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Yes. DocVRead More...

Ansonman, I don't like any of the (b) versions. Also, my tendency would be to hyphenate "high-paying". DocVRead More...

(4b) and (5b) are incorrect. Cities and days can be rainy, but they can't rain. DocVRead More...

Thank you, David.Read More...

Actually, Cocoricot, in light of Gustavo's excellent point that "repair" is almost exclusively used transitively, I find your (1) more natural than your (2). A robot might very well show up at a job shop and announce "I'm ready to repair!", but a technician would be much less likely to do so. DocVRead More...

David, i did not pay attention to the beginning because I expected your name at the end! anyway, thanks for your answer...Read More...

John121, I don't see a grammar question here. What you are asking is outside of the scope of this forum. I suggest you find a writers' workshop. Depending where you live, there might be such groups in your area with an actual leader or instructor (possibly through a college or adult education center), or strictly peer groups, where, at every session, members volunteer to submit what they have most recently written in order to have it critiqued by the other members. I see advantages and...Read More...

Yes, Freeguy, this British use of "should," which relates to "shall" in its first-person usage in British English, is generally used only in the first person -- and it is generally not used at all in American English. The last style guide in the U.S. to have recommended it without reserve was published in the nineteen-sixties. The British usage of "shall" and "should" allows for changes in perspective, and it is still possible to conceive of such changes in perspective. If you and I were...Read More...

Thank you DocV. Your reply solved my problem. AppleRead More...

David wrote: I agree. I wonder if the fact that this form has fallen into relative disuse is the pervasiveness of using the name of a day of the week ("on Thursday the 12 th ", which is inevitably followed by the ever-ominous Friday the 13 th ) between the "on" and the "the" in such a construct rather than the name of a month. Incidentally, I used the ordinal numerals "12 th " and "13 th " in my own examples because I'm honestly not sure what the accepted protocol is, or, in fact, whether...Read More...

Emad, To me, "every" sounds more natural, but both are correct. And, of course, you can also say: 6: Peter has been to a lot of parties this month. He enjoyed all of them. I must say that I don't have nearly the same sense of difference in meaning as I did with the earlier set of examples, although I really can't explain why. This is one of the dangers of using "sense" as opposed to demonstrable rules, as I have done here. I hope my colleagues can help provide the insight that I seem to be...Read More...

Uh, it's the singular or the plural format of "food" "drink" and "drinks" that confused me. I saw a wrong sentence. But I did research a bit before I wrote above sentences. Just need confirmation. Thank you David!Read More...

Hello, Soumya, and welcome to the Grammar Exchange! Which of those two sentences do you think is right, and why?Read More...

Got it! Thanks. Have a nice weekend.Read More...

Thank you, David, so much.Read More...

Understood and thanksRead More...

Tara, I think I see the misunderstanding. To simplify, the dialog went like this: DocV: If you'd like suggestions as to how to make your presentation even more elegant, send me an e-mail. ... So, you have directly quoted a three-paragraph section from a post ... Tara: Sorry DocV, I really don't have any suggestion DocV: About what? Tara: About this that you said" If you'd like suggestions as to how to make your presentation even more elegant, send me an e-mail." What I was saying was that I...Read More...

Thanks, DocV.Read More...

None of which are to be confused with 4: Tom and Harry were of great assistance, getting me a new passport.Read More...

Ahmed Abd el-Hafeez, (This is my best guess at how your name should be parsed in English. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I am here to learn as well as to teach.) Ahmed_btm is correct in saying that both answers are grammatically correct. This man has been a great resource for us at the Grammar Exchange in understanding what is expected on exams in Egypt, and how the "model answer" often conflicts with naturally spoken English. This is one of those times. If you want the right answer for...Read More...

Last night I made spaghetti alla puttanesca for dinner. I used one of my last remaining tins of anchovies that I had bought some years ago when a local store had an outrageous special on them. How long is "some years"? After reading your post, Ansonman, and yours, Gustavo, I took a look at the tin. It said "best by 12/2009". Not 2019. 2009. Freshness is generally not a characteristic one looks for in canned anchovies. Some canned and frozen foods foods can last virtually forever, as long as...Read More...

PJ, please allow me to join Gustavo in welcoming you to our forum. Gustavo, these are excellent answers. I thought I could come up with a better explanation for "dance floor", but everything I came up with had either an exception or some other problem. So unless David can come up with something better, I'll just say that in English, we speak of a "dance floor" and a "playing field", and it's just one of those things we have to know. DocVRead More...

Ansonman, More to the point, I would say that (1) will generally be understood to mean that Tom will be coming here sometime next week and staying for three days, which necessarily makes the days consecutive. In contrast, (2) means that on three separate days, Tom will be making trips from someplace else to here. It doesn't matter whether or not the days are consecutive or how long he stays. There can even be multiple trips on the same day, as long as at least one trip happens on each of...Read More...