Questions tagged [sentence-construction]
This tag is used for questions about the proper construction of sentences.
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Can I say "I cannot handle my starvation"
Is it proper to say this sentence below:
I cannot handle my starvation.
I am trying to express that I am very hungry using exaggeration.
The word "starvation" represents:
suffering or ...
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Is "He gave me a strange look" proper?
I am trying to express the following sentence:
He gave me a strange look.
It sounds strange since he isn't giving me something, but he is showing a strange look on the face.
One of the definitions ...
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How do I use "plus" in a sentence?
I am trying to express this sentence.
He doesn't have the key to the storage room plus he doesn't even know where it is.
Do I need to add a comma before the conjunction "plus", or is this ...
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Can I use 'was' twice in a sentence?
For example:
"I was salivating on the food he was cooking."
Thank you in advance.
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Should we use ".....When...." instead of ".....And then....." for 2 events one of which happened before the other
This sentence is from a husband on an English speaking forum for advice about her wife who has dementia.Dementia and wandering
My wife, 71 has lost all interest in anything other than walking up and ...
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Is it natural to say 'me not doing something' here?
Suppose Alice liked drawing and considered taking a related career path. When Alice found out she might not be talented enough and said she might quit, Bob encouraged her and told her that he wants ...
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"To get stuck" OR "to become stuck": Which one is idiomatic in the case of "a bus on the snowy ground"? [closed]
This sentence is under one of the pictures on the BBC news about the snowfall in England.
"Here, two buses become stuck in snow on Muswell Hill in north London."
"To become stuck" ...
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Do they all have the same meaning: "to go uneaten" vs "to get uneaten" vs "to be uneaten"?
This is from the BBC.
“Don’t be afraid to cut out elements you’re not keen on. If bread sauce always goes uneaten, don’t make it."
"to go uneaten" sounds interesting to me. And it seems ...
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Grammar of captions
My question was closed on English Language and Usage.
So I am asking it here.
Can anybody explain to me the sentence structure of captions.
Do captions have to be grammatical?
If yes What kind of ...
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Why do we need an "IT" in this sentence: "There’s still a hole in the corridor where he kneed it.”
This is from the BBC. Parents who cut ties
When he was at home, he was difficult to be around. “He never hit me, but would often destroy the flat in anger – there’s still a hole in the corridor where ...
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What does "inclusive" mean here: "Age Pension age increased to 66 years and 6 months for people born from 1 July 1955 to 31 December 1956, inclusive." [closed]
This sentence is from Australian social security web site Pension
On 1 July 2021, Age Pension age increased to 66 years and 6 months for people born from 1 July 1955 to 31 December 1956, inclusive.
...
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Is it idiomatic to say, 'someone thinks about how XXX' instead of 'someone thinks XXX'?
Suppose in a windy day, a billboard fell to the ground and John saw that. Instead of saying,
John thought it could knock him out instantly if it hit him
is it idiomatic to say this?
John thought ...
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Is it idiomatic to say, 'someone's hand finds something'?
If a guy's hand touches something, then he looks at what he just touched and now knows that thing is here, is it idiomatic to say, 'his hand found this stuff'?
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Meaning of "which Virginia claimed to be…she must reckon it one of the infelicitous of her position that insofar at least she was taken at her word"
The fugitive-act did not affect a foreign country which Virginia claimed to be and that she must reckon it one of the infelicitous of her position that insofar at least she was taken at her word
This ...
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Can I omit 'to be' in "I consider him to be the best"
I consider him to be the best.
My question is if we can remove 'to be' from the sentence without the meaning being changed
:I consider him the best.
If the meaning remains same then why are their ...
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"Shooting of three women......" Is this structure ambiguous? Is it clear whether "The women did the shooting" OR "Someone else shot at 3 women"?
This is from the BBC, Shooting of 3 women shocks Italy
"Shooting of 3 women at a cafe shocks Italy."
When I read the headline, I can guess the meaning from the context. Someone else did the ...
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Should it be "SO" or "BECAUSE" for this sentence to be logical: "They removed a section of genetic code so it no longer worked"
This is from the BBC, Alyssa's revolutionary cancer treatment
In Alyssa's therapy, each of the base edits involved breaking a section of genetic code so it no longer worked.
I did not quite understand ...
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Can the subject of a while clause be omitted?
For example, instead of saying "consumers no longer take the horsepower of cars as the only criterion, while they also care about the fuel-consumption", can I say: "consumers no longer ...
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How can I describe the painted lower section of a wall?
For example there is a wall. The lower section of this wall is orange and the height of orange part is 1 meter. Can I say sentences below when I talking about this wall or should I describe it in a ...
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What I think the purpose of the life is is to live happily with our loved ones
What I think the purpose of the life is is to live happily with our loved ones.
There are same be verb(is) one after another.
Is the sentence grammatically correct?
Can this sentence be reduced to:
I ...
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Why is there a comma after who?
This textbook says,
"The San Francisco School Department was sued on behalf of Chinese
speaking students who, parents and other advocates charged, were not
being provided with an equal education&...
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What's the meaning of 'he is the boy to do it '
He is the boy to do it.
What's the meaning of this sentence?
He is the boy who does it.
Or, He is the boy who did it.
Or, He is the boy who will do it?
One more sentence is here.
He is the boy to ...
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I'm not as you think or I'm not as think I'm [closed]
Let's look at these sentences.
I'm not as you think I am.
You're more beautiful than you think you are.
Can I rewrite these sentences as:
I'm not as you think.
You're more beautiful than you think.
...
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Answering <Whose is this book?> with <One of my friends'>
Let's say I am in a library and there is a book on the desk beside mine. If someone who works at the library or someone else studying at the library comes up to me and asks, "Do you know whose ...
