This tag is for questions about the correct order of words in a phrase, or a sentence.
1
vote
3answers
171 views
The placement of “only” in a sentence with perfect continuous tense and “been”
I was just wondering if there is a significant difference between placing "only" before and after the word "been".
Examples:
I've only been fixing cars since I was young.
vs
I've been only ...
3
votes
2answers
154 views
Sometimes the article precedes the noun and not the adjective
I have a question that baffled me for a while now, and I'd be a happier person for an answer.
Why in sentences such as
It's not that big a deal.
And
He was as nice a friend as you were.
Or
...
2
votes
2answers
201 views
Should personal pronouns always be placed at the end of a list? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“My friends and I” vs. “My friends and me” vs. “Me and my friends”
Is naming the first person last proper grammar or just proper manners?
“Julio and I” vs “I and Julio”
...
15
votes
3answers
422 views
You don't want to answer this word-placement question, now do you?
Prompted by this question I got to thinking about the placement of the word now.
If it's placed before the comma, it refers to an immediate condition:
You don't want to answer this word-placement ...
3
votes
1answer
175 views
The original usage of past participles
I have heard that the origin of the present perfect construction is that sentences like "I have it done" (passive) changed to "I have done it" (present perfect).
Is that true at all?
If that's the ...
5
votes
5answers
362 views
Why put the verb before the subject?
The opening sentence to The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien reads,
In a hole in the ground there lived [verb] a hobbit [subject].
I wonder if there are accepted stylistic purposes for such a structure. ...
3
votes
1answer
132 views
Positioning “only” in “I have worked with X” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Correct position of “only”
Which of the following sentences are correct?
I have worked with only Mr. X.
I have worked only with Mr. X.
I have only worked with ...
0
votes
2answers
612 views
Place of an adverb in the passive present perfect progressive
I was wondering where an adverb should (or could) be placed in the passive present perfect progressive in English.
I have been being carefully tickled.
OR
I have been carefully being ...
2
votes
2answers
232 views
Order of participial adjective
I'm proof-reading a thesis by one of my friends and there's some recurring construct which I always mark as false but I'd like to check with you.
In the comments I was told that the example I ...
-2
votes
1answer
78 views
When tagging a picture, which statement is correct if it includes yourself and a friend? I was taught friend's name then mine [duplicate]
Duplicate of:
John, Valencia, and I (or me)?
“My friends and I” vs. “My friends and me” vs. “Me and my friends”
Is naming the first person last proper grammar or just proper manners?
And ...
5
votes
3answers
242 views
“Even were he not to…”
I am currently reading "Do androids dream of electric sheep?" by P.K. Dick and I have come across a grammatical structure I don't quite understand. The excerpt is the following (no spoilers, don't ...
4
votes
5answers
200 views
“How best to handle” vs. “how to best handle”
Are there rules on the placement of 'best'?
They are deciding how to best handle the matter.
They are deciding how best to handle the matter.
Is one of them wrong?
3
votes
5answers
96 views
Placement of 'Little'
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 'little' as an adverb could mean:
not much; only slightly
Is there a preference among these sentences?
He little helped his ...
1
vote
2answers
437 views
“A, B, C, or etc.” vs. “A, B, or C, etc.” vs. “A, B, C, etc.”
I think correct usages of "and" and "etc." are:
A, B, C, and etc.
A, B, and etc.
But the example usage of "or" and "etc." I found in my dictionary is:
A or B, etc.
Why it is not:
A, ...
2
votes
0answers
20 views
Adjective order convention [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the rule for adjective order?
As a native speaker, I would always say "big red ball," but never "red big ball."
Further, I would say "Big red furry ball," and ...
-2
votes
2answers
134 views
Where to place the word “easily”? [closed]
Where should I place the word easily — before or after edit and share your bookmarks?
Do you want to edit and share your bookmarks easily?
or
Do you want to easily edit and share your ...
