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.
6,147
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Use of "need" as modal auxiliary verb
I have a sentence which is, admittedly, a bit old-fashioned... however, I am wondering if it's a reasonable use of "need" as a modal auxiliary verb
Note that, because H is real and ...
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2
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95
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Is it correct to say "long time no see and never will"? [closed]
It seems like it's not, because there were no negative statement before "and", after which goes future "will". I could surely write something like "Haven't seen each other for ...
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1
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"Don't have a second email address?" VS "Do you not have a second email address?" [closed]
As a section heading we can have either:
OPTION 1:
Tip: Don't have a second email address?
That's OK, you can create a new one here.
OPTION 2:
Tip: Do you not have a second email address?
That's OK, ...
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0
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17
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Noun subject followed directly by a V-ing in the where clause without "be" [duplicate]
On the Wikipedia page for "Team error", I found this text:
Halo Effect – Immediate judgment discrepancy or cognitive bias, where a person making an initial assessment will assume the ...
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2
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90
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Is it correct to allow a parenthesized sentence to be followed by another parenthesized sentence? [duplicate]
I've searched. Other questions appear to mostly deal with nesting and punctuation positioning. This one does not at its core. I will stress again, due to multiple dupe flags.. This question is NOT ...
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3
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134
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"It is comfortable to sit on this chair." is not grammatical, but why are similar constructs grammatical or used... ? - 'preparatory it' complements
According to Practical English Usage, 4th ed., Michael Swan (2017), section 'preparatory it', preparatory it is not used with complements. He gives these two examples (section 7 in the screenshot):
...
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0
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36
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Should phrases for amounts/quantities be singular or plural? [duplicate]
Here's a quote from the TV show Silicon Valley
Yeah, but that 10 minutes is just incredible.
I think I've also heard someone somewhere said something to the effect of "5 minutes is a long time.&...
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1
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Is the line in bold grammatically correct? [closed]
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 hit a new record high last month. While rising interest rates and higher commodity prices hammered many stocks, they flattered the banks, miners and energy giants of London’s ...
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1
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71
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Is “Wally the walrus to get ‘floating boat’ to stop him sinking boats” grammatically correct? How should this be used then?
I can't see a verb-part of the sentence here. Is it even a sentence? Some kind of absolute construction? The picture, of course, speaks for itself and the general meaning is clear, but I am still ...
2
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2
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92
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Is it correct to say "he led me through a path"?
Is it correct to say: "he led me through a path in the forest"?
Here, path has been used as a synonym of 'road' or 'street' and is trying to convey the idea that you are traversing a path in ...
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1
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61
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When you're using "here" in a sentence to specify a person, where do the commas go, if any?
When you use "here" to refer to a specific person, where do the commas go? Are commas around "here" correct? Because it doesn't look quite right to me...
For example,
Catherine, ...
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4
votes
0
answers
47
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Why does substituting a noun-verb with its contraction form seem awkward or grammatically incorrect? [duplicate]
I stumbled upon this strange problem. The following sentence is grammatically correct:
It's better to be miserable and rich than it is to be miserable and poor.
Let's replace the second "it is&...
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3
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Why is this sentence from The Great Gatsby grammatical?
There's a bird on the lawn that I think must be a nightingale come over on the Cunard or White Star Line.
According to my very limited knowledge, shouldn’t it be "which came over" in place ...
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2
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41
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Grammatical error in the expression "what would occur without"
Background
There is a system called YOLO which identifies objects in an image. For instance, YOLO can identify dog, bicycle, and car as objects in the image.
Internally YOLO uses a neural network ...
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0
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24
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What is this usage of "with"? [duplicate]
I wrote this sentence in a paper about computer science:
Then these cells are divided into groups, with cells in each group being shared among the same set of processes.
It sounds correct to me, but ...
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1
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22
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Using two wouldn't haves [closed]
Can I use two wouldn't have in one sentence? For example:
If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't have been accepted in the university, and thus, she wouldn't have been able to get a decent job.
Is ...
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1
answer
82
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Is "Exists there an alternative to PHP?" considered "old English"? [closed]
I like this way:
Exists there an alternative to PHP?
