Friday, November 26, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

What is the difference between a private reason and a personal reason?

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 09:26 AM PST

I want to know what the difference is between a private reason and a personal reason. An interview asked me questions about the difference between a private reason and a personal reason.

On the use of semi-colons in long lists

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 09:42 AM PST

I've always had a hard time with semi-colons and, this time, not even my English teacher was sure of what is its correct use in the following situation:

It's about creativity, proving properties of mathematical systems and the naturally captivating, beautifully-crafted problems; it is about the arduous moments of head-melting logical thinking; the infinite possible pathways; the dead ends; the methodical yet creative logical arguments; the crawling focus that obscures all except thought; the moments before progress; and the illuminating, surging epiphanies.

Use of 'antinomic'

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 08:19 AM PST

ANTINOMY – a contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are, in themselves, reasonable.

I HAVE TO to use the word 'antinomy' (or 'antinomic') in a sentence to convey the following meaning:

X is contradictory to Y.

Can I say: "X is antinomic to Y"? Perhaps a different preposition should be used?

What's the difference between "I don't like him" vs "I don't even like him"? [closed]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 08:14 AM PST

I would like to know the significance of the word even here.

Need help with matching headings question [closed]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 08:14 AM PST

When I was practicing for IELTS test, I encountered this question that there is a list of headings which we should match with paragraphs. One proposed method is that we should try to write a heading ourselves. These are what I have written but they are not properly match any of heading list's options. please help me to understand how should I address this type of questions. I want a general rule or method or even a start point.

Paragraph C:
New realization when asked a question using a title. Class reaction to the question was obvious no.

Paragraph D:
Prejudgment about suggestion and a quotation about purpose and means

Paragraph E:
Two main attitude toward a question. Purpose of students and personal proposal about these purposes.

Paragraphs C, D & E List of Headings

Comma or semi colon , et al. vs etc

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 09:18 AM PST

Should I use a semi colon or colon, and et al. or etc in the following sentence?

  1. '...there was an almost unanimous chorus of execration from Western countries: politicians, media, celebs, etc.

  2. '...there was an almost unanimous chorus of execration from Western countries; politicians, media, celebs, et al.'

Difference between "with a view to giving..." and "with a view to give..."

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 09:19 AM PST

Which one of the following is correct? And why?

He teaches his students with a view to giving the light of education

He teaches his students with a view to give the light of education

Edit: Added full sentence.

Synonym to Confirmation that is like a statement and not a request

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:33 AM PST

While working with user interfaces, I find myself dealing with two usual interfaces:

  • one that asks the user to confirm that they are aware of the action that's going to be performed,
  • and the second that comes directly after it, the interface that tells (confirms to) the user that the action had been performed (and either succeeded or failed).

We usually refer to both of the interfaces with the same name: confirmation screen, card, etc.. but that is some what confusing.

So I am looking for two words that would mean "confirm" except one would imply that we are waiting for the confirmation to happen, while the second gives a statement of confirmation.

Any suggestions please? thank you

Could sb help me with modifying this composition please? [closed]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 06:52 AM PST

There is an international conference on globalization will be held in our university, You will meet a bunch of famous features in politics and economics, or even talk with them, and maybe you could be a friend of them. Be a part of us to hold this conference successfully, you would not regret!  Here are some requirements to you, take care of politics and economics, behave politely, enthusiastic to join us, and your should be fluent in English.  Contact us if you want to give a try, we will interview your after that.

the topic is below there: enter image description here

Please let me know the wrong expressions in my answer and how would you express them or how would you organize this notice

Punctuation in dialogue that addressed more than one person

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 05:44 AM PST

So I got a question regarding comma in speech. Here is an example of the sentence:

"Wait a minute." I hurriedly shouted to stop him and said to her, "Who invited that blockhead to this party?"

In this sentence, I shouted to the first guy which should have ended the first direct speech with a comma, right? But I see that it was ended with a period inside a novel I read. So I don't know which one is correct.

Although, I know for a fact that a speech disrupted in the middle like this:
"Hey," I said, "she will be going as well." Has two commas.

