Questions tagged [usage]
For questions on how and why certain words are used in varying ways within various contexts.
2,377
questions
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The Meaning and usage of How else
I'm Reading a book called "The 4 hour workweek"
How else can my 30-year-old friends all look like a cross between Donald Trump and Joan Rivers?
I don't understand the Meaning of "How else" in this ...
-1
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0answers
14 views
Help me with this English exercise, please! [on hold]
We .... there when my father died
A. Still lived
B. Were still living
Which one do you think is more natural ?
Thank you in advanced and have a nice day
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0answers
9 views
it seems + [past tense]
my question is about "it seems ..." construction and whether it is possible to have past tense after "it seems". For instance:
it seems he had done a good work
or
it seems he did a good work
...
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0answers
19 views
Main purpose of school [on hold]
Many people argue that the main role of school is to prepare children to be a productive members of society. However, I believe that the purpose of education should be to help children to grow as ...
9
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1answer
512 views
Who would use the word “manky”?
Both Google ngram and Cambridge Dictionary tell me that "manky" nowadays used to describe something dirty, as in it's "so old and/or used that it became dirty."
What I am curious about who you're ...
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25 views
What is the Implied Meaning Behind when someone answers a Question with “Because.”
I was watching Season 3 of "The West Wing"(# the Greatest show on TV). Episode 9: Bartlet for America.
The premise is that Leo McGarry, the White House Chief-Of-Staff is
And he discusses his ...
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0answers
25 views
Correct use of the noun “compromise”
Is the noun "compromise," as part of the usage "compromise with," correct in the following sentence? It seems it is stating the opposite of what it intends.
Anyone seeking compromise with the ...
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37 views
When did Londoners stop using yus for yes? Or did they?
I grew up in London in the 50s and the kids on my street used yus for yes.
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0answers
33 views
'I took a vacation last year.' or 'I had a vacation last year.'
So far, I've always used 'take' when I'm talking about the vacations I've taken. But minutes ago, I happened to see 'I had a vacation last year.' on the internet. I've never heard of that before. I've ...
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0answers
29 views
Semicolon between independent and dependent clause?
I saw the following sentence in the NY Times:
“The Jarheads lost more people that day than Mr. Ribeiro’s combat unit lost in the first gulf war; so many that it had been impossible to attend all of ...
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0answers
25 views
which of the following usages is correct
My belief is that the word of in the first example is awkward and even wrong.
"the tiny amount of industrial hemp grown is due not to any conspiracy but simply to the fact that isn't all that useful ...
2
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1answer
29 views
Does “you are looking good” use “are looking” as a copulative verb?
I enjoyed the post titled: Different meaning of “looks good” vs. “looks well.”
Does the answer change when using a participle ("are looking," as opposed to "looks")? I think that "you are looking good"...
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1answer
34 views
The usage of 'to'
My problem is that I don't know whether I should use 'to' or not when I say the sentences I wrote below. Can anyone tell me which one is right and why, 'have you gotten New York safely?' or 'have you ...
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6answers
12k views
Is it rude to refer to janitors as 'floor people'?
I came into the office today and the first thing my manager asked me was is if I saw the 'floor people' while I was walking through the building. The reason he asked me this was because he had put in ...
0
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0answers
18 views
Present perfect vs possesive verb
There is a sentence:
He has restricted access to his profile
How can we know whether the verb 'has' is auxiliary or possessive? I.e. does it serve to form the Present perfect tense or to indicate ...
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0answers
22 views
Avenge someone on someone?
I know this one is correct.
I will avenge you.
However, what if I want to specify the person who will be the object of the revenge.
Could it be:
I will avenge you on John.
Here are two examples ...
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1answer
42 views
“I accept my fault.” vs “I accept it was my fault.”
English is not my first language, but the first sentence (I accept my fault) doesn't sound very natural to me. I have looked up the word accept in several dictionaries and haven't found any similar ...
