Questions tagged [speech]
Questions about spoken English.
2
votes
1answer
29 views
Another term for “controlled like a puppet”?
What's another word or phrase for "being controlled like a puppet".
eg., "to be manipulated by a more powerful force" . . . what the puppet is enduring?
0
votes
1answer
33 views
'We' in indirect speech [on hold]
I have some doubts about converting Direct to Indirect speech in this sentence:
The teacher said to the class: "We shall discuss this subject tomorrow".
Is the pronoun correct:
The teacher said ...
3
votes
2answers
364 views
Is “three point ish” an acceptable use of ish?
I recently overheard someone estimating a number as
three point ish million
when discussing the maximum damages in a law suit.
Do native speakers use "ish" in this way? (My gut tells me no.)
0
votes
2answers
69 views
Understanding a short speech by the Speaker of the House of Commons from the mid-1600s
Can someone please explain to me the meaning of the middle paragraph here, the direct quote from the Speaker of the House of Commons. I really don't understand what is being meant by it.
On 9 ...
2
votes
2answers
64 views
“My Mom” vs “Mom” Usage
Context
My brother and I when having a conversation that refers to our mother usually use "my mom" to refer to her. For example "Have you talked to my mom today?" is a common question we ask.
Now the ...
-1
votes
1answer
74 views
Can I say “with no avail” like “i tried that with no avail”? [closed]
Can I say "with no avail" like "i tried that with no avail"?
0
votes
2answers
73 views
when I held the assembly that women are fun I were just lying
"when I held the assembly that women are fun I were just lying"
The speaker had previously said so to an assembly of workmates.
What does the sentence mean?
The sentence can be heard (with the ...
6
votes
8answers
5k views
How do you say “powers of ten”?
When you have powers of 10, e.g. 102, the base is 10, so when the exponent is 2 you should not say power of 2. I believe "power of" refer to the base not to the exponent.
0
votes
3answers
60 views
Which one is correct “I have a lot of free time.” OR “I have much free time.” [closed]
Which one is correct and should be used I have a lot of free time. OR I have much free time.
1
vote
0answers
95 views
Connected speech resources
I am very interested in British pronunciation, so I am looking for resources about connected speech and IPA in general.
The ideal would be a book with the transcription of dialogues or just ...
0
votes
1answer
25 views
Need help with the sentence structure for my pitch, thanks!
Back story: I am to give a 3 minute pitch on a task i worked on.
I would like to something like,
"As a general knowledge, we know that smartphones are dominated by IOS and android. Which is why ...
0
votes
1answer
41 views
“first time” as an adverb meaning “for the first time”
Can first time be used as an adverb meaning "for the first time", e.g.
when I met him first time (Confession Tapes, third episode, 02:40)
0
votes
1answer
51 views
'Thanks for.. ' or 'I thank you for…'
I was wondering if the expression "I thank you for your answer" isn't nicer than " Thank you for your answer".
For comparison, saying "I thank you" in French is nicer because the person who says it ...
-1
votes
3answers
688 views
What is the difference between “nearly drowned” and “nearly rescued”?
I am pondering over the meaning of the riddle:
Would you rather be nearly drowned or nearly rescued?
Could some one explain the meaning of the two phrases "nearly drowned" & "nearly rescued" ?
...
0
votes
1answer
105 views
“25th December” vs “25 December”: Should I use ordinals or cardinals for the day of the month?
In one of the IELTS listening tests, there is a fill-out-the-blank question reading:
The museum is not open on ___.
My answer was “25th December”. However, the official answer is “25 ...
0
votes
2answers
92 views
How do you quote a quotation that itself has mismatched quotes?
Suppose that Eve said (in spoken English)
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, unquote. Also isn't Eve such a
great person? Like my mom always said quote Eve is the best person ever,
much ...
2
votes
1answer
98 views
What is this word spoken in this video and what does it mean?
