Verbs are words that express an action, occurrence, or a state of being.

learn more… | top users | synonyms (1)

0
votes
2answers
32 views

“Which Allow me” or “Which Allows me”?

Context: "My work requires me to be at different areas for different events which allow me to learn ..." Do I use "allows" or "allow"? Can you provide me the rules/situations in choosing which one to ...
2
votes
2answers
47 views

I've been seeing good movies or I've been watching good movies? [duplicate]

what would you rather say? Which one is correct? Thanks,Herman.
1
vote
1answer
36 views

What is the scope of using shelved, postponed, adjourned, put off?

postponed shelved adjourned put off Exactly as in this question, I have a problem with choosing the scope of using those synonyms of postponed. What is the scope of using each of them?
3
votes
3answers
70 views

Speeded vs. Sped

I think "speeded" may have been the appropriate past-tense form for "to speed" in the past, but I wonder if it is still considered the correct form. In spoken English, one usually hears "sped" to ...
0
votes
0answers
42 views

“All that is needing” vs. “all that is needed”

I've read the following quote from Game of Thrones: Opening your eyes is all that is needing. The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true. English is not my mother ...
9
votes
3answers
132 views

Make/take a photograph?

In English we say "take a photograph" whereas in some other languages one would say "make a photograph". The French say "take" even though they "make" far more often than we do in English, and ...
2
votes
1answer
43 views

Is 'quantitate' a synonym for 'quantify' or just a misnomer?

I have always used quantify, but have been encountering quantitate more and more in scientific literature. Is quantitate a "valid" verb and a synonym for quantify? Otherwise is there a subtle ...
0
votes
1answer
39 views

Meaning of “How'd you know?”: “would”, “did”, or “do”?

Does the question "How'd you know" mean: How do you know? How did you know? How would you?
0
votes
4answers
187 views

What is THE shortest English verb?

I have heard that two letter verbs are the shortest verbs in English. Is this totally true? Are any of the letters official recognized as verbs?
0
votes
0answers
24 views

Doubts on relation - Father and Son [closed]

If I have a statement of the form George is the father of James, who is in fact the father of Thomas. Then how do I expand it ? Is it that James is the father of Thomas Or George is the father ...
-1
votes
0answers
40 views

Adjective following a verb [closed]

Which of these sentences is correct? This music sounds great! You look nice today. You sing very good. Which verbs can be followed by an adjective?
1
vote
1answer
69 views

Which is correct? If I was or If I were for this particular sentence [duplicate]

Which is correct? 1) If I were a little taller, I would be able to reach the top of the shelf. 2) If I was a little taller, I would be able to reach the top of the shelf.
-1
votes
0answers
51 views

Difference between “ask” and “enquire” [closed]

Should I use ask or enquire, in the following sentence? The young man enquired the direction to the hospital. Is the following sentence better? The young man asked the way to the hospital. ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views

how to say recharging the battery and account

I have heard English use the term "recharge" for both account and battery. I want to recharge my battery. I want to recharge my account. Are these sentences correct?
1
vote
2answers
80 views

What's the meaning of “Gets me every time”?

I've heard people say this several times, in response to a funny video they watched, Gets me every time. This time I see this response the person put a laughing emoticon at the end. Does it ...
18
votes
5answers
531 views

“Infer” vs. “imply” — can “infer” imply “imply”?

Okay that's a crazy title, but bear with me. Got into a good natured discussion with someone on another stack exchange site, and I was "correcting" him on the use of infer vs. imply. (The ...
6
votes
1answer
62 views

Which verb tense is used in OR compound objects?

For example: We always get work done, regardless of what mood Bill or I is/am/are in. Which tense of 'be' would be used here?
0
votes
0answers
38 views

Stipulated, mandated, ordained, required - w.r.t a law [closed]

Suppose a state's labor law requires that, say, every sign bigger than 1 square meters Now, complete the following sentence: "The client shall obtain the necessary sign posting permit as ____ by ...
1
vote
1answer
56 views

How did “replace” come to mean “put something in the place of”?

Replace has several meanings, but a common one is "to put something in the place of," as in, "After drinking your cola, I replaced it with a beer." The way in which replace, which seems to most ...
-2
votes
2answers
67 views

How do I use “Baby Steps” in a sentence [closed]

I want to convey that I am putting myself to something new to achieve a dream/goal. Hence I thought of using the phrase "baby steps" in a sentence as follows: "As I am laying my Baby Steps towards ...
2
votes
4answers
470 views

Single word for “inhale using your mouth with force or power”

I want to express the following: "Inhale using your mouth with force or power". It does not sound good to me. Is there any single word or a good phrase to express this?
-1
votes
0answers
56 views

“Take you in the sky” vs. “bring you up to the sky” vs. “get you in the sky” — which one is correct?

If I have got a pilot licence, I will take you in the sky/bring you up to the sky/get you in the sky. Which one is correct?
2
votes
1answer
128 views

Usage of “accrue” in “it accrued to me to gently ask” [closed]

A newage hippie Facebook friend just sent me this. I was just wondering if it was syntactically correct, It accrued to me to gently ask if you could consider extending the same respect, you would ...
4
votes
0answers
95 views

Achievement Verbs with the Progressive Aspect

I was reading a grammar and saw this. Achievement verbs describe actions that occur instantaeously. He solved the problem. He spotted the airplane. These verbs fall into two classes - one is ...
-1
votes
1answer
126 views

Correct use of “happen”

A friend of mine told me that the following sentence is incorrect (copied from an exercise) Do all sentences tell us what the speaker would like to happen? He claims that it should read: Do ...
0
votes
1answer
56 views

What to do with a list of verbs with different prepositional needs?