But there's also:
Is there an alternative to PHP?
And:
Does it exist an alternative to PHP?
Or maybe:
Does there exist an alternative to PHP?...
1
vote
2
answers
48
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Use of the phrase ‘Such as’ to begin a sentence
Is the second sentence below grammatically correct in the context of the first sentence? I.e. can I commence a sentence with the phrase ‘Such as’?
You can access personal details we hold about you. ...
1
vote
1
answer
51
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Superlative comparative used for one of two objects (Jane Austen)??? + bonus question
This is something I have read in Jane Austen's "Emma" on two occasions already.
"She was the youngest of the two daughters..."
I've always been told it is exceptionally incorrect ...
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0
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52
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Girlfriend has weird English and I don't know the words to describe the question ("needs delivered", "wants fed", etc) [duplicate]
ELU!
My girlfriend has been using some strangely-formed English in the past few years. It's not just her because I've heard it elsewhere too. I've got a video of a screenwriter where he says, "...
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0
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11
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Can someone explain how NPIs work [duplicate]
My cousin ever potty trained her cat.
My cousin never potty trained her cat.
Can someone explain why sentence (1) is grammatically wrong whereas sentence (2) isn't?
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2
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Is the structure "Who wants this ball to bang on their head?" acceptable?
I am proofreading an English book written by a non-native speaker.
A structure the author uses is the following
Who wants this ball bang on their head?
The meaning intended to be conveyed is: Who ...
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1
answer
106
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What is the function of "the world over"
A few weeks before I had been an unknown school-teacher in Dayton, a little town in the mountains of Tennessee. Now I was involved in a trial reported the world over. (The Trial That Rocked the World ...
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1
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55
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What is the rule for word formation in "object"+"person"(like babysitter, songwriter, etc)? [duplicate]
Could you please explain what rule do you use when you make "double" words like babysitter, headhunter, songwriter, calorie burner?
Why is the first word singular? Not babiessitter (If it ...
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2
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65
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Use of 'but' in 'Not a star but might not shoot down ...'
The young moon lies on her back tonight as is her habit in the tropics, and as, I think, is suitable if not seemly for a virgin. Not a star but might not shoot down and accept the invitation to become ...
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1
answer
49
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Why can the adverb "otherwise" be used followed by a verb as an object in the sentence "But the research suggests otherwise"?
In the sentence
But the research suggests otherwise,
we know "suggest" is a transitive verb, so my question is, what "otherwise" is then? I guess it's an adverb here, but we must ...
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2
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32
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Does the preposition "to" work here? "I was glad to change schools to people"
I came across this sentence from a book by an American author but the line doesn't sound right to me, in particular with "to people who"
So I was glad to change schools to people who were ...
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4
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108
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When addressing an envelope, should I repeat "cousin"? "Cousin John & (Cousin) Jane"
John (my cousin) & Jane (cousin-in-law)
When sending a letter and writing their names on the envelope, which is correct?
Cousin John & Cousin Jane
Cousin John & Jane
I would think #2 is ...
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1
answer
45
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There's a double negative in this sentence? [duplicate]
sentence:
I'm living in los angeles now. I'm clean. legit
No you ain't never been clean. dude
is this part → "ain't never" is this a case of double negative?
i was in doubt because i see ...
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what's the major difference between (were to have and was to have) [duplicate]
Including here:
If she were to be right about that, we would never hear the end of it.
If you were to have gone to Florida, you would have been there when the hurricane hit.
So, what's the main ...
2
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2
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115
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Can fastly be preferred over using "fast" just after any subject? [closed]
Recently, I have attempted a multiple choice question test that contained the following question regarding synonym of "quickly:"
Q. No. 15 (in image) He quickly got up from the bench. [...
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0
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Can a gerund immediately follow a present participle? [duplicate]
For example:
“Academic integrity violations include any action involving distributing course materials to others.”
I understand “involving” to be a present participle, because it functions as an ...
2
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1
answer
101
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"What is it(,) to be a hero?"
