October 2020

An argument can be made for "peoples' lives." Can you think of what it is?Read More...

Thanks, David. I get it.Read More...

Thanks again!!Read More...

Hello, Navi—I agree with you that the sentence is ambiguous. Actually, I think that it is three ways ambiguous: a1) He treats me as if I were one of his friends. b) He treats me as he treats a specific friend of his. c) He treats me as a specific friend of his treats me.Read More...

Hello, Navi—My natural interpretation of "Their party is against global warming" is that it means their party wishes to stop or slow down the process of global warming, which, it may be deduced, they believe exists. If we wish to convey that their party does not believe that global warming exists, but do not want to go right ahead and say that they do not believe global warming exists, one thing we can do is change "is against" to "denies": 2) Their party denies global warming.Read More...

Hi, Ahmed—The sentence is correct, but it needs a special context, in which special emphasis is called for. To vary the example slightly, we could say: Sam plays tennis often, but never does he play tennis in the morning. That sentence means the same thing as "Sam plays tennis often, but he never plays tennis in the morning." With inversion, "never" is made more prominent.Read More...

Hello, goodreed. Your reply is so informative. I've just learned something here again. Thank you and Grammar Exchange!Read More...

Hello, Ani, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. What other kinds of adjectives do you know? In the first set, I'd say that tired describes a state rather than a quality. I think all of the adjectives in the second set express qualities.Read More...

The point is that "do an action" is a rather poor lexical choice. We prefer to use verbs like perform, carry out or fulfill . You can find the combination "do an action" as the definition of "perform" here : perform verb (DO) to do an action or piece of workRead More...

Hi, Ayman, You are referring to this question: https://thegrammarexchange.inf...ect-or-past-simple-1 I think you needn't start a new thread as your comment is directly related to the same question.Read More...

OK. Thank you very much.Read More...

Hello, Ahmed—The answer really depends on the context. The range of hours suggests to me that these are the hospital's visiting hours. In other words, speaker B's sentence seems to be equivalent to "You have to go during visiting hours." So "have to" is the correct choice. We can, however, imagine a different context, one in which "must" would be better. The rule may not be the hospital's rule but the rule of somebody else or of some group. Compare: "We command you to go there between 2 and 5."Read More...

Hi, Dr. Ahmed, Yes, you are right. 'Have enjoyed' is the best answer. It shows that the employee is still working for his/her company and now thinking about finding another job. 'Enjoyed' could also work, but needs a further context.Read More...

Thank you!Read More...

Hello, Navi—I, too, like the alternative sentence that Gustavo has proposed. My issue with the sentence you have quoted relates to the idea of "choosing dessert." That means "choosing to have dessert." To have dessert is to have the mini-meal of dessert. Dessert is not a thing, healthy or unhealthy. It is a category of meal, under which a variety of delicious concoctions are subsumed. If we added the possessive determiner "her" to the phrase, the sentence would be saved. "She would choose...Read More...

Hello, Navi—I agree with you. A different way of writing the second sentence of (1) is "He chose a (blue) tie." A different way of writing the second sentence of (2) is "He chose a blue tie." In neither case is there a suggestion that there were or were not any other ties on the table. Now, if the second sentence of (3) were rewritten as "He chose the blue tie," it still would not be clear, in a contextual vacuum, whether there was more than one tie on the table. It could be used in either...Read More...

"Backshift" is when the tense in a complement clause of indirect speech is relative to the tense of the verb governing the complement clause. Thus, "John said , 'I am sick'" becomes "John said that he was sick" in indirect speech. "John said , 'I was sick'" becomes "John said that he had been sick." Yes. In that sentence, "the lawyer was a female" is a "that"-clause complement of "was told" (from which "that" has been deleted). That clause uses backshift.Read More...

1. I have my lunch. (Habitual action) Does it mean "I take my lunch as usual". In more precise statement, it can be meant "I have my lunch with my friends".Read More...

The meaning is so straight forward, I thought it is an idiom. Thanks.Read More...

Thank you so much!!Read More...

Hi, Joshua, "is being treated" is a passive verb in the present continuous tense. Doctors are treating the President now , so the President is being treated .Read More...

ThanksRead More...

Hello, Lolah, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. Both sentences are OK. However, if you mean to refer to the place where the U.S. president lives, you must capitalize "White House."Read More...

Yes, Ilko, it is correct. To help someone up is to help him or her to get up.Read More...

Hello, Ahmed Imam Attia—Only the first sentence is correct. The second sentence is ungrammatical in modern English.Read More...