in the future I would not wait for the imminence of death to say, I love you, thank you, please forgive me, I forgive you, good-bye. I would settle her estate, take down her photographs and whorl of dried sticks she'd hung over the fireplace, and give my brother Jonathan her Bernina sewing machine and my brother Michael a quilt she'd sewn of patches of Japanese indigo, under which she and my father once slept.


texts:
The museum's revolving doors stopped the crooks as they jammed halfway _______.

Out of round and around which is the correct word  to use here ? I understand the literal meaning / difference between the two words but can't figure out which one to use in the above given phrase. Googling yields result showing both words being used interchangeably  (Actual phrase on google which I found was - Halfway round/around the world).


texts: “of my heart” vs “in my heart” and how to use prepositions correctly

texts:
I'm not a native speaker, and the uses of prepositions are driving me crazy.

I saw a post with the phrase "you are the champion of my heart" on it.
I thought it should be "the champion in my heart", "of my heart" sounds like you have several hearts, and one of them is your champion...
Then I googled it, found out this "of my hearts" usage got more results than "in".
The same question goes for "Secret of my heart" and "secret in my heart".

I read some grammar books, there were a lot of examples for prepositions, but still cannot cover all of the situations. Are there any rules about how to use prepositions correctly or I just have to remember every case I've met?

Thank you.


texts:
I have a question about the meaning of the preposition "by" in the title of this wikipedia article:

  Gun laws in the United States by state

Does the "by" above have the same meaning as in "gun laws enacted by the state"?  Or is the usage in the wikipedia article an error?


texts: The difference between 'rating' and 'rated'

texts:
In order to improve your chess skill, you need to play it with the higher 'rating' or 'rated' players more often.

Which one is correct?

Thank you!


texts:
Does by 2010 for example means before 2010? I read a post here that by Tuesday means before Tuesday. I would like to know are they the same?

Best,


texts: Correct usage of en-dash/em-dash in this example

texts:
Just when you thought the world had suffered enough in 2017, Mother Nature decided it hadn’t – brewing from 25 August, Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane, struck the southern area of the United States, killing 90 civilians and striking up an astonishingly high damage cost of $198.6 billion – despite their growing prosperity and developments in building more withstanding infrastructure, the hurricane was the costliest natural disaster in United States history.

Is this correct usage of the en-dash connecting the sentences within the paragraph  this way: informally? It's confusing to tell where the new sentences begin. It's from an informal source though. Capital letters are a rule are they not when connecting two independent sentences with a dash?

What the difference between using an en-dash or an em-dash in this type of usage.


texts: I have more houses than "you" or "yours"?

texts:
I have more houses than you.
I have more houses than yours.

Which one is right? Can you please explain why?


texts: How to judge a phrase is a phrasal verb?

texts:
The families of the MH370 passengers in Kuala Lumpur huddled in
  conference rooms at a hotel. Selamat Omar, a 60-year-old Malaysian
  whose son was on the missing aircraft, prepared himself for
  bad news. "I am sad, but as a Muslim I accept what has
  happened," he said as he waited for news of his 29-year-old
  son, Mohamad Khirul Amri, a passenger employed  by a private jet
  company as an engineer . He was traveling to Beijing to work on
  an aircraft in need of repair.

How to judge "work on " as a phrasal verb or a verb plus a preposition?


texts: Confused about dangling participles in sentence

texts:
I'm so confused about dangling participles in sentences. For example,

  In spite of taking medicine, my health is not improved..

Is this sentence a dangling participle?
Why or why not? Explain it to me.


texts:
I mean do we have a full control on our destiny or uncontrollable factors are involved in shaping our future?

In the question above including the conjunction 'or', did it follow the structure of a question?


texts: "plant trees as many as possible" or "plant trees as much as possible"?

texts:
Cambridge Grammar says:

  As much as, as many as

  When we want to make comparisons referring to quantity, we use as much
  as with uncountable nouns and as many as with plural nouns:

  Greg makes as much money as Mick but not as much as Neil.

  They try to give them as much freedom as they can.

  There weren’t as many people there as I expected.

  We can use as much as and as many as before a number to refer to a
  large number of something:

  Scientists have discovered a planet which weighs as much as 2,500
  times the weight of Earth.

  There were as many as 50 people crowded into the tiny room.

Googling "plant trees as much as possible" returns 110K results while googling "plant trees as many as possible" only returns 21K.

I would say "plant trees as many as possible" is grammatical but "plant trees as much as possible" is not grammatical.


texts:
As an English learner it is difficult for a person to understand the terms like 'embryo' and 'fetus'... thus can we use the home-made term 'undeveloped child' for an embryo or fetus? Will that fit best?

Actually the thing that confuses me as a reader is that 'undeveloped child' may mean "a child who isn't grown up well" or "a child who's not taken well care of, as far as grooming and learning are concerned"... so if you say:

  She lost an undeveloped child before giving him birth.

Will it let the reader or listener understand that the talk is about a baby lost during pregnancy?
And also, Can a fetus be called a baby?"


texts: What does "believe in" and "independence" mean in this sentence?

texts:
Do you believe in your partner’s independence? (Context: It's about dating)

I think it's somewhat odd to interpret literally. Does it mean "do you think that your partner can have his/her own space or lifestyle that is independent from yours"? What does "believe in" and "independence" exactly mean in this context? I think the definitions found in dictionary are too literal for this context.


texts:
What does "hack" mean in this sentence

  Hacked E-Cigs May Get around Regulations.

I looked up the dictionary but didn't find appropriate definition.

Source:Scientificamerican


texts:
“From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.”
  Gen. 13:3-4 NIVUK

Does it mean ‘the altar that he built first earliest
Or ‘the altar that he built formerly?


texts:
The Online Etymology Dictionary has this for pushover:

  also push-over, 1900 of jobs or tasks; 1922 of persons (bad boxers and easy women), from push (v.) + over (adv.).

I'm not sure I understand this description. Does it mean the word was used in 1900 to describe jobs and tasks, and then in 1922 to describe people, as in she's a pushover, meaning she's easily led or influenced? And what does bad boxers and easy women mean? I guess it means the word was used to describe bad boxers who can easily fall over at their opponent's punch.


texts:
What does work out mean in this sentence?

  Charles Babbage, an English mathematician worked out the principles of the modern computer.


texts:
From Deadpool Killustrated:

He says "Where's I pick up this little guy?", what does where's short for?


texts: How to use "would imagine, say, think, etc. (that)…: used to give opinions that you are not certain about" properly?

texts:
In dictionary

would imagine, say, think, etc. (that)… used to give opinions that you are not certain about

I would imagine the job will take about two days.

I'd say he was about fifty.

My question is that does "I'd say he was about fifty."="he could be about fifty." & "I would imagine the job will take about two days."="The job could take about two days"?

Second, do you native say "I would say he could be about fifty."? (I am not sure whether we should use "could" in "he could be about fifty." or "could" is unnecessary.) I would think that way of saying is not idiomatic, but I am not sure.


texts:
Tell me please which preposition is correct to use in the following context and why.

  I love the book, and I would even say it is like the Bible to/for me.

I feel that both prepositions might be correct there, but is there any shade in meaning?


texts: I have some data that was directly measured by a sensor (it wasn't processed). I believe we can qualify this data as "raw data", but an English native speaker told me that it seems like a poor word choice. Is there any alternative? (In French we would call it "signal brut")


texts: "That certainly hasn't stopped you before"

texts:
A: Do you really think I slept with her? I have a girlfriend.
B: That certainly hasn't stopped you before.
Is B's response completely natural to use in this context? And is it phrased in a natural way? Is using "certainly" formal?


texts: Is it possible "which" refers to "a verb" or "adverb"?

texts:
Cheetahs can run fast, which they can't move in water.
  Lions can live in the savanna, which they can't in the jungle.

In number 1, which is referring to "fast".

In number 2, which is referring to "live".

Can it be grammatically acceptable that "which" can refer to a verb or adverb like that?

Up until now, I've only learnt "which" can refer to the part of its preceding sentence, noun, or adjective.

I'm just asking whether it's acceptable regardless of the awkwardness of my sentences.


texts: I have taken down notes for the book that I read or I took down notes for books that I have read

texts: which one is correct. I have been confused by past tense and present perfect.


texts: Rules were obeyed to vs Rules were kept to

texts:
A "duel of honour" was a way of settling disputes between gentlemen over some injury or insult. The
fight
had to be arranged privately because duelling was never
legal
, but it became common in the 17th century. A social code governed the duel of honour and, as long as the rules were
obeyed/kept
to, the survivor could usually escape without being punished by the law. Duels were fought with either pistols or swords, but pistols became the more usual
weapon
after swords went out of fashion at the end of the 18th century.

My Approach
obeyed --> carry out/execute/perform
kept --> stay/remain/cause to continue in a specified condition
By understanding the meanings I am not sure which should be the right.
Can anyone guide me to the correct answer?


texts: Should I say "taking the assignment" or "doing the assignment"?

texts:
Let's say I am working on my assignments and my friend calls me up. What should I tell him?

  I am doing my math's assignment (so I can't come).

or

  I am taking my math's assignment. (similar to taking the exam)

Which of these two is more appropriate here? Or should I say something else?


texts:
can I say " I used to smoke for 5 years "?

is it correct?

And if no, which tense should I use?

Should I say "I had smoked for 5 years?"

Thanks a lot.


texts: antecedent - Most of the children, who ranged

texts:
Most of the children, who ranged in age from 4 to 8, chose to wait.

Which is an antecedent in this sentence, "most of the children" or "the children"?


texts:
Which one of the following sentences is correct?

  Inspite of unwell, she went to school.

or

  Inspite of being unwell, she went to school.


texts: "How+adjective" vs '"How much +adjective"

texts:
1) How good are you?

  2) How much good are you?

