The construction tag has no wiki summary.
-1
votes
0answers
33 views
“Rumour has it ” [closed]
In the song "Rumour has it" by Adele there is the line :
"Just 'cause I said it, don't mean that I meant it, "
Is the line grammatically correct?
2
votes
1answer
68 views
Job title + possessive case [duplicate]
Is the following construct (grammatically) correct?
Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler's contribution to number theory was [...]
It sounds clumsy to me; however, this rewrite sounds ...
0
votes
0answers
75 views
How to parse a sentence with verb 'bring'
“He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at
Dudley.” (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
I guess the sentence could be parsed as below:
[He] [brought] [A: the ...
2
votes
2answers
418 views
Is this a positive or negative sentence?
I heard a sentence like this:
How will Bill ever know that?
Can someone tell me if this is a positive or negative sentence and what are the guidelines to decide which it is?
2
votes
1answer
117 views
Use of “still” in a reply in informal conversation
In informal conversation, in answer to the question, "What happened?" would it be correct to reply, "Nothing still important"? (Meaning nothing that is still important to discuss now; the topic lost ...
2
votes
1answer
251 views
I'm having so much fun watching
I'm trying to analyze the construction of this sentence:
I'm having so much fun watching.
so much fun = NP, Direct Object of the verb am having
watching =
My question is, is #2 an NP (and ...
13
votes
4answers
351 views
The use of “trespasses”
According to a dictionary search for "trespasses":
v. Enter the owner's land or property without permission
n. A voluntary wrongful act against the person or property of another, esp. unlawful entry ...
3
votes
2answers
96 views
Who is Greek president vs Who is THE Greek President
Saw this in a quiz on Stuff.
Surely the word "the" should be in there somewhere? But I get the feeling I've heard things like "US President Barack Obama" instead of "The US President Barack ...
2
votes
3answers
1k views
Use of “make someone able to XXX”
I have some doubts about the construction of this sentence:
I want to make you able to play.
In my language this is a common construction. Is it a valid sentence in English too?
This is the ...
5
votes
4answers
576 views
Attributive and predicative position of an adjective
I have some difficulty understanding the position of adjectives.
In English I have to put the adjective before the referred name (e.g., I'm an Italian man).
In some languages (as Italian or Ancient ...
1
vote
5answers
1k views
A word or phrase to say something reminds or hints or brings up another idea
I want to tell that something reminds/hint us of another thing. For example, in an application, a sorting method used in it has similarities to bubble sort but not completely the same. In this case, ...
2
votes
2answers
836 views
Is “Just because X doesn't mean Y” a grammatical sentence? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Sentence Construction: “Just Because … Does Not Mean”
“just because… doesn't mean…”
I'm wondering if "Just because X doesn't mean Y" is a grammatical ...
4
votes
3answers
290 views
Englishman and British man
Why is it Englishman, Frenchman, etc. (one word) but British man (two words)?
1
vote
2answers
242 views
What is the proper grammatical terminology to describe this parenthetical remark?
The following sentence appears in this book review:
But this idea has been a driving force in mathematical logic and computer science since Alan Turing, A. N. Kolmogorov and Emil Post (he of the ...
4
votes
3answers
10k views
Is “Please be reminded to …” a valid construction?
I received an email today with the following sentence:
Please be reminded to bring your basketball gear in.
He was subsequently made fun of by a co-worker:
'Please be reminded' - Will you be ...
0
votes
2answers
120 views
The use of “have”: “have a map on it” and “have a colony in the country”
I would like to know about the use of "have" combined with prepositional phrases.
(ex.1) The table has a map on it.
Example 1 can be paraphrased as "there is a map on the table". In this case, ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
Difference between “subsequently” and “consequently”?
When studying and reading course material in "softer" sciences that are descriptive the word "subsequently" appears in a way like "and subsequently" ...what does it mean, disctinct from "consequently" ...
4
votes
1answer
830 views
Root + “-ophone” construction to describe speakers of a language
I've long used the terms anglophone and francophone to describe English and French speakers respectively, but I recently found myself about halfway through a sentence where I needed a similar term for ...
81
votes
10answers
6k views
Is there a word for a person with only one head?
Reading this article by the fantastic Douglas Adams I came across this interesting quote:
‘[I]nteractivity’ is one of those neologisms that Mr Humphrys likes to dangle between a pair of verbal ...
0
votes
2answers
406 views
Using “do” to create a question [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
English questions and negation with do in syntax
What is the origin of the 'do' construction?
I vaguely remember hearing that using "do" to create a question ...
6
votes
3answers
454 views
Making a question with the verb “to go”
I remember reading or hearing that English is a very unusual language, almost unique, in using the verb "to go" to create a question. (Are you going to see the play? Are you going to drink that ...
6
votes
3answers
188 views
Humour through repeated use of a construct, with a final variation?
I am wondering if there is any name, or well-known example, for a humoristic construct that I particularly enjoy. It is exemplified in this monolog from Pierre Desproges, directed at a woman he was ...
6
votes
1answer
570 views
Zero conditional form
Chatting with a colleague we came a cross a dilemma (as we are not English native), which of the following sentences are wrong? Why?
If I knew everything, I'd be a genius.
If I know everything, I'd ...
8
votes
2answers
166 views
Get a high speed connection without roaming charges instantly
I saw this message on an advert:
Get a high speed connection without
roaming charges instantly.
I am pretty sure that a better way to say it is:
Instantly get a high speed connection
...
3
votes
3answers
267 views
What's different between the two sentences?
Hey,
I'm watching a TV show, and there's a sentence:
I knew giving you that book was gonna come back and bite me in the ass.
Can I change it to:
I know gave you that book was gonna come back ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
Question regarding the usage of “Bang”
Can anyone shed some light on the origin of the use of the word "Bang" to imply a positive adjective?
For example, here are three colloquial phrases which use the word bang to lend strength to the ...
10
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?
What is the difference between a phrase and a clause? I tried looking this in dictionary but can not identify the difference. It would be great if I could get an example and formula of what makes a ...
6
votes
3answers
557 views
“just because… doesn't mean…”
It appears to me that the construction "just because… doesn't mean…" isn't used in literature at all. Is its use limited to colloquial speech and informal writing?
Note that while some people seem to ...
