Questions tagged [sentence-meaning]
Use this tag for questions about meanings of whole sentences rather than phrases.
2,749
questions
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James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell once remarked that the best scientists are, in a sense, the ______ ones; not hemmed in by the ______ of their respective fields, they are able to approach problems with a(an) ...
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0answers
17 views
What does 'problematic institution' mean in the context of the paragraph?
This question has been asked on Stack Exchange Politics. However, I feel it has more to do with English than Political Theory.
See the quoted lines below:
The State has been considered as a ...
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3answers
50 views
Confused about this participle
He entered the room smiling.
I think the participle 'smiling' acts here as an adverb. When he entered he was smiling.
I saw him smiling.
Here the participle 'smiling' acts as adjective when we ...
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0answers
18 views
Help me find the difference between these two sentences [closed]
The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners Lee.
Tim Berners Lee invented the World Wide Web.
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1answer
25 views
To be singular to something
After lots of searching and googling, I was not able to find any sense or meaning for the expression "is singular to" in the sentence below:
The capacity to release this pure language is singular ...
1
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1answer
35 views
“She is to be back by nightfall”
I was reading a book and found a really strange sentence:
"She is to be back by nightfall".
Does it mean either she has got to be back by nightfall or she is supposed to be back by nightfall, or ...
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0answers
29 views
Confused about the structure of the sentence
Let's look at the sentences.
These are the things to sell.
These are the things to be sold.
Which one is correct? The first one sounds good. It seems that in the first sentence we are talking ...
1
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2answers
44 views
“I want you succeed in life”
I want you succeed in life.
Is the above sentence correct? It sounds grammatical if we think of the sentence as 'I want that you succeed in life' and take 'that you succeed in life' as the object of ...
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0answers
23 views
as exhausting and strange as the trip had been
I have the text:
As exhausting and strange as the trip had been, Kate seemed to love getting to know the missionaries and their families.
Which is correct, 1 or 2:
1) Kate seemed to love getting ...
0
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1answer
44 views
Is the sentence correct or shortened?
Let's look at the sentence.
He doesn't want to see me win.
Is it shortened? Is it correct grammatically? I think the sentence should be as follows.
He doesn't want to see me to win.
or
He ...
0
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1answer
22 views
What is the meaning of “who, however, left some of their women behind them”? [closed]
Being considered untenable, it was deserted by the male inhabitants, who, however, left some of their women behind them.
Quoted from [Title of book] by [author] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16167/...
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1answer
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What's the grammar and meaning of the sentence “We're make it example on that one!”?
The source of the sentence "We're make it example on that one!":
https://cnc.gamepedia.com/Twinblade
One of the unit's quote
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2answers
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to be _ but _ structure
Elusive means hard to find or capture. I read a sentence in the newspaper today which was
They were asked to go to Jhalwar on April 5 to be tested but proved elusive.
I am confused in the meaning ...
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1answer
17 views
Meaning of “we are the working out on earth of Freedom of Speech…”
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/07/truth-and-consequences/303149/
Analysts offer various explanations for the public's widespread contempt for the media. My own hypothesis is that ...
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0answers
27 views
Meaning of “What does it mean to”
What does the meaning of the sentence actually begin with "what does it mean to ..."
I encounter sentences like:
What does it mean to know the word?
What does it mean to use a method?
what does it ...
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0answers
14 views
Rejects or Accepts?
In the sentence below, does the speaker rejects nationalism or the idea that nationalism is a kind of atavism?
Some modern political theorists reject nationalism as a tribal atavism.
Thank you all!...
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1answer
23 views
what is the meaning of perceived difficulty?
I found it in Mini habits book by Stephen Guise :
the five biggest factors found to cause ego depletion was the effort, the perceived difficulty, negative affect, subjective fatigue, and blood ...
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1answer
14 views
Does this sentence say something specific, or is it ambiguous?
I read this sentence and found it to be confusing:
According to NAME, there is an ongoing shortage of forensic pathologists working in the United States, with about 500 currently employed and a ...
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0answers
15 views
Why is the Past Perfect in this sentence? [closed]
"She will trust her mother's judgment in this as she had always trusted it in all things".
This is from a book. Why is the Past Perfect used here? This is the reason why she will trust her mother, so ...
4
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2answers
100 views
What does “you a stranger” mean?
I was reading a book and I noticed a strange sentence for me. "It was brave of you to help Arthur - and you a stranger". What does "you a stranger" mean? Is it a shortened "you are a stranger"?
0
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1answer
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What is the meaning of this scientific sentence?
I was reading an article about deep learning and I've encountered this sentence:
Usually, deep learning models use dropout on the fully connected layers, but is also possible to use dropout after the ...
17
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3answers
3k views
Grammaticality: 'Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something'
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something — Plato
I didn't understand this quote. How do you understand this? Shouldn't there be a verb after 'fools'?...
1
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1answer
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Impact of disaster
Considering the consensus of the world's leading meteorologists that there will be a vastly greater number of natural calamities (such as hurricanes and floods) during the first several decades of the ...
0
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1answer
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Meaning of “no telling whether good or evil.”
As I stood there telling my parents that I had returned and what I meant to
do, I noticed a movement among the bushes. I was ready to run back to the
truck when Kanoro stepped out. Or I thought it ...
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2answers
82 views
Meaning of “C’mon that segue tho.”
I am translating a Youtube video to Spanish; I am fairly comfortable with standard English but I have found an expression that I am not sure how to understand. Of course, I do not want the translation ...
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1answer
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Meaning of “tasting only what was to come.”
