Questions tagged [grammaticality]

This tag is for questions about whether something obeys the rules of grammar in English. The question must INCLUDE THE SPECIFIC GRAMMATICAL CONCERN. If your question is about grammar itself, please use the "grammar" tag.

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A GNU tool, or An GNU tool? [duplicate]

When writing a sentence about the GNU tools, how is the “a”/“an” used when describing a specific GNU tool? Gawk, a GNU tool, performs the … or Gawk, an GNU tool, performs the …
1 vote
2 answers
26 views

"uniform weights on all edges" or "uniform weights on each edge" or "uniform weight on each edge" [closed]

I would like to know which of the following sentences are correct, and why? Our model places uniform weights on all edges in a graph. Our model places uniform weights on each edge in a graph. Our ...
1 vote
1 answer
48 views

Placement of "for all" in "show that"

In a mathematical text, suppose that we have a statement A(n) where n is a number. My question is where the phrase "for all n" should stand in "show that": For all n[,] show that ...
1 vote
2 answers
153 views

Is 'clinicality' a word? Is 'Woolfesque' a word? [closed]

The only online dictionaries in which 'clinicality' appears are Wikitionary and WordSense. I have not found conclusive evidence that it is not a word. I am better acquainted with English than with my ...
1 vote
0 answers
27 views

How to fill the blank in "Many of the world's great novels are reported ___ (make) into movies last year."? [migrated]

I'm an English learner and came across an exercise question today: Sentence: Many of the world's great novels are reported ___ (make) into movies last year. Choices: [made/to be made/to have been made/...
2 votes
2 answers
92 views

"I always be myself"

Last night an actor in a YouTube advert told me "I always be myself." I don't remember the point of the ad to find it and share it here. I did search Google for "i always be myself"...
-1 votes
2 answers
103 views

Compound noun in a technical sentence

I have found a similar question here. However, my reputation is too low to append comment for requiring more information. As a result, I have to post a question. I read Pandas documentation and I ...
0 votes
1 answer
38 views

Which of the following sentences is the correct one?

Which's the correct form of writing the following sentence? "Whose fault is it when you're someone's broken promise?" "The person who made it or the person about whom it was made?"...
0 votes
0 answers
34 views

Using not with both, either, neither: word choice when expressing negation of two options [migrated]

In a sentence responding negatively to multiple statements or questions, which of the following ways sounds best and has the least grammatical error? He didn’t do both. He didn’t do either. He didn’t ...
0 votes
0 answers
33 views

When to use "was coming" or "would come"? [migrated]

You went to a party with your friends, you arrived by car and your friend arrived by bus. It was very late at the end of the party and you were driving your friend home. He said: It was really kind ...
4 votes
0 answers
91 views

"Had somebody something"

I wonder if it's okay to use "had somebody something" to convey the meaning of "if somebody had something"? For example: "I would have laughed at him had he more facetious ...
-1 votes
0 answers
23 views

Should I use singular or plural after a series of two gerunds? "Killing their children and destroying their homes is/are" [duplicate]

Killing their children and destroying their homes is not enough - they must humiliate them too. Killing their children and destroying their homes are not enough - they must humiliate them too.
-1 votes
0 answers
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Is use of 'gotten' correct in this sentence? [migrated]

Has anybody gotten done pest control at their home?
0 votes
0 answers
506 views

Should you capitalize titles that are questions?

In my job, we often have to make technical tutorials either as presentations or videos. Some presentations contain slides where a question is a title or the introductory title. For example: #27 In a ...
-1 votes
0 answers
17 views

“It is a great deal!” vs “This is a great deal!” vs “That is a great deal!” vs “Those are a great deal!” [migrated]

What’s the correct answer for the following question set? Speaker A: I’ll buy these rugs as a memento of our holiday. Speaker B: __________ a great idea! a. Those are (a great idea!) b. It’s (a ...
1 vote
2 answers
73 views

