Questions tagged [speech]
Questions about spoken English.
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What will be the passive voice sentences for these sentences? [closed]
How many men are there?
How much milk he buys?
There are books.
It is a toy.
Books are there.
27
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6
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10k
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Is English really a non-tonal language?
The British Council Teaching English site says:
English is not a tonal language – i.e. pitch changes in words do not change meanings. Patterns of pitch changes (intonation patterns) are [instead] ...
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4
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Can I use the adjective “existing” with a noun, if there are no existing instances of that noun?
Would the following sentence make sense, if there are no existing instances the noun?
I will go out and look for existing dinosaurs
By using the adjective “existing”, the sentence refers to ...
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1
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76
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What is a word describing when someone pronounces a word according to how it's spelled, ignoring silent letters? [duplicate]
Phonetic spelling is when one spells a word according to how it is pronounced (e.g.; knight => nite).
What word would be used to describe the pronunciation of a word based on how it is spelled, ...
4
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1
answer
269
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What are the characteristics of masculine and feminine speech in English?
I imagine that people will instinctively say, "There is no masculine or feminine speech in English," but I am not so sure.
For instance, the stereotype is that men speak roughly and women ...
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How to parse the phrase: "attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder"
I am trying to figure out what this phrase deconstructs to.
Does it imply a logical OR, like: "attention-deficit disorder" OR "hyperactivity disorder"?
For additional context, ...
1
vote
1
answer
475
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Among younger speakers, is 'bro' now gender-neutral?
I often hear 'bro' being used in a gender-neutral manner among younger speakers (mainly teenagers), and I'm wondering about the specifics of this trend. (Or at least it seems like a trend to me.)
Here ...
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1
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Interpretation of the word "as" in this sentence [closed]
Consider the sentence "1/50 is 0.02 as a fraction."
Which interpretation is correct, whether it is factually correct or incorrect? (That is, consider there to be a clear distinction between ...
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0
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34
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Is there a name for the spoken emphasis like "Cuh-lean" for the word "clean" [duplicate]
At 8:15 in this video. https://youtu.be/Sly2Ik216DU?t=491
Anna says "That was cuh-lean!" as an emphasis on the word "clean". I've noticed this a few times in the past. Another ...
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Does the question "when did Alice tell you she would go?" ask about the date the plans were talked about or when she plans to go?
Here is the situation:
Alice told Bob on Monday that she would go to the zoo on Friday.
Now, if I ask Bob: "Hey Bob, when did Alice tell you she would go to the zoo?"
Will Bob answer Monday ...
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5
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1
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"A hundred" treated as one word in speech (extra indefinite article)
I'm a teenager from Chicago. I've noticed some particular usages of the words "a hundred" by people around me.
During a running workout, one student was 100 meters from the finish, while ...
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1
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37
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Understanding the context of 'yes' in this sentence [duplicate]
Pretend I have the following conversation with somebody, either through internet text messaging or a verbal in person communication. The brief conversation is below.
I ask:
Would you like me to ...
0
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2
answers
76
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Synonyms for "put somebody through their paces"?
What are some verbs and phrases to describe testing someone to see what they are capable of? I already know "put somebody through their paces".
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3
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"These ones... Those ones..."-Are those phrases correct? [duplicate]
I was at my house and my mom asked me to get chips. I got the chips and said
These ones?
Then my mom said "yes" and then my dad said "It's best to just say these". Was my ...
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441
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is "where's that' correct?
I was at school and my teacher asked us to look for something in our book. Then a lot of people started asking "Where's that at?", but I heard one person say "Where's that?", and ...
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2
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Is there a term for when people speak words with sounds connected together?
For example, "I must take control like Kevin" can be said like "I mus-tay-control-I-Kevin" in some dialects because it flows significantly more easily than if you enunciate every ...
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Does Mia Khalifa speak English with an accent?
She immigrated to America at age 7 (other sources say ten) she seems quite fluent to me.
From Wikipedia
Khalifa attended a French-language private school in Beirut, where she also learned to speak ...
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1
answer
74
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What is the meaning of "Neanderthals on a day pass"? [closed]
Said as some sort of an insult I guess.
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0
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The word said by a student to denote the end of countdown in a PE class [duplicate]
What does the last student in the line say( in a PE class at school) when the class has lined up and counted off?
At the beginning of a PE class, the teacher always asks students to line up in one ...
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1
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93
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The proper word to denote the end of a count-off in the line in a PE class [closed]
What does the last student in the line say( in a PE class at school) when the class has lined up and counted off?
At the beginning of a PE class, the teacher always asks students to line up in one ...
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2
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565
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What is the difference between "as tall as" and "just as tall as"?
What is the difference between I'm as tall as my father and I'm just as tall as my father?
I know they are similar, But they make sense to be a little bit different. What is that difference?
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7
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3k
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Word for heavily foreign-influenced speech?
Is there a word for when someone uses words wrongly, or uses outright nonexistent words, due to influence from foreign languages? Examples:
I thought she loved me, but she bedragged me. (<- bedra(...
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3
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Example word that is a homograph and preposition
My research involves the study of word frequency in American English and the importance of context when connecting text representations to different speech representations.
I would like to know if ...
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Is there a name for how some people pronounce their s slightly differently?
I've noticed how some people pronounce the s sound in words using their upper teeth teeth and lower lip (instead of the conventional mostly internal way). This makes it sound almost lispy.
I don't ...
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5
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5
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Is this a gennel or just an alley?
This is a follow-on from a question I asked on Movies.SE, about the following shot from a TV show:
I've always called this a gennel (probably more popularly known as a ginnel throughout the rest of ...
