All Questions
105,448
questions
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The average number(s) of A and B is (are) X and Y, respectively
'The average number of genes and transcripts is 100 and 200, respectively', or 'The average numbers of genes and transcripts are 100 and 200, respectively'. Which one is correct or better?
- 1
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0
answers
21
views
Why is comma used in this sentence?
Why is comma used in this sentence?
Hyena crept slowly round, making the most of his spotted brown camouflaged fur against the brownish stems of grass.
1
vote
1
answer
13
views
Present relevance or not , present perfect or past simple in this case
Sorry to contact you but I just realized that my last order ( two Comps on bin liner) made on discog were on Cd. I made a mistake. I thought they were on vinyl.
So I know that this order has already ...
- 6,455
1
vote
0
answers
11
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which groups such as 3.14 Action
I hope that many scientists (and others with an appreciation of
science) will seek appointment to zoning boards or run for state,
county or local political office, which groups such as 3.14 Action,
...
- 3,403
0
votes
1
answer
20
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Past simple vs. present perfect (concrete example)
My son just had this example in a test and had to fill in the blanks:
He _____ (not meet) a famous person in his life, _____?
He answered:
He didn't meet a famous person in his life, did he?
But ...
- 101
-1
votes
1
answer
19
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honored and humbled
I have read somewhere the phrase "honored and humbled by being invited to the party". I am at a loss why we have used the word humbled that means humiliated. Isn't it unsuitable to use the ...
- 1
0
votes
0
answers
9
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Helping someone improve or helping someone to improve? [duplicate]
Someone asked me today if the correct way to say it is the former or the latter, and I realized I have no idea if there is a preferable one, and if so, why. I always use 'helping improve' like in 'im ...
0
votes
1
answer
26
views
you lost your glove
I see someone walking towards me. His glove falls out of his pocket and he doesn't notice it.
Can I say
a) You lost your glove.
instead of
b) You dropped your glove.
?
- 2,241
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votes
1
answer
19
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what do you describe a young person who study and work in a different city, hasn't buy a home but try to stay there
can you call sb as "New York drifter" or "Hong Kong drifter" to describe a person who strives to settle there, living alone and working hard?
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1
vote
0
answers
22
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Should have + past participle vs. Should have had + past participle
You should have cleaned the room, before your visitors arrived.
You should have had cleaned the room, before your visitors arrived.
I know that 1 is correct, but what about 2? How does 1 differ from ...
- 11
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votes
1
answer
20
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Should 'be' be put before "totally unaware" in this quote?
This is from a news article :
Odds are, you will walk by one totally unseen and totally unaware
that that snake was there,' Simms told us. 'However, because they are
so well camouflaged, and they are ...
- 493
2
votes
2
answers
23
views
"Before" in combination with the present state
Before he is the president, he was a businessman.
He is now the president and before that, he was a businessman.
Are these sentence fine? One of my fellow learners says "before" cannot be ...
- 1,069
1
vote
1
answer
23
views
What does the word "framed" mean in this context?
For a split second, Uncle Vernon stood framed in the doorway; then he
let out a bellow like an angry bull and dived at Harry, grabbing him
by the ankle.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
What ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
11
views
Word Framed in Context [duplicate]
For a split second, Uncle Vernon stood framed in the doorway; then he
let out a bellow like an angry bull and dived at Harry, grabbing him
by the ankle.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
What ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
17
views
What's the meaning of "constituency" here？
The term aspect applies to a system where the basic meanings have to do with the internal temporal constituency of the situation. (The Cambridge Grammar of the English language)
I can guess the ...
- 1,069
11
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why does Ash say "I choose you" instead of "I chose you" or "I'll choose you"?
In the Pokémon anime, Ash says "I choose you!" when he starts a battle. Why does he use the present tense instead of "I chose you" or "I'll choose you"? In the original ...
- 1,186
6
votes
2
answers
644
views
Using the word down at the end of a sentence
How did the prosecutor track this suspect down?
How did the prosecutor track this suspect?
Is there any difference in meaning in the above two sentences?
How does adding the word down make a ...