Adjective-noun-adjective or adjective noun-adjective? [duplicate]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 04:46 AM PST

The word is of the structure: [adjective] + [noun] + [adjective (technically past-tense verb)]. I'm wondering if which words should be hyphenated (if any).

Here is the specific example that got me thinking about this: ripped jeans-covered knees versus ripped-jeans-covered knees versus ripped jeans covered knees.

The example is clunky and awkward, so I'm probably not going to use it, but it sparked my interest nonetheless. Here's another example:

blue blood-covered face versus blue-blood-covered face versus blue blood covered face.

I guess none of them are ambiguous, because if the first example were to mean "a face that is both blood-covered and blue", then a comma would be in place. Due to the lack of commas, they all mean the same thing. However, a complete lack of hyphenation still seems weird. The double-hyphenation however is also a bit weird to me.

Other examples:

a dog[-]house[-]containing estate, a sudden[-]death[-]causing event.

A dog house-containing estate could be an estate of/for dogs that has a house in it, distinct from an estate that has a dog house. In this case, there is real ambiguity, since a dog estate could be a open-form compound (despite the concept being kinda absurd), which means a dog house-containing estate could simply be a dog estate with a house in it. In this case however, it'd probably be written a house-containing dog estate. Compare this a dog house (an open-form compound noun); if it was a red-painted dog house, few would write a dog red-painted house. However, I think it is allowed.

The other examples however, can either be seen as one compound adjective + one noun, or two/three adjectives + a noun, in which case commas would be involved, thus making ambiguity not a real concern: a sudden, death-causing event would be written in the case of two adjectives, not a sudden death-causing event. Thus, the alternative of a sudden death-causing event is not ambiguous.

[I realize all the examples are clunky and awkward but I can't think of a natural example where this is an issue. I expect there are such examples however].

What is a single word for “full stomach”? [duplicate]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 04:38 AM PST

I have a single word request for a word that describes a full stomach. I believe the word is a noun, two syllables. The word was part of a list of "Thanksgiving Words".

"the ride never ends"

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 09:31 AM PST

Remember, the ride never ends.

What could the person have meant by this? I'm aware that it's a reference to an old meme or something, but it's still very confusing. Encountered the phrase on an anon bbs.

Should I say "To secure" or "To securing?"

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 04:15 AM PST

This use of continuous always gets me confused, and I stumbled on it all the time.

Consumers are increasingly turning to Brokers as the 'easiest route' to securing a mortgage. (Written by a native English speaker)

Consumers are increasingly turning to Brokers as the 'easiest route' to secure a mortgage. (The way I would have written it)

Grammarly tells me both previous sentences are correct. Would I really be correct? If so, could someone tell me how to choose between both? I'm pretty sure the same would apply to other verbs.

Many thanks!

what phrase to use to thank someone for her kindness in welcoming you publically [closed]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 02:41 AM PST

I am in a formal setting whereby my superior pleasantly welcomed me. I want to reply to her, thanking her that she kindly introduced me to other staff and at the same time trying to arrange an informal social meeting for me with others.

I was about to reply, "thank you for introducing me and arranging a meeting", but I felt that this phrase does not show appreciation and is a bit "too" formal. Is there an English phrase that I can reply, in a formal way (not too formal), that shows appreciation and warmth?

What's the meaning of "check in its course"? [closed]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 02:04 AM PST

I met this phrase in a brief (unauthorized) dictionary,

check in its course.

It's described as something relating to 'stop' and 'stanch', but I find neither that meaning in 'check in' nor in 'its course'.

How to paraphrase this phrase or is it simply a mistake?

Confusion with pronouns proceeding gerunds

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 03:45 AM PST

In The Stranger, we have the following passage.

So we took our time getting back, him telling me how glad he was that he'd been able to give the woman what she deserved.

I understand the meaning, obviously, but have trouble understanding the grammatical structure here.

"So we took our time getting back" seems an independent clause. So "him telling me how glad he was that he'd been able to give the woman what she deserved," would, logically, be dependent on the first clause.

Why is "him telling" is used rather than breaking the sentence into two and simply writing "he said" or "he told"?

I can hear how "him telling" makes most sense, but can't figure out how to fit it into formal grammar.

