Sunday, May 8, 2022

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Position of relative clauses after verb

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:43 AM PDT

I myself consider the sentence offset below to be correct; however, some of my associates regard it as being wrong. I would like your advice on it. The sentence is

  • Jane Austen published 4 novels, who was an English novelist.

While searching for some information that fits my needs, I came across this: enter image description here

I wonder if this rule of grammar can fit in my sentence. Thank you.

Can a comma be used to separate two sentences?

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:15 AM PDT

  • The decision-makers at its helm belong to one political party. Besides,[comma] there is total lack of transparency about the use of the funds.

I know that these two sentences can be separated using a semicolon, but I have seen this structure multiple times in newspaper columns. Why do people use this sentence even though it is grammatically incorrect?

Some people use commas differently from the rules mentioned to use them in grammar books. I have read multiple books to learn comma rules, but my knowledge regarding punctuation seems incomplete when I see some confusing sentences in which commas have been used differently.

Some people use comma differently from rules mentioned to use it in grammar books. I have read multiple books to learn comma rules but my knowledge regarding punctuation seems incomplete when I see some confusing sentences in which comma has been used differently.

Could you explain the reason for this comma also?

  • The only announcement to be made till date about the usage of the funds is the allocation of ₹3,100 crore for COVID-19 work,[comma] made on May 13 — ₹2,000 crore of which is mired in controversy. Source

If i want to express a title or person belong to a company or organization, which preposition is correct? [closed]

Posted: 08 May 2022 07:29 AM PDT

Experts from the zoo felt obliged to investigate…..

Does 'Expert of the zoo'is correct?

The CEO from
The CEO of

What is the difference between these?

Simple past use in continous action [duplicate]

Posted: 08 May 2022 04:20 AM PDT

Reading Albert Camus's The Stranger and I found the following passage:

"As we ate, he started telling me his story"

enter image description here

I started wondering if there were other examples of simple past used with continuous actions and I found this example from Eric Holmes's Iraq: Providing hope:

"While we ate, [...]"

enter image description here

(1) With As/While in both cases, isn't the right choice "As we were eating"?

(2) In which instances is it possible and grammatically correct to use the simple past as opposed to the past continuous to express the Imperfect tense?

(3) In the cases where it is possible to use both forms, what is the difference between the two stylistically, i.e. what is the different perception between "As we ate" Vs. "As we were eating"?

Do I need a Period outside Quotation Marks when I already have a Question Mark inside the quote? [duplicate]

Posted: 08 May 2022 03:12 AM PDT

Do I need a period outside quotation marks when I already have a question mark inside the quote? For example, which one of the following would be the correct one:

In an interview, he said, "Are you a vegan?"

In an interview, he said, "Are you a vegan?".

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Differences between voiced and lenis consonants [closed]

Posted: 08 May 2022 12:54 AM PDT

What is difference between voiced consonants and lenis consonants in English language. If possible with some example.

Capital letter after quotation marks? [duplicate]

Posted: 08 May 2022 12:38 AM PDT

So, if you write something like this:

"I heard that!" she replied.

I know that it's a lower case letter after an exclamation point or question mark, but what about a simple full stop? Would it be like this?

"I understand." he said.

Or like this?

"I understand," he said.

Or like this?

"I understand." He said.

Me and name or name and I? [duplicate]

Posted: 08 May 2022 12:09 AM PDT

In the sentence "Me and name have 2 spaces reserved. Reserve the other 2 spaces ASAP.", is "name and I" more appropriate or are they both correct?

Is there a term for insults disguised as questions? [duplicate]

Posted: 08 May 2022 12:10 AM PDT

Is there a term for sentences that are ostensibly questions but really criticisms, such as:

  • "Are you going to wear that?"

  • "Will you go on a diet before your wedding?"

While these sentences could be described as "passive aggressive", I'd like to know if there is a more specific term.

I need a word whose meaning is somewhere on the spectrum between 'too scared' and 'too dumb'. Or a phrase/idiom

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:10 AM PDT

The sentence (from a screenplay) writes: "Bart, we're literally here buying you drugs cus you're not able to buy your own high"

I want to replace the words "not able" with something better. It needs to connote that the person is too scared but also too stupid to do this on his own. Thanks in advance.

Formatting a list of elements with "and" between the last two elements [closed]

Posted: 08 May 2022 01:08 AM PDT

What would be the english word if there is one, or how would you best describe formatting a list of elements and end with "and" between the last two elements?

For example:

  • from [1,2,3,4] to "1, 2, 3 and 4."
  • from [1,2] to "1 and 2."

What is it called when I suddenly ache to do something I usually don't do?

Posted: 08 May 2022 08:58 AM PDT

Recently I've found myself thinking or longing for stuff that I usually don't even think about.

