Questions tagged [word-usage]
This tag is for questions which a dictionary cannot answer about the meaning or correctness of a word in a sentence. Give as much context as possible.
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Why does Ash say "I choose you" instead of "I chose you" or "I'll choose you"?
In the Pokémon anime, Ash says "I choose you!" when he starts a battle. Why does he use the present tense instead of "I chose you" or "I'll choose you"? In the original ...
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"Before" in combination with the present state
Before he is the president, he was a businessman.
He is now the president and before that, he was a businessman.
Are these sentence fine? One of my fellow learners says "before" cannot be ...
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What is the difference between "I complained about the machine" and "I complained of the machine"?
The Oxford Dictionary says we can use "complain about something" or "complain of something".
complain: to say that you are annoyed, unhappy or not satisfied about
somebody/...
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Where did we come out at/end up at
My mom was showing me around the city, so that I don't get lost and I know my way around when I'm alone. She kept asking me where we were. We were driving down a narrow street with huge buildings all ...
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What is the difference between "management" and "administration"?
What is the difference between "management" and "administration"?
Despite using these two words under similar situations, I think there are subtle differences between these two ...
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Is it correct to say "we thread the bolt into the nut snugly"?
I asked this question on Quora
How do we say "we screw the bolt into a nut in such a way that the thread of the bolt and the nut fit well together"?
Quora is not a smart system. Whenever it ...
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What is the difference between "up" and "down" in football?
What is the difference between "up" and "down" in football context? I'm puzzled because both prepositions show a movement towards the opponent's goal.
54 min Chelsea 0 Man City 0
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Can I say "I earned an interest of 5000 dollars from my savings account"?
When a word refers to "an amount of money", that word is often countable.
Fro example,
debt: [countable] a sum of money that somebody owes
rent: [uncountable, countable] an amount of money ...
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Is "that" the right complement of the verb "require"
Here are original sentences: "Sometimes a creative problem is so difficult that it requires people to connect their imaginations together; the answer arrives only if we collaborate"
But how ...
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How can we say "We put A into the position of B and put B into the position of A"?
I have an apple and he has an orange. I want his orange and he wants my apple.
And we say "I swapped my Apple for his orange".
However, now an Apple and an orange, which belong to no one, ...
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What do it refer to in the long with structure?
In the article "Exploring the sea-floor" from "science survey" written by T.F.Gaskell:
Since the sea covers the greater part of the earth's surface,it is quite reasonable to ...
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What is the meaning of "solid" in terms of quality and performance?
Solid as in "solid performer", "solid performance" or "solid act". Does it mean good or average or something in between?
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The water sparkled as diamonds in the sunlight - "as" or "like" or both?
Could you please tell me if it is possible to use "as" in this context, or only "like" can be used, or both options are possible?
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"The+ comparative" form
I know that when something changes (whether it increases or decreases in size, number, or whatever) along with another change, it can be expressed with
" the+ comparative, the+ comparative" form.
ex) ...
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"take my phone with me" or "carry my phone with me" or "bring my phone with me"?
Tell me please which sentences sounds more natural.
I always take my phone with me as I may need to make a phone call at any moment.
I always carry my phone with me as I may need to make a ...
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Is there something omitted between started out and rather sceptical?
Nicholas Sexton and Bradley Love, a pair of neuroscientists of
University College London, started out rather sceptical about the
supposed resemblance between natural and artificial neural networks.
...
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Understand......from?
I don't this that this sounds natural, but I'm not quite sure.. (Maybe this sentence sounds fine to me because I'm directly translating it from my native language...... Though when I think about it ...
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Is "firmly" natural in "escorted him firmly back to his seat"?
The flight attendants led the drunk man back to his seat, but just a few minutes later he had left his seat again. After a longer argument with the man, the flight attendants escorted him firmly back ...
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Find the right words to describe the composition of a discount
I need to describe discounts, splitting their components in 3 parameters and I would like to understand which are the best words I can use.
Examples:
New client discount, 10 euro
Personal discount, ...
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What is the difference between the form with "would" and with no "would?"
I want to understand the use of "would" in this sentence.This is a reply to a question. Here, B uses "would" when answering the question. Could you explain how "would" ...
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search an area throughout
Is "throughout" used properly in the following, witht the meaning that they searched every part of the area? Is not, could you explain why it's not okay?
Police searched the area throughout....
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Correct use of the word pledging [closed]
I am pledging in front of you, that I will do this
Is this correct English? The idea is to convey to someone or bind yourself to do something by taking a pledge.
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How does "would" fuction in this sentence?
Could you explain how "would" works in the following sentence? Speaker asks a question, then speaker B uses "would" when replying to the question. I'd really like to understand its ...
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Can I add ‘if’ before ‘they’ in the sentence?
Did you know they were coming by air?
Can I add ‘if’ before ‘they’ in the sentence above and is it usual to delete ‘if’ before ‘they’ ?
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even when making money is a problem
When making money is not a problem for a company, making money is a means, and the dream is the aim. However, even when making money is a problem, making money itself is the aim.
Can I use even to ...
