Questions tagged [american-english]
This tag is for questions specifically related to the English language as spoken and written in the USA. If you are interested in a difference between American English and British English, please use transatlantic-differences.
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does this phrase really describe the following situation?
I came across this NYT headline:
"How the Shutdown Holdouts Have Antagonized McCarthy Before
Most of the House Republicans who voted against Kevin McCarthy’s stopgap spending bill have long been ...
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Is it more fitting to say, "I left two comments on the page" or "I made two comments"?
Which is more appropriate "I left two comments on the page yesterday" or "I made two comments on the page yesterday"
Context: The page contains some changes to be reviewed by ...
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Are imperfectly constructed sentences understandable?
As an English learner, when building a sentence in my head it is almost impossible to get it out idiomatically. For example, before I knew the word "regarding" I built this sentence:
"...
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How to ask to let you pass in the bus
For example, you are sitting near the window on the bus. A person sits next to you and blocks the passage (not on purpose).
And here is your stop and you need to get out. How to ask politely to let ...
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Difference between 'gamer' and 'player'?
I saw a sentence today:
Back in the last century, gamers were sometimes known to take advantage of players with slow (as in dialup) links; an opponent could be eliminated literally before he or she ...
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What do Americans say instead of “can’t be bothered”?
I want to know the American version of “I can’t be bothered.”
I heard that Americans don’t use this phrase that much.
I’ve been googling this and all I get are phrases like “I couldn’t care less” and “...
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2
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"granular level" for image
I'm writing a scientific paper about image processing. Before I study the image whose resolution is 30, and now I want to study image whose resolution is 500. I want to write this sentence "Now I ...
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encompass, include, incorporate
I want to write a scientific paper, the sentence is "remote sensing technology encompasses two primary methods". I'm not sure which one should I use: encompass, include, or incorporate?
I've ...
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Using the word "waver" for moving away from diet
Context: Chatting with a friend on Whatsapp. We both were following a diet plan, but today I didn't commit to it due to a family occasion.
How do I communicate this properly:
"Today went well, ...
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Exercise book vs. Composition book
As far as I know, in United States students don't use exercise books.
Image 1. Exercise book
They use composition books instead, which often have "marble" cover and bound through the fold.
...
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British or American For IELTS/TOEFL
Which one (British or American) is better for IELTS exam?
What about TOEFL?
I'm lerning American, is it essantial to learn British or not?
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to flip the phrase around and keep the same gist?
is that grammatically accepted to flip:
1.0 "of just enhancing the film they used a lot of technology"
as
2.0 "they used a lot of technology of just enhancing the film"
I believe ...
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"Was/were" and "would be/would have been"
If this ... (was/were) the case, the movie ... (would be/would have been) much better.
The context is that I am sending my friend a video of a movie trailer (not released yet), and it has some funny ...
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is this an example of acts as a prepositional phrase?
watching this interview posted on YouTube yesterday with Paul McCartney:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21pcVuPHoek
from 7:26 Paul McCartney
says: "I owe it to him and his team who were briliant ...
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I have a Big Essay coming up. I need some help. The question is "Do we say Where she works or Where she is working?" These two are correct but its [closed]
I have a Big Essay coming up. I need some help. The question is "Do we say Where she works or Where she is working?" These two are correct but they're given as different answers. There is no ...
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British idioms in America
There is a question I asked a lot of people about that and everyone answered differently.
Can I use British idioms in America or in front of an American citizen? Because some beautiful idioms are ...
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ESOL teacher claims present perfect equals s-form
A person I know learns English as a second language. The teacher introduced some basic grammar concepts, mostly simple present, past, and future. For some reason, he introduced present perfect as well....
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Present Perfect vs Present Perfect continuous in this situation
"I've worked here all my life" gives the feeling that is the activity of working is intended to be stopped soon, and "I've been working here here all my life" gives the feeling ...
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using "willing" in negative form
I built this sentence:
"I was going to go for a run after waking up from the nap, but I didn't feel willing."
and my English teacher said I should use "...didn't feel motivated" or ...
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2
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Looks like British people say "They're at the cinema." Don't Americans say "They're at cinema"?
I have seen a difference in the use of "the" between UK and US and that is in the word hospital, is it the same in the word cinema?
I'm in the hospital (US)
I'm in hospital (UK)
They're at ...
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102
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Does "shut off the water" mean to just turn off the tap or to stop the whole water system in your house?
A British native English speaker said
In the UK at least, we “shut off” the water when we want to work on
the plumbing and need to know that the water from the mains won’t keep
flowing and flooding ...
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1
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Verb number in relative clause appertaining to compound predicates
I have a sentence with a compound predicate, which I wish to modify with a relative clause. According to traditional American English grammar, should the verb in the relative clause be plural or ...
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Flapped T in the word “appetite”
In the word “appetite” T is between 2 vowels and it’s not flapped T according to Oxford American English dictionary. Why?
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Do "the ocean" and "the sea" mean the same in American and British English?
According to Longman Dictionary
"the sea" and "the ocean" are synonyms and mean "the large area of salty water that covers much of the Earth’s surface"
The dictionary ...
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What are the differences between American English and British English in terms of formal set of replacement rules? [closed]
American Spelling
British Spelling
defen(s)e
defen(c)e
([A-Za-z]+)ize
([A-Za-z]+)ise
[A-Za-z]+ is a regular expression meaning "one or more letters"
We do not have to use regular ...
