September 2019

Gustavo, Thank you very much for this input. I hope you will see fit to make a reply on Kerry's thread "Closing out the effort?". Best regards, DocVRead More...

Sure. In a software development environment where you are creating certain work products (deliverables) that are to be delivered as part of the software solution creation or enhancement efforts, whereas an effort is the equivalent of a project, you “close” them “out” when they are complete. If an end user makes a request for an issue that needs to be worked on, a developer will “check” the request “out” of the ticketing system, and then “check” it back “in” when they have completed the work.Read More...

Shivam Raj, You've probably never heard of Amy Spencer since she hasn't become famous yet. She is a genius in many ways. She is a visual artist, a musician, a writer, and a fabulous chef, and she has lived some years in Japan teaching English. Everything about her is amazing, but she remains a great unknown. More people are probably talking about Miss Waller-Bridge, the writer, producer, actress, etc, etc. From even the little I know about her, Everything about her is amazing. I would not...Read More...

Robby Zhu, Welcome to the Grammar Exchange. There are several ways of parsing your example sentence. If we understand it to mean A: Teachers are expected to interact. They are expected to teach each of their students in a way that reinforces their interests ... then "with" is not needed. If we suppose it to mean B: Teachers are expected to interact with their students. They are expected to teach each of them in a way that reinforces their interests ... then we need to to say "with". DocVRead More...

Thank you, Gustavo, for your clarification. I want to correct myself in that what I called complex sentences are more accurately compound sentences, in that they consist of independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions. DocVRead More...

Yes, Kuen. There can be no doubt that some people use "start" that way, but I am not one of them. I would use "get somebody doing something" instead. You could use (3) if you changed "starts" to "gets," or you can put your trust in Longman.Read More...

Hello, Ellipticmodulo, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. David, our moderator, provided a very thorough answer to a similar question here some time ago. It is true that "why to" is much more limited in use than other "wh"-word + to infinitive constructions. In fact, your sentence: sounds wrong. "why" + to infinitive will be much more usual in titles: Why to cancel the swimming class (= Reasons for canceling the swimming class): - Because the swimming coach or the lifeguard are absent. -...Read More...

I didn't find the word in any dictionary either but have heard it used several times. Thank you for the answer.Read More...

I like Gustavo's revisions and agree that the grammar exercise yields a poor isolated sentence with either choice. I say "yields a poor isolated sentence" rather than "yields a poor sentence" because it is possible to conceive of strange contexts in which the sentence would work, and then it would need "has sold." A: I don't understand why he is walking to work. The last time I saw him was last Monday, and he drove to work that day. B: He is walking to work as he has sold his car since last...Read More...

Hi, Subhajit, "you" can be generic or refer to the interlocutor. In "You have to be careful," you may be Subhajit or anybody, including myself. "one" is always generic (speaker included). "someone" and "a person" refer to a third person.Read More...

Thank you very much, DocV, I do appreciate it, but I wasn't sure it was really there. Respectfully, NaviRead More...

Wow! It is good to have DocV around! I had completely forgotten the soundtrack album! Thank you all very much! NaviRead More...

To clarify what the Longman editor meant, it is not that such sentences are ungrammatical. They are perfectly grammatical. But they are grammatical with respect to a meaning that the speaker did not intend. Analogously, the sentence "He punched him" is perfectly grammatical, provided that the referent of "him" is different from the referent of "he." It is ungrammatical if "him" is to refer to the same person as "he": He punched him. ≠ He punched himself.Read More...

Hi, Ruifeng, The simple past would have a totally different meaning. The speaker means to refer to the present, not to the past. The simple present is being used instead of the present perfect ("You have brought news") or the present progressive ("You are bringing news"). The usage of the simple present here is the same as the one that we often hear in live sports commentary. It is a specialized use of the simple present. He shoots! He scores! The crowd goes wild!Read More...

Thank you very much, DocV, I thought that '4' might mean the same as '3' as well as being a self-contradictory statement. Apparently it has only one meaning and that meaning is self-contradictory. Gratefully, NaviRead More...

Hello, Ahmed and DocV, I would think that we can use two other prepositions in context NO. 2; 2b: Many websites allow people to download videos on their computers. 2c: Many websites allow people to download videos onto their computers.Read More...

Ahmed, I'm sure I've seen this question before. Both are correct but they mean different things. (A) can mean that she does programming, editing, data entry, etc, and uses computers to facilitate her job. (B) means that she is a technician who builds and tests the computers themselves, repairs them, or performs maintenance on them. DocVRead More...

Hi, Azz, "for women to be treated equally with men" is an event, and the passive renders the first interpretation unlikely. I think the sentence can only be interpreted as meaning: - There is a long way for this to happen.Read More...

Hi, Poet20, "Noise" can be used as a countable noun and as an uncountable noun. In "What a weird noise!," it is countable. In "What weird noise!," it is uncountable.Read More...

Hi, Mimichan, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! Yes, "sure" is an adjective there. As for proof, what other type of word were you tempted to think it was?Read More...

Hi, Kuen, The speaker is saying that, to him, life would be unbearable without peanut butter. "Life" refers to the burdens of life, or to the burden of life itself. An unbearable burden is a burden that cannot be borne. "Make life bearable" here means "make an unbearable burden (or unbearable burdens) bearable." Grammatically, the structure is the same as the one we find in sentences like "He made it red," "She makes him happy," etc.Read More...

Hello, Lauraaliali, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. I don't think the difference between "for" and "by" in adverbials of time indicating deadlines is a BrE/AmE issue. Both are correct but slightly different. While "for" introduces the due date on which some task needs to be completed, "by" means "no later than": - Could you finish this for 5? ( Delivery is expected to take place at 5.) - Could you finish this by 5? (Delivery is expected to take place anytime no later than 5, or at 5 at...Read More...

Sadude, Welcome to the Grammar Exchange. I can't help but wonder why this question should be so important, but I'll answer it anyway. "Spawn" here means "child" or "offspring", and as such needs a proper possessive: "the Devil's spawn". DocVRead More...

Thank you for your help anyway, Gustavo!Read More...

Thank you very much for explaining in such detail. Much appreciated.Read More...