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Is the word "in" required or omissible when talking about position?
Consider the guy highlighted by the red circle in the following image:
to describe him, is each of the following expressions correct and idiomatic?
He is the horizontal position.
He is in the ...
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Can met be used for a virtual meeting
"I had a meeting with Rob on Zoom yesterday" or I could write "I had a meeting with Rob yesterday"
Instead of the above two can I shorten it further and just say "I met with ...
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Verb for someone who refuses to repay money
What's the verb to say the behavior of someone who refuse to repay the money he owed?
(Even if he knows it and is able to pay it back.)
As far as I know, there is a commonly used noun which called ...
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get us underway
I'm wondering why the word "us" is added in this sentence? I usually only say "get underway". Does this also apply with other verbs to add "us?" For example: Rashford ...
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Usage of "your " and meaning of below mentioned sentance?
I have come across with below mentioned sentance.
Q1)Is bolded word replaces with you or is that correct?
Q2)is that sentance means
my father is not agree to people smoking cigarettes in the ...
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What does "doubt" refer to in this sentence?
Experienced Fregeans will recognise a number of places in which I simplify or omit. Some Fregeans doubt that his theory was meant to apply to natural language, that his remarks were only to explain ...
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Word for quitting drinking alcohol
Is there informal word and not only informal one for quitting drinking alcohol like recovering from alcohol addiction?
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Related to payments made by accountant to vendors
Vendor To recipient : Hello I'm here to receive the payment for the goods rendered to your store. Could you please let me know who pays for it Or Should it be "Who does the payment for the ...
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How is the word "power" used in mathematics?
When I was researching on the Web, I came across the following expression in a sentence. (Because the entire sentence was technical, I didn't mention the entire sentence)
"a base expression taken ...
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Is it clear and natural to say "Both sentence_A and sentence_B change the meaning"?
Note: This post is focused on the use of "change the meaning".
From an ELL post
The trick is that a location/event is often a purpose; your purpose is to go to that location/event. With ...
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Why do we say "This jacket is the wrong size"?
A jacket is a thing and a size is a measurement and a jacket can not be a measurement.
Why do we say "This jacket is the wrong size" which sounds like "This jacket is a measurement"...
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greatly good, great good, great by being good, great by doing good
"The most common quality of greatly good people is generosity, and the most common quality of people who can't be greatly good is intolerance." — Ahsanul Irfan
There is a quote by William ...
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Idiom for doing something you didn't ask
Is there an idiom that means doing something unilaterally without asking?
I was thinking "on their own accord"?
For example:
The airline cancelled my flight on their own accord
Does that ...
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What is the natural way of saying in this situation, Mom had just been home but her son didn't pay any attention, but kept watching TV?
What is the natural way of saying to your son in this situation,
Mom had just been home but the son didn't pay any attention to her or
say "hello" to her, but just kept watching TV?
Is it ...
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Subjunctive mood and the usage of otherwise
For example, as the essay suggests,the convenience and efficiency of intelligent machines can actually free up human time and energy to focus on creative pursuits and higher-level thinking. This can ...
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Do comfortability degree/comfortability and comfort level/comfort have the same meaning?
Hellow,
I would like to know how english native speakers interpret the words comfortability degree/comfortability vs. comfort level/comfort in contexts like the following:
a) Language competence can ...
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Can ‘went to see’ be changed into ‘ went and see’?
We went to see a film.
We went and see a film.
We went and saw a film.
Is the second sentence right or the third?
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Correct words to use in a From certain date to certain date doing something
So this is what I could come up with, but for some reason, it sounds wrong to me, and it is bugging me
As of 29.05.2023. Through and including the 29.08.2023, we will have new regulations in ...
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Usage of "rather"
What's the difference between following sentence:
She kept herself rather to herself in her own pantry.
and
She rather kept herself to herself in her own pantry.
Are there some omitted words in ...
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Anchor object or anchoring object
I'm confused with the word usage. I want to describe an object that stands out from the crowd and attracts attention. Which is better to say: anchor object, anchoring object, or anchored object?
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Are there difference about "and" and "or" between active sentence and passive sentence?
No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail.
No creature has been praised or abused more often than the common garden snail.
It is said that these two sentences are ...
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Does "art or science of political government" refer to a set of activities or a field of study in this context?
I just came across the following meanings of "politics" on Dictionary.com:
the science or art of political government.
the practice or profession of conducting political affairs.
In my ...
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Do British / American / Australian people understand "homework" and "assignment" differently?
I found this link on English Stackexchange.
A person answered "Homework: The collection of all the assignments I have to do at home". I am not sure if this person is American.
I had been ...
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Can we say "I am meeting a doctor for my leg tomorrow"?
The meaning of "see" and "meet" in the dictionary seem alike.
to see [transitive] to have an arranged meeting with someone
to meet [intransitive, transitive] to go to a place where ...
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Use of "that" in "the meaning is that of a noun"
I don't understand "the meaning is that of a noun" here
In compound nouns using the gerund, it is clear that the meaning is that of a noun, not of a continuous verb
I don't understand the ...
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