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Yama, Good answer. As you saw, (b) and (d) make no sense here. The difference between (a) and (c) is that "over" doesn't lend itself to quantification in the way that "above" does. Without the quantifier "320 kilometres", either one would work. By the way, thank you very much for citing your source. Unfortunately, The Best doesn't live up to its name. Once again, their example sentence is extremely poorly written. Even though it is not technically incorrect, it sounds hideous. The worst...Read More...

Grammarcrazed, When used with a number, "homeless" needs to have a noun to modify. a': I spotted three homeless men in this area this morning. b': Three homeless people were arrested for trespassing on private property. However, "homeless" can often be nominalized when preceded by the definite article. c: She's being working as an advocate for the homeless for thirty years. d: Because of their sheer numbers, the homeless have become a force to be reckoned with in our local politics. DocVRead More...

Thank you, DocV, for your help. It is easy to understand.Read More...

Kuen, Please use numbers or letters to index your examples in order to make it easier to refer back to them. 1: They go play football on weekends. 2: He goes play football very often. It's fairly common to see the construct "go + [verb]", most commonly in the imperative: 3a: Go get us some food. 3b: Go play with your friends. Almost as often, I see it in the future tense: 4: I'm going to go take a shower. or with some other modal: 5: You need to go find someplace else to live. Rarely, I'll...Read More...

Yes, "just over" modifies "a five-minute bike ride" just as "only" does. I'm not so sure that we should leave "from the school" within the phrase. Actually, we can say: Q: How far is the house from the school? A: Only a five-minute bike ride. A': Just over a five-minute bike ride. The only difference I seem to find is that, even if it wouldn't be so usual or natural, "only" could be placed at the end: A'': A five-minute bike ride only. Instead, because of its typical usage with numbers...Read More...

Kes, thank you for the background information. My niece used to teach ESL in Japan also. We'll look forward to seeing you again. As this is a forum, helpful comments are welcome from all members. DocVRead More...

Hi, Kis, I agree with DocV that the present subjunctive ("be") is correct there. "Prefer" is a verb that commonly takes the present subjunctive in "that"-clause complements, especially in American English. Here is an example from A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language , by Quirk et al. (1985): (2) "I prefer that she drive ." (p. 1014) In British English, the "that"-clause commonly contains "putative should ": (3) "I prefer that she should drive ." ( ibid .) Perhaps that is what you...Read More...

Thanks for your help.Read More...

Thank you both.Read More...

Thanks for your help.Read More...

Thank you so much. Amazing replies! Very thorough! I loved them! Just amazing. I don't know how to thank you. I really appreciate all the work you have put into this. This is the best grammar site! David, DocV and Gustavo, the three musketeers of grammar! Many thanks.Read More...

Thank you, David and Doc V, very much. Your explanations are very helpful for me and others to study English. Thanks again.Read More...

Excellent answer, David. I agree with you that that would not be the natural interpretation. The position of past participles in adjectival function is one of those curiosities one can hardly ever explain. While they tend to appear before the noun, they sometimes follow it, esp. when something else follows: - I can smell the bread baked by my neighbor. - I can smell the bread baked in my brandnew oven. (In both cases, "baked" is short for "that has been baked.")Read More...

Interesting. If I ordered a Coke and was asked "What kind?", I would assume that I was being asked to choose from among regular Coke, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Caffeine-Free Coke, etc. The Coca-Cola Company fought in the courts for decades to keep their competitors from using the word "cola" in their product names. It wasn't until 1944 that the courts decided that Coca-Cola didn't own the word. Then Coca-Cola sent a "secret shopper" into a drug store to order a Coke. They served him a Pepsi,...Read More...

David, These both work. I didn't know I could do this on the new platform. Thanks again. DocVRead More...

Hi, Sedo and Ahmed, I agree with your answer, Ahmed. Both the singular and the plural form are commonly used in that construction by native speakers. The strict correctness of using the plural, however, becomes obvious when one rearranges the sentence: (B1) She is one of the few women who have climbed Mount Everest . (B2) Of the few women who have climbed Mount Everest , she is one. (B3) * Of the few women who has climbed Mount Everest , she is one .Read More...

Hi, poet, May I ask about the name of this book? There are two possible answers here. Both 'have to' and 'will have to' are correct answers.Read More...

Hello, Poet20, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! This appears to be an exercise from a workbook or perhaps an item from a test. It is OK for members to ask questions about such items, but we encourage members to do more than simply present the exercise. Try to say why you feel uncertain of the answer, or tell us which answer you think is right. The answer to your exercise is "don't have to": " You don't have to come if you don't want to ." The other answer, "won't have to," is not...Read More...

Is there any other difference between " So " and " very " other than the one mentioned above in the quotation? I'm asking because the difference you mentioned won't help me much in answering other questions which aren't related to emtions. As always, thanks for your much appreciated help.Read More...

Wow!Read More...

Ok, Yama. No problem. I thought you were complaining. The way you expressed yourself was fine. I only misinterpreted you.Read More...

Thanks for your help. I'm truly sorry for any unintended mistakes. I'll do my best to avoid these mistakes again. Thanks again.Read More...

Hey Gustavo - this is super helpful, thanks! "grammatical subject" that's what I was after.Read More...