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September 2022

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Is the bold weird?

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I wouldn't find anything weird about the below sentence if "Thus" were replaced with "So"; I wonder whether the bold is at all weird or whether (in this context) it's OK to deploy "Thus" just like you'd deploy "So". https://join.substack.com/p/plato-and-darwin Suppose that MP actually does succeed in this aim. Then we won’t in any way have abandoned the boundary condition that Plato’s Problem sets regarding what an adequate theory of FL needs to achieve, since such a story would support a...Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
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‘Where from’ question

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I would like to as a question a response to which is a ‘launching pad’. Is it correct to ask: 1: From where is a spacecraft sent into the sky? 2: Where is a spacecraft sent into the sky from?Read More...
Posted
New5 replies

‘it feels great to be ~ ’

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Hello, everyone, 1) “ It feels great to be on this ship .” - an excerpt from our local textbook; G: Wow, it feels great to be on this ship, Dad. M: I feel the same, Sora. Here are our seats, 20A and 20B. G: Yeah. Do you mind if I take the window seat? I like to see the view outside. 2) “ It felt strange to be back in my old school .” 3) “ It felt as though he had run a marathon .” 2) and 3) above ; excerpts from https://www.oxfordlearnersdict...rican_english/feel_1 “linking verb (not used in...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hi, David, really appreciate. Where else could I be explained such a nice explanation other than G/ Exchange?Read More...
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has always come - has always been coming

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Hello Moderators. Could you please help me? Can we use "always" with present perfect continuous or only with present Perfect simple? Which form is correct in the following sentence? Why? - Dr. John is funny. He ( has always come - has always been coming) to his clinic by scooter. Thank you.Read More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Ahmed Imam Attia—You need the present perfect simple there; the present perfect continuous is incorrect. "Always" doesn't work with the present perfect continuous.Read More...
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haven’t been seeing

0 likes · 53 views
Hello Moderators. Is the following sentence grammatically correct or not? Why? - I miss you so much; I haven’t been seeing you for ages! Thank you.Read More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Ahmed Imam Attia—No, that sentence is not grammatically correct. The progressive ("haven't been seeing") doesn't work. It should be: "I haven't seen you for ages." The sentence "I haven't been seeing you for ages" is extremely unnatural and has a silly meaning, namely, that it is not the case that I have been seeing you (repeatedly) for ages. It is incompatible with "I miss you so much."Read More...
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New3 replies

’ ... is / are examples ... ‘

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Hello, everyone, “ Discussion about the price of the goods to be purchased, the amount of capital to be contributed to a joint venture, the interest to be charged by a lender, and the royalty rate to be paid by a trademark licensee are examples of issues involving the distribution value .“ 1) While I feel the author used ‘ are ’ for the multiple subjects with "Discussion (about ~ ), the amount (of ~ ), the interest (to be ~ ), and the royalty rate (to be paid ~ ), 2) is there a possibility...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hi, Gustavo, how can I thank you enough? Sincerely appreciate your explanation.Read More...
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Present perfect or past perfect

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If I am staying or living in Europe at the time of speaking, should I say "I haven't been to Europe before" or "I had not been to Europe before", meaning "this is the first time I've come to Europe". ThanksRead More...
David, Moderator
Hi, D.T.—In that context, you should use the present perfect. "I haven't been to Europe before" means "I haven't been to Europe before now ." Once you have left Europe, you can shift to the past perfect.Read More...
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New4 replies

What must the pronoun refer to?

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A farmer so loved his cow that he sacrificed her female calf to spare her life during a complicated pregnancy. And whoever (else) would have saved her from perishing would have been justified. In the second sentence, what must “her” refer to, the cow or her calf? (note: please do not advise to word the sentence better or correct its structure. I am sincerely interested in surveying the views of those attempting to answer the question GIVEN the way it is. I intend to clarify something for me,...Read More...
Matt McCullough
Thank you very much for your detailed response regarding the update.Read More...
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New3 replies

Any need to worry that bold will link back to "people"?

0 likes · 30 views
And as an aside, what makes Pietroski so interesting is that he’s one of the few people who addresses the crucial foundational issues about meaning and links them to familiar linguistic concerns.Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
I agree with you, Ahmed. We have both a syntactic and a semantic reason to dismiss the existence of any ambiguity. There is no ambiguity because (1) "issues" is closer, and (2) it would make no sense for "them" to refer to "people." "Issues" and "concerns" actually belong to the same semantic field.Read More...
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Should I hyphenate "non-linguistic"?

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I found out that NYT drops the hyphen regarding "nontechnical", "nonempirical", and "nonhuman". I couldn't find out what the NYT does with "non-linguistic" and "non-Bayesian", though; I assume that "non-Bayesian" needs a hyphen, since it would just be weird and awkward with the capital "B" and everything. So that leaves "non-linguistic"; what to do? Thanks so much and sorry to bother you guys!Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
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New4 replies

Are the bold words useful?

0 likes · 36 views
I'm not sure if the bold words (1) serve to indicate that I'm talking about Washington hawks instead of hawks in general or (2) make the paragraph sound better and flow better without actually serving any semantic purpose or (3) are just useless. https://join.substack.com/p/hawks-and-risks There are clear reasons why Washington hawks love this war’s consequences and want to prolong it. First, this war is bleeding a US enemy— the hawks like to take opportunities to weaken adversaries. Second,...Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
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Should "word-object relations" take a hyphen or en-dash?

