Hi, Eternal Hope, I would revise the entire sentence: The earth revolves around the sun every 365 1/4 days.Read More...

Thanks , davidRead More...

Here you go, Rasha. Two replies are associated with this thread: Gustavo's excellent answer and your thank-you note to him. For the sake of thoroughness, I am quoting both posts and showing you everything I see on my end. If any member reading this has any idea what "CONTENT TYPE RECIPE CONDITION" might mean, please share your thoughts. That is the category under which all the posts that went "missing" in the transplant are listed. To reiterate, I have reason to believe that "Approve Reply"...Read More...

as white as snowRead More...

Please! Is it possible to leave Alice Cooper's classic rock anthem "School's Out" (1972) out of this discussion? "School's Out" by Alice Cooper I agree with David, that "out", when referring to school, usually means that there is a holiday break, but it can also simply refer to the end of the day, as in your example. Of course, in the context of the song, "out" can mean "out of fashion", or "unpopular". Bear_bear, you surely have access to a dictionary that can advise you of many meanings of...Read More...

I've never heard "all honey and no sting," bear_bear, but it's clearly a reference to bees. Bees make honey (which is good from the standpoint of customary human perception), and bees sting (which is bad from the standpoint of customary human perception). Thus, if someone were said to be all honey and no sting, the idea would be that she is sweet and kind and never causes anyone any harm. Here is a related idiom which is much more common: "all bark and no bite."Read More...

Thanks, but what do we call " There has been" ? How about the usage in examples?Read More...

Hi, Fujibei: I find the headline extremely unclear with the contraction of "was" and "not" ("wasn't"). I believe that the intended meaning is the one that would stand out if "was" and "not" were not contracted and if "was" were stressed: In Trump's White House, Charlottesville was a moment that was not I think that the simple past-tense form of "be" ("was") is being used in the sense of "exist." In Trump's White House, Charlottesville (i.e., the event that occurred in Charlottesville a year...Read More...

So, regarding point 1, I hope you understand and appreciate my suggestions. Regarding 2, it always helps when our members describe what constraints they are under. And, as I said, the language is evolving. It could very well be that in a few years, "languaging" will be considered a perfectly cromulent word. DocVRead More...

Thank you very much, DocV, Your replies are great and are always appreciated. You, Gustavo and David are doing a wonderful job on this forum. You know exactly why I'm asking a question and what I'm looking for. You guys are great. I hope that the old posts will be restored. So many hours of work went into their production. Gratefully and respectfully, NaviRead More...

Subha, here's my best take on your question: 1: As a teacher, I feel disappointed for a student who could not pass last year's math exam. To me, this means that there is one particular non-passing student that the teacher feels disappointed for, regardless of how many there were that failed. It is also possible to see the article "a" as more encompassing, so that (1) could potentially seen as implying some of these other examples. 2: As a teacher, I feel disappointed for any student who...Read More...

Good point, Gustavo. It is certainly true that we can use "in force" in legal contexts. To give a mundane example, a driver might ask himself or his passenger(s), "Is the no-U-turn rule at this intersection still in force at this time of day?" Such traffic laws are sometimes -- i.e., in certain specific places -- in force (and enforced) only during certain time periods. Returning to the topic of how to check whether social plans are still in effect, I wish to emphasize the appropriateness,...Read More...

Thanks YAMA and DOc V.Read More...

Just delete "use to": I don't use to walk to work any more .Read More...

Bitte.Read More...

Yes, Yama. In the context, "that luxury" means "the luxury of being able to have my husband and kids do the dishes." The speaker doesn't have that luxury because she is single: she doesn't have a husband and probably has no kids.Read More...

Durrani, Some of these don't have really easy answers. Sometimes a certain combination of words just sounds better. I hate using that explanation, because it always sounds to me like my mother screaming "BECAUSE I TOLD YOU SO!". For what it's worth, let me offer these suggestions: 5 (as iterated before): The confidence that he lacked cost him the election. 5a (your example): The lacked confidence cost him the election. 5b (new): His lack of confidence cost him the election. So far, I like...Read More...

Definitely, Kuen. As I said, "go and [verb]" works with most verbs in the simple present. The verbs it works with, however, tend to be verbs denoting activities.Read More...

Thanks for your reply . But , the example you mentioned which said ( " they didn't visit Paris before they got married ." Made another question pop up . Is there a difference in meaning between your example and the following sentence . " they hadn't visited Paris before they got married ."Read More...

Thanks for your help . You still didn't give me an answer about this question " I hope you tell me if it's bothering that I ask you directly instead of just posting . " Please tell me . As for your question about my native language and my country , I' m Egyptian . I speak arabic . I have studied English for some time till it became a hobby .Read More...

Thanks for your reply , Doc V .Read More...

Wow. Once again, we have cross-talk, although I really don't think I've disagreed with David in any way. I think we're basically saying the same thing in different words. DocVRead More...

Thank you. I think I have got your point. Suppose, after one year of the accident, if no accident has taken so many lives so far I can use present perfect. If another accident like that occurs and takes more lives I should use past perfect. Am I right? So after a year, no accident like that takes more lives, I can say: Last year , a tragic bus accident happened in Kolkata. At least 60 people died in the accident. The bus driver was found responsible for the accident. Accidents like this had...Read More...

Unlike "used to," which expresses habit by itself, I think that for "would" to work in the second sentence some adverbial of frequency denoting repetition of the action in the past would be required, for example: 1.3) When I lived in the countryside, I would drive to work every morning .Read More...

