Grammaticality refers to whether something obeys the rules of grammar for English.
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2answers
90 views
“Wanting” or “want”?
Lately I have noticed that a lot of people use "wanting" in sentences, or in books, but I don't get it because my English teachers have always said to me that with verbs like "love", "like", "want" ...
13
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2answers
11k views
Is it “quit” or “quitted”?
What is the correct (grammatical) simple past and past participle form of the verb quit? Is it quit or quitted?
She quitted her job. (She has quitted her job.)
or
She quit her job. (She has ...
3
votes
3answers
145 views
Is “to practice volleyball requires stamina” grammatical?
Is the sentence "to practice volleyball requires stamina" grammatically correct? As opposed to the sentence "practicing volleyball requires stamina"?
Another example:
To ensure safety ...
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1answer
73 views
“We makes” vs. “we make” [closed]
Which is grammatical — "we makes you smarter" or "we make you smarter"? (Where we refers to an institution.)
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1answer
128 views
“I am puzzled by conflicting opinion on [a] coffee.”
I am puzzled by conflicting opinion on a coffee.
I am puzzled by conflicting opinion on coffee.
These sentences are from a syllabus book. And I don't know which one is correct.
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2answers
136 views
I am going to go?
My English teacher told me that "going to go" doesn't exist in English but I saw it many times. For example "The whole band is going to go to show their support". I'd like to know if it's possible to ...
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1answer
70 views
“I'm very interested in.” vs “in which I'm very interested.” [duplicate]
You should sell me that book I'm very interested in
or is it better to write it as
You should sell me that book in which I'm very interested
I know that the former is more informal than the ...
-3
votes
1answer
110 views
Usage of “I am afraid” [closed]
What kind of sentence should follow the phrase "I am afraid", assertive or interogative?
For example, is the following sentence grammatical?
I am afraid is it appropriate ask me a copy of it.
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1answer
53 views
“Read the values of a and b” vs. “read the values a and b”
Read the values of a and b.
Read the values a and b.
The context is programming. Do I need to use of? What is the rule to use of before variables?
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2answers
135 views
“The doors is closing” — correct?
A friend of mine tried to convince me that the expression "the doors is closing" is correct. It sounds completely wrong to me, but googling for it turns up some results.
0
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2answers
152 views
Should a photograph label read “you and I” or “you and me”? [duplicate]
I had a debate with my friend about this topic because he had a photo captioned:
Seth and I playing lion king
and I said it should be
Seth and me playing lion king
Which is correct?
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10answers
3k views
Is “Am I needing to. . . ?” grammatical?
In the course of answering this question, we have evoked some dispute over whether the phrase
Am I needing to read this book?
is grammatical. I think it is correct, although not common, but ...
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1answer
14k views
Is the phrase “Please be informed that” grammatically correct?
I have seen this phrase in many articles. It sounds a little bit odd to me.
Also, what could be an alternative to this? Can I use "please be aware" or "For your information" instead of this phrase?
...
3
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1answer
13k views
“leave to” or “leave for”
Which of the following is correct?
I am leaving for London.
I am leaving to London.
I have always thought the first one is correct till I came across the name of this painting.
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1answer
58 views
use of articles [closed]
I am always unhappy when it's time for geometry class.
I am always unhappy when it's a time for geometry class.
I am always unhappy when it's the time for geometry class.
which one is correct? ...
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1answer
101 views
“Choices” vs. “options”
Are the two words synonyms? Is it grammatically correct to say "you have two choices, this or that?" Isn't that one choice? Should it not be "you have one choice, this or that" or "you have two ...
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3answers
59 views
Which is correct, “does go to” or “does goes to”? [closed]
Which is the correct statement?
Does she goes to Gym?
Does Rita go to Gym?
Does Rita goes to Gym?
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votes
2answers
64 views
“I am” vs “am” - When should they be used in a sentence? [duplicate]
So often, I find people using am instead of I am, for example,
am going to work
am okay
am sleeping
Is this grammatically correct and when should am be used in a sentence if it is ...
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1answer
102 views
Grammar: did + past simple, is it correct? [closed]
I’ve noticed a few times where someone says something like “Did you made...” or “Did you worked...” when asking questions.
Is this some kind of unofficial talk or is it completely incorrect ...
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1answer
61 views
Using stressed “the” to emphasize outstanding noun
I'm not a native English speaker and sometimes I encounter article "the" used in stressed form before some noun or name, mostly in movies, like "That's not the gun, that's THE gun" or "He is THE ...
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vote
1answer
85 views
Prepositions used with “command line” and “shell”
I found the following variations on the use of "command line" and "shell" in computing and wonder which are correct and how to use them appropriately.
Command line: is it "at the command line" or ...
2
votes
2answers
228 views
“Split in half” vs. “split in two” — which one is correct?
Does the "in" imply multiplication, in which case split in half is correct, or is it division? It sounds like the latter to me, but I've heard it used both ways.
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4answers
4k views
“The purpose of” versus “the purpose for” — which one is proper?
Is there even a difference between the two?
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6answers
2k views
“A variety of X is” vs. “a variety of X are”
Which of the following sentences is correct?
A variety of dishes are being prepared.
A variety of dishes is being prepared.
I believe that both can be used, though I'd stick with ...
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votes
2answers
99 views
Is it “sneak peek on” or “sneak peek at”?
I would like to post a screenshot of my upcoming app. What is correct to say, "sneak peek on" or "sneak peek at"?
Here is a sneak peek on my app for iPhone.
Here is a sneak peek at my app for ...
