Hi, Navi, I wouldn't say that "where" is incorrect but only vague. As a teacher or editor, I think I'd correct it as follows: 1) He was supposed to write a short story, but not like this, not one in which one has to know a lot of history to understand what the story is about. 2) You're supposed to write a short story, but not a complicated one, not one in which the writer has to be an expert in history. I prefer (2) because in (1) "not like this" refers to the manner, not the subject-matter...Read More...

Hello, P.J., and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! In: "fit" does not work as a noun to mean what "fitting" denotes (the act of trying clothes on to check whether they fit). In: "drinking" refers to the action of drinking, while "drink" refers to one particular drink or act of drinking. Just as we speak about "eating disorders" (NOT "food/meal disorders"), we speak about "drinking problem." This: is perhaps the hardest to explain and, therefore, the most idiomatic. I think it has to do with...Read More...

Hi, Ansonman, "within" can in fact be used with the preposition "of," as in this example from the Longman dictionary: - Within an hour of our arrival Caroline was starting to complain. Example (1) is fine to me. "of" and "from" could not be used in this case in which a clause follows. The present perfect could be used in the time clause: (1') Everyone will receive a raise within five days after the management and the union have reached an agreement and completed all the paperwork. In (2),...Read More...

Thank you both very much About this that you said" If you'd like suggestions as to how to make your presentation even more elegant, send me an e-mail.", Sorry, "state verbs express states or conditions which are relatively static .", how can we use them to express a temporary condition?Read More...

Hi, Freeguy, Your reasoning is good, except for one thing: it doesn't account for the use of "even," which wants to introduce a grammatical structure of the same type -- in this case, another finite verb phrase in the simple present. I would add "and": 2a) Sometimes he looks right at you, talks to you, and even asks how you are, but he never remembers it in the morning. Your interpretation would work with "even" if the participial modifying phrase were a member of a series or at least a pair...Read More...

Thanks a lot sirRead More...

Hi, Ansonman, "sham" does not work as a verb. You could say that they were (1) feigning a transaction, or (2) bargaining over a transaction. While (1) implies that they were just pretending so the transaction was a fake, (2) means that they were actually discussing the price, presumably to make others believe that the pieces were expensive.Read More...

This brings back memories of winter at Kent State University when I was seventeen. Those of us that lived on the upper floors of the dormitories and didn't have refrigerators would set our beers on the outside windowsills to keep them cold. The problem was that some students were very adept at knocking the beers off the sills with snowballs, so I always kept mine on a tether. None of your sentences is incorrect, but I prefer 4: The drinks are as cold as if they had been refrigerated. DocV...Read More...

Ansonman, Both sentences are awkward. (1) at the very least needs a comma after "7pm", and I would add "did" at the end. Even so, I hope you understand that the two sentences mean different things. I would suggest these rewordings for clarity: 1a: When I arrived, I found that John had been here since 7pm. 1b: When I arrived, I found that John had been here at 7pm. 2a: When I arrived at 7pm, John was already here. 2b: When I arrived at 7pm, John had already been here. In (1), (1a), and (1b),...Read More...

Hi, Subhajit, You have already asked this question, in the bottom segment of the thread below. You have duplicated your example word for word : https://thegrammarexchange.inf...2#590585063423918172 Was there something you didn't understand in the answer I gave you there? It was just three months ago.Read More...

Hello, Ahmed A., Your use of "the" in "the school book" is worth considering. By using the definite article there, you are presupposing that your readers (I and others) will know which school book you are referring to, whereas none of us has any idea which book you are referring to. Thus, it would have been better to use "a school book." Of course, we would prefer to know the name of the book and who wrote it. There is very little difference in meaning as far as the "until"-clause is...Read More...

Thank you very much, sir.Read More...

Yes. The old thread below didn't come to my mind automatically, as it occurred a few years before I joined GE, but it came up when I used the Search function: https://thegrammarexchange.inf....cc/topic/the-family Here are a couple of other old threads dealing with this eternally recurring grammatical topic: https://thegrammarexchange.inf...pic/my-family-is-are https://thegrammarexchange.infopop.cc/topic/family-4Read More...

Navi, I don't have a problem with any of your five examples. I agree. I could imagine a "which" clause, though: 3a: This is your assignment, which is to be completed tonight. DocVRead More...

Ruifeng, "Noise" works as both a mass noun and a count noun. The best answer is (A), where it is a mass noun, but it is also possible to use (B). (C) doesn't work because it means "a single instance of noise", but if someone were making the same obnoxious sound for a prolonged duration, you could say: D: Stop making that noise . DocVRead More...

Hi, Ruifeng: I share DocV's preference ("from"), but you are right that both work. The reason "from" works so well is that it gives the sense that the books act as teachers. Compare: You can learn about China from Ruifeng. That sense implies that the addressee can be taught things about China by you. That is how he will learn about China. With "in," the sentence could be used in answer to the question " Where can I learn about China?" Compare: You can learn about China in films and books. It...Read More...

Re: meaning of "a humbling experience"Read More...

Hi, Freeguy, I agree with the answer key. Given those two choices, (2) is the only option that works. It would also be OK to use the simple past in both clauses: 3) I am sorry that I stopped before I finished the explanation. Additionally, we could reduce the "before"-clause such that it would have a nonfinite verb phrase with an implied subject: 4) I am sorry that I stopped before finishing the explanation. If we're using a finite "before"-clause, though, the past perfect works particularly...Read More...

It means that each case is different, so you will have to decide which pronoun to use according to the specific circumstances.Read More...

