This tag is about how the grammar works: different grammatical usages, how they can be used, or what they mean.
2
votes
2answers
170 views
“Dazzling images do not a shining nation make” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is “xxxx doth not a yyyy make” considered valid English?
Is
Dazzling images do not a shining nation make
correct grammatically? To me it should be
...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Usage of “just”, “only” and word-order [intended meaning]
I've got these sentences, which meanings are correct (my interpretations are in brackets):
Use of only:
(1) Only in 1996, Ford sold a rebadged Mazda 626 GV over here as its rebranded Japanese ...
2
votes
2answers
5k views
“Is there” versus “Are there”
Are there any questions I should be asking?
Is there any articles available on the subject?
My instinct is that in the two questions above, it should be 'are' as the subjects of the sentences ...
2
votes
2answers
402 views
About the use of future tense
Which is better:
"I am not having lunch tomorrow unless I am really hungry."
"I am not having lunch tomorrow unless I will be really hungry."
Something else
2
votes
1answer
319 views
Overusing “and” and how to fix it
Several months ago, I was writing a fan-fiction story set in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe and I ended up constructing this sentence:
"...Sonic and his allies and Dr. Robotnik and his allies..."
...
2
votes
1answer
511 views
Should I use “will” or “would” when I suggest that something will/would come in handy?
This second part would hopefully come in handy tonight.
This second part will hopefully come in handy tonight.
Which one is correct and why?
2
votes
1answer
435 views
Constructing compound sentences
Consider the following sentence:
One of the items that needed a further development was a research on child nodes of a story representing its sub categories being updated the moment the list of ...
1
vote
2answers
416 views
“I know where you work at” vs. “I know where you work”
Which one is correct?
I don't need to know where you work at.
I don't need to know where you work.
Could you also please tell me about this rule is called in grammar so I can learn more ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
Using “and” twice in a list
About using and, I've learned it is usually used in lists, between the last two items. For example:
I like movies, traveling and going out with friends.
Please tell me if the use of and ...
1
vote
1answer
2k views
What does “I was had” mean?
Maybe he would help me with Deborah's pablum, take turns pushing the wheelchair. It's good to have someone.
That reminded me that I had someone -- or perhaps I was had. In any case, Rita would ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views
Is it supposed to be a HTML or an HTML [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
“A” vs. “An” in writing vs. pronunciation
Do you use “a” or “an” before acronyms?
I've often seen people calling a ...
1
vote
2answers
268 views
1
vote
3answers
288 views
Is it “that's the same story, know?” or “that's the same story, no?”
I am getting quite confused by:
That's also the same story, know? or
That's also the same story, no?
IN the above two which is correct formation? This is very confusing to me.
0
votes
1answer
267 views
What's the Best English word for 6 months in this group: daily, weekly, quarterly, 6 months, yearly? [duplicate]
While writing programs, I need to create a drop down for setting periods, like daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Using one year as a time frame. This question is driven by lack of a better word. I've had ...
0
votes
1answer
4k views
what is the difference between “ get in the bus” and “ get on the bus” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Origin/reason for the expression “on the bus” instead of “in the bus”
I want to know when to use " get in the bus." and " get on the bus."
I will ...
0
votes
1answer
652 views
Present perfect continuous for finished actions
Since present perfect continuous is used to talk about an activity that has finished, but whose results are visible now, can I use it for an action like these two ones;
'I have been living in Los ...
0
votes
3answers
910 views
Can “if”, “while”, “whenever”, “when” recurse deeply? How deeply? [closed]
I would like a generative BNF-style complete description for English grammar. Some of the more subtle stuff leads to awkward questions of grammaticality (a complete answer to this question, and all ...
-1
votes
1answer
450 views
Apostrophes and s's [duplicate]
I always forget the rule about if something is possessive put 's at the end, for example "the sailor's hat". I know some people say to remember because it has a different meaning if it's plural (e.g. ...
-2
votes
2answers
78 views
First year's conference or first years' conference? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
User’s Guide vs Users’ Guide
As in, a conference that is for people in their first year of, say, University.
-3
votes
1answer
294 views
Can you decide grammaticality from the sentence alone?
I would like a generative BNF-style complete description for English grammar. Some of the more subtle stuff leads to awkward questions of grammaticality (a complete answer to this question, and all ...
32
votes
5answers
3k views
Is “the girls are want to gossip” correct?
Is this the correct use and placement of want?
The girls in the office are want to gossip.
Does anyone have a reference citing this use?
11
votes
4answers
13k views
“Fill out a form” or “fill in a form”
Does one fill out a form or does one fill in a form? I've gotten different answers from the people I've asked.
Google search results:
fill in a form — 14,200,000
fill out a form — ...
11
votes
5answers
668 views
Commas around non-parenthetical name like “The famous playwright, William Shakespeare, was born…”?
I commonly see commas used like: "The famous playwright, William Shakespeare, was born in Stratford-upon-Avon."
It bothers me, but I'm curious to hear explanations of why this is done, and if it can ...
4
votes
4answers
298 views
Cooking apples and cleaning ladies
Consider the following sentences:
Cooking is my favourite activity.
Cooking apples are essential for this recipe.
Cooking functions in the first sentence as a gerund. How does it function in the ...
17
votes
5answers
1k views
How do I pluralize a name ending in “y”?
Frequently when I refer to or address a family, I do so by pluralizing their last name, e.g., The Smiths, or The Ramones. But suppose I want to address a family whose last name ends in a "y", e.g., ...
