Questions tagged [verbs]
This tag is for questions about verbs. Verbs are words that express an action, occurrence, or a state of being. Add this tag to single-word-requests if you are looking for a verb. Add the tag word-usage if you are asking about the usage of the verb.
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Verb tense: grammar question
It is given at the beginning of a task
Selina has been on language stay in England for ten days. Her mother is ringing her from home. Unfortunately, some pieces of the conversation have been lost. ...
-1
votes
1answer
40 views
Which one is correct ?? Weighs or Weights? [on hold]
Which one of these two senteces are grammatically correct ?
Each bag weighs 5 kg.
or
Each bag weights 5 kg.
0
votes
0answers
24 views
Which one is correct ”The first thing to do is take attendance.” or ”Th first thing to do is to take attendance.”? [on hold]
all
I'm learning English for the second language.
I wonder about the grammatical structure in sentences below.
”The first thing to do is take attendance.” or
"The first thing to do is to take ...
7
votes
6answers
2k views
What do you call the action of someone tackling a stronger person?
I was looking for a word, a verb specifically, to describe the situation or action when a weak person challenges a stronger opponent into fight, although they know they have no chance of winning.
...
-4
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0answers
19 views
What are the uses of the verb « to promote » in a sentence? [on hold]
I wanna know how can i use the verb to promote in sentence correctly.
0
votes
1answer
31 views
Meaning of the verb “to vendor”
Several technical articles write about vendor using it as a verb:
https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0518/#configparser quoth:
While one could standardize on what Python 3 accepts and simply ...
-1
votes
0answers
18 views
Verb and noun relation
Is the set of subsidies exactly the same as the set of things that subsidise?
Put another way: can there exist something that subsidises that is not a subsidy?
1
vote
0answers
40 views
“naturally occurring substance”
Sentence:
Petroleum is defined as a gaseous, liquid, and semisolid naturally
occurring substance.
Question:
Here, occurring is used like an adjective, but it can only be used as a verb ...
2
votes
1answer
28 views
Meaning of 'rock at'
I am interested in the Drama So (alias Gen-X So) and came across the following example in a paper, which is a typical example of Drama So where 'So' modifies a VP rather than a scalable.adjective or ...
2
votes
1answer
46 views
Formal way to say you bumped into someone
What is a formal way to say you bumped into someone? I'm referring to an unplanned encounter with someone you know.
Can you say "Yesterday I met John at the doctor" if you didn't plan to meet him?
0
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0answers
34 views
Another thing to consider is or are values. Should it be 'is' or 'are'? [on hold]
Is it 'thing' or 'are' that is the subject in this sentence?
1
vote
0answers
14 views
Possible semantic shift for verb 'brief'?
I've always been partial to organic interpretation/operation in literature and language. Much of my personal choice of use in words and phrases comes down to an intuitive stylistic bearing that ...
-1
votes
0answers
12 views
Usage of 'beginning' as a verb
"Since the beginning of her journey, [...]." - this sentence most likely is correct, right? Here beginning is used as a noun.
"Since beginning her journey, [...]." - is this sentence correct as well?...
0
votes
1answer
46 views
A verb to describe rising temperature in a pot
The lobster sits oblivious in a pot but has no idea the water is heating up and that it is actully being cooked until it is too late.
This is in context "Like lobsters cooking in an ever heatening ...
0
votes
1answer
21 views
Chaining of preposition “to” with “prefer”
The standard way to use "prefer" when comparing level of preference is to say:
I prefer A to B.
I've read something about voting and have come across multiple preferences using "to" chained ...
-2
votes
1answer
12 views
Complexly assembled part or Complex assembled part?
I would like to know if I need to use an adverb or an adjective to closer characterize a verb used as an adjective?
E.g.
"Complexly assembled part"
or
"Complex assembled part"
1
vote
3answers
53 views
Can, could, or be able to in a B1 question [closed]
I was reading through an English B1 question paper, and came across this:
"I ____ drive as long as I take driving lessons" - Fill the gap with "can, "could", "be able to", or any of their negative ...
