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Regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic

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David, Moderator
Dear Grammar Exchange members, As we continue our grammar discussions, I want you to know that I am aware that we are all struggling in various ways as a result of the current pandemic and that my heart goes out to all of you. I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. Although we may not know each other personally, we all know that there is much more to us than the English grammar issues we discuss here. This post is devoted to the dimensions of you and your lives that I know...Read More...
Toni
Thank you so much. I am sure brighter days will come.Read More...
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Adverb + Adjective & Adverb + verb

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It is my understanding that an adverb can be used to modify "noun" or "verb". Adverb + Adjective [Adverb that modifies an adjective] e.g. Implausibly small; relatively small Adverb + Verb [Adverb that modifies a verb] e.g. I supposedly work between 9:00am to 5:00pm. Can the adverb be used to modify any other things/used in a different fashion(s)?Read More...
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Into the office and in the office

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We normally say: When I come into the office, I will look at your paper works. Question: What about get back? Do we say get back into the office or get back to the office. e.g. When I get back into/to the office, I will look at your paper works.Read More...
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Not a problem, no problem

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Supposedly someone says thank you to you because you have helped them cleaning the back yard. Do you say, not a problem or no problem? What is the difference?Read More...
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Reporting verb + that + can be followed by any tenses

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Firstly: Am I correct to say after the reporting verbs and after the word "that", it can be followed by any tense? e.g. On 1 January 2021, you stated that It is your understanding that the company's director has not changed since its establishment. or On 1 January 2021, you stated that It was your understanding that the company's director had not changed since its establishment. Secondly, if the above 2 sentences are grammatically correct, any difference in terms of its meaning? Thirdly: Can...Read More...
Tony C
Thanks Gustavo. 1. How many hours it takes to be considered as recent reporting? 2. Are you saying that, the sentence " You stated that he is crazy" is not considered as indirect speech, or are you referring to the sentence "you stated your opinion".Read More...
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Bush or bushes?

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I can't figure out whether to say 'bush' or 'bushes.' Doesn't a bush consist of many small plants with many branches and leaves? How do I know when to say 'bush' and when to say 'bushes?'Read More...
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to refund; to be refunded

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The books________ are on the table. a. to refund b. to be refunded Are they both correct? If so, do they have the same meaning? Thanks!Read More...
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Identifying the head of an NP

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Hi. - Vaults full of research attest to how emerging-market optimism is more soundly based than rich-country pessimism. (The Economist） I view the first four words as an NP, with research being the head, "vaults full of" being something like a quantifier, because it is research that attest , not vaults . But why doesn't attest agree with research by using third person singular? What do I miss? Regards, Robby zhu.Read More...
Robby zhu
Thanks. This example is very convincing. Great. I think I've just learned how words like spoonful, handful etc. came into being.Read More...
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Intransitive verb

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Intransitive verbs: In grammar, an intransitive verb does not allow a direct object. Example: The fees of $10K was used to pay my son's school fee ; when converting this to an intransitive verb, using the verb "totals/totalling", it will become: The fees totalling to $10K was used to pay my son's school fee. I understand totalling is an intransitive verb and I think $10K acts as an object there, if so, isnt that it contradicts with the grammar rules, that is intransitive verb cannot be...Read More...
Gustavo, Contributor
No, Tony. "$10K" is not a direct object. Not everything that comes after after is an object, for example: - You are Tony. ("Tony" is not an object, but a subject complement.) I will not refer to the verb "total," because I've already had my say on it here . There are more more usual verbs than "total," like amount to and add up to, which also link the subject with the corresponding value, not with an object.Read More...
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Further to my email to you

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1) Is it grammatically correct to use "to you" in the sentence below. e.g. Further to my email to you dated 1 January 2021 regarding the termination of your lease. Below is a tenant moving out checklis t to ensure a smooth process of moving. 2) Also, is it correct to say a tenant moving out checklist?Read More...
Gustavo, Contributor
Yes. "email" as a verb does not take "to" ( I emailed you ), but the noun does ( my email to you ). Yes, you can say that.Read More...
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And or Or

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We don’t have school on Sundays and Mondays. Is it OK to use and here? I think or is the correct wordRead More...
Gustavo, Contributor
Hello, Ahmed Osman, I think the sentence above is correct. "Sundays and Mondays" is like a unit — the days of the week when the speaker doesn't go to school. The conjunction "or" would sound more emphatic, as if considering both days individually: We don't have school on Sundays, and we also don't have school on Mondays.Read More...
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“to which vs. where”

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Hello, everyone!! As far as I understand, in informal style we often use ‘where’ to introduce defining relative clauses instead of ‘at/on/in which’ only. However, I’m a little confused to have found following two contradictory answers about the usage; “to which vs. where”. 1. “ The shop where he went ” is OK, or you can retain the unnecessary preposition and leave off the relative pronoun: “ the shop he went to ”. But “ the shop where he went to ” is too much. – American English, retired...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hello, David! You're such a great inventor who deserves my sincere thanks. Best RGDS,Read More...
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in/on my mind

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Am I right to understand that things that are " in your mind" are thoughts/ideas that you have, and things that are " on your mind" are things that worry you? Also, does "you've been on my mind" mean "I've been worried about you"? Many thanks, AlexRead More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Tony—When I made my last post in this thread, nearly a decade ago, my aim was to show the semantic flexibility and varied use of prepositional phrases with "my mind" as complement or object. One thing about "in my mind" that is worth noting is that we commonly just use "in mind," as in "Keep this in mind," where the point is precisely NOT to have the presence of the relevant thought be temporary. When "my" is used in the phrase—when I am speaking of something that in my mind or in...Read More...
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More weight it is given

