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Re: anyways
Thank you, David. Wow! Prince of Whales!! Tweeting is sometimes dangerous, because they write and send the messages very quickly. apple
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Re: possessives
So when I say about a bag (or bags) of some certain men, can I say: These are some men's bag. / These are men's bag. These are some...
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Re: Use of hyphen
Hello, MaaAdjoa, and welcome to GE! I agree with Gustavo's answer and, like you, share his preference for (1). The hyphen after "time"...
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Re: anyways
Hi, Apple, Yes, there is. If you meet with a word a lot, there's a good chance it exists. Below are links to half a dozen dictionary...
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Re: If
Thank you very much.
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Re: If
Hi, Ahmad, Yes, it is right. If you are talking about a general fact, the zero conditional is the only right answer. A science teacher...
If
If you put wood into water, it will float. Is using first conditional her right? Should we use zero conditional here? This is from prep 2Read More...
Thank you very much.Read More...
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Podcast about Grammar Cops
The author Michael Lewis has a podcast called "Against the Rules." The summary for the episode entitled "The Alex Kogan Experience" is "Everyone hates grammar and ethics cops. Until they need one." I enjoyed this podcast and think that readers of this forum will enjoy it also. This doesn't really fit in the Q&A section, but I don't know where else to post it. The podcast begins with the ethics topic. If you are pressed for time and want to focus on grammar, I suggest going to...Read More...
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Re: possessives
Thank U
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Gustavo and David, thank you for your replies. In a later email from my tech writer friend, he clarified that he agreed with me.
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Hello, Fujibei, The first "us" is the direct object, and the second "us" is the object complement, that is, a complement that refers to...
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Great reply .
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Individual things that make us, us.
The following is an excerpt from the blog posted by "a third culture kid" in the Japan Times. What does "Individual things that make us, us." mean? This sentence looks incomplete and how can you make it complete? “Everyone is different, and that’s what makes life interesting,” Osaka tweeted last year. “We all have our own backgrounds and stories. Individual things that make us, us.” I couldn’t agree more with her statement.Read More...
Hello, Fujibei, The first "us" is the direct object, and the second "us" is the object complement, that is, a complement that refers to the first "us." Compare with: "Individual things that make us different from others ." A better way of saying "Individual things that make us, us" would be, in my opinion, "Individual things that make us who we are ."Read More...
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Re: Future
Yes, I realize that you guys are looking for a detailed explanation, and I have decided to turn this into a research project. Please...
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Hello, StillKicking, and welcome to GE! I fully agree with Gustavo's answer and think he has done a nice job of clarifying the singular...
anyways
Hello, I've heard people especially young (uneducated?) people use the word "anyways" when they probably mean "anyway". Is there such an English word as "anyways"? It bothers me so much that I looked at BYU corpus and there are a lot of examples. Is it now accepted to use it in an informal conversation? AppleRead More...
Thank you, David. Wow! Prince of Whales!! Tweeting is sometimes dangerous, because they write and send the messages very quickly. appleRead More...
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Hello, StillKicking, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! Your revision was correct and is required for the sentence to be grammatical.
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Re: Future
@David, Moderator Could you please give more explanation and more examples when both are correct?
Which word is the subject?
From a draft study for a US Government agency: "... the analyses were prioritized by first concentrating on systems whose performance are deemed critical to the safe and efficient operation ..." After I changed "are" to "is" in my comments, the author replied: "NO -- Systems is plural" I then asked a tech writer friend who replied: "Depends what is being emphasized as critical - the systems or the performance." Isn't "performance" the subject?Read More...
Gustavo and David, thank you for your replies. In a later email from my tech writer friend, he clarified that he agreed with me.Read More...
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Re: possessives
I agree with David that this is an interesting topic, Kimconu. Since you haven't said "These are the feathers of a bird," I understand...
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Good explanation, indeed
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Re: Use of hyphen
Thanks for reply. I also agree that the first example is the most plausible. I hadn't thought of that. Looks good to me now. Thanks very...
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Re: Use of hyphen
Hello, MaaAdjoa, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! The hyphen is correctly used. What you should avoid is the repetition of "saving,"...
Use of hyphen
Is it correct to use the hyphen in the following sentence: "time-saving and cost-saving manner"Read More...
