This tag is for questions about the correct order of words in a phrase, or a sentence.
124
votes
3answers
36k views
What is the rule for adjective order?
I remember being taught that the correct order of adjectives in English was something along the lines of "Opinion-Size-Age-Color-Material-Purpose."
However, it's been a long time and I'm pretty sure ...
61
votes
12answers
5k views
When is it appropriate to end a sentence in a preposition?
Like many others, I commonly find myself ending a sentence with a preposition. Yes, it makes me cringe. I usually rewrite the sentence, but sometimes (in emails) I just live with it. To, with... ...
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?
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 ...
21
votes
7answers
3k views
Is it acceptable to start a sentence with “however”?
I have heard that starting a sentence with however is wrong. What are the grounds for this view and is it still held by a majority of pedants?
They would suggest changing
However, some people are ...
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 ...
18
votes
4answers
2k views
Correct position of “only”
Which is grammatically correct?
I can only do so much in this time.
or
I can do only so much in this time.
17
votes
2answers
709 views
What is wrong with “Where should this car be parked?”?
Why does Microsoft Word 2010 show an error for the following sentence?
1. Where should this car be parked?
Word 2010 also suggests changing the sentence to
2. Where this car should ...
17
votes
6answers
8k views
Why do you say “so do I”?
Why is the order of the words in "so do I" or "nor do I" different from the normal order?
17
votes
5answers
913 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 ...
16
votes
2answers
863 views
White-orange or orange-white? Which color comes first?
When referring to something, (electrical wires, in my case) and it is half white and half other color, do you put White or the other color first?
I want to describe the color of these wires as ONE ...
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 ...
15
votes
3answers
423 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 ...
14
votes
3answers
630 views
“You just can't” vs. “you can't just ”
I'm a bit confused about this. Which expression is correct?
You can't just do that.
or
You just can't do that.
I'm trying to say:
You can't just bash an ideology because of what ...
14
votes
3answers
1k views
Are split infinitives grammatically incorrect, or are they valid constructs?
Mark's generosity in this crisis seems to more than make up for his earlier stinginess.
Should those sentences always be avoided, or are there cases where they are valid?
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 ...
13
votes
3answers
497 views
Difference between styles of English in technical communication
I have a collaborative software project with two other users. Nearly every technical report and documentation written goes through the following editorial changes to some of the sentences (examples ...
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 ...
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 ...
13
votes
2answers
481 views
“Who turned off the lights?”
Who turned off the lights?
Who are you?
Why do the words in those questions have a different order than the following questions?
Does she like ice cream?
Where do you live?
Where do you ...
12
votes
5answers
2k views
Can “already” be used after a simple past verb in American English?
A British colleague asked if these two sentences are grammatically acceptable in American English:
They found already high recognition in Europe and we wish to carry
that further.
...
12
votes
5answers
594 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 ...
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 ...
11
votes
6answers
467 views
What number bus is that? or What bus number is that?
Imagine you are at the bus stop. You see a bus coming, but you can't read the number, so you ask: "What number bus is that?"
However, usually the noun used as a determiner precedes the main noun, for ...
11
votes
4answers
3k views
“All is not lost” vs “Not all is lost”
I guess I've been in mathematics for far too long, and I tend to use the phrase "Not all is lost" as the negative of "All is lost".
To me the phrase "All is not lost" suggests that nothing is lost. ...
11
votes
4answers
8k views
Which is correct: “the below information” or “the information below”?
I frequently see statements that refer to something later in the text that use a phrase such as "the below information". Is it more correct instead to say "the information below" (or "the following ...
11
votes
2answers
212 views
“A place nearby” but not “A place good”
I can ask any of:
Do you know a breakfast place nearby?
Do you know a nearby breakfast place?
Do you know a good breakfast place?
but I really can't ask:
Do you know a breakfast place ...
10
votes
2answers
436 views
Word order in fractional quantities
Is the word order in the quantity correct in the following sentence?
The boy is 3 years and a half old.
