Questions tagged [questions]

This tag is for questions related to the formation, or answering of questions.

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What's the difference between "either" and "at the same time"? [migrated]

I can't carry a heavy bag and a heavy heart, either. Is this sentence grammatically correct? Can I say this instead? I can't carry a heavy bag and a heavy heart at the same time.
POP POP's user avatar
-3 votes
0 answers
34 views

Missing auxiliary in "What I got to do to make you care?" [closed]

Why doesn't the first line have an auxiliary to make it interrogative? These lines are from Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, featuring Elton John: What I got to do to make you care? What do I do ...
Hairsplitter's user avatar
-3 votes
0 answers
21 views

societies are facing a growing problem with obesity. this affects both children and adults. what are the reasons and how could it be tackled [closed]

Recently, our societies are suffering an enormous increase in obesity in international scale. In my country VietNam, for example, whose people are known for their skiny body types, now are diagnosed ...
Quỳnh Đinh Như Diễm's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
31 views

Is 'neither nor' available to use in interrogative sentences or is there any other natural usage? [closed]

Is 'neither nor' available to use in an interrogative sentence, such as 'Do you like neither apples nor oranges?' Or, is there any other common usage?
Anne 's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
27 views

Is there any situation in spoken English where it is acceptable to commence a sentence with "So"? [duplicate]

I've been listening to television news broadcasts for more years than I care to admit to, but over the past 12 months, have observed that it has become common-place for interviewees to answer a ...
Lesley's user avatar
  • 1,023
5 votes
2 answers
179 views

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 ...
Quirkier's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
988 views

We know how expensive we are

We know how expensive we are. I cannot for the life of me decide if this is supposed to be interpreted as a complement clause or an embedded question or what. My thought process so far is that it ...
RM Translations's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
73 views

'Who's a clever girl!' vs. 'Who's a clever girl?' [duplicate]

Does the punctuation mark at the end change the meaning and intonation? Do we have similar structures like 'Who's a clever girl!", where the word order suggests the interrogative sentence?
waterlily99's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
324 views

Why is the structure interrogative-which-word – subject – verb (including question mark) being used so often? Is it grammatical?

I've noticed that more and more headlines of articles and ads (excluding those in more traditional online media) are of the structure interrogative-subject-verb instead of interrogative-verb-subject. ...
Mathieu Dhondt's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
59 views

Is it possible to construct a question out of a resultative predicate?

I've seen contradictory answers to this question. Do any of the following how-sentences with resultative adjectives sound remotely fine to you native speakers? Or are they all bad? Is there a cline of ...
Zoltan's user avatar
  • 463
1 vote
2 answers
178 views

What's a term for a question where the options are Response/No Response instead of Yes/No?

Is there a specific term for a question, such as Are you asleep? and Can you hear me?, where the binary is Response/No Response rather than Yes/No? I feel like there are other aspects of this concept ...
callin a crab's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
40 views

Do I need a question mark at end of statement ending in a parenthetical question? [duplicate]

If a sentence ends with a question offset by an em-dash does it end with a period or a question mark? This is the example: Lucy scans for forgotten manglow mentions, but the margin notes contain only ...
Shannon Perkins's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
65 views

Is the question ""Does it exist what I'm looking for?" " the most usual way to ask a question in this meaning? [closed]

I'm doing a translation from Portuguese to English, and I've found a phrase that is a simple question, but I don't know if it exists, because it simply doesn't exist on Google, with one exception. &...
Paulo Buchsbaum's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
359 views

What is the difference between 'can', 'could' and 'would you mind' in asking questions? [closed]

For me these 3 have the same meaning, but i just could not differentiate what the subtle difference between them, maybe 'would you mind' is more polite then the other two?
jiaxuan's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
70 views

Negatives and Interrogatives with and without subject-verb inversion: "Didn't you have a lecture today?" vs "You didn't have a lecture today?"

"Didn't you have a lecture today?" vs "You didn't have a lecture today?" Regarding the aforementioned clauses, from "experience", I can surmise different, subtle nuances. ...
ARGYROU MINAS's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
27 views

Is that grammatically correct if I wrote “where is the sense when”

I'm writing a song, and I’m not sure if it would be acceptable if I said Where’s the sense when you clip the wings of angels? Is it grammatically correct or not ?
Piotr Grzelak's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
352 views

Is "We do not have any such." a valid response?

