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.
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Not only at the beginning of a sentence without inversion
There is one strange passage in Practical English Usage:
In the rather formal structure not only ... but also, the expressions not only and but also can go immediately before the words or expressions ...
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Is "study abroad program" correct?
Is "study abroad program" correct? For me, in this phrase, "study" is a noun, "abroad" is an adverb, and "program" is a noun, so it doesn't make sense that ...
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What's the meaning of "sundry great ships overspiring her from close without"?
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XI, published 1892)
For that was indeed a day of many and incongruous occupations. Breakfast was scarce swallowed before Jim ...
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3 free months or 3 months free
Recently my dad and I got into a debate over a Spotify advert which said "Get 3 free months of Spotify Premium". My father said that it was incorrect and should be "3 months on Spotify ...
CyberRohan1836
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"what this all is about" or "what this is all about"
One wrote:
You might guess what this all is about from the headline if you are up to date
I changed it into:
You might have already guessed what this is all about from the post's title if you ...
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Are the words in "The 40th-anniversary restoration of the concert film" really in the right order? Is this semantical?
The 40th-anniversary restoration of the concert film is a funk spectacle. It has also united the band, which split up in 1991, to discuss the landmark. — NYT
For someone learning English, the phrase &...
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How does inversion work when starting a relative clause? Am I wrong?
The other day I had to read a simple story and then summarize it briefly to my teacher. At one part I said something like:
The little boy was scared, so he ran where was Regina.
My teacher told me ...
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What is the best sentnce to write, which one is correct?
1- I can assist you (in) learning English or Arabic and helping you translate your documents to Arabic.
2- I can assist you to learn English or Arabic and help you translating your documents to Arabic....
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Word order of "code blue"
I have a random question about word-order that I have trouble looking up.
Why is it correct to say:
"the band Heart," "the movie 'Up!'," "code blue," "evasive ...
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Find the elements and how (they are / are they) constructed
to find the key elements of these algorithms and how are they constructed.
to find the key elements of these algorithms and how they are constructed.
Which of the two sentence above is correct?
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Is Maria her name or is her name Maria?
Does the different word order make any difference in the two questions below? Are they both grammatical?
Is Maria her name?
Or
Is her name Maria?
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Visit shortly or shortly visit?
I am constructing a sentence where a person wishes that an other person soon will visit her.
Should this be written as:
She hoped he would come visit her shortly
or
She hoped he shortly would ...
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Why do we use interrogative pattern in "So was I"?
One of the examples I can mention is in Captain America: Civil War:
Captain America: I was your friend.
Iron Man: So was I.
Why did Iron Man use an interrogative pattern (verb before subject) while ...
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Is it okay to put an adverbial of time between a subject and a verb?
Is it okay to put an adverbial of time between a subject and a verb? For example, 'the parliament on March 19 passed a bill that [...]'. I know I can put it at the beginning ('on March 19, [...]'), ...
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I am neither robber nor police. Neither I am robber nor police
Which sentence should be correct?
I am neither robber nor police.
Neither I am robber nor police.
I often saw ( neither....nor) is sometimes used in the middle of sentences and sometimes it is ...
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Correct way of using - "Both"
Which one of the following two sentences is more correct/appropriate than the other? Why?
That's a both interesting and challenging problem.
That's both an interesting and challenging problem.
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Putting to+infinitive at the beginning
My question is about the place of to+infinitive in some sentences.
For example,
1- Before I went on holiday for a week, I was really eager to study at mathematics.
I know this is correct.
How ...
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Changing the order of verb and subject in declarative sentences
I was reading a passage and encountered the following sentences:
The advent of the mechanical clock meant that although it could be adjusted to maintain temporal hours, it was naturally sited to ...
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The usage of adv + can
Some People say can only have same meaning as only can, and some not. So I want to make it clear.
I only can get it.
Does the sentence mean: I am the the only one who can get it?
So, how do I ...
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Which one of these sentences is correct/more idiomatic?
So, I'm not sure which one of these sentences is more grammatically correct.
The last one had just been sold before I got there.
The last one had been sold just before I got there.
I'm 99% sure both ...