16
votes
8answers
1k views
Why do we say “Japan earthquake” and not “Japanese earthquake”?
Isn’t earthquake a noun and the preceding word an adjective? Isn’t “Japanese” the adjectival form of “Japan”?
14
votes
4answers
700 views
Is there a name for how the Irish use so, so?
There is an Irish English structural usage of the word so, that is I think unique to Ireland.
Are we going to the cinema, so?
Where is the dog, so?
The word so is unneeded and seems to mean ...
10
votes
5answers
442 views
Are apostrophes actually needed?
I don't mean to make it grammatically correct I mean does English need them?
I can't seem to find a use case other than it's "legacy" in English, but that is never a reason to keep something around.
...
8
votes
3answers
323 views
Is this contraction of 'there is' acceptable to native speakers of English?
In the Slate article, The Curse of “You May Also Like”, the following sentence has a contraction of there is that doesn't sit well with my ear for American or British English. I wonder whether any of ...
6
votes
3answers
683 views
What tense is “If I were a bird, I could fly”
The sentence is not referring to any time past, present of future. It's just referring to an imaginary condition which has never existed and seemingly will never exist. Still, the sentence and other ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
“Logged-in”, “log-ined”, “login-ed”, “logined”, “log-in-ed”, “logged in”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“log in to” or “log into” or “login to”
This following question, where and how to append "-ed", is not addressed in thу "possible ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Good book on English grammar from the very beginning [closed]
My wife is fairly new in US and her native language is Ukrainian. Though she is not afraid of speaking english, she does it with lots of grammar mistakes, starting from wrong sequence of words in a ...
2
votes
3answers
8k views
“Types of” followed by singular or plural? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Types of things vs. types of thing
When using the phrase "types of" or "kinds of," it often seems appropriate to follow with a singular noun (e.g., types of rock), but ...
2
votes
4answers
3k views
“He” / “she” vs. “it” regarding beloved objects
Is that normal to regard a beloved object (an animal, a car, a book) as he/she? If yes, what gender should be used in this case?
One comment in this question touched the tendency to humanize things ...
2
votes
2answers
7k views
Which is correct: “is it worth it?” or “does it worth it?”
Which one should I prefer?
Is it worth it?
or
Does it worth it?
Additionally, is the following form (without it) correct?
Is it worth?
14
votes
1answer
358 views
Is this usage of “reign” correct?
Lately I've noticed increasing usage of the phrase "free reign". Is this a legitimate usage of the word "reign", or is this a corruption of the phrase "free rein"?
I've been dismissing usages of ...
12
votes
6answers
1k views
Why do we put the verb to be at the end of these questions? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Changing subject and verb positions in statements and questions
Look at the following questions - can anyone give a simple grammatical explanation as to why we put the ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
What are the rules about using 'half of' with plural nouns?
Here are some sentences with 'half of' and plural nouns that I consider to be well-formed:
Half of all films are a waste of celluloid.
Half of users surveyed said they preferred the old product.
...
9
votes
4answers
431 views
What part of speech is “worth”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the lexical class of the word 'worth' when used in a sentence like “Is this apple worth $3?”
In a sentence like the following:
The ...
9
votes
5answers
23k views
“I use to”, or “I used to”
Which is the correct way of saying the following sentence (if there is a correct version)?
"I use to be a hitman"
"I used to be a hitman"
I've read the 2nd recently in a book, but was sure it ...
8
votes
1answer
2k views
What is a finite verb?
What's a finite verb? It's not just the opposite of an infinitive, is it? Can I get some examples?
7
votes
3answers
2k views
“I'm having” - an illness?
What is I'm having in grammar terms? Is it something near the present, the near future? As in I'm having a party tomorrow?
Example (not about the near future),
I'm having trouble coming up with a ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
Infinitives with “ought not”
Most of the references I can find about the word “ought” indicate that even when negating it, you should use an infinitive: “You ought not to go there.”
That sounds quite bad ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
needn't = don't need to?
Are these two sentences equivalent?
You needn't pay at once.
You don't need to pay at once.
If yes, which one would you recommend? Is it an US/GB thing?
5
votes
4answers
3k views
“Nobody want to go there,” or “nobody wants to go there”?
In English, the number 0 is treated as plural. It is then:
0 seconds
1 second
1.2 seconds
2 seconds
Shouldn't it be "nobody want to go there," instead of "nobody wants to go there"?
I also ...
5
votes
2answers
503 views
Tending to misuse comma
I tend to misuse commas in large way.
Whenever I draft a professional mail, I get engrossed in the points, and somewhere along the way I get the feeling that this sentence is too long. I then ...
4
votes
1answer
231 views
Why is the comma inside quotation marks when people are quoted? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should end punctuation go inside quotes?
From a AMS blog post:
Some organizations have temporarily suspended their polling, and with the news media tabbing ...
4
votes
2answers
15k views
When to use “lives” as a plural of life?
I am confused when talking about a general idea using "our life" when sometimes I feel like using "our lives". Please tell me the correct answer with appropriate explanation.
4
votes
3answers
602 views
Superlatives with “the”
What is the rule regarding using the with superlatives? For example:
John is the fastest among his friends.
John is fastest among his friends.
Both appear to be correct. I have seen ...
4
votes
3answers
9k views
When to use commas in a sentence that starts with finally, additionally, etc?
If I have a sentence that starts with additionally, finally, consequently, etc. do I always have to put a comma after this? Or is there any rule how I can judge?