What is the origin of the meaning of 'counter' to express the surface on which goods or money is counted? [closed]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 03:02 AM PST

The OED does not appear to list the meaning of the noun 'counter' which conveys the concept of a flat surface over which goods or money is counted, except that it lists the verb 'to counter' as having one meaning in relation to furnishing an establishment 'with a counter'.

My Oxford Dictionary of English states the meaning and attributes it to 'N American' but without any estimate of date or reference.

Merriam Webster has :

3: a level surface (such as a table, shelf or display case) over which transactions are conducted or food is served or on which goods are displayed or work is conducted

I am interested in the etymology of the word as the same concept is expressed in Koine Greek, a trapeza being a table and a trapezite being a banker.

What is the history of the word 'counter' as meaning a flat surface on which items are counted ?

"Neither my mother nor I was" vs "Neither my mother nor I were" [duplicate]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:22 AM PST

Can anyone clarify which of the following is correct?

"Neither my mother nor I was conscious of rudeness"

"Neither my mother nor I were conscious of rudeness"

I thought it was the latter, but the grammar checker I use isn't picking up the first sentence as a mistake. Am I right in saying "were" is third-person past tense for "to be?" And I would think "my mother and I" is third person, as it's a 'body' of something. Hence, it should be "were".

Any help would be appreciated.

What is the tag question of "None but X can help us."?

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 04:12 AM PST

What is the question tag of "None but Allah can help us."? Is it "can any?" or is it "can they?" or something else?

More compact : What is the question tag of "No one can help us."?

Core of this Post is : Does "None" go with "any" or "they" or something else ?

How to refer to an equation? "on equation" or "in equation"

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 09:26 AM PST

I want to refer to equation 1 in the paper. We impose conditions on/in eq. 1. Shall I use in or on?

Can we use "however" and "on the other hand" together? [closed]

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 06:50 AM PST

Some say no, explaining that any one word is redundant. Some say yes, like me, because I think they have different meanings.

For example: We have mixed feelings towards wearing of masks. On the other hand, we know that masks help us prevent infection. On the other hand, however, wearing masks is really inconvenient.

How did English come to use a writing system which makes spelling it so hard?

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 08:25 AM PST

Alphabetic writing systems use graphemes to represent phonemes. But in their "Psychology of Reading" chapter of 2003's Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, researchers Simon Garrod and Meredyth Daneman observe that English has one of the most complicated grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences among languages that use alphabetic (or even syllabic) writing systems, rather than logographic writing systems like Chinese.

This property makes it difficult—at times even impossible—to guess the correct way to say an unknown English word you have only ever read, or the correct way to write an unknown English word you have only ever heard said.

And because English dictionaries order entries alphabetically, when you do not know the correct way to write a word, you also cannot reliably look it up in a dictionary.

The many problems all this creates affect both L1- and L2-learners of English alike.

  • How did English come to use a writing system which makes spelling it so hard? What specific contributing causes gave rise to this painful complexity in English that is so much worse than in almost any other language that uses an alphabet to spell its words with?

The phrase "in (the) light of" - USAGE 2021

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 05:30 AM PST

There is a distinction between "in the light of" and "in light of", with the first expression belonging to British English and the second to American English. The Oxford Dictionary, at least, still highlights this distinction, but I've noticed that in current BrE usage, the second expression is gaining popularity and is, at times, even used MORE than the first phrase.

In fact, I was never really aware of the British expression and I learnt/speak British English.

Is there anybody, preferably someone who is qualified or an expert in usage, who can confirm my theory on this?

  • Google Ngram suggests that "in light of" is slightly more common lately in BrE

  • A quick search on Google for the two phrases on The Spectator (which is one of the best sources of standard British English) shows that since 2018, the American phrase is slightly more common

  • The Oxford University website seems to use BOTH interchangeably.

  • The Bailii database (a database for UK case-law, most of which is delivered by the Supreme Court of the UK, and UK law) also refers to both phrases.

The only times that I've personally noticed the use of "in the light of" instead of "in light of" is:

  • in works written by older British English speakers (over the age of 40);
  • in judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights and official documents of the European Union institutions, although even there, the AmE phrase is also used; and
  • in old speeches/communication (dating back to early 2000s) of the Royal Family from the Royals' website.

