Verbs are words that express an action, occurrence, or a state of being.
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2answers
1k views
Term for spelling out letters with your body
Is there a term for people spelling out a name or some other word with their bodies (e.g. YMCA), usually for the purposes of a fun photo? This is similar to sign language but uses the whole body with ...
2
votes
2answers
284 views
'Repeat the year' in English is 'redoubler une classe' in French. Would it be possible to say 'redouble the year' or 'redouble the course' in English?
When I googled 'redouble the year' I was directed to French sites, and I noticed that it is indeed used. Now, I want to have a confirmation from English native speakers. Can 'redouble' be used for ...
2
votes
4answers
714 views
What is the meaning of “ought not”?
Consider this example:
A few strong branches over water reach for what they ought not reach.
Which of the meanings comes closest to “ought not” in this sentence?
Is it “doesn't have to”, “should ...
1
vote
2answers
127 views
Is this usage of “know to be” correct — “They want to eat food they know to be good for them”?
In the following sentence, is the construction know + to + infinitive grammatical?
They want to eat food they know to be good for them.
The dictionary says that "know to do something" is a ...
11
votes
9answers
1k views
Must present perfect tense be used if the action takes place more than once?
I was told that if an action is completed once in the past, the simple past is used.
Ex: I saw that movie.
If the action is completed more than once, the present perfect tense must be used.
Ex: I ...
4
votes
1answer
711 views
“Thou hast cleft my heart in twain”
"Thou hast cleft my heart in twain" says Gertrude to Hamlet. 'Cleft' is from 'cleave' meaning divide or split. Yet, I often meet constructions such as 'clefts' 'clefted' or 'clefting' in the writings ...
1
vote
6answers
224 views
“Plan not to retire” or “Plan to not retire”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Order of “not” with infinitive
Someone edited my post on another StackExchange.com site to change the former to the latter.
Which is better? I wrote the ...
3
votes
2answers
275 views
What's the meaning of “draw” in this context?
I'm reading one of Aesop's fables:
A CHARCOAL-BURNER carried on his trade in his own house. One day he
met a friend, a Fuller, and entreated him to come and live with him,
saying that they ...
0
votes
3answers
464 views
Better words for “buff” and “debuff”
I have an RPG environment and I'm looking for words that sound better than "buff" for positive modifier and "debuff" for negative modifier. I simply don't like the words but I'm having a hard time ...
9
votes
3answers
608 views
What's the meaning of 'out' when it comes after a verb ?
What's the difference between a verb like read and read out or shout and shout out and so on? How does "out" change the meaning of verbs?
2
votes
1answer
88 views
To acknowledge or clear an error condition?
I thought I've asked this question somewhere before but I cannot find it.
When a machine enters an error state, e.g. a printer runs out of ink, it will usually display an error message and stop ...
2
votes
4answers
17k views
“Take a rest” or “have some rest”?
Which one of the above is the correct, or can I use both? Or is there any better way to say that?
2
votes
2answers
160 views
What is the verb form of 'to apply sequins to'?
I was talking with my boyfriend today about getting an altar cloth for some tarot cards and he said, "Good, you can bedazzle it yourself!"
To which I said, "I wouldn't bedazzle it, I would sequent ...
1
vote
3answers
466 views
When the reader sees the words “foreshadow” or “omen” does it usually mean good things or bad?
I'd like to use a word like "foreshadow", or a word similar to it, as long as the reader will understand what is to come is going to be good.
Is the a subjective interpretation of "foreshadow" or ...
15
votes
3answers
3k views
Difference between “delete” and “remove” [closed]
I am writing a mobile application that will, as a part of its functionality, display a list of recorded thoughts. Now I am deciding the textual content of the menus and that left me thinking whether ...
6
votes
4answers
214 views
Usage of the word “meet”
I saw some expression like the following : "I met a design problem in .... ", is it a right usage of the word "meet". It just sounds odd to me. I would rather use "ran into" or "encountered" instead. ...
