Questions tagged [sentence-meaning]
Use this tag for questions about meanings of whole sentences rather than phrases.
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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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What does "Name seemed to be in doubt" mean in this context?
Hunger, chaos, thawed mud everywhere, uncollected debris, water
pipes bursting, unofficial warnings of tainted water supplies, gas
explosions. Unrest among Free Britons. Today being pay day, pay
...
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I've worked here for two years vs I worked here for two years
Let's look at the sentence:
I've been working here for two years.
This sentence means that I'm still working. Right?
I have worked here for two years.
I worked here for two years.
What's the meaning ...
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Verbs of perception: see, hear, watch + object +[bare infinitive/ gerund/ adjective/ past participle/]
Some of the verbs called "verbs of perception or perceptual. However many English language learners would face many problems with using them, me one of them.
>
Some of them are being used in such ...
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What does "compromise" mean in this sentence?
Orwell didn’t live to see the compromise which English Socialism now
represents – a minimum of public ownership, a social-security
apparatus that costs too much, a mass of ‘equalizing’ laws not easily
...
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Usage of "your " and meaning of below mentioned sentance?
I have come across with below mentioned sentance.
Q1)Is bolded word replaces with you or is that correct?
Q2)is that sentance means
my father is not agree to people smoking cigarettes in the ...
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Meaning of the sentence in bold is somewhat unclear to me
The surgeon had been sitting with his face turned towards the fire: giving the palms of his hands a warm and a rub alternately. As the young woman spoke, he rose, and advancing to the bed's head, said,...
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Have somebody done/doing for regular events
Which form should I use to imply continuity(persistence) for the event?
1- We had a strange woman come to the door selling pictures.
(Did the strange woman use to come to the door regularly?)
2- I ...
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How do you question yourself for your failing in the past: "Why couldn't I have done more?" VS "Why couldn't I do more?"
This is from the BBC where a mom, whose daughter has a phobia of talking, tells about her feelings. Phobia of Talking (See:4:49-4:54)
"....Why didn't you notice it. Why couldn't I have done more?&...
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Do these have the same meaning: "...finding out what his life has been like." VS "...finding out how his life has been."
"She spends time with him finding out what his life has been like."
The question structure "What something is like" seems to have the same meaning with "how something is?"...
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Usage of "rather"
What's the difference between following sentence:
She kept herself rather to herself in her own pantry.
and
She rather kept herself to herself in her own pantry.
Are there some omitted words in ...
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Which one is grammatically correct about preposition? [closed]
I am stuck in doubt "Student in Oxford" or "Student at Oxford"
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growth of 11 million vs an 11 million growth
I want to know whether a/an X million growth is the same as a growth of X million.
The year 2001 witnessed a growth of 11 million in the number of households that live in a rented accommodation.
The ...
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Difference between crash into, slam into, ran into, smash into [closed]
What will be your mental image if you read the following sentences? (examples are self-made except number one)
1- He crashed into the wall while trying to escape from the police.
2- He ran into the ...
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Does "as" mean "because" in "Just then, people start cheering and applauding as Steve steps up on the karaoke stage"?
Does my sentence mean what I want it to mean?
Just then, people start cheering and applauding as Steve steps up on the karaoke stage and takes the microphone.
Written like this, does it mean that ...
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Do the sentences "Yes, you did, very well so" and "Yes, you did so very well" have the same meaning?
Consider the following sentences:
Yes, you did, very well so.
Yes, you did so very well.
Do those sentences have exactly the same meaning? If they don't have the same meaning, can someone explain to ...
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Use of "that" in "the meaning is that of a noun"
I don't understand "the meaning is that of a noun" here
In compound nouns using the gerund, it is clear that the meaning is that of a noun, not of a continuous verb
I don't understand the ...
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'It is impossible' followed by a that-clause vs. 'It is impossible' followed by a for + Noun Phrase + to + Infinitive construction
It is impossible that everyone is telling the truth.
It is impossible for everyone to be telling the truth.
What on earth is the difference between the meanings of two sentences above?
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How I understand this Phrase?
But the Nobel Foundation's limit of three recipients per prize, each of whom must still be living, has long been outgrown by the collaborative nature of modern research—as will be demonstrated by the ...
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What does "could be taken to stand for" mean in this context?
This is the history of the word "item" taken from the American Heritage Dictionary.
"The word item seems to us to be very much a noun, whether it refers to an article in a collection or ...
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What does the second "as" used in this sentence mean?
Darwin had a phrase to describe those ignorant of evolution: they look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension.
In "as at something ...
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What does mean this sentence? "the sweep of his arm took in most of Main Street"
"the sweep of his arm took in most of Main Street"
What does this "sweep of his arm" mean?
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"It is important to recognise the interdependence between individual, culturally formed actions and the state of cultural integration." meaning
It is important to recognise the interdependence between
individual, culturally formed actions and the state of cultural
integration. People work within the forms provided by the
cultural patterns ...
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On the meaning of 'to not commit to a meeting' in this context
The following passage was taken from this NYT article (7th, 8th, and 9th paragraph counting from the last paragraph).
One of the most dramatic moments she described came in the July 10 meeting in ...
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Can we make similar sentences as to the meaning of the sentences using might
1.It was probable that he would go but he didn't go.