For example: The community was not supportive of, or happy with the result. The community was not supportive or happy with the result. So when using two sets of verbs and prepositions (listing) in a ...
0
votes
2answers
79 views

Determining sequence

I have a question regarding determining the sequence of events. "It is taking her a bit longer than usual to get back on the game because she had come back from Germany last night. So I gave her a ...
1
vote
1answer
91 views

“Sent” vs “sent off” vs “sent out”

When do we use one over another? I sent a letter. I sent off a letter. I sent out a letter. Here I found a similar topic but I am still confused. sent = sent to one or more people ...
0
votes
2answers
102 views

“I would like to go to a youth center to help and (to) work with teenagers”

Which is correct? I would like to go to a youth center to help and work with teenagers. I would like to go to a youth center to help and to work with teenagers. The question is whether ...
-1
votes
0answers
51 views

How to ask the question in the context? [duplicate]

I have a question regarding asking questions. For example: While working on this worksheet, I came across a couple of questions that I needed/need to ask you. And While working on this ...
2
votes
2answers
61 views

“Starting with” vs. “starting from”

I would like to ask about the difference between the two phrases starting with and starting from. Take the following two sentences for example: Please give me all the names starting with A. ...
-1
votes
0answers
46 views

“Is someone below?” vs “Is there someone below?” [closed]

I know the second option is correct, but I'd also like to know whether the first is. I'm in the process of rooting out my bad grammatical habits, and I can't shake the feeling that I've seen the first ...
3
votes
2answers
61 views

Correctness of questions without inversion, relying on intonation

I hear and read them all the time. I mean stuff like: You're just going to stay here? Instead of: Are you just going to stay here? Then I write like this out of habit and get called out ...
-2
votes
0answers
105 views

What is the difference between “say” or “tell”? [closed]

What's the difference between say and tell?
-1
votes
4answers
59 views

What's a word I can use to describe “putting a collar on a pet” in a comical way? [closed]

I thought of something like "stick a collar on" but "stick" doesn't satisfy me. What are my other options? Anything with some "edge" will do if comical is too hard.
-2
votes
2answers
40 views

Is it 'express shipped' or 'shipped express'?

Which one is correct? He should have express shipped it to me. He should have it shipped express to me.
0
votes
2answers
92 views

Plural or singular verb for collective term

Should the verb, in the following sentence, be singular or plural? A series of samples was produced. In a related question I found a reference. However the text in that reference seems to ...
-2
votes
0answers
80 views

“Fit one's needs” vs. “suit one's needs” vs. “meet one's needs”

In a formal letter, which verb should I choose? The programme perfectly suits my needs. The programme perfectly fits my needs. The programme perfectly meets my needs.
2
votes
2answers
184 views

Not only X but also Y are (is?)

At first glance, sentence 1 below seems more correct because there are two subjects. However, something seems more natural about sentence 2. Maybe there is something abbreviated, elliptical, or ...
1
vote
4answers
256 views

Why should “be” come after “neither a borrower nor lender,” not before them?

I came across the maxim, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” in the following sentence of Jeffery Archer’s fiction, “The Fourth Estate” (P.54), and found that the maxim came from Lord Polonius’ ...
-1
votes
0answers
24 views

Is there a term that addresses the use of optional / in the following sentence

In this sentence "I cannot overwrite/ride the method" is there a term that applies to the use of the optional "/" and in fact is it correct to denote the optional as such or are the full words ...
2
votes
2answers
89 views

For + verb-ing at the beginning of a sentece

Is the following sentence structure grammatically correct? I mean, I've found a lot of examples that have this structure but not at the beginning of the phrase but with a subject before. Here is an ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views

Can one massacre lives?

"Most were convinced that those responsible were of their own, silently waiting for another chance to massacre innocent lives." Would you say that the above example is acceptable or unacceptable with ...
0
votes
1answer
120 views

Using 'will' vs. 'would' in this sentence

I'd like to know which one of the following is correct: I would like to have a job which I will like and which will earn me a lot of money. I would like to have a job which I would like and ...
-3
votes
2answers
66 views

How do you say “the test was redone”?

I'm documenting some test cases and this sentence in particular bothered me: After the problem was fixed, the test was redone. The thesaurus wasn't helping much. Can it be reworded in a ...
-1
votes
1answer
88 views

“more people becoming increasingly xxx” or “more people increasingly becoming xxx”

I need a bit of guidance regarding the following sentence. Which of the three variants is grammatical? Are more people becoming increasingly intolerant? Are more people increasingly becoming ...
-2
votes
2answers
109 views

Is a bare infinitive acceptable as the object of a verb? [duplicate]

I came upon the phrase, "writing helps develop a child analytically thinking." Is this grammatically correct? Is it OK to use just develop instead of to develop?
-3
votes
4answers
124 views

What is the difference between “anticipate” and “expect”?

My understanding is the following: I anticipate everyone will come here by 10. = "I hope it's gonna happen, but I'm not so sure about the result". I expect everyone will come here by 10. = ...
-2
votes
0answers
39 views

What is the slight difference between “assign”, “appoint”, and “dispatch”? [closed]

They seem similar, but how could I tell the difference between them?
-2
votes
1answer
63 views

The right usage of the verb “elaborate”

I'm writing a paper, please can you tell me which sentence is the right? The Pseudo-code is outlined in Fig 2 and we elaborate it in the following section. The Pseudo-code is outlined in Fig ...

1 2 3 4 5 26