N.B. This question has been asked in the past but I feel it is justified to ask it again because (in my view) the usage seemed to have changed in the recent years, and the Ngram link above seems to support this idea.

"If it were not for" and "if it had not been for": Which is more traditional?

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 04:04 AM PST

Some use "if it were not for" to mean both the present and the past events, while others use "if it had not been for" for the past. For the former, see Oxford and be (verb) in OALD. For example, OALD's definition says "used to say that somebody/something stopped somebody/something from happening", i.e. it explicitly says it's the past event. See also this question in ell.stackexchange.

My first impression was that the former is more recent, but I now suspect the opposite may be the case. Has the usage changed over time (or over decades/centuries)?

BTW many sites say "If it were not for hopes, the heart would break." is the word of Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) but I cannot verify it.

How to say being ahead at the start

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 09:01 AM PST

I am writing to a Professor as a prospective graduate student. I want to tell him that I will be one step ahead at the begging of my masters program since I have taken several graduate courses already. So my tone should convey that I am a promising candidate and should not be boastful. I want to tell him that by assessing this knowledge I will start my master thesis sooner and I would be more successful. I guess that there are good ways in English to state this point. I would be very grateful if anyone could help me to express it.

What is difference between timetable and schedule?

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 06:45 AM PST

I'm building an application, that shows schedule/timetable for university students.
I'm confusing, what is the correct word for it: schedule or timetable?
How should I name it?

Here is the result of GitHub search for different queries:

Controversy over verb choice in "neither you nor I {is/am/are} in control"

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:31 AM PST

I was watching the film A Game of Shadows starring Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law when this line came up, "...neither you nor I is in control..." (I can't remember the exact words that ended the phrase; if anyone can supply them, it would be much appreciated.)

It immediately struck me as being odd. When I mentioned this to my boyfriend; an English native speaker, with a PhD in something sciency, he told me it was correct. When I asked why, he couldn't explain but put forward the following sentence as an example. "Neither of us is in control..." However, I disagreed with the wording and said the sentence should have been: "Neither one of us is in control..." The genderless third person, one, is singular, and hence, so too the verb that follows. And we say, "one is" NOT "one are".

"Neither you nor I are in control over ..."

I believe the above sounds better, but it is more logical to say:

"Neither you nor I am in control..."

because the verb agrees with the subject closest to it; however, I'm not sure if I have ever read or heard this solution. So, I tried inverting the subject and auxiliary verb order and the resulting phrase was:

  • "Neither you nor am I in control..."

which sounds very formal, pompous, and ... odd. Am I imagining things?

The two subjects you and I are two separate individuals who are not joined together, I agree the verb should be in the singular; but why should we use "is"? We don't say, "you is" or "I is". Before anyone rushes off to claim my question is a duplicate of a previous Stackexchange one: "Neither Michael nor Albert is correct" or "Neither Michael nor Albert are correct"? I want to explain why the answer to that question fails to explain why my boyfriend and the film makers consider the sentence below correct:

Neither you nor I is in control...

As I see it, Michael and Albert are two separate individuals, it therefore stands to reason that the verb should be singular, and "is" agrees with the subject. If I rephrase the neither and nor construction, I would get:

  • Michael is not correct but neither is Albert
    OR
  • Michael is not correct and Albert isn't either.

Which have the same meaning, (either being the negative equivalent of neither) the sentences are grammatical which leads me to conclude that the verb must be singular and hence

  • Neither Michael nor Albert is correct

However, when I rephrase the "neither you nor I" sentence following the same procedure I have to say this:

  • You are not in control but neither am I ('I am' is ungrammatical)
    OR
  • You are not in control and I'm not either.

which leads me to surmise that the sentence below must be grammatically correct

  • Neither you nor I am in control"

So, why does my boyfriend insist that the sentence ought to be:

Neither you nor I is in control

Which one of us is right and why?

Why does "hard cheese" mean "bad luck"?

Posted: 26 Nov 2021 06:19 AM PST

Particularly in British English, a common saying in response to someone's complaining about something is, "hard cheese". This basically means, "tough luck". How did this expression come about; what is unlucky about hard cheese?
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