Prior to the word/s I can't understand there was a discussion on what the historical sources of British individual civil freedoms have been. A few of the reasons given for these British values have ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
Which construction is more cormmon?
I know my question may seem silly to native speakers, but l am really interested in knowing which construction is more common in everyday speech:
He is married and has two sons.
He is married, with ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
What does camping on foods mean in American English?
I saw two guys joking around, the first one had had a Cheetos bag. Here is the conversation that took place between them:
First guy: Do you wanna little snack?
Second guy: Yeh, actually, it's ...
0
votes
1answer
28 views
Problem in formulating question [duplicate]
Consider this scenario...Sam ate 4 cookies. Now if someone asks Sam How many you had, then Sam will reply 4. But how should the question be formed so that the answer Sam gives will be 4th instead of 4?...
0
votes
2answers
82 views
reported speech + would have to
What is the correct form of switching from Direct speech to Reported speech in this example:
A policeman says "You will have to turn back because the road is closed"
Shall it be:
1) A policeman ...
0
votes
1answer
130 views
A: You haven't heard it? B: No, I heard it (nodding a yes)
A: You haven't heard it? B: No, I heard it (nodding a yes)
I'd always expect as a positive response to a negative question Yes, I heard it / did.
Why so?
Link to video 22:32
3
votes
3answers
185 views
How would you say “0.4 - 1g?”
Assuming I don't want to say "zero point four grams to one gram," would it be:
"zero point four to one gram"
or
"zero point four to one grams"
or neither?
I'm leaning towards the second one ...
1
vote
0answers
52 views
Vowel shift in Michigan accent?
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Michigan because my grandparents live there. By today’s standards, they have very heavy accents, with full Canadian raising and the northern cities vowel shift. ...
2
votes
0answers
55 views
Some words in The Boy at Mugby
I'm trying to read my way through The Boy at Mugby by Charles Dickens. The story is written in an 'accented' language, and there are a few words I'm having trouble making out:
(The text excerpts are ...
-2
votes
2answers
621 views
which group I belong to vs to which group I belong [duplicate]
I don't know which group I belong to.
I don't know to which group I belong.
Which one of the sentences is true?
Note: An answer was given to this question when it still read "I don't know (to) ...
4
votes
1answer
73 views
Young native-speaking males emphasizing deep voices
Recently a possibly new speech pattern has come to my attention and I am wondering whether it is genuine or whether I am mistaken. It is young, male native speakers emphasizing a deep, "rough" voice.
...
1
vote
2answers
203 views
Contraction “-'dn't” from formal English “would not”
Can "wouldn't" be reduced to the clitic -'dn't when attached to any other pronoun besides y'all, such as she'dn't or you'dn't?
(Appearing for example in "y'all'dn't've" from formal English "you all ...
1
vote
2answers
71 views
What word describes this verbal slip-up?
I just overheard my officemate, while she was on a conference call, say "My muke was mited", and I've said before "We need some more print for the inker".
These aren't quite spoonerisms, as far as I ...
0
votes
2answers
73 views
“do you have” pronounced [djuv] d'you've
I hear contraction d'you've from "do you have" quite often, broadly [djuv], yet google throws back no result for such a phonetic word. I'd like to know how it's orthographically represented.
For ...
1
vote
1answer
89 views
What's the difference between a “main stage speech” and a “panel speech”? [closed]
So our company is intended to participate in one of the meetings and give a speech. And the host offered two different speech types, a "main stage speech" and
a "panel speech" with different prices.
...
1
vote
1answer
537 views
How to read Figure xx.x or Section xx.x
I wonder that whether there is a special reading way pertaining to American or British.
For example,
Figure 12.3 shows a paused video touched on in Section 2.10 with the
width, height, and ...
0
votes
1answer
155 views
Is it okay to say “what ja doing?” instead of “what ya doing?”
I live in the Midwest and it is very common to hear people say "what ja doing?" instead of saying "what ya doing?" or "what are you doing?".
Is this okay? Is using the 'j' sound instead of the 'y' ...
