Questions tagged [idiomatic-language]
is for questions about whether or not a particular phrase or sentence is a usual or common way that fluent English speakers might express something.
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I would say it is bluntly incorrect but it is from a British TV series: "Come in and have your photograph took."
This is from Berkeley Square (see:43:46-43:49)
"At least come in and have your photograph took."
Why is it not "have your photo taken"? Is it a special usage or does it have a ...
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Can you say "I am middle-paid" or "I am normal-paid" to mean you are paid an amount somewhere between the highest and lowest level?
If someone ask you if you are paid well in your job, and you want to say you are not well-paid, but you are not badly-paid either. So, how do you say you are paid in the middle of the highest and ...
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Which one is right:".....go 55 meters down INTO the ground." OR "....go 55 meters down UNDER the ground."
This is from the BBC, about sewage system of London, in which experts show the reporters around the new sewage system sewage system 0:44-0:46
We are about to go 55 meters down into the ground.
The ...
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"How long a gap do I need between treatments." OR "How long do I need between treatments."
This sentence is from a web site about laser treatments.
"How long a gap do I need between laser hair removal treatments?"
"How long" refers to time anyway.
So, why do we need to ...
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Do these sentences mean the same: "I have friends round." AND "I have friends over."
I have friends round.
I have friends over.
I hear both are used by native speakers, and these two sentences seem to mean the same to me.
However, some web sites say the sentence " I have friends ...
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Is "develop to grow up" idiomatic?
I found two different versions of the essay question online. I asked my freelancer which one was correct. He responded that the second one was better. I want to know if develop to grow up is idiomatic....
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"How long has he been gone?" Does this sentence mean: "How long has it been since he went?"
This is from a native English movie Present perfect examples from movies (see:0:35)
A: "How long has he been gone?"
B: "2 weeks, 1 day, 15 hours."
I understand that this question ...
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Does "come" mean "before" or "until" in this sentence: "All ground infrastructure should be in place come the year's end."
This is from the BBC Space internet project
"All ground infrastructure should be in place come the year's end."
And another sentence from the same text:
"...., but this too should be ...
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the banks would probably be willing to take a haircut on the rest
the banks would probably be willing to take a haircut on the rest
https://english.dict.naver.com/english-dictionary/#/entry/enen/e658c2f9268b44859830a022587e301c
'take a haircut on sth' means what?
...
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Is "open to" followed by infinitive or gerund?
I'd like to use the below sentence as a professional social network profile headline to say that I am looking for employment opportunities. Should I say "run" or "running", and why?...
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"...glue these shapes to the side of the box that doesn't have the drawers on." Why is there ".....on" at the end?
This is from a native British speakerMr. maker see 0:50-0:55
"...and carefully cut them out then glue these shapes to the side of the box that doesn't have the drawers on."
I don't ...
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"change you want to make in the world"
I'm pretty sure one should say "make changes", instead of "do changes". But is such a phrase grammatical?
"Focus on the change you want to make in the world"
I think ...
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If "some paper" means "a sheet of paper", then what would be the plural form of "some paper"?
This is from a native speaker on BBC, Mr. Maker (see: 2:38-2:44). He says:
Now how about we get some white paper and draw two fluffy cloud shapes.
When he says this, he takes a sheet of paper and ...
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Why is it "Have you got the 25?" but not "Have you got a 25?"
This is from a english teaching video. English speaking 01 (see 7:06-7:08) A customer is paying at a shop and the price is 10.25, and the shop assistant is asking:
"Have you got the 25?"
I ...
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Any difference in meaning: "So, just how deep is the Black Sea." / "So, how deep is the Black Sea."
This is from the BBC. The secrets lurking beneath the Black Sea see:(00:18-00:20)
"So, just how deep is the Black Sea."
I know that this sentence still perfectly makes sense if the word &...
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"My pyjamas are all wet." Does the word "all" refer to the word "wet" or to the word "pyjamas"?
While someone is putting water into a bowl for their pet, the pet accidentally knocks over the bowl of water and the person says to his pet:
Watch out! My pyjamas are all wet.
The "all" in ...
