Saturday, July 17, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

"This is the one encyclopedia upon which I can depend." Can I put the proposition 【upon】 at the end of the sentence? [migrated]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 07:40 AM PDT

"This is the one encyclopedia upon which I can depend." Can I put the proposition 【upon】 at the end of the sentence? That is" This is the one encyclopedia which I can depend upon."

And for the sentence " The man whom you asked about is here", whether its grammar is correct if I say " The man about whom you asked is here." ?

grammar rule of the phrase "If I knew" [closed]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 07:30 AM PDT

Can you please explain the grammar behind/regarding the phrase "If I knew"

Past Simple & Past Continuous [closed]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 06:04 AM PDT

There was an exercise in a renown Cambridge book, the choice is between Past Continuous and Past Simple. The sentence goes:

In the evening I (sit) in the buffet. I (not eat) much but I (talk) to some interesting people.

I wrote:

In the evening I was sitting in the buffet. I didn't eat much but I talked to some interesting people.

The book says the only right answer is "in the evening I sat in the buffet", past continuous is impossible to use in this example. Why?

Past Perfect vs Past Perfect Continuous [migrated]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 05:44 AM PDT

In the First Class Complete Edition (official Cambridge book) there's an example:

None of us (ever ski) before so we had been looking forward forward to it for months.

Naturally I wrote "None of us had ever skied before so we had been looking forward to it for months." But the only right answer, so the book says, is "had ever been skiing".. Why??

To put things into perspective, is is even idiomatic or at least colloquial to say:

"I have never been playing football"?

What's one word for the phrase 'the act of taking your head back on seeing something strange'?

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 08:30 AM PDT

I am writing a short story, but I am mostly stuck in one word substitution (as my vocabulary isn't that strong). So I want to know one word for the following phrase —

the act of taking your head back on seeing something strange (or unexpected)

Sample sentence —

She turned away and was a little shocked ... (the act of taking your head back on seeing something strange (or unexpected)) ... by the sight of the filled porcelain.

Is this sentence correct? Shouldn't be "wasn't it" not "isn't it?" Is there any case in which auxiliary can be different in one sentence? [duplicate]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 03:33 AM PDT

That was a great presentation, isn't it?

Is this sentence correct? Shouldn't be "wasn't it" not "isn't it?" Is there any case in which auxiliary can be different in one sentence?

Use of "As yet" [closed]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 06:05 AM PDT

The as yet in the following sentence has puzzled me. What does it mean?

In fact, was Storytelling itself complicit in the systematized murder—not just of soldiers—but also of innocent civilians whose only "crime" was the content of their as yet quantified, let alone unqualified, genetic material?

(The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne)

to have desire vs to have a desire

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 01:27 AM PDT

  1. She added that she does "not have desire to interact with or communicate in any way with Mr. Sweet". (Independent)

  2. Every day we do crossing and finishing and we have to have desire to get the ball in the box. (BBC)

  3. But both have a desire to communicate as directly as they can. (The New York Times - Arts)

  4. We would like to win and have a desire to win something this season. (Independent)

What's the difference in meaning between have desire and have a desire?

Are festivals really nouns? [closed]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 01:11 AM PDT

I learned that a noun is place, animal, thing, people.

Why we are told to capitalize Christmas and Thanksgiving which are not nouns, or are they really nouns?

What do you call a person who has interest in every field? [duplicate]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 12:43 AM PDT

Some persons are interested in everything, they want to know everything, want to have knowledge in everything. they can't just sit calmly without having a question in their mind? What do you call those persons?

“I hit the ball in the cave” [migrated]

Posted: 16 Jul 2021 09:35 PM PDT

Can "I hit the ball in the cave" mean "I hit the ball while I being in the cave" and "I hit the ball, and the ball went into the cave"?

Can I paradoxiacally interpret "there is little room for"? [closed]

Posted: 16 Jul 2021 10:27 PM PDT

I am wondering about the nuance of "there is little room for" in the below context.

Some photographers might feel like there is little room for creativity in high-volume photography. However, many photographers choose to use this niche to create a steady income while simultaneously working on other more creative pursuits.

While I am aware that "there is little room for" basically means "there is almost no room for", in this context, I actually felt that it might paradoxically mean that some photographers (who have no experience in the high-volume photoshoot yet) think they could still be a bit creative, and the latter sentence is denying it saying many rather focus on making money in the niche separting it from crative pursuits.

Am I thinking too much to think like the above? haha.

What is the meaning of "initiations" in this context?

