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.
1,009
questions
0
votes
2answers
135 views
country of origin vs origin country
Is there any difference between "country of origin" and "origin country" ? Example:
It says "Made in Mexico". I wonder if that is the real country of origin / origin country .
0
votes
1answer
786 views
“Did you notice that he…” /past simple/ or /past perfect/
I see that some natives consider this sentence:
"I noticed that he left."
to mean that - at a certain point in the past I noticed that he had left before.
Should this be:
"I noticed that he ...
1
vote
1answer
3k views
“Should already have” or “should have already”?
I think this new law is great and should already have exist earlier.
This sentence doesn’t seem correct to me. I don't know what, but something is disturbing me. Is it the tense of some verb? Or a ...
1
vote
1answer
43 views
Noun order in a noun phrase
Is there any rule of where to place the name of a brand/movie/book (before or after the noun)?
I would usually put it before the noun if the name has only one word. Examples:
The "Apple" brand is ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
I am with them in Paris/ I am in Paris with them
Is there any difference between
I am with them in Paris
and
I am in Paris with them.
2
votes
1answer
96 views
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 ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
Embedded questions with 'be'
I know that we should use the normal word order in embedded questions, for ex. 'I don' t know what she did', and with 'be'-'I don' t know where she is', and with subject questions 'I don' t know who ...
2
votes
1answer
7k views
Does one say “draft email” or “email draft”?
Does one say "draft email" or "email draft"? Usage example:
https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-create-an-email-in-outlook-to-be-sent-by-someone-else (mirror):
The recipient should download ...
0
votes
0answers
512 views
For More Than vs More Than For
I’ve been waiting for more than an hour for him.
I’ve been waiting more than for an hour for him.
Which is correct?
1
vote
1answer
162 views
“How old do you think Steve is?” vs. “How old do you think is Steve?”
Which one is correct and why ?
How old do you think Steve is?
How old do you think is Steve?
1
vote
1answer
34 views
“In 2006, XYZ got his first job out of college at Microsoft, in San Francisco.” vs
In 2006, XYZ got his first job out of college at Microsoft, in San Francisco."
or
In 2006, XYZ got his first job out of college, at Microsoft, in San Francisco."
In 2006, XYZ got his first job out of ...
1
vote
1answer
52 views
“It was me who brought it (my puppy) up” or “It was me who brought up it”
I've heard people use "It was me who brought it (my puppy) up" all the time and never heard of anybody use "It was me who brought up it" because when using "object pronouns" with phrasal verbs, we ...
0
votes
2answers
2k views
Usage of “How can we” and “How we can” in the following case
Correct
This is how we can improve XXX.
Correct
How can we improve XXX?
May I know, which is the correct form?
Would you mind telling us how we can improve XXX?
Would you mind telling us how can ...
0
votes
2answers
69 views
Will vs Would in this context
if I ask someone to tell me something in the future if there’s a problem.
They answer: “of course I would tell you”
The would is throwing me. Wouldn’t, “of course I will tell you”more correct? ...
1
vote
3answers
170 views
More expensive than others
Let's imagine I have some boats with different prices. I am going to be selling them soon. I have gotten a person to buy one of them and he approached the boat I am selling for the highest price. Can ...
1
vote
1answer
2k views
“I want to just say…” vs “I just want to say…”
What's the difference? Are they really different, with a nuance, or is it just a matter of preference? Does one point to your level of fluency more than the other?
Made up examples.
"I just want to ...
-1
votes
1answer
61 views
Is this word order acceptable or wrong? [closed]
Do you think that these sentences sound awful or they can be used in principle?
1 The cars of what color do you like?
2 People of what professions work in school?
3 The child of which one of you ...
0
votes
1answer
66 views
Did not I do it VS Was it not me who did it
I discovered something interesting, guys, look:
I did it
It's a usual sentence. We can negate "it" by:
1) I did not it
We can negate "did" by:
2) I did not do it
Also we can negate "I" by:
3) ...
0
votes
1answer
34 views
Correct way to write a question
What is the correct way:
what will be our options after tomorrow?
or
what will our options be after tomorrow?
3
votes
1answer
511 views
“come along” vs “along come”
Why is along came used in this way in the following sentence?
Probably back in some previous biology course, you learned that snakes evolved from lizards and that the first snakes weren't venomous ...
1
vote
3answers
54 views
“Which is the best reason” vs “which the best reason is”
I was recently asked to decide:
Which the best reason is for people to do exercise.
Momentarily, I stopped in my tracks, I felt I should have been asked:
Which is the best reason for people ...
-1
votes
1answer
370 views
“we all have experienced” or “we have all experienced”?
Tell me please which sentence is correct.
We all have experienced hardship.
We have all experienced hardship.
2
votes
1answer
223 views
“Your clothes are small size” — Is this grammatical?
I am having trouble with this sentence:
Your clothes are small size.
Would it be correct if I changed it to either:
1) Your clothes are small-sized. (=adjective)
2) Your clothes are small ...
0
votes
1answer
209 views
Which one would be better?
Is it grammatically correct to say “We went to the movies Yesterday”?
Or would it sound better to say “Yesterday we went to the movies”?
For example, I know that it sounds odd to say “It was a good ...
0
votes
1answer
570 views
“tell me what that movie is about” vs “tell me what that movie about is”
Tell me please which sentence is correct.
Could you tell me what that movie is about?
Could you tell me what that movie about is?
In theory, the second has to be correct because the part what ...
0
votes
0answers
23 views
placement of “exactly” [duplicate]
Which of these is correct?
