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June 2022

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Such as

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Is this sentence correct? The alleged offences include SUCH non-violent crimes AS theft and shoplifting. TRANSLATE with x English Arabic Hebrew Polish Bulgarian Hindi Portuguese Catalan Hmong Daw Romanian Chinese Simplified Hungarian Russian Chinese Traditional Indonesian Slovak Czech Italian Slovenian Danish Japanese Spanish Dutch Klingon Swedish English Korean Thai Estonian Latvian Turkish Finnish Lithuanian Ukrainian French Malay Urdu German Maltese Vietnamese Greek Norwegian Welsh...Read More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Abo Hamza—Yes, the sentence is correct. It is very well written. It can alternatively be written: "The alleged offences include non-violent crimes such as theft and shoplifting." But it is actually more sophisticated to split up "such" and "as" in cases such as this (in such cases as this), as the author has done.Read More...
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New2 replies

the case where

0 likes · 118 views
Hello, everyone, “One of the most frequent problems in groupwork is that not everyone puts the same amount of effort into the task. Group members may have a different work ethic or standards for the quality of their work, and this will probably result in different levels of commitment to the group work. While different levels of commitment to the task could be partly influenced by individual workloads, there are wider factors such as individual attitudes to study. Another aspect of the same...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hi, Gustavo, you've pointed out exactly what I felt. Now, your wonderful explanation has made this sentence become fully cleared. Though I doubted somewhat this 'when' in 'is when' might be an interrogative, I wasn't able to continue to do due to this powerful 'is'. Right, that's exactly what I was confused. Today I feel it is really like learning from private tutor. Thanks a million, Gustavo!Read More...
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There is the problem of government funding for schools (topic-comment)

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Hello! Please consider the following passage: There are many problems with our public education system. (a) First, there is a problem of government funding for schools. (b) First, there is the problem of government funding for schools. 1. Are both variants appropriate there? 2. A bit of a theoretical question: The usually marks discourse-old information or topic/theme. Can a definite noun phrase after there is function as the comment/rheme of a sentence?Read More...
alexey-86
Thank you again! You are very helpful.Read More...
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Past Simple or Past Perfect

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Use Past Simple or Past Perfect for these sentences and explain to me your choice 1. Jack_____(graduate) in 1987 and _____(spend) two years applying for jobs before he ______(be offered) the one he _______(want) 2. A: "Why ____ you ____ (not/go) to see the film at the Odeon last week? I _______(think) you_____(like) Paul Newman " B: " Because I ________ (already/see) it. I____(go) when it____(be) on in London Thanks for your help ^^Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Hi, Fromvn, Please read and follow our Guideline 3 so that we can help you with an answer.Read More...
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Past Progressive

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I called Mr. Wilson at 9 last night, but he wasn't at home. He was studying at the library Why do we use past simple for " call" even though " at 9 last night " is a signal for Past Continuous?Read More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Fromvn, The idea is that you did call him at 9 last night (short action) . At that time, he was studying at the library (background action).Read More...
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wouldn't rather versus would rather not

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Are the following sentences grammatical? Do they have the same meaning or not? (1)Wouldn't you rather finish it tomorrow? (2)Would you rather not finish it tomorrow?Read More...
David, Moderator
Hi, Joan Lin—Both (1) and (2) are grammatical, but they do not have the same meaning. Sentence (1) is a negative question; it is like asking "Would you rather finish it tomorrow?," except that it presupposes that the speaker would rather finish "it" tomorrow and seeks confirmation. Sentence (2) is genuinely interested in the addressee's possible preference of not finishing "it" tomorrow.Read More...
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Two actions in the past.

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Hello everyone, I have a question and I do need help. I am wondering if this sentence is correct or not. "Some days before I met Eric I didn't have a job" Shouldn't we say: "Some days before I met Eric I haven't had a job". The two actions happened into the past but one came before the other. So do we have to use the simple past or present perfect? And why not: " "Some days before I've met Eric I didn't have a job" ? Thank youRead More...
Fadel
Hi Ahmed_btm, Thank you for welcoming me. And thank you for your reaction. I get the point. Thank you very muchRead More...
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New6 replies

What does "which" refer to: "rate rise" or "policy meeting"?

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Officials agreed to a 0.75-percent-age-point rate rise at their two-day policy meeting that concluded Wednesday, which will increase the Fed’s benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%. from WSJ today June 15, 2022 Thanks.Read More...
ahmed_btm
Yes, it is a non-defining relative clause in which 'in which case' is a relative phrase in which 'which' is used as a determiner. The following general noun 'case' is the one that refers to the whole situation before it, not which. Please re-read what is written above "Read More...
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Should have + past participle

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If I was expecting a letter by post in the last week and have not yet received it, can I say now " I should have received it in the last week" ? Another question is: Can I formulate the above question in the following way if it is an imagined situation? If I had been expecting a letter by post in the last week and have (or had?) not yet received it, can (or could?) (or could have I said now?) I say now "I should have received it in the last week"? Which of the four constructions would be...Read More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, David Toklikishvili, I'd say, "That letter should have been sent to me last week. I should have received it by now." I would not use any of the above. I would simply say, "Imagine that I have been waiting for a letter that I was supposed to receive last week, can/could I say, '...........'?Read More...
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New3 replies

Who am I? Who is I?

