Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange |
- Is this phrase used anywhere in real world "too startled to say something"
- Someone died (in) saving someone
- ‘Once-three boys decreased by two’
- What word would you use to describe a person who is highly judgemental or critical of everything, but also is highly outspoken
- 'At a time' or 'in a time'
- What does 'go through the mill' mean?
- "We are open" and "We are closed" [closed]
- Please help me understand the phrase, "act as"
- How to convert of the following line into passive voice? [closed]
- Are there terms for referring to the different parts of a country's full title?
- Linker synonym to 'As a result'
- Past Perfect in 2nd Conditional?
- idiom or a smooth way to say that the game is the right level/scope for a person?
- Does the word "another" correctly substitute for the indefinite article in this sentence?
- Can you say or write "in the wake of the funeral" or any similar construction - or is that just really bad taste?
- Does the suffix -ify have any inherent characteristics of making letters pronounced which would otherwise be silent?
- Direct & indirect speech
- Why is the indefinite article used here? A novel called “Norwegian Forest”
- A word or phrase for the value of something to a thief
- 'For' is a coordinating conjunction, but 'because' is a subordinating conjunction. Is that right? Can someone explain why?
- Have the vaccine vs get the vaccine
- Is it "clipart" or "clip art"?
- Gender-neutral "Jane Doe" / "John Doe"
- Alternative sentence of "May I come in, please?"
- Which tense to use when describing a blueprint of sorts?
- Term for puffed up feathers
- Clear/reset unsuccessful attempts
- How can I counteract the meaning of "only" changing due to verb modifier?
- A word in between "lesser" and "greater"
| Is this phrase used anywhere in real world "too startled to say something" Posted: 07 Apr 2021 09:25 AM PDT I got this question in one of my mock tests for an exam. Click on the image to enlarge
The website correctly points out that to say must be used in the place of saying. But I feel that something should also be replaced with anything. I feel that we need an extra word (probably adjective) after something and before the comma for the sentence to be correct.
Even that doesn't sit well with the second part of the sentence. Using anything feels much better. Am I wrong?  |
| Someone died (in) saving someone Posted: 07 Apr 2021 08:16 AM PDT It's always someone died saving someone, without a preposition placed between died and saving. But I think the modern English tends to leave out the preposition of some usages, for example, waste no time (in) doing something and have no problem (in) doing something. Maybe it's the same case with die saving someone?  |
| ‘Once-three boys decreased by two’ Posted: 07 Apr 2021 06:57 AM PDT
While I was searching adverbs, I found that adverbs can modify determiner. Then, technically, is 'once-three boys decreased by two' a valid sentence?  |
| Posted: 07 Apr 2021 09:19 AM PDT On searching,I came across "self assertive " and "opinionated" . But neither of them seems to answer the query , fully .  |
| Posted: 07 Apr 2021 07:50 AM PDT In the phrase
What is the correct? Thank you so much!  |
| What does 'go through the mill' mean? Posted: 07 Apr 2021 08:05 AM PDT I am curious why "go through the mill" means "have had a lot of problems or difficulties".  |
| "We are open" and "We are closed" [closed] Posted: 07 Apr 2021 05:57 AM PDT What is the tense of the phrase "We are open" and "We are closed"? Also, could you give some similar examples of such phrases?  |
| Please help me understand the phrase, "act as" Posted: 07 Apr 2021 08:35 AM PDT I came across this situation. Context: There's these three characters. Let's call the first two, Bob and Alice. They've been friends since childhood and now all grown up. Sarah is the sister of Alice. Bob says to Alice: "You have to act as my new wife in place of Sarah. We don't have much time left. This is our only chance." In my opinion, "act as" sounds awkward and uncomfortable, perhaps I just need to understand what it means in this context? Also, may I ask if there's other synonyms or other phrases that's similar or identical to "act as"? Like another word that makes this sentence comfortable for a casual English speaker? Thank you for your help! :)  |
| How to convert of the following line into passive voice? [closed] Posted: 07 Apr 2021 04:22 AM PDT What will be the passive form of "I will buy you a dress."  |
| Are there terms for referring to the different parts of a country's full title? Posted: 07 Apr 2021 03:33 AM PDT Take "People's Republic of China" or "Kingdom of Norway", for example. I can refer to "China" or "Norway" part of the title as the country name (or geographical name). But if I want to talk about the political system, i.e., "People's Republic of" or "Kingdom of" part of the titles, what is a word/phrase that I can use to refer to it? If not, how can a new word for this be created using the '-nym' suffix? What would be appropriate root word to use in this context? (I know some countries don't follow the above format, like UAE, but let's ignore that for now)  |
| Linker synonym to 'As a result' Posted: 07 Apr 2021 03:23 AM PDT What synonym linker to 'As a result' can work here?
