16
votes
"Is he not the carpenter's son?" v.s. "Is not he the carpenter's son?"
The KJV is over 400 years old. Because it is so well-known, contemporary speakers are able to understand much of it. Many of them have heard passages from it on a weekly basis for most of their lives,...
- 133k
15
votes
Accepted
Isn't there a preposition ("to") missing after "IP addresses that devices are allocated"?
There's a potential difference in meaning depending on whether we explicitly specify the preposition in contexts like the OP's example.
a set of IP addresses that devices are allocated [to]
With to, ...
- 73.9k
14
votes
Why is this kind of sentence still officially accepted?
— Who is the author of the article?
— The author of the article is Allan Allandale.
The answer tells us who the author of the article is.
— Who is the author of the article?
— Allan Allandale is the ...
14
votes
Why is this kind of sentence still officially accepted?
You are broadly right. However, the thing in the box isn't a sentence. It is a dictionary definition.
In a definition, you first have the the headword. It is often printed in bold. There is then a ...
- 228k
12
votes
Why is this kind of sentence still officially accepted?
At the risk of upsetting the community: it is a common misconception that there are statutes governing English grammar, or some regulating authority which is mandated to determine what is "...
12
votes
"Is he not the carpenter's son?" v.s. "Is not he the carpenter's son?"
It is clear and certain that the statement would be
He is not the carpenter's son.
That is the only possible position for the word "not". If this is contracted there are two possibilities,...
- 228k
9
votes
"Both the local authority and <myself> <me> <I> have gone to the minister." — Do all these pronouns work here?
The general rule is to use the same pronoun you would use if it were alone rather than part of a list.
So in the subject position, you use "Mary and I have gone", since you would say "I ...
- 3,394
7
votes
Accepted
What's the meaning of "sundry great ships overspiring her from close without"?
You're right that the word order here is significant. However, it's not about emphasis but rather that without is not a preposition. From NOAD:
adverb archaic or literary
outside: the enemy without.
...
- 15.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Does the question "anything else I can do for you?" use correct word order?
This is normal colloquial English. It's actually short for "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
- 274
4
votes
Accepted
Is "study abroad program" correct?
"study abroad program" should be considered a compound. Constructing compounds like this is possible. Here are some more examples:
He painted a go faster stripe on his car.
He used the ...
- 228k
4
votes
What's the meaning of "sundry great ships overspiring her from close without"?
Sample: Norah Creina. Methought she looked smaller than ever, sundry great ships overspiring her from close without.
The pronoun refers to the Norah Creina sailing ship
sundry: various
overspire: to ...
- 47.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Does use of superlative adjective affect the order of adjectives?
If one of the adjectives is a superlative, by definition this implies there are others of the same general type. So the youngest small man implies there are other small men who aren't so young, and ...
- 73.9k
3
votes
Accepted
Syntax question. Why does this sentence sound awkward when I move the adverbial phrase?
Adverbs modify verbs.
This statement is correct, but misleadingly incomplete with respect to English. Adverbs can modify verbs, but also verb phrases.
In English, but not in some other languages, ...
- 1,512
3
votes
Accepted
"I have bought it" versus "I have it bought"
The two sentences have completely different meanings and structures.
The first sentence is the present perfect and means I bought something in the past, and this purchase has a present result, likely ...
- 51k
3
votes
"Here are" word order
Taken purely literally, they have the same meaning and they are deictic in the sense that the meaning of "here" is dependent on context.
However, most native speakers would use them ...
- 162
3
votes
"Is he not the carpenter's son?" v.s. "Is not he the carpenter's son?"
English is my second language but in my understanding in the first sentence the focus is on him and in the second sentence the focus is on the carpenter's (son) that's why i would answer like that:
&...
- 147
3
votes
Is there a rule for the "Not so easy is it now" expression?
It's a tag question.
It's not so easy, is it now?
- 1,124
3
votes
Is the following sentence structure correct? — "How many story a building is it?", "How many person a tent is it?", "How many core a processor is it?"
All the answers so far are (in my opinion) correct, but the OP’s confusion results from a difference between what an adjectival phrase can accomplish in English, and what a copula can. You can say:
...
- 7,099
2
votes
Accepted
Which short answers are correct?
A. i and ii are correct, iii and iv incorrect, v is informal.
B. All are grammatical, but Me too is informal and I too would only be used as part of a formal, longer sentence. "I too have visited ...
- 59.1k
2
votes
What are the differences in the word orders?
Sentences 1–3 have essentially the same meaning. But shifting the position of only cannot be done so freely. Although sentences 4–6 have essentially the same meaning, specifying your single possession,...
- 9,821
2
votes
"Here are" word order
[1] Here are the letters for you.
[2] The letters for you are here.
[1] is an inversion. It may be interpreted in one of two ways, depending on context.
Either it simply gives the location of the ...
- 17.3k
2
votes
Is there a difference in focus between "I'm working in my room" and "I'm in my room working" due to the word order?
"I'm working in my room" emphasizes the activity you're engaged in.
"I'm in my room working" emphasizes the location first.
Both sentences convey a similar idea with subtle ...
- 121
2
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference in focus between "I'm working in my room" and "I'm in my room working" due to the word order?
As in so many situations, it depends on context. Although I’m working in my room is the more natural of the two as a response to a question like What are you doing?, the prepositional phrase in my ...
- 9,821
2
votes
Is there a difference in focus between "I'm working in my room" and "I'm in my room working" due to the word order?
They mean the same thing with a slightly different emphasis.
I am working in my room.
I am in my room working.
- 174
2
votes
Syntax question. Why does this sentence sound awkward when I move the adverbial phrase?
[1] The dog roams the streets [every day].
[2] *The dog roams [every day] the streets.
[1] is fine, but [2] is unacceptable because an adjunct can't be inserted between a verb and its direct object.
- 17.3k
2
votes
End-weight how I interpret
Both mean the same. "I played twice on your birthday" is the same as "I played on my birthday twice".
I suppose the second could refer to two different birthdays. In context that ...
- 228k
2
votes
Why "I use social media too much" and not "I use too much social media"
In I drink too much coffee,'too much' is a compound quantifier (compare the single-word quantifiers 'insufficient', 'sufficient', and 'excess'). The noun is being modified.
But in He smokes too much,...
- 2,253
2
votes
It was Terry who hit on this idea, not me. / It was Terry, not me, who hit on this idea
not me is an interruption and can be placed at both locations shown in OP's examples; the examples have the same meaning.
Edit
The use of the it-cleft makes it clear that the comparison is between ...
2
votes
Accepted
Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep
Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep.
fast asleep is parenthetical, and can be removed for clarity of the main sentence:
Inside, just visible, was a baby boy.
The subject is baby boy, ...
2
votes
Isn't there a preposition ("to") missing after "IP addresses that devices are allocated"?
In this case, no, because allocate can take a direct object. An address can be allocated a device, or a device can be allocated an address. Here, APIPA is allocating devices addresses.
The sentence is ...
- 8,501
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