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Why does TV presenter say "It is a friendly dinosaur, too" when there is only one dinosaur in the studio?
This is from a TV show Ellen's guest (see 1:40-1:42)
The guest is fond of dinosaurs . So, to surprise him, they bring a dinosaur into the studio. But before the presenter brings the dinosaur in, she ...
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Why "now that" in this sentence: "Now that was some delicious pizza."
This is a native speaker's sentence: Ellen's favorite moments (see:2:48-2:50) A funny boy is eating pizza and says:
"Now that was some delicious pizza."
I did not quite understand why "...
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Before dropping off, the taxi driver says: "That will be 8.50". So, why "That will be ....." instead of "That is ...."
A taxi driver takes his customers where they want. Then when they are there, before dropping them off, the taxi driver says how much they need to pay. For instance he says:
"That will be 8 ...
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Are these sentences interchangeable: "She has her arm in plaster." AND "Her arm is in plaster."
Mom's neighbour saw me and asked me about my mom. "How is she"? And I want to say they put her arm in plaster because she fell the other day. So I thought I can say this in 2 ways:
1- She ...
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Is "development(al) journey" a common metaphor in English, or is there a more idiomatic expression?
As the heading suggests, I'm wondering whether "development(al) journey" is a common metaphor in English, or whether there is a more idiomatic expression for this. Neither NGrams nor google ...
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Can structures "whiter than white" or "greener than green" be used in daily life?
Today, I came across the expression "whiter than white". meaning very clean.
I looked up and the meaning is given like this: "extremely clean and white", and that it can also be ...
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Does "all the way along" mean "all the way until the end"?
This is from a native speaker who teaches a practical way for removing mold over the silicone sealants in bathrooms. how to remove mold (see 1:11-1:12) He says:
"I'm going to do the same all the ...
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Is it ok to say "When we would go to a restaurant ......." instead of "When we went to a restaurant, ....."?
A native speaker doctor speaks about bone broth and its health benefits and the old days when this soup was always part of the dinners. He says:
It was considered a delicacy, and I can remember when ...
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I've tried but it didn't work vs I've tried but it hasn't worked
Is this correct/idiomatic?
I've tried but it didn't work.
I've tried ( when? a time, or multiple times, in my life hence present perfect)
It didn't work. (When? When I tried, a specificfinished ...
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"Apologies from my end" Vs "apologies from my part"
Is it correct/idiomatic to say "apologies from my end"? For example, "apologies from my end, the reason you couldn't do it was because I forgot to grant your account the right ...
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Which one is right: "We need to determine what the risks are to you and your baby." OR "..... determine what the risks to you and your baby are."
The following is from a conversation between a midwife and a pregnant woman who wants to give birth at home instead of at a hospital. The midwife says:
"...I am involved with many births at home. ...
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"It rings engaged" OR "It rings busy"
I have come across these sentences to mean that the person you are calling is talking to another one. However I am not sure are they both equally common or idiomatic?
"It rings busy."
"...
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Is it "mutual causation" or "mutual causality"?
I'd like to know what is more common and idiomatic: mutual causation or mutual causality. Is there any difference? I have seen both usages. Some of the definitions of causation and causality overlap (...
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How can a "registered car" is called "unregistered" linguistically. Once registration is entered, it can not be extinct, can it?
"Once your registration expires, your vehicle becomes unregistered."
When I read the sentence, the word "unregistered" got me thinking, because "unregistered" means "...
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"He will take me on a holiday". Is this idiomatic way of saying it?
Imagine that your friend is going to go on a holiday and he will take you with him. How can say this idiomatically:
Would it be idiomatic if I say "He will take me on a holiday?" just like ...
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"Chip in (-,on,to) the conversation"
Say I'd like to describe a situation where I naturally (not abruptly) join a conversation. I think the closest expression is "chipping in", but which preposition should I use? (Or do I need ...
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Does "...attached to" simply mean "next to" OR does it mean "....an integral part of something as a whole"?
This is a sentence from a contact of sale of a property:
The purchaser has agreed to abandon the right of lane way attached to the property.
I simply thought there is a lane way right next to the ...
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Children need to play out in the open. (what's the meaning of 'out' here?)