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In court, the better the evidence the more weight it is given. What does it actually refer to? Does it refer to nothing?, is that what you called it in the other thread as a "matrix clause" It does not tell you who gives the weight and to whom the weight is givenRead More...
Tony C
I got you, it is a degree of comparison, it's like The more money you have, the greater amount of food you will consume. Whereas matrix clause, it does not compare anything.Read More...
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Usage of "would"

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Hi Although I don't want to take your precious time, if you are okay, I would like politely to ask you to check if my reasoning is right. • Through this forum, I learned when I am trying to say something under first type conditional, I can't use "would" in a main clause. https://www.usingenglish.com/f...lt-WOULD-gt-phone-me . • Also this is not even understood as a mixed conditional although there are <If clause-first type conditional> and <main clause-second type conditional> .Read More...
TaeBbongE
Dear @ahmed_btm I am deeply sorry about type of "I" in each sentence. Please forgive me, If I make you feel uncomfortable. Thank for your precious time and answer. . Okay, regarding sentence aa) again, when there is appropriate context, do you think the following sentence aa-1) is okay? aa-1) If she finishes the project early, (and if she wanted) she would phone me. . For your reference) "If you have questions about other phrases, and (If I were you) I would open a new questions???" This is ...Read More...
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“Compounding", gerund or present participle?

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Hello, everyone! For one difficult sentence in following paragraph I’m wondering about its sentence structure; “ Compounding the difficulty, now more than ever, is what ergonomists call information overload ” How do you analysize the normal sentence of above before inversion or clefting, while I am assuming it as follows?; 1. before reversed pseudo clefting with ‘what’; “Ergonomists call compounding the difficulty information overload.” (S+V+O+C, ‘compounding’ as a gerund), or 2. before...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hi, David, much appreciate your clarification. Best RGDSRead More...
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worried about

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a. I am worried about this patient getting cured. Is that sentence grammatically correct and meaningful? I think one would have to say b. I am worried about this patient not getting cured. But maybe (a) could be used with the same meaning. I don't think it could, but I heard someone say something like that and I began wondering. Maybe it was just a mistake. Many thanksRead More...
David, Moderator
Hi, Azz—Sentence (a) would only be correct and meaningful in a context in which the speaker regarded the patient's getting cured as highly undesirable.Read More...
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book

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Is this sentence correct ? He called me up and said that they have all the rooms booked .Read More...
David, Moderator
I agree that "have" can be changed/backshifted to "had"; however, "have" works, too, assuming the speaker of the sentence " He called me up and said that they have all the rooms booked" believes all the rooms to still be booked. I do not view this as a passive causative. If it were a passive causative, a "by"-phrase could suitably be used at the end: "He called me up and said that they have/had all the rooms booked by their front-desk clerks ." But that does not strike me as the intended...Read More...
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The pair help or the pair helps

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I found this today skimming through the news. "The pair of center backs helps replace the departures of both Alex De John and Kamal Miller and shore up part of the back line." https://www.themaneland.com/20...6/lion-links-1-22-21 It seems to me that "helps" and "shore" aren't in agreement in this sentence and should be, however, I can't figure out how to correct it--whether it should be "helps" and "shores," or else "help" and "shore". After googling, (unless I'm mistaken) it appears that...Read More...
Gary C123
Ah. Thank you, Gustavo. That makes sense, now.Read More...
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Proper Noun versus Common noun

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Hello, I just wanted to confirm my understanding of the proper noun and common noun are correct based on my examples below. I have contacted Tony's mother [Tony's mother is a proper noun so you can't say the Tony's mother], I have contacted the Nurse's mother [The Nurse's mother is a common noun, so you can use "the" before the noun]. I went to t he Fiji Mountain in Japan before Covid hit us. I believe the Fiji mountain is a proper noun, comparable to Tony's mother but why it sounds okay to...Read More...
David, Moderator
I agree with Gustavo that the name needs to be Mount Fuji ( Mt. Fuji ) in English, not the Fuji Mountain . The only mountain name that I can think of which follows the pattern "the ____ Mountain" is The Magic Mountain, but that is the title of a book, translated from German ( Der Zauberberg ), and "Magic" is not part of the real name of the mountain that goes by that epithet, even in the book.Read More...
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Because of heave snow, my car should have got stuck in the snow.

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Hi Because of heavy snow, my car should have got stuck in the snow. In the above sentence, should have P.P has the following usage? Oxford: should definition https://www.oxfordlearnersdict...lish/should?q=should Practical English USE 2 Past: ~~~.Read More...
TaeBbongE
@ahmed_btm Ah ha, I see! Depending on the thing that the subject is animate or inanimate, "should have Past Participle" construction has two meanings or not. However as for my case, it is only used in one way - that is, expressing possibilities. Thanks~!!!!!!Read More...
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between him and me

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(1)I think there's a huge difference between him and me. Why we always put the 'me' after 'him'?Can we change the order? Can we use 'myself' in stead of 'me'? While in another case : (2)He was worried that the connection between himself and Voldemort had been damaged. Why here 'himself ' is put ahead of 'Voldermort'?Read More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Winter, It is just a matter of style, not grammar. Many people would see that 1 sounds more polite. I wouldn't use 'myself' in your example above.Read More...
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On my mind or in my mind

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Hi, What is the difference between on my mind and in my mind? Can they be used interchangeably? Thanks!Read More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Tony C, 'In my mind' could mean 'in my opinion' or something that exists in my imagination like the common expression 'in one's mind's eye'. Also, you can use it when you are thinking about something or somebody without feeling worried about it/them. Another expression is 'keep in mind' which means 'remember'. 'On my mind' means to be constantly in one's thoughts; of concern to one. It refers to something worrying or distracting you. A similar expression is 'to weigh on one's mind'. -...Read More...
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