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18
votes
5answers
12k views
“My friends and I” vs. “My friends and me” vs. “Me and my friends”
I've always been taught to put myself last when referring to myself in the same sentence as others but the usage of "me and..." seems to be everywhere these days. The misuse of the word "me" instead ...
6
votes
6answers
2k views
Use of the superlative when only two items are present
When speaking with my mother a couple of days ago, I read to her a message I was sending to my cousin on her behalf ending with: "... the birthday of your youngest." [implying her child]
She ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
Correct usage of ‘on’, ‘at’ and ‘in’ from a foreigner’s point of view
As a foreign English speaker who never really studied too much English grammar other than the basics at high school, I am often struggling to use the correct form in certain phrases.
At being ...
8
votes
1answer
2k views
When should a singular word ending in “y” end in “ies” plurally?
Words like "sky" and "money" have "ies" as a plural suffix (i.e. "skies" and "monies") but other words like "monkey" and "Emmy" do not ("monkeys" and "Emmys"). Is there a rule dictating the use of ...
19
votes
2answers
2k views
Why is it true that “I before E, except after C”?
I almost hesitate to ask this, because it is hard to believe no one else asked it; but it isn't showing up in the "similar titles" list.
What is special about 'C' that switches the 'IE' immediately ...
8
votes
5answers
940 views
Are there any “-nk-” or “-nc-” words in English where there isn't a “ng” before the “k” sound?
In words like think and lank, we actually seem to be saying "thing-k" and "lang-k." Can anyone thing-k of any words or rules for sound use where this doesn't happen?
4
votes
2answers
3k views
Is it correct to use “me too” and “I too”?
I'm a bit confused. Is it correct to use "me too" and "I too"? (Also with other pronouns.)
For example, if I want to say that Juan gives a present to Ana and I give a present to Ana:
Juan gives a ...
2
votes
1answer
307 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..."
...
6
votes
4answers
2k views
“-ee” and “-er” word endings
There are a few examples of pairs of words ending with -ee/-er like employee and employer or advisee and adviser. What I was curious about is if there was any rule that would describe the relationship ...
6
votes
2answers
907 views
Problem with -ance/-ence
OK, so I'm ashamed to admit that as a native speaker I think I've missed something somewhere. I was typing up some documentation and spellchecker kept bugging me. So I looked up some words and found ...
2
votes
2answers
92 views
Character vs Charm - Pronunciation
Is there a rule to understand how the group "Cha" has to be pronounced?
"Character" sounds with a hard first syllable, while "Charm" sound softer, but I don't find how to tell which sound to use ...
1
vote
5answers
239 views
Is the “an” rule applied when a sum of money is in between? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should I use “a” vs “an”?
I have recently seen this image:
Should "a" have been used instead of "an" in the "...an $100,000 apartment" ...
