This tag is for questions about the correct order of words in a phrase, or a sentence.
12
votes
5answers
602 views
Is “The City Beautiful” (Orlando's motto) grammatically correct?
I have always wondered why the motto of the City of Orlando, FL (USA) is worded as The City Beautiful instead of The Beautiful City:
Is The City Beautiful grammatically correct? If so, do you have ...
3
votes
1answer
411 views
Inverse word order
Is the following sentence correct?
Within the class NP dwells the elite
group of problems labeled NP-complete.
What rule allows to flip "group" and "dwells" in this case? I thought one should ...
0
votes
1answer
319 views
“Data source types” vs. “types of data sources”
Is there any difference in meaning between "Many different data source types" and "Many different types of data sources"?
I have no strong understanding on the use of "of".
2
votes
3answers
2k views
Why is “xxxx doth not a yyyy make” considered valid English?
Reading doth not a writer make.
This sounds all wrong so why it is acceptable to use?
The word order looks to be all out sequence (Object-Subject-Verb).
It should be "reading does not make you a ...
4
votes
3answers
2k views
“There already is” or “There is already”
What is the correct word order of the verb to be and already?
There is already a price tag.
Or:
There already is a price tag.
4
votes
2answers
1k views
How to properly write sentence with double words
I commonly come across sentences where I have to write the same word twice such as,
This is what I've been looking for for a long time.
and in these cases I just try to rewrite the sentence to ...
6
votes
3answers
3k views
Should it be 10 US$ or US$ 10?
Which is correct to use in a sentence, 10 US$ or US$ 10. Perhaps USD should be used instead or even something else?
4
votes
2answers
975 views
“Pretend to not” vs. “Pretend not to” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Order of “not” with infinitive
The following are both accepted as grammatically correct, right?
You pretend to not notice.
You pretend not to ...
3
votes
5answers
252 views
“The place where we promised to meet”
This is talking about a promise to meet at a certain place. However, is it grammatically correct? Is it badly phrased? It seems that it can be misinterpreted to mean that at a certain place a promise ...
4
votes
3answers
144 views
Jealousy and hate
Is this grammatically correct? Why does "jealousy and hate" sound more natural or better than "hate and jealousy." Isn't "jealousy and hatred" more grammatically correct than either?
2
votes
5answers
265 views
“Sounds almost like” vs. “almost sounds like”
Which sentence structure is more accurate?
... that sounds almost like a command.
... that almost sounds like a command.
1
vote
10answers
210 views
“High Accident Intersection”
I was challenged recently to solve this problem. An accident takes place on an intersection on a high road. However, if I was to write about this as taken place in a "high accident intersection" it ...
6
votes
3answers
432 views
Is “still” being used correctly in “I love you still”?
I've heard this sentence in a song ('Build me up buttercup'):
When you say you will,
but I love you still
I'm used to seeing still in front of the verb or auxiliary verb as in "I still love ...
13
votes
4answers
4k views
Order of “not” with infinitive
This is one thing that keeps bugging me, and maybe there's a direct answer.
Grammatically, which one is more correct of these two? Does it make a difference?
I tried not to do that.
I tried ...
6
votes
2answers
998 views
Can “sui generis” be placed before the noun?
I came across sui generis in the following paragraph of today’s New York Times (April 27) Restaurant Review section headlined "Chef’s table at Brooklyn Fair."
César Ramirez's restaurant in ...
5
votes
2answers
202 views
Can “having an affair” work both ways?
The married person in an affair is clearly having one, but is the unmarried participant?
To use a well-known real-life example, Bill Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky. But did Monica ...
21
votes
8answers
19k views
Distinction: “What can I do you for?” vs. “What can I do for you?”
Usually, when being served the phrase "What can I do for you?" is used but sometimes I also hear "What can I do you for?" in quite the same context. So is there a difference or is it just a slip of ...
1
vote
6answers
428 views
“Almost until 1900” or “until almost 1900”: which one is correct?
Although various eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American poets had professed an interest in Native American poetry and had pretended to imitate Native American forms in their own works, it was ...
7
votes
2answers
334 views
Why is the Dostoyevsky novel “The Brothers Karamazov” not translated “The Karamazov Brothers”?
In most cases I would say that the family name should come first, as in "the Ringling Brothers circus" or "the Bronte sisters", but then there is the Dostoyevsky novel "The Brothers Karamazov".
Why ...
1
vote
4answers
224 views
“What score are we playing until?” or how to ask it?
Every day Jack and Ted have about 5–15 minutes to go outside and play table tennis in the afternoon. As their free time varies each time (sometimes it's 5 minutes, sometimes 10, sometimes 15), they ...
2
votes
3answers
92 views
Which of these sentences is better?
The user is redirected to your web page after the click.
After the click, the user is redirected to your web page.
Which kind of sentence should be used, the first, the second, or neither?
4
votes
3answers
900 views
Why do we invert word order when asking a question?
What's the difference between an inverted question and a normal-order question?
Why invert? Is there a reason or a benefit?
I love you?
Do I love you?
0
votes
2answers
3k views
“I was wondering what/which are …” or “I was wondering what/which … are”
I can understand saying "I was wondering how is A doing?" is not grammatically correct. Instead we should say "I was wondering how A is doing?".
On the other hand, I was wondering which one or both ...
4
votes
5answers
1k views
What is the correct positioning of “Please” in a sentence or indeed is there one?
Please can you help me with this question?
Can you please help me with this question?
Can you help me with this question please?
Is there a correct place for please in this question or ...
0
votes
4answers
343 views
Correct punctuation of a phrase?