Is the second sentence correct?  What's the difference between #1) and #2)?
I know that it's a simple question but I need some clarification.


texts: 'Kiss rocks'? Why would anyone want to kiss rocks?

texts:
A joke from “Buffy” (S3E6):

A huge inscription is spray-painted on the lockers “Kiss rocks”. Willow says: “   "Kiss rocks"? Why would anyone want to kiss... Oh, wait. I get it.”

Well, I don’t get it!


texts: Embed widget [to, into, onto, on] your website

texts: You can take a piece of Google Map and embed it into your own website or blog. What is the correct usage of the word embed as a verb?


texts:
Watching the classic "All about Eve" I stumbled upon this sentence by Margo Channing:

  Please don't play governess, Karen. I haven't your unyielding good
   taste. I wish I could have gone to Radcliffe too, but father wouldn't
   hear of it. He needed help behind the notions counter. I'm being rude
   now, aren't I? Or should I say, ain't I?
  [From Wikiquote]

I can't fully understand what she's saying with Or should I say, ain't I?

To me "aren't" and "ain't" have the same meaning (in that sentence). Is "ain't" more elegant or the other way around? Is she asking which word to use, pretending she doesn't even know English?

I hope the quotation is all you need to understand the sentence.


texts: Do verb tenses have to remain absolutely consistent through a piece of writing?

texts:
Generally, I've been told that I should maintain consistency of tenses in my writing. That is, if I begin a piece of writing in the past tense, I should ensure that all verbs agree with that through the document. But as I read more articles, books, and other such things, I get confused by the verb tenses used by these other authors.

For example, I copied a portion of an article below. I believe it started in the past tense, yet the second paragraph switched to the present tense (it sounds like the...) In the third paragraph, the past and present usage is mixed (the word gave is in past tense, yet remain is in the present tense). I understand that the writing in the article is most likely correct. But why can it switch verb tenses and be ok while I was told in school by my professor to keep my essays in a single tense? Is there a guideline I can adhere to?

  REPRESSED for decades, the anger burst like a summer storm. Rioting
  youths flooded city streets. The shaken regime granted hasty
  concessions: freer speech; an end to one-party rule; real elections.
  But when Islamists surged towards victory in the first free elections
  the army stepped in, provoking a bloody struggle that lasted until the
  people, exhausted, acquiesced to a government similar in outlook,
  repression and even personnel to that which they had revolted against
  in the first place.

  It sounds like the recent history of several Arab countries: Bahrain,
  Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen, the states of the 2011 Arab
  spring, have seen some or all of the story unfold. But this is also,
  and originally, Algeria, a quarter of a century earlier—the first
  major political crisis in the age of modern Islamism.

  A flurry of freedom in the late 1980s gave way to a vicious civil war
  in the 1990s that left as many as 200,000 dead and Algeria’s Islamists
  more or less defeated, but not eradicated. Today the country’s
  citizens remain powerless spectators to a continued stand-off between
  what they call le pouvoir—the entrenched oligarchy that controls the
  state, the oil money and the army—and the now-marginalised Islamist
  radicals, who serve more as a justification for ongoing repression
  than as any sort of inspiration to ordinary people.


texts: Discerning arguments of verbs, predicates?

texts:
I think I get that a verb may utilize arguments. Does a predicate announce something of an object (or subject)?

In,

  "The lake froze solid".

The lake seems a noun phrase that solid may predicate on?


texts:
Kindly explain what is the exact meaning of the word "talk" in the following sentence?

  Elixir Radar. A weekly email with blog posts, latest libraries, talks, events and job opportunities.

I looked through these definitions, but I am not sure which one is relevant. Perhaps - lecture? http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talk


texts:
According to oxford dictionary

  check somebody/something off (North American English) (British English tick somebody/something off)

  to put a mark (✓) beside a name or an item on a list to show that
  something has been dealt with

  Check the names off as the guests arrive.

  As I packed my case I checked everything off on my list.

But a lot of natives say "check this one off your list".

This could be very confused because it may mean "remove / cross out / uncheck this item out of your list"

But I guess "check this one off your list" & "check this one off on your list" are the same.

So, Are these the same "check this one off your list" & "check this one off on your list"?

Note:
"check this one off your list" was said by an American & American often omits preposition "on". Eg. American says "I'll see you Monday"="I'll see you on Monday". I am not sure if that is the main reason


texts: I often use the phrase 'It's been ages'. I recently saw someone say, "you've been ages", and I'm curious if it is grammatically fine.


texts: What's the meaning of "Smithian skeptism" in this sentence?

texts:
In the following paragraph:

  Restrictions on capital flows imposed by the borrowing country are often explained as arising from a mistrust of foreigners or a reluctance to let development proceed "too fast," but I think such explanations warrant a Smithian skeptism.

What do the author mean by:

  but I think such explanations warrant a Smithian skeptism.


texts: When are “to + verb” and “verb+ing” not interchangeable?

texts:
Like in the following example:

  I would really appreciate having some feedback on this topic.

Why can’t I just write “to have” instead of “having”?
In this case, they are not supposed to be interchangeable, but why?


texts: What is the difference between "when" and "before" in this sentence?

texts:
Michael had been living for four years in Italy, when he decided to move to America.

This sentence makes no sense to me because "when" is not being used appropriately.

  Michael had been living for four years in Italy, before he decided to move to America.

I think the above sentence is better.

Which one is correct and why?


texts: Meaning of "more than a body could tell what to do with"

texts:
YOU don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary. Aunt Polly—Tom's Aunt Polly, she is—and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.
  Now the way that the book winds up is this: Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich. We got six thousand dollars apiece—all gold. It was an awful sight of money when it was piled up. Well, Judge Thatcher he took it and put it out at interest, and it fetched us a dollar a day apiece all the year round—more than a body could tell what to do with. The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer I lit out.

Dose it mean: This money could have been helpfull for many people and a lot of people could get rid of their problems with this money?

Or Dose it mean: most of folks not just one person told us what to do with this money?

Source: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain.


texts: "have read and understand" or "have read and understood"

texts:
I came across this when I was surfing Stack overflow:

I have two questions here:

Is this "have read and understand" appropriate? Because in my opinion, "have read" means action took place in past, whereas "understand" means it is in present. Isn't it a tense mismatch? I think it should be "have read and understood".
If it is appropriate, then how should I interpret the whole sentence? In what tenses should I consider these actions?

I googled for this, but didn't get answers to above questions. Detailed explanation would be very helpful.


texts:
Which sentence is better? Is there any error in the sentence?

1.The senator urged for it to be taken the fact that my father is a liar.
2.The senator urged it to be taken the fact that my father is a liar.

And please tell me if there is any other expression for that sentence?


texts:
(A) You possibly/probably should

vs

  (B) You should possibly/probably

I'm more used to the latter (the ones in B), but can I have a couple of examples for the first one (the ones in A)?


texts:
Is 'in its reality' synonymous with 'in reality'?

Example:

  But the essence of man is no abstraction inherent in each single individual. In its reality it is the ensemble of the social relations.


texts: Is the sentence "Long is the night" acceptable grammatically?

texts: Can an adjective instead of the real subject be used before "be" as in the sentence cited above? Is this inversion acceptable for emphasis?


texts: I want to say I have experiencing as VP of company A when I was 28. Can I say in the other way as "at my 28"?


texts: how to discern the meaning although in the sentence below?

texts:
Would you please through a reason show me which of the bold parts related to the sentence below? Why don't we call it conflict?
comparison contrast conflict
Although in poor health, she continue to carry out her duties.
Thanks


texts: Preposition: ... struggles (n) in establishing

texts:
The history of UI in Canada stretches back to the country’s early struggles in establishing a federally regulated unemployment program.

I am not sure if 'in' is the correct preposition here, although I prefer it. I googled "struggles in" and there is about half a million hits, "struggles at" returns only 700,000. I looked at The Guardian which does not have any entry with "struggles in establishing/forming/creating" or anything similar. Using at/over/of just is not clicking with me. I have looked at the other posts in this site but they are regarding the choice of preposition  with the verb struggle. Can anyone enlighten me please?


texts: How do you translate "Es para que hubiera más cafeterías" into English?

texts:
Today I was at school talking with a friend about there are a lot of students but very few cafeterias,so he said

  Es para que hubiera más cafeterías.

I was trying to figure out how to translate that sentence into English, so far I do not have very clear how it could be translated, I think it could be translated as:

  There should be more cafeterias.

Any help would be appreciated!


texts: How to rephrase "do not necessarily translate into"?

texts:
I have to talk about a particular issue (small), but I can't seem to be able to hit the mark.

I need to paraphrase/rephrase this sentence:

  Higher unemployment rates do not necessarily translate into longer durations of unemployment. - Author (2011)

Here, "translate" means "to decide that words, behaviour, or actions mean a particular thing" (Cambridge).

This is my attempt at paraphrasing/rephrasing:

  Author (2011) argues that higher unemployment rates are not necessarily indicative of longer durations of unemployment.

Or

  Author (2011) argues that higher rates of unemployment do not necessarily suggest that workers will experience long spells of unemployment.

As you can see, it is rather a poor attempt to rephrase the original. I can't find a word that is close to "translate" with that particular meaning.


texts: Difference between "In front of" and "In the front of"

texts: I am learning the duolingo English course. In some sentences, they use In front of, but the others use In the front of. Would you please let me know what is the difference between those two? Thanks


texts:
Intel is well known for its 'tick-tock' launch strategy, where advancements in manufacturing processes one year are followed by big changes to processor designs the next. The Broadwell family of chips introduced in 2014 was ostensibly a 'tick' that marks the move from 22nm to 14nm manufacturing processes (although it could be argued that the all-new Core M family was therefore both 'tick' and 'tock').

  The current Skylake standard is a 'tock,' with an all-new microarchitecture but using the same 14nm process as Broadwell. Sure enough, there's a new line of Core M chips that are now making their way into 2-in-1s and notebooks.

  This reduction in the size of the transistors that make up the processor results in chips requiring less energy to do their thing, and less energy used means longer battery life and less heat.

