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Make or do

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After I finish answering all the questions, I usually......a quick revision. A. do B. make C. sit D. fit This question appeared in longman Egypt The suggested answer is DO but I read that MAKE is correct too.Read More...
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Me and him as pronoun

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Hello, Normally I would say: He and I often go for fishing on Saturday. However, I have heard people use "pronoun (e.g. him, her, them" at the beginning of the sentence. Is it grammatically correct? e.g. Me and him often go for fishing on Saturday.Read More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Tony, No, it is not. You need to use subject pronouns here. 'Me' and 'him' are object pronouns.Read More...
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‘ ... for a period before and during <when / which> ... ’

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Hello, everyone, “Pre-emption means that a strategy is designed to prevent a rival from starting some particular activity. In some case a pre-emptive move may simply be an announcement of some intent that might discourage rivals from doing the same. The idea of pre-emption implies that timing is sometimes very important — a decision or an action at one point in time might be much more rewarding than doing it at a different time point. Pre-emption may involve up-weighting advertising for a...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hi, Ahmed_btm, thanks for your opinion.Read More...
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just as

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Which are correct: 1) Just as he hates me, I hate him. 2) Like he hates me, I hate him. 3) As he hates me, so I hate him. 4) Just as he hates me, I hate him. Which mean: a) We hate each other and which mean b) We hate each other in the same manner (to the same extent) Gratefully, NaviRead More...
Posted
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What's the difference between "envision" and "imagine"?

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I think they have similar meanings. What's the difference between them? ThanksRead More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Kimi, The only difference, I see, is that dictionaries relate 'envision/envisage' to something bright or a desirable possibility in the future. See Cambridge and Collins Dictionaries here: https://dictionary.cambridge.o...ary/english/envision https://www.collinsdictionary....ary/english/envisionRead More...
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’there is very little in the way of consumer needs’

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Hello, everyone, “Pre-emption means that a strategy is designed to prevent a rival from starting some particular activity. In some case a pre-emptive move may simply be an announcement of some intent that might discourage rivals from doing the same. The idea of pre-emption implies that timing is sometimes very important — a decision or an action at one point in time might be much more rewarding than doing it at a different time point. Pre-emption may involve up-weighting advertising for a...Read More...
f6pafd
"Little in the way of something" means "not much of somthing." Then the sentence underlined means "there is not much of consumer needs or wants that is not accommodated."Read More...
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to lose the game

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a. He made a mistake to lose the game. b. What mistake did you make to lose the game? I think in (a) he makes the mistake intentionally. Is that correct? Does (b) imply that the speaker thinks that the addressee made the mistake deliberately? I don't think it does, Many thanks.Read More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Azz, I agree with you. I think adding the adjective 'deliberate' would make this meaning clearer. Not necessarily. This needs further context. For example, the addressee might have mentioned that he did make a deliberate mistake to lose the game. The speaker would automatically ask him, 'What do you mean?' or 'What mistake did you make to lose the game?'Read More...
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not only

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Are these sentences correct: 1) Fielding was considered a great writer not only by Eliot. 2)Fielding was considered a great writer , not only by Eliot. I expect the 'not only...' phrase to be followed by 'but also...'. The sentences don't sound correct to me. Gratefully, NaviRead More...
f6pafd
The difference between "not only by Eliot" and "not only by Eliot" preceded by a comma is that the latter is a non-restrictive adverbial and the former a restrictive one. Sentence 1 means "Fielding was considered a great writer by some other people in addition to Eliot." (Restrictive) Sentence 2 means "Fielding was generally considered a great writer, Eliot was not the only person who considered Fielding a great writer. (Non-restrictive)Read More...
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since+past perfect/past simple

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He has lived/has been living since he was born here. - OK. What about the past? He had lived/had been living/lived/was living since he was/had been born there. Which ones are correct?Read More...
David, Moderator
The first sentence is fine. The second sentence is incorrect without a comma, or a pause in speech, before "since"—except with one very strange meaning. If you use such a "since"-clause or "since"-phrase as a restrictive modifier in a sentence like "He had lived there for two years," the meaning will be that the two-year period of his living there came at some subinterval between his quitting his job and whatever past time is understood in the context. For example: Let us suppose that the...Read More...
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Choose

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Help me choose the correct answer. I .................English during the last a few months. ( studied or have studied) I .................English in the last a few months. ( studied or have studied) Is it right that "During the last a few months " can be used as a key word to the present perfect. Meanwhile " in the last a few months" can be used as a key word to the past simpleRead More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Poet 20, Neither of them works. The usage of 'a' before 'few' is ungrammatical. Do you mean 'in the last few months' VS 'during the last few months'? Both of them can be used with the present perfect when there is a suitable context.Read More...
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Does syntax guarantee a certain interpretation when there's a "than" construction?

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See here: The Clinton Doctrine was “more expansive than Bush’s NSS”, but it was “barely even reported”, since it was “presented with the right style” and “implemented less brazenly”. Regarding the two instance of "it" that come after I introduce a second doctrine (the one from W. Bush), I have to worry that it might be possible to link them back to the second doctrine instead of to the first one. But the second doctrine is mentioned in a "than" construction, so maybe there's a hard-and-fast...Read More...
Posted
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How can I fix this awkward sentence?

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See here (I wonder if a small adjustment could be made or if the whole sentence could be overhauled; I don't like the ambiguity where "with" seems like it could attach to "set out" when it's supposed to attach only to "develop"): Health Canada set out to develop—with scientists’ input and without industry influence—a new evidence-based food guide.Read More...
Posted
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How do you deal with an [adjective, noun, noun] construction?