2.It was probable that he had gone./Probably he had gone.
3.It is probable that he has gone.
Can we make similar sentences as to the meaning of the ...
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Is during also an adverb?
People often focus on a quake’s magnitude, a measure of the size of, and to an extent the energy released during, the rupture in Earth’s surface. What made the earthquake in Morocco so devastating
...
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Any difference between: "Did you know anybody else that old?" AND "Did you know anybody else as old?"
Somebody asks a very old lady "How old are you"? And she says:
"I am 101. Did you know anybody else that old?" Old lady (see:00:49-00:53)
I sometimes hear that another structure ...
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Meaning of "it would seem that strategy being followed is to protect defer and delay the case of luis posada"
I think the meaning is ambiguous.
"it would seem that strategy being followed is to protect defer and delay the case of luis posada"
I don't know if it's referring to the purpose of ...
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"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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Something of that kind/ that kind of something
Can I use these versions interchangeably?
1- I didn't say anything of that kind.
2- I didn't say that kind of anything.
3- It is a game of some kind.
4- It is some kind of a game.
...
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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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What's the main difference between "You are not to use the elevator." and "You don't have to use the elevator"?
Aren't "be supposed to" and "be to" the same?
You are not to use the elevator.
You are not supposed to use the elevator.
You don't have to use the elevator
What's the main ...
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'How is it that Maynzie consistently punches above his weight?' means 'How come that Maynzie firmly pulls women who are better looking than him? '?
I have found in Urban Dictionary the following 1:
to punch above your weight: to pull or pick up someone who's better looking than you.
As an example gives the following question:
How is it that ...
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Using 'too', 'also', 'either', 'neither' in negative sentences
Suppose my friend says "I don't like tea" and I feel the same. Then which ones of the following would be correct?
I don't like tea too.
I also don't like tea.
I don't like tea either.
I don'...
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Does this mean "Jerry was being taken aback by a stranger”
Jerry Paiz recalled being taken aback by the stranger on the street
corner inquiring about compassion.
David Begnaud, CBS News, 30 June 2023
Does this mean Jerry was being taken aback by a stranger ...
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"Borne her in." What does this sentence mean?
I was reading a book and I encountered a sentence I cannot understand.
As I mentioned in the title, what does "borne her in" means?
Does it mean that somebody gave birth to her? Or are there any ...
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What is the difference in meanings of these two sentences?
I have heard the poem being recited on numerous occasions.
I have heard the poem recited on numerous occasions.
How is the first sentence different from the second sentence?
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may(=possibility) vs. can(=possibility)
There is generally a difference between can and may in the sense of 'possibility'. Notice, for example, that in We may see you tomorrow, can could not replace may without a considerable change in ...
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Be afraid of or Be afraid that? what is the structure details of this sentence?
"When someone deletes you, the system will not tell you because they are afraid that you will be sad; when you delete someone else, the system will ask you if you are sure, because you are afraid ...
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Difference between "the number of people you would have thought" OR "the number of people you would think"?
This from the BBC website Lost wallet found 5 years on
It is about a story in which somebody lost his wallet 5 years ago after he watched a game in a rugby stadium, and it was found 5 years later. ...
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distinguish between a determiner and an adverb
I like the film more than the book
first, more is an adverb in the sentence
She earns a lot more than I do.
second, more is a determiner in the second sentence.
How can I find the difference of the ...
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"There are scientists out there actively looking for solutions." What is the function of "....out there..." in the sentence? [duplicate]
This is from the BBC Earth Lab Super volcanoes (see:9:50-9:55)
"It is, however, reassuring to know that there are scientists out there actively looking for solutions."
I think the ".......
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How should I take the following sentence?
In this context, how should I take the sentence 'Concourse alone is best'?
I don't catch its interpretation.
What does the word 'Concourse' mean?
Context:
In that noble Toleration Edict, Asoka says: “...
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It be not until ~ that ~
It was not until after we had been on the highway for several hours that Peter asked me if I wanted stop at a restaurant for a bite to eat.
In my opinion, It ~ that ~ is a sentence that emphasize ...
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may(=permission) and general permission which has already been given
Can is used to talk about permission that has already been given or refused, and about things that are allowed by rules or laws. May is not notmally used in this way.
(from Practical English Usage ...
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I've been reading a lot of books or I've read a lot of books?
I want to say that I started reading a lot of books when I was a child and I continue to do so. So is the present perfect continuous the right tense or should it be the present perfect simple?
I've ...
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Does "I came hiking with you" mean "I arrived with you by hiking" or "I have arrived for the purpose of hiking"?
Does I came hiking with you mean I arrived along with you by hiking, I have arrived for the purpose of hiking with you, or both?
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Meaning of "orienting response"
What is the meaning of Orienting response in below passage?
What is it about TV that has such a hold on US? In part, the attraction seems to spring from our biological ‘orienting response.’ First ...
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Using the word "waver" for moving away from diet
Context: Chatting with a friend on Whatsapp. We both were following a diet plan, but today I didn't commit to it due to a family occasion.
How do I communicate this properly:
"Today went well, ...
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How should I understand the following sentence?
In this following context, how should I take this bold and italic sentence?
The verbs 'incur' and 'enter' make me confused.
What does the word 'question' mean here?
Context:
In Buddhism there is no ...
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