Questions tagged [sentence-meaning]
Use this tag for questions about meanings of whole sentences rather than phrases.
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Using the word down at the end of a sentence
How did the prosecutor track this suspect down?
How did the prosecutor track this suspect?
Is there any difference in meaning in the above two sentences?
How does adding the word down make a ...
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how to understand complex sentence using as?
He doesn’t sound nearly as eager to make small talk with this guy as he was with me.
How to parse and understand the above sentence?
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Using onto something to convey diligence [closed]
Context: Someone asked me "How is the diet plan going", I thought of replying "I am onto the diet plan". I intend to convey that I am eagerly following it today or diligently ...
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Is "As and when…" correct?
As and when the user scrolls the page ...
Is this correct English?
The context is: A person is describing scrolling on the web page.
Not sure if the "As and" part is correct or it adds any ...
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Whats the meaning of"he appreciates with some of the intensity of a visitor from planet kepler" in the sentence below?
He appreciates with some of the intensity of a visitor from planet Kepler22b in the constellation of Cygnus the bizarreness of how fingers interlace, how foldable they are, in what varied shapes and ...
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to give some chance reader
I am reading Maugham,
Heaven knows what pains the author has been at, what bitter experiences he has endured and what heartache suffered, to give some chance reader a few hours' relaxation or to ...
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At night the kids grabbed a pizza from Frankie's. (from Frankie's) [closed]
At night the kids grabbed a pizza from Frankie's.
The pizza came from Frankie's or The kids ate the pizaa at Frankie's house?
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Grab a seat, I won’t keep you a moment. (Can I say I will keep you a moment?)
Grab a seat, I won’t keep you a moment.
'a moment' means a short period of time like "for a moment"
The negative sentence "I won't keep you a moment." could be exchanged with ...
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She’s too vain to wear glasses. (Why a person who is vain can't wear glasses?)
She’s too vain to wear glasses.
I saw this sentence in a dictionary. Why a person who is vain can't wear glasses?
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have something happening / having something happen / having something happening
I would like to know the differences between these three sentences.
The teacher have the students writing the answers on the whiteboard now.
The teacher is having the students writing the answers on ...
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How to express that one is having a series of bad luck to complete a task
So when there is a series of problems that are getting encountered in doing work. What could we say or express it in a succinct way?
some things that come to my mind are: (not sure if they are correct ...
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purpose or result : so (that)
from Longman Contemporary:
so (that)
a) in order to make something happen, make something possible etc He
lowered his voice so Doris couldn’t hear.
Why don’t you start out early so that you don’t ...
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The teams were all square at half-time. (do we need 'all' here?)
The teams were all square at half-time.
I found this sentence on the internet.
Do we need 'all' here? 'square' here means 'a tie score'.
What does the 'all' refer to? teams or it is just an ...
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Janet is going on a vacation. (is this progressive or future?)
Janet is going on a vacation.
I saw this sentence on internet. Is Janet now, at this moment, going on a vacation? Or, does Janet have a plan to go on a vacation very soon?
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"...is as much instinct as science"
Not a native English speaker.
Question: What does the following mean?
Something is as much instinct as science.
For example, I was reading a post on a SQL Query Performance where I came across the ...
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meaning of "He was really struggling in geometry."
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com > meaning №1 > Extra Examples:
to struggle — to try very hard to do something when it is difficult or when there are a lot of problems:
(1) He was really ...
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"The jury in the E. Jean Carroll civil battery and defamation trial was made public Friday" meaning clarification
The video deposition of Donald Trump played before the jury in the E. Jean Carroll civil battery and defamation trial was made public Friday, showing the former president discussing the accusations ...
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What's the meaning of "receive credit for freshman mathematics" in college?
This context comes from the book "Black Rednecks And White Liberals"
by Thomas Sowell.
At one time, the reputation of Dunbar graduates was such that they did
not have to take entrance ...
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Meaning of a Lincoln Quote
Given below is a quote from Lincoln:
No man who is resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention, still less can he afford to take the consequences, including the ...
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could do nothing that is not better done elsewhere
What does the following sentence mean? Does the principle of "two negatives make a positive" apply here? If not, how we do derive the meaning in a stepwise fashion?
A full-scale ...
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any topics that are researched more thoroughly
What does the following sentence mean? Does it involve a contradiction?
The present thesis could not tackle any topics that are researched more thoroughly elsewhere.
Does it mean:
If x is a topic ...
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Meaning of this quote from Victor Frankl’s book?
I was just reading Victor Frankl’s book , Man’s Search for Meaning, and came across this quote
“I mentioned earlier how everything that was not connected with the immediate task of keeping oneself ...
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difference between sacred and sacred one
What is the difference between sacred and sacred one?
