Questions tagged [speech]
Questions about spoken English.
0
votes
1answer
24 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
1answer
30 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
45 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
0
votes
0answers
21 views
inversion: …in regards to why aren't peple reacting
I'd like to know whether the following invesion is grammatical
...in regards to why aren't peple reacting
link to video 18:30
3
votes
3answers
105 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
40 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
46 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
71 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
68 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
141 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
54 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
69 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
34 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.
...
0
votes
1answer
153 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
85 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
40 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
32 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
220 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
69 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
46 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
60 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 ...
0
votes
0answers
23 views
Is it necessary to add a comma before 'too'? [duplicate]
Copied over from the writers site.
As in these two examples:
They all wished to have one too.
They all wished to have one, too.
Perhaps what makes comma usage in these examples is that, in speech ...
1
vote
0answers
39 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
137 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
103 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 ...
3
votes
3answers
2k 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
56 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
42 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
165 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
448 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
151 views
What word do Americans use for dirt?
I'm aware that in America the word "dirt" is a synonym/replacement for earth/soil/peat/turf.etc whereas in the UK "dirt" would typically refer to uncleanliness, detritus, and granular rubbish (i.e. ...
2
votes
0answers
41 views
Is there an analysis of the construction “my friend she is nice.” [duplicate]
I am researching syntactic idiosyncrasies of verbal communication and am interested in a construction in which a noun is reiterated with a pronoun.
As children, we're all taught to avoid ...
0
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0answers
112 views
Seeking rules about adding grammar-based pauses in spoken English
I believe the following topic is in the scope of the site: Pronunciation/phonology, more specifically: how sound is structured for conveying linguistic meaning.
I am seeking rules about where to ...
-1
votes
1answer
34 views
Is there a word that captures the different moods and ways a word can be pronounced in?
I am looking for a way to categorize these different ways a given word can be said to convey completely different emotions in different contexts, and I feel like there is some proper term for it that ...
1
vote
2answers
309 views
Should I use contracted forms in scientific presentations?
In a scientific paper am I right in believing that one would write “it is” instead of “it’s”?
In a scientific presentation, would one use contracted forms like “it’s” instead of “it is” or is ...
0
votes
0answers
235 views
How to convert indirect speech with no subject to direct speech ?
In the ICSE Boards 2018 Examination this was asked-
The delivery boy was requested to bring the parcel the next day.
I wrote - Someone said to the delivery boy, " Please bring the parcel tomorrow."
...
0
votes
0answers
56 views
'We was drinking watermelon'… What is this form and to what extent is it acceptable in English? [duplicate]
I've noticed on several occasions native English speakers say: 'We was going there', 'She do' etc. and I was wondering what is the meaning of that for a native speaker; is it just a colloquialism? As ...
1
vote
0answers
28 views
What is the accepted convention for transcribing audio speech dysfluencies and repeated utterances?
If this question belongs in another topic, refer me to the correct site.
I came across some transcripts in which the text says
ah
When the audio actually says
uh.
Another example is when the ...
1
vote
3answers
919 views
If I say “four times zero four times one”, is it correct way? [closed]
I want to know if someone asks me about wifi password and it was 0000 1111, how could I say it as an American man?
0
votes
1answer
83 views
Whimsy or Whimsicality?
When would I use the word "Whimsicality" over "Whimsy"?
The definitions I've read do not draw a distinction between the two.
0
votes
0answers
49 views
Jack…Roger… All must die?
From Call of Duty: Black Ops:
"Dragovich.... Kravechenko.... Steiner..... All Must Die !"
"Dragovich.... Kravechenko.... Steiner.... These "Men" Must die !"
In the Lord Of The Flies, there ...
0
votes
1answer
2k views
“Try and get some rest” OR “Try to get some rest”? [duplicate]
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Try and get some rest
(or)
Try to get some rest
1
vote
1answer
285 views
Punctuation of “what?” in the middle of a sentence
I'm transcribing an interview and the man says,
"There were, what, 4,000 people at the concert."
I'm not sure how to properly punctuate this. He's asking "What?" in the middle of the sentence as a ...
0
votes
2answers
7k views
Why “I would like to” instead of “I will like to” [duplicate]
After trying to explain to my friend that he was misusing "I will like to" in place of "I would like to" and showing him this answer (I apologize for asking again), he still argues he is correct. He ...
2
votes
1answer
335 views
What do you call the process of formally addressing someone by using honorifics?
My native language is Macedonian, and in my language, we have a special term that describes the process of formally addressing someone. The idea is that you treat that person in plural instead of in ...
0
votes
2answers
206 views
Which is more formal and which is easier to understand? [duplicate]
Affixes are subdivided into prefixes, which precede the base to which they attach
Affixes are subdivided into prefixes, which precede the base which they attach to.
The difference between them ...
0
votes
1answer
63 views
When verbally expressing metric units do people use decimal places? [closed]
I am writing a script for an audio description, and am including an estimation of a statue that is 1.5 meters tall. For metric users, would this be expressed in speech as:
"one point five meters" or
...