(Trusted Reviews: Intel Core M: Everything you need to know)


texts: What does "have an extra arm" mean? Is she talking the danger in the sea?

texts:
She talked about going to the beach and said (time stamp https://youtu.be/OnjzKmc6sCI?t=41)

  if you'd like to have an extra arm or lose an arm

What does that mean, is she talking the danger in the sea?


texts: Why is the word "hit" here used as a third person singular instead of past participle?

texts:
According to Guinnessworldrecord.com, the most piano key hits in one
minute is 824, achieved by Domingos-Antonio Gomes (Portugal) in
Lisbon, Portugal, on 4 March 2017. I knew this sentence has to be
grammatically correct, but I still have two questions:

1) Why is the word "hit" used as a third-person singular form? I thought it should be used as a past participle ("hit"), in order to form the perfect tense, like "the biggest cake made by a human being" or "the funniest joke told by my father". Is it because "hit", in this case, is a predicate verb (whose subject is "key") and not a postpositive determiner？But shouldn't the subject of a hit be a person?
2) Why is the word "key" in the singular form here? Since it is modified by "most", I thought the countable noun "key" should be put in plural form (keys), like "the most votes I've ever got".
Can someone explain that to me? Thanks so much.


texts: "in the morning" could mean "tomorrow morning", but what about "in the afternoon / evening"?

texts:
This site says:

  If something will happen during the morning of the next day, you can
  say that it will happen tomorrow morning or in the morning.

  I've got to go to work tomorrow morning = I've got to go to work in the morning.

Ok, see this short conversation

  A: It's 8 AM now. How are you?

  B: I've got to go to work in the morning (B means I've got to go to
  work tomorrow morning, not this morning).

But the site & the site do not say we can apply the same usage to "in the afternoon / evening"

Let see this conversation

  A: It's 8 AM now. How are you?

  B: I've got to go to work in the afternoon / evening (I am not sure if B is using correct grammar??? Does B mean "I've got to go to work tomorrow afternoon / evening"?).

But the site says:

  If you are already talking about a day in the future, you can say that
  something will happen in the evening.

  The school sports day will be on June 22 with prizegiving in the
  evening.

  If you are already talking about a day in the future, you can say that
  something will happen in the afternoon.

  We will arrive at Pisa early in the morning, then in the afternoon we will go on to Florence.

Ok, so see this conversation

  A: It's 8 AM now. I am seeing my mom tomorrow. What about you?

  B: I've got to go to work in the afternoon / evening (Does B mean "tomorrow afternoon / evening"?)

Also see other conversation

  A: Today is Monday. I’m playing football on Saturday morning.

  B: Are you free in the afternoon / evening. (Does B mean "on Monday afternoon / evening or on Saturday afternoon / evening"?)


texts: In the sentence Sorry, I was in the Gym, should I use in, on or at? Is there a rule of thumb that I can follow to always know which one to use it?


texts: "Except" and "Besides" when they are interchangeable

texts:
When I got in, there were four people in the room, besides me.
  When I got in, there were four people in the room, except me.

Are both examples above saying that there are five people?


texts:
Is she not a girl?
Isn't she a girl?
Am I not here?
Am not I here?

Are tey all correct or right structured?


texts: An idiom describing a strong desire for alcohol

texts:
Is there any idiom in English describing a strong desire to have a drink or two (or more) of an alcoholic drink?

EDIT:

I am interested more about an idiom describing a case of an alcoholic wanting a bottle of some alcoholic drink (for example, whiskey).

Something like a person would say about himself: "I really ______________ today", especially when the great such opportunity is coming like a banquet or a birthday party.


texts:
To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.
  (Harry Potter)

I guess the second it indicates to die or death, and the first it indicates "Nicolas and Perenelle ~ adventure." I guess "those things" has no its match in the text, but it implies the worst concrete choices one makes in his life. Are these right?


texts: Is it a restrictive clause and, if so, why?

texts: "We live in a submarine(,) which is painted yellow."


texts: What does 'would' mean following 'certainly'?

texts:
We certainly wouldn't advise you to approach the site yourself.
  (Source: BBC, The Archers, 2013-04-19 Friday, 5’40”.)

What's the meaning of would when it follows certainly? Would might produce uncertainty, I guess; then, why does it follow certainly?


texts: What does "Should merit the adoption" mean?

texts:
I'm trying to understand the sentence below:

  For another, the complexity of the app state (and possibly the complexity of the team working on the application, as well) should merit the adoption. (Source)

What does this sentence mean?


texts: "The problem is no one knows the truth." vs "The problem is, no one knows the truth"

texts:
Which of the following is ungrammatical:

  The problem is no one knows the truth.

Or:

  The problem is , no one knows the truth.

? And if both are grammatical, which one would be more formal?


texts: How should I interpret this ambiguous sentence?

texts:
I came across the following ambiguous sentence that I don't know how to interpret:

The student completed more than one program from an eligible DLI within 2 years

Context: an international student completed her study and immigration officers are determining how long they should grant her work permit.
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/study-permits/post-graduation-work-permit-program/permit.html
I find the above sentence ambiguous. It can mean that duration from beginning of the student's 1st program til the last one is =< 2 yrs. But if "completed" is interpreted as an event rather than a continuous action, then it means that in the last 2yrs there were more than 1 graduation ceremonies.
Second, if you group "from an eligible DLI" with "program", then the programs that the student completed may not be at the same school. However, if the phrase "from an eligible DLI" is associated with the verb "completed", then the programs are from the same school.
So, what will be the most plausible way of interpretation to a native speaker?


texts:
For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell
  had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking
  about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell
  hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was
  stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected
  wherever he went.  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

In the sentence highlighted, do we see complement plus complement - [stuffed][full of garlic], or link-like verbs plus compliment – [was stuffed][full of garlic], or others?


texts: It was a tough question. I thought it through, though. Rules for 'ough'?

texts:
Is there a rule, or rules, for how to pronounce ough?

trough  (short o,  gh pronounced f),
thought (short o,  silent gh),
though  (long o,   silent gh),
through (oo,          silent gh),
tough   (short u,  gh pronounced f).


texts: "The hotel at which we stayed" & "The hotel in which we stayed"

texts:
Are both of them correct? If they are, what's the difference?

  The hotel at which we stayed

  The hotel in which we stayed


texts: Which option (out of three) is more appropriate?

texts:
I have a list of colours. I would like to name that list. I find myself unsure which of the following is more correct:

Colours names
Colour names
Colours' names


texts:
An short excerpt from the book Operating System Concepts with Java:

  Concepts are presented using intuitive descriptions. Important theoretical
  results are covered, but formal proofs are omitted. The bibliographical notes
  at the end of each chapter contain pointers to research papers in which results
  were first presented and proved, as well as references to material for further reading. In place of proofs, figures and examples are used to suggest why we should expect the result in question to be true.

I don't understand that last sentence. Especially the part at the beginning: in place of proofs, figures and examples are used to suggest.


texts: What is the adjective for "problem solving"?

texts:
In this question, I want to say about the drawing which is less artistic and more problem solving. But problem solving is not adjective, as contrast to artistic.

Is there an adjective for problem solving?


texts: Is the phrase "better have my money" grammatically correct'?

texts:
Is the phrase "better have my money" grammatically correct as in the title of the song found in the following link?

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rihanna/bitchbetterhavemymoney.html

Or

Should it be "had better have my money"?

Update.
I must say that I'm not trying to judge nor trying to correct the song just trying to learn the right way to use this phrase just in case I need to use it. While it has been metioned in the comments that songs often use a lot of slang is good to know the right version of them. Right now I'm just interested in knowing grammatical version of the title phrase since I think it'll be useful for when I lend money to someone.


texts: Which parts of speech do the following words belong to?

texts:
Who does he live with?

The kids are playing outside.

I couldn't find anyone to talk to.

She died on the 5th and was buried the day after.


texts:
From cnet

  As coronavirus lockdown restrictions ease and cities reopen around the world, the way you'll go to restaurants, malls and hair salons will change, so it's a good idea to think about how you'll keep yourself and your loved ones healthy during a prolonged period.

  If you're not part of a vulnerable group, becoming a hermit isn't necessarily the solution, either. It's beneficial to periodically leave the house to maintain your health and sanity and run critical errands, but there are measures you can take when coming within spitting distance of people outside the household.

I understand the meanings of the words "critical" and "errands" separately.

From Cambridge Dictionary

  a short trip you make to do something, such as buying or delivering things in the neighborhood

  I’ve got to run a few errands (= do errands) and then stop by my mother’s.

From The American Heritage Dictionary

  Extremely important or essential: a critical element of the plan; a second income that is critical to the family's well-being. See Synonyms at indispensable.

Does "critical errands" refer to "extremely important errands"?


texts: Specific wording to describe an object's surface

texts:
I would like to describe the surface of an object (concretely a ball) in a scientific paper. At the moment my wording looks like this:

  (...) especially since the last change of the rules which leaves 50% of the ball's surface open to any color or patterns.

Is this wording correct? Basically I want to describe that the rules for some section of scientific work have changed. Formerly objects surfaces were colored with a single color, now there are specific rules for the coloring. In this sentence I would like to describe the changes for balls: now 50% of their surface has to be white, the rest is open to any colors/scenes/patterns.

How would one word this in the correct way for a scientific paper?


texts: Should I say "in cell phone" or "on cell phone"? Can you suggest to me which one to use? How about the mobile too, "in mobile" or "on mobile"? I'm always confused about it.


texts: What is "which was Mr Grainger's cabin" in this sentence ?

texts:
The sentence is:
In her panic she couldn't remember which was Mr Grainger's cabin.

