Questions tagged [phrases]
A phrase is a group of words that make a unit of syntax with a single grammatical function.
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questions
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via survey or via a survey? Which one is grammatically correct?
I've found a similar topic related to "via the Internet", but I'm still wondering if you can use the phrase without a preposition - "via survey."
I conducted primary research via survey.
vs.
I ...
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1answer
34 views
What does 'nothing went right' means?
I wanted know, what does means these sentences below:
Nothing went right today. Nothing went right again.
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1answer
33 views
How to write with respect about saying that original work is done by someone else?
I used a Mirza Ghalib Urdu poetry to create almost similar poetry (the pink image contains the poetry I created in Hinglish language. It's just a rough illustration to represent the poetry I created.) ...
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2answers
35 views
What does 'you'd be' mean? [closed]
This is the sentence: You'd be really cool Felix.
What does 'You'd be' (You had be) means in that sentence?
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1answer
20 views
What does the phrase “assorted doodads” mean here? [closed]
Please help me figure out the meaning of the phrase "assorted doodads" in the following sentence:
In the game you can poke, swipe and slide assorted doodads on a bunch of robot heads just to see ...
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1answer
15 views
“all the time” or “during the time” which is correct or better as an antonym of “until”?
Don't open the cover until the light goes out.
I am trying to rewrite the above sentence I created without using "until". My examples are as follows:
Don't open the cover all the time (that) ...
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1answer
12 views
If it is necessary = If need be. How 'it's necessary' could become 'need be' here?
[If it is necessary = If need be]
How 'it's necessary' could become 'need be' here?
+or does 'be' simply mean 'to exist' in "If need be"?
(Can I use it in formal writing&speaking?)
+Is there ...
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0answers
12 views
As usage with be verb
Do you see any mistake in the sentence below?
The question is as topic title.
İ mean topic title is same thing of my question.
Thanks
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1answer
38 views
Could someone help me understand the phrase “not for (the) want of trying”?
So..I understand the meaning of the phrase "not for (the) lack of trying" and then I've learned that "not for (the) want of trying" has the same definition.
But how?! Is there a way to understand how ...
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1answer
19 views
I am sorry, I am <name> and I am happy usages
When someone asks our name, we use I am [name]. Also, we use I am to express our feelings, like I am sorry, and I am happy. So do we use I am for both our identity and our feelings?
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2answers
18 views
Finding Correct word
I have doubt on a phrase.
Situation: Let's think like that,I want to change the position of a box. I want to take permission from the owner of the box. What should I say?
Where should I put the box?...
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3answers
52 views
What is the term for the grandson of my aunt?
How to call the grandson of my aunt?
Should I call him cousin or something else? What is the generally accepted term?
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2answers
59 views
What does the phrase “notch your arrows” mean here?
Please help me figure out the meaning of "notch your arrows" mentioned here.
I found the lexical meanings of the word notch here, but they don't seem to fit in the given context.
Thank you for your ...
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1answer
14 views
What does the phrase “slice your timeline” mean here?
Does the word "slice" simply mean "cut" in the following sentence?
The new tool palette includes cursor modes—Hand, Zoom, Blade, and Track Select—that enable you to quickly zoom in, move, and even ...
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1answer
14 views
Is there any difference between “that is it” and “that is what it is” in the sense of it is a fact?
Is there any difference between the phrases in the following context.
I couldn't pass the exam. That's what it is.
I couldn't pass the exam. That's it.
What I am trying to say that I didn't ...
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0answers
26 views
Idiom “Do the best”
Does the second sentence mean the same as the first one?
They are doing all possible to further the passage of the Senate.
They are doing the best to facilitate the passage of the Senate.
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2answers
25 views
The use “that is it” and “that is all” in context
Tell me please if there is any difference between that is it and that is all in the following sentence.
I have only done half of my homework, that is all.
I have only done half of my homework, ...
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1answer
15 views
Is the phrase “an extensive amount of hard work” correct and does is sound natural?
What I want to indicate in my writing is that I understand I need to work really hard as a student in the program. I'm using this sentence:
I am aware that studying in such an intense and demanding ...
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1answer
36 views
Why this phrase is right: The hardened professional smuggler?
Why this phrase is right: The hardened professional smuggler?
I think because hardened = professional, so it is weird to see the phrase: the hardened professional smuggler.
But I know that phrase ...
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0answers
21 views
What is grammitcally correct when trying ot schedule an appointment
.. Any ‘ol way.. just let me know when you are/will be free upon your return.
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2answers
67 views
Exclamation with “What or How”
How does it say correctly with exclamation?
How she looks!
or
What she looks!
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2answers
56 views
What is the opposite phrase of “ALL CAPS”?
As far as I know, we say that the words in which every letter is in upper-case as "ALL CAPS".
Then how can we say for not "ALL CAPS"?
Something like "Not all caps".
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1answer
37 views
meaning of the phrase [duplicate]
Can this phrase be used this way?: to mock at someone who said some kind of nonsense or the way what he did or the way how he looks. Or is it possible?
For example: I can't with/from your stupid ...
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1answer
36 views
Carrier fibre: what is it?
I was reading a thesis and saw this sentence,
Recover (Spain) takes post-industrial cotton waste and shreds the
fibre to upcycle it into yarn. By colour sorting the waste materials,
they have ...
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0answers
14 views
Elliptical structured confusing English
1.She believed to have been killed in somewhere in frontline
For me it should be written in like "She is believed 'who' have been killed in somewhere in frontline"
After the peace treaty ...