Posted: 16 Jul 2021 10:39 PM PDT

My own fears are the blackest, and at the prospect of losing my wonderful beloved brother out of the world in which, from as far back as in dimmest childhood, I have so yearningly always counted on him, I feel nothing but the abject weakness of grief and even terror; but I forgive myself "weakness"—my emergence from the long and grim ordeal of my own peculiarly dismal and trying illness isn't yet absolutely complete enough to make me wholly firm on my feet. But my slowly recuperative process goes on despite all shakes and shocks, while dear William's, in the full climax of his intrinsic powers and intellectual ambitions, meets this tragic, cruel arrest. However, dear Grace, I won't further wail to you in my nervous soreness and sorrow—still, in spite of so much revival, more or less under the shadow as I am of the miserable, damnable year that began for me last Christmas-time and for which I had been spoiling for two years before. I will only wait to see you—with all the tenderness of our long, unbroken friendship and all the host of our common initiations.

I wonder what does the bolded initiation mean in this context. Could it be a kind of ordeal?

This is from Henry James's letter and I put the link to the whole letter here.

Is "speed dial" really an obsolete term by now? or is the term here to stay? [closed]

Posted: 16 Jul 2021 10:16 PM PDT

This website https://www.wikihow.com/Set-Speed-Dial-on-Android says "speed dial" is a bit obsolete, but I don't understand why wikihow.com says this because I can enter phone numbers into my contacts and then choose the very number I'm trying to call within my contacts and then call the number just by pressing one button and there you go. If that is not speed dial, I don't know what is.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/speed-dial :

speed-dial

in British English

(ˈspiːdˌdaɪəl)

verb

to call (someone) on a telephone by pressing a single button rather than by dialling the full number

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

Even though you have to go through your contacts first, you are still not dialing the full number. Does turning the phone on also count as an extra button to press along with pressing the contact button afterwards? Does turning your phone on and then pressing contacts and choosing a contact really have to count in order to disqualify the next step as speed dial? The next step is not dialing seven numbers, it is just pressing one button.

Recognizing phrases with determiners

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 01:00 AM PDT

I've just started learning syntax, from Jim Miller's Edinburgh introduction. Please answer for Miller's analysis, if possible. Currently, I am concerned I'm being too zealous in recognizing new phrases and heads. E.g. in

My plants are good for me.

the determiner, 'my', can I think be omitted, which I believe is one of his tests for being a phrase.

But then the noun also seems to pass a test for being a phrase, conjunction:

My plants and pets are good for me.

I also wondered if the answer means that the determiner and its noun can be separated in a clause.

Plants I don't nurture my.

Which reads like poor English: but why? Specifically, if both 'plants' and 'my' are phrases, then why aren't they syntactically independent enough to separate?

The missing "to" in the phrase "subject to"

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 02:02 AM PDT

I learned that when referring one thing is subject to another thing, a "to" should always be there next to "subject" or before a which/that, etc. However, in the below language, there is no such "to", but the sentence is still correct. Can anyone tell me why? Many thanks!

"It is required to do so by law or by the regulations of any relevant stock exchange or other regulatory authority the rules and regulations of which he or it is subject."

Jack

to transcend or to be transcended

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 09:06 AM PDT

"In basic terms, transculturalism might be provisionally defined as the transcendence and questioning of cultural delimitations."

What is meant in the text I'm working on is that transculturalism transcends cultural delimitations. To me, the use of "transcendence" here sounds like the cultural limitations are doing the transcending, so to speak, rather than being transcended. I am considering changing "transcendence" to "transcending" (i.e., "the transcending of"). Am I wrong?

(Looking ahead, I see that "transcendence" is used quite a lot in this text, so I want to make sure I'm right before rejecting every instance.)

Schedule the meeting in/on the remaining slots

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 08:02 AM PDT

Hello to the community,

I am unclear whether I should use in or on in the sentence: "Schedule the meeting ___ the remaining slots." I want to express that only a certain number of slots are left, and I wish to schedule a meeting ___ one of those.

Thanks

"would we not" vs. "wouldn't we" in questions

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 05:01 AM PDT

Is there a difference between the following two sentences? Is the second sentence grammatically wrong?

Why would we not expect the body to revolt?

Why wouldn't we expect the body to revolt?

Is it correct to say the first sentence puts an emphasis on the negation, meaning that it's a bit shocking that we do not have that expectation?

Can the adverb "strongly" be use with the verb "try"? If not, is there a clear reason?