"In her panic" is an adjective that describes the pronoun "she" but what is "which was Mr Grainger's cabin" ? Is it an adverbial that modifies "remember" ?


texts: "Well done to even think of it", is this correct?

texts:
I came across this sentence:

Well done to even think of it.

which struck me as odd grammar-wise.
I did some research and well done to seemed to be always followed by a name or a pronoun but never a verb. I think the sentence should be:

Well done for even thinking of it.

but I am not sure if "well done to (verb)" is actually valid in informal language.
Could you please give me some examples which can be used in this construction other than well done?


texts: Why place "both" and "all" after an auxiliary verb such as "have"?

texts:
(1) We both/all have seen the movie.

  (2) Both/All of us have seen the movie.

  (3) We have both/all seen the movie.

It seems that "both" and "all" are part of the subject in (1) and (2), but not in (3). Is this correct?

Regardless of whether "both" and "all" are part of the subject in (3), it's clear that these three sentences have the same meaning, and that "both" and "all" are located after the auxiliary "have" in (3), unlike in (1) and (2).

Why place "both" and "all" after an auxiliary verb such as "have" as in (3)?


texts:
I would like to politely ask my professor to meet me sometime soon. Could someone please let me know (1) whether my sentences are grammatically correct and also not weird to the ears of a native English speaker and (2) whether they sound polite. Any other suggestion would be appreciated.
1 - I would be grateful if we could meet at your earliest convenience.
2 - I would be grateful if you could arrange/set up a meeting at your earliest convenience.
3 - I don't suppose you could arrange a meeting, could you?


texts: How do you grammatically discern these phrases and what they modify?

texts:
"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
  ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.

Do you discern this phrase just as things grow in fast movies an adjectival phrase modifying a noun phrase the great bursts of leavings growing on the trees?

And in And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees I may not seem sure what to select. And seems a conjunction, so, adverb, and with, preposition. Do you discern And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees a prepositional phrase functioning like an adverb, describing maybe when this maybe individual had a familiar conviction?


texts:
I want to express a rule in general and then notice that this rule involves me as well. Is the following sentence, grammatically and literally correct?

  In my city, people generally follow their parent's job, and I am no exception to this rule.


texts:
How to ask this question correctly?

Is there any volunteers? or

Are there any volunteers?

It is enough to get at least one volunteer to do the job, but it is also good to get more volunteers.


texts: The use of -s on third person verbs in a question starting with "does"

texts:
I was watching this video about Cyclopia on youtube and noticed this sentence: How does an animal that normally has two eyes develop just one in the center of its face.

I tried to google it but I couldn't find an answer, and it's really nagging me. So, shouldn't it be "develops" being the subject of the verb "an animal"? Btw, I also heard someone saying "It doesn't seem safe", instead of "It doesn't seems safe" in a movie. Can someone explain to me the proper usage, and if you can keep it simple, please... I'm not a native speaker, and most of my English I learned from watching movies and tv shows, I'm just now trying to learn about grammar and stuff.

Ps: Was this post to lengthy? That's my first time here on stackexchange and I'm not really sure how I should approach writing my questions.


texts:
"You want to go to the party with me?"
"No, i'll take a hard pass."

What does hard pass mean here?
If the person said "No. I'll take a pass on that."

I looked up some definitions of it, it says on those sites it means to decline a proposal. I was just wondering if you can use hard pass the same way you use pass, like "I'll take a hard pass on that."


texts: Is "motivate people's willingness" grammatically correct?

texts:
I saw a sentence like this on the Internet:

  I hope this site will motivate people's willingness to learn English.

I thought that there were some mistakes in the sentence, so I fixed the sentence like this:

  I hope this site motivates people to have the willingness to learn English.

Do you think that I fixed the sentence well?


texts:
Can I use present perfect or present continuous with "this month" or other words like this week, this year?

Could you tell me the different meaning between them like the sentences below?

I have read three books this month.

I am reading three books this month.


texts: "I guess he thought that was pretty awful" and its various forms

texts:
I am learning to make sentences.

I find the form of Q&A quite useful.

So I think of an answer as to "I guess he thought that was pretty awful".

then I come up with different questions below.

It occurred to me these are messy questions and are different to some degree.

They look similiar.

Are they correct?

What are their differences?

What their answers would you provide?

Thank yout for reading my questions.

Que1.

  Did he think that was pretty awful?

Que2.

  How did he think that?

Que3.

  How did he think that was pretty awful?

Que4.

  Do I guess how he thought that?

Que5.

  Do I guess how he thought that was pretty awful?

Que6.

  How do I guess he thought that?

Que7.

  How do I guess he thought that was pretty awful?

Que8.

  How did he think about/of that?

Que9.

  How did he think that like?

Que10.

  What did he think about/of that?


texts: What is the nuance difference between "yourself" and "your way"?

texts:
What is the nuance difference between "Eat yourself healthy" and "Eat your way healthy"?

(I tried first searching on Google, but I cannot find a similar question, and comparing "yourself" and "your way" yields nothing fruitful.)

Edit: The word "eat" is muddying the question, so also consider "Laugh yourself healthy" and "Laugh your way healthy".


texts: Can I omit "it" when I say "Sounds good."?

texts:
I'm not sure if it's OK to say "Sounds good" instead of "It sounds good".

If it is so, when can I omit "it"? Can I also say "Will rain", instead of "It will rain"?


texts:
I have always used:

  Look at the mountains.

Today I saw a sentence:

  Look out to the mountains.

Online dictionaries have nothing to say about this. They only have look out to mean watch out.

But I found a lot of sentences with look out to on Ludwig, and most of them are associated with natural sights like, sea, ocean, landscape, etc.

How should I use it?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I'm wondering whether or not "Likewise" should be followed by a comma in the following dialogue:

  A: Hello, you must be Peter.

  B: And you must be Sam.

  A: That's right. Welcome to Boston.

  B: Thank you. It's such a pleasure to meet you.

  A:  Likewise, all the staff at PC Mart are looking forward to meeting you and your team.

Could "likewise" be taken to mean "with the same pleasure" in the above and the use of a comma justified?


texts:
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able
  to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have
  a go on Dudley's computer).  Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just
  swallowed a lemon. "And come back and find the house in ruins?"
  she snarled.  (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Is the ‘come back and find the house in ruins’ an imperative sentence, or is ‘you could’ omitted before come back?


texts:
I don't like reading, but I like cooking.

  I like cooking, but I don't like reading.

Can I use a positive sentence after "but"?


texts: "The first time I met my wife I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves" - Alun Cochrane

texts: What is the pun in this joke  "The first time I met my wife I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves" by Alun Cochrane


texts: is "if i knew you were ill , i would have visited you" grammatically correct?

texts:
i wanted to know if it's okay to use future perfect (using WOULD not  WILL) with Past Simple.
i wanted to say if i knew he was ill at a point in the past , i will visit him at this point in the past.


texts:
I have a sentence like:

  We find 3 common strings as is.

What I mean in the sentence is that I find 3 common strings between two files appear as is.

Shall I use "as-is" or as is?


texts:
This sentence is a TOEFL practice exercise, under the title of word choice:

  When a person is arrested, the cops must let him make one telephone call.
   What is wrong in this sentence?

  A. the cops

  B. let

  C. him

  D. telephone call

Actually, I have no idea about the correct answer (and I don't have the answer key). I see the sentence correct as it is. Can anyone please help? Thank you.


texts: use of 'that' and leaving out 'that' in the sentence with a verb like 'give'

texts:
The relative pronoun 'that' can be left out in some cases.

  the box (that) he made was made out of wood.

but when a verb has indirect and direct objects, both can be refered by 'that'?
in other words, are following constructions possible?

  The box that she gave me was in black.(I gave her a box and the box was black. )

  The dog that I gave the box was small.(I gave the dog the box and the dog was small. )

and in both cases, those 'that' are able to be left out?


texts: Indirect Object vs Object of preposition

texts:
The principal gave Martha an award.
  The principal gave an award to Martha.

Many grammar sites (e.g. www.k12reader.com)  say that Martha in the first sentence is an Indirect Object and Martha in the second sentence is an object of preposition.

If it is so, to Martha in the second sentence is a prepositional phrase. Then, my question is: what function does this prepositional phrase do in the sentence?


texts:
‘I wish I could divorce you,’ George says. ‘I wish you had a
  pre-contract, but Jesus, no chance of that, the fields were black with
  men running in the other direction.’

  — Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

What is the meaning of the bold sentence?


texts: "Make a renovation" and "have a vacation"

texts:
I am not sure "had a vacation" and "made a renovation" are correct. I am looking for the verb to use before "land" to say that it was also "renovated". The rest of the text is provided for context.
"Last summer we had a vacation in an old village. The house we were staying at was made of chestnut wood. The owner of the house made a renovation of the house and it's land."
I changed it into:
"Last summer we went on vacation to an old village. The house we were staying at was made of chestnut wood. The owner of the house renovated it and (verb) the land."


texts:
The sentence confused me is from "The Godfather" by M. Puso:

  Drugs are coming thing, we should get into it. And his knocking off
  the old man is purely bussiness, nothing personal. As a matter of
  business I would go in with him. Of course, he'd make sure I'd never
  get a clean shot at him, just in case. But he also blows that once I
  accepted the deal the other Families would never let me start a war a
  couple of years later just for revenge.

I have an issue to figure out what is the suitable meaning there? I've found this meaning, but I'm sure the meaning to move air flow quickly doesn't fit. So how to express the meaning of the sentence in the other words?


texts:
I'm a little bit confused about "Who" in this sentence:
"You may borrow as many books as you like, provided you show them to who is at the desk"
Is "who is at the desk" a grammatical noun clause? Can somebody explain?


texts: What's the meaning of "gossip away" in the sentence "Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily"?

texts:
When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.

What is the meaning of "gossip away" in the above context? I couldn't find a proposition ascribed to "gossip" or the phrasal verb "gossip away" in dictionaries.


texts: Does singular or plural verb goes with plural nouns like trousers, glasses, scissors, binoculars and many more?

texts:
My glasses (was/were) lying on the table.
  My trousers (is/are) torn.
  (This/These) binoculars (was/were) gifted to me.

