Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange |
- To add vs to be added
- I'm getting confused between two of these sentences
- Reported speech with an event before another in the past
- How to improve speaking to be close to native speakers [migrated]
- Paraphrase this poem please [closed]
- What's the grammar used in "Just what quarter he did not now remember" from the book 1984?
- What is the difference between "oil price" and "oil prices"
- The left edge of a sheet protector (punched pocket)
- Why do we say "It's me (or our name)" when we answer the phone? Why do we use "it" to answer the phone? [duplicate]
- Type of adjunct
- Which is correct, be conceived of as or be conceived as
- Is "make the largest possible X but not too large" grammatical?
- Reading Comprehension followed by an inference question
- Raising floating-point exceptions vs. raising of floating-point exceptions [closed]
- Is "what does interest them" emphasizing?
- Is there a better expression to 'turning point' in the paragraph below?
- One word for "ask advice", "seek counsel"
- Word for "completing quickly to a very high standard"
- Article with parts of the body [migrated]
- General term for singularize and pluralize
- be rid of / get rid of
- Is it "enough to worry" or "enough to be worried"?
- Why do Christianity and Islam not end with "-ism"?
- What is wrong with my sentence structure?
- I know what "so help me God" is used for, but what does it actually mean?
- what does "Save the hammer for the man" mean in this context?
- Origin and scope of "cruft"
- Differences between "price point" and "price"
- Should the first word after a colon be capitalized?
| Posted: 10 Dec 2021 02:36 AM PST Friends, what exactly is the difference between
and
? It would be great to hear 1) what do both sentences mean to a native speaker and 2) what are the grammar rules behind „to add" and „to be added". I would consider the first example as an active adjectival infinitive and the second one as passive adjectival infinitive. I often hear „to add" from native speakers, but I think it should in this case always be „to be added". This is - to my mind - because „to add" could be extended to „which is to add" (indication of future action) and would therefore require action that the object „something" cannot perform in this case. „Something is added by a person". Perhaps I'm just confused…Help for dummies would be appreciated. |
| I'm getting confused between two of these sentences Posted: 10 Dec 2021 01:54 AM PST
This was the question we used inside a product. But some users suggested the below version of the same sentence.
Now I'm getting confused about which one to use. Could you please shed some insights? |
| Reported speech with an event before another in the past Posted: 10 Dec 2021 12:45 AM PST
The original statement before being reported, as I understand it, should be:
Why don't we change tense in this example e.g past perfect? I know the above to be correct but am trying to explain it to students. :) This is an example in a book we are using but this contradicts, or rather evades the rules the book has taught, and want to clear any confusion/give students a rule they can follow for statements like this. Thanks in advance for any help! |
| How to improve speaking to be close to native speakers [migrated] Posted: 09 Dec 2021 07:24 PM PST My English is not bad at all compared to most non-native speakers as I studied, lived and worked in the UK for 15 years. My speaking is also ok as there is little barrier communicating with native/non-native speakers in both casual and work environment. But of course I don't sound like a native speaker; I know I probably never will but I want to improve my speaking to be as close to native speakers as possible. Though I was in the UK for a long time, I actually prefer American accent. I was searching for an app that can help to further improve my speaking but it seems that most apps are designed for speaking with someone else to practice speaking, which doesn't fit my purpose well. I wonder whether there is another way to get my speaking to the next level. |
| Paraphrase this poem please [closed] Posted: 09 Dec 2021 07:08 PM PST My father came to me in one of the intermissions Between two wars and two loves As if to an actor resting backstage in half-darkness. We sat in the Cafe Atarah On Mount Carmel. He asked about my small room And if I was coping on my meagre teacher's pay. Daddy, daddy, before you made me you must have made Cherries that you loved, Black with so much redness! My brothers, sweet cherries From that world. The time was the time of evening prayer. My father knew I no longer prayed And said, let's play chess The way I taught you as a child. The time was October 1947, Before the fateful days and the first shots. And we didn't know then I'd be called the generation of '48 And I played chess with my father, check-mate, '48 |
| What's the grammar used in "Just what quarter he did not now remember" from the book 1984? Posted: 10 Dec 2021 01:53 AM PST
A longer quote:
Just to elaborate a little bit more on what I was confused about. The sentence seems to be a declarative sentence but somehow inverted to me and lacks something. (however, when I read it out loud, it sounds perfect to me). My understanding/way of expressing the content would be:
Could someone help me explain the grammar of this sentence please? And if possible, could you give me more similar examples please? |
| What is the difference between "oil price" and "oil prices" Posted: 10 Dec 2021 01:24 AM PST I've found these two examples so far:
I don't really get the idea what is the difference and also which word should I use in some particular contexts. Thanks a lot |
| The left edge of a sheet protector (punched pocket) Posted: 09 Dec 2021 04:16 PM PST What is a correct word to refer to the edge of a sheet protector [US] (aka punched pocket [UK]): edge, stripe, strip, spine? The word should be understandable to both US and UK native speakers. (I'm neither.)