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0answers
37 views
“Is” vs “was” in TV shows and Movies
When talking about an actors work in a movie/tv show, do you say "Actor was really good in the show/movie," or "Actor is really good in the show/movie"
Some arguments I've gotten are that if the show ...
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3answers
520 views
“from where it was stopped” vs “from where it has stopped”
This question is about the usage of was and has.
Which sentence is correct?
The match will resume from where it was stopped.
The match will resume from where it has stopped.
What is the difference ...
28
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9answers
12k views
Why are they 'nude photos'? [duplicate]
Recent news events in the US have resulted in many headlines about "nude photos of young women" and variations.
Obviously it's the women who are nude, not the photos, so why does this phrasing ...
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1answer
50 views
Can a cemetery be referred to as “historical”?
Assume a cemetery that is commonly known as the Anglican Cemetery. It is currently in use, but a number of graves date back 200 years. A book about some of the early graves is entitled “A guide to the ...
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0answers
19 views
Is there any difference in “Ambitious for” ,“ Ambitious to” and “Ambitious of”or the last two are incorrect?
For example:
1.'He is ambitious to/for become rich and famous'.
And
2.'The actor is ambitious of/for fame'.
what I found is that 'ambitious' means desire and we use for with desire so the correct ...
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0answers
31 views
What does “just like everything else in life” mean? [closed]
Just like everything else in life, that June was over too.
I read this sentence but I couldn't get what "just like everything else in life" signifies..
Could you explain what it means?
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1answer
27 views
Task List or Tasks List?
I wonder, which is correct to use as a title for list (on a website, f.e.)
Task List
Tasks List
List of Tasks
and why?
PS. Please, edit tags if I added them not correctly.
2
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0answers
24 views
Can “learnings” always be replaced by “knowledge” or “lessons”?
I've come across the word "learnings" twice recently -
Stripe - "Running an online business is a difficult endeavor. Stripe Elements let you take advantage of Stripe’s collective learnings in ...
2
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0answers
22 views
Hear it used this way? - Complement or Modifier
While writing the following sentence I was curious whether the sentence was correct. But after checking COCA, I came to now that similar expressions are in use. The sentence I wrote is:
Have you ...
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0answers
10 views
Which ~ effect on vs influenced by ~ [migrated]
Can I use which ~ effect on, instead of using influenced by ~?
For example:
People's lifestyles are based on individual choices, influenced by personal interests and social interactions.
People's ...
17
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11answers
4k views
Is it OK to say “The situation is pregnant with a crisis”?
I am translating a sentence to English that literally means:
The world seems to be pregnant with an environmental crisis.
By looking up pregnant in dictionaries like Cambridge and Merriam ...
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0answers
36 views
Being usage in sentence
"The mom in me says NO - all that matters is they being there healthy and happy,growing up to be fine human beings". How 'being' is used here please reply.i can not understand.
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1answer
35 views
“Giving you with style or in style” meaning and usage idiom
I am doing fashion online shopping. I am selling branded products to my customers. In my shopping page, I want to show logo short word. What I want to show is I want to give my customer with style. So ...
1
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1answer
37 views
What does “put stress on” mean in this sentence?
I looked up and figured out that "put stress on something" signifies that it emphasizes something.
but I couldn't find what does "put stress on someone" means
The next day, I threw it in her face ...
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1answer
93 views
What need is there for the English language to include both “affect” and “effect” [closed]
I do not know the history of the words affect and effect. I know their use in English, with the words being verbs and nouns respectively, but as a point of curiosity and enthusiasm, I wonder if there ...
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0answers
17 views
Need help with this specific use of “Should” [duplicate]
"We will retain his rights should he wish to be moved elsewhere at a later date"
What are the rules with using "should" like that? should he wish to and so on.
Because it looks weird. but I know it'...
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0answers
20 views
Is there another meaning of “should have p.p”?