If not what would be the right way to say it?
10
votes
1answer
241 views
Why is it “grand theft auto”?
I'm not a native speaker so it might just be me finding this strange, but why is the auto in grand theft auto at the end?
Shouldn't it be grand auto theft or something like this?
I thought the ...
9
votes
4answers
7k views
“Can easily be” vs. “can be easily” — what's the difference?
I'm wondering what the difference is between:
It can easily be obtained.
It can be easily obtained.
Also, what's the preferred way to write it? If there is any...
I googled for both ...
8
votes
4answers
592 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?
8
votes
2answers
2k views
Prepositions at the end of sentence and whom
I believe it's okay to end a sentence with a preposition. That seems to be the consensus here as well.
Now I think that when who is the object of a preposition, it should technically be whom, e.g. ...
8
votes
4answers
450 views
“Back up data” or “back data up”?
Which is correct?
To back up data.
To back data up.
The context is the following:
He was careful enough to perform tests and [back up data | back data up] to avoid any problems.
8
votes
2answers
271 views
Why “buy things secondhand,“ not “buy secondhand things”?
I saw the word ‘secondhand’ come after ‘things’ in the lead copy of July 17 Time magazine’s article, titled “10 Things You Should Be Buying Used”, as follows.
Buying things secondhand can save a ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
The Royal Order of Adverbs
I know that the pattern manner-place-time shouldn't be taken too seriously if one wants to speak natural English.
In real life, people rarely use a string of adverbs. Speakers will easily break the ...
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
...
7
votes
3answers
504 views
Is there a name for inverting word order to accomplish a different meaning?
There are many sayings that invert the word order to convey a different meaning.
e.g.
"Do you live to work or do you work to live?"
"He who fails to plan, plans to fail"
Is there a name for this ...
7
votes
3answers
9k views
Starting sentence with “indeed” to complete previous statement
Is it correct to add a sentence that starts with indeed in order to complete a previous statement? For example,
The political crisis has a negative influence on the economy.
Indeed, foreign ...
7
votes
3answers
3k views
Is it incorrect to say, 'Give me it'?
Is it incorrect to say, 'Give me it' ? I am told that it is and one should always say, 'Give it me'?
7
votes
5answers
516 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", ...
7
votes
4answers
266 views
“The ^ character indicates… ” or “The character ^ indicates… ”
Which one is correct?
The ^ character indicates the beginning of the string.
or
The character ^ indicates the beginning of the string.
Or both?
I ask because in my native language ...
7
votes
2answers
4k views
“Built-in” or “In-built”
Is there any difference between using in-built or built-in? Is one more correct than the other, or does it depend on the context, or ”house style”?
This oven comes with a built-in extractor fan.
...
7
votes
1answer
130 views
“I do not know where … is” vs. “I do not know where is …”
Which of the following sentences is correct in the formal context? Both? If possible, please also explain why each of these sentences is correct/incorrect.
I do not know where the best place to ...
7
votes
2answers
295 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 ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Differences between “just might” and “might just?”
Can someone help me understand more precisely the connotative differences between "just might" and "might just
I came upon this dilemma while working on a short comic strip. In the first panel, a ...
7
votes
3answers
263 views
Word order, e.g. in “Hotel California”, “Brothers Quay”
This is a question about the order of words when a common name is associated to a proper name. Does it matter to say "California Hotel" rather than "Hotel California"? Similarly, there are two ...
7
votes
2answers
247 views
“put X down to” vs. “put down X to”: subjects of verbs with two particles
I expect I would have to put down many coats to do the job. (SOURCE)
One factor to distinguish phrasal verbs from prepositional verbs is particle movement. Phrasal verbs can place the particle ...
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 ...
7
votes
3answers
527 views
“You're not the boss of me” vs “You're not my boss”
For some years now I've heard You're not the boss of me increasingly more often relative to the more "correct, natural" (to me, at least) You're not my boss. Thanks to the magic of NGrams, I've ...
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 ...
