Questions tagged [sentence-usage]
The usage of a particular sentence, how and where it is supposed to be used properly, so as to convey the intended message properly and obtain the most favorable outcome.
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How to politely say to a person to stop giving ideas about thing he doesn't know about
How to tell someone politely "Could you please stop using your brain?".
I think this sentence is somewhat rude. The context is: If a person who is not knowledgeable in a field is giving you ...
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<in the song of "beat it",> <in the movie of Doom> VS <in the song "beat it",> <in the movie Doom"
I know that we can say "In the song 'Beat It'" or "In the movie 'Doom'" like in
I love the guitar solo in the song "Beat It"
In the movie Doom, there is no part that ...
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The widely reported leak of alleged classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy
A spokesperson said in a message posted on Twitter: "The widely reported leak of alleged classified US information has demonstrated a serious level of inaccuracy.
Source
If "leak" ...
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They swindled hundreds of dollars out of him. vs. swindled him out of hundreds of dollars
They swindled hundreds of dollars out of him.
vs.
They swindled him out of hundreds of dollars.
The question is 'swindle sb out of sth' vs. 'swindle sth out of sb'
Why the two sentences above make ...
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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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The usage and meaning of "to make for something" [closed]
I read in a book a sentence "Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift". The understanding seems to be clear. I can think of a man who decided to use the stairs to lift ...
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Usage of let me
I have heard people use the following sentence:
Scenario I am talking to the other person and he says There is some lag. Let me check my internet connection Is this usage of Let me check... correct. ...
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Could you please explain the meaning of this sentence?
Always the more indulgent parent, the children were caught off guard
when their dad implemented such a restrictive curfew.
The first part of the sentence ('always the more indulgent parent') seems ...
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When to use "thanks for stopping by"?
Is "thanks for stopping by" used for brief visits? And when can we use it, at the beginning or at the end of the visit?
Is it informal? If yes, what can we use instead to convey a formal ...
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Is it natural to say you wonder what yourself (could) have been doing?
Alan is hanging out with Alice alone in the forest when they get caught by Alan's girlfriend Betty. Feeling agitated, Betty confronts them, asking what they two were doing there. Wanting to make Betty ...
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Is the phrase "I read that in Spock" correct?
This context comes from a part of Stephen King's book "The Shining" in which Wendy, Jack's wife, speaks to him about Danny, their son. She thinks Danny isn't eating enough lately and ...
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Is it correct to say "I leave here"?
Some people I know say that routinely: "I leave here", "I'm leaving here", "I'm going to leave here" and so on. Somehow that phrase doesn't feel right to me (I would've ...
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what are you doing since morning
i know that my title may not be correct but i couldn’t know correctly title .
my Duty or work started from morning until evening, if someone would ask me about it, how could he/she ask me?
what are ...
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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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Issue an invoice [closed]
Sometimes my customers ask me not to issue an invoice for the their purchase and I said “no”. Would the sentence below be correct answer for this situation?
I have to make the sales with the VAT ...
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'Feel like a jerk' VS 'feel like I'm being a jerk' [closed]
If I did something stupid, which of the following is correct/natural to express my feeling?
I feel like a jerk.
I feel like I'm being a jerk.
I feel like being a jerk.
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Is it natural to ask, 'what do you think you are doing'?
If someone's doing something bad or that will have a really bad influence on me, say, a brother just opens the windows wide on a windy winter day while I'm having a fever, and I want him to explain ...
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Is usage of 'go beyond somethings to something' correct? [closed]
I write as follows：
Choosing to do my master in X would be my ever best decision. Studying at the international university brings me not only its top educational quality and academic research, but ...
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Is 'what's [something] doing here' a natural expression?
Let me first explain the context here. In the sixth episode of Golden Kamuy 4, an Ainu guy Ariko works as a spy for a samurai gang in a hunt for a gold treasure. Ariko wants to steal the treasure maps ...
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What are the different ways to say "I'm joking"?
I can't recollect if I've ever heard a native speaker say, "I'm joking".
The ones I can remember are:
I'm messing with ya
I'm just messing/goofing around
What are the other popular ways ...
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Is it correct to answer the question “who is there?” by “I”?
Somebody on quora stated that “I.” is a possible answer to the question “Who is there?”, making “I.” the shortest English sentence whatsoever.
I'm not a native speaker but wouldn't the natural answer ...
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"I am a 100% sure" or "I am 100% sure"?
Both sound right to me I guess. Is any of the two grammatically wrong?
Is this a Brit vs American thing because I'm pretty sure I've heard them both.
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easier to put into words than to put into practice
Say Bob's being given the task of coming up with an innovative method for streamlining the company's logistics. He works all day and all night trying to get it done. Finally, he puts together a ten-...
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Can I say 'It's all I've ever been fighting for'?
Can I say 'It's all I've ever been fighting for'?
What I want to mean is that I've been fighting for 'it' all my life, especially when I want to justify a decision I'm about to take.
For instance,
'I ...
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Saying that someone is wacky, airy-fairy, zoned out, distrait, bonkers etc [closed]
Trying to put up examples that would convey the idea of someone "having a screw loose", "being kooky" etc, I concocted some random sentences containing modifiers interesting for me,...
