Questions tagged [sentence-choice]
The Sentence-Choice tag is for when you can have multiple ways to write a sentence but are not sure which way is most appropriate. Please explain which sentence you prefer and why.
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Which (if any) of these three alternative sentence constructions is most understandable for use in function documentation comments? [closed]
I'm writing documentation (i.e. code comments) for a JavaScript function with multiple parameters.
In specifying the purposes of each of the parameters, I have encountered some difficulty in making ...
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"was lost", "had lost", "had been lost". Which one suits best this context and how do they differ in conveying meaning?
Which one suits best? What are the differences? How do they differ in conveying meaning?
Last month, when I was walking in the street, I faced a little girl who ...
had been lost in the city.
had ...
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Is 'He would always say' a valid alternative for 'He always said'?
He would always say hello to me when he saw me in the street.
Is this sentence equal to 'He always said Hello to me when he saw me in the street'? If not how can I write it without 'would'?
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How to ask for the position on a book that someone has finished reading
What are some of the most frequent questions to ask friend for the position (either general like chapter number or specific like page number) in a book that they have finished reading yesterday? I ...
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if someone says "My {insert a body part} is better" which one of these would you use: "yeah, but your face isn't" vs "yeah, but your face doesn't"
I am sorry for taking the time to ask this silly question but it has been bugging me quite a bit. There was a twitter argument (as is usual for twitter) and an OF model said that about one of her body ...
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Is it correct to say, "they charge expensive amount of money?" [closed]
If it is not correct, does it atleast get the meaning across for a native speaker?
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Why it should be 'estimated', instead of 'is estimated'?
The hurricane caused damage ......... at $300 million.
What I have chosen: is estimated
The answer should have been: estimated
Is estimated adjective, what type of adjective, or what parts of speech ...
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Contextual meaning of the text
"I'm very glad... That was a grand day we all had—and a fine game, too."
"One o' the best days aht I ever 'ad in me life. Wish it was then and not nah—straight, I do. I'm off to Frawnce ...
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Is "You smell like sweat." the idiomatic way of saying it?
If you want to say to a close friend, who has sweated too much and is stinking because of that, which do you use?
You smell like sweat.
You smell of sweat.
You smell sweat.
You smell sweaty.
I ...
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How to talk about the end / finish of the washing machine in the following context?
Assuming I turned on the washing machine and I'm waiting until it finished (?). What's the idiomatic choice out of the following ones (if any...) when I'm telling my friend about my plan now:
I'll ...
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What's more natural choice when talking about menstruation bleeding?
What's the more natural choice when talking about the decrease in the menstruation flow?
Today I have less blood.
or
Today I'm less bleeding.
or
Today the bleeding is decreased.
The first choice ...
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"I discover this singer" or "I found out this singer" or "I discover this singer"
I want to tell about a singer who already was famous but I haven't listened before last nigth ... and by casualty I heard when somebody played her
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Why is the sequence of the quoted line like that?
I was reading Maugham and came across this:
I had not yet learnt how contradictory is human nature; I did not know how much pose there is in the sincere, how much baseness in the noble, nor how much ...
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Which I'm interested in vs. in which I'm interested
I recently stumbled across the following sentence:
"Saving the planet is the topic in which I am interested the most."
From my feel for language this sentence sounds good, but I would ...
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How to choose the correct sentence structure
When my friend says "I'm going to sleep" (while I'm with my family) I can think of three different ways to reply to him:
a) We are going to sleep in 10 minutes, too.
b) In 10 minutes we are ...
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Which one is correct "most experience" or "most experienced"
(1) I have done different types of jobs before: accounting, tutoring, cashiering, being a songwriter, and painting. Among these jobs, I have the most experience in accounting.
(2) I have done ...
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Referencing other researcher's observation as lead-in phrase in scientific writing
I'm currently discussing a turn of phrase with a colleague. Both of us are non-native speakers.
The context is "referencing prior work by other researchers within a scientific paper".
The ...
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How to ask if anyone knows about something?
Situation : I want to ask every person in my class if anyone know what is the day of today.
I am deciding about these sentence below. Which one sounds more natural?
Who knows what is this day?
Does ...
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"sprawling house" vs. "house sprawling"
Which of these sentences is correct?
Her sprawling house spreading over 2 acres.
Her house sprawling over 2 acres.
I know in first example 'sprawling' is adjective and in second example it is a ...
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That's it vs. That's all (= There is no step three)
From an old advertisement by Apple:
Presenting three easy steps to the Internet. Step one: plug in. Step 2: Get connected. Step three: there is no step three.
What would be the correct phrase to use ...
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Want to/wanna Which one should I use?
I want to ask a question.
So I have always been using:
I want to…
But now I use:
I wanna…
Which one is the one I should use?
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Many sports are popular in my country or Many sports in my country are popular? [closed]
Is there a difference between these two sentences or are they both correct?
-Many sports are popular in my country
-Many sports in my country are popular
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How to ask about out of stock
I went to Starbucks to get a decaf whole bean pack today and one of the staff said it was out of stock.
So, I wanted to know when it is in stock and asked her like "when do you have that in stock?...
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Concise Sentence to describe my workout routine
I was in the gym, and someone came to me and asked if we could share the bench. I would've shared, but the thing I am doing two exercises. I do exercise A on the bench, and when I finish the set of ...
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"Let me know when you wake up / are waking up / awake" - which of them the natural choice?