13
votes
2answers
310 views
What is the name for the inverse of an aphorism
For example, given a common saying or sequence of words, like
A picture is worth a thousand words
One reverses the order and obtains
A word is worth a thousand pictures
Is there a name for ...
0
votes
1answer
65 views
Won't followed by noun
I try to understand the song 'Sober' by band Tool. And there are couple of sentence with won't followed by pronoun or noun and without verb. For example:
'Jesus, won't you f*cking whistle nothing
...
3
votes
2answers
136 views
What's the difference between “Not Completely True” and “Completely Not True”?
From what I understand, in second order propositional logic, ∀¬x and ¬∀x are equivalent statements. Apparently these are not equal. ¬∀x ≡ ∃¬x
However, rendered into the English language, consider ...
1
vote
2answers
83 views
''I don't know what" + direct object [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Changing subject and verb positions in statements and questions
Why do we put the verb to be at the end of these questions?
Is the expression
I don't know what is ...
2
votes
0answers
21 views
Why ‘a great green dragon’ but not ‘a green great dragon’? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the rule for adjective order?
In Letter #163 to W.H. Auden from page 214 of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Tolkien mentions his mother noting but not explaining ...
4
votes
1answer
133 views
Where does the verb go on this question? Is it even a reported question?
I understand that when I report a question, I put the subject back in front of the verb, as in: "He asked if she was going to be late."
But I always get puzzled when it comes to reporting a question ...
0
votes
2answers
228 views
“Where am I?” vs. “Where I am?” [closed]
Which is more correct to say in a question? (For example a guy that wakes up in a train)
"Where am I?"
or
"Where I am?"
1
vote
1answer
72 views
“I ordered us…” vs. “I ordered for us…” vs “I ordered … for us”
I usually use a phrase such as:
(1) I ordered us a box.
Would it be more correct to say:
(2) I ordered for us a box.
Or, better still:
(3) I ordered a box for us.
Example 3 sounds ...
3
votes
1answer
101 views
“He said, X” vs. “X, he said” vs. “X, said he”
I’ve long wondered how in reported speech, what sort of change in nuance is produced by switching around the normal order of the subject (that is, the speaker) and the “speech-related” verb (such as ...
7
votes
1answer
181 views
“You're too clever a man”
You're too clever a man to imagine this.
The above sentence was said by George Galloway, a man of excellent rhetorical skills.
Since he said it, I doubt it's wrong, grammatically. But, I wonder ...
2
votes
0answers
26 views
Is the phrase “fresh six muffins” grammatically correct? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the rule for adjective order?
A non-native speaker that I know always puts the count before another adjective, as in "fresh six muffins". "Six fresh muffins" ...
0
votes
1answer
83 views
the use of both to show emphasis and experimentalist and theoretician communities [closed]
In your opinion is both superfluous in the following sentence?
Efforts from both experimentalist and theoretician communities, started to increase over the last decades in order to turn the ...
7
votes
2answers
294 views
When can an adjective be postposed?
I read this at the economist, and it's the 2nd sentence in the 2nd paragraph.
That is small consolation for an Israeli establishment still hankering after the much easier rapport it had with ...
4
votes
2answers
103 views
“Pay-for” vs. “for-pay”
Is pay-for or for-pay the correct word? For example, which of these two sentences is correct?
This is a pay-for product.
This is a for-pay product.
3
votes
2answers
183 views
Meaning of “Irish true”
This is a sign from a pub. I would expect it to read “Irish truth” or “true Irish”. Why is “Irish true” used?
1
vote
1answer
573 views
“You should have also named” vs. “you should also have named”
Out of the two sentences, which one is correct?
You should have also named it the Daily prophet.
You should also have named it the Daily prophet.
My guess is it's the first one.
5
votes
1answer
75 views
When to put a verb ahead of its doer?
I have read this at the Science.com, and it's in the second line of the last paragraph.