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100 people's death or deaths?
The title says it all.
The original question goes like this:
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the given word.
The flood which happened last week caused 100 people's _______ (death).
I ...
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Switch off their grey matter before parking on the couch
When I read a news article I came across the below sentence.
The Telegraph described the show, which is released on Thursday, as "riotously ridiculous" and "great fun for those who ...
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Clarification about this sentence
Then, over the course of a century or two, they (the aforementioned towns) emptied out (in much the same way as the Natchez Great Village was later to do [...]
As you might have guessed by the bold ...
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Is "acting distributor" English?
I saw an ad made by Mandarine-speaking people, and it writes:
Welcome to join cooperative acting distributor.
The sentence was supposed to mean "Looking for representatives (of our products)&...
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On the balcony, what is she doing? - is this acceptable?
Example 1
What is she doing on the balcony?
Example 2
On the balcony, what is she doing?
Are both of them acceptable?
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Is "it is ＋adj. ＋n."used correctly in grammar? [closed]
I think it's important what he was doing when he wrote this
guidebook.
Is this sentence correct? If not, how to change it?
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Different ways of using - short of money
I have seen the following sentences to express that I have less money:
I am a little short of money
I am short of money
I am somewhat short of money
I am not sure what the difference is between the ...
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How to express wait for (at most) how long and wait for something at the same time [closed]
I am not a native English speaker and am writing a command line program interacting with the end user. I need to prompt the end user in my program before a long wait (a kind of polling until some ...
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Is the following phrase "He disappointed me of the money he promised" correct?
Is the sentence "he disappointed me of the money" correct? Are there similar examples with the verb disappoint in English?
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Is it rude to say you would not know what it is
Suppose someone asks me what questions you got in the interview. What could I reply if I didn't want to reveal the question?
Is saying: The interviewer asked the question on the call. You wouldn't ...
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Is it wrong to say “Today is Sam’s birthday” instead of “It’s Sam’s birthday today”? [closed]
I was watching a YouTube video where they’re saying so. They’re also saying that it’s wrong to say ‘Today is Sunday’ instead of ‘It is Sunday today’. Are these really true?
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"I hope not" vs "I don't hope so"
'Is that woman American?'
'I think so. / I don't think so.'
'Do you think it's going to rain?'
'I hope so. / I hope not.' (not 'I don't hope so').
We can say "I don't think so"; but why ...
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Should I repeat the word "hand" in this sentence?
Should I repeat the word "hand" in this sentence?
My right hand is holding my left hand.
Or, are there other ways to say that? For example:
My right hand is holding the other one.
or ...
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Can I use "have" and "had" in one sentence, like "I have had my revenge at last"? [closed]
'I have had my revenge at last.' -what kind of sentence is this?
Can I use have and had in one sentence?
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Just checking you or just testing you
Sometimes when people point me on my mistakes in grammar or speech I say as a joke: "I was just checking you! :)" meaning that it was a trap, to see if people notice the mistake. However, ...
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Can "could be" be used for past?
For example,
I could be asked yesterday.
We could be asked that time about where we were
Are these sentences correct? Can I not use "could be" to indicate about the past?
Is my second ...
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Do I have to specify the time when I say "How silly of me!" in the past? (see example)
Do I have to specify the time when I say "How silly of me!" in the past?
Let's say I'm telling a friend about something silly that I did in the past, and I say:
How silly of me (it was) not ...
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Does my description of wok wall make any sense to native speakers?
I am going to describe a wall called wok wall in China. Can I say "a Wok wall is one with a semi-circle extension on the top middle, making the top of wall like a wok with a pair of handles and ...
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Correct me the sentence : "you were the one who i talked to yesterday, weren't you?"
I will give you guys the situation. I met someone yesterday and had talking about something. The next day I met the same person But i wasn't sure that he was the same person. So I asked him you were ...
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If I was there, I am not alive now or I would not be alive now.(indicative or subjunctive usage) [closed]
If I was there yesterday, I am not alive now or I would not be alive now.
If I had been there yesterday, I am not alive now or I would not be alive now.
Which one between 1 and 2 is more widely used ...
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word usage “only”
I believe, Only mostly means as one of its kind. Correct me if I am wrong.
Last week, I texted my friend asking her where she was she replied
I am at home only. Sometimes I see people using it in ...
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"the best singer of those ones who sang" / "the best singer of those who sang" / "the best of the singers who sang"
He was the best singer of those ones who sang in the concert yesterday.
He was the best singer of those who sang in the concert yesterday.
He was the best of the singers who sang in the concert ...
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How it can be "The name sounds familiar to me."?
The name is known to me. (a medium level of knowing) - OK
The name is familiar to me. (a high level of knowing) - OK
The name sounds known to me.(it seems that is a medium level of knowing) - OK
The ...
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Is/was it right that I told him the truth?
To mean
"Was I right to tell him the truth?"
Can we say:
"Was/Is it right that I told him truth?"
Context: I want to ask if what I did is morally right. I know that we can say ...
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"....in 10 days" or ".....after 10 days."
The text is from BBC web site:
"....Under the measures, Austrians will be asked to work from home, non-essential shops will close, and schools will remain open for children who require face-to-...
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