This tag is about how the grammar works: different grammatical usages, how they can be used, or what they mean.
5
votes
2answers
931 views
When is the use of “north” more appropriate than “northern” and vice versa?
North, South, East, West, can be used as adjectives, but so can Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western. What rules, if any, govern which is appropriate when?
7
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the origin of the phrase “you've got another thing/think coming”?
What is the origin of the phrase "you've got another thing coming"? And — perhaps more importantly — is it more correct than the alternative "you've got another think coming"?
6
votes
1answer
3k views
“They're not” vs. “they aren't”
How dissimilar are "they're not" and "they aren't"?
Is it dependent on context or are these exactly the same?
They are supposed to be going, but they are not.
They are not going.
5
votes
3answers
681 views
Could you help me to do a syntax analysis of this sentence?
The more I use Froyo the more new stuff I discover.
Does it mean:
I more use Froyo, I discover more new stuff.
5
votes
5answers
798 views
“Bring” versus “take”
My mother used to correct me all the time when I was younger about "bringing" a toy to a friend's house versus "taking" it. Which is correct, and why?
3
votes
5answers
19k views
Which is correct: “drive safe” or “drive safely”?
Which one is correct? Similarly, is "do good" correct?
2
votes
3answers
771 views
What do brackets in a quote mean? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the proper use of [square brackets] in quotes?
What do brackets around a word or words in a quote mean? This may seem silly, but I've never figured this out.
...
1
vote
6answers
720 views
“Checked into the database” versus “checked in to the database” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should “into” be used rather than “in to,” and vice versa?
I was recently submitting ("checking in") some data to a database and composed an ...
-1
votes
2answers
557 views
In Moderation, In Revision
1 The forum comments are under moderation.
2 The forum comments are in moderation.
3 The book is in revision.
4 The book is under revision.
Could 1 & 2 be the same? Could 3 & 4 be the same ...
52
votes
9answers
2k views
Is it ever worth the time and effort to correct someone else's grating grammatical mistakes?
Whenever I hear statements like "It was a great deal for he and I" and "Call Karen and I in the morning," I die a little. Such solecisms, as Twain said in another context (Cooper's prose style), ...
16
votes
8answers
8k views
Is there any difference between Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous?
I have studied "present perfect" and "present perfect continuous" for a week. I know forms, verb and helping verb I should use when I write them.
For me, they have nearly same definition because I ...
18
votes
2answers
27k views
Is there an apostrophe in a master's degree?
The question asks it all really. When referring to a master's degree, do you use an apostrophe or not? That is, is it "a master's" or "a masters"?
10
votes
7answers
2k views
Is using passive voice “bad form”?
Whenever I create a document in Microsoft Word, it complains about a lot of my sentences being in passive voice. But, when I read that sentence aloud, it sounds fine to me. I am not sure if it is just ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
Can “due to” and “because of ” be used interchangeably?
Is it fine to use due to in place of because of ? How about the other way around? Are any of these sentences ungrammatical?
He was lost because of the storm.
He was lost due to the storm.
He lost ...
20
votes
5answers
1k views
When did “while” and “whilst” become interchangeable?
I think most folk happily use either "while" or "whilst". I've a vague recollection that at one time "while" indicated the passing of time and "whilst" was essentially the same as "whereas" or ...
15
votes
6answers
637 views
What are the principles that make certain lists sound euphonious?
Has this ever happened to you: You write a question, include a list or two in the discussion, and then come back to edit that list because the order doesn't sound "right"? Off the top of my head, I ...
14
votes
6answers
27k views
Which is correct: “special thanks go to” or “special thanks goes to”?
what is grammatically correct:
Special thanks go to Tom...
Special thanks goes to Tom...
IMHO I'd say thanks is one of those plural nouns which implies it requires go but I'm not sure.
It's for ...
15
votes
2answers
817 views
Omitting “and” in a sentence
He called her, emailed her, texted her, tweeted her—all to no use.
Strictly speaking, I would need to write texted her and tweeted her, but I'm omitting and to convey a rhythm and sense of ...
8
votes
5answers
367 views
'How to' vs 'How do I'
This question is inspired by comments on a question on stackoverflow. The original poster wrote:
How to correct this error?
And comments say that it's an incorrect question. Better is
How ...
7
votes
6answers
797 views
Superlative + noun + “possible”: why does the adjective come after the noun?
Does someone happen to have an explanation or theory for why in phrases like "the best method possible" the word 'possible' comes after the noun?
7
votes
2answers
12k views
“Most of which” or “most of whom”?
I am very uncertain about when to use "most of whom," "most of who," or "most of which."
Please give concrete examples instead of only rules like, "this is the subject, so you should..."
7
votes
2answers
921 views
Origin of different past tenses for verbs with the same endings?
Why do we have a situation where the past of "to blow" is "blew", but of "to glow" is "glowed"? And don't say "flew" if you mean "it flowed". The poem Lovers, by Phoebe Cary has many examples of ...
6
votes
6answers
609 views
Use of “ever” in non-negated sentence
Is the sentence grammatically correct:
I do recall ever seeing my mother in the light of day.
4
votes
2answers
3k views
Where should the apostrophe go in “three days work”?
Which is correct?
1 Three day's work
2 Three days' work
3 Three days work
I would probably guess (2) is right, since the work belongs to the three days ("three days of work"). But I'm ...