Hi, GamezeroEno. I'd like to join Gustavo in welcoming you to the forum. I'd also like to add a tiny bit of information to his answer, with which I fully agree. The phrase "how much things can change in the span of a year" is an embedded exclamatory clause, related to the exclamation "How much things can change in the span of a year!" We know that "how much things can change in the span of a year" is an embedded exclamatory because of "crazy," which here means "amazing," "astonishing,"...Read More...

Yes, Subha. As you are using it, "so far" essentially means "until this point in time". DocVRead More...

a=a': Has there ever been an occasion where you asked him for help and he didn't help you? b=c=b': Can you honestly say that he has never helped you when you asked him for help? a=1, more or less. b=c=2, kinda/sorta. DocVRead More...

I totally agree (I particularly like the "non-recoverable syntactic ellipsis" explanation). Actually, I explained my sentences (c) and (d) by saying "the total was incredible / is massive," and the "elided" noun in my sentence (e) is "amount/quantity of," not "number of." Definitely. It seems to me that the use of the singular article is the mechanism the language has come up wih to enable adjectives to modify numbers. Actually, we could do without the noun that follows and the sentence...Read More...

Hi, Ceedhanna: Sentence (1) represents her working as an intern as something that has happened recently and up to now and as something that is perhaps still continuing. It could be used without further context. Sentence (2) represents her working as an intern as something that was occurring at some point in the past. What that point is, we don't know. The sentence doesn't make sense in the absence of further context.Read More...

Thanks a bunch Gustavo😀Read More...

Hi, Ceedhanna: The condition, as you have stated it, makes no sense to me. Both sentences are fine. I do sense a subtle difference between them, and, if I ever get around to replying to your general inquiry concerning "when" and "while" and the progressive, I shall point to this type of difference. The subtle difference is this. The sentence with "while," unlike the sentence with "when," indicates that the dog's barking continued throughout the period of time during which she was talking to...Read More...

To complete the answer to the question implied by your subject heading, a "fallen" tree is one that is no longer "falling", but is now most likely lying on the ground. DocV PS: Is "TONYCK 2" different from the old "tonyck" that we used to know?Read More...

Thanks a lot, Gustavo. Really helpful, and sorry about the silly mistake of 'It is been'.Read More...

Than you..😄Read More...

Hello, Bisleybob, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! Your Displayed Name is very amusing. I assume it's a play on "Beelzebub." You haven't made any major mistakes in the paragraph in question. The semicolon in the second sentence is questionable, as is your use of "this" in "those of you who have mastered this." If you mean for "this" to refer to "the subject," I recommend using "it" instead. If you mean for "this" to refer to "the complexity and the flexibility of the subject," I...Read More...

Got it. Thank you so much.Read More...

Thanks a lot, David.Read More...

Hi, welcome to the forum. Would you like to ask a focused question?Read More...

Subha, My sense is that "or" is a conjunction that can join two co-equal (is that redundant?) clauses within a single sentence, whereas "otherwise" is an adverb that should introduce a separate sentence. Hence: A: John, you should follow the instructions that teacher said, or you will not be able to complete the project. B: John, you should follow the instructions that teacher said. Otherwise, you will not be able to complete the project. I hope this helps. DocVRead More...

Hi, Subhajit: You can use a sentence like "I bought a new cell phone" without a time adverbial if the context in which you are using the sentence contains an implicit indication of the time frame. For example, if you are talking with a friend of yours and are asked, "What have you been up to?," you could reply, "I bought a new cell phone." It would be clear implicitly, from the surrounding social context, that you meant that you had bought a new cell phone recently. Otherwise, without an...Read More...

Hi, Fujibei, Those who have to worry in the face of low admission rates are non-legacy students. "only some" there is used as opposed to "all" ( not all students have to worry) and is anticipating information that will be provided later: legacy students are said to be at a distinct advantage, being three times more likely to be admitted than non-legacy students, and therefore have no reason to worry. For those who want to know what "legacy students" means, let's quote the definition from...Read More...

I think you mean "use," Subhajit. Example (1) would be better with the present perfect rather than the simple past. Then you can use "since my childhood days" or "from my childhood days on" ("on" is an important addition: "from then on"): (1a) I have had a chronic liver disease since my childhood days, but now I am fine. (1b) I have had a chronic liver disease from my childhood days on , but now I am fine. Example (2) is fine with "since." If you use "from," add "on" after "childhood."Read More...

Hi, Nick. Welcome back! No, the sentence is not correct. But it looks as if you forgot what you were typing midway through the sentence, repeating yourself and then blundering through to the end. It's always a good idea to reread what we have written. What would improve your sentence greatly is a shift from "above all else" to "least of all": I have never meant to be nasty to anyone, least of all to my wife, to my family, or to my wife's family. I have also changed "and" to "or," since "or"...Read More...

Hello, Navi: I strongly dislike all three of the sentences. One problem is the use of "(wi)ll live"; the present simple is the tense to use there. The other problem is the "(so) that"-clause, which wants desperately to be changed to an infinitive clause: (4) I'm going to make sure you live long enough to go to trial .Read More...

Thank you so much, DocV!Read More...

Hi, Subhajit, I'd only like to add something to David's excellent answer, and that is that, whenever you have a postmodifier like " of the game," you will need the article, whether the noun has verbal origin (i.e. is a gerund) or not: - You should come before the start of the game. - You should come before the commencement of the game. (Of course, "beginning" would be the most usual of the three, and "commencement" would be definitely formal.) The gerund has nominal value but has a strong...Read More...