Example: I don't drink or even like drinking. But sometimes I just get the thought of "1 beer can't hurt". Like I am an addict that's looking for an excuse. I DON'T EVEN LIKE IT. Why am I longing for and excusing something I don't even enjoy?

I would like to know what this feeling / scenerio is called

Use of "authorities" without the definite article or a possessive pronoun

Posted: 07 May 2022 06:33 PM PDT

I have a question about the usage of "authorities" in the following sentence.

The Kremlin threatened up to 15-year jail sentences for those who report what authorities determine to be false information about the use of its armed forces.

Could you explain why "authorities" is used without the definite article or a possessive pronoun while "armed forces" is modified with the possessive pronoun?

What is the expression to talk about a place where i had bad memories in the past? [closed]

Posted: 08 May 2022 01:05 AM PDT

I'm looking for an expression to talk about a place that I have bad memories of. Should I say "I have got a bad impression of the place"? What adjective can I use to talk about that place?

Why does "the blockchain" have a definite article

Posted: 08 May 2022 10:28 AM PDT

I have noticed that the technology word blockchain often seems to be used with the definite article the even in contexts where there is no specific blockchain being referenced, where with other nouns a blockchain, blockchains or even a zero-article blockchain used like a proper noun would seem to make more sense.

Other technology words don't seem to use the in the same way.

Some examples found in Corpus of Contemporary American English selected to show this usage:

...topic. In the past, TechCrunch has hosted similar events on robotics, the blockchain and social justice. Through intimate interviews and in-depth discussions, attendees of TC Session...

...From new companies building businesses based on the genome, to businesses built on the blockchain, distributed applications, teams, genes and geographies will shape the future of the...

...have on the future of our economy? # Episode one seeks to explain the blockchain, the technology that allows bitcoins to be transferred between entities, as well as...

...a Paris-based startup that wants to create a platform-as-a-service for developers interested in the blockchain. With Stratumn, you can build, deploy and run applications on the company...

Is my perception that blockchain takes the definite article in contexts where other comparable words wouldn't correct, and why does it do so?

Is there a word for "insults that you take as a compliment"?

Posted: 08 May 2022 09:02 AM PDT

For example a person insults someone, the victim of the insult understands that they have just been insulted but instead takes it as a badge of honor and turns into a compliment for themselves

Is the opposite of "like" "dislike" or "indifference/neutrality & dislike?"

Posted: 07 May 2022 09:07 PM PDT

I think most people think the opposite of "like" is "dislike," but when I think about it, I don't think this is true.

"Dislike" actually means that one regards the thing of interest with displeasure. But the opposite of "like" should just be anything that doesn't mean "like" and in this case it could mean "dislike" but it could also mean that one is indifferent/neutral (neither like or dislike) regarding the thing of interest.

So what is actually the opposite of "like?"

This leads me to my next question on if "I don't like X" is the same as "I dislike X?" Based on what I alluded to above, I think the two are different. The think the former doesn't necessarily mean you dislike X, as I think it necessarily covers the case where you feel neutral about X, but I feel most people would interpret "I don't like" as "I dislike."

B vs P pronunciation?

Posted: 08 May 2022 12:04 AM PDT

I'm a native Arabic speaker -Egyptian- we don't have the V & P sounds natively, I'm fully capable of pronouncing the V sound & telling the difference between it & the F sound perfectly, but I struggle with P, I don't know if I'm pronouncing it as B or not & I struggle with telling the difference between the two even though I know it, both are a bobbing sound caused by the release of air build up, with the difference being that the B one is voiced, this is the exact difference between F & V with the V being voiced, but they both feel so short and exactly the same, for example Pat vs Bat, isn't the a kind of voiced, all I hear is the bob sound followed by a voiced a then the T sound, I feel that the bob is stronger in P, is this the only difference or am I missing something?

Is there any words in which the difference is more prominent, & is there a way to pronounce P correctly even if I can't tell the difference?

by the way I can in most cases guess correctly if a word -even if it's the first time hearing it- is written with P or B but I can't pinpoint the difference in hearing

Would it be okay to use "would be" in if-clause?

Posted: 08 May 2022 07:00 AM PDT

Is it gramatically correct or not to include "would be" in the if-clause.

Your physician may recommend you to be evaluated if you would potentially be a candidate for this vaccine.

Formal salutation of a servant to a child?

Posted: 07 May 2022 07:28 PM PDT

Let's say I have someone like Alfred Pennyworth. Such a person would obviously address the man and woman of the house as "Sir" and "Madam". (For example, "Would sir care for a beverage?")

How could this hypothetical person address a very small child?

The "traditional" answer seems to be "master <name>", but this seems really odd for a really young (possibly only just learning to talk) child. In Spanish, it would be "señorito" rather than "señor", but I'm not aware of a direct English equivalent.