7
votes
4answers
459 views
“To run a search” vs “to search”
In another post I was edited/corrected on the use of "to run a search" instead of "to search", but both terms do not necessarily imply the exact same thing.
To run a search, to my knowledge, has to ...
0
votes
3answers
702 views
“so that” + present/past tense [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Should I say 'What I wanted to say is' or 'What I wanted to say was'?
Which one is correct:
Introduce additional user interface widget so that it was ...
6
votes
3answers
836 views
Recommend someone
I'd like to ask about the use of the verb "recommend" in the following sentences:
We'd recommend you to book your flight early.
The plumber recommended me to buy a new water heater.
The ...
6
votes
6answers
866 views
What is a verb for “the usage of an angry tone of voice”? [closed]
I am looking for a term meaning the use of an angry tone of voice without the raising or lowering of one's volume. Something like yell, but without the implication of raising one's voice.
I'm ...
11
votes
2answers
3k views
Use of “deadpool” as a verb
I recently came across this term while examining a set of properties in a JSON feed relating to a startup company:
...
"deadpooled_year": null,
"deadpooled_month": null,
"deadpooled_day": null,
...
2
votes
3answers
200 views
“To do this or do that” or “to do this or *to* do that”?
I saw on the bottom of an email:
To change your email preferences or unsubscribe from certain
messages, click here.
Is that correct or should it be:
To change your email preferences or to ...
8
votes
5answers
14k views
Which one is correct? “Explain me” or “Explain to me”?
Which of the following expressions is correct?
-Explain me.
-Explain to me.
I know "Explain it to me" is correct, but I want to know which one of the above is valid.
-2
votes
2answers
2k views
Can I use “better” as a verb? [closed]
As my title, can I use "better" as a verb? I have read and known that the word "better" can be used as a verb. For example, to better your business productivity, you should use ABC technology.
I've ...
5
votes
10answers
723 views
Equivalent word for 'Unfriend' on Social media sites?
I understand that 'Unfriend' is not a valid English word.
But, is there an equivalent word for the act of 'Unfriending' someone, like on Facebook?
'Not being on talking terms' is something a friend ...
4
votes
8answers
951 views
Read, write, speak and?
Saying "I can read XXX" is precise in referring to the ability to understand only written text. Saying "I can understand XXX" could refer to either reading or understanding audio. Is there a single ...
12
votes
2answers
355 views
Which form of a verb should I normally use after “what you have done is”?
Which form of a verb should I normally use after "what you have done is"? Should it be present participle (option A), past participle (option B) or a base form (option C) :
A. I wanted you to clean ...
4
votes
4answers
223 views
The verb “to get” + particle …?
In the phrase "to get all crazy" am I correct when I say that the "all crazy" is a particle phrase? Example:
I'm up for tonight's party. I'm going to get all crazy.
13
votes
9answers
1k views
“Assign a variable to a value” or the other way round?
I was wondering which of these phrases is/are correct:
assign a variable to a value
assign a value to a variable
I'd say the second is correct, but I'm not a native speaker. A quick Google search ...
2
votes
4answers
389 views
How to use “distinguish” in this sentence
I wrote a sentence as follows:
Being able to do X distinguishes me between a programmer who works with code and a system engineer who is capable of designing a revolutionary system like Google and ...
1
vote
3answers
249 views
Verb form of “likely”
Is there a verb meaning "to make likely or probable" or "to make unlikely or improbable"?
I'm more in need of the latter, but I assume that if the former exists, the latter might too.
Edit: I'm ...
21
votes
7answers
4k views
Is “must” ever grammatical as a past tense verb?
I have seen uses of must that appear to be in the simple past tense. Sometimes these seem grammatical, but sometimes not. Examples that help illustrate my confusion:
He knew he must go to New York ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
“The contents are” or “the contents is”
I have the following sentence:
The contents of those zip files are normally installed from the Setup.
