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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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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shirt is cut slim and
Are these sentences correct:
His shirt is cut slim and white.
His shirt will be cut slim and white.
The meaning seems clear, but I'd say 'white and cut slim'. The order of the words doesn't seem ...
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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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Which is grammatically correct? "a fat old cat" or "an old fat cat"
It is an old fat cat
It is a fat old cat
I am a bit confused because here the book says: the order should be like " opinion+size+age+shape+color... If we follow the order, then "the answer ...
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Is it "What the Government should do" or "What should the Government do"? [closed]
Is it "What the Government should do" or "What should the Government do"?
If you want context, I am using this sentence as a title for a slide in a presentation. Should I even use ...
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"are internationally extrajudicial" or [closed]
As you know, an adverbis a word that modifies (describes) a verb (he sings loudly), an adjective (very tall), another adverb (ended too quickly), or even a whole sentence.
So, I was wondering which ...
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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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"How is it what ....?" versus "Is it how what .........?"
I'm confused about the emphasized parts of the following( #1,#2). I wonder if #1 means "If they had really renovated their mills, why are there 103 sick mills now under the Government's control?&...
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I'm trying to figure out which is correct; how old he was or how old was he?
What is the proper way to write, "I asked how old he was" or "I asked how old was he."
Mike
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Is this US word order correct: "Staten Island, N.Y., hospital"?
I came across that headline:
Workers at a Staten Island, N.Y., hospital have threatened to quit en
masse over their employer’s vaccine mandate.
what puzzles me is: Staten Island, N.Y., hospital. ...
user142439
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"Are we required to attend any religious activity weekly?" Should the noun be singular or plural after "any”?
Is the sentence below correct?
"Are we required to attend any religious activity weekly?”
Is it correct to say “religious activity” or should it be plural, i.e. “religious activities”?
ahiel
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Word order and inversion in English
I've read some articles on the rules of word order in English, but still have many questions when it comes to particular situations. For example, do the following sentences sound natural, or I need to ...
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Questions including "do you think"
Why do you think the painter left the palace?
Why, do you think, the painter left the palace?
Does anyone feel an ambiguity in question 1?
I feel that the question word why can either be applied to '...
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What is the rule for using ONLY at the beginning of a sentence that turns a prepositional phrase into a subject?
Only under this kind of environment can people live safe.
Without only, it should read: Under this kind of environment, people can live safe. People is the subject and in the normal position. But ...
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Turtles do not pets make Vs Turtles do not make pets
"Turtles do not pets make" or "Turtles do not make pets"
Which one is grammatically correct and what's the difference between both phrases?
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about word-order of a question sentence which is a line from a movie
I'd like to ask about a line in a dialogue(<- should it be a line of a dialogue instead?) from the movie, No Country for Old Men.
I marked the line bold among the below dialogue. The conversation ...
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Order of Adverbs when there are 2 adverbs of frequency
I've read that the order of adverbs is Manner-Place-Frequency-Time-Purpose but I'm not sure when there are 2 adverbs of frequency like in this sentence:
I usually play badminton with my brother at a ...
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Aren’t I? vs. Am I not?
I am a good man, aren’t I?
I am a good man, am I not?
The first sentence is often used. According to grammar books, the second sentence is also correct, but it is rarely used. Can native speakers ...
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What is called XXX and What XXX is called
What is the difference beetwen two sentences?1) sometimes they are only fiction, or what is called the black art.”2)sometimes they are only fiction, or what the black art is called.”
But where was ...
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What is the difference between these noun clauses?
This comes from an exercise in one of Betty Azar's books.
Do you know how many minutes there are in 24 hours?
Do you know what the distance between the Earth and the Moon is?
The question is, why can ...
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Can 'its' appear before a thing mentioned?
Can 'its' appear before a thing mentioned?
Example ('its'='the software'):
We think that after its upgrade, the software will be popular in places that need privacy.
(I know that this sentence can ...
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"what are the best ergonomic chairs" vs "what the best ergonomic chairs are"
What is different between these two sentences?
We look into different types of chairs to narrow down what are the best ergonomic chairs.
We look into different types of chairs to narrow down what ...
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Why is inversion applied in some subordinate interrogative clauses when a subject is asked for?
Preamble
The main concern of this post was discussed in this thread. However, both the OP and I were not convinced of the explanation in the existing answer and comments. I tried to talk to the author ...
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Who's doing what better in this sentence?
There's a passage in a commercial that got stuck on my brains and after a few gazillions of repeated listening, I realized that I see a hidden, grammatical gem in there. Please note that since it's a ...
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What's a lot of money {out of curiosity}?
I have come across the following:
Person A: We made A LOT of money.
Person B: What's a lot of money
out of curiosity?
I am wondering, does ending a question with "out of curiosity" sound ...
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as ... as structure is very difficult to understand!
I can't understand as ... as structures in English. According to grammar books between the two as we should place an adjective, but I have seen several cases which there was something else. For ...
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The position of "such as Google, Facebook, and Instagram"
I'd like to learn what places fit "such as Google, Facebook, and Instagram" in the following sentence.