I mean the white thing at the left. |
| Posted: 09 Dec 2021 02:12 PM PST I kind of understand why we say "This is ..." when answering the phone; I'm guessing that "this" refers to the person who answers the phone. However, I can't understand and find anything about why we say "It's ..." when we answer the phone. I am talking about myself (he, she, they) but I use the subject pronoun "it", which I use for inanimate objects, animals, concepts etc. Can someone please enlighten me? Thank you in advance. |
| Posted: 09 Dec 2021 11:46 PM PST What type of adjunct is the prepositional phrase 'at all costs' (as in the below sentence)?
I am inclined to regard this adjunct as being a conditional one, since it appears to connote a sense of urgency: if the fugitive is not slain, then there will be dire consequences. At the same time, it would not to my mind seem implausible to gloss 'at all costs ' as being a manner adjunct, with the slaying of the fugitive (understood as a future event) being carried out desperately, the slayer doing all that is needed to perpetrate the act (even if that puts them in peril). Thoughts? |
| Which is correct, be conceived of as or be conceived as Posted: 09 Dec 2021 11:35 AM PST I am wondering which is correct, with or without "of" after conceived if I want to express something is viewed as something. ex. Education can be conceived as a borderline task. ex. Education can be conceived of as a borderline task |
| Is "make the largest possible X but not too large" grammatical? Posted: 10 Dec 2021 12:34 AM PST Someone claimed this sentence is using incorrect grammar:
Context: imagine you have an API that tells you the largest supported size. You want to test whether that size is actually supported, but if the API reports a size larger than the amount of memory you have that would be "too large". Is this incorrect English usage? Update: I'm only asking about the grammar. I'm not looking for suggestions on better ways to phrase things. Remember that the sentence has a context. If someone says "Go to the jewelry store and buy me the most expensive necklace but not too expensive", whether that is correct grammar is a valid question by itself. The person being asked to go might then ask "How expensive is too expensive?" but whether or not that clarifying question exists is independent from whether or not the first sentence is grammatical or ungrammatical. |
| Reading Comprehension followed by an inference question Posted: 09 Dec 2021 11:07 AM PST
My approach:- (A) This can be inferred from the last three lines of the passage that free flow of short term-capital can produce economic instability (B) option is mentioned in the 2nd-3rd line of the passage, but it's just stating that "good insurance markets to cover the key risks confronting individuals" are missing , I cant see it as a proof to show that markets are inefficient, not sure about this option (C) this I guess can be interpreted from line 8 and line 9 that : "It is difficult to interpret success of Asian Markets", but at the same time it is also written that "What is clear:...." so not sure about this option (D)Technology can impede (or prevent) market efficiency, how can this be inferred? I cant find in what part of the paragraph can this be inferred that they prevent economic efficiency (E)This is something else only, cant find it also My best shot is that A cant be the answer, can someone please help me out with the reasoning of eliminating the wrong options and choosing the correct one , Correct answer by the way is Option (E) |
| Raising floating-point exceptions vs. raising of floating-point exceptions [closed] Posted: 09 Dec 2021 12:21 PM PST ISO/IEC 9899:202x (E) working draft — December 11, 2020 N2596 (also known as C2x) uses two forms:
Which one is correct? Are both acceptable? |
| Is "what does interest them" emphasizing? Posted: 09 Dec 2021 10:44 AM PST
Can we put it like that if we mean it as emphasizing? If yes, is this kind of emphasizing possible in academic writing? |
| Is there a better expression to 'turning point' in the paragraph below? Posted: 09 Dec 2021 03:31 PM PST Considering the efforts undertaken so far in sampling traditional molecular markers for the family Cactaceae, and that new sequencing technologies have become increasingly accessible, and are now starting to be used in the study of cacti, we believe that this is the appropriate moment for a review of the current knowledge achieved using molecular markers up to this turning point. |
| One word for "ask advice", "seek counsel" Posted: 09 Dec 2021 11:26 PM PST
Is how I would like to use it. What verb could fit here and carry the meaning of, "I hope I can ask you advice informed by your wisdom" for example. "Because of your wisdom, I hope you will grant me your advice." It seems like "appeal to" almost fits, "query" also almost fits but doesn't have any "seeking advice" connotation (and might sound too interrogative?). For some reason I feel like "defer to" should fit. |
| Word for "completing quickly to a very high standard" Posted: 09 Dec 2021 10:42 AM PST What's a word that means, to complete something totally, to extremely high quality, in an impressively short amount of time.
