Monday, April 11, 2022

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Can I change was to had been, when expressing age?

Posted: 11 Apr 2022 02:21 AM PDT

I highly appreciate it if you reply to my urgent question. Actually, I teach English language for 12 years, but today I got confused when I tried to report this sentence:

William: 'I lived in China until I was fifteen.' William said that he had lived in China until he was fifteen.

The problem is that if we want to report a sentence, we have to change the verb tense. For example, the past simple will be changed to the past perfect simple. I see the example above doesn't follow the rule. I mean if we change the tense from the past simple tense to the past perfect tense, the sentence will be:

William said that he had lived in China until he had been fifteen.

So can you please explain that to me.

Am I related to my friend [duplicate]

Posted: 11 Apr 2022 01:33 AM PDT

My great great great grandfather's frist wife had one child and I am his descendant. My great great great grandfather remarried a woman who was the sister of a man that was the ancestor of my friend. Is it a small word after all? are we related, eg. step cousins in law or the such. Just wondering

What does "I have in principle" mean? [closed]

Posted: 11 Apr 2022 01:17 AM PDT

When I bring about tolerance among my fellow men, I have forcibly hurled them into a tolerant world. In so doing I have in principle taken away their free capacity for courageous resistance, for perseverance, for self testing, which they would have had the opportunity of developing in some world of intolerance.

— Marxism and Human Liberation: Essays on History, Culture and Revolution,
Georg Lukacs, Dell Publishing Co., 1973 on marxists.org

What does "I have in principle" mean?

Automatic detection of she/her/they, him/his/their

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 11:41 PM PDT

I am a programmer making an app which writes reports for students to report on their progress in school. One of the things I want it to be able to do is make sentences look readable from a template, which means something like this:

Jurie went to school one day and Jurie got a good grade at the end of the semester.

Could be transformed to this:

Jurie went to school one day and she got a good grade at the end of the semester.

The reason the template cant be reflective of this from the start is that the sentence is compounded, its built from options, so the second part is added to the first and might be something different.

Option A: Jurie went to school one day. Option B: Jurie got a good grade at the end of the semester.

Option A and B are added to make the final sentence.

The question I have is about the she. Sometimes the sentence might look like this because the program that selects the sentences picks a different second part to the string:

Jurie went to school one day and she project marks were especially good.

When it would be better like this:

Jurie went to school one day and her project marks were especially good.

My question is, how could I automatically detect if I need to be using her/his/their or she/he/they? I recognize the latter relates to the subject, but is there a way of using the words before or after to determine which set of pronouns is going to make more sense from a grammatical point of view?

Is ordering of words wrong?

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 11:32 PM PDT

I was scrolling around and found this post. The OP is concerned that in the following sentence the bolded part is too long as an object (I think), and it makes it hard to read:

This is needed in order to make all the editorial processes the manuscript will undergo transparent.

I was thinking of the following alternative:

This is needed in order to make transparent all the editorial processes the manuscript will undergo.

I am not very familiar with syntax structures, but I feel that something is wrong with that sentence. I have felt it many times, because in my mother language word ordering within a sentence is more lax than in English. Actually, I think I can spot someone whose English is not the mother tongue exactly by usage of such a sentence. But I don't know why...

What is wrong with it?

What’s the word for something that can’t be solved to the situation and is within?

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 10:01 PM PDT

For example, it is said that a narcissist will not tell the truth. So how do you ask one if they are telling the truth? What is the word to describe that situation?

Sort of similar to an oxymoron.

"Is" followed by a plural noun

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 09:13 PM PDT

I just heard someone say "The noisiest thing outside is the birds". I understand the use of "is" being preceded by the singular "thing". But, the plural "birds" followed by "is", why is this correct? What is generally the rule here?

"Last stretch" referring to several events?

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 10:18 PM PDT

Are you ready for the last stretch (of exams)?

Can you use "last stretch" to refer to one final exam? I think last stretch is used to refer to several events upcoming, but not a single event. What idiom or expression do you use to refer to a single event? Is there any similar phrase as "ready for the last stretch"?