A bow and arrow or an atlatl allows users to attack prey—and enemies—from a safer
distance than does an ...
2
votes
0answers
36 views
Unusual word order in a sentence [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is “xxxx doth not a yyyy make” considered valid English?
Proper usage/origin of the generic phrase “[action phrase] does not a [noun] make”
“Two films don't a ...
-1
votes
1answer
56 views
“Stock pole” vs. “pole stock”
I found this sentence, and it confused me:
Loads may be transferred in one operation from stock pole, production point or delivery vehicle practically to their destination on the building.
I ...
-1
votes
5answers
211 views
“Not once he would” vs. “not once would he”
Not being a native speaker and suffering semantic satiation from overthinking this, I'd like to ask this probably overly simple question.
Not once would he...
uses reversal for negation and ...
-1
votes
1answer
74 views
Placement of “[Whispers.]” in a dialogue line [closed]
A book containing a transcription of some historical conversation has someone by the name Fred asking a question:
Fred: "What is the recipe for Orange Julius?" [Whispers.]
George: "No, it is ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Usage of begrudge
While looking up this word, I found a weird usage, for example:
She begrudged Martin his affluence
She begrudged her friend the award.
Applying common sense, it's clear that she envied her ...
0
votes
2answers
83 views
A “black, full beard” or a “full, black” one? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the rule for adjective order?
This is from the Hound of the Baskervilles , where in Chapter 5, one of the characters is referred to as having "a black, full ...
0
votes
2answers
209 views
Word order with “just” and “only” meaning “merely”
Marking a German student's test I have encountered the following problem:
The relationship between the two adolescents is one-sided. Just the boy really feels something, the girl hates him.
Can ...
0
votes
2answers
338 views
Adverb word order: “nicely shows” vs “shows nicely”
I have the following sentence in my dissertation:
The even-tempered STO basis for Mg shows nicely why the virial theorem cannot be trusted as an error indicator.
However, previously I had there:
...
-2
votes
2answers
183 views
Direct object “it” in final position… grammatical?
In a video a native speaker of English said:
I gotta show you something... it is important. I need to show you it.
I am not a native speaker and this last sentence sounds extremely weird to me. ...
3
votes
2answers
184 views
Position of “now”
What is the difference in meaning between these two sentences?
This feature is now disabled.
This feature is disabled now.
1
vote
1answer
177 views
“There's a missing page” vs. “there's a page missing”
Sometimes we see the adjective "missing" used before nouns and sometimes after nouns. What is the difference in usage in this regard? For example:
There is a missing page in the book.
There ...
4
votes
3answers
253 views
Titles of British Lords [closed]
In an old episode of The West Wing, a British Ambassador is referred to as "Lord John Marbury". Ignoring that once he became Ambassador he'd be Mr Ambassador, what are the possible correct addresses?
...
0
votes
4answers
229 views
“Introduce person to object” or “introduce object to person”? [closed]
I'd like to introduce you to this technology.
I'd like to introduce this tech to you.
Which one is right and what are appropriate uses?
15
votes
3answers
1k views
How does one correctly punctuate a sentence that declares that one has a question? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Punctuation with “The question is…” '.', '?' or ' “… ?” '
Position of question mark when sentence doesn't end ...
4
votes
3answers
258 views
Placement of the word “later” in a sentence
Why is it correct to say "it later came to pass" instead of "it came to pass later"?
What is the rule for this placement?
17
votes
5answers
912 views
When can the -ing form of a verb be placed before a noun?
My native-speaker's grammatical intuition tells me that:
There is a sleeping man under the tree.
is fine but
There is a fishing man by the river bank.
is wrong. Why?
I've thought about ...
4
votes
3answers
81 views
“Really” modification problems
I can read a French newspaper with the aid of a dictionary, but I cannot speak the language or understand it when spoken. So I do not really know French.
Some people say that really modifies know; ...
