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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MAKING SUGGESTIONS - It+ MODAL + be a good idea to +infinitive (What Modals can logically be used with this structure)

"It might be a good idea to get home early." With this basic structure for offering a suggestion, we have the modal "might". Am I able to use other modals to communicate a ...
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Can someone please explain the word "navigate" for me?

I have tried but I didn't catch the exact meaning from the dictionnary
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2 answers
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the usage of “remain + of”

Here are two examples: The front wall is all that remains of the fort. ... since no records will remain of their phone conversations, emails, blogs, and text messages. The sentences below have the ...
1 vote
1 answer
118 views

Is it called "the filter/strainer/cover/seive of my bathroom drain"?

This is the drain in my bathroom What is the piece of metal with many holes called? Is it called "the filter/strainer/cover/sieve of my bathroom drain" in casual everyday English?
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Does removing the definite article in "The Association between Economic Status and…” matter?

The Association between Economic Status and Depressive Symptoms: An Individual and Community Level Approach I know that "the" implies a particular association that is between "economic ...
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1 answer
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"Collision" vs "Crash" --- If a ship hits a bridge, is it a crash or a collision?

"Baltimore Key Bridge collapses after ship collision" CNN-Baltimore bridge collapse The word "collision" has drawn my attention, because when I read it at first, it made me think ...
1 vote
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Would you say "I would like to express my worries ON/IN or ABOUT"?

I know ABOUT is way more common but could you also use: ON? I asked ChatGPT (sorry) this same question and it gave me the following answer: "I would like to express my worries on the current ...
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1 answer
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"The government <withdrew> <recalled> its diplomats from the capital." — Are "withdrew" and "recalled" synonyms here?

I'd like to understand in what cases the meanings of the phrases "to withdraw someone" and "to recall someone" overlap. For this purpose I prepared some examples from dictionaries. ...
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1 answer
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Can I write about a noun for which I have used "the" later in the text?

If I am writing this for the first time in an article - The associations between factor A and factor B were found to be normal. Now, I had not discussed any thing about the type of associations that ...
3 votes
3 answers
4k views

A mother, father or the parents who are very strict toward their children

What do you call a mother, father, or parent who is very severe in punishing their children or sets very strict curfews for them? The adjectives that come to mind are "strict", "stern&...
2 votes
1 answer
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That was the time I knew I should "come/go" back home. - I am at home saying this; which to use?

The scenario is this: I am saying this at my home to my friend but when I thought about that, I was at a bar. Example 1 That was the time I knew I should go back home. Example 2 That was the time I ...
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3 answers
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What does "over" and "average" real mean here?

"your final list of grades showing an average overall grade of at least 80 and an average grade for Physics of at least 80 over the last three years of secondary high school." What I need to ...
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Allah is knowing of all things

Why is 'knowing' used although it's a stative verb? As shown in the following example: Allah is knowing of all things. If I say knowing is an adjective, it will be used before the noun only.
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1 answer
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Usage of “nohow”

Is it okay to use nohow this way? Like there is no way I would even thought about it. I nohow thought that it would happen I nohow thought that you would come I nohow thought that she would say that
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Is it correct to say "I'll make up the time" or "I'll make up for the time"

Normally, after my daughter finishes her dinner, I let her watch TV for awhile up to 7:30pm. I will turn on the TV, she can not turn it on by herself. For example, if she finishes her dinner at 6:45 ...
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1 answer
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Which one is correct to use in my sentence? (That/ in which/ where)

This website is a kind of platform (that/ in which/ where) you can manage all your accounts.
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141 views

On/Off His Routine

I have a question about the usages of "on" and "off" with "routine": He was on his routine. He was off his routine. The above usages could be found on the web, but not in ...
3 votes
2 answers
202 views

Is it correct to say "I choked on water through my nose"?

When swimming, water might get into your nose suddenly and cause a short sharp pain in your sinus and a short time of breathing difficulty. We say "he choked on water" which implies the ...
2 votes
2 answers
716 views

Initial talking or initial talk?

I just saw "initial talking" as the title to the introduction on an academic text. I had only seen "talk" not "talking". Is initial talking also used as an introduction of sorts?
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1 answer
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The use of would in a sentence

Here Jack uses "would" in his response to the questioner. Could you explain why is "would" used rather than "will?" I would have said "I will add that ..." ...
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1 answer
906 views

"there was no" vs. "there had been no"

Here is part of Early Responses to the Periodic System Alekseev also noted that because there had been no translation of Mendeleev's textbook into a foreign language up to that time, chemists in ...
2 votes
2 answers
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Can 'was' be omitted in this sentence?

I believe it can't, because the omission of was makes valued and stigmatized paralleled. The thing they were good at at school wasn't valued, or was actually stigmatized.
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1 answer
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What is the contrast in "a warm coffee, though like a cappuccino"?

I've been using YouTube dialogue to practice my listening skills, and I came across this sentence in a Kate Brock video. I'm gonna be making a warm coffee, though like a cappuccino. I don't see the ...
2 votes
2 answers
59 views

Do I say 'a product has to be tested before it goes into the market' or 'to the market'?

Do I say 'a product goes 'into' the market or 'to' the market? The context is the following: Every product requires a specific testing protocol before it goes into/to the market.
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2 answers
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Can "bring out" be used in the sense of "manufacturing", "make", or "build"?