Hello, MaaAdjoa, and welcome to GE! I agree with Gustavo's answer and, like you, share his preference for (1). The hyphen after "time" in (1) is sometimes referred to as a suspensive hyphen . Another option is to use a relative clause: 4- a manner that saves time and money I'm not saying that I prefer (4) to (1). There is a good chance that I would use (1).Read More...
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Sentence confusion
My friend and I were playing a game and discussing about some various strategies to finish it as fast as possible and he suddenly asked me this "does that trick work if you abandon the gate.' I'm so confused whether this is correct or not, should it be will that trick work if you abandon the gate? Thanks in advance!Read More...
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Re: possessives
So am I correct? 1 When you say about a bird in general, you say "This is a feather of a bird", you can also say "This is a bird's...
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Re: Suggest
No, Menem, you can't. You need "go" or "should go" there.
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Re: Suggest
Can we choose " went " as an informal language?
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Hi, Azz, Where you said above: "*He'll set things straight before," I'm sure you meant to say "He set things straight before." I think...
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Re: elliptical usage
Hi, Freeguy, Syntactically, either interpretation is possible, and ellipsis is not involved: 1) They could [ travel farther from the...
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elliptical usage
With their special moon vehicle, they could travel farther from the landing site to investigate more of the lunar environment and collect a wider range of soil and rock sample. ...... Which of the following interpretation is right? 1) ....., they could travel farther from the landing site to investigate more of the lunar environment and (could) collect a wider range of soil and rock sample. 2) ....., they could travel farther from the landing site to investigate more of the lunar environment...Read More...
Hi, Freeguy, Syntactically, either interpretation is possible, and ellipsis is not involved: 1) They could [ travel farther from the landing site to investigate more of the lunar environment ] and [ collect a wider range of soil and rock sample ] . 2) The could travel farther from the landing site to [ investigate more of the lunar environment ] and [ collect a wider range of soil and rock sample ] . In (1), two verb phrases are coordinated as complements of the modal "could": the verb...Read More...
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Re: Suggest
Thanks alot
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Re: possessives
Hi, Kimconu, Interesting question! "A pig's trough" can be parsed as [ a [ pig's trough ]] (i.e., a trough of the sort that pigs use) --...
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Re: Suggest
Hello, M Elmaghraby, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! The answer is "go," which is the present subjunctive here, NOT the present...
set things staight again
a. He'll set things straight again. b. He'll set things straight one more time. Do these mean 1. He'll set things straight before and he will do it again. or 2. Things were good at first, then went wrong. He will restore things to the way they were. ? I think from a logical point of view both should mean (1), but people generally use them to mean (2). Many thanks.Read More...
Hi, Azz, Where you said above: "*He'll set things straight before," I'm sure you meant to say "He set things straight before." I think both interpretations are possible. Interpretation (2) might be a case of "excessive conciseness," so to say, but I wouldn't say it's wrong. Context can help, for example: - When we bought this house, this wall was white. Then we painted it gray. Now we'll paint it white again. (Now we'll paint it white + As a result the wall will be white again.)Read More...
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possessives
1 When I say "This is a pig's trough.", so is the word "a" describing or attached to "pig" or "trough"? 2 When I say "This is the pigs' trough.", so is the word "the" describing or attached to "pigs" or "trough"? 3 When I say "These are the women's wallets.", so is the word "the" describing or attached to "women" or "wallets"? Thanks!Read More...
So when I say about a bag (or bags) of some certain men, can I say: These are some men's bag. / These are men's bag. These are some men's bags. / These are men's bags. Thank you for all your help!Read More...
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Suggest
She suggested that he ....fishing tomorrow and he liked the idea. ( would go - go - went - will goRead More...
No, Menem, you can't. You need "go" or "should go" there.Read More...
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Hello, Abdullah, Based on the information presented by Gustavo in this thread , yes, you can say: It's boring waiting at bus stops. It's...
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It is superfluous to add time after weeks, hours, years or any increment that only refers to time. Minutes and seconds could also be...
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Re: Future forms
This question has already been asked and answered twice in the last day.
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Re: repeat
Hello, Ruifeng, Yes, you can use "again and again" for that purpose. "Again and again" is commonly used that way, and your example is fine.
Is this structure correct?
Is this structure correct? I t is boring waiting at bus stops.Read More...
Hello, Abdullah, Based on the information presented by Gustavo in this thread , yes, you can say: It's boring waiting at bus stops. It's boring to wait at bus stops.Read More...