I thought of "blitzing through" but it is quite informal, and the multifaceted meaning is not necessarily obvious. "Smashing" is another informal word that almost works. I would prefer answers that can be used in reasonably formal writing, but if there is something close to unambiguously capturing all the meanings I want to convey, and it turns out to sit on the informal side, that would still be the best answer. |
| Article with parts of the body [migrated] Posted: 09 Dec 2021 01:38 PM PST We use 'the' with body organs: 'There is a hole in THE heart'. Should we still use 'the' when we define the organ as in 'He complained of a sore throat' or 'He complained of an upset stomach'? Is it 'a sore throat/an upset stomach' or 'the sore throat/the upset stomach'? |
| General term for singularize and pluralize Posted: 09 Dec 2021 11:18 AM PST I'm looking for a word (or small number of words) that is the general term for singularizing or pluralizing a word. I've thought about "inflection"/"inflect", but inflection encompasses more than just modifying for number. From the Wikipedia page on Inflection:
Is there a word that encompasses both singularize and pluralize that is also more specific than inflection? Or is there a way to make "inflection" more specific, like "numerical/quantity inflection"? The reason I'm asking is to find a good name for a function (programming) that takes a word and a number and returns the correct version of the word (either singular or plural). Building upon the package Pluralize. |
| Posted: 09 Dec 2021 06:51 PM PST
Is my three-point analysis above right? |
| Is it "enough to worry" or "enough to be worried"? Posted: 09 Dec 2021 11:04 AM PST I'm trying to describe a scenario where, for a parent, their child has gone long enough (for them) to ______?
Honestly, both of them sound ok to me (not a native speaker), apart from the fact that be worried is longer to spell out. And searching on Google Ngram shows that enough to worry is more prevalent, though enough to be worried is also used sometimes. And I can also think of other situations where the phrase would be used:
I'd like to know, is any one of them "wrong"/should be avoided, or is there any difference between these two, mood, emphasis, etc.? Any reason to choose one over the other? |
| Why do Christianity and Islam not end with "-ism"? Posted: 09 Dec 2021 03:02 PM PST Apart from Christianity and Islam all more wide-spread religions seem to end in "-ism", such as Hinduism, Confucianism or Judaism. According to Wikipedia
which makes absolute sense, but why are Christianity and Islam exceptions? |
| What is wrong with my sentence structure? Posted: 09 Dec 2021 11:40 AM PST
My gut feeling tells me that there is something wrong with this sentence. It looks like the sentence is too long. Can you tell me how I could make the sentence flow better? or help me figure out why it's wrong? |
| I know what "so help me God" is used for, but what does it actually mean? Posted: 09 Dec 2021 10:58 PM PST The phrase is of course very well known:
I used to interpret "so help me God" as:
Recently I found that in the northeast of Portugal (in a mountainous area where men used to wear skirts and play bagpipes) people used to utter a similar phrase, "assim Deus me salve," literally "so save me God," as a guarantee that they were saying the truth or would keep a promise. Now God can help one be truthful but cannot save one be truthful. This plus context make it clear the Portuguese phrase means:
The phrases are so similar that now I wonder whether the English one does not mean (a) at all but rather something like (b):
Online resources make me favour (c) only marginally. They say what the phrase is used for, but do not discuss the actual meaning:
So my questions are: (1) what is the correct interpretation of "so help me God?" and (2) would interpretation (a), even if it is not how people understand the phrase, be possible at all, i.e. would it be correct to say "(…) nothing but the truth, so help me God" to mean "(…) nothing but the truth, God help me keep my promise?" |
| what does "Save the hammer for the man" mean in this context? Posted: 09 Dec 2021 04:55 PM PST This is part of the lyrics of the song "Save the Hammer for the Man," by Tom Morello (& Ben Harper):
What does the phrase "Save the hammer for the man" mean in this context? |
| Posted: 09 Dec 2021 10:41 AM PST I just had to look up "cruft" (jargon for software or hardware that is of poor quality), as used in a comment to an earlier question. But I can't find any details of etymology, and I don't know how often it's used outside the superfluous source code that has yet to be removed context. Can anyone help? |
| Differences between "price point" and "price" Posted: 10 Dec 2021 01:54 AM PST Apart from its use among the bean-counters who talk about maximising company profits, I can't understand why price point has spread so widely in popular American parlance. As far as I can tell, the term is exactly synonymous with price; do people use it the way they do the word 'monies' — to sound clever on the cheap — or is there actually a difference between the two terms? |
| Should the first word after a colon be capitalized? Posted: 09 Dec 2021 02:31 PM PST Should the first word after a colon be capitalized? Which of the following is correct?
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