I'm filling out a form and one the requests is something to the effect of: Please provide any tax audit reports and tax credit filings from the past two years. What I would like to respond is: We ...
qff's user avatar
  • 143
0 votes
0 answers
26 views

Comma joining a question and a quoted speech

I find this sentence in a paper: If this coming to awareness is true good luck, why would Shi Tiesheng need designer luck, he asks: “perhaps I’m already the darling of fate?” Apparently, the author ...
thatness's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
207 views

Difference between how and why

I know how and why are different, but in certain situations it seems like the same answer would work for both of them. “How is the boy so big?” “Why is the boy so big?” Would the answer to both of ...
George's user avatar
  • 11
2 votes
2 answers
133 views

Are English negative polarity questions biased?

A friend and I had a question about a sentence that we encountered: Didn't you want to pay for something that was too much? My friend argues that sentence is fairly neutral clarifying in a neutral ...
abbe's user avatar
  • 129
1 vote
0 answers
19 views

When asking a question indirectly, should I still put the verb first? [duplicate]

For example, what is correct: Can you also tell me where I can find... or Can you also tell me where can I find...
Ward Clark's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
148 views

In which clause does 'How' of "How do you think I feel" belong?

(1) How do you think I feel? Semantically, (1) asks the listener's opinion about how the speaker feels. So it's syntactically natural that the verb think has as its complement a subordinate clause I ...
JK2's user avatar
  • 6,481
-1 votes
1 answer
84 views

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?...
Waitus T.'s user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
76 views

"Are there...?" with and without the word "any" [closed]

I am wondering about the usage of the word "any" with the construction "Are there...?". Does it makes any difference if I ask Are there any books on the shelf? or Are there ...
Irina's user avatar
  • 51
0 votes
1 answer
71 views

A combination of a singular and plural noun in a question

Which country or countries do you think they are? Is that sentence grammatically correct? It'd be incredibly awkward to say Which country or countries do you think it is or they are?
Eric's user avatar
  • 1
1 vote
1 answer
102 views

Answers to a negative statement that then ends in ", right?"

There are lots of answers here on how to answer to negative questions like "Don't you ...?", e.g. How to answer a negative question without ambiguity?. But I am not sure about answers to a ...
Evgeniy Berezovsky's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
25 views

How to define someone who is more efficient than the actual person responsible for the task?

Like we say "Holier than the pope" to define someone who acts more pious than the priest. I cannot recall expression for someone who acts over-efficiently over a matter than does not concern ...
Asfia NA Salahuddin's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
62 views

I am not going to school => Amn't I going to school? [closed]

You are not going to school => Aren't you going to school? // this is correct, right? I am not going to school => Amn't I going to school? // something's wrong here. How to build the correct ...
Haradzieniec's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
224 views

"What number of president is Joe Biden?" Is this correct? [duplicate]

I know that Joe Biden is the 46th president of USA, but if I was to ask this as a question what would that be?
Maurice Moss's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
116 views

Have you a name?

In The Dig, a video game, character Maggie asks a question this way (full script here): MAGGIE: Have you a name? CREATOR: I had a name, when I was alive. Now that I am again and again dead, what need ...
sourcream's user avatar
  • 117
0 votes
1 answer
135 views

Is "Why?" (said in a neutral tone) considered to be an aggressive word in English language? [closed]

I am a non-native English speaker although I lived in UK for 5+ years. I had a conversation with a colleague today and he claims that using "why?" in conversation is an aggressive thing to ...
Matas Vaitkevicius's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
9 views

Assertive clause with comma followed by an interrogative [duplicate]

Can we write in the following manner? A complete question is embedded in an assertive sentence separated by a comma: He thought, how can I complete this task?
Hasinul's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
3k views

If saying 'Why can't I ...?' is correct, would 'Why cannot I ...?' be technically correct?

Why can't I ...? is perfectly correct grammar as far as I can tell. But what happens if the contraction is removed, Why cannot I ...? This sounds bizarre, but would this be technically correct ...
user16217248's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
81 views

What is correct: "did you do smth and do smth" or "Did you do smth and did smth"?