I found I have to use contents instead of content in the sentence. However, do I have to ...
3
votes
3answers
241 views
did <verb> and <verb>
While reading A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin, I came across the following line which seemed odd to me. (Note, English is only my third language so "seemed odd to me" is about as ...
-2
votes
1answer
577 views
For what verbs is there no difference between 'has …' and 'has been …ing'? [closed]
For some verbs like 'live', where if you say "have lived" it means you lived somewhere for a period of time but that is not true anymore, and if you say "have been living" it means you still live in ...
2
votes
5answers
2k views
'became' vs. 'become'
The following two sentences seem to have the same general meaning to me:
If I ever became a musician, I would grow my hair
If I ever become a musician, I will grow my hair
I was wondering ...
1
vote
2answers
300 views
Difference between “engage” and “hire”
For example,
"We decide to engage a lawyer for the case."
"We decide to hire a lawyer for the case."
Is engage used particularly in British English? Do speakers of American English use engage in ...
-2
votes
2answers
396 views
Wishing luck to third person [closed]
I want to express to an uninvolved person that I wish luck for some people involved in an endeavor.
I'm keen interested to watch the result and wish lucky for that.
Wish lucky for that or I do ...
3
votes
3answers
4k views
Difference between “read”, “scan”, and “skim”
What is the exact difference between read, scan, and skim? Is the difference related to the concentration on the text, or is there anything else?
The answer is really important for me, since I often ...
-2
votes
1answer
309 views
How do I have to refer to God? [closed]
I am always wondering about the proper way to conjugate the verbs when it comes to "God". Do I have to add the "s" to the verb?
-2
votes
4answers
212 views
To retroactively create?
Is there a verb that means "retroactively create"?
For example:
John wanted to retroactively create a relationship with his estranged father.
I'm not looking for a word that means ...
1
vote
2answers
708 views
A science-verb? Sciencing? [closed]
Is there a verb to the word science? Could you say sciencing (i.e. "in the Process of making/generating science")?
Of course there is the word research, which is both a verb and a noun. But in the ...
0
votes
2answers
88 views
Is this right “People must vote for someone to be executed”? [closed]
Is this right to say the following sentence?
People must vote for one of these prisoners to be executed.
Is vote a bad verb for this sentence?
0
votes
3answers
976 views
Why use 'being' in this sentence?
I came across this sentence in my programming book:
There are a number of differences that need to be explained though,
the most important one being that read or write accesses to the file
...
2
votes
1answer
96 views
“For IE (to) render them”
Which sentence is correct?
I just put in the empty elements for IE to render them.
I just put in the empty elements for IE render them.
The render will be processed ...
2
votes
2answers
205 views
Is this correct grammar — “which feature in C/C++ don't you like?”
The question in question is this:
Which feature in C/C++ don't you like?
Just wanted to know if that is proper way of asking. Not sure if "don't you like" is the right way there.
4
votes
2answers
2k views
“Forgotten” or “forgot” as past participle of “forget”
In US and in UK respectively, which is more popular as the past participle of forget: forgotten or forgot? Which is more formal/informal?
Examples:
I haven't forgot(ten) you.
You will not ...
5
votes
5answers
679 views
Use of “conscience” as verb
I’ve heard conscience used as a verb, in the phrase can’t conscience. For example,
I can’t conscience taking credit for what I didn’t do.
Is this use of conscience correct? From a Google search ...
1
vote
3answers
143 views
What's the correct word to use in order to prompt the user to enter the data in a computer app: “Enter” or “Insert”?
When I write an application with a programming language and I want some inputs from the user, should I use the word "Enter" or "Insert"?
4
votes
4answers
175 views
“Seeing visions” versus “having visions”
In the episode of Fringe called The Road Not Taken, the protagonist is having visions once in a while, seeing alternative realities for a few seconds. In one of the conversations, she asks:
Why am ...