I know they're in plural form, but plural nouns such as rickets, measles are disease names, but they take singular verb.


texts: Question about the word "distance" in this context of driving

texts:
A driver who wants to pass a bicyclist must do so at a distance no less than three feet, unless unable to do so due to traffic or roadway conditions. In these cases, the driver must slow to a reasonable and safe speed, and pass only when doing so does not create a hazard.

3 feet distance from side or from behind of the bicycle?


texts: Using plural or singular verb after "neither" and "none"

texts:
With reference to "Neither", "none", "no one" + [of them] + verb-s

  None of the above sentences is strictly correct.

  Neither of the above sentence/sentences is/are strictly correct.

Tense choice problem The person has used  are with none. This contradicts above notion of using singular with none. Which is more correct?

The first sentence is perfectly fine, but I'm getting confused from the second sentence. In this sentence, how would we decide about antecedents? Can we use both sentence interchangeably?


texts: Is placing "due to their usefulness" at the end of the passive voice form correct?

texts:
I need to convert the following sentence to passive voice:

  Computers have gained popularity by their usefulness.

My attempt:

Popularity has been gained by computers due to their usefulness.

However, this sentence sounds a bit awkward. Can it be improved?


texts: Is there an another way of saying young people

texts:
Like if you want to say old people, you can also say senior and older?
How about young people?


texts: Is it a usage of participal phrase in this sentence

texts:
Someone wrote:

  When I came, the students split into teams, sat at a table and the teacher was asking questions while showing the students sheets with four answers.

I changed it into:

  When I came, the students had already split up into teams, sitting at different tables and the teacher was asking questions while giving each team papers with four answers on them.

I thought because they were in a sitting position, I can use "sitting" instead of "sat", though I don't know the related grammar (if it is valid), I thought it can be a usage of participial phrase.


texts: Is "change from .. line to .. line (at a station)" correct?

texts:
I would like to tell someone to change trains at a station.
Is this correct?

  At Kinshicho station, please change from the Sobu Line to the Hanzomon Line.

Should I use "transfer"?

Thanks.


texts:
What does the term 'feel rewarded' mean?

  He felt rewarded when his daughter told him she was happy.

Does it mean to be 'proud'?


texts: Went outside the line (for went over/crossed the line)

texts:
Someone was doing a very tiny maze, and was having a hard time staying within the lines. So she "went over/crossed the line" by accident. Do the following sentences work:

  I went outside the line. (while specifically referring to a particular line.)

  I went over the line.

  I crossed the line.

Thank you:)


texts: I usually find "&" in the trade name, say, "John & Company". I do not find "&" being used in sentences. What is the correct rule of usage of "&"? When can "and" be replaced with "&"?


texts: That came despite an international agreement... - meaning, grammar

texts:
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/foreign-military-observers-held-east-ukraine-114040788.html

Ukraine's acting president this week ordered security forces to resume operations in the country's east after the bodies of two people allegedly abducted by pro-Russia insurgents were found and a military aircraft was reported to have been hit by gunfire.
That came despite an international agreement calling for all sides in Ukraine to refrain from violence and for demonstrators to vacate public buildings. It did not specifically prohibit security operations, but Ukraine suspended an earlier so-called "anti-terrorist operation" after the accord.

I don't know how to understand the phrase in bold.


texts:
One can make a part of a text bold or write in in boldface. Do we have a verb for this? E.g., I have bolded/boldfaced 3 words in the following sentence:

  Currently, margins are tight and turnover is dependent on inclusive
  tours and business travel respectively, with other services bringing
  far smaller contribution.


texts: Possessive pronouns and verb with -ing form

texts:
I'm looking for the rules concerning when you use possessive pronouns combined with a verb of "-ing" form. What's the combination called and how does it work?

Examples:

Thanks to my going to school I know a lot of things.
I object to his going to the dentist.

Can you also say this?

Thanks to me going to school I know a lot of things.
I object to him going to the dentist.


texts: How "in operation " differs from "operating"

texts:
Do Not Open While Machine Is In Operation.
  Do Not Talk To Operator While Machine Is In Operation

I found safety signs describing such sentences as described above. Is it possible to replace the word "in operation" with "operating" without changing the meaning?


texts:
What variants are correct:

She creaks a chair when sit in it
She creaks with a chair when sit in it
A old chair creaks with an irritating sound


texts: 'Earth' or 'earth' in Christian/theological texts

texts:
I am writing a book about the Gospel of Thomas and am using the word 'earth' 116 times

  (Jesus walked on E/earth...;
  If the understanding that the E/earth is not at the center of the universe was revolutionary...;
  The E/earth and everything on it consists of atoms...)

I don't know if E/earth, since it refers to planet E/earth, should be capitalized or lowercase. Google says, if you use an article ('the earth'), it should be lowercase while ('on Earth') should be uppercase. Is that a fixed rule? Since always the planet E/earth is spoken of, would the reader be confused that sometimes 'Earth' is capitalized and sometimes not?

I am quoting a lot of Bible verses and Bible texts usually use lowercase for 'earth', so than one would get 'on earth' - lowercase when a Bible verse is quoted, but 'on Earth' - capitalized within the text, which I find inconsistent.

If anybody could recommend how I might handle this issue, I would greatly appreciate it.

I have googled extensively but still can't find the answer.


texts:
I am not a native English speaker. I could understand what they spoke on TV programs (such as Discovery and National Geographic) , but I dont know how to read books silently. I tried to practice first by reading out loud (I tried to follow the reading tapes). However, when I read out loud, I couldn't understand the difficult sentences; and the most important thing is I couldn't transfer my reading out loud to reading silently. Could you show me how to read silently ? Also do you think should I just keep reading and reading (ignoring the understanding) until one day it will click when the amount of reading is large enough) or  should I try to understand every sentence ?

Thank for your help


texts: "over the threshold" vs. "above the threshold"

texts:
When I compare the usages of "above the threshold" to those of "over the threshold" in Google Scholar, in both cases I find a multitude of highly-cited prestigious papers which used either of them.

So, are they both correct, and do they interchangeably mean the same thing?


texts: When can “because” introduce a non-restrictive clause?

texts:
Even if rare, when can this happen? Any trustworthy examples?

11. Do Not Use a Comma Before “Because”
Do not use a comma before “because” unless “because” introduces a nonrestrictive clause. That rarely happens.
Incorrect: This is contradictory to the common practice, because, according to that practice, the title
of ownership will not be transferred to the buyer until payment is completed.
Correct: This is contradictory to the common practice because, according to that practice, the title of ownership will not be transferred to the buyer until payment is completed.

Bahrych, Merino. Legal Writing and Analysis in a Nutshell 5th edition (2017). p. 226-7.


texts:
Are articles used before titles of nouns? Example:

Take the last date from the/∅ DataStatus table.
Take the last date from the/∅ Address table.


texts:
I wonder if there is still someone around here.

If there means that you are indicating something in the distance, why it is necessary to use it?


texts:
In the following sentence I have to spot the error

  Organic  pulses  are  so  popular today  that  many
  people wonder how they ever lived without them.

The answer according to my book is ever should be used  after lived. But I think it is used correctly with ever meaning here at any time in the past


texts:
Why isn't "store" in the plural in the sentence below?

  More than 7,400 store closures have been announced this year

The sentence is from Financial Times.


texts: I actually feel absolutely nothing ? or felt absolutely?

texts:
12: Depression is so much misunderstood and still so powerful. If you asked me what I was feeling, I would tell you I actually feel absolutely nothing, I try so hard to feel something but nothing works.

I actually feel absolutely nothing ? or felt absolutely ?

via: Depression Sayings


texts: What is the pronunciation of the prefix "RE-" (which mean "again or back") in a word, /ri:/ or /rɪ/?

texts:
Is there any rule to pronounce the prefix "re-" (again or back) in a word?

Because sometimes it's pronounced as /ri:/ like in reread, reapply, rebuil, relive, remarry, rejoin,...
and sometimes it's pronounced as /rɪ/ like in retreat, recall, regain, repay,...

So I don't know when to say /ri:/ and when to say /rɪ/


texts:
There is a scene in the movie Beautiful Girls:

  Willie: How they doing?

  Paul: You kidding me? All he ever thinks about is Darian Smalls.

  Willie: Come on! Still?

  Paul: Still! Nothing changes around here, Will. Every time Sharon looks at Birdie's face and sees him thinking about Darian, it's translated into another ugly pound when she looks at herself in the mirror. Have you seen her? She looks like one of those kids Sally Struthers feeds paste to.

I can't figure out what "pound" means here. It can't be a dog pound or a car pound. Here is a clip of this scene I found on YouTube.


texts: "a so enjoyable party" or "so enjoyable a party"

texts:
I did some exercises on http://www.examenglish.com/ and did surprisingly pretty well. At a certain stage, the sentence mentioned in the title came by. Since I would of course say "an enjoyable party", I thought the same applies to the cases in which the adverb "so" becomes inserted. Brief overview:

a very enjoyable party
{article} {adverb} {adjective} {noun}

This evidently is correct.

a so enjoyable party
{article} {adverb} {adjective} {noun}

This sentence has the same structure as the foregoing one but is, according to the website, not correct.

Is "a so enjoyable party" also correct?

Is "very enjoyable a party" therefore also correct? Does it sound good to a native speaker?

What's the rationale behind this? The word classes are the same as I demonstrated above. Frankly speaking, I never read nor heard this kind of word order.


texts: When you say 1,001,000, do you include 'and'?

texts:
Which is better, one million and one thousand or one million one thousand?
Or, do you use both?
Is there any difference BE and AE regarding this?


texts:
Can we say:

  The country was in a turmoil

instead of:

  The country was in turmoil

I have searched the web and found that it is used without "a". But why is it so? Is the first use incorrect?


texts: Single word expressing positioning two objects

texts:
Suppose that I have two objects, A and B (let's say two wooden cubes). If I arrange them in space like this:

     A
    ---
     B
############

the action would be stacking. I'm looking for a single word that is the equivalent of putting side by side:

   A | B
############

Side-ing is not a valid word, apparently. :-)

(In case someone is curious why I'm asking: I'm a programmer, and I need the names of the functions that I write to be short and expressive, so the users will remember them easily and won't need to read supplemental documentation figure out what these functions are intended to do).


texts:
When laws are passed to protect the  candle makers, coat makers, and
tree workers from competition, then consumers have to pay more than
what they otherwise would.