1
vote
1answer
79 views
Etymology of the expression “to entertain an idea”
The expression to entertain an idea/thought/etc. has perplexed me for a while now. Given the meaning of the verb entertain, I find it quite weird for it to be used in such a way. So, how did this come ...
1
vote
0answers
28 views
Using “is to be” instead of “has to be” [migrated]
In a sentence like "The topic has to be interesting for you" "is to be" can be used instead of "has to be"?
Is it correct, is it sometimes used or neither?
-1
votes
0answers
33 views
Use of “may not, shall not, can not, will not”
Under a regulation subsection that states the following...
A waiver may not be considered for any person with a civil conviction of a major misconduct.
Can it be argued that a waiver is able to be ...
0
votes
3answers
47 views
Is there a word for “making oneself certain again”?
If I am uncertain of something and later I made myself certain again, is there a single word to express that?
Example:
"I was uncertain whether the result was correct. But I re-certained myself by ...
3
votes
0answers
42 views
Is the sentence “Lúthien was fled.” in Tolkien's Silmarillion an example of perfect tense using “to be” as the auxiliary verb?
Or is "fled" an adjective here?
3
votes
1answer
62 views
Is 'to smoke' a complement or adjunct in this sentence?
I hope you are all well.
He stopped to smoke.
Is to smoke a complement of stop or is it an infinitive-of-purpose adjunct?
0
votes
1answer
44 views
'When you say you 'did XYZ', could you tell me more?' - What tense is this?
As a poor example:
Person A: 'I really liked cats when I was a child.'
Person B: 'When you say you "liked cats", could you tell me more?'
Person A: 'Blah blah.'
I'm really wondering about the tense ...
2
votes
1answer
26 views
Why gerund after “proposed as”
Good evening everyone and sorry for the question which I am not even sure how to ask properly. Here is the sentence:
In this context, gene drives have been proposed as providing a new means of ...
0
votes
1answer
55 views
Verb order — which way is right?
In the sentence:
"Over the airwaves, following a commercial, played the melancholy piano chords from Moonlight Sonata." — Can "play" go in that position?
It does sound strange to me, but if I ...
1
vote
1answer
23 views
What's the form and type of the three verbs highlighted in the sentence below?
A helicopter carrying elite paramilitary mountaineers took off Wednesday for a "very high-risk" operation to retrieve five dead climbers and three others believed killed scaling a treacherous ...
0
votes
0answers
22 views
Singular or plural verb after “research and development”?
I wonder which one should be used in the sentence like "natural products research and development potentially play/plays an important role in drug discovery". And why?
Thank you very much!
1
vote
1answer
19 views
Which one is correct? Watching soccer games make/makes me happy
"Watching soccer games" is the subject but the teacher argues that it is the word"watching"
0
votes
0answers
12 views
Explaining S suffix to non-native English speaker [migrated]
I am assisting a Hebrew speaker in improving her skills in English. She is having a difficult time understanding how English speakers use the S, and I am looking for the simplest way to explain this. ...
0
votes
0answers
23 views
past perfect or present perfect
I’m sorry Peter. I couldn’t see you off. When I got to the airport, your plane (already / take off)
had already taken off??
has already taken off??
0
votes
1answer
43 views
Example of a Verb that is NOT a participle
I am confused about what a "participle" is. Wiki defines it as: "A participle (ptcp) is a form of a verb that is used in a sentence to modify a noun, noun phrase, verb, or verb phrase, and plays a ...
1
vote
1answer
56 views
A more formal word for the verb “bagging”
I'm creating process documentation for a company and there is a phase I called "bagging", in which, literally, you put stuff inside bags.
This is in the context of finance operations. We're bagging ...
0
votes
0answers
30 views
How to use the word co-op as a verb?
I'm not sure about how to use the word "co-op".
I was a decision-science intern at the X company.
I interned at the X company.