Using "and" to connect nouns

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 08:56 PM PDT

The answer to a question is the following:

The tools must be man-made and not natural.

My question is, does the lack of a comma give the impression (meaning) that the specific tool must be man-made and altered to be not natural?

Or

Does the lack of a comma mean the tool must be man-made but not a natural made tool?

Is this list syntax correct?

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 08:09 PM PDT

I saw the following sentence earlier:

We'll help you win across every channel, every format and on your terms.

I interpret that as one of the following:

  • We'll help you win; [across every channel], [every format], [on your terms].
    • But "help you win...every format" doesn't seem intentional, even if it is grammatically correct.
  • We'll help you win across; [every channel], [every format], [on your terms].
    • But "help you win across...on your terms" is not correct.

I feel like the sentence should repeat "across" like it repeats "every":

We'll help you win across every channel, across every format and on your terms.

  • Is my version more correct? Is it better, or am I trying to be too logical?
  • Is there a term for a list where a preceding word applies to more than one item but not all items?

'Which' or 'which what'? [closed]

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 11:06 AM PDT

Which one is grammatically more correct?

Join our platform and start collaborating, which business is all about!

OR

Join our platform and start collaborating, which what business is all about!

I don’t want to not have options? [closed]

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 10:21 AM PDT

Could you correct the sentence in the title?

I don't want to not have options?

What does the phrase "something out of the common way" mean? [closed]

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 07:18 AM PDT

In the story "Everything Amiable and Obliging" by Holly Black, included in Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (2011, edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant), the following sentence appears:

She was embarrassed, without being able to explain why, although she had to admit that the twins were something out of the common way.

In this context, it appears that "out of the common way" or "something out of the common way" is an expression or idiom. I did a bit of searching, and I could find entries in old slang dictionaries where the phrase was used as a definition, but never a case where a definition of it was given.

The quote appears on page 421 of a pdf version of the book that I found on the Internet. I don't have a physical copy of the book handy, so I can't say whether the pagination is the same in the print version.

"Like" as a preposition

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 09:02 PM PDT

I know that 'like' can function as a preposition, but I want your views on this statement:

A collection, like old rocks or unique autos, gives a person some individuality.

I think 'like' functions as a preposition, with the prepositional phrase being 'like old rocks', but my professor counted it wrong. Can you tell me if I'm right?

How to understand what preposition is associated with what meaning?

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 09:10 PM PDT

I have difficulty in understanding what preposition, after a verb, is associated with what meaning, and how interchangeable prepositions are.

For example, Merriam-Webster reports the following meaning for difficulty:

  1. the quality or state of being hard to do, deal with, or understand : the quality or state of being difficult

Example:

has difficulty reading

So it looks like the form is "to have difficulty doing something".

Another meaning is:

  1. : objection

Example:

made no difficulty in granting the request

So for this case the form is "have difficulty in doing something".

Can I use this form for meaning 1?

Can I say "has difficulty in reading"?

EDIT: What I mean is this. "going to" something and "going away from" something have two different meanings. If the dictionary assign "difficulty in doing something" to meaning 3 (objection), how can I know that I can use this construction also for meaning 1 (hard to do)?

Preposition for singing and guitar

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 03:01 PM PDT

If someone is playing songs on the guitar and people are singing songs related to that playing, how do you say it most naturally?

  1. We are singing songs to the guitar?
  2. We are singing songs under the guitar?
  3. We are singing songs with the guitar?
  4. We are singing songs while someone plays the guitar?

Remaster “contextual” synonym

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 08:55 PM PDT

If remastering means to remake an audio or video recording of better quality with new technologies, then what's the equivalent verb for remaking a document or publication i.e. book with new technologies? For example, the formal document could be a lot better in pictures and formatting, but there is a new technology that can make things a lot better looking and formatted.

A term for a set of which at most one element has to be selected

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 09:15 PM PDT

I'm looking for a term to describe a set of which at most one element can be selected.

Example

We have the set {0,1,2}. As shown earlier, this is a [insert word here], so we have to select at most one element.

