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September 2022

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Better way to say the bold? Awkward?

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Does referentialism deliver the explanatory goods? The burden of proof is on those who invoke the reference relation in order to help explain natural language’s semantics—there’s a burden on them to show that the reference relation indeed does explanatory work , so they can’t merely show that it might do so, or that it’s not inconceivable that it could do so, or that it’s not logically impossible that it could do so. And according to Chomsky, the emperor has no clothes.Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
Thanks!Read More...
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New4 replies

Any explanation for why I have the instinct that this is OK?

0 likes · 24 views
Notice the difference (in tense) between the two things in bold...I have the instinct that this is OK but I wonder if there's any explanation for my instinct on this front: 4) Chomsky says that language use is “appropriate to circumstances—typically—but not caused by circumstances or even elicited by them”. Why can’t I give the exact same quote—that Chomsky gave —about my decision to move my finger?Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
OK! I guess I'm OK! Thanks!Read More...
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New1 reply

Not assessable/non-assessable

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Hello, Which of the below sentence is grammatically correct? The tax-offset is not assessable or The tax-offset is non-assessableRead More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Hi, Tony, You should have used the plural "sentence s " above. I wouldn't hyphenate "tax offset." Both "not assessable" and "non-assessable" are correct. I find "not assessable" to be slighty more emphatic because of the presence of the negative adverb "not." Also, being one word "non-assessable" can be used in attributive position, that is, before the noun: non-assessable income.Read More...
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New4 replies

Should "any time" be two words or one regarding the bold?

0 likes · 57 views
It would be nice to have a more accurate name for this condition, but the unfortunate reality is that I don’t see that happening any time soon.Read More...
TheParser
I cannot speak for anyone else, but I personally would write the following: 1. "I can help you anytime ( = at any time) you want. Just call me." 2. Tom: Please help me; Sue: I'm sorry, but I don't have time this week; Tom: Please! Please!; Sue: Didn't you hear me? I do not have any time to help you this week!Read More...
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New3 replies

Keep or cut the bold "a"?

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Norbert Hornstein is a professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of Maryland .Read More...
Gustavo, Co-Moderator
Great distinction, David! I didn't know how to put it in words. Except for Hornstein and a few others, if we look up "Professor Emeritus of Linguistics" without the article on the Internet, we'll find that it almost always appears in capital letters, which confirms its use as a title.Read More...
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New11 replies

‘would have still been alive today‘

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Hello, everyone, “ Scientists believe the dinosaurs would have still been alive today if it had not been for the asteroid crash .” (only one sentence available and quoted from our local material) Though I’m not sure the sentence above is grammatically correct, I feel a little awkward that the 3rd conditional ‘ would have been ’ is followed by the time adverb ‘ today ’. I guess this construction - ‘would have been’ with ‘today’ may be possible with following reasons; 1. ‘would have p.p’ is...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hi, David, appreciate that you did share a lot for me and Ray. I feel shifting the position of "today" is useful way for EFL learner. I'll consider that this is seemingly a mixed conditional but is in fact semantically equivalent to the 2nd conditional in this context. I'll consider that this is seemingly the 3rd conditional but is in fact semantically equivalent to a mixed conditional (past / present) in this context according to Swan's assertion.Read More...
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lately

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Hello. Could you please help me? What's wrong with the following sentence? - Tom is the most intelligent child I have lately seen. Thank you.Read More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Ahmed Imam Attia—"Lately" is in the wrong position. It should be the last word of the sentence. If you want to know why, I shall have to think about it.Read More...
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New2 replies

'had almost forgotten'

0 likes · 82 views
Hello, everyone, Mrs. Klein told her first graders to draw a picture of something to be thankful for. She thought that most of the class would draw turkeys or Thanksgiving tables. But Douglas drew something different. Douglas was a boy who usually spent time alone and stayed around her while his classmates went outside together during break time. What the boy drew was a hand. But whose hand? His image immediately attracted the other students’ interest. So, everyone rushed to talk about whose...Read More...
deepcosmos
Hi, David, your explanation is crystal-clear enough, appreciate.Read More...
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New3 replies

"Not to" for purpose

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Hello, Is it possible to change "In order to "/ "so as to" with "not to"? 1- 'They woke up early "in order not to" be late.' 2- 'She exercises regularly "so as not to" get fat.' 3- 'He helped the new policewoman "so as not to" fail in her first mission.' Thank you in advance.Read More...
David, Moderator
Would you mind if we deleted this thread, then, since it is pointless?Read More...
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New1 reply

for had not he

0 likes · 36 views
The following quote is from Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser: She looked in the mirror and pursed up her lips, accompanying it with a little toss of the head, as she had seen the railroad treasurer's daughter do. She caught up her skirts with an easy swing, for had not Drouet remarked that in her and several others, and Carrie was naturally imitative. She began to get the hang of those little things which the pretty woman who has vanity invariably adopts. Can you explain the use of the...Read More...
David, Moderator
Hello, f6pafd—Subject–auxiliary inversion is used because "Had not/Hadn't Drouet remarked that in her and several others" is a question, even though it doesn't end with a question mark. Rather, the sentence continues on. Carrie is expressing the reason for her belief that the railroad treasurer's daughter "caught up with her skirts with an easy swing." The reason is that Carrie remembers Drouet remarking that (this fact) about that girl.Read More...
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buying a house

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1) The owners of the apartments in this building can't get along with each other. I think they are talking to a lawyer. Does that necessarily mean they are talking to the same lawyer? Could: 2) They are talking to a lawyer. ever mean that they are talking to different lawyers? 3) What are people doing these days. The people I know are buying a house. Could that mean that they are buying different houses? Gratefully, NaviRead More...
David, Moderator
I suppose so, Navi; however, with "all," I think that most native speakers would be inclined to use the plural in that case: They are all talking to lawyers. Yes, it is possible for that sentence to mean that each is talking to more than one lawyer, as well as the one-lawyer-per-person meaning. For the distributive meaning, "every one of them" or "each of them": Every one of them is talking to a lawyer. Each of them is talking to a lawyer.Read More...
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Hyphenate "seven-year-old" when it's a noun?

