May 2021

Thank you David. Yes, I had completely overlooked that possibility. Very good point. I have a follow-up question, if I may. e. I talked to your brother dancing, f. I talked to your brother dancing over there. Could these be used instead of: I talked to your brother who is dancing/who is dancing over there. i.e. I talked to that brother of yours who is dancing/who is dancing over there. ? I think (e) could only mean I was dancing when I talked to your brother. It seems to me that (f) might be...Read More...

Thanks !Read More...

Hi, Tony, Both are correct. You can also say: - On 1 January 2020, $5850 were deposited into the bank account of XYZ Pty Ltd. If your question is whether "the amount of $5,850" is better than "an amount of $5,850," the answer is that, the first time the amount is mentioned, "an" is preferred: - On 1 January 2020, an amount of $5850 was deposited into the bank account of XYZ Pty Ltd. The amount appears under cash and banks.Read More...

Oh I see. Thanks so much for your help.Read More...

Hi, Dr Ahmed—No, the best option there is "wrote" (simple past): "While I was waiting for my plane, I wrote some e-mails." You wrote some e-mails during the time that (while) you were waiting for your plane.Read More...

Hi, May123—I agree with Gustavo's response. You seem to want to reduce one tense to another. If the tenses could be so reduced, there would be a great deal of redundancy in the tense system. Your question would have made more sense if you had asked whether "We are going to Paris on Friday" is closer in meaning to "We will go to Paris on Friday" or to "We will be going to Paris on Friday." It is closer to the latter. Indeed, in conversation, the question, "What are you doing on Friday?" could...Read More...

Hi, Ilko, "By the time" can be used to mean "around the time" or "before." These sentences sound better: - By the time you come back I will be having a shower. (Here "by the time" means "around the time.") - By the time you come back I will have had a shower. (= I will have finished having a shower before you come back.) The sentence you proposed might be used if the speaker wants to say that, around the time the other person comes back, he/she will go and have a shower.Read More...

Hi, EngTeach, I'd use the present simple instead of the present continuous. I don't think the use of the progressive is justified. There are many mistakes, not only of agreement but also of a punctuational, grammatical and lexical kind. However, according to our Guideline 2 , we are not expected to improve a given passage but just to answer some specific points of grammar we may be asked about, like the choice of tense, in your case.Read More...

Hello, GreenThunderBolt, As David explained here , you should use the V-ing form. I find "instead" to be redundant: - Rather than returning to Germany, he fled to Africa. We can use the bare infinitive when there is an infinitive in the main verb phrase, for example: - Rather than return to Germany, he has decided to go Africa. - Rather than return to Germany, he will go to Africa. Quirk calls the "rather than ..." structure a clause of preference, and it is clearly that when followed by an...Read More...

Hi, JessyA, "Enrichen" seems to be a rather infrequent variant of "enrich." Anyway, the sentence you transcribed is ungrammatical — the main verb should be "enrichen s " or "enrich es " because "toolkit" is a singular noun.Read More...

Hello, Matteo Fiori, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. I think you should revise your title: rogue adjective or adverb? I'm not sure what you meant to say with "rogue." "Required" is a past participle and the phrase it introduces can be analyzed as a reduced relative clause : - It is a pleasure working with dedicated students who/that put in the time and energy that is/are required to make progress . (Both "is" and "are" are possible depending on whether you consider "time and energy" as...Read More...

Thanks GustavoRead More...

Hi, Ahmed, Both are grammatically correct. If you want to know 'why', read David's last comment here: https://thegrammarexchange.inf....cc/topic/reported-2Read More...

Thanks GustavoRead More...

Hi, Ahmed—Don't you mean to be speaking of a fearsome lion, a lion that inspires fear in others? A fearful lion is a lion who tends to be afraid. The only fearful lion that I know of is fictional, namely, the lion in The Wizard of Oz . fearful lion fearsome lionRead More...

Hi, Manaka—In a normal case, coordinate meaning would likely be intended: "Those cats have eyes that are blue and almond-shaped." For that meaning, you would use a comma: Those cats have blue, almond-shaped eyes. That said, it is possible to imagine a case where cumulative meaning would be intended. If the cats were being contrasted with cats with almond-shaped eyes of a different color, "blue" would differentiate them and be stressed: Those cats have blue almond-shaped eyes, not brown...Read More...

Hi, Gary—I agree with what Ahmed has said above on all counts. Apart from the who -versus- whom issue, however, the reformulation below is the easiest: 4. I am looking for someone trustworthy . Interestingly, (4) relates to "I am looking for someone who is worthy of my trust," where the relative pronoun who funtions as the subject of is .Read More...

Hello, Lux Tran, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. I agree with Gustavo that "two one-ways" can be used instead of "two one-way tickets." It needs to be used in the right sort of context, though. Out of the blue, a question like "How many one-ways have you bought?" would not make sense.Read More...

According to context, all or at least most of the sentences you proposed could be used to refer to general or specific situations, in the present or in the future. A. Can you ride a bike (i.e. bikes in general)? B. Yes, I can (general statement) A. Can you ride this bike? B. Yes, I can (specific statement)Read More...

Hi, Alexandra, I see that ' was ' sounds more natural to use here. See David's last comment here: https://thegrammarexchange.inf...0#627604738305429750Read More...

Hi, Omar, I agree with David's answer: it is very difficult to know what 'pretty' means in your example. Anyway, I see that you are trying to use cumulative adjectives, so commas are not needed. The order of adjectives is not always fixed, but, mostly, we begin with the adjective that expresses a general opinion, then the one that expresses a specific opinion. For more details, see here: https://learnenglish.britishco...ence/adjective-order For a similar topic, see here: ...Read More...

Thanks for the help, Gustavo! And thank you, David!Read More...

Hi, Brunacontro—If a house is built out of bricks, it is a brick house, bricks forming the primary material of the structure of the house. If a house is built with bricks, bricks were involved in the building of the house, whether as part of the structure of the house or as something used in the process of building it. However, a house built with bricks could be primarily of a different material.Read More...