Sunday, October 10, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Does this sentence make sense to you? [migrated]

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 09:53 AM PDT

I want to know if this sentence is correct to say and if it makes sense to you guys :

There has been some works that bent over this problem

As a third person, how do I reply to "may he get well soon"? [closed]

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 07:34 AM PDT

What should I reply when someone says "may your dad get well soon"?
Should I say thank you or something else?

Is there a word? [closed]

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 07:14 AM PDT

Is there a single word to describe a nephew's wife's mother?

How to make these sentences passive: 'People believe that Jenkins is the culprit.' and 'People believed that Jenkins was the culprit.' [closed]

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 08:42 AM PDT

How to make these sentences passive? 'People believe that Jenkins was the culprit.' and 'People believed that Jenkins was the culprit.'

I know it is

Jenkins is believed to have been the culprit.

and

Jenkins was believed to be the culprit.

How come the same tense in the object clause 'that Jenkins was the culprit' becomes different infinitives – 'to have been' versus 'to be'?

What does the phrase: "the age of ...." mean?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 05:11 AM PDT

So for instance if someone says: This is the age of Bob.

For me (non-native) this always felt like: This is the year where everything will work out for Bob.

However I might be completely wrong here. Unfortunately this expression seems ungoogleable for me.

Use of "paper" / "study" / ... in scientific publications

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:23 AM PDT

In my research paper I used the phrase "this paper" to refer to the one I am writing and sometimes I write "the [other] paper" to refer to some other paper. The editor replaced "paper" with "study".

(Edit: The editor is not from a publisher. It is a service that checks my punctuation and spelling, before I submit my paper for peer-review.)

I thought that "study" refers to research in which one "goes out into the world, collects data and draws conclusions from that". That is NOT what I am doing, because I am writing a math paper. My main contribution is the theory not the experiments, which are case studies of my methods. (See what I did there? In the experiments section I do indeed use the word "study".) So, what I opted in for now is, to call other people work "literature" and my own work "this work".

Is the word "paper" bad style in scientific writing? I could also use the word "article" if that is better.

I understand that "research" refers to the entire body of publications on a topic, while "study" only refers to a single publication. But then again I could also say, "other's research [11]", while citing a specific paper, right?

When should I use which word:

  • paper,
  • study,
  • article,
  • literature,
  • research,
  • publication,
  • work?

Is "we contribute ..." bad style in scientific writing?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 04:50 AM PDT

In my paper I am writing a couple of times

We contribute ...

for example

First, we contribute a new definition for the problem and then a formula for xy.

My editor has removed all the "contribute" and replaced them with the verb "present". I have also seen such sentences with "introduce" or "propose".

I chose "contribute", because I wanted to make clear what our new contributions to the topic are what is not. E.g. I am repeating some formulas from other papers.

Is "we contribute ..." bad style and if so, why?

Is "kid brother/sister" proper usage in BrE?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 03:06 AM PDT

I have recently come across the phrase "kid brother" by a native speaker of British English. However, I am not sure whether this phrase is acceptable in BrE and whether its use is considered idiomatic, or whether "baby/little/younger brother" should be used instead.

Some dictionaries have the phrase listed as an AmE one (it is), and while I am aware of phrases that use the word "kid" that are acceptable in BrE (such as "kid gloves", "kids' stuff", etc), I am unsure about this one.

'She' as sentence object

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 05:02 AM PDT

In the following sentence from Lolita, Humbert Humbert, in describing with maximum condescension the character of his new wife, states:

'I had always been aware of the possessive streak in her, but I never thought she would be so crazily jealous of anything in my life that had not been she.'

Why is it 'anything that had not been she' and not 'anything that had not been her'? I understand that 'she' is a third person pronoun and cannot function as the object of a sentence, i.e. The message was for her, not The message was for she, but I'm still unsure of its use here.

I tried to swap she with a noun, because I thought if a noun worked there, then so would her, like 'anything in my life that had not been house, or car', which obviously do not, but found that abstract nouns sort-of work?

She was so crazily jealous of anything in my life that had also inspired sadness.

Ironically, he was wearied by anything in his life that had not been work.

Or even like place nouns:

On the topic of holidays, she dismissed any suggestions that did not include Europe

These are unnatural sentences but I don't think them grammatically incorrect, and I feel like I've kept the subject/object patterns as the initial one.

Thanks as always for your valuable insights.

Why "in some way" is grammatically correct in these contexts?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 01:56 AM PDT

  1. In relation to the military covenant, the Government has tried to make progress on issues such as "particular groups who have been disadvantaged in some way," he said ( http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-pledges-to-review-how-veterans-exposed-to-asbestos-are-compensated-a6721226.html)

  2. The best work we do is with people who are disadvantaged in some way, socially, economically or through lack of education (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/aug/01/schools.classicseducation)

  3. And if someone may be disadvantaged in some way, or has encountered problems, and hears about what I went through, and how I was able to change my life, it might give them inspiration (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/20/sports/sports-of-the-times-collins-turns-corner-on-and-off-field.html)

The phrase "in some way" means "somehow", but in these contexts it seems to mean "in one way or another", so why it's "way" instead of "ways"?