Children need to play out in the open.
What's the meaning of 'out' here?
Can I omit the 'out' here since there is already 'in the open' which means 'outdoors'.
Or the 'play out' is a phrasal verb ...
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I am a girl into music and art
A more complex version of this line appeared in someone's cover letter. I found it odd for some reason but I can't be sure what that reason is.
I am a girl into music and art.
I corrected it to &...
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Can I omit articles after 'in the middle of'?
This kind of issues is what I'm constantly coming across. Say I'd like to say something like this.
In the middle of the video, a ghost pops up from nowhere.
What I'm confused is whether I should add ...
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go to the zoo vs. go to a zoo vs. go to zoos vs. go to zoo [closed]
go to the zoo
go to a zoo
go to the zoos
go to zoo
As far as I remember, the first one, 'go to the zoo' is what I remember.
Q1: 'go to the zoo' means, in general, any kind of zoo or a specific zoo?...
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Should you use "those years" or "those year levels" to refer to the students at various Grades at school?
A parent in Australia is talking about the unusual figures about his son's school results, because the reading figures of the Year 3 students are better than the Year 5 ones. So, he wonders about that....
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Can the structure "put someone to something" be considered another type of causative?
Today I heard someone (a non-native speaker) from Australia use the following structure:
"I will put him to reading in English for 20 minutes before supper."
He wanted to mean "He will ...
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Would "I ate food." be a correct way of referring simply to the daily life thing of "I had breakfast, lunch, dinner."?
Imagine, it was a holiday for 7 days, so students did not go to school. And now, you see one of them today and ask him (he is a non-native speaker):
- What did you do during all these 7 days?
- I ...
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Are both idiomatic: "We went out into the garden" OR "We went out to the garden."
If two people went out of the house to get some fresh air, may be sit for a while, have something to drink in the garden, would both these be correct to say:
"We went out INTO the garden"
&...
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If "rash" means "red spots on skin", should one still specifically say RED? For instance: "I have this itchy red rash on my neck"
This is from an English conversation in a doctor's office and the patient says:
I have this itchy red rash on my neck.
The expression "red rash" caught my attention.
I looked up "rash&...
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She tangled up the sheet on the bed VS. She tangled up the sheets on the bed
She tangled up the sheet on the bed. (the sheet is singular)
VS.
She tangled up the sheets on the bed. (while the sheets are plural)
Which one is more idiomatic?
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When you use the structure "I need you to do ...", who is in need of doing it? You or me?
If something is a necessity for someone, we can simply say to them:
"You need to do ..."
That is quite clear. But I often hear a structure "I need you to do it", and I want to find ...
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Is it idiomatic to say "It is not getting morning" if you are constantly looking at the clock and time to morning seems not passing quickly enough
Imagine you have "toothache" and you can't stop it, and you understand you have to wait for the morning to be able to go to the dentist.
So you desperately wait throughout the night, and you ...
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Is "quarrel with somebody over something" natural-sounding English? [closed]
I'm talking about my disagreement with my pal, Ha.
Could you tell me if the use of quarrel in this sentence is natural-sounding?
I quarrelled with my best buddy, Ha, over which dining establishment ...
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How can this be correct, because it is from a native english movie: "I am a strong as a boy" (yes you read it right, not "as strong as") [closed]
This is from a native english movie Practice Speaking English (minute/seconds: 14:10)
A woman and a girl is talking and the girl says the following:
"I am a strong as a boy, and I prefer to be ...
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Can we use "IT" to refer to "WATER" in a case of dripping in the bathroom: "It is dripping from the ceiling?"
When you move to a house, you see there is water on the floor of the bathroom. And you see that it is coming from the ceiling. So, you call the handyman and he asks "what is the problem in your ...
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Is there a version of "the past year" without article "the", as in the case of "last year" and "the last year"?
There are both "the last year" and "last year" (without "THE") , and they both exist and they have different meanings.
Last year (the previous calender year)
The last ...
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What is an idiomatic expression?
"I got up early as I had an errand to run. Then I got back home. I felt rather sleepy so I decided to have one-hour sleepin / take one-hour nap."
Which would sound correct? If neither, ...