- 729
2
votes
1
answer
50
views
Is it correct to say "we thread the bolt into the nut snugly"?
I asked this question on Quora
How do we say "we screw the bolt into a nut in such a way that the thread of the bolt and the nut fit well together"?
Quora is not a smart system. Whenever it ...
- 19.2k
-1
votes
0
answers
44
views
It started to snow, as the weather forecast had said it would snow in the evening [closed]
Could you have a look at this sentence?
SENTENCE:
It started to snow, as the weather forecast had said it would snow in the evening.
And could you tell me whether the sentence is not only ...
1
vote
1
answer
49
views
What does "feeding the leak" mean?
In Avatar (2009), Miles ordering her pilots to attack Trudy:
Miles: Keep her in your sights.
The pilot who is flying Miles flight responds:
Pilot: Purging. Feeding the leak.
What does "...
- 133
0
votes
1
answer
33
views
What is the verb for intermission?
What is the verb for intermission? Is intermission only a noun? Thanks.
- 2,651
1
vote
1
answer
23
views
How to describe a person pay attention in their lives and know a lot life hacks
In Chinese, we often say you need to be "生活中的有心人“ meaning you need to pay attention to what is happening around you in your daily life, be aware of the changes, surroundings and directions, know ...
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1
vote
2
answers
25
views
How can we say "We put A into the position of B and put B into the position of A"?
I have an apple and he has an orange. I want his orange and he wants my apple.
And we say "I swapped my Apple for his orange".
However, now an Apple and an orange, which belong to no one, ...
- 19.2k
1
vote
1
answer
33
views
Can I say "I earned an interest of 5000 dollars from my savings account"?
When a word refers to "an amount of money", that word is often countable.
Fro example,
debt: [countable] a sum of money that somebody owes
rent: [uncountable, countable] an amount of money ...
- 19.2k
-1
votes
1
answer
30
views
"They've grown so much" vs "They've 'been' grown so much"?
In this sentences the difference is the been. I've been seen this two ways to write this same thing. In the translater, the two ways is right. Why?
"They've grown so much" vs "They've '...
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3
votes
1
answer
19
views
"live happily and die happy" or "live happy and die happy" or
I see people say "live happily and die happy" or ""live/die happy" or "live/die happily". I even saw this book titled "Die Happy: A way to Live Happy"
So ...
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1
vote
1
answer
22
views
in the way in which many Republicans hoped?
I encounter a sentence in an Economist article.
It was, though not in the way that many Republicans hoped.
What I want to ask is whether I can use in which in place of that in the sentence? If that ...
- 351
2
votes
1
answer
274
views
Is it just the way it is we do not say: consider to do something?
We can say:
We will continue to support Windows 10.
We will continue supporting Windows 10.
However, we say
I will consider going fishing.
but cannot say
I will consider to go fishing.
Is it ...
- 121
1
vote
1
answer
50
views
why comma before "shack" needed?
In Avatar (2009), Jake recording his vlog:
Jake: Okay, location, shack, and the days are starting to blur together.
why comma before "shack" needed?
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votes
1
answer
39
views
I am happy now after I heard the news. - mixing tenses - is this correct?
If I heard the news in the past and the state of being happy is in the present, can I write it like Example 1 or Example 2?
Example 1
I am happy now after hearing the news.
Example 2
I am happy now ...
- 1,517
2
votes
1
answer
38
views
The water sparkled as diamonds in the sunlight - "as" or "like" or both?
Could you please tell me if it is possible to use "as" in this context, or only "like" can be used, or both options are possible?
- 95
2
votes
1
answer
30
views
Sentence used as a subject
This sentence came up in one of the videos of a popular English teacher on youtube.
Just because you don't have a degree shouldn't make a difference.
My question is, is this correct? Can the phrase '...
- 485
-1
votes
0
answers
20
views
Nor vs. Or in sentence
According to this structure: negative sentence+nor+positive sentence (I shouldn't do this, nor should you) and based on the fact that little makes the sentence negative, I wanted to know which version ...
