Tagged Questions
-4
votes
0answers
25 views
In terms of, In cases of [closed]
Help me, I don't understand what cases should we use the phrase "In terms of", "with regard to", "In cases of" ,and "In respect to"? Could you give me examples for those.Thank you!
3
votes
3answers
111 views
“Is it true?” or “Does it true?” [closed]
I always get confused about:
Is it true?
Does it true?
Where and when should I use one or the other? In other words, when should I pose a question using is and when should I pose it using does?
5
votes
1answer
101 views
If I was an airline pilot vs. If I had been an airline pilot 10 years ago
In a comment signed by Martha, she wrote that:
"If I was an airline pilot" and "If I were an airline pilot" have
different meanings. The latter is the subjunctive case (and presumably
what ...
-2
votes
1answer
56 views
the meaning of Present Perfect sentence [closed]
As we know that We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now.
but i do not know What this sentence means?
" He has been to Georgia twice."
2
votes
0answers
102 views
For ever and forever [closed]
What is the difference between the meaning and usage of for ever and forever in British English? From what I could gather from my online research,
forever means :
(also for ever) for all ...
0
votes
0answers
43 views
Meaning of “at all” in a positive sentence [closed]
I can't find the meaning of "at all" in this sentence:
"It's because of them that I made it back to you at all."
Does it mean "even" or maybe "barely"?
And is it a new usage and only correct because ...
-1
votes
4answers
90 views
Understanding sentences with double-negation [duplicate]
How should the following sentence be understood?
"There isn't no happiness".
a) meaning: There IS some happiness . (Because the two negations cancel each other out)
b) meaning: There is ...
0
votes
2answers
151 views
What does “Lose the whiny entitled air” mean after the sentence “Say, ‘could you warm the soup up,’ Not, ‘How dare you serve me cold soup!’”?
There was the following sentence in New York Times’ (May 3rd) article titled, “Complaining is hard to avoid, but try to do it with a purpose,” ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
What does “Take the disguise” mean?
I was reading this particular sentence:
She took the disguise of an old woman and came to Eleusis, where she was welcomed by the family of King Celeus.
Disguise means costume. So, does it mean ...
2
votes
2answers
90 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?
...
4
votes
1answer
65 views
What is the difference of nuance between the statements: “Why had they not already killed their hostage? and “Why didn’t they kill their hostage”?
There was the following statement in (April 24) Time magazine’s article titled, “Thanks for dumb terrorists” reporting the capture of Boston bomb attack suspects: ...
6
votes
3answers
456 views
Why does “I am in your debt” mean the opposite of what it suggests?
I don't understand why if someone says:
"I am in your debt"
It seems to mean the opposite of the literal meaning.
For example, the person saying this says that (s)he is in the "debt" of the ...
0
votes
2answers
152 views
As good as it gets- grammar
I do know what "as good as it gets" means (in my language, we say "it will not get any better").
However, I do not understand the grammar here:
Firstly, does the "get" mean a change of state here?
...
2
votes
4answers
158 views
Difference between 'Redundant' and 'Superfluous'
(I made a search for this question on this forum but surprisingly did not find related questions. Which is odd because surely this question is asked often.)
First, the sentence I'm trying to use ...
2
votes
1answer
205 views
Should I say “have only been . . . twice” or “have been . . . twice only”?
Will these next two sentences confuse you?
1.I have only been to London once before.
2.I have been to London twice only.
Now for a more complicated example, I want to express that I have ...
1
vote
1answer
168 views
Difference in naming between consulting and consultants
I have a domain research for a company and since English is not my first language I was wondering about the difference between e.g.
Boston Consulting and Boston Consultants
My guess is that the ...
-1
votes
2answers
81 views
Defective Passage [closed]
Could this small passage be defective in some way:
book
KENT SAW Helen at each evening meal, but otherwise only the spotless kitchen remained as a clue that another person shared the house.
...
-1
votes
1answer
59 views
Possessive Ambiguity: sharing a house [closed]
Could this:
Jason shared Michael's house.
be an acceptable shortened version of this:
Jason shared Michael's house with Michael.
?
-1
votes
3answers
540 views
My Thoughts Exactly [closed]
Let's say someone said something I agree with. To express approval, dictionaries say this is standard English:
My sentiments exactly.
Could I use the following as well?
My feelings ...
-1
votes
1answer
147 views
How does the word “that” function in this sentence?
It's the last sentence of the 6th paragraph from an article at yale.edu.
In fact, as population grew, another pattern of human history emerged that of overpopulation, which led, unfortunately, to ...
4
votes
1answer
94 views
Fall Hard For Something
I am trying to find the right definition of "hard" in this piece of writing:
newspaper
Looking for a tranquil hideaway after years as a paparazzi magnet, Mr. Frazier bought the single-level ...
-3
votes
1answer
77 views
“Pending Review” Usage [closed]
Some definition of "pending" in a dictionary reads:
while waiting for (something)
So, for a generic sentence "X pending Y", "X" must be either an activity or a state. So this sentence is ...
0
votes
3answers
320 views
General rules for identifying conditional sentences?
I am trying to identify the subject and object in the following sentence:
Come to me, and I'll give you a fight you'll never forget
At first, it appeared as if whenever a conjunction appears ...
3
votes
4answers
683 views
“When I'm sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead”
In "How I met your mother" TV series, there is a character Barney Stinson, who is the author of this semi-popular quote:
When I'm sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. [sic!]
Obviously, ...
-1
votes
2answers
282 views
The Present Perfect vs The Past Tense in English [closed]
Would you agree that the present perfect is used more than the past tense by native speakers to emphasize the situation at hand? Some languages, like Arabic and Japanese, use the simple past much ...