The internet brought new applications into our lives such as Google,
Facebook, and ...
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the word order in as... as?
getting all children off on the right foot is an often-stated goal of pre-K, but in many ways, creating equity is as big a challenge as building quality
would it be incorrect if I say:
creating ...
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Is it grammatically correct to say: "I never lend anyone it"?
Is the use "I never lend anyone it" grammatically correct?
I'm asking about it because its flow of reading sounds a bit clumsy to me.
Can you give me this book? - This book was signed by my ...
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How should I order the sentence with "noun clause" and "wh clause"?
I hope that all of you have a nice day.
When the subject is a bit long, we can use "it" as the representative of the "that-noun clause".
What if the object or subject complement is ...
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Where to place "all" and "soon" in this sentence?
Let's hope all this will soon be over so we can get home to our families.
Let's hope this will all be over soon so we can get home to our families.
Let's hope all this will be over soon so we can ...
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Some Odd Word Order in The Comparison Structure As...As
As we know, in the structure as...as the first as modify the adjective or adverb that goes after it. We can also use a noun modified by an adjective in the structure; for example,
They have as much ...
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Does "to" always go after "listened"?
It's ok to write:
The Queen listened to their pleas.
However, I am unsure if it's necessary to write 'to' after 'listened' if the sentence is inverted, for example, in a conditional. What is correct?...
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Size 9 shoes or 9-size shoes
Which form is correct:
I have size 9 shoes.
or
I have 9-size shoes.
Does the number go before "size" or after?
A self-note (note to self?) on something related. It's the 'number 2 bus'. ...
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Is "in exchange for" valid at both the beginning and end of "What did you give him money in exchange for?"?
I would like to learn if these kinds of questions are possible and correct in English. I think they are but I'm not sure.
What did you give him the money in exchange for?
In exchange for what did ...
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Is "therefore" in the right place in this sentence? [duplicate]
I wrote a sentence, and I am confused about the word 'therefore', if 'therefore' in a right place. If this sentence has another error, please point out. Thank you.
Here is the sentence:
Some people ...
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Had+something+been or Had+been+something?
Active sentence:
The mail carrier had already delivered the mail by the time I left for school this morning.
I ought to change that sentence into passive. Here is my attempt:
The mail had been ...
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Why isn't "are" placed at the end of the question in "Have you ever wondered who the people ARE you see every day...?"
I've been reading an advanced level English book where I came across this sentence in an introduction to one of its articles:
Have you ever wondered who the people are you see every day on the way to ...
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What’s the right ordering for the pronouns "he, you and I"?
He, you and I will go for a movie tomorrow.
How to rearrange the pronouns in the best possible manner?
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"...the study carried out" or "...the carried out study"
I could not find a plausible explanation since there is a lot of examples of both variants.
What should I write:
In the case of the carried out study,...
or
In the case of the study carried out,...
...
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Where to put 'directly' in this sentence
I wonder what is the right position of 'directly' in this sentence.
You can't get this skill directly at your birth.
or
You can't get this skill at your birth directly.
I prefer the former one, ...
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He starts work every day at 9:00 am
Is it correct to put clock information at the end of the sentence if there is another time adverb such as in the mornings, every day or on weekdays in the sentence?
Does it sound natural?
He starts ...
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Who do you think {will be the next president/the next president will be}?
I was debating with someone on the internet and suddenly we came across this topic. I know the second sentence sounds odd and this is a bit silly to ask, but grammatically is it still acceptable ...
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Correct word order in prepositional phrases of the type to be + verb + preposition
which are correct word orders for prepositional phrases of the type
to be + verb + preposition?
E.g., which of the following examples containing the phrase
to be aware of
are correct?
...the fact,...
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Verb of principal clause followed by relative caluse
The boy who ate fruit came.
The boy came who ate fruit.
Here both sentences have relative clause "who ate fruit" and a principal clause "the boy came". Here is my question: Both ...
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Difference between "the only two" and "only the two"
What is the difference (e.g. usage and meaning) between "(There are) the only two (words)" and "(There are) only the two (words)"?
What is the difference in meaning between
A form ...
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Oil price cutting or cutting oil prices
Which of these is correct and why?
The inflation in commodity was led by oil price cutting
or
The inflation in commodity was led by cutting oil prices
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'Said distracted mum' vs 'distracted mum said'?
I write fairytale, and I wonder if I can write something like:
"'It was strange.' Said distracted mum"
or maybe the form "distracted mum said" has to be for every time? I'd like ...
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Can I put the adverb "exponentially" after the intransitive main verb "grown" when the auxiliary verb "had" precedes the intransitive main verb?
Can I put the adverb "exponentially" after the intransitive main verb "grown" when the auxiliary verb "had" precedes the intransitive main verb "grown"? (...
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Treatment for or treatment of?
This study describes a treatment for/of a diseased kidney of a 15-year-old girl.
Which is correct (for or of). Does the rest also sounds alright or would it be better to rephrase the whole sentence?
...
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