 |
| Past Perfect in 2nd Conditional? Posted: 07 Apr 2021 03:34 AM PDT Ok, I know that in 2nd cond. you use simple past in your sentence and perfect past is used when saying that something had happened before something else happened, but is it correct to say this? :
I instictively wrote that down because I was trying to communicate that the act of leaving the key happened before the act of realizing. But I'm not sure because I've never seen Perfect Past in a 2nd Cond. sentence before.  |
| idiom or a smooth way to say that the game is the right level/scope for a person? Posted: 07 Apr 2021 03:00 AM PDT I'm looking for a way to say that a certain game is challenging enough (but not too much) and of the right scope. So far I came up with 'This game is in my league' but that doesn't sound quite right.  |
| Does the word "another" correctly substitute for the indefinite article in this sentence? Posted: 07 Apr 2021 05:54 AM PDT I was reading a short story by Ray Bradbury and stumbled on a zero article case in the sentence below. "Years passed without another visitor, be it boy, girl, tramp or travelling man, knocking at her door." I feel that this way it sounds good without an article but I cannot explain why it does.  |
| Posted: 07 Apr 2021 04:34 AM PDT A situation which developed after she and her towheaded brood decided to overwinter in the wake of her father's funeral. (I realize I can use "aftermath" instead .. but the alternative is more interesting.)  |
| Posted: 07 Apr 2021 04:48 AM PDT It is quite clear that the word "signify" is derived from sign and the suffix -ify:
The letter "g" in the word sign is silent but when the suffix is added, it becomes pronounced:
Although the "g" doesn't get pronounced when another suffix -able is added:
Another example is the word damnify:
Upon the addition of the suffix -ify the "n", which would otherwise be silent, becomes pronounced. Now I looked up their etymologies and came to know that those words weren't formed within English. "Damnify" is from Old French damnefier and "signify" is from Old French signifier and I suspect they have etymological /g/ and /n/, respectively. For "signable" Wikitionary merely says "sign + -able" and I can't find it in any other etymological dictionary. The reason "signable" doesn't have a /g/, in my opnion, can be attributed to its compounding within Modern English; looking at the results from Google Ngram makes my opinion appear correct in that "signable" has zero results and "signify" predates it by over 500 years. The suffix -ify (which we also use to make words in Modern English) is from French ifier. Questions:I have two closely related questions:
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| Posted: 07 Apr 2021 07:44 AM PDT How can I change these sentences into indirect speech?
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| Why is the indefinite article used here? A novel called “Norwegian Forest” Posted: 07 Apr 2021 05:05 AM PDT According to a textbook I read, we use "the" in front of nouns that indicate unique existences, e.g sun, Eiffel tower. However, today I came across this sentence: "I would like to introduce you to a novel called "Norwegian Forest"" In this sentence, even though there is only one book called "Norwegian Forest", why is it accompanied by "a" ?  |
| A word or phrase for the value of something to a thief Posted: 07 Apr 2021 09:52 AM PDT tldr: what's a noun/phrase for 'value to a nefarious agent'? Specific example: Teslas are the least likely car to be stolen while the Accord, at 2/3 of the cost, gets stolen all the time. There are similar examples of the difference between "value" and "value to a thief". Fence-able seems contrived and ignores some of the other value of stolen goods, for example: 'worthless to most' family photos could be held ransom. Is there a synonym for value that applies specifically to outlaws?  |
| Posted: 07 Apr 2021 06:22 AM PDT He went to bed, for he was tired. (For = coordinating conjunction) He went to bed, because he was tired. (Because = subordinating conjunction) Is this correct? If so, I'm confused. In all the examples and explanations I've found online it says 'for' is a preposition unless used in that particular way above, in which case it becomes a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS). But to me it seems like 'for' has the exact same function and meaning as 'because' in the above example. Both could be replaced with 'due to the fact that...' Why is 'because' subordinating but 'for' coordinating?
