Questions tagged [verb-phrases]
The verb-phrases tag has no usage guidance.
14
questions
1
vote
2answers
98 views
"as befits" or "as befit"
Consider these sentences, please:
He writes beautifully, as befits a poet.
She was buried in the cathedral, as befits someone of her position.
As befits a Quaker, he was a humane man.
These are ...
0
votes
0answers
38 views
Passive use of "mete" without the accompanying "out" [duplicate]
Given the sentence:
It is no surprise that his loyal lapdog will be meted a similar fate.
Can the above be considered correct use of the word "mete", and is the overall grammar of the ...
1
vote
1answer
39 views
Name for "you're being X" vs "you're x"
Is there a name for distinguishing the expression "you're being X" as opposed to saying "you're X"?
Some examples:
you're being mean / you're mean
I'm being honest / I'm honest
...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
Can an auxiliary verb (i.e. "has") be used outside a verb phrase, with the same meaning?
Lets use the word "has" as an example. We can say "he has done his work", where "has" is an auxililary verb for the main verb "done". There is also another way ...
0
votes
2answers
822 views
When should "only" come before a verb phrase? [duplicate]
I’m really struggling to understand when and how to use “only” as an adverb — and how its use is impacted by verb phrases. The following post on English StackExchange doesn’t really clarify it for me: ...
0
votes
1answer
2k views
The ship "set sail" or the ship "sets sail"?
In this sentence:
The ship (set/sets) sail for the city of New York on the fifth of April.
Should we use "set" or "sets"?
Note that it is not known if the "fifth of April" is in the past or the ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
I don't care what they say
I don't care about what they say.
In the sentence above, they phrase what they say, is presumably the complement of the preposition about, and the preposition phrase about what they say is ...
asked Oct 23 '17 at 11:25
Araucaria - Not here any more.
41.4k12 gold badges92 silver badges176 bronze badges
2
votes
1answer
96 views
How do I interpret "take the sting out of many an indiscretion by omitting or substituting certain material"?
So I read the following sentence from The Interpretation of Dreams and I cannot understand the grammatical structure of the following sentence:
But of course I have been unable to resist the ...
2
votes
3answers
830 views
Odd sentence structure used throughout Dune
I'm reading Frank Herbert's Dune and I've noticed a certain type of sentence structure he uses quite often. It seems to me to be wrong, or at least non-standard, but I cannot find an explanation of ...
0
votes
2answers
2k views
I dislike his/him being blunt [duplicate]
What is the difference between the two sentences below?
Are they both grammatically correct?
I dislike his being blunt.
I dislike him being blunt.
1
vote
1answer
3k views
How to identify a complex verbal group?
In this instance, does 'as' function as a conjunction or as an adverb?
(1) 'Their circumstances are not nearly the same as those of the people feeling their homelands.'
Would you classify 'fulfill ...
1
vote
1answer
510 views
Gerund phrase....is it really?
Object of Preposition
Some people consider my interest in gardening an obsession. (The
gerund phrase is “gardening an obsession.”)
As I was searching around for the correct use of gerund ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
"Who him?" as a stand-in for "Who is he?"
I'm curious: is this valid under some rule of grammar I don't know? Was it ever valid, or was it slang or a personal idiosyncrasy? Or (I shudder to think) was it invented by later authors, as a ...
45
votes
13answers
35k views
Difference between "try to do" and "try and do"
What is the difference between try to do and try and do?
To me (non-native speaker), asking someone try and do this seems a bit rude. It's like saying you can try all you want but this must be done: ...