1
vote
4answers
176 views
“Hold Out Promise” vs “Make a Promise”
Is "hold out a promise" the same meaning as "make a promise"? Or did I misunderstand them? I found definitions for "make a promise", but couldn't find definitions for "hold out a promise".
0
votes
3answers
107 views
a hard close look [closed]
Are "close" and "hard" the same below?
He took a close look at the cat.
He took a hard look at the cat.
Or are they subtly different? For this particular usage, web dictionaries appear ...
7
votes
2answers
302 views
“Suspect” versus “Suspicious” as Adjectives
A recent question on this site ("to suspect" vs "to be suspicious of") asks about the difference between "to suspect" and "to be suspicious of." An even more complicated situation ...
3
votes
2answers
142 views
“to suspect” vs “to be suspicious of”
What's the difference between "to suspect someone" vs "to be suspicious of someone"?
For example, what's the difference between these two sentences:
I'm sorry for suspecting you.
I'm sorry for ...
0
votes
2answers
255 views
To Be Used Of/For
Does "to be used OF" mean "to be used FOR":
wikipedia
The English term "empiric" derives from the Greek word ἐμπειρία, which is cognate with and translates to the Latin experientia, from which ...
-1
votes
2answers
44 views
Post Question To
If Craig wrote a question on an online forum and the question was intended for Larry:
Craig posted a question to Larry.
Should the part "to Larry" modify "a question", or "posted"? In ...
0
votes
1answer
59 views
On His Post, At His Post
I have this:
link
On 21-22 April 1914, while leading three picket launches admist heavy enemy fire, McCloy was wounded but remained on his post, enabling cruisers to save American lives. For ...
0
votes
0answers
154 views
Which case should I use “simple present, simple V-ing, near future, or simple future” with future meaning? [closed]
In fact, there are up to four tense structures which refer to the "future". I try to remember all but it seems it's quite impossible especially when speaking I can't figure out which the best ...
5
votes
4answers
127 views
What is 'draw on'
This question was asked earlier (not by me), but closed and deleted by a mod. But I thought it was interesting, because I didn't know the answer. So I'm reposting it....
The verb phrasal 'draw on' ...
1
vote
1answer
152 views
“As smart as you may be” means “However smart you may be”?
As smart as you may be, there are always difficult problems making you in trouble.
In this sentence does "As smart as you may be" mean "No matter how smart you may be"?
So, the first as is a ...
3
votes
2answers
292 views
Meaning of “I would there were…”?
What is the meaning of "I would there were", as in this quote from Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale"?
I would there were no age between sixteen and three-and-twenty, or
that youth would sleep out ...
0
votes
3answers
337 views
How do I explain the difference between these two sentences? She's worked… She worked [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“I am working” or “I have worked almost two months at this project”?
I have a little dilemma since I can't come up with a good explanation to say in which way these two ...
0
votes
2answers
131 views
When to prepose an auxiliary in a sentence?
I read this at Time.com, and it's in the second line of the third paragraph.
And wouldn’t you know it, their theory proved to be both true and
statistically meaningful.
I suppose it means "And ...
-2
votes
1answer
50 views
The range of attributive
I have a clause from DirectX SDK as below:
The position, velocity, and orientation of sound sources and listeners
in 3D space are represented by Cartesian coordinates
what's the range of world ...
2
votes
2answers
100 views
On the structure of “search for weapons and bands of pro-Hussein fighters still holding out”
I came across the following expression:
The primary task of many American troops in Baghdad has been to search for weapons and bands of pro-Hussein fighters still holding out.
This is from a ...
3
votes
2answers
129 views
How does “out” function in “next time out”?
On the recent CBS’s “Face the Nation,” the anchor, Bob Schieffer asked former President, Bill Clinton about whether his wife will run in next election:
“Mr. President, I have to ask you about your ...
4
votes
2answers
212 views
Has reported(Present perfect) vs Has(Present) reported(noun)
In the sentence below I want to use the word reported as a noun, but it looks like I'm using the present perfect - has reported.
How can one be clear when constructions like this arise ?
That both ...
3
votes
3answers
982 views
“I remember the day where” vs. “I remember the day when”
What is the difference between "I remember the day where..." and "I remember the day when..."?
I think both are used in both written and spoken English. Can we say that "when" makes more sense when ...
0
votes
0answers
65 views
What is the exact syntax format of “substitute this for that”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Substitute X for Y
Many times people say "You want to substitute this for that?" What are they talking about putting in and what are they taking out. Is it based on ...
5
votes
2answers
647 views
“Object of” vs. “subject of” — which one is correct? Does it depend on context?
(Tried to search to see if this question had already been asked, but could not find it amongst the many questions concerning pronoun declension and objects and subjects as parts of speech.)
What, ...
6
votes
3answers
401 views
Inversion + past tense
There is a sentence:
No sooner had he sat down than he fell asleep.
I just do not understand, is this an inversion? And if so, I still do not understand the sentence.
0
votes
1answer
97 views
Word order again?
I have been thinking about word order and its meaning, thus when we have for instance:
Planet of the apes or Apes planet
Proposal for extra work or Extra work proposal
Which is the more ...
1
vote
3answers
3k views
When we entered, he had been there
So I heard this sentence and also few contradictions about that.
Does it mean that when they entered, he was already gone because he had there been before them?
Or he just was there before them and ...
0
votes
1answer
58 views
What is the meaning of “does is”?
I have read this sentence and can not get "does is" meaning. Which type of grammar is it?
Couchsurfing is a fairly new website, and what it does is it allows travelers from different parts of ...
0
votes
1answer
151 views
Grammar correctness of “could” sentence
I would like to know whether the following is correct:
Someone is knocking on your door.
Who could it be?
As far as I know, modal verbs do not change its form in reported speech:
He ...
