June 2020

Hello, Navi—Yes, both meanings are possible for (1)–(3), though meaning (b) is much better stated with sentence (b) itself. My default understanding of the three sentences is the (a) reading. If the (b) reading were intended, it would be natural, in spoken English, to emphasize three/some/certain.Read More...

Hi, Freeguy—Nothing is wrong with that sentence. In saying "We do not use . . .," your book incorrectly conveys that it is wrong to use "whom I spoke to." Who is this "we"? If "we" is supposed to mean people who speak English, the book is wrong. People who speak very formally would use "whom I spoke to" as an alternative to "to whom I spoke." If the book had said, "Most people do not use," it would have been correct. Most people do not speak that formally.Read More...

Thanks 😇Read More...

Thanks!I meant adjectival, of course. Christina Lamkin ctina2v@verizon.net 774-249-0790 (m)508-788-9912 (h)Read More...

Did you write this sentence, Toaha? Since you haven't cited the source, that is the assumption the reader must make. What did you mean when you wrote it?Read More...

Thanks Kinto, that coincides with my tentative conclusion. (glad you found the sentence a bit humorous ;-)Read More...

Thanks Gustavo 💖Read More...

Thank you very much, David, I hadn't thought of that one!Read More...

Hello, pattaya, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. To be able to help you, we need some context. "alternative" can be an adjective or a noun. Supposing it is used as a noun in the test, the choice of the right preposition will depend on what follows: Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English, 2nd edition alternative noun [...] preposition ~ for There is no ~ for those with no car of their own. ~ to Is there an ~ to surgery for this complaint? [...] © Oxford University Press, 2009Read More...

Hello again, John—You're on the right track in your thinking here, but a little off the mark. Most budding writers of English don't need an alternative to the semicolon, since most budding writers of English have no idea how to use a semicolon in the first place. It's the least common punctuation mark. What budding writers of English do need is the ability to differentiate between dependent and independent clauses. As you know, in conversation, we often hear utterances beginning with...Read More...

Simply because there is no second action here. When it had been raining, what happened?Read More...

Hello, Clem, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. The example you have asked about is correct; however, it would be good to add a comma before the second independent clause and place "physically" (which clarifies the respect in which you felt awful) at the end with a comma: (1) I've attended festivals like Coachella, and I always felt awful, physically. It is actually the change in tense that does create a logical relationship between the two independent clauses. The sentence has the same...Read More...

Hi, Emad, You have asked that same question before. See its answer here: https://thegrammarexchange.inf...c/present-perfect-15Read More...

Hello, Wrow, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. To add to what the others have said, I think it really comes down to what one means by grammatical correctness. As a sentence, "The time is quarter past three" is faultless. As a reply to the question "Would you take the bins out, please?," it is what many would call a non sequitur . When I place ungrammaticality asterisks (*) before sentences on this forum, it is because I judge the sentence ungrammatical because of its violation of...Read More...

Please provide some of the surrounding sentences, Windward. Thanks.Read More...

Thanks, Gustavo. I'm not a lawyer and not studying law. I was trying to learn about rules for determining the antecedent when I ran across the supposed legal rule online. My understanding is that the rule is intended for use in cases where a document is poorly written, it is not guidance for how documents should be written. I found on Wikipedia this morning that the rule is a little less stringent than the post I saw lead me to believe --- the rule is not intended to override obvious...Read More...

Thank you very much. I think I understand now. So it's nothing to do with the verb "damage“. No matter if the verb “damage” can last for a while or not.Read More...

How would you feel if your dog attacks someone? ---> 'if your dog attacks anyone, how would you feel?' You think the person wants the dog to not ever attack but is training the dog in a way that could lead it to attack a person. You are not allowing any exceptions, even for robbers or murderers. You donʻt think the dog will always attack; rather, you believe the owner thinks or should think that one attack is an attack too many, and the person attacked would be that one "someone". How...Read More...

Hello, Robby zhu—The answer to both your questions here is no. In "such that"-clauses, "that" does not introduce a relative clause, as may be seen by the fact that (a) there is no "gap" in the clause it introduces (namely, "they have the same reference") and (b) "that" cannot be replaced by "which": " a relation between two noun phrases such which they have the same reference ." The correlative "such . . . that . . ." structure you have used in (2) does exist, as you probably already know;...Read More...

Hello, Ahmed Imam Attia—The better word to use there is "sign": "The result of the election is a clear sign that voters are unhappy." The word "signal" would work nicely, however, if the sentence were rephrased: "The result of the election signals that voters are unhappy." I omitted "clearly" there; it could be placed in a few different places: before "signals," before "that," or after "are."Read More...

Hi, Fujibei—You raise an interesting point. I agree with you that topping or exceeding double digits means surpassing double digits, which I suppose means going into triple digits, contrary to the writer's intended meaning. It would have been better if the writer had used "has topped the double-digit mark," "has exceeded the double-digit mark." That is the intended meaning. The double-digit mark is ten. The number of new cases surpassed ten.Read More...

Thanks both of you 💖Read More...

Hi, Zonzon, The most reasonable answer here is: 'hole'. For more information, see "LDOCE" here: https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/holeRead More...

Hi, Fujibei, I agree with Kinto that using the future perfect here is grammatically correct. It simply means that Trump is going to do something concerning this issue at some point in the future. After this point, this man's death or the reasons behind his death will no longer be in vain.Read More...

The sentence above, where the phrase in question is in apposition to the head of the subject, also sounds fine. Some might argue that, being somewhat long, it separates "Mental Health First Aid" from the verb a bit too much, but I find it nice too. It is, as you said, a matter of preference.Read More...