Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Can I say "to start work on it"?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 10:29 AM PDT

I have found the following sentence in a text book: "I'm going to start work on it this morning" and I want to know if it is correct, I think it should be "start working" as "work" is here a verb, not a noun. Am I right?

A better way to phrase "I am ____ and am _____"

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 10:21 AM PDT

I've always found the use of "am" after "and" to be strange. I believe it's grammatically correct, but in formal e-mails, for examples, I don't like the way it sounds. For instance, in an e-mail I wrote recently: "I'm alumni of Barret High school and am wondering if there's any way I could get a hold of my transcripts from my time there?"

Is there a way to get around using this?

Thanks

Is it appropriate to use the plus symbol '+' when describing a solution of two compounds?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 09:18 AM PDT

Is it appropriate to use the symbol '+' when describing a solution of two compounds in technical writing?

For example

Products were moisture enhanced with NaCl + Na-tripolyphosphate solutions.

Can an article change the meaning?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 08:40 AM PDT

Is there a difference in those sentences please : European architecture has a graceful and exquisite style Vs The European architecture has a graceful and exquisite style

Subjunctive in English. Is it used for politeness?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 09:21 AM PDT

The usual explanation I get for expressions such as "How much did you want to spend, sir?" is that the use of the past tense produces a distance between the present reality and the question, thus making things more polite.

The thing is I've found this other example "I wondered if you were free this evening".

It makes me wonder if the origin of the past tense for politeness is an archaic subjunctive use, such as in sentences as "I wish he were here". In the end, it is not far from what the subjunctive is meant to do. It gives an idea of distance rather than the straight-forwardness of the indicative. I belive English might do that in some invisible instances as this example. The subjunctive mood is sort of there, even if it is by playing with indicative tenses. The same distancing happens when using modal verbs in certain ways too. "That will be £1.65, please.", for instance.

What do you think? Speaking a language that uses the subjunctive explicitely, Spanish, I would find it very interesting if I get proof for my guess.

It would also make way more interesting expressions as "I was wondering..." with a double distancing meaning.

PS: I'd posted this originally in the linguistics post of stack exchange. It got closed due to being considered a matter of use rather than linguistics. I don't quite get the difference, to be honest, as linguistics is supposed to apply a scientific model to everything language-related. Anyway, I think the comments the post had already got will be at least complementary, tags aside. Therefore, I'll paste them here. Do not feel obliged to read them as some might focus on linguistics rather than usage; who knows. The last thing I want is to get this one closed too due to being deemed as linguistics rather than usage.

Previous comments:

1 - In Italian, which has a subjunctive mood like Spanish, there are still common expressions like "Mi chiedevo se..." or "Mi stavo chiedendo se..." (I was wondering if...) where the subjunctive is not used, but instead imperfect past tenses are used in the indicative mood.

2 - English has a subjunctive by the way. "We require that he use subjunctive." Not uses.

3 - Is your question about the actual contemporary social effect of such constructions, about the historical development of the constructions, or about the history of the subjunctive from Old English to Modern English?

4 - If you have answers to all of those feel welcome to share them. My question has more to do with the logic behind the grammar and use of English. So, both the development and history of the constructions would do. I more or less know the modern uses of the subjunctive in English, but it feels like they are the remains of a more logical, older grammar. Basically, I wonder if this whole using random tenses is an evolution of the old English subjunctive or not. –

5 - Historically, that "past" was indeed a subjunctive. It is now distinguishable in one single word in the entire language: "were" (as in "if he were").

6 - The comment on Italian doing exactly that is quite interesting, though. In Spanish, I only know of the exact opposite. The subjunctive is used as past by journalists sometimes. "La que fuera ministra de Sanidad." Instead of "La que fue/había sido ministra de Sanidad"

Thank you.

Are bike docks and racks the same thing? [closed]

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 07:31 AM PDT

I've always referred to them (the places where you can lock your bike) as "bike racks." Is "bike dock" synonymous with "bike rack" or is it a different thing? I started using city rental bikes, and they always seem to call these things "bike docks."

Greek religion embodies many tensions as presented in these poetic forms(Homeric Epic)?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 08:21 AM PDT

Educated Greeks absorbed religion not only through cultic worship but also through the Homeric epic poems and later in the tragedies of such playwrights as Aeschylus and Sophocles. Greek religion embodies many tensions as presented in these poetic forms and sometimes seems to present outright contradictions. The gods are presented as immortal and noble, to be worshiped and honored, but they are also described as engaging in behavior that seems far from honorable.