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It's hard for me to grasp the difference but I feel there is one. 1 Who am I ? - I am 2 Who is I? - Who is My speculation 1 I am something or someone based on my personal characteristics . I am a person/student/seller/human being etc. I am something. 2 Who is = something or someone is I (me). This man in the picture is I (me). This character in this computer game is I (me). Something is I (me). Does it make sense? What difference do you see between them? Now here is a practical question. I...Read More...
Me_IV
Here is another example which has occurred to me. Who do you think is you ? Who do you think you are? -------> Why can't it be Who do you think is I ? Who do you think I am? They clearly have different meanings and they are correct.Read More...
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"have smthg for me to buy" vs "want me to buy"

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a) Do you have anything for me to buy at the supermarket? b) Are there anything you want me to buy at the supermarket? Are both of the above sentences correct? If so, is there difference in meaning? Which sentence is a more natural and everyday expression? Thanks a lot,Read More...
ken
Thanks a lot, David. Grammatical number is a pain in the neck to me!Read More...
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who is Peter/who Peter is

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Can we refer to a person by using the pronoun WHO when we know something about this person? I think yes. 1 X: Hello Peter. Who are you, Peter? The above line shows that I, at least, know how the person looks and is called. But I don't know something else about him. Hence, I don't know who Peter is. can mean that I possess some knowledge about Peter. 1 Y: - Did you hear what Peter has done? X: - Who is Peter? The above lines show that I have no idea about Peter. Hence, we can say: I don't...Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
In that embedded question, "Peter" functions as the subject complement. You know there is a Peter and you want to recognize him . You should try and imagine sentences where "Peter" can appear in that position, that is, in the predicate, for example: - The guy over there is Peter . This would be in answer to: - Which (of those) is Peter? "Who Peter is," where "Peter" is the subject and "who" is the subject complement, is a question we ask when we have no idea who he is, that is, we didn't...Read More...
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On or In? (directions)

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OverlyCurious
Hello, my question is when should we use "on" or "in" when it comes to talking about north/ south/ east/ west? This show is in the north of Spain. vs This show is on the north of Spain. Thank you in advance!Read More...
Posted
New2 replies

get away with

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1. Mr Lee wouldn't let me get away with not doing the assignment. 2. Mr Lee wouldn't let me get way without doing the assignment. Does Sentence 2 mean exactly the same as Sentence 1? If not, how can we rewrite Sentence 1, deleting the word 'not', but keeping the same meaning? Thanks!Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
I'd like to add to David's great answer that the phrasal prepositional verb "get away with" is more idiomatic or figurative (see English Prepositions Explained by Seth Lindstromberg, page 26) in that the meaning of the whole multiple-word phrase is not so easily guessable as in the more transparent phrasal verb "get away," where "away" keeps its physical movement meaning (actually, as David said, it can be paraphrased as "leave"). In sentence (1), there is no implication that the person...Read More...
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Last Reply By Gustavo, Co-Moderator · First Unread Post
New4 replies

That-clause, as adverbial

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1. My heart breaks that I hurt you, my love. Please forgive me. https://www.wishesmsg.com/sorry-messages-for-wife/ How would you parse the function of the clause in bold? I think of three possible ways of passing it: a. "That" somehow equals to "because": My heart breaks because I hurt you. b. The whole sentence is just a loosely written form of the following: 2. My heart breaks knowing that I hurt you. 3. It breaks my heart that I hurt you. Or maybe you simply think this sentence is non...Read More...
David, Moderator
I think one useful paraphrase here is "My heart breaks over the fact that I hurt you." While I can't deny that "My heart breaks that [clause]" is used, I don't particularly like it. I'd prefer: My heart breaks knowing that I hurt you. I'm heartbroken knowing that I hurt you. That I hurt you makes my heart break. That I hurt you breaks my heart.Read More...
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how much

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Hello. Please help me. Which one is correct? - Yasser inquired about the price of my new mobile phone. This means ……………. a. Yasser wanted to know how much was my new mobile phone. b. Yasser wanted to know how much my new mobile phone was for. c. Yasser wanted to know how much was my new mobile phone for? Thank you.Read More...
David, Moderator
No, actually, it isn't. Answer (a) is ungrammatical. Inversion isn't used in embedded questions. But we can say: "Yasser wanted to know how much my new mobile phone was ." Or: "Yasser wanted to know how much I paid for my new mobile phone." The option Ahmed suggested works, as well.Read More...
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New9 replies

Sentence structure

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Hi, Grammar Exchange members! While reading NorthStar Listening & Speaking (Pearson), I found the following sentences. a. Sometimes people seem to look at disabled people with sympathy. Other people almost seem annoyed that we try to do things they think are impossible. It's as if they are judging us negatively for not acting helpless or something. I have a question about the second sentence I underlined. I think there should be "that" right after "things." b. Other people almost seem...Read More...
KDog
Thank you for your kind and detailed reply.Read More...
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"that" as a conjunction

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Suddenly my knowledge about relative pronouns and conjunctions is shaking hard. I think I need to study more. I ran into the following sentences while transcribing a short TED-Ed video. a. Teams would try to exploit his weak side. They would try to bunt to the side that he had a missing arm. (he=Jim Abbott) The underlined "that" above is a conjunction, not a relative pronoun. Right? It cannot be a relative pronoun because "he had a missing arm" is a complete sentence. Thanks in advance! KDog :)Read More...
KDog
Thank both of you, Gustavo and billj, for your reply. I wrestled with the sentence for some time and now I've got the answer. I really appreciate it!Read More...
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