10
The two words overlap but they are properly used in different contexts.
If a person has ordered 20 boxes of tiles to tile a floor and finds that they are not sufficient to cover the whole floor, that person is short of one or more boxes. That's to say that more are needed.
If a supplier has an order from a buyer for 20 boxes of goods and only delivers 19 ...
6
Yes, very natural.
The only change I'd make is
I am sorry, but this plate is taken.
so you can refer directly to that specific plate.
3
In terms of keeping something or reserving something, anything pretty much can be taken/
this seat is taken
this plate is taken
Generally, though a plate is not reserved for someone's use....
1
It isn't really a sentence, but it could represent casual spoken English (or interior monologue). As "bad grammar" there is some flexibility, but "Not surprisingly" is the best "bad grammar".
For good grammar of formal English, you would need to incorporate this into a sentence, and then you would probably want the adverb.
1
Yes, both are grammatically correct sentences.
Using the former to mean the latter is common in American English, but not so common in British English.
1
In the U.S at least, I doubt "usual" alone would be common. If the responder's intent to the question of "how was your day" is to indicate that nothing noteworthy happened, the responder might say
It was [routine/ordinary].
or
It was a [routine/ordinary/normal/usual] day.
I cannot firmly articulate a reason why "normal" or "usual" as an isolated ...
1
Its allowed (its clear, understandable) but there are better ways of phrasing it.
In the context of a thank-you letter (that is addressed to your friends):
Thanks to you, my friends and the best role models I could hope for.
This kind of exaggerated style is common is such contexts. In this is normal to use more words than needed. You could, for example ...
1
Heavy is not bad; I would probably use 'heart-wrenching'.
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