New answers tagged sentence-meaning
1
Common misuse
In American English, the phrase "I guess" frequently does not have the same literal meaning as the verb "to guess", and so is often misused by nonnative English speakers.
One example of this misuse can be found in this question about predicting sports outcomes. The OP wants to express that, though they are uncertain, they ...
2
"I was broken" could be interpreted two different ways:
with "was" as the copula (the verb to be) in the past tense, and broken as an adjective meaning damaged.
as the past tense of the passive construction "to be broken", indicating somebody or something broke the subject, but avoiding mention of who or what did it.
"I ...
1
This sentence uses the construction "No sooner X than Y", which is:
used to show that one thing happens immediately after another thing:
No sooner had I started mowing the lawn than it started raining.
It's another way of saying "Y as soon as X" (or, as a general statement, "every time Y, X"). The dictionary example above ...
1
Changing the word order of the original,
He has memorized no sooner than he has to modify or forget.
"A is sooner than B" means A occurs at an earlier time than B.
Thus, the meaning is
He must modify or forget as soon as he memorizes.
It's an exaggeration, that means that the information changes almost as soon as it is learned.
Here is a simpler ...
0
Russell is using passive voice here, where the object of an action is the subject of the sentence. At the same time, he seems to be trying to make a moral statement about something that should happen, without stating who the speaker is he was making that moral "should" claim.
I think the easiest way I can demonstrate the meaning is flipping the ...
1
As Taiwanese contemplated the momentous occasion in March 1996 of
being able to choose their president for the first time, China’s
Communist Party launched a campaign of intimidation.
The sentence can be divided into two main parts:
A temporal adjunct in clause structure: As Taiwanese contemplated the momentous occasion in March 1996, of being able to ...
1
In each of these sentences, "got" is simply an informal way of communicating. "I got bored while watching serials" could be said like this: "I became bored while watching serials." "I was bored while watching serials" is grammatically correct, but it does not mean the same thing as "I got bored while watching ...
1
For the first sentence, I suggest
"There are several ways you can do it."
The distinction here is that you won't do it multiple ways, but in one of several ways.
For the second sentence, all three of the options are idiomatic and mean the same. You could use the word "best" in place of "more".
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“A can’t B any more than C can D” means the same thing as “A can’t B just like C can’t D.”
For either idiom to work, the audience must already know that C can’t D.
With the “any more than” version, there is an added sense that thinking C can D is ridiculous, and therefore it is just as ridiculous to think that A can B, whereas the “just like” version is more ...
3
I believe that this is an example of an implied if-clause, which could be stated:
"If one had been offered, the ruling sections of the bourgeoisie would have accepted a compromise which, in the image of the English revolutions of the 17th century, would have set up over the subdued lower classes the domination of the notables and the moneyed class.
The ...
36
It means something close to your option (2): Fat can’t change into muscle, just like (as you may already know) muscle can’t change into fat. Regardless of its scientific correctness, this is the meaning that the phrasing implies.
Generally, phrases like “Eagles cannot swim any more than sharks can fly” are an idiomatic construction. They essentially always ...
10
There are two possibilities stated here:
(A) An event where fat changes into muscle
(B) An event where muscle changes into fat
The construction here ('not any more than') means the probability of (A) is lower than or equal to (B). That's all you can derive from analyzing the grammar, so both option 1. and 2. could be the truth.
However, assuming that you ...
0
The meaning of "fly" here is this one:
American Heritage Dictionary "fly'
intransitive verb: c. To flee; escape.
The meaning of "before" here is simply "in front of", that is they were confronted by their enemy, who were pursuing them.
So, the phrase "the enemy before whom they would be flying" means "the ...
0
It depends on context. E.G.,
The needed range is unavailable in a ballista and wooden bolt.
Here, both items are needed to propel the bolt.
Free shipping is unavailable in Alaska and Hawaii.
Free shipping is unavailable in Alaska or Hawaii.
In both those sentences, the free shipping is cannot be obtained in either place. One might prefer the first, using &...
0
Despite the idiom, "take a bath" still means "bathe one's self." Context usually makes it clear.
However, in your case, we would say "took a sponge bath" to differentiate from getting into a bathtub. This unequivocally uses the literal meaning and not the idiom, as well.
2
Firstly, the use of "take a bath" as an idiom to mean 'take a financial loss' is not particularly common. I'm a native British English speaker, one who is deeply interested in language and literature, and had never heard it before! I looked it up and you are right, it is in the dictionary, but it is the fourteenth definition, so I wouldn't worry ...