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Rewriting in an indirect tone: B: "Peer pressure has its benefits as well. Our peers also motivate and inspire us to do better and work hard." [duplicate]
A: "It is difficult to fight against peer pressure."
B: "Peer pressure has its benefits as well."
So shouldn't this be:
A said that it is difficult to fight against peer pressure. ...
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0
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1
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127
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Schwa in Webster dictionary [closed]
Why there are too many sounds marked by schwa in Webster's dictionary and how to recognize the correct pronunciation? E.g.:
Cup /kʌp/ in Oxford and \ˈkəp\ in Webster
Notice /ˈnəʊtɪs/ in Oxford and \...
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0
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33
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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. ...
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1
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577
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Cardinal numbers in dates when speaking
I understand that in speaking (if we are talking strictly about formal rules) it is more common to use ordinal numbers and not cardinal numbers. However, it has come to my attention that people these ...
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126
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When is the "t" pronounced in won’t, don’t, can’t?
I am a speaker of Canadian English. I have noticed that when people pronounce won’t, don’t, and can’t, often when speaking normally, they don’t release the “t”, as in connected speech. The standard ...
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3
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We decided that if they do not leave the place in one day, we would surely force them out. To use 'do not' or 'did not' in this sentence?
We decided that if they do not leave the place in one day, we would surely force them out.
We decided that if they did not leave the place in one day, we would surely force them out.
Difference ...
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What signifies a reporting clause?
I know reporting clauses are punctuated thus:
(1) She said, 'We are about to close you know?'
but what if the phrase prior to the speech is not a speech tag. For example, is it:
(2) She looked ...
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1
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Is this a case of free indirect speech?
I would like to know if Rowling uses the technique of free indirect speech in this piece of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, particularly in the italicized part.
Harry was silent. Judging by ...
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1
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Sorkin's "Your imagination, like a child, will explode with unrestrained possibilities for adventure." Works so well despite feeling problematic; why? [closed]
I'm going to somewhat but not completely premise my question on the following:
the line is likely written or edited by Aaron Sorkin rather than Kevin Falls (Galileo West Wing Season 2 Episode 9 ...
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2
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Meaning of the Verses [closed]
Genesis 23:15-16
15 My master, hear me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of
silver; what is that between me and you? and bury your dead.
16 And Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed to ...
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4
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77
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Talking without doing the act [duplicate]
What’s the word when you mention something without actually doing something about it.
Like talking about climate change but not actually doing anything to mitigate it
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5
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116
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Word for explaining something cruelly
I'm looking for something to describe speech that is something along the lines of cruel, menacing, tormenting, and dripping with malicious meaning. But not quite outright threatening, i.e. not "I'...
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4
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Help Fixing Yoda-like Sentence Structure? [closed]
I'm a native American English speaker and have noticed something in my speech/writing that I don't really understand. I've noticed my speech sounds "Yoda-ish" and have been trying to figure ...
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1
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578
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Why women are not called gentle? [duplicate]
Avoj friends I have a question - When the host say "Ladies and gentlemen" why they don't put gentle before Ladies? I think ladies are more gentle than men. Why not it be "men and gentle-...
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1
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"It is!" I squealed at the same time she cried, "It's not!" - Is this sentence correct? [closed]
Is this sentence apt? -
"It is!" I squealed at the same time she cried, "It's not!"
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Past Continuous in reported speech
Let's imagine someone has told me:
Last month while we were traveling in Cyprus, my mother was packing her bags for her first ever foreign trip.
I was wondering whether I could paraphrase it, and ...
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5
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Do "cook the" and "cooked the" get pronounced differently?
How are they different in pronunciation?
In other words, how can one recognise the difference purely by sound?
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Is the double "do" in the expression "If I do do it" more acceptable in spoken vs. written English? [closed]
I'm a native English speaker from the Midwestern United States. While writing a description to a colleague of some work that I recently did, I found myself typing a sentence to the effect of "I'...
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1
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49
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Pronunciation of numbers in address [closed]
When I say the name of a street with “at”, like “at 12 Oxford St”, should I pronounce the number as cardinal or ordinal? And if it is ordinal, do I get it right that it still must always be written ...
0
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1
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93
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Possessive apostrophes with names in speech marks [duplicate]
I'm translating a text that refers to a person who goes by a nickname, so in the text this nickname is always shown in speech marks - "El Cuco". How do I use a possessive apostrophe ...
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1
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651
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"from the standpoint of" vs "in terms of"
I've been confused by the usage of "from the standpoint of" and "in terms of".
Could anyone tell me if both of the following sentences are correct?
In terms of a high standard ...
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1
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59
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What does the intonation pattern on "online" mean or imply? [closed]
What does the speaker mean or imply with the intonation on "online" at 0:31 around? A negative and doubtful query? Does the intonation pattern on "online" completely fall at the ...
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2
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Can someone tell me if this sentence contains a comma splice?
My friend and I have been arguing about whether the construction of this sentence is correct. Here is the sentence in question:
I love all of those books, some would say too much.
He argued that this ...
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0
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"Either x or either y-" why does this occur?
Recently, I've noticed several instances of people repeating "either" in sentences, ex. "you're either the predator or you're either the prey." Is this a documented phenomenon, or ...
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‘Thank you’ has an exceptionally special place among ‘good’ words used as irony?
A. A. Milne, best known for his books about Winnie-the-Pooh, is much less noted as a prolific playwright of about forty plays. They are carefully crafted works that continue to entertain and delight ...
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