[JONATHAN GULLIBLE: A Free Market Odyssey, Ken Scholland, Chapter 5]
I don't know why the author put the word "otherwise" there. I can't get it. Could you explain it to me?
Many thanks


texts: A comma after a modified noun followed by a non-restrictive relative clause

texts:
As far as l know, it is usual to use a comma after a modified noun followed by a non-restrictive relative clause as follows:

  The new AIDS treatment, which proved to be highly effective, is extremely expensive.

My question is: Are there special cases that we might ignore using the comma in constructions as the one mentioned above.


texts: When to use Present tense in reporting speech?

texts:
When to use present tense in reporting speech?

In below news reporter has used Present tense "Sits" to indicate past event. Can it be replaced by sat?

"She sits in the cab along with the other 6-7 people. She sits on front seat as other people were sitting on the back seats."

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/uber-driver-molests-woman-in-shared-cab/articleshow/64485688.cms


texts: Use of articles before introducing a list

texts:
Use of articles in the English Language is always confusing to me. I know some general rules regarding the use of articles, but I am having trouble applying them.

My question is: should I use an article before introducing a list in a sentence?

  Experience allows people to acquire knowledge based on the observation
  rather than [the] theory, intuition, or innate idea.

I am not sure if "the" is needed here.

My guess is that "the" is not needed because I am not referring to a specific theory or idea. However, "observation" is preceded by "the", does it mean that "the" is also needed before "theory"?


texts: Some one next door( was playing/has played/had been playing / has been playing ) heavy metal music all night long.I didn't get a wink of sleep

texts: What is the difference between ( was playing and had been playing here ) what is the correct choise ?


texts: Can I say "they are of board" in this context?

texts:
When I want to say that a piece of plywood is square or rectangular (board  /panel) and not long and narrow (strip / slat), can I say "they are of board"?

Or just say that they are boards, not strips?


texts: Difference between "lastly" and "finally"

texts:
What's the difference between "lastly" and "finally". While Webster explains several senses of "finally", it doesn't explain any meaning of "lastly" and simply enters it in the entry for "last" as one of its derivatives.

On the other hand, while  in the entry for "finally" it uses some synonyms  to describe its meanings (such as "eventually" and "ultimately"), it interestingly avoids using "lastly" there.

So, are there any connotative differences between, say:

  Finally, we should make some friends in our new school.

and

  Lastly, we should make some friends in our new school.

Is it like "finally" is more emotional and "lastly" is more rational?


texts:
What's the difference between them? and when do we
use "What he does" and "What does he do"?


texts:
In the second episode of the Peep Show, after having a discussion one character says to the other;

  Shit is as shit does, my friend.

YouTube link:

The End Of "The Hair Blair Bunch" at 0:42

I couldn't grasp the grammatical structure and the meaning of the sentence. I searched it on the Internet but maybe because it's a specific sentence, I couldn't find anything relevant.


texts:
Here is a sentence from a video editor's description:

  The editor adds all your notes to your video clips, which enables you to search within the editor to easily find a particular video clip or organize related quips.

I know the lexical meanings of the word "quips", but they don't seem to fit here.

Please see the phrase "related quips" here. It is not used in any of the senses mentioned on the linked dictionary. Maybe this is a new usage that is yet to gain acceptance from English speakers.

The text mentions the app's ability to put director's or crew's notes in one place and make everything searchable and systematic. The focus is on its usability in a film's production process. The app adds all types of metadata to video clips.


texts: Tag question with "Not only . . . but also"

texts:
In case of "Not only . . . but also", the verb agrees with the second subject :

  Not only he but also I am intelligent.

Can we use a tag question with this sentence?

  Not only he but also I am intelligent, aren't I?
  Or,
  Not only is he intelligent but also I am, aren't I?


texts: How to introduce to your new teacher when you have a middle name or more than one different name

texts:
My teachers and my friends call me Kitty in school, while my colleagues and my boss call me Kay in the office. My friends and my colleagues have called me different names, but I have never told them which I preferred.

Now I am going to learn how to swim, which means I will meet some new people in the swimming lessons. I wonder how to introduce myself to the new teacher because I have two different names.

Should I say this?

  You can call me Kitty or Kay

And then in the full name row of the registration form, should I write "Kitty Kay myFamilyName" or just "Kitty myFamilyName"?


texts: What's the meaning of 'land in' in this context?

texts:
[He says, I've shoveled acorns enough in there to keep the family thirty years, and if I can see a sign of one of 'em I wish I may land in a museum with a belly full of sawdust in two minutes.]

This is a sentence from a novel 'Baker's blue-jay yarn' by Mark Twain. And
That scene shows a blue-jay gets angry because he keeps dropping acorns in some hole but the hole isn't getting full no matter how hard he tries.

I looked up the meaning of 'land in' and the dictionary says that means
1. to make a landing in something 2. to end up in something, such as a mess.

But I don't understand even though knowing the meaning of both 'land in' and 'museum'. What does the sentence above mean?


texts: But despite the dangers, the number of cyclists who take up cycling seriously ( has or have) steadily increased

texts:
The injury and death toll among cyclists and their pillion riders increased from 376 in 2005 to 507 last year. But despite the dangers, the number of cyclists who take up cycling seriously (has or have) steadily increased.

I read this article, and I found that this sentence uses has rather than have. May I know why?


texts: Suggestions for real estate related terms

texts:
I'm looking for suggestions on how to name a few database tables. I need to use terms that will be well understood by real estate agents and (less importantly) software developers.

How would you call a place inside a building and/or mall that can house stores, shops or offices. So far, I have thought about using "Commercial unit" .

What would be a generic term for houses or apartments. I have thought about using "Housing unit".

Finaly, what would be a generic term for a location that holds multiple commercial and/or housing units (buildings, malls, condos, &c.). I have thought about using "Properties cluster".

I know I'm already providing terms for the things I want to describe, but I'm wondering if there are other terms that are more common or better suited somehow.
Also, if this should be asked separately please do tell me so I can split the question into independent ones.


texts: Are all verbs that follow a preposition gerunds?

texts:
I'd like to know whether verbs that come after one preposition, such as the ones below, must be in the -ING form.

I'm interested In doing this
His life depends On working
He is good At learning languagues
What is the advantage Of having a car?
Why don't we go out instead Of sitting on here?

All verbs that came after one preposition "Of, In, At.." are written in the -ING form, is this a rule for every verb that comes after one preposition just like the examples above?

Many people didn't get my question, so I rewrote it.

I'm actually almost sure that they can only be written in the -ING form if one preposition is placed before them, because I have never seen: I'm interested in do this or He is focused on do his homework.
However, I'd like to know whether or not there is one specified rule for this.


texts:
The world 'level' is a bit tricky for me as it appears either with or without the definite article. I'm trying to understand when I can get rid of the definite article and when it should stay. I couldn't find any information on the Internet.

What's the difference in meaning between these sentences and are they correct?

  What subjects do you study at the extended level?

  What subjects do you study at extended level?

  I love playing games at easy level.

  I love playing games at the easy level.

Is it because each level is already unique and therefore you can dispense with the definite article? I've seen both used and the option without any article seemed to be more prevalent in general.


texts: What is the best choice in this case past continuous or simple

texts:
While she was driving to work every day she was listening or listened to languages CDs

In the test the answer is listened  because the action is completed now: she does not listen to these cds anymore but she is still driving to work

Could was listening be ok because at this time she was still listening to these cds even if now the action is finished

The complete exercise can be found here


texts: What does "complexity merchant of choice" mean in this sentence?

texts:
Back then (in 2004) the complexity merchant of choice was J2EE.

I understand, that merchant is a person, who sells something. I assume that "merchant of choice" is somebody, from who we decide to buy something.
So "complexity merchant of choice" is somebody, from who we buy complexity. That doesn't make sense, even in a figurative sense.

J2EE is Java 2 Enterprise Edition and the quote is taken from the text about programming languages and frameworks.


texts: "so" or "such" to replace a preceding adjective

texts:
I'd like to know whether "so" or "such" is correct in the following:

  Those actors were not hired because they all looked indistinct or were regarded as such.
  Those actors were not hired because they all looked indistinct or were considered / regarded so.

I'd appreciate your help.


texts:
This is the sentence which I heard on TV uttered by the British Prime Minister, Teresay May.

She said : "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold."

Something caught my attention in this sentence which did not sound correct to me. She sees her job as the honour of her life. Ok, so far so good. So, we can see that the second part of the sentence is a relative clause.

But then why does she say "....the job that it has been the honour....". I guess there is no need to put the pronoun "IT" in the sentence, because it refers to the word "job".

So, should she not have said "....the job that has been..."? (without "IT")

Why does she say the pronoun "IT" again whereas it refers to "THE JOB"?

Regards,


texts:
if employer or teacher or anyone tells me during anytime on Monday that I have 2 days to give him the files or to finish the project.

I ask: How much time do I get/have?
The employer, teacher says:  You have two days!

Should I always count it as extra two days meaning that if today is Monday it HAS to be delivered/finished at latest on Wednesday 23:59?

It NEVER ever means that I have only some time left from today + tomorrow and that it has to be delivered on Tuesday by 23:59 right?

Please, explain thank you very much!


texts:
To situate a geographical area relatively to another, should one use preposition TO or no preposition at all in these examples:
"TO the east of the USA, there is the Atlantic Ocean." or "The state of Alaska is TO the northwest of Canada."
or "East of the USA, there is the Atlantic Ocean." or "The state of Alaska is northwest of Canada."
Does the use of TO depend on the order of the sentence?


texts: I wonder if this sentence is a shortened version of a certain sentence

texts:
"Many vendors can be seen selling it now in the city."