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Is "As and when…" correct?
As and when the user scrolls the page ...
Is this correct English?
The context is: A person is describing scrolling on the web page.
Not sure if the "As and" part is correct or it adds any ...
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how to interpret the ambiguity of this little text?
based on this short headline:
For These Veterans, ‘Free’ Health Care Is a 5-Hour Flight Away
Citizens of three Pacific Island nations, eligible to serve in the U.S. military, find it hard to make use ...
2
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2
answers
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Why "Does it exist what I'm looking for?" cannot be used?
I'm doing a translation from Portuguese to English, and I've found a phrase that is a simple question,
"Does it exist what I'm looking for?" but in Google just returns 1 hit, so it doesn't ...
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Does this joke format (of three people doing something in a pattern) exist in English, and if so, who is it about?
In Norwegian, we have a standard template of children's jokes called "Svensken, dansken og nordmannen" ("The Swede, the Dane and the Norwegian"). The template is as follows:
A ...
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What is the British word for the American word "pop quiz"?
According to many dictionaries, "pop quiz" (American English) is like a surprise informal test without warning in advance to test if a student has studied at home.
In Britain, one beautiful ...
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Do British / American / Australian people understand "homework" and "assignment" differently?
I found this link on English Stackexchange.
A person answered "Homework: The collection of all the assignments I have to do at home". I am not sure if this person is American.
I had been ...
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How to express that one is having a series of bad luck to complete a task
So when there is a series of problems that are getting encountered in doing work. What could we say or express it in a succinct way?
some things that come to my mind are: (not sure if they are correct ...
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Another's vs Other's
Good afternoon! I found a lot of examples of using the phrase other's on the Internet. As I know, other itself can't be a pronoun. Shouldn't I use another's OR the other's instead?
Here are some ...
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AmE_ she (went out)/ (has gone out) to the supermarket
I know that AmE speakers tend to use the simple past in situations in which we should use the present perfect. I would like to ask if in the US, natives would use simple past in this context:
A ...
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to which phrase/sentence the word "happiness" belongs to in this lyrics?
in guns and roses' since I don't have you lyrics:
" don't have plans and schemes
And I don't have hopes and dreams
I don't have anything
Since I don't have you
And I don't have fond desires
And I ...
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What's the meaning of "receive credit for freshman mathematics" in college?
This context comes from the book "Black Rednecks And White Liberals"
by Thomas Sowell.
At one time, the reputation of Dunbar graduates was such that they did
not have to take entrance ...
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Using one word for Pretty good
Is there a single word that can replace pretty good? Example - This book is pretty good.
Is there a way to shorten it?
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what is the role of word "practical" in "practical joke"?
in this definition of practical joke,
"playful or mischievous act intended to trick, deceive, or embarrass someone for the amusement of the prankster or others. It is usually harmless in nature ...
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2
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I won Vs I have won
I would like to talk about the use of the present perfect talking about life experience/ achievements.
In an interview, I would like to tell the interviewer that I have a life experience as winning a (...
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What I learned/have learned from quitting my job is
I have another situation/context with the verb "learn":
If I quit my job 3 months ago, now I meet my friends and say:
What I learned/have learned from quitting my job is that doing what
you ...
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Do American people say “the office building has five floors”, "It's five-floor building" and “my office is on the fifth story”?
I have done some study and it seems that British people are fine with these sentences as they use "storey/story" and "floor" interchangebly:
"The office building has 5 stories&...
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If I use "all the same" will the sentence be grammatically correct
None of his requests were granted, he kept on asking all the same.
If I use "all the same" in this sentence will it be grammatically correct? Thank you.
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AmE _ Simple past with the implication "so far"
A professor gave me a project, and now he wants me to update the the progress of the project I am doing.
I wonder if I can use the simple past "What did you do on the project" to imply so ...
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How to convey that someone is struggling to solve a problem
"He needs help in climbing every step of the ladder." Is this a proper sentence?
The intent is to convey someone's ability to solve a Mathematical/Software Problem. So if one is assisted at ...
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Is it ok to use read instead of listened sometimes?
I read somewhere that "some fact". But actually, I heard that in a video. Is it appropriate to say that I read somewhere in an informal conversation and avoid being so precise?
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Is or was? Which one is suitable?
I have question about is or was this this situation. Please help me!
The museum I went to yesterday is very beautiful.
The museum I went to yesterday was very beautiful.
Which one is correct?
Thank ...
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2
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Usage of facing the heat
"If you don't do this task in 2 days, you are gonna face a lot of heat" Is this sentence correct? I have seen uses like take a lot of heat, here I am using face a lot of heat.
The context is ...
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Difference between "No grads jobs are available" and "No grad jobs are available"? [closed]
I'm thinking about how to use a noun to describe another noun. I set up an example, can anyone tell me the difference between
No grads jobs are available.
No grad jobs are available.
Or, maybe. One ...
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In case of fire, go to an open space/ground/field? [closed]
As a general advice, when a building is in fire, people inside should go outside, and stay at an open space/ground/field.
Which word should I use?
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ears on both sides or ear on both sides
I don't know which one is correct. Plural or singular.
The ears on both sides of my face.
The ear on both sides of my face.
The safety fences at the machine side and the operator side.
The safety ...
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