January 2019

In Cantonese, we call it “hire a gun” transliterally to mean that a third party is being asked or engaged to do examinations or to write study assignments on one’s behalf. The words “gun” and “ window” sound the same in Cantonese. This means that someone has been “creative” and made up the term “hire a window”, which, of course, makes no sense at all.Read More...

All four sentences (word orders) sound perfectly natural to me, Ansonman. You could even experiment with putting some of those phrases at the beginning: (5) Every day, Tom sings for three hours at home. (6) Every day for three hours, Tom sings at home. (7) For three hours every day, Tom sings at home. (8) At home, Tom sings for three hours every day. (9) Every day at home, Tom sings for three hours. (10) At home every day, Tom sings for three hours. (11) For three hours at home every day,...Read More...

For me, "less" would work much, much better before "sleep." I would also change "anything" to "anywhere" (similar to DocV's "somewhere") and "did" to "got." I don't think we need to worry about the two instances of singular "their." According to medical experts, one in five youngsters gets anywhere between two and five hours' less sleep a night than their parents got at their age.Read More...

Hello, Emad, I believe DocV is poking fun at the option "sounded" because normal dresses don't emit sound and thus do not sound a certain way. I suspect the authors of the test question may have had in mind an old-fashioned appearance that was inferred on the basis of a heard report about the dress. For that other meaning, you could use "It sounded/sounds as if it were old-fashioned," where the first "it" is a dummy and the second "it" refers to the dress. I talked to Sally, who is still at...Read More...

Your clear explanation has helped me understand how to construct these sentences better. Thank you very much.Read More...

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation.Read More...

I really appreciate the clear explanations you both gave me. Thank you very much.Read More...

Thanks for clarification , I would like to state that these questions are from a test.Read More...

Hope, First of all, thanks for citing your source. This enabled me to find a number of excerpts from the novel online, including the chapter containing the passage you've quoted here. I like the first "rains" (“It hardly ever rains in L.A. ..."), but not so much the second (" ... and it rains right now."). I would have written it more like: 1: ... but it would have to rain now! To me this expresses the character's frustration and her futile rage against the universe and God (or the gods)...Read More...

I agree with David's comments. In particular, David's point was the unstated reason behind my rejection of (a), and I suspect it was Gustavo's reason as well. Azz's (c) and my (c1) must both be understood to mean that three people have been positively confirmed as not having witnessed the murder. It would perhaps be better stated as: c2: We definitely know of three people that cannot possibly have witnessed the murder. We also know of four people that were definitely there at the scene, and...Read More...

Subha, I like (4) better than (3). There are so many things wrong with (1) and (2) that I'm not even going to begin to talk about them. DocVRead More...

Wemcho, I think that with a present tense verb in the first sentence, as you have in (#8), I would want to see either a future tense verb or something akin to a conditional in the second sentence. 8a: It's five o'clock now. Sooner or later, Peter will finish his homework. 8b: It's five o'clock now. Sooner or later, Peter must finish his homework. By the way, Gustavo, thanks for your support in your earlier post. You make an interesting point with (#6). DocVRead More...

Sorry DocV, I just wanted to test whether we can send an empty post or not. Then I deleted the empty post. I was not offended at all. I know it was only a joke.Read More...

I am in complete agreement with David here. The indicative "has" and the subjunctive "have" both work, and the choice of which to use changes the meaning of the sentence entirely. I neglected to make that point clear in my previous post. DocVRead More...

Gustavo, thanks a lot for your help. DocV, it is great to hear from you. During my unfortunate absence, I immensely missed the ever-ready helpful responses of Gustavo, the enlightening and unrivaled erudition of David, and of course, that inexpressible joy that I feel hearing from you. Thanks.Read More...

Thanks, Gustavo. It really helped.Read More...

That's a fair question. As with many such expressions, many speakers don't really think about the literal meaning of the words they're saying. Another common example in English began with the expression "I couldn't care less", which is intended to convey the idea that the speaker does not care at all, so it would be literally impossible for him to care any less than he already does. Another similar expression is the more sarcastic "as if I could care", whereby the speaker implies that it is...Read More...

Thank you very much, David, for sharing that quote. It's an extraordinary coincidence that you should have found that text. Personally, I'd opt for the singular above, as "unclear" clearly refers to the content of those questions and not to those clauses as questions. With the verb "be," the best proof is, I think, extraposing the subject: - What he thought of it and what he suffered was unclear. - It was unclear what he thought of it and what he suffered. That's a clever remark. With...Read More...

I wouldn't say it is mandatory, but usual. I did not see animals there sounds as if the person saw something else, that is, anything but animals.Read More...

The reason might be that you are contrasting a plural noun with a singular one. However, I have to say I like none of those sentences, and would resort to "only" to express those ideas in a more natural way, for example: - The only scientist who is as renowned as Einstein is Stephen Hawking. - This red book is the only one I have.Read More...

Thank you so much, David.Read More...

Thanks very much our great expertsRead More...

I know, DocV. I used it as a joke. Speaking more than one language is something one acquires. Also, I used "born" as attached to the verb "be," not as an adjective for "polyglots": We were born / polyglots // They were born / poor.Read More...

Hi, Subhajit: In each case, "a" is possible, but "the" is much better .Read More...

Hello, Emad, "Save" is the better answer, of course. "Do their power" is meaningless. The sentence is a bit awkward. Here is a better way to phrase the idea: Good swimmers save their energy for the last part of the race.Read More...