1
"Lyrics warning" Song lyrics are not meant to be examples of normal spoken English or written prose.
The full expression is
I know it ain't been easy; nothing ever good really is [easy]
It means good things are never really easy to get or achieve. However the word order is strange, the word "ever" seems to be in the wrong place.
1
Actually, the two noun phrases around “or” should not be opposites. We are told the episodes are “presented realistically” and “without [...] playful supernatural tricks” is one example of that, and the only other option that would make sense as another example of that is “without whimsy”. It would not make sense to say “without artlessness“ here because ...
-1
This is a difficult question. I believe that "whimsy" is correct because it is describing "supernatural" along with "playful." If it was "artless" rather than "artlessness," I believe it would be correct.
0
This question in this heading
Will the focus on multiple disciplines not dilute the character of single-stream institutions, such as IITs?
can be rephrased as
Won't the focus on multiple disciplines dilute the character of single-stream institutions, such as IITs?
which makes it a reasonably clear question. The asker supposes that broadening the courses ...
0
The line is natural. The assumption is that, when they got married, she felt love for him, and she divorced him when she did not feel the same way about him any more.
3
The sentence says that art historians have been not so much revising the concept of the Renaissance (changing the way they think about it), as eliminating the concept (deciding that the Renaissance didn't happen at all). This has nothing to do with revising a piece of work; it refers to revising their ideas about the Renaissance (or not, in this case).
...
0
The quote comes from this paper
Sage Journals
"Radiological protection in security screening"
The discussion is about the use of ionizing radiation at security checkpoints (such as x-rays used at airports), the safety of that use, and the possible provision of alternatives to x-rays, such as hand searches.
"The Commission recognises that ...
0
An expression is the process of transmitting ideas, such as thoughts, concepts, or feelings, between entities (such as individuals or groups).
An opinion is a judgement or view; thus it is not a fact or truth.
An "Expression of Opinion" is used in your example to distinguish between an "Expression of Fact", which would not necessarily ...
1
The difference between
I might go.
I might have to go.
Is the following:
I might go - Means that there is a possibility that I will go.
I might have to go - Means that there might occur a reason for me to go.
0
An "entry" in a dictionary is a headword (the word that gets looked up), plus its definition and any ancillary information that pertains to that word, such as an etymology, any usage notes, example sentences, pronunciation guides, inflected forms of the word and any illustrations. It is everything that is presented as belonging to that headword.
1
An entry in a dictionary is a word that the dictionary gives a definition for.
You could say "How many words are in this dictionary?", but that would be ambiguous. If a dictionary says, for example, "hat: (n) A covering for the head", that's clearly one "entry". But is it one "word", that is, one word that is defined? ...
0
The use of "that night" seems to suggest that something has happened at night, so that rules out interpreting this verse as "the day being so dark that it looks like night".
The first interpretation (that "the night is dark") could be correct - the black wind holds the darkness over the day, preventing the day from happening.
...
0
The sentence means that the man he is speaking of was the best choice (the fittest)
to get the army out of its difficulties (to extricate it from its embarrassments)
and to lead (to conduct) it to safety.
The to-infinitive in that use is an infinitive of purpose. In the present, we could say
He is the best man to save the army.
meaning that he is the best ...
0
"-and you a stranger." what he's trying to do here is:
I see this as a sort of a strategy for some script writers to deliver the importance of such characters whose playing a Big Role on the Narratives. But being disregarded at some point.
Remember getting through the first Season of this Anime called the "One Punch Man?"
It's a way to ...
1
It means that the fires that he could smell were lighting the blocks around him. The phrase modifies "fires". Put in simpler word order,
"Lee could smell the fires burning in Los Angeles's Koreatown that were lighting up the blocks around him."
1
Yes, it's correct to use might.
It's a way of saying: **Yes I might go if she called me.
Might have is a short form of might have gone.
This answer would be correct if the question had been:
Would you have gone if she had called you?
Yes, I might have (gone).
This is a question in the hypothetical past - what might have happened if a situation had arisen. ...
0
Boondoggles on bankers row means the tricks bankers play on investors to get them to put their money low return investments. Bankers row here refers to banks in general.
Slight of hand at Seventh Avenue Fashion houses refers to how these high fashion houses are skilled at deceiving customers and giving them low quality goods which are purportedly good.