Many thanks, DocV.Read More...

By the way, Apple, please notice that "the" is optional in (d).Read More...

Greetings, all. First of all, let me say that I am in complete agreement with Gustavo. I find all of Mr Hassan's examples unequivocably ungrammatical. I would find his example "•" (as opposed to his other examples, "•", "•", and "•") acceptable if "less" were changed to "lesser". The word is not commonly used except in certain set phrases (eg, "the lesser of two evils"), but because of such phrases it is commonly understood. Mr Hassan, was there something in particular that made you not want...Read More...

Frankly, I don't like either option. They are grammatical, but I can't imagine any native speaker of English phasing a conditional that way. David's examples "If he hadn't looked ... " and "If he didn't look ... " are much more natural. The only option that works for me is simply "walked": Without looking where he was going, the man walked into a tree. DocVRead More...

Hi, Kis, No, they are not both correct. The "as"-clause would make no sense with the present perfect, which refers to the past. Something in the past can't be in the future ("next week"). With "is finishing," the "as"-clause is ambiguous in meaning. It could mean that the fact that the term is coming to a close is the reason for holding the assembly, or that the assembly will be held while the term is coming to a close.Read More...

Thanks, Gustavo.Read More...

Please see my comments in this thread .Read More...

Thanks a lot, sir. I see eye to eye with you. I didn't like sentence either. I was asked to give my opinion about it, that's why I preferred asking yours.Read More...

Aria, Welcome to the Grammar Exchange. I can't think of an instance where I would ever say "shoulders are the target". If you are talking about shooting, I would say "aim for the shoulders". I could imagine saying: 1: My shoulders are the source of the pain. This is a similar construct to your example in that we have a plural subject linked to a singular predicate noun, and the verb agrees in number with the subject. But if we reversed the two, I would say: 2: The source of the pain is my...Read More...

Hi, Freeguy, Yes, "to" is functioning as a preposition there; "taking notes when reading" is a gerund phrase that is functioning as the object of the preposition "to." However, "to" is not the idiomatic preposition to use in this context. Native speakers tend to use "for": There is no magic formula for taking notes when reading. In the somewhat rare cases when "to" is used after "magic formula," it is as the stem of an infinitive: "There is no magic formula to take notes when reading." There...Read More...

Thanks sirRead More...

Thank you so much, David, for elaborating on my question. You went so far as to search other sources. What a respectable expert! I really appreciate your answer. It made everythihg very clear. appleRead More...

Mr Bendary, I completely agree with David's answers, in regard to the questions you actually asked. However, I'm not entirely sure that what you asked was really what you meant to ask. 1a: Michael could go to the theatre on condition that he was home by six. 1b: Michael could go to the theatre provided that he was home by six. Both of your examples refer to events or states in the past. What Michael is allowed to do today doesn't enter into it. If we want to talk about what Michael wants to...Read More...

Hello, Mrtkrdmn, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! Unfortunately, it is ungrammatical in English to use clauses as objects of prepositions. Instead of saying * " Think about I am talking to someone ," you could say, "Let's suppose I am talking to someone." Another problem is that " t wo month " should be "two month s ," because "month" is a count noun. As for the use of the present tense ("understand") or the past tense ("understood"), the whole part of the sentence in which the word...Read More...

Hi, Freeguy, Yes, the sentence would be much improved by the deletion of "during." You could, however, use "during the last year" or "during the past year": We have moved five times during the last year. We have moved five times during the past year. Those sentences measure a year from the time of speaking to one year ago, whereas your sentence technically applies to the calendar year.Read More...

>>Since we do not know, as readers, how resolute the speaker is about not eating sweets, we can't tell how remote a possibility his eating the cake is. << Absolutely. Meanwhile, in Oxford Grammar book, we have an additional part which says: Rachel: Would you like some cake, Jessica? Jessica: No thanks. If I ate cake, I'd get fat. Rachel: But it's delicious The last line confirms that it's somehow a remote possibility. Without it, as shown in my test, we cannot clearly decide...Read More...

I am sorry. Yes. I meant "flu". Thanks.Read More...

Thank you very muchRead More...

Hi, Azz, The only correct sentence that I see there is (d). You could fix (a), (b), and (c) by changing the "which"-clause to a "for"-phrase, and (e) by changing "will" to "would": a'. They won the championship, for their fourth time. b'. They are trying to win the championship, for their fifth time. c'. They are trying to win the championship, for their fifth time. e'. They are trying to win the championship, which would be great for them.Read More...

Thanks for revising the question. It would still be better if you would do more than simply give an exercise. The answer to your question is that either answer is possible, but the test or exercise maker probably wants you to choose (A). "By eight o'clock I will be back home" indicates that home is where you will be at eight o'clock. "By eight o'clock I will have been back home" says not that home is where you will be at eight o'clock, but that you will HAVE BEEN there by then.Read More...

Yes, it's OK. The only requirement is that it must make sense to do so.Read More...

Hi, Freeguy: Yes, "can" does indicate a general possibility right there. The sentence means that when tourism is spoken of, it is possible that either domestic tourism or international tourism is being spoken of.Read More...

Thank you very muchRead More...

Hi, Ansonman, No, "malign" is not being appropriately used in that sentence, and I think you understand why; otherwise you wouldn't have said that this is related to one of your previous threads. Why not use one of these sentences instead? You are complaining about your job. You are whining about your job. You are looking at the minuses of your job. (cf. "the pluses and minuses")Read More...

Thank you very much for your help, DocV.Read More...