I came across this sentence online which is quite strange to me in terms of sentence structure (grammar). why do 2 verbs "seen" "selling" stand together? I wonder if that's a shortened version of a full sentence such as relative clause reductions?

For example:
"We saw them selling it in the city" is a shortened version of this sentence: We saw them who was selling it in the city. (Relative clause reduction).

I am fine with the meaning of the sentence. I am just concerned about the grammar, the sentence structure.

I can easily understand this apparently similar sentence:

"Have you ever seen anyone walking the streets like that?"

But my sentence is quite different. Could someone show me the grammar point here? I still don't get how passive voice "can be seen" followed by a gerund "selling".


texts: She played / replayed the song repeatedly

texts:
Which one is correct ?

She played the song repeatedly.

She replayed the song repeatedly.

Since the adverb repeatedly adds a meaning that something is done over and over again, should we  use the verb play  or this kinds of adverbs cause to use re-type verbs already for the sake of verb-adverb agreement?


texts: This restaurant has become popular in recent years. (event or process?)

texts:
Does the sentence

  This restaurant has become popular in recent years.

imply an ongoing, continuous process (becoming popular) that has been happening during the recent years? Or does it mean that it just happened some time ago, maybe quickly, but not earlier than a few years ago?


texts: What is the meaning of "The rate I'm going"?

texts:
In Angelina Jolie-directed movie By The Sea (2015), Vanessa taking sun bath and her husband writer, Roland, asked this question to her.

  Roland: Wanna go for a drive?

  Vanessa: I thought we agreed we weren't going anywhere  until you
  wrote.

  Roland: The rate I'm going... Let's go for a drive.


texts:
I am looking for a word to fill in the blank in the following sentence: "I have been _____ my recruiter A, but she is currently out of office."

By this, I want to say that A has been the recruiter in charge of my case so far and I usually reach out to her for help. Can I use "work with" here? Or is there a better way to put this? Thank you in advance!


texts: what does plate mean in the context of building?

texts:
per cambridge, plate means

  a flat piece of something that is hard and does not bend

so, when talking about brick wall, plate layout means a flat piece of bricks, shown like the following image (img_1), is my understanding right?

similarly, when talking about stud wall, plate layout means a flat piece of studs,  the whole thing pointed out by red circle (img_2), is my understanding right?

However, in img_2, it seems that head plate and sole plate refer to something like a beam.

this post says

  Start by aligning your top and bottom plate ends flush together and measure 15 1/4 inches to side of first stud placement. Each corresponding measurement should be 3/4 of an inch shy of stud marks on your tape measure. This will give you studs that are on 16 inch center layouts. Check out the video above to see this process in action.

Is the bottom plate end refer to the sole plate in img_2?


texts: ...putting us and the rest of the world on so

texts:
What does 'on so' mean and how it changes the meaning of the phrase?

  Yes, I was going to ask Mr. Quinn why he insists on putting us and the
  rest of the world on so?


texts:
I am looking for more words or phrases for "marked by". For example:

  The post industrial revolution history is marked by rapid urbanisation and an exponential growth in population.

Please suggest good alternative words and phrases to replace marked by in the above sentence; and can characterised by be substituted for marked by?


texts:
Which one is correct way of asking Questions ?
When to ask questions without auxiliary?
Is asking question without Auxiliary is more formal way of asking questions ?

a) Are you Ok?
b) You ok ?

a) Did you see that movie?
b) You saw that movie ?

a) When did you see that movie ?
b) When you saw that movie ?

a) Who did give you this?
b ) Who gave you this ?


texts: Is there any difference between "wipe" and "wipe down"?

texts:
Is there any difference between wipe and wipe down? For example:

  I am going to wipe the board, so write down what I have written.

  I am going to wipe down the board, so write down what I have written.

And by the way, do I have to use what or that in the sentence?


texts: Why did Mick Jagger sing "I'm waiting on a friend"?

texts:
Why did Mick Jagger sing

  "I'm waiting on a friend"

Why didn't he sing

  "I'm waiting for a friend"

As I understand it if you are waiting on somebody you are working as a waiter or waitress.


texts:
Which is correct -

Responding to a Series of questions , official said....

Responding to a Series of question, official said...


texts:
Am I right to think that the next sentence has a duality in meaning?

  I got here early so that we could have a few minutes along together. (M. Swan, Practical English Usage, §583.7)

Could we tell without context whether this that-clause is the purpose or the consequence of the main clause, 'I got here early'? By any chance, could the 'got' imply something? Or is there any word usually added to mean either purpose or consequence, and so the sentence is no ambiguous to native speakers?

Thank you. :)


texts: Is "Is it his job to always be available?" correct?

texts:
Which of the following sentences is correct? For which reasons?

Is it his job to always be available?
Is his job to always be available?


texts:
From Wikipedia

  Dragon 2 In-Flight Abort Test (officially known as SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test and Crew Dragon Launch Escape Demonstration) was a test of the Crew Dragon abort system.

Ngram Viewer shows that "a test for" is also a commonly used phrase.

  An attempt to generate a test for this fault condition may be made later in the process if the conditions are right

"a test of" seems to be part of validation, if the test is passed, the system could be considered solid and reliable.

"a test for" seems to be part of investigation which is usually for some expected failure or malfunction.

Is my understanding right?

This post is different from Should I use "for" or "of" after the word "test", which just posts questions without any further investigation and their own understanding.


texts:
I am writing a journal article and tying to give an interesting title.
In this article I illustrate the situation of certain people who are neither satisfied with their life nor healthy.

I would like to remind the readers of the Rolling Stones song...so I came up with this title:

"I can't get no satisfaction or good health"
How does this sentence sound?

I have asked to one native speaker who says that it sounds wrong, but no explanation is offered to me about the reason why it sounds wrong. I have no other native speaker within reach.


texts: Is there any difference between the idiom "that's about the size of it" and "that's about the extent of it"?

texts:
Could you tell me if there is any difference between the idiom that's about the size of it and that's about the extent of it? For example:

Person A: What Kate's birthday party?
Person B: She dropped her birthday cake. That's about the size of it./That's about extent of it.


texts: Is my "past perfect continuous tense" usage correct?

texts:
When I began studying XXX in my senior year, I realized that I had
  been preparing for it for years unwittingly.


texts:
Prepare fish by rinsing it, then patting it dry. Make 2 to 3 diagonal cuts on the side of the fish (with the blade of the knife on an angle facing the head). (source)

The preposition phrase "on an angle" strikes me as strange. I have always taken "at" as the most common preposition that goes with angle. I found another sentence using this phrase on Merriam Webster.

  The road goes off on an angle. (source)

This NGram chart shows "at an angle" is decidedly more common than "on an angle". What does "on an angle" mean exactly in the two sentence at issue? Is it the same usage in the sentences above? How does it differ from "at an angle"?


texts:
Does the phrase "focused their energy into a pulse with the punch of a speeding truck" mean "a speeding truck's punch made the energy focused into a pulse"?

In October 2010, in a building the size of three U.S. football fields, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory powered up 192 laser beams, focused their energy into a pulse with the punch of a speeding truck, and fired it at a pellet of nuclear fuel the size of a peppercorn. So began a campaign by the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to achieve the goal it is named for: igniting a fusion reaction that produces more energy than the laser puts in.

Source:  Science  Laser fusion reactor approaches ‘burning plasma’ milestone
By Daniel CleryNov. 23, 2020


texts: What does this phrase - headline means "Crippling cost of disparities"?

texts:
I am preparing for the good and quick reading comprehension. People say that in order to excel in the reading comprehension, one should be able to guess the content.  So, there was a sub-heading in the newspaper:

  Crippling cost of disparities

However, I am unable to guess this phrase. How can I excel in it? Also, how to understand such phrases? I understand that "disparity" means "a difference". Also, I understand that "crippling" means "unable to move forward". So, does it mean that "due to some difference, the matter is not progressing"?


texts: Are there any words (synonyms) meaning 'credit to somebody'?

texts: So I have included some information from other books in my presentation, and I want to give credits to those people who have written them.I hope you can help me with this difficulty.By the way, do we use 'credit to somebody' in formal written English?


texts: The definite article before family members

texts:
In terms of meaning, what is the difference (if there is one) between these sentences:

Grandmother buys a new belt.
The grandmother buys a new belt.


texts: When should I use adverb "there" twice in a sentence?

texts:
For example, I've recently read this:

  Basically, Homer just had a lot of fun hanging out with gay men, and
  drinking in bars, and dancing at discos, and all that, and there was
  nothing – there was no commentary there.

Why did the author use "there" twice? Is this necessary? Is there a rule about this situation?

source


texts:
Life is so terrible, it would have been better not to have been born. Who
is so lucky? Not one in a hundred thousand!

I am not sure whether "a hundred thousand" is related to people or to years. I presume that the former alternative is more probable. But woldn't it be better to say "not one from one hundred thousand"?


texts: "all the efforts I put in [would/could/may] just go to waste" (choice of modal?)

texts:
Let's say you are hypothesizing. And you say:

  I must have great accuracy in English, and if I don't, all the efforts I put in would/could/may just go to waste.

In this sentence, I know would is possible, but so are could and may because it is more likely to happen. I know how to use modals, but in this situation, it really winds me up!

Could you tell me if all are equally possible, or is there a best modal that should be used?


texts: Difference between "What do you do?" "How do you do?" and "How are you doing?"

texts:
One friend is asked me, “What do you do?” And, "How are you doing?”

I started thinking, what is the difference between these?

"What do you do?"
"How do you do?”
"How are you doing?"


texts: The use of time markers with perfect infinitives

texts:
Tell me please if the following sentence is correct.

  He claims to have done his homework yesterday.

