Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

There's as a contraction for There Was

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:42 AM PDT

Is there any way to contract "There Was"? Closest that I can think of is There's but that seems solely reserved for "There is", making any usage of There's current tense and not past.

Why has everyone started saying "it is what it is"? And what does it mean?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:40 AM PDT

Few expressions anger me more than "it is what it is". It sounds so incredibly dumb to me. And I keep hearing it lately, from all kinds of people:

Any sentence goes here. It is what it is.

All the time. What does that even mean? "It is what it is"? You don't say...

There is something provocative about this expression to me, as if the person saying it is really saying:

Things are the way they are and we can't do anything about it, so we shouldn't even try to change the situation.

It seems like people are constantly just "shrugging their shoulders" and use this phrase. Does it mean something else?

Converting a sentence from passive voice to active voice

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:46 AM PDT

I wish to convert a sentence written in the passive voice to that of the active voice. The sentence is in a covering letter for a job. Here it is:

"I am experienced in reviewing, drafting, and amending a broad range of contracts, these include supply of service contracts and supply of goods contracts."

I would be grateful if someone could show me what the above looks like in the active voice.

Kind regards.

Use of neither in beginning of sentence

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 08:40 AM PDT

I have come across the following sentence in a paper, and I wonder if it is correct or even just passable English:

Neither is Islam a constant movement over time."

I would use "nor" here but I became unsure if neither was ok or if both should be avoided?

What is the correct way of saying the sentence below?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT

'I could see her indicating that I should come to the other side of the car "

I would like to know the correct way of saying this sentence?

Per American pronunciation, "a ear" or "an ear"?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 08:28 AM PDT

I just watched YEAR vs. EAR - American English Pronunciation (EAR vs. HEAR), and I hear absolutely no difference between the pronunciations of "ear" and "year", given we should use "a" for "year", can we use "a" for "ear"?

What is the meaning of (half a notion for something)?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:24 AM PDT

What is the meaning of (half a notion for ..) in this context?

What is left is attachment to yourself: a recognition of worth and the wish that it be preserved. Thus, half a notion for approaching middle age. Can you separate attachment from concern, grieving your own mortality in advance, giving up the need to persist forever, while saving the desire for a better life?

Thank you,

"In a first step" versus "In the first step"

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:44 AM PDT

In German we would often use the phrase "In einem ersten Schritt" which literally translates to "In a first step[, we did this or that..]". It is often used when the order of steps is a bit arbitrary.

This is in contrast to "Im ersten Schritt" ("In the first step") which is often used when the order of steps is more obvious or natural.

Now Google Doc always suggests that I should change "In a first step" to "In the first step" and I wonder how native English speakers fell about this. Does "In a first step" feel right to you under the conditions mentioned above?

Example: In a first step, the police officers examined the alibis of possible suspects. In a second step they searched for witnesses in the neighborhood. (here, the second step does not necessarily depend on the first step and there would be multiple possible first steps)

Here's a similar, but not identical question:

Why "a" before "elements of a first step"?

What is an adjective to describe something that is aware of its surroundings?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:11 AM PDT

I am looking for an adjective to describe an organization that does not only sense what is happening within itself (its own data) but is also aware of the (external) environment. One could say that this organization has senses/perceptors. Specifically, I am referring to an organization/ a group of people and not to individual organisms.

Words that came to my mind were sensitive (but the meaning is a bit different as it describes how you react to things you perceive), conscious (too passive), and sentient (like that one the most).

I would not limit the search to adjectives only if there are good phrases etc. to describe what I am looking for.

Using the word 'back' in a headline [duplicate]

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 03:53 AM PDT

I'm struggling with the way this headline should be structured:

  1. We're welcoming families back! OR 2. We're welcoming back families!

I'm not sure what part of speech 'back' is in these examples. And would like to know why it would be used one way over the other. Thank you!

its vs. their in the following example

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 03:45 AM PDT

I am not sure whether the possessive pronoun can refer to the plural noun or only to the singular noun in the following example:

Clarity on the non-identity between the underlying algorithms and their/its consequences for the results is supposed to provide a good basis.

Does the possessive pronoun have to refer to clarity (its) because of the sentence structure or can it also refer to the algorithms (their)? Many thanks for your help!

You aren't still getting those headaches, are you? [migrated]

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 04:12 AM PDT

In one of my grammar books (namely, MyGrammarLab Intermediate by Pearson), I've come across this short dialogue:

  • You aren't still getting those headaches, are you?
  • Yes, I am. The doctor says they're caused by stress.

This dialogue seems quite confusing to me because of the word 'still'. I would write it this way:

  • You are still getting those headaches, aren't you?
  • Yes, I am. The doctor says they're caused by stress.

