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January 2022

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dash

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Can I drop the dash like <2>? Is <3> correct? 1 His authority influenced us to accept the theory without question, - thus missing the point of the discussion. 2 His authority influenced us to accept the theory without question, thus missing the point of the discussion. 3 His authority influenced us to accept the theory without question, - thus miss the point of the discussion.Read More...
GBLSU
Thank you.Read More...
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Will fall or is going to fall?

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This old-aged tree isn't safe to sit under.It...............at any time. ( will fall - is going to fall) I think will fall is correct, but is going to fall can’t work in such a context?Read More...
David, Moderator
Hi, Indecipherable—Unless you change how your name is printed on this forum, I shall use the nickname "Indecipherable" for you. Most English speakers here are unable to read, write, understand, or pronounce your name as it appears. I agree with Ahmed_btm that both options are possible; however, the most natural option is not listed. Most native speakers would use "could fall." We'd also omit "-aged" and use a space between the two sentences: This old tree isn't safe to sit under. It could...Read More...
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Question

0 likes · 90 views
He ............London for three years. ( has been in - has gone to) There's been a lot of argument about the two options mentioned above. Some say has been in,others say has gone to.My answer is has been in. Am I right or wrong? Thanks in advanceRead More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Mr. Abd El-Hakam, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange, I completely agree with Gustavo's answer. I just would like to refer to a quote from A Comprehensive Grammar Of The English Language, page 212: "Because of its resultative meaning, the simple perfective can't be used with accomplishment verbs when the clause contains an adverbial of duration: - They have been repairing the road for months. (Not: They have repaired the road for months.) An exception to this, however, occurs where the...Read More...
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past simple vs past continuous

0 likes · 36 views
Hello again, I was looking through a test paper and came across these questions. 1) Fawzia ... the dishes at 8 last night. A- was washing- B wash C- washed D- washing. The modal answer is (C), but I think both A and C work, is that right? 2)What .... at around 8 a.m this morning? A- did you do B- were you doing C- did D- was doing? Again, the modal answer is (B), but I think both A and B work. 3) This is a True or False question: I was playing football yesterday. This sentence is...Read More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Boroj Nouri, Yes, you are right. 1 means she was washing the dishes (when something happened.) Although the past progressive could work here, the past simple tense sounds much better. Using the past progressive means that there is something important happened while you were playing football yesterday, but there is no more context here to indicate this point. For a similar question about this particular point, see here: https://thegrammarexchange.inf...c/played-was-playingRead More...
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Hasn't or hadn't visited

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Please choose Ali visited us today. He ...........us since 2015. A. hasn't visited B. hadn't visited I think the answer is (hadn't visited) but afriend of mine said it should be ( hasn't visited) because of the presence of (today) in the first sentence.Read More...
David, Moderator
Hi, Treasure—Both answers work. Ali's visit "today" can be viewed as past relative to the time of speech or as contemporaneous with it. He hasn't visited us since 2015. He hadn't visited us since 2015. Similarly, if one is hearing a song for the first time, one can say, "I've never heard this song before." Right afterwards, one can say either of these: I've never heard that song before. I'd never heard that song before.Read More...
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if I get the weather forecast right, I still get blamed

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Weather forecast -------------------------- Man : You don’t like your job? Weatherman : I hate my job. I hate doing the weather forecast; every day probability of this, probability of that. . . Man : Oh, cheer up. Don’t be blue. You don’t have to be depressed, you know. Weatherman : Ah, you don’t have to do the weather forecast. Man : Well, every cloud has a silver lining. Weatherman : Oh, yes. Man : Oh, come on, it can’t be as bad as all that. Weatherman : Oh, yes it can. Even if I get the...Read More...
rezabc
Thank you so much, GustavoRead More...
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omission of ‘measuring’

0 likes · 79 views
Hello, everyone, “ Pollachius pollachius is a large fish up to 130 cm in length and weighing up to 14 kg .” * source; https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/9 I assume the sentence above should read, “... a large fish measuring up to 130 cm in length and weighing up to 14 kg .” and only then could be ‘measuring’ and ‘weighing’ in a parallel structure. While the writer of this sentence above, of which the web source seems to be reliable, left out ‘measuring’, do you, natives, agree on this...Read More...
deepcosmos
I'll see, thanks much, Gustavo!Read More...
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has gone to London since ... 🤔

0 likes · 181 views
Is it correct to say: "She HAS GONE to London SINCE last month."? For me, I see it is not correct because GOING TO LONDON is a completed finished action NOT a one that started in the past and is still going. If we want to mention when this action happened, we must use the past simple not the present perfect. I mean we must say: "She WENT to London last month." OR if we want to use the present perfect, we must say: "She has BEEN IN London since last month." OR if we want to tell a piece of...Read More...
Mohamed Emara
Thank you, David, for your help. 💝Read More...
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take & mistake , same meaning?

0 likes · 34 views
1stㅇHe mistook her attention for love. 2ndㅇHe took her attention for love. 3rdㅇHe didn't took her attention for love. Are those same meaning?Read More...
Posted
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Talking about scheduled events

0 likes · 38 views
Hello! I know that we use the present simple tense to talk about actions and/or events that are fixed such as a schedule. Ex: The plane leaves at 8.00 a.m. However, I'm wondering if we can talk about fixed timetables and schedules using other structures? Thank you in advance,Read More...
Boroj Nouri
Thank you, Gustavo!Read More...
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The very "mind" + Gerund or to infinitive

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Should the verb mind follow by Gerund or to infinitive? For example: Thank you for reminding me to send y ou an invoice for XYZ. or Thank you for reminding me sending you an invoice for XYZ. Thank you in advance for enlightening.Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Yes, that is ungrammatical. As Ahmed told you, "remind" is followed by a noun/pronoun and a "to"-infinitive or a "that"-clause. Perhaps you are confused with the verb "mind," meaning "object to," which is followed by V-ing: - Would you mind sending me an invoice?Read More...
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toward vs towards?

