25
votes
Accepted
How to say "to prepare a place for sleeping" (for example to put a sheet, blanket and pillow on the bed)?
to make a bed/the bed for you: the general case
to make a bed for you on the couch or sofa
OR
to make up a bed for you on the couch
to make or make up a bed for you on the floor [with cushions or an ...
23
votes
Why can’t one use the verb 'to stay' in “Two yoghurts stayed in the fridge”?
to stay in the fridge has various meanings:
This soft cheese has to stay in the fridge or it will go bad.
stay = be kept; remain
Nobody in the house likes this flavor very much. These sodas stay in ...
13
votes
Accepted
The word that describes the feeling when you're disgusted by a certain taste
The verb 'cloy' that you have found is used relatively rarely. We more often use cloying, an adjective derived from the verb, to discuss excessively sweet tastes or smells. It also has a more ...
9
votes
Why can’t one use the verb 'to stay' in “Two yoghurts stayed in the fridge”?
You can say something “stays” in a specific place.
Jams, mayo, pickles, chutney and sauces e.g. mustard, apple sauce go in the fridge once opened. Marmite, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, peanut butter, ...
5
votes
Why can’t one use the verb 'to stay' in “Two yoghurts stayed in the fridge”?
Because "stay," in this usage, implies doing something on purpose. The yoghurts are non-sentient; they didn't choose to stay. Even though definition 3 in this entry defines "stay" ...
4
votes
At weekends they prefer to stay home and visit some friends
The structure of the sentence definitely means that they like to do two things on a weekend - 1) stay home and 2) visit friends. This seems contradictory, as you can't stay in your house and also go ...
3
votes
Accepted
Can "find that" be followed by a subjunctive clause, i.e. bare form of verb is used instead of inflectional form
This is indeed a subjunctive construction, but not because of find. The subordinate clause here is an extraposed object following the adjective imperative, which does license subjunctive clauses. Some ...
3
votes
The word that describes the feeling when you're disgusted by a certain taste
It depends on several factors, particularly what the particular taste is that disgusts you and the reason for that disgust.
If the flavour is just too strong, to the point of making something ...
3
votes
Is this grammar correct? "New rules are adhere to"
Adhere as in adhere to is what’s known a prepositional verb—an intransitive verb that appears with a particular preposition along with the preposition’s object.
Prepositional verbs, unlike other ...
1
vote
Accepted
Verb omission in English. "Enemy down" without any linking verb
When speaking in situations that require you to be terse, it is common not to use full sentences.
Stop!
Over there!
Wolf!
Ouch!
Enemy down!
I suspect that most other languages allow this kind of ...
1
vote
The word that describes the feeling when you're disgusted by a certain taste
You could say you're experiencing "sugar overload". It's exactly the sensation you describe; you've had too much sugar and it now tastes kind of disgusting. It's just a little informal and, ...
1
vote
Are causative verbs transitive or intrasitive?
I have had my hair cut.
An object needs to be either a noun phrase or a determiner phrase. Here my hair is a noun phrase and is hence the object of the verb had.
ecampusontario says
If a Verb head ...
1
vote
Are causative verbs transitive or intrasitive?
I can't fully explain what the syntax is, but I can say that "my hair" is an object of some kind in that sentence. An object is often defined as a type of complement, so I would say it also ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
Related Tags
verbs × 2799grammar × 301
word-usage × 232
word-choice × 199
prepositions × 142
tense × 142
difference × 140
word-request × 120
meaning × 119
sentence-construction × 119
meaning-in-context × 97
word-meaning × 91
nouns × 88
phrasal-verbs × 86
grammaticality × 74
past-tense × 65
adjectives × 64
sentence-meaning × 59
modal-verbs × 57
gerunds × 55
auxiliary-verbs × 55
sentence-structure × 53
passive-voice × 53
subject-verb-agreement × 53
infinitives × 53