Questions tagged [grammar]
This tag is for grammar questions, but only if you're not certain what other tag to use. If possible, tag as tense, verb, articles, prepositions, or some other more specific tag or tags instead.
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Great Expectations [is written vs has been written] by Charles Dickens
I had a grammar quiz at the university today.
One of the questions was:
"Great Expectations" ____ by Charles Dickens.
a) is written
b) has been written
c) was written
Undoubtedly, the ...
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votes
8
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Does “you can go now” sound rude? Context provided in question
As an IT guy in a college, I was helping a professor with his phone problems. After I was done helping him, I told him “you can go now.” to end the interaction as I had another student waiting for my ...
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5
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Why is “deal 6 damage” a legit phrase?
I mean, if damage is countable, it should be
Deal 6 damages.
If it’s not countable, then this sentence should be wrong.
Such as saying something like
I drank 5 water.
So... am I missing ...
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3
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Why is it correct to say "me busy."?
I was playing Warcraft. I clicked on my peon.
He told me: "me busy. leave me alone."
Why is it OK to say it that way instead of just "I'm busy."?
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Does the English language have a grammatical gender?
If we are talking about animate objects, like people and animals, defining a gender is easy in most cases.
But for inanimate objects, like a chair, a tree, the sky and so on, gender can be a built-in ...
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votes
6
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Why should "are" be used here instead of "is"?
The sentence given in our book is as follows,
More important than winning is developing the ability to work with others and developing leadership skills
We are supposed to find where the mistake ...
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votes
4
answers
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"You better did" - is this acceptable?
Consider this example:
John: Did you go to church today?
James: Yes I Did
John: You better did
My confusion is the use of and correctness of the the last response, "you better did."
...
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votes
7
answers
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Is "The life is beautiful" incorrect or just very non-idiomatic?
We had a discussion earlier on another SE site and I'm not able to find a definitive answer online. If I say, speaking generally:
The life is beautiful
I know this is not the common way of saying ...
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6
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Should it be "IS" or "ARE"? --- "The only thing we haven't seen ARE locusts."
This is from an article published on CNBC:
"The only thing we haven't seen are locusts, said CEO Jim McCann in an interview." CNBC-A rose is still a rose
The subject of the sentence is "...
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23
votes
2
answers
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Most of something is plural or singular?
I am writing a literature review.
My question is which sentence is correct?
Most of the existing work focus on...
Most of the existing work focuses on ...
Most of the existing studies focus on ...
...
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votes
2
answers
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Strange omission of "to be": "The ground was hard and the rime thick and crisp on the grass."
I encountered this sentence in Cambridge Dictionary:
The ground was hard and the rime thick and crisp on the grass.
I can't figure it out why there's no any verb after "the rime". It just ...
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votes
8
answers
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Is it OK to say "a cat is on the table"?
I've been confused with the "there is/are" expression.
I learnt at school that "A cat is on the table" is an awkward sentence and you should say "There is a cat on the table&...
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votes
1
answer
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Why is "university" not capitalised here?
Why is "university" not capitalised in the second sentence below?
The Guardian: West Virginia University suspends fraternities
and sororities after student lands in intensive care unit.
The ...
- 1,179
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8
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"My boss was furious with me and I have been fired" vs. "My boss was furious with me and I was fired"
I have a question and I hope you can help me. I've been learning English for many years but I'm still struggling with the difference between simple past and present perfect.
For example this sentence ...
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4
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Can vehicles sell themselves? Shouldn't it be passive voice?
I read one sentence
About 170,000 of those vehicles sell each year in the U.S.
It is extracted from:
The large vehicle is part truck and part car. Strength and size combined with comfort. ...
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votes
4
answers
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Is it disappointed with, in, or by?
Are all of those words used? How does the meaning of the sentence change when either one is used instead of the others?
1.I was disappointed with/by my result.
2.I am disappointed with/by/in you/him/...
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3
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"Thanks for sharing this" - why isn't it "Thanks for having shared this" ?
People often answer "Thanks for sharing this" when I share a document or information with them.
What I don't understand is why they don't use a past tense since I share the document before their ...
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votes
7
answers
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Why does "money" take "the" in "all the money in the world"?
"All the money in the world " , in this sentence we talk about money in general , right ? I've read a book that says if we're talking about things in general we do not use "the".
So why "the money" ?
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why "American-born", not "America-born"?
I tried but failed to wrap my head around the grammar for the term
"American-born" (and all other similar expressions - "Canadian-born", "French-born", ...etc).
Is it a set phrase or is there some ...
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2
answers
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'In' the past few years Vs 'Over' the past few years
Which preposition goes better with the below statement?
1: In the past few years I have learnt a lot about super cars.
2: Over the past few years I have learnt a lot about super cars.
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What is Latin Grammar?
Another product of the eighteenth century was the invention of "English grammar". As English came to replace Latin as the language of scholarship, it was felt that one should also be able to control ...
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What is the difference between "being" and "having been" in this context?
Being a teacher, she likes children.
AND
Having been a teacher, she likes children.
What is the difference between these two?
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Can "all" be used with both singular & plural verbs?
Are both sentences below correct?
1. All of the books are expensive.
2. All of the books is expensive.
user80323
15
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4
answers
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Difference between "I like swimming" and "I like to swim"?
So what is the difference between "I like swimming" and "I like to swim"? Do they mean the same?
14
votes
3
answers
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What does "I am all stomach" mean?
What does I am all stomach mean?
A: ‘’It’s my turn for a gift. I would like to take you to lunch. To my favorite spot.’’
