12
votes
Accepted
Is it correct to say "These terms are less using in nowadays"?
These terms are less using in nowadays.
This is not idiomatic English.
are using is an active form of the verb use, and implies that the subject (terms, in this example) performs the action. What ...
- 175k
8
votes
Placing an adverb between a verb and an object?
To paraphrase "Pirates of the Caribbean", think of this more as a guideline than an actual rule. With creative writing, it is often possible to place the adverb anywhere it sounds good.
Because ...
- 88.1k
6
votes
Is "especially so you" correct and idiomatic in this dictionary definition?
Does it make more sense if we insert that?
to divide something into many small parts especially so that you can use the result for your own purposes
If not, then let us consider one of the ...
- 45.4k
5
votes
Is it correct to say "These terms are less using in nowadays"?
The passive participial construction is formed nowadays with is|are|was|were being plus the past participle
...are being used...
Blood-letting was being used to lower fever as late as the mid-19th ...
- 121k
5
votes
Doesn't yet exist or doesn't exist yet
Yet is normally placed at the end of the clause, particularly in informal English and in questions, but can go immediately after not in negative sentences in a more formal style
- 198
5
votes
Accepted
"function models ONLY two variables at a time" vs. "function ONLY models two variables at a time" - place the adverb correctly
There can be a subtle difference between the two sentences—although they would not normally be distinguished from each other in common use.
In method A, function B only models two variables at a ...
- 36.3k
5
votes
Placing an adverb between a verb and an object?
[I had already written most of this before @Andrew posted his answer. It says pretty much the same thing, but I thought I might as well post it, having written it.]
"Don’t put adverbs between the ...
- 5,783
5
votes
word usage “only”
This isn’t a correct way of saying only.
In these cases, rather than saying ‘only’ you would say ‘alone’;
I am at home alone.
I am at the railway station alone.
You could also say:
I am the only ...
- 991
5
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Accepted
Adverb "environmentally"
Close enough that in most situations they are interchangeable.
Structurally the first has the adverb acting as a modifier of "disastrous", and the second has the adverb as an adjunct of the ...
- 204k
4
votes
Accepted
A locative complement before the direct object - is 'Do not park here your motorbike' correct?
In this sentence, here is an adverb of place that applies to the verb park.
According to this guide, it is normal to put adverbs of place at the end of a clause. They sometimes go at the start of ...
- 59.1k
4
votes
The position of ALSO in a sentence
I would interpret these two sentences with slightly different meanings. The context would probably give a much stronger indication of the correct interpretation, though.
You also are allowed to see ...
- 59.1k
4
votes
The warden told the boys to (quickly?) clean their rooms (quickly?)
What you have likely encountered is an exam-maker's intolerance for the split infinitive, i.e. the insertion of any word in a to-infinitive between to and the verb. To quickly clean is a split ...
- 17.7k
4
votes
Accepted
What determines the position of the adverb? Example: I could never learn to swim. or I never could learn to swim
Strictly speaking, they mean something different. One is a statement about future events, and the other is about past events.
I could never learn to swim.
Looking forward, learning to swim is not ...
- 36.3k
4
votes
Does English (proper) allow "sharp ass claws"
It's slang, not 'proper English', but the meaning is very different depending on where you put the hyphen.
Sharp-ass claws
Its claws are remarkably sharp
Sharp ass-claws
It has claws in its ...
- 16.8k
4
votes
"function models ONLY two variables at a time" vs. "function ONLY models two variables at a time" - place the adverb correctly
I think that in your particular context, both sentences will be understood correctly. However, I would use the second sentence, because "Function only models two variables at a time" can theoretically ...
- 36.5k
4
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Placing an adverb between a verb and an object?
The rule you've quoted is not always followed. See this discussion, in which it is pointed out that the adverb can go between the verb and the object when the object is long or complicated.
Note, ...
- 545
4
votes
Accepted
Is it correct to place "smiling" after the verb instead of at the end? "She reread smiling the typed note"
In this context, "smiling" isn't an adverb of manner, and it does not directly modify the verb itself.
Rather, "smiling" is a reduced form of "while smiling", or "...
- 48.9k
4
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Adverb "environmentally"
OP's first version is the "syntactic default" for English - the adverb (environmentally) goes next to the verb (is). The second version is a "stylistic inversion" with exactly the ...
- 68.9k
3
votes
Can we use "indeed" in negative sentences to emphasize the negative point?
You can use indeed in a negative sentence. In an isolated sentence like this, "indeed" would more likely be in agreement to another's statement.
He isn't very wise
No, He indeed is not a wise ...
- 4,485
3
votes
Accepted
What are the rules for adverbs of frequency- placement
Let's take a closer look at exactly what we're dealing with. Firstly let's ditch the preposition phrases which tell you when something happens, for example on Tuesdays. These aren't really expressions ...
3
votes
Accepted
"Too much" versus "much too"
You're right, it's the second one
a much too basic question
which you've correctly figured out from the answer you linked because it modifies the adjective 'much'. It's completely normal English, ...
- 1,038
3
votes
Accepted
Is the sentence incomplete without the use of There at the end of the sentence? What is the purpose?
It is not incorrect to put there at the end of that sentence. Without there the listener (reasonably) infers that the horses and donkeys are there. The purpose of there is merely to say that the ...
- 121k
3
votes
Accepted
Does English (proper) allow "sharp ass claws"
xkcd comic https://xkcd.com/37/
This would be understood to mean "sharp-ass claws" where "sharp-ass" means something like "extremely sharp". Adding "-ass" to an adjective to intensify it is a fairly ...
- 204k
3
votes
Accepted
also have or have also
The difference between these 2 sentences are only a matter of opinion and preference, both:
Whoever was in your shoes, they would also have done that.
and
Whoever was in your shoes, they would ...
- 436
3
votes
Accepted
she really grew THAT nail THAT long
Your quote is problematic, but not because you use the word that twice.
The problem is that your quote doesn't match your picture. If the person's hand looked like this:
then you might want to ...
J.R.♦
- 109k
3
votes
Using While in a sentence
If a man is tasked with hitting on a girl while wearing a skirt and heels, that means the man has to be wearing a skirt and heels at the time he does the hitting-on.
If he has to hit on a girl, ...
- 70.9k
3
votes
The adverb "today" before the verb "be" in the middle of a sentence. Correct? But there's no such a rule
Today can be placed there because in these sentences it does not attach to the verb but to the subject noun phrase.
[Traffic jams today] are hardcore.
Other expressions of time can do the same ...
- 73.7k
3
votes
word usage “only”
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, only can be used in two ways:
as an adjective, meaning that there is a single one of something.
as an adverb, meaning 'not more'
When it is used as an ...
- 59.1k
2
votes
Is it correct to say "These terms are less using in nowadays"?
For starters, it is nowadays, not in nowadays.
Then, you used the correct form of the verb use in your first sentence (two of them are used nowadays) so why change it in the other sentence?
Finally,...
- 24.9k
2
votes
Accepted
What is the right position of emphasis adverbs in a short answer?
It depends on the word(s) chosen and on the question posed.
Are you laughing at me, punk?
I am indeed.
Indeed I am.
no I indeed am.
To be sure, I am.
I am, to be sure.
noI, to be sure, am.
I ...
- 121k
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