Count off to split into teams

In school group projects or sports, how do you command the students/players to count off 1-2-1-2-1-2 or 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3 etc. to split into two or three (or more) teams, respectively? I gather you do ...
1 vote
0 answers
20 views

Which is grammatically correct - "recidivisously" "recidivistly" or "recidivistically" as a valid adverb form of recidivist? [duplicate]

Per How do you know if a derivative word is actually an English word? & its cited previous answer, What are the criteria to adopt new words into English? - I am imagining that it is "...
172 votes
2 answers
314k views

Is it "a user" or "an user"? [duplicate]

Since "user" starts with a vowel, shouldn't we use "an"? I've seen many cases of using "a".
13 votes
6 answers
21k views

The "wrought /wreaked havoc" misunderstanding

According to the American Heritage Dictionary: the past tense and past participle of the verb to wreak is wreaked, not wrought, which is an alternative past tense and past participle of work. ...
1 vote
2 answers
10k views

Is "For why" improper English?

I use the phrase "For why" quite often and my friends laugh at me for it. For example, I asked my friend about why he was going and I had asked him "for why are you going?" Is this an incorrect use?...
61 votes
14 answers
61k views

I can run faster than _____. (1) him (2) he?

Consider the sentence "I can run faster than 15 miles per hour." Its meaning is clear and to my eyes obviously grammatically correct. Now let me present some variations that have given me ...
1 vote
3 answers
93 views

Generalization or definition of the word "from" when used in "I returned to the city from having travelled the world"

I contrived this sentence, but had a hard time explaining how to construct sentences of similar nature, the sentence being He returned to the city from having travelled the world Meaning, "[...
1 vote
2 answers
4k views

is it more correct to say an " at home" service or should I say an "at-home" service?

I have a company that provides services in the patients' own home. When writing about it do I say "it's an at home service" or do I say an "at-home service"? I feel perhaps the hyphen makes it ...
4 votes
2 answers
433 views

Placement of “anymore” with respect to other complements, as in "not possible anymore to …"

I often see sentences like this from non-native speakers: ?It is not possible anymore to cross the border without a passport. To me, this sounds wrong, and I would write this instead: It is no ...
-2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is this statement grammatically correct?

This may seem basic, but I genuinely think otherwise for some reason. Implication: The army will be there UNTIL the border wall is NOT in a state of being built. Sentence: “The army will stay until ...
1 vote
1 answer
266 views

Can "life" be used in reference to more than one person?

Is it grammatically correct to use the word life in the singular when referring to more than one person? I found the following sentences in the Corpus of Contemporary American English. a. we can ...
1 vote
4 answers
83 views

What is the usage of "such...as that"?

Please read this sentence's example: Considering how many hundreds of statues of the great Emperor must exist in London, it is too much to suppose such a coincidence as that a promiscuous iconoclast ...
0 votes
1 answer
78 views

Are "in case there are problems" vs. "in case of problems" correct and interchangeable?

So, I'm giving my phone number to a person so that they can count on me and call me if and when they have problems in the future. Here are two sentences: Here is my number in case you have problems. ...
-2 votes
0 answers
33 views

Which of the following two sentences is grammatically correct, and why? [migrated]

Sentence one: Has any of your employees been sick this week? Sentence two: Have any of your employees been sick this week?
2 votes
1 answer
218 views

Is "factoral" a legitimate word, or could it be a typo?

I recently encountered the term "factoral" used twice in The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx, without any occurrences of "factorial." Below are the excerpts for reference: "As ...
0 votes
1 answer
63 views

"Recorded on it" as a subject

I am unsure if the phrase "Recorded on it" can be used as a subject. He found a blueprint. Recorded on it was a device used by the Order. Does this sound grammatically correct?
0 votes
0 answers
40 views

Impersonal infinitive? [duplicate]

I'm learning Portuguese at the moment and have come across the Impersonal Infinitive (tense, mood?). I'm told this doesn't exist in English, but I have a feeling it might! Take the sentence It's ...
0 votes
1 answer
178 views

Is it correct to use "in regards to"? [duplicate]