0 likes · 144 views
Is the sentence correct? She cautiously extended a hand toward me Shouldn’t “toward” be replaced by “towards”, since “extended” is a verb? I looked up both “toward” and “towards” , and the online dictionary app showed that both can be used to describe a direction. I’m confused. I hope you can help me!Read More...
Maxine
Thank you so much for your answer!Read More...
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Should you fuse the "introductory" paragraph with the paragraph that gives the first point in a series of points?

0 likes · 52 views
A lot of people (not all people?) would fuse the two paragraphs below into one paragraph: https://join.substack.com/p/ho...ld-history-be-taught I’ve taught at the university level since 1981, so I’ve been at it a long time—I don’t know that anyone knows definitively what the most important principles are, but I’ll list a few things for whatever it’s worth. First, I think that trying to create enthusiasm among students is maybe the most important thing—you want to really get them interested...Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
Sorry about the sloppy typos in the post, by the way; I corrected them!Read More...
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How do I stylize "The 1776 Report"?

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See here: https://join.substack.com/p/how-should-history-be-taught 2) What do you think about the below quote from “The 1776 Report” ? You can go uppercase/lowercase on "The" and "Report", and you can enclose the article in quotation marks or enclose the date and/or the word "report in quotation marks, and you can even enclose nothing at all in quotation marks. Here are some examples: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/us/trump-1776-commission-report.html 1776 report...Read More...
David, Moderator
Hi, Andrew— The related Wikipedia article indicates that "The" is part of the title.Read More...
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the whistling man

0 likes · 42 views
Are these correct: 1) Stop that man whistling. He wants to go out through the fire exit. 2) Stop the man whistling. He wants to go out through the fire exit. 3) Stop that whistling man. He wants to go out through the fire exit. 4) Stop the whistling man. He wants to go out through the fire exit. The idea is: stop that man who is whistling and prevent him from going through the fire exit. I think '1' and '2' could mean: stop that man from whistling. I don't know if they could be used in this...Read More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Navi—Very nice observation. I agree with you that "Stop the/that man whistling" is ambiguous, that it can mean either "Stop the/that whistling man" or "Stop the/that man from whistling."Read More...
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Modal verbs

0 likes · 84 views
1/ You (have to/must) show your membership card or you will not be allowed in. 2/ A: (Should/Could) we have eggs or beans for breakfast tomorrow? B: You suggest. 3/ I just remind of the rules. You (have to/must) leave your mobile at the security room before you go in.Read More...
David, Moderator
Hi, Islam—Please read our Guidelines page. You should not simply present a set of exercises for us to complete. We are not a homework-completion service. The Grammar Exchange is for discussing grammar questions, one at a time. Ahmed has given you some good feedback. Instead of "You suggest," in (2), which doesn't work at all, it would be better to say, "You decide." Also, " I just remind of the rules " is totally ungrammatical. You can say: I'll just remind you of the rules. [future simple...Read More...
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How's thing

0 likes · 52 views
I am confused with the below. People normally say informally: How's things going? Shouldn't that be How are things going?Read More...
TheParser
For some reason, native speakers will often accept the wrong verb form if it's part of a contraction. "There are 100 people in the room." = Correct English. " There is 100 people in the room." = Incorrect English. "There 's 100 people in the room." = Acceptable in informal English. "Read More...
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their partner as distributive singular

0 likes · 28 views
Hello, everyone, A few scientists from Duke University and University College London decided to find out what happens inside our brains when we lie. They put people into an fMRI machine and had them play a game where they lied to their partner. The first time people told a lie, the amygdala weighed in. It released chemicals that give us that familiar fear, that sinking sense of guilt we get when we lie. But then the researchers went one step further. They rewarded people for lying. They gave...Read More...
Posted
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cut off communications to the country

0 likes · 55 views
Hello! I was watching a BBC news report about Tonga's volcano eruption and the presenter said, "...and the tsunami that followed has cut off nearly all communications to the country." I was surprised to hear "to the country" because communications are in the country, aren't they? Would you please explain this choice of preposition to me?Read More...
Alexey86
Thank you, Gustavo! It's so clear and obvious now that I'm surprised at myself. I don't know why I only thought of communications as something within the country.Read More...
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Relative clause or Adverbial

0 likes · 57 views
Hi, How would you read the following sentence? 1. The proposition expressed in the subordinate clause is entailed in the case of reason adjuncts but not with purpose, when the situation time is later than that of the matrix. （ The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, p.727） Is the when-clause an adverbial or a relative clause？ If it were an adverbial, it would mean： 1a . If the situation time is later than that of the matrix, the proposition expressed... is entailed... But I don't...Read More...
Robby zhu
Thank you. I'm grateful.Read More...
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Articles

0 likes · 73 views
Choose 1- I spent ( a - an - no article) useful time in the library. 2- Three bottles of water (are - is) on the table. 3- She gave me ( some - a - much) binoculars.Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
No. In the cases you mention where "a" is used, "time" means " a period of time." In the example you asked about: "time" is uncountable, so it should take no article or, even better, "some": some useful time. Yes, that's correct. The only acceptable answer is "some," but it would be more natural to use no article or to say "a pair of binoculars." "Some binoculars" can mean more than one pair, or a good pair of them, or even be used to be unspecific ( I don't know, she gave me some...Read More...
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