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Re: was standing
Thank you very much, David, Just to clarify, I thought one should say 1 b) In the doorway, stood a tall dark woman. and 1a) In the...
Future forms
Liverpool players are known to be skilled.They........the match. A) will win B) are going to winRead More...
This question has already been asked and answered twice in the last day.Read More...
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Re: was standing
Hello again, Navi, No, you don't need to use inversion, and you haven't. You have used topicalization, and it isn't necessary, either:...
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Re: Future
Your clear-cut answer is that both answers are perfectly correct in that context.
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Thank you very much, David
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Re: was standing
Thank you very much, David, How about these: 1a) In the doorway, a tall dark woman stood. 2a) In the bedroom, a tall dark woman sat in...
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Re: Future
David, we need a clear-cut answer,please
repeat
Could we use "again and again" to emphasis "repeat", like "He repeated it again and again to make us remember clearly" ? Thanks.:)Read More...
Hello, Ruifeng, Yes, you can use "again and again" for that purpose. "Again and again" is commonly used that way, and your example is fine.Read More...
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Re: Future
David, I agree with you. Yet, the question mentioned above was one of 30 questions in our GSEC exam. Sorrowfully, our poor students were...
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Hi, Mr. Ahmed, This is the second question that has been asked twice today: https://thegrammarexchange.infopop.cc/topic/future-21
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Re: was standing
Hello, Navi, Yes, both (1) and (2) are correct, but I'd prefer " in " an armchair. It means (a). It would mean (b) if it read "She was...
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Hello, Ahmed Imam Attia, Someone else has asked the very same question today. Please see the answer I have just given Abdullah Mahrouse...
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Hello, Abdullah, Both answers are correct, assuming there is no context to decide between them. Their meaning is simply different. Each...
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Re: Future
Hello, Emad, Both answers are correct: Liverpool's players are known to be skilled. They are going to win the match easily. Liverpool's...
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Re: will or going to
Hi, Islam Mohamed, Both answers are correct. I would more naturally use "is going to," but "will" works perfectly well there. If a...
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Zero or First Conditional
If you are a well-organised person, you ..................... your time. a) will manage b) would manage c) manage d) managed This sentence was included in our GSSC final exam. Students were supposed to choose only one of the options provided. Do you think it should be first conditional (WILL MANAGE), or Zero conditional (MANAGE)? Thank you very muchRead More...
Great reply .Read More...
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Future
Liverpool 's players are known to be skilled. They (are going to win / will win) the match easily. What is the right answer here?Read More...
Yes, I realize that you guys are looking for a detailed explanation, and I have decided to turn this into a research project. Please give me about a week, and I will try to clear up the mystery of will versus be going to to the best of my ability. As a native speaker, I never (or almost never) have to think about it. As a grammar-forum moderator, though, I encounter the question regularly, and I very often disagree with Egyptian "model answers" in this department! The distinction between...Read More...
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was standing
Are these sentences correct: 1) In the doorway, a tall dark woman was standing. 2) In the bedroom, a tall dark woman was sitting on an armchair. Do you interpret '2' to mean: a) She was seated on an armchair. or b) She was in the process of sitting down on an armchair. Gratefully, NaviRead More...
Thank you very much, David, Just to clarify, I thought one should say 1 b) In the doorway, stood a tall dark woman. and 1a) In the doorway, a tall dark woman stood. sounded bad. That is what I was referring to when I mentioned inversion. Gratefully, NaviRead More...
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will or going to
The other team’s players are very big. It (will/is going to) be a difficult match. That question is in our course book “new hello for Egypt” The answer in the book is”is going to”. But, I think that “will” can be a correct answer. It is a prediction based on an opinion. What is the better answer?Read More...
Hi, Islam Mohamed, Both answers are correct. I would more naturally use "is going to," but "will" works perfectly well there. If a student answers "will," the answer should not be marked incorrect. It would be good if another choice were added: "both" (the true model answer).Read More...
Updated
Will OR are going to
Liverpool players are known to be skilled.They........the match. A) will win B) are going to winRead More...
Hi, Mr. Ahmed, This is the second question that has been asked twice today: https://thegrammarexchange.infopop.cc/topic/future-21Read More...
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Hello, Rasha Assem, I agree with David. The clues to interpret that the past is real (not unreal or "subjunctive," as you say) in the...
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Hi, David, Ahmed Imam Attia seems to be confused by this explanation he got on another forum: It is my understanding (and it also seems...