"You aren't getting those headaches yet, are you?" sounds OK to me. But the same questions with "still" sounds confusing, because "still" isn't the same as "yet", is it? "You aren't still getting those headaches, are you?", to me, sounds as if the 2nd person (who is being asked) wants to have headaches, but still hasn't been able to "have them in his head" (= He doesn't still have them, although he's keen for them to happen), which is really strange.

Could you help me, please?

referring to specifically the game theory definition of "game"

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 06:11 AM PDT

I need to reference "games" in the context of game theory.

My current sentence is something like "... This method applies for any type of game. For example, this is how it might apply to American Football ..."

I don't want it to come off as whimsical where I'm referring to children's games or sports; it should ideally be a formal, academic tone. The method in question is easiest to exemplify using the example of American Football, so I can't change that. This is for a short, 2 sentence blurb that links the main paper, in which this problem does not exist.

Both their three cars

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT

Both indicates that the action or state denoted by the verb applies individually to each of two entities. Both books weigh more than five pounds means that each weighs more than five by itself, not that the two books weighed together come to more than five.

https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=both

Is both their three cars ambiguous with the meaning "each owns three cars, six cars in total"?

What about the three cars of both('s?) or both's three cars?

The usage of "WHO" as a conjuction

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:06 AM PDT

I've just started reading the Booker Prize-winning novel "The Sellout".

I don't know the narrator has omitted " who" here or he is talking about himself when he says "indifferent to ...":

... I Never snuck into the movies or failed to give back the extra change to a drugstore cashier indifferent to the ways of mercantilism and minimum-wage expectations...

I mean who is indifferent here, The Cashier or the Narrator?

Is "who" a deleted conjunction?

Question regarding combining two independent clauses using colons

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 08:42 AM PDT

After doing research on the proper way of combining two independent clauses using colons, I wanted to confirm that the examples below are using them correctly.

From my research, the second independent clause should interpret or amplify the first.

I'd appreciate any feedback on this topic.

Example 1:

  • Ask yourself why you haven't gained muscle: is it because you haven't been to the gym?

Example 2:

  • The chair is blue: it was painted by a famous artist who wanted to represent the sky.

Example 3:

  • Tell me why you're mad: I'm assuming it's because I didn't call you.

--

Also, I've read that capitalizing the letter after the colon is a style choice unless we're discussing proper nouns, lists, or sentence fragments. Is this true?

How to pronounce the "bunched /r/" sound?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:04 AM PDT

I don't live in English-speaking country. I try to learn English on my own. I am interested in aquisition the General American accent (GA). My question is about the American /r/ consonant ([ɹ]) and the American r-colored vowels ([ɚ]).

I have a problem with realization of the /r/ English phonem. I know that exist 10-11 or even more options to articulate this sound, but the retroflex and the bunched (aka molar, retracted, dorsal) versions are the most famous. I have learned the retroflex version of this sound. I am OK with the [ɻ], alveolar and postalveolar realizations.
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Now my main interest is the bunched /r/. I have tried many times to pronounce this for 3-4 weeks but I can't. I went through all the videos and articles about this topic that I found on the Internet. I have seen the MRI. The tongue tip must not be curl and lift up, the tip of the tongue should be located at the bottom or just neutral. Each time I try the tip my tongue wants to go up. If I hold the tip of my tongue and don't lift it up then I'm making completely different sound.

bunched r 1

So, how to pronounce the clear "bunched /r/" without lifting the tip?

What I've tried: I looked at my mouth with a flashlight in a mirror, I used a pencil, I used a spoon.

Russian language is my native tongue. I don't have speech defects in my native language.

What is a word for a process that repeats at a consistent interval?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 04:34 AM PDT

What is a word for a process that repeats at some consistent interval or cadence? For example,

We run the user testing _____ every week on Mondays.

"Show & Shine and Dyno" VS "Show Shine and Dyno"

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 06:02 AM PDT

I am in need to settle a grammatical argument at my workplace. We are holding a car show/dyno testing event.

Part of the name I was given is "Show & Shine and Dyno" Show & Shine is often used as a Noun in the community much like the word "Fair". But from what I understand when you add the word "Dyno"; as in Dyno Testing, "Show & Shine" can no longer be treated as a singular noun and instead becomes to separate verbs. Making the statement grammatically incorrect, As it then reads "Show and Shine and Dyno". The other argument is arguing that "Show & Shine" stays as a noun.

"Such-and-such (a)" + singular noun

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 08:01 AM PDT

I've found both versions, She lives in such-and-such a street AND She lives in such-and-such street

Are both uses of the determiner? Which is the right one?

OED entry for such

An "increase of" vs. "increasing of"?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 06:43 AM PDT

Before I always though that, because word "increase" is a noun, I should use it. But just recently I've seen someone using "increasing of" too. And at first, I thought that it isn't correct, but then I discovered that "increasing" is a gerund. So which way is right?