1
vote
0answers
45 views
Is this slogan grammatically correct?
I've been wanting to use a slogan but I don't know if it makes sense. The slogan is:
Never forget 2013, the year of great elation.
It sounds okay but someone told me that I need to rewrite it as "...
12
votes
2answers
2k views
What's the origin of the second-person 'we'?
I've often heard the phrase what do we have here to mean what do you have. And also, recently, I've heard a teacher ask one of his students struggling with an assignment: do we have a problem?, as in ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
can we omit the subject while talking?
ı have read a book and heard of it a lot.someone is talking and says"could not sleep last night" or "just preparing" sentences like that can we always do this or just only while speaking
0
votes
3answers
370 views
Term used when answering a question with a lowered tone?
Is there a term/phrase that can be used to describe the answering of a question with such a tone that would indicate that the answer isn't as all it seems?
For example, if one person were to ask ...
-3
votes
1answer
81 views
How can I improve my speaking? [closed]
When I speak I use a small vocabulary, even though I know a lot more than that. Those words tend to be vague and boring. I know other alternatives for those words, although it doesn't come out ...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
In/on the/ line/page
Which of the following 4 possibilities is used when?
in line
in the line
on line
on the line
E.g. how do I correctly say
There is a typo in line 6 of this paragraph.
And I have the same question ...
1
vote
0answers
70 views
Different pronunciations of “-ead”/“-ed”/“-aid” words
I find that American/British English dialects tend to pronounce words like "bed", "red", "dead", "bred", "said", etc. with the exact same vowel sound: the IPA ɛ vowel (- and so this question may seem ...
1
vote
0answers
41 views
Is there a strong correlation between speech rate and beat rate in English
Can speech rate in English be reliably measured through the beat rate?
Beat rate analysis is now pretty standard, and a plethora of algorithms can reliably measure beat rate — typically in beats per ...
1
vote
0answers
44 views
Usage of Negatives in Everyday Speach: Unnecessary or Incorrect
I frequently have this debate with my fiancée about whether it is as appropriate to use a negative in the following examples as it is to omit it.
I am frequently found making statements using the ...
1
vote
0answers
203 views
How do I make the velar nasal /ŋ/ sound? [closed]
Can someone please explain how to pronounce the velar nasal sound (/ŋ/, as in English "ng", but that's why I'm asking). To restate the question: How do I pronounce /ŋ/? (Note: This isn't a discussion ...
-1
votes
2answers
114 views
How does a salesclerk in England welcome a customer and ask what they want?
When you go to a bakery in England in the afternoon, and you are not a familiar customer, how does the salesperson greet you, and how do they ask what you would like?
“Good afternoon, sir. How may I ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
Is “Too Much People” possible when I want to get the feeling of uncountable people?
Of course the rule is countable = many
Uncountable = much
But I see in some contexts that it's possible to exist this sense when I can't count in a way that it's exaggerated.
"There were too much ...
0
votes
1answer
59 views
How do teens in Northern England greet each other? [closed]
Do they say "hi" or "hey" or "hello", or what do they say when they meet someone they know on the street?
0
votes
0answers
44 views
Is www an abbreviation?
The initialism "www" means "world wide web".
The common definition of an initialism is that it is an abbreviation, formed by using the first letter of each word. According to most definitions, an ...
0
votes
0answers
29 views
Modals in the past + reported speech
If the original sentence looks like this:
You should have asked me, 'Can I take your car?'
Should the 'reported speech' one look like this:
You should have asked me if you could take my car.
...
1
vote
0answers
218 views
I realized now how far important this information was [closed]
Is this sentence grammatically OK?
I realized now how far important this information was.
3
votes
1answer
744 views
Is “the way how” grammatically incorrect? [duplicate]
(I am not a native speaker so my writing probably seems to be odd. Please understand some Non-grammar...)
I learned that "the way how" is grammatically wrong because 'the way' and 'how' have same ...