Knowledge is expensive. But even more so, is stupidity.
or
Knowledge is expensive. But, stupidity is even more so.
I'm very confused as to the correct punctuation and order or the above ...
58
votes
3answers
6k views
Is “believe you me” proper English?
I understand the phrase "believe you me" to be an emphatic version of "believe me" but how did it come to be? Is it a poor translation into English?
0
votes
2answers
348 views
“Plugging in X” vs. “plugging X in”
Does one say
Plugging in that value into the previous equation...
or
Plugging that value in the previous equation...
or something else?
2
votes
2answers
215 views
Difference between “had [verb] not to” and “hadn't [verb] to”
When we talk about things that we intended to do, but didn't or will not do in the future, we can use past perfect.
I did a question in a reference book:
I hadn't intended to become a doctor, I ...
0
votes
3answers
440 views
Presence or absence
This may really be nitpicking... but how would you best phrase this sentence (the context is a scientific paper)?
[parameter] was measured in the presence or absence of [drug name].
or rather
...
7
votes
5answers
517 views
Having or eating one's cake
Which is it?
"You cannot eat your cake and have it, too," meaning you can have it or you can eat it, but once it's gone there's no cake left to eat.
"You cannot have your cake and eat it, too", ...
3
votes
4answers
636 views
Can you rephrase this sentence (about storing files)?
Starting from this date all such files will be stored in folder B.
Is it possible to re-phrase this sentence without changing its meaning in such a way that it would start from "Starting from ...
1
vote
3answers
7k views
“Why do not you come here?” vs “Why do you not come here?”
I have two questions.
What is the difference between "Why do not you come here?" and "Why do you not come here?"?
Are both of "Why do not you come here?" and "Why do you not come here?" ...
0
votes
4answers
78 views
Which of these two sentences seems more acceptable?
This worker, to do all of his tasks, is fully able.
This worker is, to do all of his tasks, fully able.
11
votes
8answers
404 views
Can changing the order of adjectives alter the literal meaning of a phrase?
Someone recently pointed out to me that most English-speakers will say "I saw a big brown spider," rather than "I saw a brown big spider". However, the second sentence has the same literal meaning as ...
5
votes
1answer
4k views
What is the correct word order between “have/had”, “been”, and “already” in statements?
What is the correct word order between have/had, been, and already in statements like the following:
By the time the product was officially announced, I had already been using it.
Or:
By the ...
4
votes
3answers
6k views
How does one write the name of a married female and spouse in a list of classmates?
In a list of classmates, how is the name of a married female and spouse listed? Is the female given name or her husband's given name written first? How is the maiden name shown?
4
votes
3answers
670 views
Words order when asking a question in a complex sentence
I'm having trouble to decide which word order to use in this sentence:
So the question is if I am to modify the programme in what environment I should do it.
Is it correct or do I need to change ...
8
votes
4answers
594 views
“Why is this not” versus “why is not this”
Should I use "why is this not" or "why is not this?"
Or are both correct?
5
votes
4answers
931 views
“Everybody is not” vs “Not everybody is”
Everybody's got a water buffalo, yours is fast but mine is slow.
You can't say everybody's got a water buffalo! Everyone does not have a water buffalo!
This construction:
Everyone ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Auxiliary verb and adverb ordering
(I'm not really sure if the title is a correct definition of my problem at all)
I'm not a native English speaker, and I'm used to say:
Spaghetti suddenly can talk
But I've seen a phrase from a ...
5
votes
2answers
145 views
What's the difference in saying “the average family” vs. “the family average”?
Consider these two sentences:
A Scranton family has an average of 2.1 children.
The average Scranton family has 2.1 children.
I've seen both used. The first one seems reasonable, but the ...
3
votes
1answer
494 views
How to describe braces, brackets, parentheses?
I have this term:
((x ,y, z))
and I need to describe in words that the x in this term should be outside the bars?
Is this correct? outside the bars?
x ((y,z))
The position of the x ...
1
vote
0answers
175 views
Ordering of multiple, consecutive adjectives [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Adjective order
One a comedy show, one of the comedians was a female who was black and from the UK. The host introduced her as a the first black, female, British ...
4
votes
2answers
6k views
Should it be “concerned person” or “person concerned”?
An office colleague wrote this email.
Kindly log a ticket for the same and
assign it to the concerned team.
I wrote back the following -
I believe it should be
"Kindly log a ticket ...
3
votes
1answer
220 views
Semantics and frequency of use of different adverb orderings
Is there any semantic difference between these two sentences? Also, is any of them more "correct" or frequently used than the other?
This problem has been recently
addressed by several authors
...
1
vote
2answers
97 views
“how the data is accessed” and “how is the data accessed”, which one is correct?
Of the two sentences “how the data is accessed” and “how is the data accessed”, which one is correct?
3
votes
3answers
1k views
“such a day” or “such day”?
It's such a nice day today!
I'm interested in the usage of the indefinite article. I know this sentence is correct. We use an indefinite article in exclamations with countable nouns.
But the ...
4
votes
3answers
207 views
“A lost cause, that is.”
I tend to finish with a ", that is." in a couple of situations:
I come in and see a heavily damaged machine, and I say
A lost cause, that is...
And it is not always with the "that is" phrase, ...
1
vote
1answer
323 views
“can't afford to (or don't want to)” or “can't afford (or don't want) to”
Is one of the following preferable to the other:
can't afford to (or don't want to)
can't afford (or don't want) to
8
votes
2answers
166 views
Get a high speed connection without roaming charges instantly
I saw this message on an advert:
Get a high speed connection without
roaming charges instantly.
I am pretty sure that a better way to say it is:
Instantly get a high speed connection
...
