Questions tagged [grammaticality]

This tag is for questions about whether something obeys the rules of grammar in English. The question must INCLUDE THE SPECIFIC GRAMMATICAL CONCERN. If your question is about grammar itself, please use the "grammar" tag.

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do you use " The" with mathematical methods?

For intra-cluster relationships, we applied mathematical optimisation to choose the best tree produced by neighbour joining method. Or For intra-cluster relationships, we applied ...
user3729332's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
971 views

adverb phrases modifying each other

Here comes a very stupid question. I always wondered what type of grammatical phenomenon allows adverb phrases to be placed right next to each other repeatedly. So something like this. I ate a bag ...
chonops's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
43k views

"them", "themselves," or "their selves"?

In reading a description of a cartoon I came about the following sentence: But the shadows of the men are not the real reflections of the men but younger versions of themselves. For me the last ...
MsPodesta's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
64 views

Relative Pronoun [closed]

Is the following sentence grammatically correct? This is the man, who I told you about, raised 6 million dollar to our company. If it's ungrammatical, what makes it so?
yellowton's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

"To run" vs. "for running of"

I read this sentence in a book: Petrol is needed for running of a car. I wonder if I could say "Petrol is needed to run a car." Is the second sentence grammatically correct? If yes, then what is ...
Mirza's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
2k views

The only thing I can think of that it is like - A question of English grammar

Such a peculiar odor, too! I have spent hours in trying to analyze it, to find what it smelled like. It is not bad—at first, and very gentle, but quite the subtlest, most enduring odor I ever met. ...
user58207's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
284 views

Debate, Bare Plurals, and Mass Nouns

The current high school debate resolution is “Resolved: In the United States criminal justice system, jury nullification ought to be used in the face of perceived injustice.” Although the resolution ...
Henry Wu's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
737 views

Do rules of grammar apply to unconventional language usage? [closed]

I came to "English Language & Usage" in hopes of clarifying a common "Me" or "I" question, and found significant consensus as long as convention is followed: "Me and my wife went to the movies" is ...
rwhtx's user avatar
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3 votes
5 answers
3k views

Using "quite" with a noun

From the website of Cambridge Dictionary: We can use quite + a/an before a noun to give it more emphasis or importance: There was quite a crowd at the party. It makes quite a ...
asef's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
219 views

Seem small clause

It is said that the omission of "to be" is allowed only when the adjective (phrases), noun (phrases), or prepositional phrase comes after the to be like this: a He seemed (to be) angry about the ...
lotus flower's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
723 views

What is about this weird "it DO n't"? [duplicate]

This is the second time i hear songs with it don't instead of it doesn't. The first time i thought that it is just music and the singer made that change in order to let it fit This is the first song ...
William Kinaan's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is "Doors closing" grammatically correct?

What I was taught is it's supposed to be doors are closing or doors close. However CTA announcements clearly say doors closing. I'm pretty sure it's not door's closing because it also says doors open ...
pdace's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
341 views

"Of" used to say which specific thing belonging to a more general type you are referring to

"Of" can be used to describe the relationship between two close things, one thing being kind of an explanatory element. And gerund is frequently used. For example: The idea of getting into the cave ...
maxmad's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
176 views

'The excusatory causes which are not real are such as are not grounded in what is just'? [closed]

I was looking at the meaning of the word 'excusatory' on dictionary.com and I found this sentence in examples, which is just hard to read and understand: 'The excusatory causes which are not real are ...
Ravi's user avatar
  • 438
9 votes
3 answers
331k views

at the weekend, on the weekend or in the weekend? [closed]

which is the right grammatical saying from these, "I will do my work on the weekend", "I do my work in weekends" or "I will do my work at the weekend"?
Aaron's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
313 views

It extraposition

It is she that I am talking about. It is the extraposition that I am interested in. It is I to whom I was referring. It was the text book with which I was struggling. I was trying to find ...
alohaoe's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
412 views

Is saying "He was well thought of" ending a sentence with a preposition? [duplicate]

If not, is there any other way to say this? (I'm looking for synonyms, not rewordings such as "Others thought well of him.")
W. Weston's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
93 views

"Since time before..."? [closed]

I'm trying to reduce the following sentence in size so it sounds more like a slogan: "We have been around before the [technology name] has become an industry standard". Would it be correct if I spell ...
user143592's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
167 views

A Filipino teacher taught that "women are treated unequal"! Right or Wrong?