Sentence - The garden was a sacred one.
Source - https://youtu.be/C5a3pDMGp34?t=151
Is there any difference between following two sentences?
The ...
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Is the language used in this paragraph very intelligible for a native speaker?
this is an excerpt from "Euclid's Elements"
"A straight line is said to have been cut in extreme and mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to ...
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Is this sentence grammatically correct: "The last thing he wants is for you to end up inside."
This is from the BBC 3 Alcohol problem. (see:9:25-9:33) It is about a man's who is tagged to get monitored if he drinks or not for a particular period of time, in which case he might be fined. So, he ...
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"I like your shoes". Is this sentence ambiguous when it is said to someone working in a shoe company?
When you are in a shopping center and are inside a shop and start talking the woman who always help you and say to this person:
"I like your shoes."
I think the "the liking" here ...
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Meaning of "water, the weight of which is one-eighth hydrogen"
I have a question about the article written by Isaac Asimov in 1987 that was published in the Los Angeles Times. It said
For instance, coal, oil, and gas all contain hydrogen atoms and you can obtain ...
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Why tell about a past event with "would" although it was not repetitive in the past? [duplicate]
From the BBC web site about a famous comedian who passed away Paul
"After making his mark on London's comedy scene as Lily Savage, O'Grady would go on to become one of the most recognisable faces ...
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What does "The children were spared (from) the virus" mean?
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
(1) The children were spared from the virus.
What does (1) mean?
Does it mean (2), (3) or (4)?:
(2) The children didn't contract the virus.
(3) The children contracted ...
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Why does British drama say "Where CAN she have gone now." instead of "Where COULD she have gone now?"
This is from a British drama Late Starter (see:35:44-35:46)
In the film, a man's wife has left without saying where she has gone. So he is looking for her everywhere and visiting her friends' houses ...
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Uses of 'was' and 'had' in sentences
This is a extract from a newspaper.
In the 1960s and 70s, before the men in blue and IPL, when cricketers could still walk around in the street unhindered, Durani was the closest Indian cricket had ...
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"We have been down this street already." OR ""We have been to this street already."
This is from a British film Anybod's nightmare see:46:33-46:35
Two people in a car are looking for a place by looking at a map while driving. They can't agree on whether they are on the right street, ...
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What does "to resolve on making an early start" mean?
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
(1) We had resolved on making an early start.
What does (1) mean?
Does (1) mean (2) or (3)?:
(2) We had made a decision about whether to make an early start or not.
(3) ...
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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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A hard city in which to be unsuccesful
What does "in which" mean here? It looks like the sentence can be split in "a hard city in which" and "to be unsuccesful", but, anyway, I do not understand the first part....
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A is xx% higher than B
Almost the same as the question "A is faster than B by 40%", but unlike the comment of "This seems to be a question about mathematics more than English.", to me this is still an ...
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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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The scene was set for the final showdown
The scene was set for the final showdown.
(from a dictionary example)
What does the sentence mean? And in what context is the sentence used?
I already know the word 'showdown'.
Does the sentence mean ...
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"The Silicon Valley credo is driving the society to develop rapidly." Which interpretation is more reasonable?
A sentence in one text says "The Silicon Valley credo is driving the society to develop rapidly.".
I think this sentence has two interpretations:
(1) The content of the Silicon Valley credo ...
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How can I use reporting verbs
My sentence from a grammar site is "At least 6 people are believed to have been killed in a shooting rampage". Will there be any difference if I turn it into:
There are believed to have ...
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Where have you ever traveled to or where have you traveled to?
Are all these questions grammatical?what's the difference in meaning between them?
Where have you ever traveled to?
Where have you traveled to?
Where have you already traveled to?
Asking about ...
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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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·What does the second sentence in this paragraph mean?
"If people had invested their money in antiques 20 years ago, they would have found it difficult to make a profit on their investment until very recently. So people who cannot afford for their ...
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Using the idiom "go through the roof"
"If the manager sees this type of work his anger will go through the roof" Is this sentence correct? Or is there a better way of phrasing it?
I found that "go through the roof" is ...
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One way that’s lasted: the jack that helps in the changing of a tire
I don't understand the meaning of the following phrase. Is the jack in question that's "lasted"? If so, in what way? Does jack here refer to a tool as well? Thank you!
"One way that’s ...
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Whats the meaning of "looked up from his sandwich "in this paragraph?
Ross looked up from his sandwich and nodded at the dead snake.
The source of this paragraph is an exam.
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A complex sentence contained "as much...as..."
I have searched a lot about "as much as", so I knew what it basic means. But this sentence is hard to understand for me.
To summarize, then, I suggest that we take Frege's ascription of a ...
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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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