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See the bold (the issue is whether to write "chronic-disease burden" or "chronic disease's burden" or something else...it's of course true that common sense will cause someone to create the hyphen in their mind, since "chronic disease" is obviously a unit, but I'm just being finnicky and also seeking to make parsing as smooth as possible): Estimates indicate that lifestyle accounts for a large chunk of chronic disease burden in the West.Read More...
Posted
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"That which"

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“That which is measured improves. That which is measured and reported improves exponentially." -Karl Pearson. This seems to be a famous quote. I wonder if this sentence is grammatically correct. It seems to me that "That" is redundancy, as "which" is enough to funcion as a conjunction indicating a subject. Thank you in advanceRead More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Hi, Jiho, "That" is grammatical and required there, because it is the head of the noun phrase " that which is measured [and reported]." You can imagine "that" as being equivalent to "the thing" or "the one." "That which" can have an indefinite meaning, being equivalent to "what" (= the thing), or refer to one in a group.Read More...
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possessive

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Hi, Which sentence is correct? Let's have lunch at the museum restaurant. or, Let's have lunch at the museum's restaurant. Looking around seems that the correct expression is the first one, if that is the case, why the regular possessive form doesn't apply here? Thank you.Read More...
Felipe
Once again problem solved, Thank you.Read More...
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forms part

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Hi, Client was wondering whether there is a separate form to be completed when applying for a membership, specifically declaring the household income. Should I say? The household income forms part of the membership form or The household income is formed part of the membership formRead More...
David, Moderator
Hello again, Tony—As f6pafd says, it should never be used, because it is ungrammatical. The reason it is ungrammatical is that "is formed" is either a passive construction or a linking-verb-plus-adjective construction. If it is a passive construction, it cannot be followed by the direct object, since the direct object will have been promoted to subject. If it is a linking-verb-plus-adjective construction, then a preposition is needed after the adjective.Read More...
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How can I be more clear when an adjective precedes a list?

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Consider this: Your dietary pattern should be low—or moderate—in added sugar, salt, and alcohol. The only issue is that "added" seems to apply to the entire list (to all three of the items). So is the below a good solution? But we have to assume that "added" is only meant to apply to "sugar" and not to "salt"; is it fair to assume that? (Someone suggested to me that "added" must apply to "salt" to and that it therefore must apply to "alcohol" as well; do people speak of "added salt" and...Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
My friend mentioned this information: Many fermented foods will have a little bit of ethanol in there from the fermentation process itself, although its usually only present in very small amounts. Although I'm not familiar enough with food labelling laws to know if that's labelled as added or not (I don't think so though, I've never seen an added alcohol label on fermented foods). Salt is present in small amounts in any type of plant or animal cell, but the vast majority of salt in food is...Read More...
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Any idea why some capitalize "Type 2" in "type 2 diabetes"?

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Sorry for posting about a small little detail, but I checked the NYT and the New Yorker and I found that they both write "Type 2 diabetes". But Wikipedia does "type 2 diabetes" and look at this: https://www.nih.gov/nih-style-guide/medical-language Type 1 and type 2 diabetes should be lowercase unless beginning a sentence, per the American Diabetes Association. I just wonder what the story is on this front. Why do major publications capitalize regarding this term? I just checked the...Read More...
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What does the comma do in this sentence and is the comma advisable?

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See the bold (I think that maybe the comma prevents "with" from attaching to "medicine", but I'm not sure what with does in fact attach to in the sentence below and whether the comma is advisable): Our channel focuses primarily on health and medicine , with some content on environmental science.Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
Thanks. So the comma is important, right? Without the comma, does "with" attach to "medicine"? Also, would you say that a ", with" construction like this is "dangling" (or something?) in the sense that it attaches to nothing even if the meaning is clear?Read More...
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Is this a good case where common sense is completely triumphant over syntatical concerns?

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See the bold (note that the adjective "whole" could attach to everything in the list but common sense 100% prevents such an attachment even though syntax allows for it, right?...I wonder if this is an instance where common sense 100% triumphs and the "OCD" concern about ambiguous syntax is 100% irrational): A 2019 study shows that foods associated with improved health outcomes— whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes , nuts, olive oil, and fish—tend to have lower environmental impacts than...Read More...
David, Moderator
Well, what would " whole olive oil " mean? I don't think the perverse interpretation you have envisioned can sensibly be forced upon the sentence.Read More...
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How do I deal with this ambiguity regarding "with"?

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See the bold ("with" is supposed to attach to "reviews" and not to "books"; it's not that the books have "a lot of scientific rigor"): Red Pen Reviews is a great—and completely free!—resource that reviews popular nutrition books with a lot of scientific rigor .Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
Thanks! I really appreciate it!Read More...
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Is "the" needed before "health benefits"?

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The scientific evidence mainly shows the health benefits of including some low-mercury fatty fish in your diet.Read More...
David, Moderator
Alas, such are the problems that arise when one does corpus research. Happily, I believe this particular problem has an easy solution. Simply take the number of results for "health benefits of" and subtract from it the number of results for "the health benefits of." Do the same for "(the) heath benefits from."Read More...
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What is the order of the actions?

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INTRO 1 When I gave him 10 dollars, he told me the news. (First, I gave ten $, second, he told the news) 2 When I gave him 10 dollars, he had told me the news. (First, he told the news , second, I gave ten $ ) 1 and 2 are clear. Now. The problem. 3 When I met him, he knew the news. (THIS IS NOT CLEAR.) Is it: a) I met him first and then he learn the news. OR b) Before I met him he had already known the news 4 When I met him, he had known the news. (Before I met him he had already known the...Read More...
Posted
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How do you write the letters after a name?

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I'm working on a piece that says this (I changed the name): Bob Smith, MD PhD , is a research scientist and science communicator. What am I supposed to do regarding the bold? I can't find examples in the NYT or anything; maybe some other publication has some examples of this?Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
Thanks!Read More...
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