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| Have the vaccine vs get the vaccine Posted: 07 Apr 2021 08:31 AM PDT Is either of these sentences incorrect? I feel that 'get' is better but I don't know why.
vs
 |
| Is it "clipart" or "clip art"? Posted: 07 Apr 2021 07:47 AM PDT What is a correct spelling - "clipart" or "clip art"? Is there any difference in meaning? May it be language specific, like American, British, Australian? Maybe "clip-art"?  |
| Gender-neutral "Jane Doe" / "John Doe" Posted: 07 Apr 2021 08:49 AM PDT Is there a gender-neutral alternative to "Jane Doe" / "John Doe"? I would like to provide an example of signed form, but how to avoid using gender when it comes to names? Is there some widely-used idiom for this?  |
| Alternative sentence of "May I come in, please?" Posted: 07 Apr 2021 08:15 AM PDT What do you usually say in the UK when you come into the class while the teacher is teaching. Is it ok to say "excuse me, sir or miss" or "May I come in, please"? are there any other ways to say this?  |
| Which tense to use when describing a blueprint of sorts? Posted: 07 Apr 2021 08:01 AM PDT I thought I might ask here as well. So I'm writing a paper and I want to define the experimental process. I have two challenges. Firstly, when I define the experimental process, I want to write it in a way that is independent of its execution, i.e., a generic process definition. So, which tense should I use? Past doesn't sound right, because it's actually a blueprint for an experiment and not something that was already done. I was thinking present simple? For example, I don't want to say "In the first step, participants had to answer the question" but something in the manner of "in the first step, participants answer the questions". I'm not sure which tense to use. Secondly, I want to state that the experimental process was executed three times. What noun should I use? I'm using the "instances" noun, e.g., "Three instances of the experimental process were performed across three days". Is this an OK choice for what I'm writing about? Also, I want to stress that the same experiment was completed three times, once each day and not that one experiment lasted for 3 days. Thanks for the advice!  |
| Posted: 07 Apr 2021 05:35 AM PDT Is there any single-worded term that describes a bird with puffed up feathers?  |
| Clear/reset unsuccessful attempts Posted: 07 Apr 2021 04:06 AM PDT What do you think about the phrases below:
Honestly, I like neither of them, but I can't think of any short alternative. This phrase is used for the button that sets the count of unsuccessful login attempts to zero. What would be the best way to convey this meaning without losing brevity? Thank you.  |
| How can I counteract the meaning of "only" changing due to verb modifier? Posted: 07 Apr 2021 03:04 AM PDT How can I counteract the meaning of "only" changing due to verb modifier? "Only" has a different meaning if there is a modifier to the verb. I want to make "I only strive towards success," mean the same thing as "I only strive. This striving is towards success." If "only" wasn't a tricky word then "I only strive towards success," would mean the exact same thing as "I only strive. This striving is towards success." However in reality, the first sentence means that I strive and this striving is exclusively towards success. But the first sentence does not necessarily mean that the only action I do is striving towards success. And the second sentences means what I wish the first sentence meant: "The only action I do is striving towards success." My question is the following. How can "I only strive towards success," be changed to mean the second sentences?  |
| A word in between "lesser" and "greater" Posted: 07 Apr 2021 07:14 AM PDT In many game systems (particularly fantasy or role-playing games), relative qualities or power levels are denoted by naming things using "lesser" or "greater". For example, in Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, there are weapon augmentation crystals, that might be named
etc. It seems odd to me that there is a "least", a "lesser", and a "greater", but nothing in the middle. It makes sense that a "lesser" object is lesser than the "greater" one, and vice versa, but it seems strange to not have something in the middle. Of course one could argue that the one in the middle needs no such qualifier, but I was wondering - is there a word that can stand alongside words such as "lesser" and "greater" to denote that something is the "regular" version? I thought of "common", but that strays into ideas of rarity, which is slightly different.  |
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