Questions tagged [sentence-structure]
A complete sentence contains at least a subject and a verb, with all of the words being used in the sentence arranged in such a way that they express a complete thought.
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What kind of structure is this BBC sentence: "But what of all this business about it being America?
This is from a BBC video Tiny piece of US (see:1:50-1:55)
"But what of all this business about it being America?"
This sentence structure sounds confusing to me. I have thought that it may ...
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Complex sentence and Compound sentence
I was standing on the sidewalk but I was too ashamed to walk in.
I was standing on the sidewalk but too ashamed to walk in.
So the first one is obviously a compound sentence, but what about the ...
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Should 'be' be put before "totally unaware" in this quote?
This is from a news article :
Odds are, you will walk by one totally unseen and totally unaware
that that snake was there,' Simms told us. 'However, because they are
so well camouflaged, and they are ...
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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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"I don't like it when it is rainy." VS "I don't like it raining."
I hear this structure quite often:
"I don't like it when it is rainy."
But, I find it too wordy and somewhat difficult for us non-native speakers. So, instead, I wonder if can simply say:
&...
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What roles do these parts play in the following sentences?
What roles/elements/components (e.g. subject, ...) of a sentence do the parts in bold play in the following sentences? I am asking about the terminology of the components of a sentence.
I was ...
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How to identify the subject of every verb in a sentece?
I was watching a movie and I listened to the next phrase:
This is the key that was in the necklace that unlocks the box my birth certificate was in
The verb: “That unlocks the box…” refers only to ...
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'He lay unconscious." What is "unconscious"?
I just cannot seem to comprehend this question, but it has been bothering me all evening.
In the sentence "He lay unconscious," what is "unconscious"?
It cannot be an adjective, it ...
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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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How to know what form of the non-finite verb to be used in a sentence?
In this sentence:
He is the second person ___ this morning.
A. falling
B. to fall
C. fallen
D. fell
The answer is B.
I do understand the past tense fell is not a non-finite verb. But I am confused why ...
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why it use "-ed" instead of "-ing" in this adverbial clause
Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football debates always seem to scathe a few
players in the new, with last Monday’s discussions centred around
Newcastle forward Dwight Gayle.
in the clause "with last ...
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What's the syntax of "It's everything you've ever heard it is"? [closed]
Source: "Boardwalk Empire" Season 01 Episode 07 00:29:19
Mary Dittrich (the girlfriend of the photographer Robert Dittrich): Relax. It's not like he saw us together.
Angela Darmody (the ...
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Not even .. could cope with .. VS Even ... could not cope with
There is a sentence where the not is put ahead:
Not even a 20-year-old could cope with the chairman’s jam-packed schedule.
Why not express it as:
Even a 20-year-old couldn't cope with the chairman’...
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Is it correct to say "Bob was at home watching TV. Mike was at the shopping center. After playing there for 30 minutes, Mike went/came to Bob"?
The previous sentence often sets the central location and we use "go" if the movement is away from the central location and "come" the movement is towards the central location.
Say,...
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had seemed to adapt/seemed to have adapted
are these two sentences both correct? Is it idiomatic to express the exactly same idea in two ways? In my opinion it doesn't matter whether I choose to use either past perfect + simple infinitve or ...
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"...you'll have until Monday, Oct. 16, to actually submit your taxes."
This is from a news article.
The general deadline to file your 2022 tax returns is Tuesday, April
18. That's because Washington, D.C.'s Emancipation Day holiday falls on April 17. If you know you won'...
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Is this right: Subject-Verb-Object-Adverb than it Object
I saw this sentence in a book:
After an object is assigned to a variable, VBA can access it more quickly than it can a normal, lengthy reference that has to be resolved.
There are two questions ...
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What is the sense the "either" as an object in the sentence?
This is the first time I see the either at the end of a sentence to be an object.
I don’t think women and men are different, and I don’t even think age groups are either.
I guess the either means ...
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Which one is right: "......, then why couldn't IT have done?" or "................then why couldn't have IT done?" [closed]
This is from BBC about space and planets Questions about space (see:19:37-19:43)
"So if life could have started on Earth, then what's to say that life wouldn't have started on Mars?"
I ...
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Can we say "you almost got us lost"?
We can say "get ready" and "get something ready"
For example, "I got ready" and "I got my file ready".
When checking the adjective "lost" in ...
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Why are there two "thats" one after the other in this native English film? [closed]
This is from a native English film Modern Family (see: 7:08-7:13)
"Listen. I know I haven't been much help today. That that whole Jerry and Judy thing, it really hit me hard."
I did not ...
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What is the structure of this sentence: "We have been having water come through here."
This is from a native speaker My house is leaking (see:3:02-3:05) who is checking around his basement after heavy rain and sees some damp corner. He touches it and says:
"Oh, that is wet. We have ...
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What is the grammar point that we changed the structure "S + V and V" into the structure "S + V, Ving"?
When reading a story, I often see sentences like this
"The ogre smiled, showing his rotten teeth"
I think the original sentence should be "The ogre smiled and showed his rotten teeth&...