Is there a word for the coronation of a king who won his crown by reunifying the country, but is not the heir apparent?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 05:41 AM PDT

After sacking the capital of a country, and seeing that nation fall, there is no longer a central authority. A leader/lord/nobleman establishes himself as the ruler and starts to subjugate the enemy's incursion. After the enemy is pushed back, the "leader" is enthroned.

Does this process count as a coronation or can someone be crowned even though they are not the heir apparent? Is using the term "be crowned" proper, or there is a specific word to describe this process of becoming king?

Still more color [migrated]

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 01:28 AM PDT

... though the effort of standing up had drained him of still more colour, and he swayed slightly as he spoke.

Chapter name - Cat, Rat And Dog

Here it mentions still more but the thing is the chapter never mentions earlier that he even lost any color?

Using room twice

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 01:18 AM PDT

I have a game where an external character can use a room. There is a room known as "War Room". When the character used the room, like any other, a log will be produced that states "Fred has used the War Room room."

Is this correct since War Room is a name and room is the type?

-logy: Word for "the study of humour"

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 12:07 AM PDT

I'm searching for the correct word for:

"The branch of knowledge and research concerned with funniness / what people find funny / what makes people laugh"

Generally such words are suffixed with "-logy" which roughly denotes "a branch of knowledge/study of a particular subject." from -logia, "study", "research".

e.g

  • astrology
  • sociology
  • geology
  • philology
  • ecology

etc.

I could only find "humourology", but that doesn't seem as though its the "official designation". Thank you for reading

Number agreement question

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 01:53 AM PDT

I have always been wondering how I should determine the number of noun in this case: Compare the effect of the two policies. Or should I put as: Compare the effects of the two policies? Or is there any better way to address this question?

Contextualizing the question: The government is considering two policy options: monetary policy or fiscal policy. Each policy has a different implication on the economy. Economists want to compare the effect/effects of the two policies.

Intransitive use of "to wake" vs. "to wake up" [closed]

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 12:11 AM PDT

He woke in bed.

He woke up in bed.

Is there a difference between the two? How does the lack/addition of "up" affect the connotation, if at all? Is one preferred over the other depending on the context?

What is a word like "negate" but even worse?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:38 AM PDT

I suspect this is going to be a "oh yeah, duh" moment, but I'm looking for a word that is like "negate," but worse. Here's an example sentence:

I could cram for this test all night, but the sleep deprivation I'd experience could negate the effort.

I believe this sentence means, "cramming for the test could be canceled out by the sleep deprivation." But what I really want to say is, "the negatives of sleep deprivation could be worse than the benefits of cramming.

Is there a word with the latter meaning that could be swapped out for negate in the example sentence?

Meaning of “an” in Matthew (King James Version)

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 09:57 AM PDT

I'm having a little trouble parsing an in this context:

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

I thought it might be some kind of typo, but it is repeated, diminishing (though not eliminating) the chance of that.

Then I thought it might be a floated form of the prefix en-

word-forming element meaning "in; into," from French and Old French en-, from Latin in- "in, into" (from PIE root *en "in").
Etymonline

That feels a bit closer, but lacks that satisfying click of certainty. Anybody have a clue about this?

From the reaction of a few folks, it seems they want to point me in the direction of "hungred" as a noun (a hungry person, one who is hungered) with a silent /h/. The problem with that is that hungry was already present in Middle English, and even in Old English (hungrig, which would have been pronounced much the same). The next line uses thirsty readily enough, without turning that into a noun.

Let ... then ... in mathemathical definition

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:23 AM PDT

I am writing mathematical definitions in my scientific publications. My editor corrected the definitions in two different ways, but not consistently.

The editor is not from a publisher. It is a service that checks my punctuation and spelling, before I submit my paper for peer-review.

Now, I am not sure which version is correct:

Version 1:

Let A, and B; then, C.

Version 2:

Let A, and B. Then, C.

Version 3:

Let A, and B; then C.

Version 4:

Let A, and B, then C.

Edit: After reading

Additionally I read

In any case, I am none the wiser.

"the tyranny of the people with a chip on their shoulder and time to burn"

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 02:24 AM PDT

A Hacker News commentator wrote:

if you open up moderation then you'll get Tyranny of the Majority [1]. But in the internet age it would actually be tyranny-of-the-people-a-chip-on-their-shoulder-and-time-to-burn.

[1] : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority

I wonder if there is a better or at least shorter term for "the tyranny of the people with a chip on their shoulder and time to burn"?

Purvey or Provide? [closed]

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 09:19 AM PDT

I've seen a new word to me in an interview. To purvey.

Well I understand the meaning. But what's the distinction then between provide and purvey?
This question seems to be not popular, as I haven't been able to find anything.

The original sentence says, "What is the audience experiencing in purveying the work that actors present?"

I hope someone will enlighten me about the difference of the meaning.

the to-infinitive as an adverbial(substitute of for+N?), an object, or a subject complement?

Posted: 09 Oct 2021 11:39 PM PDT

A. She is likely/sure/certain to start her new project.

She may start her new project.