I see many mentions of "in regards to" in written and spoken English...by native speakers...but the dictionary says "in regard to".. Is it a matter of choice? I checked several online dictionaries ...
0 votes
0 answers
60 views

Using the Present Perfect after the preposition "after" in an adverbial clause

That's basic critical thinking. But how can a critic, writing about his own encounter with the work, be responsible for unpredictable emotional responses in individual readers? But, as Scott says, ...
3 votes
3 answers
370 views

Trying to determine if a specific clause/phrase is essential or non-essential

I am a volunteer English tutor. My advanced ESL student wrote the following sentence after reading an article: However, recent studies, in Sweden and in Finland, have found out that different ...
0 votes
0 answers
34 views

Is there any difference in meaning in the sentence "he doesn't have a house in which to sleep" and "he doesn't have a house to sleep in" [duplicate]

Is the first sentence even grammatically correct? It just sounds weird to me.
0 votes
1 answer
3k views

Time saving or time savings?

This is for a questionnaire. There are multiple options to choose from that indicate that I can save time with a certain option. I am wondering whether to use "time savings" or "time saving" in this ...
3 votes
3 answers
499 views

Using the conjunction "when" with the Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple and the Past Continuous Tense

From a grammatical point of view, I'm trying to understand the use of these tenses in the "when" clause. I'll give you an example. All of these example sentences are from native English ...
4 votes
3 answers
899 views

"Intra": can it be used just like "sub" or does it have extra nuance?

I'm editing a draft academic paper at the moment that distinguishes between the variety that exists between several groups, on one hand, and the varieties that exist within one of those groups, on the ...
1 vote
1 answer
86 views

Is the double pronoun "it mine" correct in "You did it your way, now let me do it mine"?

I am a non-native English speaker, so I would just like to increase my knowledge of the language. I heard this phrase in a TV show: You did it your way, now let me do it mine. The let me do it mine ...
15 votes
3 answers
225k views

"How's things?" or "How are things?"

In a short interview where people were introducing themselves I saw something that grammatically sounds erroneous. Is the use of How's things instead of How're things a kind of expression or a simple ...
6 votes
3 answers
20k views

Is "for short" correct?

In conversation I used the phrase "for short" in the context: "I will call you blank for short." I know I've heard the phrase before, but I'm wondering if it is actually acceptable English? If ...
0 votes
1 answer
174 views

can Where/Whereas be used interchangeably in the following examples?

"Whereas there were once as many as fifteen thousand divers on the island, there are now only about five thousand." "Where there were once as many as fifteen thousand divers on the ...
-2 votes
1 answer
49 views

What's the difference between each sentence and are they both correct?

I had thought it would be different before I took the test. I had thought it would have been different before I took the test.
0 votes
1 answer
61 views

At all of these aspects VS in all these aspects

Let's say you want to talk about similarities that chess and life have in common, and how different aspects that apply to one thing also apply to the other. "In chess as in life, you will need ...
4 votes
2 answers
28k views

Is "considering taking" grammatically correct?

I've seen the following sentence in a newspaper. Is it grammatical? He's considering taking early retirement. Taking = present progressive was used near another present progressive?
67 votes
5 answers
33k views

When is a 'gerund' supposed to be preceded by a possessive adjective/determiner?

I assume that the following sentences are all acceptable: He resents your being more popular than he is. Most of the members paid their dues without my asking them. They objected to the youngest girl’...
1 vote
1 answer
907 views

The difference between very and a very [closed]

I have an exercise in which I have to correct mistakes in the sentences. One of them is : Tom borrowed me a very interesting book last week. Is there any problem with "a very"? Because I ...
0 votes
2 answers
86 views

"you might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb" grammatical analysis

How is the last part of "you might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb" grammatically correct, that is "as for a lamb"? Don't we use the structure "as for a something&...
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

(negative to affirmative) "we could not but pocket the insult"

When we do negative to affirmative, we always use 'must' in the place of 'can not but'. I further know that we cannot use 'must' in the place of 'could not but' because 'could not but' is a past form. ...

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