December 2020

Hi, Azz, I'd only discard (b) — the prepositional phrase "from the storm" only makes sense if attached to and appearing immediately after the adjective "safe." Though unusual, I think (a) works because it is an abridged form of: a1. These are places (that/which are) safe from the storm. just like (c) is a reduced form of: c1. This is a place (that/which is) safe for business. I think that, unlike (b), (d) works because the prepositional phrase "for business" can have adverbial value and thus...Read More...

Thank you very much. I will not omit "of" when connecting a sentence whose main verb is "inform" with another sentence using a relative.Read More...

Hi, Cristi, Yes, the nouns "team" and "group" take the 's- genitive like any other noun.Read More...

Yes, it is standard practice to add a comma to set off phrases containing incidental information. Whether the "without"-phrase is incidental in your coffee-cup example will depend on the context. If you're just adding an incidental detail, the "without"-phrase should be set off by a comma. However, if that detail is important to the message of the sentence, then it is not incidental and should not be set off by a comma. He was so focused that he picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip...Read More...

Yes, Language learner, both can and could can be used to express possibility. As you say, "could" is more tentative, or less assertive, than "can," that is, the chances that things will turn out in a certain way are higher if you use "can" and lower if you use "could."Read More...

Many thanks, Gustavo! This helps me clarify the distinction.Read More...

Oh, yeah. I remember him now - he was very good. I havent been here for a while: I guess I had to rest for a while and now just thought to resume learning of English a bit. Thanks, GuatavoRead More...

Hello, Gustavo, Sincerely appreciate your very clear clarification. Best RGDS,Read More...

Hi, Tony, The comma before a relative word is perfect when the antecedent is well-defined. The clause that follows is thus called non-defining or non-restrictive. Therefore, your sentence: is correctly written with a comma. Notice this case where a comma is not used because the clause (called restrictive) helps define the antecedent: - The date which differs from the one in the trust unit register is the date of unit redemption appearing in your bank statement.Read More...

Hi, Tony—I recommend using "namely" instead and setting it off with commas: In your letter, you argue that you have correctly reported your income from XYZ , namely, the director fee of $90K , received from the XYZ. Note that I have also added a comma before "received from the XYZ."Read More...

Hi, Tony—"As" is helpful there: "as reflected" means "as that balance is reflected." The problem with your sentence is that it is missing a comma after "Ltd" and another comma after "1234." The "as"-phrase should be set off with commas.Read More...

Hi, Whisperdrone—I recommend learning how to hyphenate properly and then doing so. That way you won't need to rely upon a robot.Read More...

Thanks a lot Mr David.Read More...

"your bank statement showing ..." is not equivalent to "your bank statement is showing..." The former is a phrase, while the latter is part of a sentence. A sentence needs to stand alone, and "your bank statement showing ..." does not. Let's see if I can make myself clearer. Suppose you ask your accountant: - What do you need? And your accountant answers: - Your bank statement showing that on 1 January 2020 an amount of $100K was deposited into X bank account. To be a complete sentence, the...Read More...

Hello, Mary K, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. If the singular is Board of Commissioners , that is, a board formed by several members, the plural is Boards of Commissioners , that is, more than one board each formed by several members. The same happens with, for example, Board of Directors , the plural of which is Boards of Directors.Read More...

Hello, Nike, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. The "if"-clause is not the object of "said" or "believed" in those examples. The object of "said" and "believed" is a "that"-clause from which "that" has been omitted. Within the "that"-clause is the "if"-clause and the "then"-clause: He said (that) if he worked harder (then) he would be rich. He said (that) he would be rich if he worked harder.Read More...

Hi, Ana4316, "live people" is not a correct collocation in English. Here follows a list of nouns that usually accompany the adjective "live": Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English, 2nd edition live adj. Live is used with these nouns: act , album , ammunition , animal , appearance , audience , bait , band , birth , broadcast , bullet , cattle , CD , chat , chicken , coal , commentary , concert , coverage , demonstration , edition , entertainment , export , football , gig ,...Read More...

Hi, Ana4316, The noun "situation" is singular and, as such, requires a singular verb ( was ). Notice, however, that the sentence would need some context to be likely to occur as proposed.Read More...

Hello, Ana4316, "her green dress matching her eyes" is an absolute construction (notice the verb is a non-finite, that is, not tensed) and, as is always the case with absolute constructions, it needs to be set off by a comma.Read More...

That makes total sense, thank you! Yes, I meant hyphenRead More...

Hi, Cristi, We generally use "above" after nouns or combined with participles like "mentioned" or "referenced": the subject above, the above-referenced matter, the subject mentioned above.Read More...

Cristi, if you want to ask a real question, then close the sentence with a question mark. If you use a period, the connotation is that you expect an affirmative answer. It's just a polite way of saying: Give me a call when you get the chance.Read More...

Thanks a lot Mr DavidRead More...

Hello, MarcelaMC, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. There is nothing wrong with "Thank God! The course is over," which is really two sentences. "Thank God!" is an exclamation in the subjunctive, and "The course is over" is a sentence in the present simple indicative. Perhaps whoever told you it was wrong was thinking of a related sentence: "Thank God the course is over!" That really is one sentence; "that" could be placed before "the course is over": "Thank God that the course is over!"...Read More...

Hello, MellSS, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. The simple past works much better there: "he remembered that he didn't like her that much." The sentence tells us that Mark's remembering this occurred before he could get very far with his plans. There is no need for the past perfect. "Remembered" does denote a past event, and, like all past events, other events come afterwards; however, that obviously does not mean that every past event should be reported in the past perfect. Also, I...Read More...