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How I tell a person to give me a missed call
Is the sentence correct? Give me a reminder call when you are ready ?.
Context: I scheduled a meeting with someone at 1 pm. But the person is not responding on chat at 1 pm. So I don't want to keep ...
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I want to know which is most suitable word
Following episode three, which saw innocent 'faithful' Imran go home after being falsely accused as a traitor,
the atmosphere grew tense as John grew frustrated with a fellow faithful, Aaron, over his ...
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Does relative clause agree with main subject?
Consider the sentence:
The trout that swim in the center of the river keep themselves safe.
The main subject is "trout" which is single, but the main verb is "keep". Shouldn't ...
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It was a beautiful, sunny day yesterday. / Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day
It was a beautiful, sunny day yesterday.
Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day.
Are both sentences idiomatic or native speakers don't use the dummy pronoun "It" in the mentioned context, but ...
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How do you ask, if you want to find out how much time should pass before you get competent: "How much later?" OR "how long later?" OR "How later?"
Someone is teaching piano to someone else. The learner is impatient and want to play a tune soon, but he can't even play the simple things like the scales. So, the teacher says:
Scales first, tune ...
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What does "Difficulty god of gods mode" imply?
A cross-stitch pattern of the original style. Difficulty god of gods mode. Guess I should start practicing.
What does "Difficulty god of gods mode" imply?
She said, "Oh my God, pattern ...
user165285
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with what tools you should be familiar with - is it a correct sentence?
with what tools you should get familiar with - is it a correct sentence? Is it correct to use a word with at the beginning and end of the sentence?
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Positive and comparative degree of same adjective [closed]
A little less virtue and I might have lived longer.
Reference: THE ANGEL AND THE AUTHOR -AND OTHERS by Jerome K. Jerome
As less is a comparative degree of little, it's here being used right after its ...
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Which one is more idiomatic: "until june this year." OR "in the year to june."?
This is from the BBC website. UK net migration hits all-time record
UK net migration hit 504,000 in the year to June.
As English is not my native language, I would probably say "until June this ...
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Use of 'there is' at the end of sentences
Couple of days ago I came across to this sentence:
I am the most vile man there is.
I get the overall meaning of the sentence but can't figure out why 'there is' used at the end. It has sth to do ...
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Is this structure prep+prep right? [closed]
I saw this sentence:
The answer is almost certainly in between.
Here in is prep, and between is prep, so in grammar can I use prep+prep in general and it's right?
for example can I say:
I get it at ...
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Unadvertised cold spells mean?
He would not go abroad he had once tried it, but had chanced to strike the Riviera during one of its carefully unadvertised cold spells.
The phrase its carefully unadvertised cold spells is a little ...
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Omitting coordinating conjunction and verb "be" in literature
Here's the sentence I'm asking about:
I sat trapped in my seat, my false smile stretched so tight that
I lost all feeling in the lower half of my face
If I were to write the same sentence, it would ...
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Why is there a "would" in the if clause, instead of a simple past?: "Decision-making could be easy if you’d think about what’s right for you."
The following sentence is from a text about marriage when to walk away
"Besides the pain you get from the betrayal, knowing when to walk away after infidelity is a lot harder to face. However, ...
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Does my usage of "thereby" have the intended meaning here?
Moreover, the socialist states are less prosperous because the means of production are nationalized instead of being under private control, thereby reducing incentives for economic progress.
I'm ...
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beginning next month, beginning next semester, beginning this year ... etc
Example:
Beginning next month, Dining Services will no longer serve hot breakfast foods at university dining halls.
Is Beginning next month an example of ellipsis?
Does it means some complete ...
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Because of + Noun phrases
Please consider the sentence below.
“The big record label system was going through a lot of upheaval because of the internet taking away all the sales and lots of people getting fired “
What do you ...
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Why “being” instead of “be” for this sentence
Why “being” instead of “be” for this sentence
Writing lyrics in Thai takes a long time for me for my band ... because we sometimes have a western melody and the Thai language, being tonal, sometimes ...
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Difference between: "Why do I have to study this hard?" AND "Why do I even have to study this hard?"
Two students have been studying and they are quite tired. Exhausted, one of them finally says to the other:
A: Oh my god! Why do I even have to study this hard?
B: To become an engineer like you have ...
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The subject of the infinitive verbs with to
I was reading a English grammar books. It says: when you use the structure: ... first (or last etc) n + to + v, there must be subject-predicate relationship between n and v.
Then it give an example:
...
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Some... some... and others.... Some
The place is alive with campers in tents, hitch-pulls and fifth wheeltrailers, and assorted motor homes. Families with small children andteens are running everywhere. Some are on the way to the ...
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would have had to vs had to [closed]
Here is the excerpt from a website :
Black teens were 21 times as likely as white teens to be shot and
killed by police between 2010 and 2012, according to a ProPublica
analysis of the FBI data. Ryan ...
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would have had to vs would have to have been vs would have had to have been
1.If I had studied at Harvard University in 2010, I would have had to be diligent in my coursework.
2.If I had studied at Harvard University in 2010, I would have to have been diligent in my ...
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The glasses were too thick for her to see well (in/with)? [closed]
The glasses were so thick that she couldn't see well with them.
The glasses were so thick that she couldn't see well in them.
The glasses were too thick for her to see well.
The glasses were too thick ...
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Do I have to end with "Finally" in the sentence pattern "First, Second, Third, and Finally"?
Can I end with "Thirdly" to end instead of "Finally" (say I do not have the 4th point), is this wrong or inappropriate?
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What is the meaning of "They have different entangled experiences" in this YouTube video?
What is the meaning of "They have different entangled experiences" in this YouTube video at 15:13? I looked up the meaning "entangled" in the dictionary. It shows "...
user164163