I thought the four-week voyage would never end. So eager was I to reach
Africa that at times the ship seemed caught in the water like a leaf endlessly
turning around in a pool. I ate my chocolates,...
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2answers
20 views
Parlance or discourse
A negative aspect of the increased dominance of Big Business in the United States is that political ________ might come to center on economic matters, ignoring the larger requirements of civil society....
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3answers
63 views
How to remove the ambiguity in this sentence?
Let's see a dialogue between a father and a son :
(1) Son : Dad, I've got the job.
Father : I know you didn't get the job because of your qualification. It's due to the recommendation of the ...
2
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4answers
45 views
Is it correct to say “ a physical equation” when I'm talking about “a physics equation”?
If I would describe "2x+3=0", that's an algebraic equation. Is it okay to describe "E=mc^2" by saying its a "physical equation"?
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1answer
28 views
It is commonly believed that
source: https://www.amazon.com/Barrons-GRE-Verbal-Workbook-2nd/dp/143800379X
It is commonly believed that war is sometimes not only ________ but the only ________ moral choice between the evil of war ...
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1answer
18 views
Why does it put “or” instead of “,” in this example? Difference in meaning?
Why does it put "or" instead of "," in the following example?
https://7esl.com/verbs/
1)"or" sentence: Noun refers to the words or pharses that represent a person, a place, a thing or activity, or a ...
1
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1answer
31 views
Making illegal any activity
source: https://www.amazon.com/Barrons-GRE-Verbal-Workbook-2nd/dp/143800379X
Making illegal any activity that is popular and not overtly harmful_______ a trade-off between the advantages gained and ...
0
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1answer
24 views
What brings you by? [closed]
What is the meaning of "What brings you by?" is the above sentence commonly used in English conversation?
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1answer
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What does “articulate experiences” mean?
Here is the context (from here):
At the time, Japan was emerging as a center for Pan Asianist ideology.
The Pan Asianists wanted to rectify what they saw as an unjust
international system. Some ...
0
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0answers
13 views
“To have an interest in something” vs “To be interested in something”
I think "to have an interest" means "to have a claim or share in something". If aptitude or curiosity is meant, the verb should be "to be interested in".
But one of my friends said :
"I have an ...
1
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1answer
72 views
Far from being of purely theoretical interest
The sun is surrounded by a powerful magnetic field, which, far from being of purely theoretical interest, has profound effect on life on Earth in the form of its effect on radio communications.
Can ...
1
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1answer
17 views
Meaning of “plunged in, covering for the students who were in the lavatory throwing up”
When we were faced with our first cadaver,
smelling partly of formaldehyde and stinking partly of rot, because it had not
been well preserved, we all held our noses and plunged in, covering for ...
0
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1answer
39 views
“You are next” vs “It is your turn”. Do they have the same meaning?
You are next.
It is your turn.
These sentences seem to have the same meaning. Is there any difference?
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2answers
27 views
Get what's mine
I am going to say: "finally, I'll take what I think I should have in life (money, power, etc.) from this life."
E.g. I'm talking to my friend and say:
I think I am not where I should be in life. I ...
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1answer
37 views
What is the meaning of this “Let those who wait, will wait”?
Please explain the meaning of the idiom "Let those who wait, will wait!"
0
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1answer
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Constitutional lawyers and advisers to the architects of new democracies?
Despite the beliefs of many constitutional lawyers and advisers to the architects of new democracies to the contrary, we will see in
§7.2.2 that the best evidence currently suggests that these
...
0
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1answer
18 views
“Moral person” Vs “Someone who lives a moral life”
I was wondering how these two are different from the meaning viewpoint?
He / she is a moral person.
He / she lives a moral life.
Do they exactly mean the same? If not, how they differ?
P.S. I have ...
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1answer
30 views
Is the sentence “Time to take don't walk” correct? What is it mean? [closed]
A friend saw the following sentence in a notebook with travel theme, but we couldn't get what it means. It is actually like a journal to write out your trip experiences, but it brings some ...
0
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0answers
39 views
can do worse than . .
Does it make sense literally to say the following?
You can do worse than ask John for advice.
What does "can" mean here?
I know it's used to make a suggestion, but I want to know if the meaning ...
0
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1answer
14 views
Meaning of the expression “providing a spur for”
What is the meaning the expression
Providing a spur for
?
Does it mean encourage? Also in this case what is the literal meaning of the noun spur?
Example:
And just as group living promotes ...
2
votes
1answer
24 views
How come nothing has feathers anymore that doesn't fly
I was reading an article from the Economist and found this sentence quite hard to make out.
How come nothing has feathers anymore that doesn't fly, or isn't descended from something that did?
I ...
0
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1answer
27 views
(Taking / putting in) the time + infinitive or gerund verb
I am wondering which following sentences does not sound idiomatic? (To me they all mean the same thing. If there is any nuance, then please let me know.)
1.a. Thank you for taking the time "helping ...
1
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1answer
13 views
“What it makes sense for people to accept?”
Although these writers all deploy much of the social contract idiom, then, at the end of the day their arguments rest on accounts of what it makes sense for people to accept, not what ...
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1answer
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“I do not like either of the sisters.” What does this sentence mean exactly?
I do not like either of the sisters.
What does this exactly mean?
A) I don’t like one of the two sisters (I dont know which one is that).
B) I don’t like one of the two sisters (I know which one is ...
0
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0answers
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What is the meaning of “wound up” in this context
Max: Hmm. Ben’s been gone a while. Well, I guess he can’t get into too much trouble out here.
Gwen: Unless he wound up bear food. (Max frowns at her) Hey, I can dream, can’t I?