Are the senses and the roles of the to inf. the same as 'start her new project' of 'may', complementing the (modal) verbs and indicating the action of the subject? Do we speak them in the same sense? If we classify the main verb of modal verbs ad the complement of the modal verbs, do we also classify the inf. above as the complements of the 'be + adj.'s? Or is the to-inf. just an object?

B. I'm dying/willing/curious/anxious/eager to eat that cake.

I'm dying/willing/curious/anxious/eager for that cake.

Do we speak the to inf.s above in the same sense as the 'for~'s? Do they mean the same, expressing the subject's wish, desire, or plan as adverbials?

C. I hoped for some money./I hoped to take the train.

I begged for more candy./I begged to go to the movies.

I longed for an A./I long to get an A.

I volunteered for the job./I volunteered to help the kids.

I was aiming for the trophy./I was aiming to receive the trophy.

Do these to inf. express desire/intention as adverbials, same as the 'for+N's? Or, are they just objects?

"Depend on if" means "depend on whether"?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 09:01 AM PDT

Can I replace "depend on whether" below with "depend on if"? I ask because "whether" can be replaced with "if" some times. 'I'll see whether she's at home' same as I'll see if she's at home.

Second language learners' divergence from target language pragmatic norms | Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching. Maria Pia Gomez-Laich. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh .

Although the importance of explicit teaching of pragmatics is well recognized in the literature, learning norms and rules of pragmatics largely depends on learners' subjectivity. Learners' convergence or divergence from the L2 pragmatic norms, both consciously and out of awareness, sometimes depends on whether these norms fit their image of self and their L1 cultural identity. Since identity-related conflict can have significant consequences for the acquisition of second language pragmatics, failing to consider the centrality of learners' identities will produce an inadequate understanding of SLA.

Frontiers | Plasticity, Variability and Age in Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism | Psychology. David Birdsong, Department of French and Italian, The University of Texas at Austin. Front. Psychol., 12 March 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00081.

That is, the L1 appears to influence pronunciation in the dominant L2, but not the other way around. Perception experiments with a larger sample of Greek–English bilinguals (Antoniou et al., 2012, p. 592) reveal a still more complex pattern of dominance relationships, one that depends on whether the task is categorization or discrimination of voicing: "The results suggest that a bilingual is a single (dominant-language) listener with respect to discrimination, but behaves more like a monolingual of the activated language with respect to discrimination judgments."

Universal Grammar as a Model of Second Language Learning. Dr. Ahmed Qadoury Al-Khudhairy, Assistant Lecturer, University of Wassit, College of Education, Department of English.

whether a language allows null subject or not

  • depends on whether INFL is proper governor (GB)

  • depends on morphological uniformity (B)

  • depends on whether affixes are generated in the syntax or in the lexicon (MP). See Katamba (1993:56,158-59).

Is it correct to say "files from 3 days ago" or "files of 3 days ago"?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 01:04 AM PDT

The situation may be as follows:

A computer crashed on 12 January 2020, but we need to get some files as the status on 9 January 2020.

We need the files from 3 days ago.

We need the files of 3 days ago.

Are they both correct?

What are some formal alternatives to Mr./Ms., particularly in the context of job-hunting?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 03:06 AM PDT

I've always been told to refer to people by an honorific followed by their last names, especially when discussing job opportunities etc. However, I would rather not misgender anybody in doing so. I would appreciate if someone offered an alternative honorific or an alternative way to address people in emails, cover letters etc.

Is the usage of "with which" here correct?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 03:31 AM PDT

"Where is the key with which I usually use to unlock the drawer in the office?"

Is the sentence above grammatically correct? I saw it in a test a few days ago...

The usage of 'as in' in a sentence starting with 'nor'

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 08:01 AM PDT

The Elantra Sport is a fun car to drive, even if there isn't nearly as much front-end grip as the newest Civic Si, nor does aggressive trail-braking net any oversteer in tight turns as in the Ford Focus ST.

Does this sentence mean that the Ford Focus ST nets some oversteer in tight turns when this car does aggressive trail-braking?

Due to the presence of 'as in' in the sentence above, I finds it somewhat vague...

And does the writer view that character of the Ford Focus as something positive?

It is + (time) + to + (verb)?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:02 AM PDT

Actually, I'm asking for an another way to say "it takes + (time) + to + (verb)".

For example, is "It is 1 hour to go to the hospital" correct or the "it takes + (time) + to + (verb)" construction is the only way to make a sentence in this sense?

Why did Servia become Serbia?

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 09:37 AM PDT

Reading contemporary histories of the First World War, I noticed that at the start the nation in the Balkans is referred to as Servia, but in numbers published after the back half of 1916, it has turned into Serbia.

Is there any particular reason for this?

Consulting Google NGrams gives:-

enter image description here

which seems to correspond to my observation.

Edit Replaced Google NGram with version using capitalised names, as suggested by Steven Littman; the result makes rather more sense.

Using only a direct object with the verb "give"

Posted: 10 Oct 2021 02:39 AM PDT

Is it possible to use the verb give with only a direct object? For example,

Could you give the definition?

Or need I to add an indirect object, so the sentence becomes

Could you give me the definition?
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