A Filipino teacher taught that "women are treated unequal". I think it should be "unequally". Is there any structure "to treat someone adjective" in English? Does "to treat me bad" make any sense? ...
Tom's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
566 views

Gerund phrase....is it really?

Object of Preposition Some people consider my interest in gardening an obsession. (The gerund phrase is “gardening an obsession.”) As I was searching around for the correct use of gerund ...
sooeithdk's user avatar
  • 513
5 votes
1 answer
9k views

Can you add emphasis by ending a sentence with "even"?

Can you end a sentence with "even", or is considered incorrect? He even smiled at me. He smiled at me, even.
Bart Louwers's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
25k views

'Need to know the correct English for "snacks served" or "provided"? [closed]

This might be a silly question, but recently I came across in Facebook an event where it was written snacks will be provided. Is it a correct English phrase or it should be like snacks will be served?...
kishoredbn's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
606 views

Is the infinitive at the end of "I did whatever I wanted to do" necessary?

In a statement such as "I did whatever I wanted to do," or "I wore whatever clothes I wanted to wear," are the infinitives "to do" and "to wear" necessary? Is it improper to say "I did whatever I ...
W. Weston's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
31k views

Shooting day - when having a photo shoot - correct?

A lot of my friends work in the creative field and often they use " shooting day" when they have a photo shoot planned... It's actually very irritating as I don't think that's correct... I mean you're ...
user143377's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
116 views

Is it wrong if I don't omit 'the' when there are multiple 'the' items?

Someone claims that the following is ungrammatical: We focus on the parameters of the representative frequency, the composition of sounds and the sequence complexity. They claim it should instead ...
AnnieFromTaiwan's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
479 views

How to formulate this sentence correctly [closed]

"By the downfall of Jay Gatsby, Myrtle’s and George’s unfortunate marriage, and the usage of symbolism Fitzgerald shows the reader how doomed the current American Dream is to fail." The sentence is ...
Συλχαν's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
4k views

"Ask ourselves what is it that..." or "Ask ourselves what it is that..."

This is from an article about setting goals: 'We need to ask ourselves what is it that we want in order to feel truly accomplished.' Compared with 'We need to ask ourselves what it is that we want in ...
Kuo  Mel's user avatar
  • 47
1 vote
1 answer
116 views

Is "hats-led society" grammatically correct and does it convey the right message?

It's a strange phrase indeed. It's from a foreign phrase. There's a period where a slogan "hats lead the society to become a superpower" was in effect. *Edit I think I should have given historical ...
Confusedbyhats's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
20k views

"was I to have" vs "were I to have" vs "if I had"

When writing an answer to another question as opposed to commenting (since I lacked in reputation), I was about to write was I to have enough reputation when I decided it was incorrect and ...
user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
515 views

Just Googling it

Today in class a student was reading the title of an article for group discussion: "Just googling it is bad for your brain." http://qz.com/519155/just-googling-it-is-bad-for-your-brain/ The student ...
michael_timofeev's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
9k views

Is "having been" correct? [closed]

Or is there a better way to frame this sentence: 'With the film having been released on 1st of October, the studio is looking forward to big changes for the future.' To me it doesn't feel like ...
Ravi's user avatar
  • 438
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Correct Usage of Nigh in a sentence

Currently, I am trying to come up with a poetic title involving Nigh, Night, Ghost and Quiet. However, I have struggled to figure out correctly where I can place Nigh in a sentence and be ...
Lucian09474's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
5k views

"the witness that testifies for passing of time." Why *for* instead of *the*?