Does this second sentence mean that Greek religion, being presented in the Homeric Epic poem, embodies many tensions? And is there any awkwardness in it?

The probability that it "be" or "is" -- subjunctive?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 10:33 AM PDT

I am writing a scientific paper, and therefore I would like to be as precise as possible with language too. Following the subjunctive mood, I know for example that the following is correct:

"Is is important that she be at home by 9 p.m.".

It does not sound so weird to me when the subjunctive is used with the verb to be.

However:

"The probability that temperature exceeds its historical maximum is large."

sounds to me better than

"The probability that temperature exceed its historical maximum is large."

Which one is correct? Is it a matter of taste?

I wonder if the sentence is grammatically correct "My mother would shush my father and say she was a growing girl.''?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 09:12 AM PDT

This sentence telling about the past activities, so my question is after the "and" of the sentence using "say" is correct?

Difference between phrasings [closed]

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 05:56 AM PDT

  • The Mayor defended rioters saying they were exercising their right to protest.
  • The Mayor defended rioters by saying they were exercising their right to protest.

Please help me understand the difference between these two sentences.

Can I use a comma before an ampersand?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 04:11 AM PDT

Question

Can I use a comma (,) before an ampersand (&)? If no, then why not?

Example

The same products attracted all European countries to India: spices, silk, & cotton.

Note

I use the Oxford Comma; so ignore that debate.

In the sentence, "I want an air-freshener because I can't stand bad smells", why is the because-clause a subordinate clause? [duplicate]

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 06:03 AM PDT

I want an air-freshener because I can't stand bad smells.

Here, isn't 'I can't stand bad smells' a coordinate clause? It is complete in itself, right? It's only after adding 'because' that the sentence becomes subordinate. But 'because' is a conjunction. So, if we want to check if a clause is coordinate or subordinate, shouldn't we exclude the conjunction ('because') here?

Tease or tease with? [migrated]

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 01:51 AM PDT

I wanted to know which phrase would be grammatically correct?

Should I use;

I was teasing you.

OR

I was teasing with you.

Is ‘many temperatures’ an ambiguous phrase? [closed]

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 03:19 AM PDT

I think many temperatures has two meanings:

  1. Many temperatures = two or more temperatures.
  2. Many temperatures (=high temperatures) = 2° or higher temperatures.

If not, why cannot it be? If true, it's just a matter of naturalness?

Why is using the definite article “the” before a plural countable noun correct in this case when I have not mentioned the plural noun before?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 10:06 AM PDT

Nuclear membrane/nuclear envelope: the double membrane of the nucleus, encasing the chromosomes and nucleolus.

I know you can put the article "the" before a singular countable noun to create a generic reference, such as the whale is the largest organism in the world. However, it's right to say "the chromosomes" in the vocabulary list entry above. It's grammatically correct, but why?

I have searched through numerous websites, but I am still unclear. Any help will be appreciated, thanks.

Is the sentence "you and I; we're all connected" grammatically allowed in the English language? [closed]

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 08:30 AM PDT

I was wondering if this sentence would be allowed grammatically if you were specifically speaking to one person or can it only be used when writing a speech or talking to multiple people.

E.g. if I were talking to someone, could I say something like - "You and I; we're all humans" or would I have to say "You and I, we're both humans."

I have my period or I'm on my period?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 08:32 AM PDT

what girls would normally say ? : I have my period or I'm on my period ?

What is a very general word to describe a country exercising control over a territory?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 07:29 AM PDT

Countries that are not independent states are often called dependencies or territories as in "French Polynesia is a devolved parliamentary dependency".

In the context in which I am using the word, it would be inappropriate to use the word "colonizer" to refer to the country of which the dependency is a territory. I'm thus looking for a word that captures the country that has territorial control over the dependency that is less politically charged. I do, of course, recognize that this is a politically charged subject but where I am using the term it must be as neutral as possible.

Ideally, the term should be one word and it should apply to both current dependencies and to former colonies. In a sense, it should be exactly like the word "colonizer", but without the historical connotations.