- 65
1
vote
1
answer
34
views
Is "get away without" appropriate in this context?
This is from a news article :
“Now, especially, with patients skewing younger and younger, do they
actually need radiation?” she asked. “Can we choose which patients can
get away without this ...
- 493
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votes
1
answer
27
views
What phrase is omitted after "as advanced" in this context?
This is from a news article :
As years went by, some researchers began to wonder if radiation was
still necessary. Chemotherapy, surgery and medical imaging had
improved, and patients were being ...
- 493
-3
votes
1
answer
42
views
Idiomatic translation of "把英语捡起来" in spoken English?
A friend informed me that they haven't been practicing English for a while and would like to "pick up" their English learning journey again. In Chinese, they say "我最近好久没学英语了，得把英语捡起来&...
- 2,949
0
votes
1
answer
48
views
With vs without Preposition rule?
The documents is sixteenth century.=The documents is from the sixteenth century.
Why are both the sentences are same?? What is the syntax rule applied here?
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votes
2
answers
26
views
Inflectional affixes that modify nouns (Possessive form)
I've been reading about affixes (suffixes in particular currently) and I figured that the ('s) or the (s') that comes at the end of some nouns counts (indicating either the possession or plural form) ...
1
vote
1
answer
27
views
on a summer morning or in a summer morning?
I just read
If you go there on a summer morning...
I wonder why it says "on a summer morning", if the preposition for "summer" and "morning" is "in". It's &...
- 809
1
vote
1
answer
37
views
What does "their" in "their market value" refer to?
A freelancer who is a native speaker wrote this. He said "their" is referring to the athletes and entertainers referenced previously. But I don't buy it because the previous sentence is only ...
- 755
1
vote
1
answer
38
views
Why must we use "to becoming" in this case
both shared an innate ability to listen to music and play along on a range of instruments, the lack of any formal training meant this rough and ready unschooled musician ship was never going to ...
- 6,455
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votes
1
answer
28
views
Historical Present speaking about the Future
Can we use the "historical present" to speak about the future of that historical present if it were written today?
Example (an article from the year 2004): Unfortunately, I don't have enough ...
- 24.7k
0
votes
1
answer
23
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Using "at this hour" in the context of early morning rather that late night
From what I understand the phrase "at this hour" stands for "at this late time of the night", but can it also be used to say "at this early time in the morning"?
- 24.7k
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0
answers
16
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Past Simple or Past Perfect for consecutive events
This question may be slightly silly, but still. Here are two examples:
The kids did their homework and played.
The kids had done their homework and played.
Are both examples correct and if not, then ...
- 24.7k
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votes
0
answers
28
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"To become" or "to becoming"?
"It will take 7 years for you to become a good doctor" is correct but I would like to know if this would be also correct " It will take 7 years to becoming a good doctor" .
I don't ...
- 6,455
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votes
0
answers
26
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Is there something omitted between started out and rather sceptical?
Nicholas Sexton and Bradley Love, a pair of neuroscientists of
University College London, started out rather sceptical about the
supposed resemblance between natural and artificial neural networks.
...
- 159
1
vote
1
answer
18
views
Making an interrogative sentence from affirmative sentence
Affirmative sentence:
I want him to buy this gift for me.
I want to make an interrogative sentence like
whom do I want to buy this gift? ".
But I'm not sure if it's correct. Because it can be ...
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votes
1
answer
19
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Is it common for noun phrases and clauses to act as parallelism?
It is de rigueur to follow that description with an immediate
disclaimer, in which both computer scientists and neuroscientists jump
in nervously to point out that the analogy is very rough, that anns
...
- 159
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0
answers
11
views
How to use the verb "appeal"?
One can appeal to another for help or something else. But is it possible to appeal (to) someone to do something?
I appealed him to solve the problem.
I appealed to him to solve the problem.
I ...
- 3,619
-2
votes
1
answer
16
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"Give the word": meanings and syntax
Give the word means to order someone to do something.
When I give the word, start the machine.
Can it also mean to permit/allow?
I also wonder if this is possible:
He gave me the word to start the ...
- 3,619