January 2020

Hi, Ansonman, I agree with your friends. The point is that, unlike other similar compound adjectives that are hyphenated and form a single word, like "first-class" or "world-class," "limited edition" and "first edition" have not evolved into adjectives proper and, having remained strongly nominal, only accept the attributive position (before nouns) when their function is adjectival.Read More...

Interesting question, Ansonman. I'm afraid your assumption above: is not correct. The word "wrong" after the verb "do" in sentence (2a) allows for the use of a content clause in the predicate of the pseudocleft sentence. Its absence forces you to use a nonfinite clause in (1b). My impression is that "do wrong" forms a lexical unit, which is not the case if some other word more loosely connected with "do," like "then" or "there," is used, as I'll show below. I've made some changes in your...Read More...

In the absence of further context, "just" means "recently" and clashes with "last month."Read More...

Thank you so much, Gustavo and David! I understand. So, the comma in question seems to be not a matter of grammar but more of style or reader-friendliness? I should look at the question raised by Robby zhu and its discussion.Read More...

Hi, Subhajit—Disregarding the "Uc browser" phrase, I would use "on."Read More...

Hi, Ansonman—No, you are not using the word "write-up" in an idiomatic way. Your sentences would be more natural with "account" or "report" instead of "write-up." Perhaps you would like to study the definition that The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives for "write-up" along with the examples it provides:Read More...

Hello, Subie and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. If you have a question about English grammar, please feel free to ask it here. We will be happy to answer it and/or discuss it with you. The Grammar Exchange is not a copy-editing service.Read More...

Hi, Ansonman—In American English, an article is used before "university," so all your sentences sound strange to me because of that. (In American English, we say "in/at college" but "in/at a/the university.") However, in British English, the article-free usage of "university" is normal. Whether "university" is preceded by an article or not, I prefer the sentences with "at," though the sentences with "in" are not grammatically incorrect. From the Corpus of Contemporary American English...Read More...

They are different. "You should have studied" is used as a reproach to mean that your son did not study as expected. "You had to study" expresses a past obligation that was fulfilled.Read More...

Hi, Jiho, Your question is really confusing. Where have you taken these sentences from? Only (3) is fine. (1) and (2) should be fixed, for example as follows: 1a. Ms. Fell's experience makes her an ideal candidate. 2a. Examining the problem carefully is important. 2b. A careful examination of the problem is important. 2c. It is important to examine the problem carefully . (My favorite.) It's unclear what you mean by "compound nouns." In "catering businesses," catering is a present participle...Read More...

To write a dash on this forum we need to write two hyphens together. There's no other way.Read More...

Hi, Levy—A broken cup is a cup that has broken or that has been broken by someone at some earlier time . Modifiers like "previously" are totally unnecessary. Incidentally, your post contains a number of severe grammatical errors.Read More...

Hi, Ansonman, I agree with you. You could also find "most tutors." The workload reduction can affect all, most, or only some tutors. If you just say "tutors," all tutors will be understood to be affected. I agree that both are correct. In some cases, "in" may sound more like "inside (a building)" while "at" can be used to refer to an institution rather than a physical location. That's why I personally prefer: - Low student enrollment at my learning centre has reduced the work assigned to tutors.Read More...

Thank you, that's helpful! I was curious if others saw it as poorly written, since I seem to be the only one bothered by it in my office. (I'm guessing others are used to it since no one has complained? )Read More...

Hi, Ansonman, Both are correct. My impression is that the possessive is perhaps a little excessive. Having mentioned the computer in the preceding sentence, by saying " the original price" it is quite clear that reference is being made to the price of the computer.Read More...

Hi, Ansonman, I think both the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous are possible. The continuous form merely emphasizes their insistence on asking the same question once and over again.Read More...

Hi, Ahmed, With adjectival forms, ' especially' is the better choice, especially in American English as it is more formal. See here: https://www.dailywritingtips.c...cially-vs-specially/ As for the difference between those two adverbs, see what Michael Swan and other dictionaries say on the following two links: https://thegrammarexchange.inf...especially-specially https://thegrammarexchange.infopop.cc/topic/especially-speciallyRead More...

Hello, BonnieHong, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. Adjectives like twofold, threefold, etc. are used before nouns or after the verb be but are not followed by "of"-phrases. They are used to mean that there is more than one aspect or feature involved, or that something is twice, three times, etc. as big as something else. I think what you want to say is: 3. The dose of phytase in study 2 tripled the dose in study 3.Read More...

I'll keep it in mind. Thank you for your help!Read More...

Hello, Jacques, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. Your quotation has a number of issues. Can you correct some of these problems? run-on sentences misuse of commas misuse of quotation marks absence of paragraph breaks where paragraph breaks are needed Do you have a particular grammatical question you would like to discuss or have answered? The Grammar Exchange is not a copy-editing service.Read More...

Got it, thanks.Read More...

I agree with Gustavo's answer. It might help to vary the terms of the example: It is the girl on the right's dog. That sentence means that the dog is the dog belonging to the girl on the right. It is [the girl on the right]'s dog. We're seeing a phrasal possessive. The apostrophe + "s" (possessive morpheme) attaches to the entire noun phrase "the girl on the right," headed by "girl." P.S. to Abo Hamza: I changed the thread title, originally "Is this sentence correct?"Read More...