What's the natural way to ask a friend to tell me when he wakes up today?
I was thinking about:
"Let me know when you wake up", but I have a doubt if it shouldn't be: "Let me know when ...
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Can subjective and experimental literature be extended?
Considering the extended subjective and experimental literature of the
published studies in valid international datebases and the fact that
this kind of attitude toward the research in this field ...
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I hope you will be happy with what you get or I hope you are happy with what you will get?
Which one is correct?
I hope you will be happy with what you get.
I hope you are happy with what you will get.
I hope you will be happy with what you will get.
I hope you are happy with what you get.
...
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Am I supposed to love teacher or respect?
Once, I said to my teacher in the class that "Teacher I really love you." the way of teaching were so good and understandable but Whole class looked at me in such a way it really shocked me.
...
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Which order is better? "My best friend, Jody, is my cousin." vs "My cousin Jody is my best friend." [closed]
My best friend, Jody, is my cousin.
My cousin Jody is my best friend.
Which one is better?
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“I love nature there” VS “I love the nature there”
Let’s say I asked someone where he/she is from and I like (the) nature (the natural environment) in that city he/she is from, can I say these sentences interchangeably:
Oh nice! I like nature there.
...
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“on hiatus” VS “on a hiatus”
In dictionaries (example 1, example 2) it says that “hiatus” is a countable noun which is usually singular, but I see it being used as an uncountable noun as well in phrases like
Two of my colleagues ...
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'Feel like a jerk' VS 'feel like I'm being a jerk' [closed]
If I did something stupid, which of the following is correct/natural to express my feeling?
I feel like a jerk.
I feel like I'm being a jerk.
I feel like being a jerk.
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Is it natural to ask, 'what do you think you are doing'?
If someone's doing something bad or that will have a really bad influence on me, say, a brother just opens the windows wide on a windy winter day while I'm having a fever, and I want him to explain ...
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Is it correct and natural to say, 'we are a family'?
I read in the subtitles of a show such a sentence,
We are a family.
This sounds kind of weird to me. It's unusual to see 'are' followed by an 'a'.
Besides, when I googled 'we are a family', the ...
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A helpful exercise for/to your abdomen
I know that we can say something is helpful to/for someone like in
“This information would be extremely helpful for/to teenagers.”
I wonder if it is okay to say something is helpful to/for something
...
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What is the difference between 'Just not' and 'Not just'? Please explain with examples
Poverty is ...... (just not/not just) a lack of income and the inability to purchase, it is a deeply-rooted multifaceted complex structure comprising economic, social, demographic, cultural, political,...
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She is not disciplined like me
I have a question about ambiguity. This topic often confuses me so I had to ask native English speakers about this. Do you think a sentence like “She is not disciplined like me” ambiguous? I think it ...
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Could I use "when comparing" for this specific sentence?
It's the iPhone 14 pro that really gets new features when compared to the older iPhone 13 and 13 pro.
Could I use "when comparing" for this specific sentence ?
If the answer is no , why &...
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“The bridge is over the road.”
Is it grammatically correct to say sentences like these:
The bridge is over the road.( Meaning: The bridge is above/on a higher level than the road)
The painting is over the sofa. (Meaning: The ...
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What do you say when someone interrupts you? [closed]
Imagine that you are talking about something with your friend. Then your friend interrupts you. You still want to talk. What do you say to let him or her know that you want to keep talking?
"Let ...
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"Conflict with something" VS "be held at the same time frame"
I wonder if the following two sentences mean the same in the context below. (If they do not please let me know about the reason):
I need to chose between the math and the science classes......
a. ...
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Which is the more natural way to ask the reason for which no one's here?
There are 2 sentences asking for a reason:
Why is there no one here?
Why is no one here?
They both seem grammatically correct, but which is more natural? Is there any nuance between the two?
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Who has been drawing these pictures?
A teacher walked into the classroom and found that there were a few ugly pictures on the blackboard. He asked,
Who has been drawing these pictures?
Who was drawing these pictures?
Which sentence is ...
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"I have 2 Litres fuel in my car" " I drink 1 litre water in a day""
Is word "of" compulsory in a sentences "I have 2 litres of fuel in my car" " I drink 1 litre of water daily" or can i say these sentences with out using "of" as ...
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What would be an appropriate phrase to describe how much of a movie already elapsed?
I was watching a movie on my computer and I had to go the bathroom and then my phone rang so I picked it up and talk to a caller. I was unaware I didn't pause the movie on the computer and it turned ...
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Using concise words like unsure for longer sentences
Which is better English:
I am not entirely sure about this.
I am unsure.
I am unsure about this.
In the 2 and 3, using the word unsure has made the sentence relatively concise. However, is it always ...
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How to ask if there is a leave
On monday, the company is off?
I guess this doesn't seem right in English. What I want to convey is there is an official holiday on Monday. How can I do that?
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two "in"s in a row
There is only one blank to fill in in that sentence.
There is only one blank to fill in that sentence.
Grammatically speaking, both "in"s are needed, because of "fill in the blank"...
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"He was employed since 2007"
"He was employed since 2007"(to date)".(is incorrect)
"He was employed from 2007 to 2020".(is correct)
"He had been employed since 2007".(is correct)
I believe ...
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Emphasizing the subject with an article
What is the difference from including the article in the emphasis (which is not for intonation but for formatting)?
He is a journalist based in LA.
He is a journalist based in LA.
P.s. I edited the ...