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 04:00 AM PDT

It doesn't seem to me to be possible to use the adverb "strongly" in connection with the verb "try" but I can't figure out why not. It feels as it it ought to be possible but never sounds right. Is this a correct observation and if so is there a clear linguistic reason for this? The obvious answer is to use the adverb "hard", but why not "strongly"?

Evaluating a sequence of logical clauses that are chained using "and" and "or" [duplicate]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 12:05 AM PDT

How do you evaluate a logical statement that has multiple condition clauses "If A or B and C"? From method 1 & 2 below, which is the correct/common interpretation?

  1. If A is true, or both of B and C are true, then the statement is true.
  2. If either of A and B is true, and also if C is true, then the statement is true.

Using parentheses, the method 1 & 2 would be:

  1. A or (B and C)
  2. (A or B) and C

Coming from a programmer point of view, most programming languages use the method 1, where all 'and' are evaluated first before the 'or' are evaluated. Is it also true for English language in general usage?

To use a concrete example, consider the following A, B, C:

If it is morning or it is evening and it is Monday, then I will bring an umbrella.

Do I bring an umbrella if it is Tuesday morning?

  1. Yes
  2. No

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Let me add additional information why I insist on not adding additional commas to resolve the ambiguity.

I'm designing a system where a non-technical user can define rules using English language with specific formats, for example:

  • today is sunday
  • date is 1st of june
  • user's age is not less than 18

And the rules can be combined using "and" and "or":

today is sunday or date is 1st of june and user's age is not less than 18

Can I rely on a common interpretation in English using a well-known precedence of "and" and "or", or do I have to either:

  1. introduce commas into the rule grammar
  2. put a disclaimer on how the "and" and "or" will be interpreted by the system?

to shame something out of someone

Posted: 16 Jul 2021 11:00 PM PDT

What does "to shame something out of someone" mean? Specially in this sentence by Walt Whitman:

the look of the bay mare shames silliness out of me.

Does it mean the look of the bay mare shames him, because he realizes that how much silliness he has?

The full stanza:

I believe in those wing'd purposes,

And acknowledge red, yellow, white, playing within me,

And consider green and violet and the tufted crown intentional,

And do not call the tortoise unworthy because she is not something else,

And the jay in the woods never studied the gamut, yet trills pretty well to me,

And the look of the bay mare shames silliness out of me.

Term for wanting something but not wanting to give something else up to have it

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 06:04 AM PDT

I have been trying to think of the word to describe wanting to have something while not being prepared to give up something else to have it.

My example is, "a person wants to live closer to nature but they are unwilling to sacrifice the modern conveniences of urban living to achieve that."

These are contradictory ideas, but I cannot think of the word to express them. It is an attitude, and I just cannot think of the term. The word 'selfish' definitely doesn't fit in the context. Is it a paradox?

Participial constructions using "it" [duplicate]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 07:04 AM PDT

  1. Feeling hot, I opened the window.
  2. It being hot, I opened the window.

A non-English speaking acquaintance of mine said that her textbook identified sentence 1 as being correct and sentence 2 as being incorrect. On the other hand, a different textbook apparently said that the following sentence was correct:

It being the holiday season, the train was full.

So naturally, her question to me was why "It being hot,..." is incorrect, but "It being the holiday season,..." is correct. I have no experience explaining the nuances of participial constructions and had only my intuition to suggest to me that BOTH sentences beginning with "It" are incorrect. Is one of the books wrong? Are they both wrong? Am I wrong?

Any explanations that are not overly technical would be appreciated.

‘One less’ or ‘one fewer’?

Posted: 16 Jul 2021 10:18 PM PDT

If we've lost a team member, do we have 'one member less', 'one less member', 'one member fewer', or 'one fewer member'?

Thanks!

How homogeneous was Old English spelling?

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 09:24 AM PDT

Are varying spellings available, or was Old English rather uniform, as far as the sources show?

Variant spelling may have indicated different verbal dialects, but written dialects, involuntary eye dialect, may allow greater insight into the pronunciation. Is this cleaned up and normalized in OE dictionaries?

Is it correct? "Should I not hear from you by [date], I shall assume your kind confirmation of it." [closed]

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 03:06 AM PDT

Is it correct to write in this way?

"Should I not hear from you by [date], I shall assume your kind confirmation of it."

Most grateful for your advice!!! T_T

In art, what do we call a painting within a painting and the painter painting himself?

Posted: 16 Jul 2021 11:29 PM PDT

enter image description hereIn art, what do we call a painting within a painting being painted by a painter painting the painting who is also painting himself?

I mean sth like this picture:
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