I'm trying to figure out which form is correct when composing such a question: "Did you go there and forget to eat?" "Did you go there and forgot to eat?" Not the most creative ...
Toma Radu-Petrescu's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
223 views

When to capitalize (or not) the first letter in a question [closed]

Is it proper to capitalize the first letter in EVERY question or is it correct to NOT capitalize it when the question is preceded by a coma, colon, or semicolon within a sentence? Many thanks!
Rafael Neto's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
50 views

How would you punctuate a question with an explanatory sentence?

I'm trying to write an article, but I am confused about how to punctuate this question: How about a birthday gift? A little something to show you care. Should it rather be punctuated with an em-dash ...
Racoonsonthehill's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
335 views

Embedded phrases and clauses in "May I know..." questions

Hello everyone and thank you for your consideration. I am a professional English teacher and I usually can find answers for every grammar question, but I have one student that is very good at coming ...
Jack's user avatar
  • 33
0 votes
2 answers
816 views

Now is the time. vs. The time is now

I need help with this: Now is the time vs The time is now For example - Now is the time to go to the store, or The time is now to go to the store. Which is correct?
Yossi Kay's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
25 views

Is “Do you be?” a grammatical and meaningful sentence in present-day English? [duplicate]

Suppose you were asked the question: Do you be? I wonder what you would understand it to mean, and I wonder how you would answer it.
Display Name's user avatar
-2 votes
3 answers
391 views

What's the best way to call someone who delivers small packages at the door? [closed]

What term for he/she will sound best? Delivery boy? Delivery person? Delivery men? Deliverer? Courier? Thanks!
Renan Carvs's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
47 views

What is it called when an author uses a question mark without a question attached? [duplicate]

My specific example is from a passage in Fahrenheit 451 (although I've seen it used colloquially as well): Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, ...
asdfjkl's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
38 views

Adjective similar to "in-depth" or "slow-paced" [closed]

I need to know whether there's an adjective that could work in this sentence: I will provide ___ help so you can solve problems independently. I hope that the answer could be similar to "in-...
Kunyit's user avatar
  • 11
2 votes
3 answers
197 views

Is it possible to make a declarative sentence starting with 'Can'?

everyone As the title shows, is it possible to make a declarative sentence starting with "Can"? For example, 'Please, can we request that you do not accept any proposals from him.' The ...
Daniel Seo's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
269 views

Why do Indian people usually ask questions in English using the first-person-plural form?

I don't know much about the languages spoken in India, so I'm going to assume the speaker is speaking Hindi natively. I've noticed that whenever a question is asked in an English forum, and it ...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
543 views

The phrase "belong to" in a question [duplicate]

Can we separate the words "belong" and "to" in a question like this? To what language family does English belong?
Peter Arvidsson's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
492 views

Omitting auxiliary verbs

Native speakers often tend to simplify their language, for example they shorten phrases ("I would like to" becomes "I'd like to", etc.). Taking this into account, do native English ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 239
1 vote
0 answers
45 views

When can an embedded interrogative clause exhibit Subject-Auxiliary Inversion? [duplicate]

I found in a comic book an interesting example of an embedded interrogative that had Subject-Auxiliary Inversion (SAI): I'm not too sure what exactly is it that you're asking. Is this Standard English ...
Zoltan's user avatar
  • 463
1 vote
2 answers
92 views

Is this structure being used in English: "Can you be free not to do something"? [closed]

On an Instagram page, I heard of a structure being used when you actually ask someone not to do something. The structure was: "Can you be free not to Infinitive...?" For example: Can you be ...
SaeedShekari's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
33 views

Goodly/godly, loose/lose - name of the rhetorical device? [closed]

What is the name of the following rhetorical device? loose - lose goodly - godly (not in the sense that both words are used in a text but that one is used while implicitly implying the other, e.g. ...
Guest_04's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
178 views

“What are” or “What is” in a quiz? [duplicate]

I want to ask a typical quiz question for children. In a park, there are 10 bird boxes attached to several trees. The answer in this particular case is plural: bird boxes. Which question is correct? ...
Konni Deppe's user avatar

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