The best I've been able to come up with is "the boy". Is there anything else, or am I stuck with either "master" or "the boy"?

Any difference in nuance between “for easing restrictions” and “for easing of restrictions”?

Posted: 08 May 2022 10:02 AM PDT

These days, we often see news headlines like the below examples, and I wonder if there is any difference in nuance between "for easing restrictions" and "for easing of restrictions". Can anyone help me with this question, please.

Greek government unveils plan for easing restrictions. https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/greek-government-unveils-plan-for-easing-restrictions

Koike unveils road map for easing of restrictions in Tokyo https://japantoday.com/category/national/Koike-unveils-road-map-for-easing-of-restrictions-in-Tokyo

Origins of "You Got This" and "Wait For It"

Posted: 08 May 2022 12:36 AM PDT

What are the earliest reference quotes, using the cool modern senses below, for each phrase?

"You got this":
Motivational encouragement to instill confidence to overcome some problem/foe. (quoting "You've got this" or "I got this" or "I've got this" also counts)

"Wait for it":
Command to create suspense in anticipation of some beneficial/exciting occurrence which the speaker is sure will occur within the next few seconds.

"Gentle confines"

Posted: 07 May 2022 08:03 PM PDT

Where does this phrase come from? It's something I use (usually ironically) and something that's "just there" in my lexicon like "fit as a fiddle". However when I Google it, no origin pops up. It is used as early as 1855:

It is in his admiration for the gentle confines between virtue and her antagonist

This occurrence is 164 years old. A commenter below has used Google Ngrams to source "the confines_noun" to around 1650, so 369 years old (earlier if you make the search case insensitive).

It is obvious what it means. It has become a kind of frequently used phrase, idiomatic expression, trope or formulaic language.

In ironic use it refers to a place which is not gentle at all. So a phrase which lends itself to ironic use, like "your humble servant". It would be great if it turned out to be a phrase first used by Shakespeare or the like.

What is the comparative degree of the word "last"?

Posted: 08 May 2022 08:04 AM PDT

What is the comparative degree of "last"?

I have searched a lot on Google but have not been able to find the answer.

What is the correct punctuation after "as follows"?

Posted: 08 May 2022 06:01 AM PDT

I am consistently confused by by the usage of "as follows", in particular, I don't know if I should end "as follows" with a period, or with a colon.

Should I always use a colon, or can I sometimes use a period?

It feels more natural to use a colon, but I have only seen it in lists, but not sentences. For example, should I write:

  1. The description of each chapter is as follows: in chapter 1, we discuss the life story of Bill, and as we will see Bill grew up poor and had no family. In chapter 2, we will talk about how Bill became the richest man in New York. In chapter 3 we will talk about Bill's relationship with Jane. We have finished talking about all the chapters.

or

  1. The description of each chapter is as follows. In chapter 1, we discuss the life story of Bill, and as we will see Bill grew up poor and had no family. In chapter 2, we will talk about how Bill became the richest man in New York. In chapter 3, we will talk about Bill's relationship with Jane. We have finished talking about all the chapters.

    • The problem of using : to me is that the last sentence "we have finished talking..." is not a part of the chapters, but it feels that the colon also includes that sentence as a chapter, which feels wrong to me.

    • In fact, it feels that everything that comes after a colon is included in the list and the only way to signal to the reader you are no longer listing things is by starting a new paragraph, which is weird.

    • Also if you are listing many things, it feels that the : only includes the first thing, because you eventually have to put a period after it. If you were to replace the period with a comma, then you have created a run-on sentence.

What is the correct punctuation after "as follows"?

A Pyrrhic defeat?

Posted: 08 May 2022 07:41 AM PDT

Is there a word, phrase or allusion which represents the opposite of a Pyrrhic Victory: a tactical defeat which led to a strategic victory, either accidental or intended? After all, there must be one for almost every Pyrrhic victory.

What is the difference between the adjectives "live" and "alive"?

Posted: 08 May 2022 04:26 AM PDT

What is the difference between "live" and "alive"? When would I better use the first and when the latter?

Say, there are several players actively participating in a game and some others are waiting on the bench. I used to call those "active" players "live players". Although there may be other valid phrases for that I believe this one should be ok as well (right?).

But I am unsure if "live" works with questions: can I ask "Is this player live" or should it be "Is this player alive"? The first one sounds awkward to me, but the latter sounds to me as if I was asking whether he's dead and not only whether he's out of the game.

What would you call a person who looks around for useful or used stuff?

Posted: 08 May 2022 04:36 AM PDT

What would you call a person who searches around the block looking for useful & used stuff to buy?

Also what would you call a person who sells stuffs that are no longer being used at home?

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