Edit: Ideally, I'm looking for a single word. The way it would be used is to indicate the name of a dataset column, which indicates the name of the former colonizer for territories that have gained independence and the name of the country exercising control over the territory if the territory is not an independent state. An example of the former is the United Kingdom to Australia and an example of the latter is France to New Caledonia. Note, that I do not consider New Caledonia to be a colony of France (largely because a majority rejected independence in a referendum and extensive self-governance), although I do recognize that this is a contested classification.

Origin of phrase 'come on'

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 10:29 AM PDT

Is the origin/first usage of the phrase 'come on' known? I know there is a similar 'kom op' in Dutch (same meaning, as well as a literal translation of the words), but I don't know which took it from which, or where it came from originally.

NB: I'm talking about the varied but nebulously-connected figurative meanings along the lines of 'get moving', 'stop complaining', 'stop kidding around', 'it's not that bad'... not necessarily the literal 'come on [to the stage]' - I don't know whether that'd be related.

EDIT: I did not believe my question was a duplicate when I posted it, but further searching (prompted by @Cascabel) has turned up an earlier instance after all, from 2012. No clear answer emerged there, unfortunately.

What grammatical roles do infinitives and participles assume when used predicatively?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 01:57 AM PDT

A non-academic grammar site I was reading says:

A linking verb will always be completed by an adjective (a predicate adjective) or a noun (a predicate nominative).

...

A linking verb can only be completed by a predicate adjective or a predicate nominative (i.e., a noun or a pronoun). (source)

This, of course, is incorrect. I am thinking participles, infinitives, and predicative clauses which I am not sure fall under either one. But it occurred to me that I don't know what the former two are called grammatically. I know in a sentence predicate a clause would be a predicative clause, a gerund a predicate nominative. And those mentioned are probably all predicative expressions.

She is running. (present participle)

She is stunned. (past participle)

The only thing she can do right now is wait. (infinitive)

So do these have specific names in grammar?

Non-ableist alternative to "blind spot"

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 03:10 AM PDT

The phrase "blind spot" has been called ableist. For someone looking to avoid it, what are some good alternatives?

Sample sentences:

  • We need to be aware of our blind spots to make sure a competitor doesn't surprise us in the market.
  • Employee morale has been a blind spot for us in the past, but Sarah is doing a great job of tracking it now.
  • Quentin has good ideas when it comes to pricing strategy, but she has a blind spot when it comes to the best way to present a proposal.

Is there a word for a piece of medical data about the body

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 03:12 AM PDT

Is there a word or phrase which encompasses things like a heartbeat recording, x-ray scan, EKG output, a record of blood oxygen levels from a pulse oximeter etc.

What name would you give to data about a person's illnesses, ailments, diseases and medical condition? is too broad. I'm looking for something which would apply to each item, like record or datum.

Word for a single picture which can be interpreted in two different ways

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 02:27 AM PDT

What are pictures that have two visual interpretations called? See the following image:

enter image description here

This image shows a skull from one perspective, and when you look at it a different way, it shows a girl sitting under trees. There are many images like this. What do you call these pictures?

verbs and commas surrounding "as well as"

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 02:02 AM PDT

is "provides" correct?, and what about commas before or after "as well as" in this sentence "Narrated in the third person omniscient, the narrator depicts a panoramic view of the natural landscape as well as provides an objective view of the main character's thoughts".

word or phrase for describing one that has much opportunities

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 06:06 AM PDT

Take "folly" for example, there is the term "fool" or "foolish" for the individual that does that folly, and the term "foolishness" that is the quality of being foolish or doing folly. I am looking for words or phrases that can be applied to "opportunities" as of folly, that mean:

  1. what the person that has much opportunities is called; Analogy: "fool" or "foolish"
  2. the quality of having opportunities; Analogy: "foolishness"

keep in mind that folly, fool, foolish, foolishness are all in the same family of words.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Yiddish loan words for the foolish & incompetent

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 08:59 AM PDT

Is there a Yiddish loan word to describe someone incompetent or amateurish, or who is a small-time player in a given field of endeavor? The closest I know of are general-purpose insults like shnook, shlemiel, schmuck, &c., &c., but I don't think they have the specific meaning I'm looking for.

What is it called when words are deliberately spelled incorrectly but pronunciation is kept unchanged?

Posted: 27 Apr 2021 02:07 AM PDT

For example,

Night -> Nite
Through -> Thru
The -> Da
Though -> Tho

Nite even appears in some dictionaries as having the same meaning as night.

What is it called when words are deliberately written incorrectly but the pronunciation and meaning are kept unchanged?
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