Questions tagged [grammar]
This tag is for questions about morphology and syntax, the two elements of grammar. DO NOT USE THIS TAG IF YOUR QUESTION IS ABOUT WHETHER SOMETHING SPECIFIC IS GRAMMATICAL. For such cases use the 'grammaticality' tag. Also do not use this for punctuation or spelling (orthography); those are not about grammar, and they have their own tags.
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When quoting a thought, do I use quotations? [duplicate]
Example. In the story, the protagonist is thinking about Billy putting his hands all over his sister. It descriptive.
I had to pick three instances of sensory and i picked that one.
If I quote the ...
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He likes to swim and listen to music [migrated]
Is this ok to say:
— What does he like to do?
— He likes to swim and listen to music.
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What is considered to be a "topic element"?
I can't make out clearly what could be defined as a "topic element".
In "A Communicative Grammar of English", Geoffrey Leech has written:
Fronting is often accompanied by ...
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2
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Why do we say “it’s (singular) days (plural) like these (plural)”? [duplicate]
Is it because what we’re saying is: it is days like this one, and all others like it, that collectively (followed by 3rd person plural verb form)?
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Differences in asking what the time is [migrated]
What is the time?
What time is it?
What are the differences between the above two sentences?
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Using "will" to describe (one's ideas about?) the past [duplicate]
Is this dialogue idiomatic:
I played football at school.
You [will be/will have been] quite athletic when you met Alice then.
Can you think of other examples?
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"Don't take it personally" vs. "Don't take it personal"
I believe usage trumps authority when it comes to the rules of English. However, I also believe that errors are just errors.
I keep hearing "ly" being left off of words even in common idioms....
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Why "I use social media too much" and not "I use too much social media" [migrated]
When using "too much", it is put after the verb & before the uncountable noun e.g. I drink too much coffee.
However, this sounds strange in the sentence: I use too much social media. ...
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Is it correct to use the present participle to describe what something does rather than only describing/modifying its current state?
For example:
It is a thing that works producing stuff.
This feels wrong to me, but I can't quite put my finger on what exactly is wrong about it. It seems like it's trying to be a participle phrase, ...
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Referring to an unfortunate woman: "Poor her" or "Poor she"? [duplicate]
I am guessing "she" even if the most common way to express this is "her" - I think we use nominative case since the woman is the subject of the sentence.
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Anastrophe grammar words [migrated]
These triumphs were not enough to preserve him from the consequences of the merging of Aberdeen’s two Universities in 1860 when, incredibly, the powers that be decided that it was Maxwell out of the ...
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What is the grammatical structure of {the + superlative substantive}?
Example 1: This was the deepest a submarine had ever dived.
Example 2: The longest a person can hold their breath for is...
I've looked at a couple grammar resources including "the Cambridge ...
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Can I front an adverbial phrase like "high among the clouds"?
While writing a fantasy narration I created this sentence:
High among the clouds a castle floated.
My American friend tells me it sounds bad to a native ear. I think he sees a problem with the ...
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That X and Y “has” or “have” done Z?
I came across this sentence in a book.
That unique scale and perspective has informed all of his thinking on the care and feeding of software systems.
With the “that” at the beginning of the ...
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My goodness, he was lucky, wasn't he [duplicate]
This is from a test paper:
My goodness, he was lucky, wasn't he.
I guess the punctuation is wrong, isn't it?
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Increase Vs Increases [duplicate]
I'm in an argument with somebody, about this line.
The number of customers increase vs The number of customers increases.
We are focusing on the number, but the subject is plural.
He's arguing that ...
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Where better to whet one's grammar?
I wonder if all interrogative pronouns can be used in structures like
Where better to learn about the resilience of life?
For example,
Who better to repair my car?
How better to cook potatoes than ...
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What does "the" specify in the given sentence and what is the head noun? [migrated]
The growth of adults depends on several factors.
What does "the" specify? Does it answer "whose" growth?
What is the head noun here?
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This sentence confuses me with its grammar
Meditations, Aurelius wrote about ways to live a Stoic life , asserting that humans should aim to live a virtuous life to be happy.
I’m trying to learn from the text above. The bold part is the single,...
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Assist in or Assist with
I know this sentence is grammatically correct:
You'll assist him with his homework.
But is this also correct?
You'll assist him in his homework.
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Interesting construct, grammatically unclear
A Financial Times article has the following sentence:
There isn’t a Classics or History of Art equivalent of a Cambridge don inviting a Madras clerk over on the strength of his papers, as GH Hardy ...
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"ought" with or without "to"? [duplicate]
We usually say "ought to" not "ought". (Although more often we say "should"). I wonder when I can say "ought" without "to".
Some examples:
1: Ought I ...
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Usage of 'especially' in this sentence
In the following sentence what word-type is especially? Is it behaving as a preposition modifying 'head of international business'? It doesn’t look to me as though it is being used as an adverb, but ...
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Is verb order significant when someone is [verb1]ing and [verb2]ing?
I came across some interesting dialogue in a tense scene in a novel, Salvation Lost by Peter F Hamilton:
"We'll know exactly what the other [people] are seeing and doing."
"Doing and ...
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What are "weed" (the annoying plant) and "weed" (the drug) classified as that makes them treated differently grammar-wise?
"Weed" (the annoying plant you don't want in your garden) and "weed" (the psychoactive drug) are treated differently grammatically. Just some example sentences
"There are ...