My friend and I have gotten into a rather passionate debate about whether Karen Paige's monologue at the end of season two of Daredevil was written in a grammatically correct fashion.
On screen, we ...
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2
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59
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Can “missed” be followed by “to”? [duplicate]
I got a text which had me thinking about the use of the verb "to miss"
The workpaper is incomplete as I missed to consider a criteria.
Is the above sentence correct? Is "I missed to ...
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2
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0
answers
57
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"The exam sheet should only be used to write answers (on)"
Do I need the prepositions in these sentences?
The exam sheet should only be used to write answers (on).
The blanks should only be used to write answers (in).
The equipment should only be used to ...
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1
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63
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Is having two verbs in a sentence acceptable? [closed]
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned the ongoing debate over sending German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine suggests that the “nervousness among the members of the alliance is constantly growing.”
...
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1
answer
71
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"May very well have" or "very well may have": Which is correct?
I was having a discussion with some friends recently. Some were insistent that the phrase is "very well may have", e.g.
I very well may have taken your jacket.
Whereas others were saying ...
0
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1
answer
50
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When is it appropriate to break subject and verb agreement, conjugating the verb as singular when the subject is plural? [closed]
I have seen this phenomenon happen in several Youtube videos about aviation crashes in the channel Mentour Pilot. For instance, in this video (timestamp 18:26):
A hundred and one passengers and crew ...
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2
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"work with us" or "work for us"?
I believe he has a great potential and I am happy to educate him as
much as I can during the period when he works with us.
Is the above sentence grammatically correct? Do you have a better way to ...
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How is “The Stars My Destination” a grammatically correct title/sentence?
It's a bit of a niche question, but I've always wondered how the title of Alfred Bester's 1956 novel is at all grammatically correct. I feel like it teeters on being grammatically sufficient, but isn'...
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Why "Harry enter" and not "entered" the room? [duplicate]
Consider this paragraph:
Far from wishing Harry a happy birthday, none of the Dursleys made any
sign that they had noticed Harry enter the room, but Harry was far
too used to this to care.
I ...
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1
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76
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Pluralizing a first name
In a social media post, a movie streaming site referred to multiple actresses with the same first name of “Jennifer” without repeating the name each time. Instead, they pluralized Jennifer and the ...
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1
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Does this wording (Charge accepted) contain the minimum parts of speech necessary to be considered a sentence?
I know that sentences can be short. "He ran", "I run", etc. are the first examples that come to mind. However, verbal responses to questions like "Yes" are often written ...
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0
answers
21
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What is the correct sentence [duplicate]
Which one is correct?
Two thirds of the crop is destroyed.
or:
Two thirds of the crop are destroyed.
0
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3
answers
53
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"For every variable x and y" or "For every variables x and y"? [closed]
Which one of these two sentences is grammatical?
(1) For every variable x and y, so and so...
(2) For every variables x and y, so and so...
Grammarly seems to prefer (1), but it sounds strange to my ...
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Talk vs open up
Look at these two newspaper article titles(I know you must be thinking that the first one no journalist would write this way):
1: "Klopp talks about what went wrong with his team".
2: "...
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2
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When is it acceptable to address someone else in the first person, as in the classic nurse's question to a patient: "How are we this morning?"
I am sure the nurse means this question as bright and breezy, perhaps inviting the response "We are (more likely "I am") fine, thank you." However, it is hard to avoid the ...
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What are the roles of ‘can’, ‘do’, and ‘is’ in ‘All a man can do is smile back’?
What roles do the words can, do and is each play in this sentence in terms of its syntactic grammar, either individually or as a group?
Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back.
If ...
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vote
1
answer
65
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“we’ve special ordered you a uniform” vs “we’ve specially ordered you a uniform”
In the sentence:
Luckily, we've special ordered you a uniform.
Is special correct, should or it be specially?
As written, which part of the sentence is special as an adjective related to?
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0
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38
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It's About Time you Knew or It's about time you know [duplicate]
Would like to know which version is proper:
It's about time you know
It's about time you knew
Some examples:
It's about time you know about a cancer diagnosis
It's about time you knew about a ...
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