Questions tagged [word-order]
This tag is for questions about the correct order of words in a phrase or a sentence, or how changing the order affects the meaning.
1,204
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people in this country are/people are in this country
1 I know what people in this country are.
2 I know what people are in this country.
It seems to me that the sentences can have different meanings. But I can't pinpoint the difference explicitly. Are ...
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Shortened complex sentences or simple sentences with multiple subjects/predicates
In sentences akin to "I like to cook and eat" or "John and Jill should come over tomorrow", we have multiple sentence members of the same type which are joined by conjunctions. My ...
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Is it correct to place "smiling" after the verb instead of at the end? "She reread smiling the typed note"
She reread the typed note, smiling.
The phrase "the typed note" is serving as a direct object to the verb "reread" as it raises the question of what. While the participle "...
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How does word order work in this sentence?
I am very aware of the existence and importance of word order in English to convey accurate messages, but I wonder how did the author know where to locate exactly every word of this sentence...
...
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Why did the author use commas in the sentence?
Because he moved the adverbial four thousand years too late, which is normally in the last part, before to take the credit for atomic theory?
I was sitting outside a restaurant in Spain one summer ...
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Can I sometimes move objects to start of the sentence?
English is a language with a generally fixed SVO (+ inversion in questions) word order. However, sometimes adverbs that are related to the main verb can be shifted to the start of the sentence, like ...
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Noun modified by two adjectives; one has a complement, the other doesn't
When using two adjectives to modify the same noun, and only one of them has a complement, what are the grammatical options? I know that these sentences can probably be rephrased to sound better, but I'...
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Where to put ”only" and "even"?
Tom can't speak French. He can't speak Spanish either. He can [only speak English / speak only English].
Tom can speak French. He can speak Spanish too. He can [even speak Tagalog / speak even ...
- 1,076
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Should 'do' after 'than' be inverted in this sentence?
That is, Strangers stand further apart than acquaintances do is ungrammatical? I have often encountered inverted clauses after than, as, so in comparatives, so the sentence above seems - at least to ...
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Strange intuition about split infinitives
I recently encountered a sentence in a story that has got me to thinking:
He at least had class enough not to leer.
The sentence as-is seems fine, although I would usually use a word order of "...
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"A man is standing outside/on the outside of my house"
"A man is standing outside of my house" or "A man is standing on the outside of my house"?
"I will paint outside of my house" or "I will paint on the outside of my ...
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Ways to ask what a word means
Are all these idiomatic ways of asking what a word means?
Is number 2 a cleft sentence?
What does "technique" mean?
What does it mean "technique"?
What's the meaning of "...
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Which one is correct: “if you so wish” or “if you wish so”?
Please help me to resolve this issue.
Which one is correct: “if you so wish” or “if you wish so”?
Is there a rule for this?
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What did they offer you to read?
I know that this is wrong:
What did they offer you to buy?
This is correct:
They offered me a book to read.
Is this correct?
What did they offer you to read?
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"NP is there to-infinitive" vs "there is NP to-infinitive"
ldoceonline.com:
(1a) Your adviser’s experience is there to be tapped. — "NP is there to-infinitive" is odd to me in this sentence.
my variant:
(1b) There is your adviser’s experience to be ...
- 1,232
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Which I had accidentally once
Which is correct, Folks?
That rock, which I had accidentally once found on the ground, was magical;
That rock, which I had once accidentally found on the ground, was magical;
That rock, which I ...
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is "there is no can doubt" grammatically correct?
I'm really confused about this. I've asked 2 teachers and they somehow gave different answers, it was used like this:
"…there is no can doubt that climate change has a..."
from what I know ...
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Which of these is correct: "Is supposedly" or "supposedly is"?
"Something supposedly is true."
"Something is supposedly true."
Are both of these correct English? Is there any notable difference in their meanings?
Adam
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"sentence pattern with preceding adjective"
Lately, I came upon a sentence in a story I read, which caught my attention.
FEARFUL, THE HUNTER FLED THROUGH JUNGLE
It is understandable for me, if the sentence is modified as follows:
BEING ...
Selfie groupie
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2
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"For no money would she leave" vs "For no money she would leave"
I read a linguistic paper saying that the two sentences have opposite meanings.
For no money would she leave.
For no money she would leave.
The paper says...
(1) means she wouldn't leave even if ...
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What does 'a man annoyed' mean and is it grammatically correct?
Writing in September 1785 to his envoys in Pune — the seat of the rival Maratha state — Tipu Sultan was a man annoyed. There had been a dispute between local Muslim and Hindus, and Tipu's agent had ...
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placing adjectives after nouns or using adjective clauses instead?
I have come across different sentences in which adjectives are placed after nouns. I did search for the reason and got to know the idea of the postpositive adjectives which are, in general, used in a ...
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I Then Understood
Can then and first be put in the mid-position? I've seen some examples where they are, but I want to know whether they really can be in the most grammatical way.
I then understood that those small ...
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Where can "is" be put in "I would like to ask you what is the difference in meaning between CAT and DOG"?
1 I would like to ask you what is the difference in meaning
between CAT and DOG.
2 I would like to ask you what the difference in meaning between CAT
and DOG is.
3 I would like to ask you what the ...
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Have Already Been Learning or Have Been Already Learning
Which sentence is correct?
By 2030, I will have already been studying English for seven years.
By 2030, I will already have been studying English for seven years.