I have the sentence below: "History is the witness that __________ passing of time." a. testifies the b. testifies for c. will testify for d. be meeting I confidently answered a, but the ...
alyssaeliyah's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
396 views

Small clauses (or verbless clauses)

Small clauses are clauses with "to be" deleted. I found him (to be) difficult. And as we all know, an adjective complement can be added afterward. I found him (to be) difficult to work with. ...
Ivan's user avatar
  • 31
8 votes
4 answers
2k views

Use of the word "emit"

I came across this article http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/scientists-discovers-light-emiting-mysterious-alien-planet-338945. The web link uses "emitting" in an attributive manner which we have all seen ...
michael_timofeev's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

"I am extremely smarter than you."

Is "I am extremely smarter than you." a grammatically OK sentence? It sounds awkward, but is there a grammatical issue? Please note that I am not asking if it could sound better, nor am I asking for ...
Jonathan Hebert's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is the following answer grammatically correct? [closed]

Here's the sentence: "The most interesting trip had to be our year nine graduation trip". It was an answer to the question "What was the most interesting trip?" If it is correct, how can I prove that ...
Rori's user avatar
  • 3
3 votes
1 answer
22k views

Can "among which" be used to introduce a verbless list of nouns?

I am having a disagreement about the validity of the following usage of "among which": The movie won several awards, among which the best documentary and the best short film. Is this sentence ...
Reinstate Monica's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
57k views

'Would you prefer for me to do X?' or 'Would you prefer me to do X?'—which is better in English and why? [closed]

For example, is it better to say Would you prefer for me to come in today or tomorrow? or Would you prefer me to come in today or tomorrow? What is the grammatical reason for including the '...
E. Dickey's user avatar
-1 votes
2 answers
544 views

Most important "one" or "noun" in a formal sentence

If I use "one" in a sentence, is it considered as formal or informal? For example, what I want to say is the following: There are many points that must be taken into consideration. ...
KillerPunk's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
7k views

Using "at the present" or "nowadays" at the end of the sentence

I want to write a sentence using "at the present" or "nowadays" at the end of my sentece but I don't know if it is totally correct. Example: A Programmable Logic Control (PLC) is a device commonly ...
KillerPunk's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
1k views

run out on someone (meaning be used up)

The intransitive multi-word verb run out meaning be used up is well known. The transitive multi-word verb run out on meaning {OALD}: run out on somebody (informal) to leave somebody that you ...
Edwin Ashworth's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
137 views

Does "push the resolution to a very high level" sound natural?

Does the sentence below sound natural? The megapixel war in the camera industry has pushed the resolution of image sensor to a very high level. p.s. I write this sentence in an academic paper.
opmfan's user avatar
  • 3
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

Did I use "That is" correctly?

How would I go about using "That is" in the sentence(s) below? "Everyone in the town was poor. That is, except for one man." Should I use a hyphen/comma/semi-colon (or something else) in between "...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
706 views

How to express a "simple past" idea that could happen in the future?

Ok, Let's see this conversation. Tom & Mary are working in a shop right now. It is 4 pm NOW. Normally the working hour will finish at 5 pm. Tom: There is not too much work today. Can I leave at ...
Tom's user avatar
  • 4,737
-1 votes
2 answers
487 views

Sentence correction [closed]

Is this sentence correct? Buying and sending medicine over to them are good ways to them . What I mean is that buying and sending medicine over to them is better than other methods of getting ...
Aschente's user avatar
  • 137
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

It was too tempting a chance to resist

One day, I came across this sentence: This chance was too tempting a chance to resist. Even though this sounded perfectly natural to me, as I tried to get the full meaning out of it, I ...
sooeithdk's user avatar
  • 513
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is this unconditional sentence "If you do yoga every day, you will sleep better" wrong?

According to this Website: There are 4 Types of Conditionals: So, based on the above explanation, I think "If you do yoga every day, you will sleep better", which was copied from an English ...
Tom's user avatar
  • 4,737
-2 votes
1 answer
20k views

Staff were or staff was [duplicate]

I am having a hard time determining the correct usage when referring to my staff in a sentence. It includes multiple employees. Should I say" Staff were busy this fall or Staff was busy this fall.....
Cindy Olson's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
719 views

Use of the prefix Im- [closed]

I have read the rules for using im- versus un- and agree with the general ideas put forth. A word that I used recently, seems to fall into a category all its own. The word is (im)provable, meaning ...
Don Yarber's user avatar

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