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September 2021

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where

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I am re-posting this. Could you answer these questions? Can I omit the preposition <to>? 1) Where are you trying to get to? 2) Where are you trying to get? Can I use <which> instead of <where>? 3) Which are you trying to get to?Read More...
GBLSU
Thank you. I will remove it.Read More...
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left - has left

0 likes · 86 views
Hello. Could you please help me choose the correct answer? Please explain why! - He (left - has left) work since last month because his salary was very low. Thank you.Read More...
Ahmed.A.A
Hi, I am not sure, but I think the use of "has left" and "since" together is not proper; it must be like this: "He left his job last month because his salary was very low." Let's see what David will say.Read More...
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commas and "not"

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1) Of the sentences below, a comma is used before "not" when it is part of a list as in "E," and before "not" when it begins a parenthetical as in "F." Is "not" part of a parenthetical in "G?" 2) In "A" and "B," is it a matter of choice to use "and" with or without "not?" A) These things need to be determined by the public, not by somebody who is hired by the government. B) These things need to be determined by the public, and not by somebody who is hired by the government. E) I have three...Read More...
clueless
Thanks, Gustavo!!Read More...
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wants a wife/infinitive question

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1) I need someone to finish the work. 2) I want someone to finish the work. Aren't these sentences ambiguous? One possible meaning: a) I need that someone should finish the work. (I think that is an old-fashioned sentence!) Second possible meaning: b) I need/want someone's help to finish the work. I am not at all sure '2' could have meaning 'b'. But 3) He wants a wife to stop drinking. seems OK to me. Gratefully, NaviRead More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Navi—I agree with you that it is possible for (1) to have the (b) meaning as an alternative to the (a) meaning; however, I do not think that (2) can have the (b) meaning. Sentence (3) strikes me as very strange, unless "He wants a wife" is intended to mean "He wants to get married." In that case, I think it would be much more natural to say, "He wants to get married so that he will stop drinking." I suppose (3) could be used in a special type of case, where the speaker is not...Read More...
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for writing

0 likes · 66 views
Which are correct: 1) I need some time to write. 2) I need some time for my writing. 3) I need some time for writing. 4) I need a can-opener to open this can. 5) I need a can-opener for opening this can. Gratefully, NaviRead More...
David, Moderator
Hi, Navi—I see no reason to object to any of those sentences, but I parse some of them differently from how I parse others. Here is how I'd paraphrase them: 1a) What I need is some time to write. 2a) What I need, for my writing, is some time. 3a) What I need is some time for writing. 4a) What I need, to open this can, is a can-opener. 5a) What I need, for opening this can, is a can-opener.Read More...
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Contraction - Bag is - Bag's

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I was teaching this today and realised that in my grammar book the answer is bag is That bag is heavy. However, we wouldn't say it that way, we would say that bag's heavy. We would contract the bag and is in spoken word, but my grammar book does not give the contraction as an option, whereas it does for other examples. Can this be contracted this way? It looks a little confusing when one considers "s" used for plurals and possessives. Any help would be appreciated.Read More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Brendan, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. Yes, "bag's" can be the contraction of "bag" and "is": "That bag's heavy." "Bag's" can also be the contraction of "bag" and "has": "That bag's been moved."Read More...
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unemployment time

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“I’m using this period as unemployed to follow my dream of become a teacher.” “I’m using this unemployment time to follow my dream of become a teacher.” would you help me please? wich one is the more natural sentence? Second question should I use "become" or "becoming"? thanksRead More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Franco's, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. Ahmed is right that you need "becoming" rather than "become." It is ungrammatical to use the base form of a verb as the object of a preposition (" of become "). In addition to Ahmed's suggestion, you might consider using this: I'm using this period of unemployment as an opportunity to follow my dream of becoming a teacher.Read More...
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can I use " I wish I would ?

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Hello members In the English grammar book that I studied, they wrote that: If the subject in the wish clause is the same as the subject in the would clause, we cannot say: I wish I would ". But on BBC Learning English, they still say I wish I would This makes me feel confused. So which one is correct? Thanks in advance.Read More...
ahmed_btm
Hi, Jihn, and welcome to the G.E, In the above examples, 'would' doesn't work because the speaker is in control of his/her volition or as you have mentioned 'you have the power to control your actions'. When the speaker is not in control of his/her volition or expects the worst / the opposite thing to happen, 'would' works better. I see that it is not wrong to say: - I wish I would stop smoking / lose weight. (In either case, I wish to have the will to do that, but I am not completely in...Read More...
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Dear my friend

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Dear my consultants, In where I live (Hong Kong) a performer created a song called “Dear my friend,” with a comma, as a salutation of a message in memory of his deceased friend. Is it grammatical to put “my” after “Dear” like this? Must “Dear”, if used, be the very first word in a salutation with a capital D, like “Hi” in an informal situation? If grammatical, is it common to use among native English users? (Of course we can simply say “Dear friend” and drop the determiner, but I believe...Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Hi, Kinto, The same observations I made further above would also apply to "Dear my love." In such phrases, which I find to be incorrect, "dear" loses its adjectival power and is only used to introduce the addressee of some correspondence.Read More...
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complain about a past event