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43
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"I met where, whom" or "I met whom, where"
there is a 'word-order' quastion. Usage of pronoun "who" and adverb "where" in one sentence, example:
...since I met in Kalamazoo that artist, he came up to me and said...
or
......
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what is the problem/what the problem is
I want to find out what is the problem.
I want to find out what the problem is.
Do you consider these sentences to have different meanings?
On the one hand, the mean the same, but on the other they ...
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I don’t know how many kilometers there are between the airport and the city
1 I don’t know how many kilometers there are between the airport and
the city.
2 I don’t know how many kilometers between the airport and the city
there are.
3 I don’t know how many kilometers between ...
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problems can be there/problems can there be/problems there can be
There can be a lot of problems.
How can I rephrase the sentence?
1 I don’t understand what kind of problems can be there.
2 I don’t understand what kind of problems can there be.
3 I don’t understand ...
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54
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One of his all/One of all his/one of all of his
I am not sure whether any of these are wrong or simply unidiomatic.
1 One of his all cars is black.
2 One of all his cars is black.
3 One of all of his cars is black.
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'retort that so had she' meaning
The sentence is:
Rose bit back a retort that so had she and went in to see her mother.
A Daughter's Duty - Maggie Hope, 2014
What sort of sentence is this.
The word order is messed up I think.
Why is ...
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the air in the forest was ... / the air was ... in the forest
When the leaves were sprouting, the air in the forest was becoming really fresh.
When the leaves were sprouting, the air was becoming really fresh in the forest.
Are both versions idiomatic and could ...
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Meaning and usage of "perforce"
I have been looking up dictionaries & literature to understand the meaning & usage of "perforce". I have some doubts about it.
Take this example:
Drinking wine is not perforce ...
user167304
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You're from which country or which country you're from
1.You're going to school?
2.You're from which country?
Are their structures grammatical? I think they're supposed to be:
(1) Are you going to school?
(2) Which country are you from?
So which ones are ...
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What is the correct word order in the included sentence?
As a non-native speaker I’m struggling with how to order the clauses in the following sentence:
Because I, as a graduate of a vocational college and as someone who has already successfully absolved ...
Maria
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The word order in these questions
1 To smoke is important to him.
1a How important to him is to smoke?
2 It is important to him to smoke.
2a How important to him is it to smoke?
Are 1a and 2a correct?
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Which word order is correct, "explain why I am" or "explain why am I"? [duplicate]
I was trying to formulate a question yesterday I used the second sentence, however, I keep wondering if that was correct.
Can someone explain to me why I am ...? or
Can someone explain to me why am ...
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Verb to be repetition in Yes/No questions
All,
Why don't we repeat is or are in questions starting with is or are (verb to be)? for example:
Is it (is) your glass?
Are you (are) taller than me?
How does it sound grammatically? Also, Does it ...
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What's the difference between "the killing machine" and "the machine that's killing"
Are they interchangeable? If so, can I apply it for every sentence that conveys the similar meaning like "a toy that is moving" to "a moving toy"? I've never seen someone ask about ...
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No-one *at all* understands me
Can I put 'at all' in the mid-position?
My research: I found some questions connected with 'at all', but none of those were about what I'm trying to find out. Then I found some information about 'at ...
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What's the difference between "the statement given" and "the given statement"?
I've stubbled upon these kind of phrases many times but I'm still not sure whether they are interchangeable or not. And also there's a similar phrase like "the invading barbarians", is it ...
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Is there any way to tell which word "also" describes?
I also play baseball in Italy.
Are there three ways to interpret this sentence?
Not only Tom but also I play baseball in Italy.
I not only play soccer but also play baseball in Italy.
I play ...
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Order of words: 'that said my teacher' vs 'my teacher said that'
Often, I invert the conventional order of the words. I mean, I like to put the predicate before the subject. When I wrote something like:
"The Absolute is perfect". That said my teacher ...
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"English accent speaker "
"Now let's listen to an English accent speaker."
I fell like it doesn't sound good. Much better seem alternative constructions with "of" or "with", right?
What do you ...
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Interesting blown-away/blown-away interesting dandelion
Which word order is correct for compound hyphenated adjectives?
▪︎ That [interesting blown-away/blown-away interesting] dandelion was intercepted by the cats.
user166442
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What happiness is is being discussed
From https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/85353/65098, I learned "I didn't know what it was." is correct.
So if I use the what clause as a subject, like
What happiness is is being discussed.
It ...
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Can I use 'lag 100 years behind'?
I have found some usages of 'lag behind' as follows:
lag far behind
We still lag far behind many of our competitors in using modern technology.
Catering salaries lag far behind those of other sectors.
...
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Confusion about that-clause and relative pronoun
"If I ever figure out an angle that I think would be useful to convey, I'll write it up" vs "If I ever figure out an angle I think that would be useful to convey, I'll write it up"?...
user166283
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Are articles needed in "sift signal from noise"? Is it the right word order?
I have 2 related questions.
What is the correct expression in English? Is it with "the" or without it? In my research I have found roughly the same instances of both. If both are ok and ...
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Is the order of adjectives correct in "a new sleeveless blue woolen jumper"?
Is the order of adjectives in this sentence correct?
I've just bought a new sleeveless blue woolen jumper.
Which category (perhaps size, shape, or something else) is "sleeveless" in? How ...
Lao Hairi