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1answer
109 views
Can we use “from” after “stop”?
I want to know the difference between these two items:
She couldn't stop herself laughing.
She couldn't stop herself from laughing.
I assume that No. 2 is wrong, but it seems right!
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1answer
85 views
Which sentence is better grammatically? [closed]
I want to search for food by name.
I want to search for a specific food name.
I want to search for a specific food.
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3answers
116 views
Is “the hopes of such plans of ever becoming a reality soon begin to fade” grammatical? [closed]
I'm trying to close a long sentence with the following phrase:
...the hopes of such plans of ever becoming a reality soon begin to fade.
Is this grammatically correct?
Update: The whole ...
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1answer
45 views
Grammaticality of “help someone something” [closed]
A few times I've encountered phrases of the form "help yourself [something]", for example "help yourself some water". I consider this form to be ungrammatical, but I am not a native speaker. Is it ...
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vote
3answers
65 views
Grammaticality of the word “last”
I was handed an example of a formal letter, which was written in reply to an advertisement. This is the starting sentence:
Dear Mr Madrick,
With reference to your advertisement in "The ...
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1answer
81 views
What is ungrammatical about “that's them”?
I was reading 3rd short story in Agatha Christie's "Poirot Investigates" when I stumbled on following sentence:
"That's them," I declared in an ungrammatical whisper.
What is so ungrammatical ...
2
votes
1answer
115 views
What is the difference in meaning between 'nonchalant' and 'insouciant'?
OED defines them as:
nonchalant adjective (of a person or manner) feeling or appearing casually calm and relaxed; not displaying anxiety, interest, or enthusiasm
insouciant adjective showing ...
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8answers
3k views
Is it acceptable to nest parentheses?
Is it acceptable to nest parentheses (for example, if I (meaning myself) write like this)?
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1answer
105 views
Is “in about” grammatical in “I'll reach there in about 5 minutes”?
Is it correct to say "I'll reach there in about 5 minutes?" Is "in about" correct in this sentence?
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4answers
79 views
“There is” vs. “there are” when contracted [duplicate]
Unless I am mistaken, when referring to a single thing or entity, one can say there is or there's (the contraction of the same). When referring to more than one of something, the correct wording is ...
6
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1answer
125 views
Is “postchoice” a well-used word?
I came upon the word postchoice in the following sentence of Time magazine’s (May 28) article titled “The optimism bias,” dealing with the benefits of positive thinking:
According to social ...
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1answer
110 views
Is “non-view” versus view a received English word?
I found the phrase, “views and non-views” in the following sentence of the New Yorker article (October 15) titled “Are Debates Good for Republican,” which was written by its senior editor, Amy ...
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3answers
274 views
is “purposely” an actual word? [closed]
I grew up in Malaysia and Singapore, and it's taken me a long time to dissect my vocabulary into "local slang, incomprehensible/incorrect elsewhere" and "proper English".
'Purposely' is one of those ...
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votes
3answers
2k views
Is 'quiescing' a valid word? What does it mean?
What does quiescing mean in the following context?
Quiescing a Database
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14231/start.htm
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7answers
28k views
Is “receival” a valid word for the act of receiving something?
In the course of reviewing a standard operating procedure, I came across the subheading:
"Receival, Costing and Charging of Work".
I immediately began to doubt whether the word "receival" was a ...
5
votes
4answers
991 views
Is 'uniquer' a word?
My spellcheck doesn't complain about 'uniquer'. Is it a valid word?
Since unique means "one of a kind", 'uniquer' has no valid definition,
but that doesn't prevent it from being a valid dictionary ...
5
votes
6answers
152 views
Is “unredactable” a word?
I googled it and even though it's been used on the Web, I can't find any entries for it on online dictionaries.
If it's not a real word, then is there a good equivalent?
The context is a record ...
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6answers
8k views
Is “funnest” a word?
We seem to be stuck at an impasse on this issue.
Is funnest a word or not?
If so, does it mean "most fun"?
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3answers
11k views
Is “misconfigured” a word?
I use the word "misconfigured" all the time, but MS Word, Chrome, and the two dictionaries I checked don't list it as a word.
I'm going to keep using it instead of "configured incorrectly" because I ...
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votes
1answer
98 views
“Had decided to call” vs.“had decided that we should call”
I have a question regarding using "had decided". I'm not sure if I can use either an infinitive form of a verb or a modal verb:
We had decided to call each other when we are in danger.
We had ...
0
votes
1answer
107 views
What is wrong with this sentence?
I do not even get the chance of show my skills in an interview.
Someone told me that this sentence is wrong and instead should be:
I do not get the chance of show my skills in an interview.
...
2
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3answers
5k views
Is solutioning a correct word?
My Outlook flags the word "solutioning" as a spelling mistake.
According to Urban Dictionary :
solutioning > A word many business people misuse to describe the
process of creating a solution. ...
3
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5answers
1k views
Is it acceptable to begin a declarative sentence with “Am”?
I want to know firstly if it's grammatically correct to start a declarative sentence with "Am". For example:
Am excited about the game today.
Secondly, if it is grammatically incorrect, then I ...
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vote
1answer
109 views
Tense agreement after “if it means that”
I've read that in conditional sentences, tenses don't have to match. Is this true for sentences that contain "if it means"? In the examples below, I'm trying to say something like "I won't write to ...
2
votes
1answer
167 views
Use of gerund without preposition “to”
Can I use gerunds with the word "concede" without using preposition "to" as in the sentence below?
He concedes killing his wife.