The reason for this is that in the same paper, there is also another type of set (of which at least one has to be selected). Therefore, I need to give both these sets a name. For the latter, I'm thinking of something like 'non-empty selection set'. For the former, I don't have a clue.

Word used to describe a person's non-physical presence

Posted: 11 Apr 2022 12:07 AM PDT

What word could I use to describe a person who is dominating not only physically but also in knowledge, experience, and comprehension? Someone who has a vast amount of experience?

Example of a sentence:

Dominating the room with his physical and ________ presence...

Is it a noun or pronoun or something else?

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 08:01 PM PDT

Circle the nouns in the following paragraph.

For the first time in her life, Mary was seeing two boys at once. It involved extra laundry, an answering machine, and dark solo trips in taxicabs, which, in Cleveland, had to be summed by phone, but she recommended it in postcards to friends. She bought the ones² with photos of the flats, of James Garfield's grave, or an announcement from the art museum, one¹ with a peacock-handsome angel holding up fingers and whispering, One³ boy, two boys. On the back she wrote, You feel so attended to! To think we all thought just one² might amuse, let alone fulfill. Unveil thyself! Unblacken those teeth and minds! Get more boys in your life! — Lorrie Moore, "Two Boys"

  1. Why is the one in "one with a peacock-handsome angel" a noun? 

  2. In my opinion, the ones in "she bought the ones with photos of the flats" can't be a noun because it is a pronoun. Also, the one in "to think we all thought just one might amuse" means indefinite or nonspecific people; therefore, it is not a noun, but a pronoun. Is my reasoning correct?

  3. Is the one in "One boy, two boys" not a noun because it is a determiner as in one, two, three, many?

Proper use of ‘case-in-point’ at the start of a statement

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 08:03 AM PDT

I'm writing an essay on globalisation and writing a point on how service jobs are harder to outsource, as compared to manufacturing jobs. At the end of my argument, is it grammatically correct to write

Case in point: You can't serve your customer in XYZ mall from China.

(I substitute XYZ mall with the name of an actual mall in the area of context)

Is this usage correct? I'm trying to use case in point in a mildly sarcastic or humorous way. Thanks in advance.

adjective or comparative adjective for measurements and rates

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 04:03 PM PDT

I was going some through articles about fitness and I encountered these two sentences.

  1. Lifting lighter weights often means you're able to perform more repetitions for each exercise you complete
  2. Lifting light weights won't build muscle mass no matter how much you pump

So I was wondering what is the difference between using light and lighter. Because if I use light for the first sentence and lighter for the second sentence, both sentences will still make sense.

What about these sentences?

  • Running at a higher/high speed is better than running at a lower/low speed.
  • Running for a longer/long distance is better than running for a shorter/short distance.

Personally I would use higher and lower because it sounds better. But I don't know if there are any rules that I should follow.

Plural of 'performance'

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 08:53 PM PDT

I wrote the following sentence in my journal article:

The performance of the new and existing methods are compared.

Then MS Word indicated that I had used 'are' in the aforementioned sentence incorrectly. Is the above sentence incorrect? If so, which is the correct sentence?

The performances of the new and existing methods are compared.

or:

The performance of the new and existing methods is compared.

Word or phrase to use "when you told a story/situation and it happened to you later"

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 09:59 PM PDT

English is not my primary language. In my language we have a phrase to use in this kind of situation.

You were telling a story or a situation to your friends and later it happens to you.

For eg.: you were telling a story of a theft, accident or failures to somebody and at last the same thing happened to you.

Is there any single word or phrase to describe this kind of situation ?

Word for a "Male Mistress"

Posted: 10 Apr 2022 11:36 AM PDT

Is the male version of a mistress, a mastress? It's a term I would use, but I don't know if it is just slang or if it is formal...

P.S. I mean a male that sleeps with a married woman (love, not business)

How should I abbreviate "versus"?

Posted: 11 Apr 2022 12:37 AM PDT

There are 4 types of abbreviations I know for "versus":

  • v
  • v.
  • vs
  • vs.

I generally use the last one in the list, but I want to stick to one and use only that one. Which one is more proper (or more prevalent), and why?

Extra question: Which one should be preferred in scientific papers?
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