4
votes
4answers
9k views
Is it 'a usual' or 'an usual'? Why?
is it 'a usual' or 'an usual'? 'A usual' sounds more correct in my head ('Today was a usual day.') than 'an usual', but u is a vowel. Which one is correct and why?
3
votes
2answers
2k views
Is the sentence “There is a large number of labourers who want to migrate to Japan for work.” correct? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
A number of questions “has been” or “have been” asked?
There is a large number of labourers who want to migrate to Japan for work.
I type ...
3
votes
3answers
393 views
“Me” versus “I”
He was almost as bad at English as me.
He was almost as bad at English as I.
The first one sounds better as-is, but not when you change the second one to He was almost as bad at English as I was.
...
3
votes
4answers
6k views
Many vs Much - Which one should be used?
"There's so many people in here!"
"There's so much people here!"
Which one should be used, and why?
3
votes
2answers
2k views
Definite article with plural nouns
Are there cases where the definite article is used with a plural noun, or is it a rule that the definite article is never used with the plural of a word?
12
votes
5answers
946 views
Please explain “I Am America (And So Can You!)”
As a non-native speaker, I found Stephen Colbert’s book title I Am America (And So Can You!) a little hard to dissect. Why so can you? Why isn’t it So Are You? What’s the full phrase that And So Can ...
9
votes
5answers
558 views
Why does “is” replace “has”?
I am continually surprised to hear people use has and is interchangeably.
The erudite Peter Segal has been guilty of saying:
This song is been written by XXX.
YY is been a producer on the ...
8
votes
0answers
401 views
Infinitive without “to”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the correct way to use infinitive after the verb “help”: with or without “to”?
Today I found this headline on bbc.co.uk
How one ...
8
votes
2answers
414 views
*all of us's friend
There's this funny gap I tried to write a paper once upon a time when I studied linguistics, and I'd like to know if anyone has insight into it. The construction in question is the possessive ...
6
votes
1answer
259 views
Is “not eating or drinking” equal to “not eating or not drinking”?
Is "not eating or drinking" equal to "not eating or not drinking"?
5
votes
0answers
4k views
How many tenses are there in English and what are they? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How many tenses are there in English?
The number of grammatical tenses in English makes it confusing as to what they are exactly and what types of tenses there are.
...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Why haven't we used “it” instead of “he or she”?
There is a related discussion on this forum.
My questions is different. I'm all for gender awareness, but why hasn't a properly defined pronoun "it" been used instead of "he/she" or "he or she", etc. ...
4
votes
2answers
984 views
Present perfect for past action with present effect
If I seem tired, can I say: "I haven't slept last night"? If not, why have I been told that we use present perfect for actions that have present effects?
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Rule for adding “and” or hyphens between numbers that are spelled out fully in text
For example, take the number 342. It could be written out a number of different ways when spelled out fully.
Three hundred forty two
Three hundred and forty two
Three hundred and forty-two
What is ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
“Any” or “some” in various questions?
I'm wondering why I always hear "some" in questions, although according to English grammar there should always be "any". At least the one I'm looking at uses "some". For example:
Why are some ...
0
votes
3answers
1k views
How to know when to use “someone” or “anyone”?
I am trying to write a grammar rule that will be able to identify when to use someone or anyone, and I got confused. I couldn't find any clear way to do this.
For instance, "anyone can do it" is ...
0
votes
3answers
680 views
Which is more correct “fewer than hundred people” or “less than hundred people”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is “less” appropriate vs. “fewer”?
Which is more correct "fewer than hundred people" or "less than hundred people"? According to my grammar ...
-1
votes
4answers
927 views
Usage of “What” + verb without auxiliary one
This is a subquestion to my "And lead raptivity captive" question.
As I understood from a comment by RegDwight, it was incorrect to ask:
What mean raptivity and phrase "And lead raptivity captive"? ...
-2
votes
2answers
577 views
“Employee list” or “employees list” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
User’s Guide vs Users’ Guide
should a list of tokens be called a “token list” or a “tokens list”
I know we can use list of employees, but I'd ...
93
votes
2answers
3k views
Where were “should”, “shall”, and “must” in the 18th Century?
According to the following Google Ngram, in the U.K. the modals should, shall, and must were virtually missing from English writing during the 18th Century (I've added will for a comparison modal ...
17
votes
2answers
828 views
Plurality of numbers between -1 and 1
If I recall correctly, the Académie française states that, for French, quantities comprised within [-1,1] are singular, and anything else is plural. This means, for instance, that we should say (in ...
3
votes
1answer
9k views
'I was using', 'I have used', 'I have been using', 'I had used' - what is the difference amongst these?
First, is my question right? Does amongst fit here?
Please differentiate the above phrases.
22
votes
4answers
1k views
How do the rules of English inform understanding of one of our language's most disputed sentences?
Yes, historical context is important, but forget it for a moment. Taken at face value, what does the text mean?
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right ...
15
votes
3answers
427 views
You don't want to answer this word-placement question, now do you?
Prompted by this question I got to thinking about the placement of the word now.
If it's placed before the comma, it refers to an immediate condition:
You don't want to answer this word-placement ...
9
votes
3answers
712 views
Is “to” really part of the infinitive?
Consider this:
I like to eat here.
vs
I would eat here.
It appears to me that "to" has nothing to do with the infinitive form of the verb that follows. It is, in this example, an integral ...
25
votes
4answers
6k views
How does the phrase “used to” work, grammatically?
It is common to hear people say "used to" to indicate that they did something in the past but no longer do; for example, "I used to play basketball." How would "used to," used in that context, fit ...
