This tag is about how the grammar works: different grammatical usages, how they can be used, or what they mean.
3
votes
1answer
271 views
Is using past participle instead of present one more polite?
On christianity.stackexchange.com I asked this question:
"Is it true that John Paul the Second restored the practice of selling indulgences in 2000?"
and one supporter suggested that I replace ...
2
votes
1answer
69 views
About inversion
Given the following sentence,
Nowhere on her title page or copyright page is there a suggestion that anyone but Walker wrote her story.
Can I invert it as follows without changing the meaning?
...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
Which preposition: “Write on/at/to this address?”
My exam included this fill-in-the-blank question:
Please write __ this address. (on/at/to)
I filled the blank with on.
Is that correct?
0
votes
1answer
105 views
Punctuating participle phrases
Are there any firm rules for separating a participle phrase with a comma? I rarely place a participle phrases close to the noun it modifies and wonder whether a comma is required.
Do either of these ...
-2
votes
1answer
66 views
Do I believe the sky above or I do believe the sky above
I’m Brazilian and I have a doubt. Why in Enya’s song “Caribbean Blue” does she say:
So the world goes round and round
With all you ever knew
They say the sky high above
Is Caribbean blue
...
0
votes
0answers
55 views
simple present or past in describing an event shown in a series of pictures
I'm correcting my 7th graders' writing assignment in which they're given three pictures of a fat boy who decides to go on a diet and finally becomes thinner. I've been told that using present simple ...
0
votes
0answers
61 views
Capturing a special “moment when…”
Which of these is most effective in capturing a specific moment, whether past, present, or future? Also, which is most concise?
that moment when it all comes together.
that moment it all comes ...
