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No. Again, you have shown that you have no problem blundering deliberately with the expression. I don't have a comprehensive instructional guide to offer you for using "from way back," but you have demonstrated that you are capable of using it except when you are deliberately creating bad examples. Whenever I offer you example types, you find ways to mess them up.Read More...

I'm afraid you are mistaken. Do you not see that the sentence is a run-on with a comma-splice error, an agreement error in the relative clause, and no period at the end? That you would assert that the sentence is free of grammar errors shows that you are difficient in your understanding of grammar. The part of the sentence preceding the highlighted comma is a complete independent clause, and the part of the sentence following the highlighted comma is a complete independent clause. These...Read More...

Ok, thanks again, I understand.Read More...

Hi, Essam Nasr—I agree with Ahmed that (b) ("a child") is correct. (The other answer is totally ungrammatical.) My explanation for its correctness is a bit different. I understand there to be an omitted "as"-clause of comparison in such examples. I see the sentence as being equivalent to the following: (a) Don't shout at so little a child [as this one (is)] . Consider what happens in a passive sentence: " So little a child [as this one (is)] should not be shouted at." Of course, when the...Read More...

Thank you, David, for your conclusive post. Here we are at last. Our discussion has finally evolved into a climax, your paraphrase: " the superficial veneer of words." which apparently reflects the familiarity between the father and the daughter. The father behaved in such a way as to have obliterated the division between them as a father and daughter, and the daughter treated him, specifically, talking to him, with the easy familiarity of an equal.Read More...

Exactly: If you happen to be hungry, know there is a sandwich on the table.Read More...

Good point, David!Read More...

Thank you very much, Gustavo, for all your replies, This was very helpful. I loved your 'Correct, they are'! Brilliant.Read More...

I agree with the comment that the sentence without "and" is not well constructed. Even so, "arguably" seems to refer to both verbs—I insist that, if it didn't, there would be a more or less assertive adverb before "reinforces."Read More...

Thank you for your kind words, MlleSim. As the saying states, sometimes an image says more than a thousand wordsRead More...

Hi, Navi. I'd like to share my thoughts with you: This sounds to me as a counterfactual (it would have been possible for him, but he didn´t). However, if I compare it with: 1a) Tom could have entered the building. it might be the case that he did or not depending on whether there is no condition or there is one: 1a1) A. Did he enter the building? // B. He could have. (50% certainty, or less, according to Chart 10.6 Degrees of Certainty: Past Time on page 196 of Azar & Hagen's...Read More...

That is more convincing, David. "Not" does not require "and" after the comma.Read More...

I went back to check again to see if I had copied it wrong, but the conclusion is that I haven't. However, since you said it's not quite correct, I'll just leave it beRead More...

Hi, Subhajit—"I spend most of my time sleeping" refers to all of "my time," i.e., to all of the hours of the day as lived by me. "I spend most of the time sleeping" can mean the same thing, or it can refer to the time I spend somewhere. For example, when flying in a jet, many people like to spend most of the time sleeping; that is to say, they like to be sleeping during most of the time that they are in the jet.Read More...

Hi, Subhajit—Both sentences are wrong because you did not use "the" before "most." If you had, only (1) would work. There can only be one country with the most of anything. You can't speak of a country with the most of that thing.Read More...

Hey, f6pafd , I totally agree with you. Thank you so much for your answer.Read More...

Hi, Izzat Hannah, The answer to this question would take me back to a very old thread in which I was lucky enough to participate. You can find the answer to your question in the last comment by our late moderator 'Rachel'. Here's the link: https://thegrammarexchange.inf.../topic/used-to-would Rachel says: "Let's amend the part: "'would' to refer to a past habitual situation does not appear at the beginning of a sentence or a dialog or a narration." Not true. It certainly can if the past...Read More...

How about this? By rehearsing the points, one has one's readers rehearse them. (3) These points are completely obvious and uncontroversial—that's why it's demeaning to keep rehearsing them .Read More...

A similar noun is, I think, "address": What is your address? / My address is 123 Pitt St LA. Sorry about that. I guess what led me to think "will be" could remain together was the possibility of "what" being the subject, as in: The LA Hotel will be the venue of the meeting.Read More...

Hi, Subhajit—The answer depends on what you want your sentence to mean. If you want it to mean that the place brings about the ruin (destruction or demise) or many poor people, use "the." If you want it to mean that many poor people haunt a ruin (perhaps there is a homeless encampment on an architectural ruin), you can use "a." I'm guessing that you want the meaning with "the."Read More...

Thank you so much!!!Read More...

Hi, Tony C, Grammatically speaking, you should use 'on-lent'. 'On-lent' is the past participle here because the whole sentence is in the passive voice. 'Monies are advanced to ... and are on-lent to ...' https://dictionary.cambridge.o...nary/english/on-lendRead More...

Hi, Izzat Hannah, I would add 'once' to 2: 'I once had a cat'. I see that both refer to a past state and mostly have the same meaning. However 'used to' sounds to indicate a longer state . If you changed the subject, there could be another subtle difference. - He used to have a cat. = He no longer has that cat. - I met John last year. He had a cat and said ..... (It is not clear whether he still has that cat or not).Read More...

Hello, Ahmed Imam Attia—As Gustavo explained above, "would [verb phrase]" requires a past-time reference point or context in order to express a past habit. The same holds true with your new example. Only (a), with "used to," can be used to talk about doing fitness training as a past habit—unless there is a context in which a past-time reference point is presupposed: A: What would you do when they were at soccer practice? B: I would do fitness training. Since it would be unfair for a...Read More...