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Would this sentence mean the same if we removed one of the negatives: "How can't you not like this tune?"
"How can't you not like this tune?"
I understand the sentence means "it is almost impossible not to like this tune. Everybody likes it." And the structure of the sentence with two ...
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"I will live in Glasgow for one to two years" [closed]
I know usually "to" is used with "from" as in “From Monday to Wednesday I was in.”
But could you please tell me if I could use "to" with "for" as in
"I ...
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'Three times' and 'a third'
We say
This type of bread has three times the calorie content of tortilla.
But how do I say it the other way?
A tortilla has _____ the calorie content of this type of bread.
Is 'a third the ...
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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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Do these sentences mean the same: "I have friends round." AND "I have friends over."
I have friends round.
I have friends over.
I hear both are used by native speakers, and these two sentences seem to mean the same to me.
However, some web sites say the sentence " I have friends ...
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Why "now that" in this sentence: "Now that was some delicious pizza."
This is a native speaker's sentence: Ellen's favorite moments (see:2:48-2:50) A funny boy is eating pizza and says:
"Now that was some delicious pizza."
I did not quite understand why "...
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Why are they grammatical, "those things a thought," "those a thought"?
OK, this is the way in which some things are unities - by being continuous or a whole. Other things, however, get to be unities by dint of the fact that the account of them is a single account. This ...
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Are these sentences interchangeable: "She has her arm in plaster." AND "Her arm is in plaster."
Mom's neighbour saw me and asked me about my mom. "How is she"? And I want to say they put her arm in plaster because she fell the other day. So I thought I can say this in 2 ways:
1- She ...
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Use of "it" after "in such a way that"
Which of the following is correct? The only difference between them is the presence of the word "it".
1- Describe your accomplishments in such a way that highlights how they might be ...
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Sentence structures with "felt "
His words fell deep in my heart
I felt his words deep in my heart
His words made their way into my heart
Are they all grammatically correct? Do they mean the same?
Which one is more common?
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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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Which one is right: "We need to determine what the risks are to you and your baby." OR "..... determine what the risks to you and your baby are."
The following is from a conversation between a midwife and a pregnant woman who wants to give birth at home instead of at a hospital. The midwife says:
"...I am involved with many births at home. ...
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I can't find the subject of a verb in this sentence…
I read a text of Winnicott (Psychologist) and have a problem with this sentence:
By this definition an infant's babbling and the way in which an older
child goes over a repertory of songs and tunes ...
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what is the subject in the sentence?
On top of that come the problems of managing proceedings in what is in effect a huge debating society, in which everyone has a say, and speeches are relayed by “human microphones”—chanted sentence by ...
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What does the phrase "low-profile" mean here?
I'm having trouble understanding the phrase "low-profile grey and leather grip" in the description of an old model camera. Here is the sentence:
One of the most noticeable features is the ...
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"Where did you find Sara"
I am pretty clear with this sentence interpretation, where i have added "from" with the sentence as in "Where did you find Sara from" but if i do not use "from" and ...
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Does this question remain the same when it is a subordinate clause: "Who can tell me what day is it today?"
This is from an English teaching web site School conversation (see:01:15)
Who can tell me what day is it today?
As we know, a question sentence changes structure when it functions as a subordinate ...
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Until + Present Perfect + Noun + Verb
A friend and I are having a quarrel about the sentence:
"For operational reasons I am not able to downgrade as requested.
For this reason we ask you to take it for a (dud) until I've the access ...
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what does "raided" do in this sentence?
The premises raided included those of Shell, BP and Norwegian company Statoil. Our business correspondent Mark Gregory has more
what does "raided" do in this sentence?
Is it an adjective ...
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I am confused with the grammatical structure
I want to know grammatical information of the below sentence.
"acting with or showing care and thought for the future."
It's a meaning of word 'prudent'
I can see two conjunctions 'or' and '...
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Which question sounds more natural? [closed]
I'm trying to write a question that would sound natural to native speakers. Could you help me?
What are you going to surprise me with?
What will you surprise me with?
How will you surprise me?
How ...
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What is the meaning of "to direct support on" here?
Being reading a book on Programming Languages in Computer and face the following highlighted section:
The set of predefined value types excluding decimal are known as
primitive types in the CLR. ...
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Wierd structure of many clauses
Rep. Jason Smith, the House’s new top tax writer, is promoting an approach he says would favor
working-class Americans over large corporations, a shift in tone from his predecessors
that raises ...
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Is it correct to use the definite article in: 'I am good at the writing'?
I was arguing with a person with their sentence “I am good at the writing”. So they said since they were talking about academic things it is correct to use the before “writing”. My stance was you have ...
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Sentence structure of "Two X do not a Y make"
Two cuts do not an EV price war make.
Source: Electric vehicles defy price war after Ford and Tesla discounts
The likely meaning is "Two cuts do not make an EV price war." But I've never ...
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using just in sentences/phrases correctly
a) Terrifying and beautiful, just like a young girl alone in a Swiss Valley.
b) Just going to get my car cleaned. (I'm)
Does a) work as a complete sentence, if we view it like b) with an implied ...
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