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I got 10,000 Google hits for the en-dash version of "word-object relations" and less than 9,000 for the version with the hyphen, but that seems odd to me, since browsing various papers made it seem to me like the hyphen version is more popular. See this example where they give it an en-dash: https://en.x-mol.com/paper/art.../1422383639569313792 Show gestures direct attention to wo rd–ob ject relations in typically developing and Autistic Spectrum Disorder childrenRead More...
Andrew Van Wagner
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New2 replies

include vs included in this sentence

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Hello, thank you for your help. Which of these sentences is correct and why? 1.It might be best if we include plans for the move to our new office. 2. It might be best if we included plans for the move to our new office. I think the first is correct because it is a suggestion for a future action, however, I have an ESL student who thinks the 2nd is correct since it is a 2nd conditional which requires speakers to use past simple in the if clause and modal word, might in the result clause. She...Read More...
Janice
Gustavo, Thank you once again. This is definitely helpful . Thank you for explaining the conditionals to me as well. I am so grateful for this website and your knowledge. JaniceRead More...
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How long ago - When

0 likes · 137 views
Hello Team. Is there any difference between "How long ago" and "When" to ask about past events? For example, in the following question, which one is correct? Why? - (How long ago - When) did you start studying English? Thank you.Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Hi, Ahmed, Both questions are correct and largely interchangeable. With "how long ago" you might expect the answer to consist of a period of time followed by "ago," so it will be up to you to calculate when that was. By contrast, with "when" you might expect a more straightforward time reference, for example: in 2010, in June, last week.Read More...
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"To not" or "Not to"

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Hello, "To not" or "not to"? Is this matter related to formality? - "To not" / "not to" become dehydrated, drink water every hour even if you don't feel thirsty. - Write down a reminder "to not" / "not to" forget your appointment.Read More...
Meriem
To sum up and to make sure to understand: In case (1) "in order not to"/"so as not to" are interchangeable with "not to" because here the clause is considered as a compliment. While for case (2) it's not possible because the clause is considered as "adjunct/modifier" Case (1): Write down a reminder not to /so as not to/ in order to forget your appointment Case (2): Drink water every hour In order not/so as not to become dehydrated. I appreciate your time and effort in explaining. It's noted...Read More...
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The last few hours/days/weeks/months ... + present perfect or past simple?

0 likes · 157 views
Hello, Why do we have to use the past perfect with "the last few days"? Example: In the last few days, dates for the summer music festival have been confirmed . According to my information, we use THE PAST SIMPLE when we have an expression of time. But I think "the last few hours/days/weeks/ months ..." is not a completed period (it includes the present time as well) the reason why we use the present perfect. Isn't it?Read More...
Meriem
Hello Ahmed. Thank you for your answer, that was clear.Read More...
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New4 replies

Do I have the hyphenation correct here?

0 likes · 49 views
I did hyphenation in these instances: (1) It was empirically well-grounded thanks to the research. (2) It could become a project with an actual well-defined target of explanation. (3) He was in the department doing very well-regarded philosophy-adjacent work. (4) The issue is whether certain properties hold of a well-designed system. But not in these instances: (5) It’s not clear that the question is well formed . Let me know if I made any errors. I think that (2) and (3) and (4) are all...Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
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New4 replies

What's 'that' you were saying earlier?

0 likes · 84 views
Hello, everyone, 1. “What's that you say?“ (idiomatic expression to mean ‘ Have I heard you correctly ?’) 2. “What’s that you’re holding?” (used for referring to something that the person you are talking to is holding or wearing, excerpted from Macmillan dictionary) 3. “What's that you were saying earlier?” (excerpt from our local material) If three sentences above have the same pattern in common, I guess the that above is functioning not as a demonstrative pronoun leading a...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hello, Ray, I'm glad to have fine explanations from you as well as Gustavo, which have got me out of headache for 3 days.Read More...
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the use of the pronoun, it

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Hello "As it becomes more socially acceptable, we are witnessing a tremendous increase in cosmetic plastic surgery." The sentence above comes from an EFL reading textbook. First of all, I wonder what the pronoun it refers to. In other words, would the it imply a general social background or " cosmetic plastic surgery? Second, when it comes first, before the main clause, could that refer to the object of prepositional phrases or nouns in any positions? I rarely see this case. Thanks in advanceRead More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Hi, Jiho, "It" refers to "cosmetic plastic surgery." It is a case of cataphora (according to Quirk's terminology) or anticipatory anaphora (in Huddleston & Pullum's words). On page 352 under 6.19 of their Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Quirk et al say that, when the pronoun is used cataphorically (i.e. before its referent), the referent must have a higher position within the structure of the sentence than the pronoun . "Cosmetic plastic surgery" is the object to the...Read More...
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New2 replies

Would be doing

0 likes · 37 views
Question : "On completing a decade in the industry?" Answer : " It 's been the most amazing journey, if somebody told me that I'll be doing all this ten years ago I would have probably laughed at them. " Dear Sir I believe there is a grammar mistake in the answer part. It should have used " .......I would be doing all this ten years........." in place of "......I'll be doing all this ten years.........." Please correct me if I am wrong. 🙏 Source : ...Read More...
Former Member
Dear David Sir It means that there are many English grammar errors in journals, articles and blogs etc. We simply swallow the bait thinking those are perfect English!!! Right?Read More...
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Should I replace the bold with "still does exist"?

0 likes · 42 views
See the bold (it seems like making this change would make more sense, but it's hard for me to articulate why exactly it would be an improvement): https://join.substack.com/p/hawks-and-risks The “window of opportunity for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine is therefore narrowing fast”. The window still exists , since Russia might “pocket the ‘results’ of the referendums as bargaining chips for negotiation” without moving to immediate annexation, which would “still leave open the possibility of...Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
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