The below sentence looks awkward to me.
I co-oped at the X company. ...
21
votes
4answers
5k views
Do the English have an ancient (obsolete) verb for the action of the book opening? [closed]
Do the English have an ancient (obsolete) verb for the action of the book opening?
For example, in Russian we say otkrit' (open the book), but in the Old slavonic the verb razognuti (to unbend the ...
0
votes
1answer
50 views
Can I really get scrod?
There's a family of jokes where Person A asks where he can "get scrod" (meaning the fish), and Person B interprets "scrod" as being some obscure conjugation of the verb "to screw".
Has "scrod" ever ...
-1
votes
0answers
12 views
Verb tense in subjunctive mood clause
As a result, the other species that share this habitat, including trees and insects are protected too, as if there were a large umbrella which (was/ were/ is) being held over them. Among three ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
“Frit” as dialect for “frightened” - which dialects, especially as simple past?
Out walking the other day I came across a lovely West-Country-ism from a local walking her dog - frit, meaning frightened, in "you frit him" (referring to a startled dog). The speaker sounded local (...
0
votes
0answers
24 views
Why “it please” and not “it pleases”? [duplicate]
This is from Game of Thrones and Im having a hard time to know why it is grammatically correct. Thanks
1
vote
1answer
34 views
Is “Soft Reshape” right in specific case? [closed]
I am a programmer and my native language is not English. And we have interesting question with naming.
We have a command for our software that we call "reshape".
This name is used widely in math and ...
-1
votes
1answer
15 views
'What I have presented is the first steps' or 'What I have presented are the first steps'
Which is correct:
'What I have presented is the first steps'
or
'What I have presented are the first steps'?
The issues is what counts as the subject of the verb: the relative 'What' (= is), or ...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
'Leader to give speech': Is this an infinitive phrase, and if not, what is it?
Thinking about sentence formation in the case of the infinitive, this question seems to arise:
In a phrase like 'X to do Y', is the phrase an infinitive, or is there some other grammatical ...
1
vote
4answers
285 views
Is there any verb for making a girl more girly?
'Feminize' is used for making a boy more girly. We can say, "She is forcibly feminizing her boyfriend." But is there a word for pushing a girl to be more feminine?
The Oxford Dictionary of English ...
2
votes
1answer
56 views
Is there a difference between a maker and a builder?
I have a German degree "Cembalo- und Klavierbauer". This degree is given to persons that are capable of designing, drawing, constructing, building, repairing, restoring, regulating and tuning of a ...
-2
votes
2answers
64 views
Can someone PLEASE tell me what the gerunds and participles are in these sentences? PLEASE [duplicate]
Dozing in the sun at the beach after swimming, limbs exhausted, salt dring stiff in my hair.
Cutting up vegetables into neat pieces.
Flying into a city and at night seeing the lit gauze of its ...
4
votes
1answer
47 views
Wonder the question?
A writer I work with keeps using the phrase "wonder the question" -- as in, "Scientists have wondered this question for years." It totally rubs me the wrong way, perhaps because it's contrary to the ...
1
vote
1answer
46 views
“As humans gifted with intelligence,” or “As humans are gifted with intelligence,”?
I recently wrote an essay during my exam about the environment and our responsibility. In one of my paragraphs, I wrote: "As humans gifted with intelligence, it is our duty to protect the flora and ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
What do you do with todos?
I have a list of todos and I did what was required in those todos. For example, my todo list includes "grocery shopping" and I did that. How can I express that in a simple sentence?
Ideas:
"I did my ...
0
votes
1answer
28 views
This data are treated anonymously
I saw this sentence on a web service. But I think this sentence is wrong.
"This data are treated anonymously."
I think it should be either of these.
"This data is treated anonymously."
"These data ...
0
votes
1answer
26 views
Verb for “unassigned deadline”
I'm creating a task management system that provides team managers with an overview of the state of the tasks within a list of projects. This could sum up my intent:
Project A:
7 open issues
3 ...