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Let's say, there are two people A and B. A just did something that upset B, and B is complaining: 1. Why did you do that? 2. How could you do that? 3. How could you have done that? Which is correct? Could you please give me some more examples? Thanks a lot.☕️😊Read More...
David, Moderator
Hi, Ruifeng—You could hear all three of those sentences in that context. The best or clearest one, in my opinion, is (2): "How could you do that?" Sentence (1) ("Why did you do that?") could be mistaken for a genuine question about reasons rather than as a mere complaint. Sentence (3) ("How could you have done that?") has an alternate meaning: "you" did not do "that" and there is no reason to believe "you" would do such a thing. But emphasis does change things. The above meaning for (3) goes...Read More...
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No way inversion

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Hello moderators. Could you please tell me which one is correct? Why? - No way is Ali the shortest boy in the class. - No way Ali is the shortest boy in the class. Thank you.Read More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Ahmed Imam Attia—This is a very interesting question. I agree with Kinto that only the first sentence is correct: " No way is Ali the shortest boy in the class ." And I agree that the reason is that adverbial inversion is triggered by the fronting of the negative adverbial "no way." The second sentence would be correct if it were preceded by "There is": "There is no way [that] Ali is the shortest boy in the class." In that case, "[that] Ali is the shortest boy in the class" is a...Read More...
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Interrogative Pronoun

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Hi. Can you help clarify something for me, please? A : Who helped you down the stairs? B : A stranger did. In the exchange above, A stranger is a straightforward answer to the interrogative pronoun Who. I'm just wondering whether Who would still be an interrogative pronoun if the question and answer were like this?: A : Who is the man who helped you down the stairs? B : l have no idea. Also, in the sentence, "Do you know who that man is?" what is the grammatical function of who ? Does it...Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Hi, Gilbert, In all three sentences, which I numbered above for ease of reference, "who" is an interrogative pronoun. While in (1) and (2) "who" is the subject of a direct question, in (3) "who" is the subject complement of an embedded question. It is hard to explain the mechanism whereby the subject "who" in (2) becomes the subject complement when embedded in (3). Interestingly, the answer will be in line with the syntactic function of "who" in each question: A : Who is the man who helped...Read More...
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ID Information

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Good day moderators! I really need a bit of help.. Is it grammatically correct to say "DATE AFFILIATED" instead of "Date Joined/Date Survived"? I'm planning to put it in a Fraternity Identification Card as an additional information. Thank you so much in advance everyone!Read More...
Posted
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Sentence structure

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Hello, Grammar Exchange members! I ran into the following sentence while reading Helen Keller's book and I'd like to know whether or not I understand the sentence correctly. As an English learner, I enjoy extensive reading but sometimes a little thing like this one really bothers me. a. I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me. First of all, let me divide the sentence into two pieces. b. The future held something of marvel or surprise for me. c. I did not know the...Read More...
KDog
Thank you so much for your reply as always, Gustavo! It really helps!Read More...
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Suitable Word, change or persist?

0 likes · 121 views
Hello, everyone, Chapter 3, ‘The Rule of Dissonance -- Internal Pressure Is the Secret’ ‘Getting Your Foot in the Door’ . . . In a study, a researcher pretending to be a volunteer surveyed a California neighborhood, asking residents if they would allow a large sign reading ‘‘Drive Carefully’’ to be displayed on their front lawns. To help them understand what it would look like, the volunteer showed his participants a picture of the large sign blocking the view of a beautiful house.Read More...
Posted
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terminal & oddly resistant

0 likes · 128 views
Hi there everyone. I was reading some extracts from an academic book, which I found on the internet, titled Rules, Patterns and Words by Dave Willis (2010). Here is something I copied and pasted from the book: Language learning and language development In Chapter 1 I began by pointing out that what is ‘taught’ is very often not learnt. There is a gap between learners' ability to manipulate language as a system of rules, and their ability to use that language for spontaneous communication. If...Read More...
gilbert
Thank you, David for your excellent explanation. I'm glad that, for once, I managed to interpret something correctly! Thanks again.Read More...
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such

0 likes · 41 views
a. Why don't you write such long novels as you used to? b) Why don't you write such long novels as the ones you used to write? c) Why don't you write long novels like the ones you used to write? In which case is it possible that you still write long novels, but they are unlike the ones you used to write? In which case does the speaker simply want the addressee to write long novels and in which case does the speaker want the addressee to write novels that are long and similar to the ones he...Read More...
Posted
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you've got it right!

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To mean, "you are correct", which one(s) would be idiomatically used in American English? 1) you got it right! 2) you' ve got it right! 3) you' ve gotten it right!Read More...
David, Moderator
All three of those are correct and idiomatic, Language Learner, but please keep in mind that we begin sentences in written English with a capital letter.Read More...
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