It is well known that it is grammatically incorrect to use time markers, such as yesterday, last week etcetera with the present perfect. But what about that sentence?


texts: Meaning of “a tiger knows how to step, and a human doesn't”?


texts:
A meta post What are the reputation requirements for privileges on sites, and how do they differ per site? gives a list of reputation levels.

I left a comment on that post

  Is it more complete if put reputation of 1 in there?

There are 34 reputation levels in total in that list, no including reputation of 1.

I suppose that list is a complete list of reputation levels up to date.

Based on that, a list including reputation of 1 would have 35 reputation levels.

35 is larger than 34, a list of 35 is more complete than the list of 34. Adding more info (reputation of 1) to the complete list, makes it more complete, is it idiomatic?


texts: "No matter how large the finite set" OR "No matter how large the finite set **is**"

texts:
In Book Mathematics for Computer Science:

  The key to remember is that you can’t check a claim about an infinite set by checking a finite set of its elements, no matter how large the finite set.

Should the last sentence be no matter how large the finite set is?
Or both forms are correct?


texts: "links of document" or "links to document"?

texts:
Below are the links of assessment document of software A and software B

Someone here on Stack Exchange answered that there should "links to assessment" instead "links of assessment document". He seems right but I am wondering why there should be "links to" instead of "links of"


texts: I really don't understand what this sentence means?

texts:
His ulcer gave him a twinge, the ulcer that had grown in size and authority over the years of his career as an interpreter of America to provincial and ignorant notables from backwaters of civilization.

Hi, I'm an esl learner, and recently I'm reading a book "Player Piano" by Kurt Vonnegut. But I'm stuck in this sentence.  Had the authority also grown like the size of ulcer had?
Or the ulcer also gave a twinge to his authority as an interpreter like it dit to him?
For what is preposition to after America? What's the grammatical function?
It's so confusing and I can't guess even the least of its meaning.


texts: The meaning of "Three guys can't walk a straight line"

texts: I saw the movie "Carnage". In it, one of the characters said: "We can't recall the drug because three guys can't walk a straight line." What is its meaning?


texts: Which one of the suggestions is more natural?

texts:
DIALOG:
Ben: Did you have your son yesterday?
Ken: I did.
Ben: How did it go?
Ken: Not good. I messed up, so...
...I'm not seeing him again anytime soon. (1)
...I'm not going to see him again anytime soon. (2)
...I'm not going to be seeing him again anytime soon. (3)
...I won't see him again anytime soon. (4)
...I won't be seeing him again anytime soon. (5)
...I'll not see him again anytime soon. (6)
...I'll not be seeing him again anytime soon. (7)
Ben: Your ex-wife decided that?
Ken: Yes.
Question: Which one of the suggestions is more natural in the context? (It shouldn't sound like Ken doesn't want to see his son again anytime soon; it's his ex-wife who has decided that.)


texts: One-letter difference or difference of one letter?

texts:
Is there any difference in meaning between the statements below?

  Friend and fiend have a one-letter difference.

And

  Friend and fiend have a difference of one letter.

Is one of them the noun form of 'differing by one letter' or 'one letter apart'? Or are their meanings determined by context?

My assumptions is that one of them refers to difference in number and the other refers to the difference in the letter used.

Please offer your interpretation.

Many thanks in advance.


texts:
dialog 1.
My friend asks me general question "What did you do yesterday?" and for example my car is broken and the damage is to big so it can not be fixed within one day. Do I have to use past simple or continuous?
a)"I was repairing my car (the whole day/morning/10 hours)?"
b)"I repaired my car" - does not matter if the car is fixed or not today.
dialog 2.
I have a mess in my room and my mom says "clean your room!"
Next day my room is still messy and she says:
c)"You should have cleaned your room, what were you doing (all day)?"
d)"You should have cleaned your room, what did you do?"


texts: He can't / mustn't have been looking where he was going

texts:
Tom walked into a wall. He can't have been looking where he was going.

a) Can I use mustn't instead of can't here? ("He mustn't have been looking where he was going.")

b) If I use couldn't instead of can't here, will it decrese the probability of my supposition?


texts: What are you going now ? (Is it right question)

texts:
I think it have no meaning, please confirm
This question is at my daughter homework sheet and i have no answer to it because I didn’t get what they wanted to know


texts: What is the proper way to ask someone if we still meeting tomorrow?

texts:
I asked a friend to meet up in person. He said we can meet tomorrow.

What is the correct way to ask if he still going to come to the meeting?
Should I use:

Is the meeting still on?
Are we still going to meet up?

Is there another way to ask that question based on English language grammar?


texts:
From a book

  It will be evident that poet’s function is not to report things that have happened, but rather to tell of such things as might happen , things that are possibilities by virtue of being in themselves inevitable or probable.

‘Being in themselves inevitable or probable’
Does the meaning change if the PP goes behind?
‘Being inevitable or probable in themselves’


texts:
I was wondering about past simple and present perfect lately. It was a long path of understanding these 2 tenses, I think I finally understand the meaning of "context" that can occur or not.

When there is a context (last year, since, for) then the sentence has a certain tense.
But without it I can only judge it in my own perspective, for example:

I borrowed it from my friend (emphasizing the past action of borrowing in the past, even if he/she shows in the present this particular item he/she is going to use or something, still he/she is relating to past action)
I've borrowed it from my friend (emphasizing the present situation as well as mentioning the past action he/she did but is still relating the present situation that he/she is having this item and he/she can use it.)

I don't know if my thoughts are reliable, but I'm summaring the whole knowlage I've gained till now (I don't know if "till now" is grammatically correct, if not then I'm sorry)
I want to use this summary (of course if it's correct) as a message for those who doesn't understand the difference without the context like (for, since, last year, etc.)

What do you think about it? Oh and I want to ask you a favor as well. What do you guys think about the grammatical side of my "small thought"?

PS.
There are also some verbs that doesn't suit my thoughts for example "I promised" it's more a past action that the promise was stated, but if I have to think about it in the present perfect version, then I could say that "I've promised" can state that what he is doing right now is because of this promise. But I think that some verbs doesn't suit it.

PS 2.
Im refering here only about no context situations, there are some rules about that but aren't clear when it says about "result", it more likely means that can be used interchanable depending on what do we want to emphasis. What do you think about what I wrote here ?


texts: How do I say "for + there be" correctly?

texts:
I want to say

  This method is only used for there is no real error code.

I think "for" always links "doing", so this sentence is grammatically wrong. Or maybe I could say,

  This method is only used for situation that there is no real error
  code.

But I think it may be clumsy. Or

  This method is only used for no real error.

What's your opinion?


texts:
I'm trying to make this sentence right bellow but I don't know which one fits (or would/will fit?) better.

  Josh wouldn't/will not/don't stop being a gentleman for money.

What is the difference among those 3?
I kind of don't get the usage of "would" here (and I've seen a similar sentence using this modal) and when attempting to know its usage, I got confused because I can see "will stop" and "stop" being used here.

Could you please help me?


texts:
She never wavers in her determination to shoot for the moon
  She never wavers her determination to shoot for the moon.

My question is whether waver can be used as a transitive verb that can modify something.


texts:
It is another confusing stuff for me, because I am getting answers after my question: how are you? 1. I am good. 2. I am well.

I tried to find which one is correct and I found that both are correct. For me it is a bit difficult to accept, until I will not get the reason why both answers are right.

I addition, I'm good sounds arrogant.
I believe in the people who are answering here.


texts: "This" or "present", which is used to describe a time sequence along with "previous" and "next"

texts:
I scored only 50 on the previous test, but 70 on (this/the present) test.   I want to
  score at least 90 on the next test.

I think that "this" is better in the above example, but would like to know whether "the present" is acceptable. I feel using "this" causes ambiguity because "this" has a broad meaning.


texts: Is there a noun or a noun phrase describing the "let stand" part in "Prepare the solution, let stand for 10 min"?

texts:
I'm translating a table of deviations in a biotech manufacturing process. One of the sentences concerns an occurrence in which a solution was found not to conform to prescribed limits.

  Protein solution after выдержки failed to conform to the limits: the content of acidic forms exceeded 35%.

The Russian word means that the solution was simply doing nothing, sitting in a tube at room temperature. Выдерживать means "to keep" in Russian, and выдержка is "the process of keeping something".

After one of the manufacturing operations, the solution was left to stand for 10 minutes. As they usually write in English instructions: do this or that, swirl and let stand for 10 minutes. (In this particular table, I don't know how much time the solution actually spent "sitting", because the table contains occurrences recorded at different manufacturing sites on different days).

But how to express this in this sentence? Rummaging in my colleagues' Trados databases, I discovered that they translated similar phrases as after keeping and after holding, which does not look like idiomatic English to me.


texts:
We actually embedded a CIA deputy into FBI operations so that we could
  really share the intelligence.

In this sentence, what exactly means 'embeded a CIA deputy into'?


texts:
I came cross this phrase in the sentence below.

  ‘teen mom 2’ reunion special had some surprising plot twists spoilers.

I assume it might mean an interview or something?


texts: Is "a quiz or assignment" correct? If "an" is omitted before "assignment", how can it be?

texts:
Students who want to earn a certificate will be asked to verify their identity each time they submit a quiz or assignment.

Is "an" omitted before "assignment" there?
If then, how can "an" be omitted there when "a" before "quiz" is different from "an"?


texts:
Following is a question in my book, in which I have to fill the most appropriate verb

With a thundering roar the huge rocket ________ from the launching pad.

Options are

soared up

flew up

went upwards

I think most appropriate verb will be soared up because according to Cambridge Dictionary meaning of soar is  (esp. of a bird or aircraft) to rise or fly high in the air:


texts: Which is correct linguistically and grammatically?

texts:
1: I am feeling the happiness.

  2: I am feeling happy.

Happy is adjective and happiness is a noun but while speaking both sounds correct. I think Ist one incorrect but most of the people use first while speaking.