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sentence-final "really"
In the following sentence, why is "really" placed at the end of the sentence?
Is it an afterthought?
I suppose delivery in two days is pretty fast, really.
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Should "above" and "below" be put before or after the noun? [closed]
Please see the above picture.
Please see the picture above.
Please see the below picture.
Please see the picture below.
Which are the correct positions for "above" and "below"?
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Part of speech of 'thanks'
I was reading , and saw this sentence,
'Homo sapiens conquered the world thanks to above all to its unique language.'
For sure, I understand what 'thanks' means here, but I wonder as what part of ...
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Is there something wrong with the noun phrase "the bear out term origin"?
Talking to a colleague who is more skilled than me in English I asked this:
can you provide information about the bear out term origin?
and he said I should have written:
Can you provide ...
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Give something to somebody vs Give somebody something
1- I gave the keys to Sarah.
2- I gave Sarah the keys.
I've already know the grammatical role of "keys" and it's object.
What about the "Sarah"? Is it the second object or what? (...
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How to choose between "Results then were" and "Results were then"?
During typesetting, my editor made some corrections to my manuscript. Most corrections are related to the word order shown below:
"Results were then used" --> "Results then were ...
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What is the correct word to the song that kept telling me its okay or that keep telling is correct
Like something I've been listening for a year and want to express that the song was the one that keep me going and what should be the correct word for me to post with kept telling or keep telling what ...
CommunityBot
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I never thought there was OR was there?
There is so much in life to be grateful for WHICH I never thought there was.
There is so much in life to be grateful for WHICH I never thought was there.
I find both to be correct. The first THERE is ...
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Is the word order of this sentence correct?
I came across such a sentence in OED.
They got in disguised as security guards.
I'm wondering, whether or not the above sentence can be rephrased into
"Disguised as security guards, they got in&...
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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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Which word is better here: 'case' or 'occasion'?
I want to say about some event/incident/opportunity (not crime) that happened in city/area.
For example, Manchester occasion or Florida occasion meaning some event/incident/opportunity that once ...
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He composed me a piece of music vs he composed a piece of music for me
I would like to know which of these forms is more likely to be used?
He composed me a piece of music.
He composed a piece of music for me.
I have a feeling that the second form would lead to a ...
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Unusual adverb position - 'know really' vs. 'really know'
For example, she suggests it is unlikely that the method will be able
to measure species abundance. But it could monitor bird migrations and
how they are changing in response to climate change.
“We ...
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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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"geographically organized" information or "organized geographical" information?
Pointing at his new designed map, Tom proudly said that it was not a piece of paper, but a record of ____________.
A. organized geographically information
B. geographical organized information
C. ...
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Where to put the word "still"?
He still is a boy.
He is still a boy.
Is there any difference between the two sentences? How about,
He is a boy yet.
He is yet a boy.
What are the differences?
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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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"Not too busy to not" or "not too busy not to"
I'm not too busy to eat dinner
or
I'm not too busy not to eat dinner
Typically, you would need a double negative ("I'm not busy enough to not realized I skipped dinner," in that you weren't ...
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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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Correct word order in sentences
Is the sentence to describe this situation by using “of” correct?
Is the sentence correct to describe this situation by using “of”?
In sentences place of the word “correct” is different? Is ...
CommunityBot
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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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Which is more natural? "Whose is that car?" or "Whose car is that?"
Whose is that car?
Whose car is that?
Which of the two is the most natural way of saying it? I think #2 but may I be mistaken?
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correct word order: $200 of sales tax" Or "sales tax of $200"
Which one of these is correct?
-"I paid $200 of sales tax on my computer."
-"I paid sales tax of $200 on my computer."
Can anyone please explain me the correct word order.
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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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"The function `hello`" or "The `hello` function"
When writing technical articles, I often have issues with the word order in the following situations:
The color red.
The .jpg extension.
The variable foo.
The "Further Notes" section.
The ...
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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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Why should you care? / Why you should care?
A: What about you? Why should I care?
B: Why should you care? / Why you should care? You don't have to.
Are both word orders possible and natural or is only one correct?
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