I learned how to use "should have pp"
If I say "You should have done something" it means "You didn't do it, but it would have been the right thing to do"
But I realized it might not work in business ...
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0answers
11 views
What's the correct grammar, “Who” or “That”? [duplicate]
She would believe anyone "who" tells her that she is...
She would believe anyone "that" tells her that she is...
0
votes
1answer
105 views
Why do people seem to get so triggered at the word “plebeians”? [closed]
While having online conversations people seem to get triggered when the word plebeian is used to describe the commoners or common people. They seem to think its bad or something.
What's wrong in ...
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0answers
32 views
Is “What have I to write?” correct?
Like it's said in the title, is the "What have I to write?" phrase correct? Or is it necessary to use the form with "do" as the auxiliary verb?
1
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1answer
49 views
the use of “of” [closed]
In the movie Act Of Valor, the narrator says this word "War is a country of will, there’s no room for sympathy."
But I'm wondering it has the same meaning of "War is a will of a country", I've seen ...
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1answer
110 views
How come? and How is it that? [closed]
I use the set of words,not very often-"How come?" and "How is it that?" Can both the set of words be used to express same meaning?
Phrase and idiom meaning of the two sentences are nearly same. ...
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2answers
26 views
“As a mean(s?) for”
What's more correct, the plural or singular use of "mean" in the following phrases:
As a means for
As a mean for
My intuition is the singular, the second one, since we have a singular "a" there. But ...
3
votes
2answers
104 views
Does “the weed” refer to tobacco or marijuana?
In The American Pageant by Thomas A. Bailey, the writer is using "weed" to rephrase "tobacco":
By 1612 he had perfected methods of raising and curing the pungent
weed, eliminating much of the ...
1
vote
2answers
37 views
“Value as” vs “Evaluate as”
I am writing an essay about time and its characteristics. In the introduction, I have a sentence: "It [time] became one of those rare things people evaluate as priceless".
As far as I am concerned, ...
3
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1answer
96 views
Regent and Viceroy: When should I use one over the other?
These words appear to be synonymous, so I checked to see the difference on Wikidiff which gives the following definitions:
One who governs a country, province, or colony as the representative of a ...
1
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2answers
48 views
so much [verb] as [verb]
This is from a book that I'm reading. The whole quote is:
The bubble doesn't so much burst as evaporate, leaving us back in the
real world.
I looked "so much as" up in the dictionary, it only ...
1
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0answers
61 views
Is “fanning over” merely a corruption of “fawning over”?
I just heard someone today say that some person was "fanning over" some celebrity. I've always heard it as "fawning over."
I see plenty of examples around the web of people using "fanning over," but ...
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1answer
27 views
Where to place 'are' in not only… but also
I'd like to ask which of the following sentences is correct?
These methods not only are efficient, but also raise the performance of our system.
These methods are not only efficient, but also raise ...
13
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4answers
475 views
Can anyone give me examples of the relative-determinative 'which'?
I recently posted a question on a Spanish language forum asking what the equivalent in Spanish would be for the use of which in a phrase such as
he refused, which decision proved disastrous
(which ...
1
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2answers
73 views
Is it “x- and y-directions” or “x- and y-direction”?
Consider the following sentence:
We perform the filtering process in the x- and y-directions sequentially.
Is 'directions' correct in this case? I believe it is, but 'direction' is very commonly ...
2
votes
1answer
34 views
Using ‘used to’ in subordinate clauses
Is it correct to use the modal verb ‘used to’ in subordinate clauses? For example, could I say, ‘When we used to go to New Delhi, my father and I would shop for music CDs’?
Or must I reserve it only ...
0
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1answer
34 views
aid/aid in (Transitive or Intransitive)
When do I use "aid" as a transitive verb and when do I use "aid in" (aid as an intransitive verb)?
According to Macmillan English Dictionary
[INTRANSITIVE/TRANSITIVE] to help something to happen ...