1
To take things literally is to understand words as only what was actually written/said rather than what the author/speaker intended it to mean. In the case of laws or policies, we sometimes contrast “the letter of the law” (literal) and “the spirit of the law” (intent), which are often quite different and can be exploited by creative people.
0
"Something has to go" is an idiom meaning that, out of a number of items, one of them has to be eliminated.
"We had 12 football players -- one of them had to go."
"We have too many pets and children. One of them has to go."
"I've got too many beanie babies. Some of them have to go."
1
"Remember the day you saw me." is correct. The noun clause "you saw me" modifies "day."
"Remember the day in which you saw me" or "Remember the day that you saw me" or "Remember the day when you saw me" are also correct.
"Remember the day in which you saw me" would sound very formal.
1
Although he had never taken piano lessons, anytime that Jeff, who was
unusually intelligent, saw a piano, he was able to play a song.
If you want to identify the 'core' of the sentence, you must first remove all the optional dependents of the 'main' verb; in other words remove all the adjuncts, which in this case are:
[1] "although he had never taken ...
1
The sentence has three-level depth:
The outermost sentence(1) is
Although he had never taken piano lessons, he was able to play a song.
The middle depth clause(2) is:
anytime that jeff saw a piano
The inner clause(3) is:
who was usually intelligent
The sentence structure is that (1) contains (2) and (2) contains (3).
Understand from the outer side to ...
3
Someone's lot in life is their general situation or luck. "A hard lot" is a difficult or unfortunate situation that is out of the person's control. You can see it cited with other similar phrases in this link.
To do something with your head held high is to do it with self-confidence and pride, or without showing negativity or shame.
So altogether, ...
3
In this context state is an uncountable noun (not an adjective) meaning "management of state and related concerns." A more colloquial way of saying it would be "more saving and keeping track of data."
(In this case it refers to the use of the result variable.)
As is helpfully pointed out in a comment, this is computer jargon. Most ...
0
But I am telling things out of their turn.
He was telling the story, not in the proper time order.
From a psychological point of view, we had a long, long way in front
of us from the break of that dawn at the station until our first
night’s rest at the camp.
He wants to explain what happened to arrive at the conversation on floating to heaven. And this is ...
0
Monarch butterflies sometimes fly through clouds when they migrate.
It happens; so, it's possible.
That is possible.
She never dreamed [that] that was possible.
That was definitely something [that] she never dreamed was possible.
This "was possible" is a clause missing its subject. That's the gap which user178049's answer mentions. In the ...
16
Either. Your accent gave it (your nationality) away, or it gave you away as a person of that nationality.
1
The speaker made a mistake in speech. He meant to say "Suicide is the number one cause of death for teenagers from 12 to 18."
If he had mentioned causes of death in the previous sentence, the words could be omitted, but he didn't, so I think it's simply a mistake due to nervousness.
1
Short answer: the subject is realized by a gap, which is linked to the noun phrase "code" in the matrix clause.
Longer answer:
I believe that this is the case of unbounded dependency construction defined by Huddleston & Pullum (2002) as:
An unbounded dependency construction is one which sanctions within it an anaphoric gap, with no upper bound ...
1
It can also mean
something that brings about an effect or a result
The second sentence is a bit sloppy, but "they" refers to "everyone" and means "people in general."
0
I would not exactly call it an idiom.
Here, you’ll learn how data classes enable you to write code that’s
cleaner and more concise than you ever dreamed was possible.
The writer assumes you dreamed of writing the cleanest code possible. The writer builds on the assumption that dreams and imagination can be pretty wild and exaggerated and informs you that ...
0
There are several things to discuss in this question, so bear with me as I go through them all.
The referent of the dream is already identified in the example sentences:
The code was cleaner than you ever dreamed was possible.→ I never dreamed the code could be so clean.
Life could be so much better than she had ever dreamed was possible.→ I never dreamed ...
1
As the narrator came to know her better, they found that she isn't really intimidating, she's actually playful once you peel the first layers.
Very near the surface here means once you know her just a little, you don't need to dig deep to find the playful side of her.
1
Are "as" and "while" interchangeable here? Yes. Both words have several meanings, but they both can have the meaning of "at the same time".
"In" or "into"? "Into" is better. He is moving the luggage from outside the trunk to inside the trunk. It is moving from one place to another, so "in ... ...
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