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1answer
28 views
What does the phrase “edges the fabric” mean here?
Please help me figure out the meaning of the phrase "edges the fabric" in the following sentence:
Depending on the look you want to go for, hold your felt sides together using a running stitch (where ...
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1answer
56 views
What is the meaning of “indicate otherwise?”
"First, the Handlins cannot adequately demonstrate that the White servant's position was improving during and after the 1660's; several acts of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures indicate ...
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2answers
84 views
What does the phrase “snap into place” mean here?
I find the phrase "makes drawing operations snap into place" confusing in the following sentence (which is unfortunately not available online):
Generally, I prefer to work with a coarse grid that ...
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2answers
78 views
“somehow” or “ in any way”? [closed]
Tell me please which one of the following sentences sounds the most natural.
Can I help you somehow?
Can I help you in any way?
What I am trying to convey is a willingeness to know if there ...
2
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1answer
50 views
Is the usage “it is not until now……” grammatically correct?
I have heard a lot of sentences including the phrase "until now" at the begining of sentences.
But when I search its inversion format in Google, I hardly find any related sentences which begin with
...
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4answers
82 views
To beat someone in a competition/debate/etc in a humiliating way
What is the most common informal/casual idiom / expression / verb to imply making someone feel defeated in a humiliating way in AE?
For instance, let's say two youngsters are playing soccer against ...
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0answers
20 views
What does the phrase “ragtag rebels” mean here?
I am not sure about the meaning of the phrase "ragtag rebels" in the following sentence:
Your ragtag rebels will fight in turn-based battles with monsters.
The sentence above is a description of ...
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1answer
35 views
Is there any difference between the phrase “all the better” and “so much the better”?
Is there any difference between the phrases? For example:
If can come earlier, it is all the better.
If can come earlier, it is so much the better.
By the way, do I have to include it is as ...
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1answer
26 views
Is there any difference between “sideways” and “to the side”?
Is there any difference between sideways and to the side? For example:
Stop leaning sideways/to the side!
The car in front of us suddenly moved sideways/to the side.
I feel that in the ...
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1answer
33 views
Is it considered natural to open an answer with 'On the contrary!'?
Person A: He says that you like sweet foods.
Person B: On the contrary! I do like salty foods.
Is it considered natural to open an answer or comment with this phrase, or it should be a part of a ...
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1answer
34 views
Meaning of a “having come to be required”
What does the following mean?
"having come to be required".
It is meaning of statutory?
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1answer
26 views
What does pay-off mean?
Recommender Systems: Noisy data, commercial pay-off (e.g., Amazon, Netflix). -- source
I look up the longman dictionary. Seems none of the explanation makes sense.
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1answer
24 views
Does the phrase “fix a schedule” sound natural, if does, then what is its exact meaning?
When I want choose a date for, say, a party, does it sound natural to say the following?
Let's fix a schedule for the party.
If that sounds ok, then could I change fix for set?
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2answers
38 views
“Close/shut one's eyes to sth” VS “Turn a blind eye to sth”
I was wondering what is the difference between these two phrases. For me, they both mean very similar and I cannot differentiate between them.
For more clarification, let me provide you with an ...
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1answer
61 views
Is it natural to use the phrase “who are you to do something” when expressing anger?
Is it natural to say the following when expressing anger at someone for something they have done, and they don't have the right to do the thing?
Who are you to behave like that?!
Who are you ...
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1answer
14 views
To think…I think
I am wondering if this is the correct usage
To think I thought I had seen everything when she slipped on her own
spit, I think I cannot be surprised anymore.
I am wondering if this is the only ...
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1answer
48 views
What does “take a nap between the snoozing lion and lamb” means?
This phrase is from the below paragraph in the book Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky.
The book has a number of personal roots. One is that, having had
...
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1answer
56 views
Talking or speaking to someone [duplicate]
What is the correct phrase to use?
I am speaking on the phone? Please keep quiet for a while.
or
I am talking on the phone? Please keep quiet for a while.
To me, the first one makes more ...
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1answer
30 views
What do the Arapesh ancestors do when they “pluck back the bramble”?
I'm not sure about the meaning of the phrase "pluck back" in this passage of Margaret Mead's Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies.
The ghosts themselves are residents of the lands, and ...
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2answers
62 views
Is there some alternative use of “You are welcome” [closed]
From what I have learned it's as described here
You are welcome
But we use English as corp language at work, using slack and have GIPHY (a tool for adding GIFs to messages) connected to it and I give ...
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1answer
15 views
On using “to what extent there exist”
Is the phrase
to what extent there exist
a correct phrase? For example:
To what extent there exist disadvantaged families in this area?
I searched on it in google but did not find it used. ...
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2answers
21 views
How to use 'used to' two times in a sentence
How to say this
"When I used to go to the college, I used to play Volleyball".
Or is it ok to use used to two times in a sentence?
I know I can also use something like:
"When I was in ...
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1answer
42 views
Can I use “due left” as meaning of “due west”?
According to the dictionary, "due" can be used to emphasize for "Straight, directly" i.g: "Go due west".
So,can I use "due left" as meaning of "due west"?
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1answer
30 views
Meaning of “it is onto something”?
I came across it in this video. It is at 49 seconds.
On earth we deal with flush toilets if that is available, hopefully, to you. You do what you need to do, then you clean yourself up, and then it ...
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1answer
984 views
What does the phrase “pinch apart” mean here?
Here is a sentence from a task management app:
The app allows you to add tasks in several ways and in one of them you
can pinch apart two items in order to squeeze a task in between them.
I am ...