Could you tell me when the results will be posted exactly?
Could you tell me when the results exactly will be posted?
1
vote
1answer
51 views
Shouldn't “Wednesday last” be “last Wednesday”?
In the following sentence
I have not seen him since Wednesday last.
How is last used?
I think it should be
I have not seen him since last Wednesday.
2
votes
1answer
42 views
use of adjectives in different places
Are there any difference between two use of adjective in diffrent places in two sentence below ? Does these sentences have different meaning or one of these is wrong?
New house was sold at ten ...
0
votes
1answer
38 views
“Something is something that for the given something produces something” - is this a correct word order?
I've been arguing with a colleague about a description for a piece of code. Originally, the message was as follows:
XXX is a macro that, given a component name and a variable name pattern, produces a ...
0
votes
0answers
270 views
“resource exhaustive” vs. “exhaustive resource”
Method A exhaust a lot of resources. How can I say this in comparison sentence:
method A has been viewed as a resource exhaustive compared to method B
Or,
method A has been viewed as an ...
-1
votes
1answer
2k views
Is a “creep” good, or bad, or both? [closed]
I have found these two definition of "creep" and would like to know is a "creep" considered good, or bad, or both?
creep someone who tries to make someone more important like them by being very ...
0
votes
2answers
1k views
“never heard it before” vs “never before heard it”
Usually, people say something like the sentence below.
(1) I have never heard such a strange phrase before.
Some of my non-native English speaking friends think it's okay to move "before" to the ...
1
vote
1answer
31 views
Where do me and you stand?
Where do me and you stand?
In the aforementioned sentence the pronoun 'me' used as subject doesn't seem to fit best; I mean, the problem that I see is that:
The speaker should keep himself after ...
0
votes
1answer
20 views
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?
2
votes
1answer
43 views
Why do we write “original 13 colonies” rather than “13 original colonies”?
Unfortunately, English is not my native language. So I decided to ask a question; I think it's always better to ask one than to remain an ignoramus for the rest of life.
Why do we say and write "...
0
votes
1answer
667 views
Rearrange the words to make meaningful sentence
I have a hard time rearranging these words (kind of sentence to be made is indicated in the brackets):
1) Magnanimous her how our all ignore of to weaknesses (Exclamatory)
2) to the agent did plan ...
0
votes
1answer
22 views
Order of two prepositional phrases
Which of these would be better:
I came here from England for my education
or:
I came here for my education from England
0
votes
1answer
774 views
What are some other sentences with the same meaning as “I'm calling in regards to a laptop I recently purchased.”
I'm struggling to come up with any other sentences that inform the listener at the other end of the phone of the reason for the call; so, any sentence of the form "I'm calling ... [reason]". The main ...
1
vote
3answers
3k views
Difference between “had” and “have had”
I'd like to describe a situation in the past. Not sure which one below makes more sense.
Everything looks okay to me. I don't think we had this issue in the past.
Everything looks okay to me. ...
0
votes
2answers
39 views
The difference in the meaning of the two mentioned sentences?
That is an actually sufficient account.
That is actually a sufficient account.
What is the difference in the meaning of 1 and 2?
Are both 1 and 2 correct gramatically?
If both mean the same, ...
0
votes
2answers
24 views
Does inversion change the meaning of the sentence: “As she did…, she could”
She could not go to the party as she did not have an invitation.
As she did not have an invitation, she could not go to the party.
What is the difference between them?
3
votes
1answer
365 views
“Succeeding” as the antonym of “Preceding”
If "succeeding" is the antonyms of "preceding", and they are both adjectives, then can I use "succeeding" as in the following examples:
1- The succeeding word of the adjective is a noun.
2- ...
0
votes
2answers
25 views
The normal order for “word come back”
"Hey, Hank," said Bass, after word came back of the successful outcome."Great news, we got the loan.Just one thing.How are we gonna pay it back"
Is the normal word order same as below?
"Hey, Hank,...
0
votes
3answers
74 views
Although vs. In spite of [closed]
Although she was told she would get the job, she didn't get it.
In spite of telling she would get the job, she didn't get it.
In spite of being told she would get the job, she didn't get it.
...
0
votes
3answers
72 views
avoiding “which”
I am trying to get rid of overused "it is" and "which" in my writing. This is one of improved sentences:
Being a part of a popular TV program involves big pressure hard to cope with for everyone, ...
0
votes
1answer
238 views
could have only dreamed of/about
My sentence:
It is a great chance for every talented child to demonstrate his skills; the chance which previous generations could have only dreamed of.
I wonder not only whether the bold part is ...
1
vote
2answers
3k views
What is the difference between 'only by' and 'by only'?
In the following examples:
A: Would you know if a shop was a woman's or man's only by looking at the clothes?
B. Would you know if a shop was a woman's or man's by only looking at the clothes?
Is ...
3
votes
1answer
599 views
Why neither did I but not neither I did?
"he didn't remember, and neither did I."
Why does it become backward?
"neither did I" but "not neither I did?"
1
vote
1answer
67 views
“It seems that Japanese customs have been changing since around 1920 little by little.” What’s the mistake?
According to “Objective IELTS” the above mentioned sentence needs the following correction:
It seems that Japanese customs have been changing little by little since around 1920.
What is the ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the alternative of “primarily…secondarily,… and thirdly,… ”?
I am writing a scientific manuscript in which I have to describe an experimental protocol. The used sentence should show the priority of picking up biological samples depending on their origins.
The ...