I've learnt that "bring out" means "to produce, to publish something, especially a CD or a book". So how far can it stretch? Can it be used in the sense of "manufacturing"...
2 votes
2 answers
118 views

Is this sentence a medio passive voice?

I saw a sentence written as: Recently an ISRO satellite failed to place into specified orbit. I was wondering if this usage is correct and a medio passive voice. Would it better if we write ...
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1 answer
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"The" is used to refer the specificty. Which particularity is indicated by "the" in the given sentence?

There is a protein in our body called Intrinsic factor. So, if there is a sentence - "The" intrinsic factor is a glycoprotein. By putting "the" before intrinsic, the sense of the ...
1 vote
1 answer
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What is the proper way to use articles in formula annotations?

English is not my native language. Recently I ran into a problem while writing a scientific paper. It seems like different authors use a/the articles in formula annotations differently, and I can't ...
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1 answer
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is it correct to say "Pull your forearms down at a right angle with your upper arms"?

I saw this sentence in Oxford dictionary Place the table at right angles/at a right angle to the wall I am sure if it means the table is in contact with the wall lengthways or widthways or not. It ...
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1 answer
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how to say a group of people is more crowded in number compared to another

While male members were generally ______ in the first half of the period, female membership rose considerably to surpass that of males in the ensuing years. Should it be: predominant in number ...
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Past perfect tense "emphasize"

I understand that "he was warned from the moment he entered"is in the same timeline "Michael was warned from the moment he entered the factory that Andy was a local version of a grim ...
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1 answer
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Present perfect and past simple by using since and ago

I know the use of tense and I need to say simply.But I want to more experience in mind free because I am not native speaker.To clear out in my mind and to understand more usage of present perfect ...
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1 answer
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Is "excruciatingly painful" a correct phrase to use in a sentence since "excruciating" already means very painful?

I have often come across the phrase "excruciatingly painful" in articles and even in short stories or novels, but is this a correct phrase? Since "excruciating" already means ...
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1 answer
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dedicate/devote money/time to sth

According to the OALD, both dedicate and devote can be used in the sense of "giving your time/money/effort to something". So are the following sentences correct? The US government’s budget [...
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2 answers
526 views

"Far from" Vs "A long way"

I have no idea if grammatically there is any rule which makes a distinction between using "far from" and "a long way" in positive and negative sentences! Please have a look on my examples below and ...
2 votes
1 answer
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Do we use the structure "give something away" when talking about a person giving something to just one person?

We often use "give away" when we say a person gives something to many as a gift, rather than just one person. For example, the teacher gave away candies to his students. Can we say "the ...
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1 answer
41 views

Does this sentence have comma splice

It doesn't matter what obstacles you face in life, Sarah, and no matter what, you've got to reach your goals. I added 'and no matter what' as it considered a comma splice without it- although when ...
0 votes
1 answer
111 views

Is it correct to say "you can free up space in your computer's hard drive" or "you can free up space on your computer's hard drive"?

In the dictionary, it says "We need to delete more files to free (up) space on the computer's hard drive.". My question is that Why not "in the hard drive"? There are electric ...
1 vote
1 answer
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state of affairs vs situation

According to multiple dictionaries, state of affairs means the same as situation, so can I use either of them in the following sentence? Overall, the elderly were least vulnerable to poverty, while ...
1 vote
1 answer
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Situations where "come before" and "go before" are interchangeable

From Cambridge Dictionary A/an and the are articles. They are a type of determiner and they go before a noun. According to which, I could say Articles go before a noun. From a tutorial Articles ...
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1 answer
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What are the 2 different used of Must +present perfect forms?

She must have helped her ailing parents. Im the above sentence a guess is made about a past action that definitely or possibly happened.Can such structures be also used to express the wish of the ...
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1 answer
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Are 'complete' and 'completed' interchangeable in the sentence?

I referred to several dictionaries, but I am not sure both can be used in the sentence. Without coffee, my happiness couldn’t be complete! vs. Without coffee, my happiness couldn't be completed!
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Do we have structure "somebody/something turns somebody off something"?

I don't know why dictionaries only have this structure turn somebody <-> off ​to make somebody feel bored or not interested People had been turned off by both candidates in the election. The ...
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1 answer
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Effect vs Affect

Please see the following sentence written in the context of requesting renaming of a current email id: "However, with only the name change affected, sending mail to the erstwhile email id was ...
1 vote
4 answers
553 views

Is "draw in electricity/energy" idiomatic?

I googled "the contact draws in electricity" and found 0 result, yet it seems something you would read in an engineering paper or journal. I couldn't find anything. Is there a more idiomatic way of ...
1 vote
1 answer
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Using perfect modals for future

I have seen that to talk about some past events by using modals,we mostly use perfect modals(such as could have ,should have, would have, might have ,may have)and to talk about future and present ...
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1 answer
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"Fade-ins" (digital marketing)

What is the meaning of "fade-ins" in the following sentence found in a data protection agreement? "We use Ad Server Cookies to measure fade-ins of advertisements and clicks."
2 votes
1 answer
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What is the difference between "he ran to the park" and "he went running to the park" and "he came running to the park"?

go Ving: can mean -to move in a particular way or -do an activity The dictionary says "go + Ving" and "come + Ving" means to move in a particular way while doing something else. ...
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Past perfect tense example

I passed high-school in 16 years old and later I joined Army. When I was 21 years old I had been an officer. Could I use past perfect as completed action above when I was 21 years old I had been an ...

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