"The 1800s" versus "the 19th century"?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:04 AM PDT

As a non-native English speaker, who never says "Xth century" in my language, phrases such as:

In the late 19th century, they invented a lot of cool stuff!

... always forces me to stop and think about what is being said. "Obviously", they mean the 1800s, but to my eyes and my brain, the first thought it that they mean the "late 1900s", AKA the 1990s. I have to really concentrate to make myself believe that they are talking about "one century prior to what makes sense".

Even when the context should make it more or less clear, just seeing that "9" in "19th century" brings my thoughts over to "the 1900s" rather than the "1800s".

Also, what if I don't know for sure that the author of the text is a native English speaker? Maybe that person has the same confusion as I, and he really does mean to say the "late 1900s"?

You can imagine how confused I used to be as a child to see "20th century entertainment" logos and whatnot in the beginning of popular culture TV shows... or when it changed to "21st century" when it had switched over to year 2000! For the longest time, I assumed that they just wanted to be "futuristic" and didn't even realize that "21st century" actually means "the 2000s"...

Is this a common confusion? Maybe even among native English speakers?

How to indicate that verification/correction is requested in the document

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 03:05 AM PDT

I've been tasked to write a document (like a wiki) about an application for work. I don't know much about the app, other than what I'm understanding by reading the source code and minimal business requirements. As such, there are some assumptions I'm making in the document that I want verified/clarified by anyone reading it who knows more about that particular feature. Is there some kind of "grammatical feedback" (kind of like when people use (sp?) to indicate that they are unsure of a word spelling) that I could use to annotate a particular phrase or word?

For instance:

This controller provides [access to the following CRUD operations ] (unsure of bracketed text)

Thanks.

What is the history and regional dispersion of the affirmative "yup"?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 04:12 AM PDT

Living in the Pacific Northwest, a person I'm close to frequently uses this word instead of the more common "yep" or "yeah". As I haven't heard it regularly from others and she has Southern American roots, I wondered what the source of this word is and what geographic regions it's most common.

My limited searching of several dictionaries and some Google searches gave a variety of origin years ranging from the early 1900s to the 1980s. None of them cited this first usage and I was unable to find information on on regional distribution at a sub-national level; apparently this is primarily an Americanism, though this was not well cited either.

Colons after a single word (e.g. "Example:")

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:29 AM PDT

Everywhere I look, I seem to be finding examples of colons being used after a single word.

"Examples:
The dog is brown.
The cat is white."

"Recommended: Take this twice a week.
Not recommended: Take this twice a day."

"Rule:
Start at 5
Add 7 each time"

My understanding is that a colon should be used only after a full sentence, and that following a colon you can have a sentence fragment. I'm not convinced that this could be justified as inverting the construction, but I'm happy to be told otherwise...

What I'm really looking for is a reference that justifies this usage or shows it to be wrong so I have a concrete rule to follow before huge amounts of material get written wrongly. I've tried every grammar/punctuation book I can find in my office, as well as multiple google searches, and even on pages listing the uses of colons (e.g. this page) this layout is used, but not covered as a rule! Is this just something that is so commonly used by people that it's become accepted?

Usage of the abbreviation resp. in scientific writing [closed]

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:17 AM PDT

Is it a good practice to use the abbreviation resp. for respectively in scientific writing ? Let consider the following sentence as example. "The word size (resp., word length) is defined as the number of different values (resp., significant digits) that one word can store (resp., align)."

Is there a difference between the words "divestment" and "divestiture"?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 02:04 AM PDT

Is there a difference between these two terms, either in terms of definition or connotation? Context is in a business selling an asset or business line. Most of the time I hear divestment, but once in a while someone refers to a divestiture.

EDIT:

When you look it up, (e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divestment), it just says they're the same word. I'm looking for more than a simple Google search would provide.

EDIT 2:

Investopedia says the same thing, that they're the same: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/divestment.asp

Perhaps this means that they are the exact same, but I feel a slightly different connotation between the two that I can't put my finger on.

Is there something incorrect about the phrase "fall back asleep"?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 03:39 AM PDT

A quick Google search shows that the phrase seems to be in relatively common usage, but for some reason I find the construct very awkward.

I would say "fall asleep" the first time, and then "fall back to sleep" if awakened.

Saying "fall back asleep" sounds wrong to me in a similar way to "(I tripped but am) back running". Is something wrong with the tense? A case of "coming back to the present"?

Is "subtle" a positive, neutral or/and negative word?

Posted: 03 Aug 2021 06:47 AM PDT

I wonder whether subtle is a positive, neutral or/and negative word? Looking up its definition, it seems that the word means things unclear for good reason.

For example, I  wonder if subtle can be used to describe a class that is not easy to understand? If so, would that mean more of that the class is difficult to understand because of the complexity of its content, or due to the inability of the lecturer? 
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