B: ‘’I am all stomach, professor!’’
Lonely Man Full of Love
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Why is it "you lied TO me" and not "you lied me"
Why do we say
You tricked me
You fooled me
You deceived me
You offended me
You kissed me
And so on and so on
BUT you lied TO me and not you lied me?
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3
answers
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What's the meaning of "has by"?
She tries not to react but knows she has by the smirk on Frank’s face,
the threat in the not-so-veiled statement plain.
It seems to me as an unusual structure. Could you please explain it to me?
...
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What is the difference between "Wasn't it supposed to have started 30 minutes ago?" and "Wasn't it supposed to start 30 minutes ago?" in this case?
If I want to ask my teacher if the lesson should have started earlier, Could I use the sentences below?
1 Wasn´t it supposed to have started 30 minutes ago?
2 Wasn´t it supposed to start 30 ...
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"on its way" vs. "in its way"
Is “the fire consumed everything on its way” correct?
I thought "on its way" and "in its way" were pretty much equivalent in English and meant pretty much the same thing except in very rare cases. Am ...
user88427
14
votes
6
answers
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What is meant by "grammar"?
Some people equate grammar with any rules governing the language. Some people believe grammar is language itself minus whatever is being discussed in the shade of "meaning" and "comprehension". Some ...
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In the other hand or on the other hand
What is the difference between the following? Also, if both:
in the other hand and
on the other hand
are correct. And what is the reason?
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"he leaves for New York tomorrow". vs. "he will leave for New York tomorrow"
Which one is grammatically correct?
I don't know when he leaves for New York tomorrow.
or
I don't know when he will leave for New York tomorrow
Is it correct to use the future form of the ...
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9
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Is the word "here" unnecessary in this sentence: "Hi, Bob the Canadian here"?
The following is the first sentence from a native speaker's video on Youtube about leaning English. He says:
"Hi, Bob the Canadian here, let's learn English at the grocery store."
He is ...
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4
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Is "Shopping malls are a posh place" grammatical when "malls" is a plural and "place" is a singular?
Shopping malls are a posh place.
I read some sentences using "a plural + be + a singular" somewhere before, but I couldn't remember which context it was, or it was just a writing error. But ...
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Why not use "casualties" in "Small shops have been a casualty of the recession."?
From the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary:
Small shops have been a casualty of the recession.
"Shops" is plural here while "casualty" is singular. Any reason for that?
Can I have the sentence ...
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unusual usage of bellowing
Explosions shook the ground, artillery shells, mortars and bombs
continuously rained down, fires blazed, and smoke bellowed high into
the sky.
Doesn't bellowing mean "make a loud sound"? If that'...
user88427
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votes
4
answers
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Has GOOD become an acceptable adverb?
I'm a native English speaker. On a site where I help Russians with English, one of them wrote the sentence:
My watch has been working good since I fixed it.
Naturally, I pointed out that the ...
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2
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Some of you will have met me before vs Some of you met me before
I really do not get how "will" and past infinitive is used here. This comes from an example in a textbook, explaining usage of will in assumptions:
Some of you will have met me before.
I wonder, ...
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"Product list" vs "Products list"
I have a page with list of products. What is the correct name for this page?
Product list
or
Products list
And What's difference?
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"as much details as you can remember"
A: I don't remember much, though.
B: Just try to give me as much details as you can remember.
I feel like something is wrong in B's sentence. I've never heard people say something like this.
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How do I start a sentence with a date?
I want to say:
August 22, 2012, the day my life changed forever and the day I met you.
My only problem is that I don't know how to start a sentence with a date. If someone could help me with this ...
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"What does prevent x from doing y?" OR "What prevents x from doing y?"
Do you say:
What does prevent x from doing y?
OR
What prevents x from doing y?
My gut tells me it's the latter, but I can't explain it. It's just a feeling. What I'd like to know is what the ...
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I need to rewrite this sentence while keeping the same meaning and starting with the given word(s)
Paul and Jane moved to Paris two years ago.
It is...
If the starting words were "it has" I could have written "It has been two years since...". But the auxiliary "be" is used instead and I ...
Jeff Matt
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4
answers
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Is "too few" equivalent to "not enough"?
Kindly, consider the image below:
Can I say for the glass in the middle: "too few water" instead of "not enough water"? Are they equivalent in meaning?
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What does this sentence on BBC means: ""All baa myself: Is this Britain's loneliest sheep?"
All baa myself: Is this Britain's loneliest sheep? BBC - Britain's loneliest sheep
What does "All baa myself" mean? I couldn't quite understand it.
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Can we use "no" and then say an affirmative sentence to a yes/no question?
Take this question.
Do you have two brothers?
For short answers we can say" no,I don't and for long answers we should say " No I don't have two brothers
Can I answer "No, I have 3 brothers."
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"JUST" or "EVEN"? "These days it is expensive to take care of just one child."
"These days it is expensive to take care of just one child."
When I read the sentence, I understand the point, however, I think "just" might be ambiguous here, so I think that ...
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2
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What is the difference between "I was there" and "I have been there"?
In our language, the difference between the two sentences is very vague.
What is the difference between "I was there" and "I have been there"?
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What is the difference between “except” and “except for?”
What is the difference between “except” and “except for?”
They all went home except me.
They all went home except for me.
Are the two sentences both correct? Are there any situations where I must ...
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2
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"many a time" means "many times"?
I never saw anyone work as hard as he did, many a time I saw him on the weekends working to his highest standards to give the best research he could give.
From the context, I understand many a time ...
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