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Usage of dash, grammar
There are two sentences :
Cat is a small animal with soft fur that people often keep as a pet.
Cat — a small animal with soft fur that people often keep as a pet.
Is the second one correct from ...
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5
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Can you tell me the difference between the bare infinitive and the base form of a verb?
I heard my teacher stating that the base form of a verb is not an infinitive itself, but it is used to construct one of the two forms of infinitives.
Edit note
This question has been linked to a ...
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Find + Object + V-ed
On p.2 in the book "Shai & et al. (2004), Understanding Machine Learning: From Theory to Algorithms, Cambridge University Press", I found the following sentence:
That, in turn, ...
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What are the correct choices in: [A 𝒐𝒓 the] [variety 𝒐𝒓 number] of [something 𝒐𝒓 some things] [is 𝒐𝒓 are]?
My English grammar teacher said that English has following rules:
A variety/number of something are...
The variety/number of something is...
We had the examples:
A number of my colleagues are from ...
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What is the difference between the a bare infinitive and an infinitive?
One teacher told me that the bare infinitive cannot be used as the direct object of a modal verb because it is not a noun. But, isn't infinitives with or without "to" infinitives?
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Do I need to add "in" before "an English-speaking country" in this sentence?
1 All my life, I have dreamed of living somewhere overseas, potentially an English-speaking country.
2 All my life, I have dreamed of living somewhere overseas, potentially in an English-speaking ...
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40
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Is who or whom correct in the following situation? [duplicate]
The sentence is as follows: "Isn't it evident who/whom they have in mind for the position?"
Depending on how you try to reword it to figure it out, the answer seems different.
--Is it not ...
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Reality or unreality-if you had seen the notices next day in all the papers, you must have supposed my evening's entertainment an unqualified success [closed]
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter VI, published 1892)
Passage 96
Pinkerton was in the waiting-room, feverishly jotting in his pocket-book. As he saw me enter, he ...
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cause + noun + to infinitive
Once you’re on your journey, certain wheels cause friction to control
movement toward either side of the track, resulting in a loss of
energy.
Does "to control" specify the verb "cause&...
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How does "dare" change in indirect speech?
In indirect speech some modal verbs usually change.
can -> could
He said "I can ride a bike" = He said that he could ride a bike
may -> might/could
He asked "May I use the ...
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Which is the referent of "its" in this sentence?
This is the sentence:
The auto-negotiating device will link at the speed of the non-negotiating device, and set its port to half-duplex mode.
Can someone explain on what is being referred here when &...
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"By equating to (something)": Implicit object or typo or bad grammar?
In p.251, "Introduction to statistics and probability for engineers and scientists, Sheldon M.Ross, 6th edition", I found this sentence:
By equating to zero, we obtain that the maximum ...
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What is the grammatical mood of the sentence "Someone stop that person"?
I was discussing with some friends the grammatical tense of the verb stop in the sentence:
Someone stop that person.
Despite searching online we did not find a consensus/solution, so we have decided ...
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Comma and inversion
I just wrote an English exam and I'm not sure if these two sentences which I've written are correct. If they're not, please tell me and if they are please back that up with a credible source.
Not ...
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Syntax of "What's going on at work these days that you're always on the phone?"
The syntax below is grammatical in colloquial American English and I'm wondering how the sentence is analyzed grammatically.
What's going on at work these days that you're always on the phone?
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“Out of” or “Outside” the box
For composition reasons and how it sound I would like to create a design called “creativity out of the box” but Im not sure if is correct or should be “outside”. Which one is correct?
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maintain daily practices or daily encounters, or both
Yet, lasting peace rests on a complex and fragile web of daily
practices embedded in local settings and daily encounters that
individuals and communities maintain. People believe that these
practices ...
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Another important distinction when considering the effects of migration
Could you first have a look at this quote?
Another important distinction when considering the effects of
migration on children is the type of migration under investigation:
internal migration (moves ...
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2
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Do I need the comma in "it is in short...everthing"? [duplicate]
The intended meaning is that 'it', described simply, is 'everything'.
Would I write:
It is in short...everything.
Or:
It is, in short...everthing.
Instinctively, I believe that a comma is needed ...
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jam or jamming, gerund or infinitive in this particular case?
Sean wasn't as keen about maintaining his gun as a proper soldier should be, and that led to his rifle jam/jamming during the battle.
Is there only one right option here, or are both variants valid ...
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Can verbs of perception have an adjective in the objective complement position?
I know as below.
[verbs of perception + object + bare infinitive / present participle / past participle]
But I found this sentence.
The note was heard loud.
Then can verbs of perception have an ...
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"glad to V" vs. "glad (that) S V"
As an EFL teacher, I am currently teaching a unit on infinitives and one of the expressions covered in the textbook is "feeling adj. + inf" as in "I was glad to hear the news."
In ...
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Is this sentence is a conditional? "Marta on if she would ever make a tinder account" [closed]
Is it correct to use this struct? (If + noun + would)
I was looking for any examples of this structure, and every time I received an answer that this is a conditional.
I have also asked chatgpt, and ...
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Why does 'scent' here use the singular form?
Flowers are chosen for their scent as well as their look.
In the above sentence, since these are countable nouns, shouldn't it say 'scents' and 'looks' instead of 'scent' and 'look'?
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Our heart or our hearts
I just read a quote in which someone, on behalf of herself and her spouse, wrote "Our heart goes out for ....". I Googled to know if when it comes to speaking about heart not as a body organ,...
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