0 likes · 46 views
I can't find any examples of "seven-year-old" as a noun in the NYT archive, weirdly enough...here's my own situation that I'm dealing with: But if you’re a seven-year-old and you’re looking around and all of the other kids are doing their homework faster and you’re the only kid the teacher and coach are yelling at, then that’s your whole experience of the world.Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
Thanks!Read More...
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New7 replies

having to

0 likes · 78 views
"I felt so ill at ease having to go to the doctor and try to express my symptoms in a foreign language." Dear Sir, In the above sentence what does it mean " having to " ? Whether did he go to the doctor OR he was thinking about going to the doctor? Thanks in advance!Read More...
Former Member
Thank you Sir. God bless you.Read More...
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Logically, should I add the word "more" before the word "oil"?

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See the word "oil": https://join.substack.com/p/strong-and-weak Regarding Mexico, there are many harmful policies that we need to change as soon as possible, including the policies that I mentioned before regarding trade and immigration and drugs and guns. And including anti-ecological agriculture. And also including harmful efforts to push for oil and for more cars .Read More...
Andrew Van Wagner
Thanks! What's your own judgment on this?Read More...
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New2 replies

"So as to" at the beginning of the sentence

0 likes · 47 views
Hello, Grammar Exchange community, I am wondering whether it is natural to start a sentence with "so as to". Example: So as to work well on a team, you need to be a good communicator. NB: I know to make it easy it's possible to use "in order to" or "to". But I am interested in particular to know if it's natural to use "so as to" at the beginning of sentences. Thank you in advance.Read More...
Meriem
In an exercise about expressing purposes, I've encountered this example: ________ Work well on a team, you need to be a good communicator. The two proposed answers were only "in order to" and "to". (Knowing "so as to" was already proposed in the course and for other sentences in the same exercise). I don't know whether this is related to this sentence particularly or for other reasons. (Source: Macmillan Open Mind upper intermediate workbook)Read More...
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Tag question

0 likes · 37 views
You don't think she is ill, .......? don't you -do you- is she -isn't she. My answer is do you cause the subject is youRead More...
David, Moderator
Hello, Muhammad Abdul Aziz, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange. I agree with you that the best answer is "do you," but "is she" is also possible. You don't think she is ill, do you? You don't think she is ill, is she?Read More...
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New0 replies

Any logical contradiction here?

0 likes · 25 views
I have a situation that's (I guess?) sort of like someone saying "The houses are mostly either blue or red" and then saying "The houses are mostly blue"...I guess that that wouldn't be a logical contradiction in my hypothetical? Contrast this: https://join.substack.com/p/strong-and-weak 5) Throughout Mexican history, what are the most egregious ways in which the US has harmed the Mexican people? What books and articles should people read on this front? The harm has happened mostly through...Read More...
Posted
New13 replies

used to / used to be

0 likes · 93 views
"Subtitling received its first major break during the peak of VCR/VHS revolution when tapes of Malayalam films used to sell like hot cakes in the Gulf countries, part of which used to be smuggled back into Kerala by expats and traders." Dear Sir What could be the reason using "used to+ sell (verb first form) i n one part and "used to be+smuggled (verb third form) in part of the sentence. What are the difference of using these "used to+verb (first form)" and used to be+verb (third form)...Read More...
Former Member
Gustavo, David and Ann are legends. I am glad to have trio in my English family. I thank God.Read More...
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New4 replies

the function of ‘might have done’

0 likes · 121 views
Hello, everyone, “The dynamics of collective detection have an interesting feature. Which cue(s) do individuals use as evidence of predator attack? In some cases, when an individual detects a predator, its best response is to seek shelter. Departure from the group may signal danger to nonvigilant animals and cause what appears to be a coordinated flushing of prey from the area. Studies on dark-eyed juncos (a type of bird) support the view that nonvigilant animals attend to departures of...Read More...
deepcosmos
I'm really lucky that I'm being kept supported by two admirable tutors.Read More...
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New2 replies

Use of "too long" and "so long", ESL learner

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I am an ESL teacher and do not know how to explain this to my student. The sentences "I shouldn't have waited so long" and "I waited too long" are confusing to my student. She does not understand why the first sentence should not use "too long" as in "I shouldn't have waited too long." I understand the logic of this sentence but don't know the actual reason why we don't use Too. Is it because of the use of "shouldn't", a perceived action or a certain tense of the sentence? I can't come up...Read More...
Janice
Hi, Thank you so much for this response. I am excited to find this website and support from fellow English speakers. Sometimes the grammar questions asked by ESL students can be confusing and hard to explain. This helps a lot and I tried to explain this in relationship to the meanings of too long and so long relative to a neutral or negative meaning but was not able to go complete the explanation in a satisfactory manner. Thank you for the additional information to help explain the reason...Read More...
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